briciole

pane alle olive stile cipriota / Cyprus-style olive bread

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] the proof is in the slices While swimming in the Sea of Uncertainty, I often feel scattered, like water drops of a wave that has crashed ashore. Baking bread keeps me whole. While working on many projects, worried about missing some deadline or an important detail, I often feel inadequate. Baking bread reassures me. kissed by the sun I have never been to Cyprus. Being in Samos and Ephesus last September was probably the closest I'll ever been to that island. But I have alread made many virtual trips there: every time... Read more →

annuncio / announcement: Panissimo

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] It is an honor and a pleasure for me to host the October edition of Panissimo, the monthly bread-baking event that is the brainchild of Barbara of Bread & Companatico and Sandra of Indovina chi viene a cena? (Guess who's coming to dinner?). To participate: Write a post on a baked good of any type, provided it is based on yeast, commercial (fresh or instant yeast) or natural (sourdough or other ferment), or only in the case of flatbreads or other special unleavened breads, even without yeast. Link to the post at... Read more →

pane di segale svedese / Swedish rye bread

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] bread with an exciting flavor Time and time again, life has nudged me into going past first impressions when it comes to food I have prepared. Something does not look exceptional and I tend to think that it doesn't taste great, though I have learned early on in my life that the correlation between look and taste is more often than not complex, and in some cases even inversely proportional. After baking and cooling, the taste test revealed that my I didn't need to worry about my ugly duckling (brutto anatroccolo) of... Read more →

pulla / panini finlandesi / Finnish buns

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] pulla: plain and stuffed There is magic in my world to which I will never get used, like sunlight filtering through the redwoods, fog coming into the San Francisco Bay through the Golden Gate, full moon setting on the Pacific Ocean, baking bread. Each new bread baking project I embark upon is a voyage of discovery and wonder. The occasional bump on the road is part of the itinerary. Today's trip starts in Finland, a magic land of lakes and islands. Spending a couple of hours at the Helsinki airport to connect... Read more →

torta alla zuppa di pomodoro / tomato soup cake

just my cup of tea Reading one of M.F.K. Fisher's books is like listening to a marvelous story-teller: you lose yourself in her stories and lose track of time. How to Cook a Wolf, published in 1942, is my favorite among the books by Fisher that I've read so far. James Beard described it as "her brilliant approach to wartime economies for the table," but that description, notwithstanding the adjective "brilliant," only describes the surface. As usual with Fisher’s books, the food at hand provides the springboard for reflections on topics ranging from the balanced diet to the choice of a... Read more →

pane irlandese / Irish soda bread

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] Summit Lake (AK) Summit Lake is a small lake in the Kenai Peninsula (AK), along Hwy 1. As of this writing, it is where we kayaked most recently, an evening after dinner, taking advantage of the long summer days. The light is magical at that time. While gliding on the calm water, with my senses in high alert, my mind went back for a short time to that summer day, years ago, when I kayaked for the first time, in the River Shannon, Ireland. I have many other memories of my first... Read more →

pretzel morbidi / Bavarian-style soft pretzels

sesame or poppy seeds? There are two types of books: the ones I find and the ones that find me. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler belongs to the latter category. I can't say that it held me spellbound from the first pages. However, it would not let me go. Reading it was like trying to identify a subtle flavor in a dish: you must continue to taste until you get it and in the process, you get totally and pleasantly involved without quite realizing it. All ingredients of the novel work together to make a nice meal:... Read more →

cucinare coi fiori / cooking with flowers

calendulas from the farmers' market and freshly picked from my garden Ever since I started reading Cooking With Flowers, Sweet and Savory Recipes with Rose Petals, Lilacs, Lavender, and Other Edible Flowers by Miche Bacher I look at flowers with different eyes. I knew that a number of flowers were edible (commestibili), from zucchini blossoms (fiori di zucca) to herb flowers (which I have used, for example, in rye bread) to roses (which I have used to flavor ice cream). But I did not know that orchids are edible and so are daylilies and lilacs, to name just a few. FTC... Read more →

kifli / panini ungheresi / Hungarian bread rolls

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] my version of kifli When we start a new chapter of our trip across Europe using the alphabet and visit a country I have never been to, it's like arriving in an unknown city and researching a place to eat. I usually start with the wikipedia article on the nation's cuisine and see if anything catches my attention. In the case of Hungary (Ungheria), our current stop, my eyes were immediately drawn to the photo of crescent rolls on this page. Another wikipedia page told me a bit more about kifli and... Read more →

mana'eesh

warm and aromatic Dan Leader's Simply Great Breads is a small book, but, true to its title, contains great recipes. Do you remember the pretty bialys and thin grissini featured previously? They came from the same treasured book. Mana'eesh (or Manakish) is a flatbread (schiacciata) typical of the Middle East. It comes out of the oven hot, soft and smelling heavenly. But before being flattened to go into the oven, it is a nice ball of dough: soft on wood The photo above was taken together with the sepia one I shared a few days ago. Bread dough holds fascination for... Read more →