briciole

roasted cauliflower with za'atar / cavolfiore arrosto con za'atar

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] it looks plain, it tastes deep When I walk or ride my bike around Berkeley, I stop at some of the Little Free Libraries on my way. In one of them I found The Cost of Living: Early and Uncollected Stories1 by Mavis Gallant2. I didn't know the author, but the blurb on the back cover made me curious, so I put the book in my backpack. The short stories have a common characteristic: tension, sometimes quite high, runs just under the surface and reveals itself in geysers of emotion. I enjoyed... Read more →

celery omelette / omelette con sedano

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] celery omelette topped with some mashed avocado (tablecloth by La FABBRICA del LINO) Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson called out at me from a table at a library book sale and just like the country in which is it set, Norway, it grabbed me immediately. The sky, the woods, the water, everything is expansive in Norway, majestic, yet quiet. Petterson's prose is like that. Life's familiar themes—friendship, love, loss, betrayal, coming of age, aging—play a role in the story of Trond Sander, the 67-year-old protagonist. I imagined to be sitting in... Read more →

gluten-free seed crackers / cracker di semi (senza glutine)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] cheese, seed crackers and red walnuts1 (table runner by La FABBRICA del LINO) Please, have your cake or pie and eat my portion too. I am happy with the small plate in the photo. The cheeses are (from the left): Garroxta (goat milk, Catalonia), my homemade Gouda with pecans, Blu di Caravaggio (buffalo milk, Italy; my favorite blue cheese). And the crackers are a perfect accompaniment for all of them. sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, chia and hemp seeds (semi di sesamo, di zucca, di girasole, di chia e di canapa) The current selection... Read more →

gluten-free breaded baked cod bites / bocconcini di merluzzo impanati al forno (senza glutine)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] sitting down to a nice lunch (table runner by La FABBRICA del LINO) As a child I didn't like fish, particularly fried fish (pesce fritto). On the other hand, I liked other fried food my mother made: breaded meat (cotoletta) or chicken breast, battered cauliflower florets, potato croquettes (crocchette di patate) and of course supplì (rice croquette). Later in life I learned to like fish. In general, I don't deep-fry in my kitchen, but I like the crisp crust (crosticina) foods acquire when breaded and fried. Baking breaded foods approximates the result... Read more →

ćevapčići / ćevapi (sausages / polpette)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] Ćevapi (or ćevapčići) are Balkan caseless sausages (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) The 26th country of our World Culinary ABC1 is Croatia (Croazia). It is the last stop of our world tour and I find it nice to end home. My maternal grandmother (nonna materna) was Croatian, from a village near Split (Spalato in Italian). I have been in the country only once, many years ago, before the war, and have many special memories. I am looking forward to visiting it again one day. Those memories include the taste of foods... Read more →

arganak: Armenian chicken soup with meatballs / zuppa armena con polpette

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] soup with surprise (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) The 25th country of our World Culinary ABC1 is Armenia and the book I just finished reading is Still Writing by Dani Shapiro.2 The two events are connected because the book made me want to cook a special soup for the author and the list of traditional Armenian soups made me choose arganak: "chicken soup with small meatballs, garnished before serving with beaten egg yolks, lemon juice, and parsley"3 (tuorli, succo di limone e prezzemolo). Sounds appealing, doesn't it? The title of the... Read more →

red-cooked tofu with mushrooms / tofu marinato con funghi

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] I served my red-cooked tofu with quinoa (runner by La FABBRICA del LINO) The 24th country of our World Culinary ABC1 is China (Cina). I have never been to China so I don't have any first-hand experience of the food there. However, the theme of LongHouse Food Revival 2015 was Chop Stick Nation and there, I learned a few things about the incredible variety of Chinese cuisine. I also tasted some delicious dishes and tried my hands at making dumplings. This is a postcard from that special event: the dumpling shack, construction... Read more →

sweet potato (kumara) and winter squash soup / zuppa di patata dolce (kumara) e zucca

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] an inviting bowl of soup (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) The 23rd country of our World Culinary ABC1 is New Zealand (Nuova Zelanda), a country we visited 11 years ago. I have a trunkful of great memories from the trip and only a thimbleful of space here, so the following is just a taste (assaggio). Karekare2, the beach made famous by the movie The Piano (North Island). We kayaked in many places, including the Kenepuru Sound (one of the Marlborough Sounds in the South Island) and Lake Manapouri4 (South Island). The... Read more →

eggplant caviar (ikra) / caviale di melanzane

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] help yourself: it won't last long (tablecloth by La FABBRICA del LINO) The 22nd country of our World Culinary ABC1 is Russia (Russia). In researching dishes from that country I happened upon an interesting cookbook Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook by Anya Von Bremzen, John Welchman2 where I read about Vegetable Caviars: "The Russians adore caviar and they love vegetables. So, voilà! the perfect culinary hybrid. These vegetable caviars have a terrific reputation." I was intrigued by that with eggplant (ikra), of which, I soon discovered, there are countless versions.... Read more →

vegetarian tsuivan (Mongolian stew) / tsuivan vegetariano (stufato mongolo)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] Strands of pasta (tasalsan guril), purple cabbage and purple carrots The 21st country of our World Culinary ABC1 is Mongolia (Mongolia). In researching dishes from the country in the heart of Asia, I found out about tasalsan guril, fried noodles.2 These are short strands of pasta cut from a rolled sheet previously pan-fried. How could I not try to make them? And make them I did. I cooked the first batch in some of my homemade chicken broth and the resulting soup was excellent. I then read that tasalsan guril may be... Read more →