briciole

tomato, cucumber and radish salad / insalata di pomodori, cetrioli e ravanelli

light, refreshing, colorful, flavorful: perfect! (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) Three months ago, I listened to an interview1 with science writer Christie Aschwanden2, author of the book Good To Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery3. I was so intrigued by what I heard that I purchased the book and learned a lot by reading it. While I am not a competitive athlete, I exercise regularly and a year and a half ago I started running regularly. Regardless of how far you push yourself, recovery is a fundamental component of physical... Read more →

sugar snap peas with pancetta and pine nuts / piselli mangiatutto con pancetta e pinoli

sugar snap peas with pancetta and pine nuts (napkin by La FABBRICA del LINO) Opening a book and starting to read it is one the sweetest of life pleasures. Planning and executing a recipe is another. When I am invited to do both, I cannot refuse. Jenna Blum's The Lost Family1,2,3 is a novel rich in strong characters. Not only the main ones, Peter, June and their daughter Elsbeth, but also those in their lives, from Masha, the wife Peter lost, to Ruth and Sol, the cousins who took in Peter when he emigrated to the US, to Gregg, June's first... Read more →

braised celery and leeks / sedano e porri stufati

a plateful of flavor (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) The historical novel Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King, the current selection of our Cook the Books Club, was quite an interesting read. While the narrator is a slave named Thrasius, the protagonist is his owner, Marcus Gavius Apicius, who lived in the 1st century during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius and became famous for his love of food and his sumptuous dinners. Rich and ambitious, he is driven by the desire to become culinary advisor to the emperor. The pact with the devil (Sejanus) he makes exacts a high... Read more →

savoy cabbage and radicchio / cavolo verza e radicchio

a brilliant flavor behind subdued color (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) A few pages into The Patriarch by Martin Walker, the current selection of our Cook the Books Club, I had this image of Bruno, the protagonist, as a head of cabbage and Pamela, his girlfriend (who in the course of the novel becomes his ex) as a head of radicchio1. Bruno reminded me of a head of cabbage because, although he is a pleasant and sensitive person, a smart and conscientious policeman, a gardener, a cook, a horseback rider and dog owner, you'd probably overlook him at a party... Read more →

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 →

sweet peppers with onion and zucchini / peperoni dolci con cipolle e zucchine

a skillet of goodies (tablecloth by La FABBRICA del LINO) In the bookstore ostensibly to get a guidebook, I stumbled on Norwegian by Night by Derek. B. Miller1. Anything related to Norway (Norvegia) gets my attention. A quick look at the book jacket made me decide to purchase it. I started reading it and the story grabbed me right away. One one level it is a crime story, set in Oslo. On another level it is the story of an elderly man coming to terms with his life, in particular the death of his only son in the Vietnam War. And... Read more →

broccoli al Parmigiano-Reggiano (à la Angelo Pellegrini)

a simple, flavorful side dish (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) The current selection of our Cook the Books Club is The Unprejudiced Palate: Classic Thoughts on Food and the Good Life by Angelo Pellegrini1 (1948). At the beginning, the author declares what his book is about: I concluded that what America needs is not another cookbook, but a book on bread and wine in relation to life. As Greg Atkinson states in his West Coast Soup: [Pellegrini's] book did not provide any recipes per se. Instead, it provided an alternate perspective on cooking. Such perspective is profoundly influenced by his... 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 →

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 →