briciole

pollo yassa (alla senegalese) / poulet yassa (Senegalese chicken)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] Senegal & Italy meet on the table (placemat from La FABBRICA del LINO) The fourth stop of our World Culinary ABC is Senegal, a country in West Africa. The traditional Senegalese dish Poulet Yassa sounded quite intriguing and so I created my own version, based in part on this recipe on the Washington Post (comments included), this recipe on Saveur and my personal preferences. It's quite a flavorful recipe, which can also be prepared with other types of meat and also fish. The photo above shows how I served it, with my... Read more →

torciglione

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] it's sweet — once you go past its fierce look Every region of Italy has specific Holiday food traditions. Torciglione is a sweet treat from Umbria, the region in central Italy where I was born and grew up. As my parents were originally from another region, making torciglione was not part of my family traditions. I started making it some years ago and I am presenting it again here (the earlier post is here). As a child, I was intrigued by its snakelike shape and loved its crunchy texture and intense almond... Read more →

mezzi tubi rigati (pasta fatta a mano) / ridged half-pipes (handmade pasta)

sunbathing in the morning on linen (from La FABBRICA del LINO) A recent morning at the beginning of a pasta making session, the gnocchi board on my table gently tugged at my sleeve to remind me of its presence. I picked it up and put it in front of me on the kneading board, then started to play with other tools and the semolina dough I had prepared. As in the making of garganelli, I used a thin dowel as mini rolling pin to obtain the shape I called mezzi tubi rigati. This short video shows my hands at work: As... Read more →

biglietti di auguri per le Feste fatti a mano / handmade Holiday cards

stones, shells and paper on linen (from La FABBRICA del LINO) The New Year lies just ahead, inviting and insidious. It will bring us an assortment of joys or sorrows punctuating a sequence of blessedly uneventful days, which we will fill with the wonder of being alive. L'anno nuovo si avvicina rapidamente, invitante ed insidioso. Ci porterà un assortimento di gioie e dolori che punteggeranno una serie di giorni benedettamente ordinari, che riempiremo del nostro stupore per la vita. An afternoon walk on a favorite beach On a recent afternoon, I went for a walk on a favorite beach and collected... Read more →

crostata con crema all'aceto / vinegar tart

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] Italianized vinegar pie on Italian linen (from La FABBRICA del LINO) Bob Dollar, the protagonist of That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx, which is the current selection of our Cook the Books Club, is a shy man confused about his place in the world, who finds himself transplanted in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, a place full of interesting characters and rich in local customs and stories, a sliver of America in space and time. The states of Texas and Oklahoma stacked like dirty pots in the sink, their... Read more →