Saturday, April 28, 2001
Zaletti: Venetian Cornmeal Biscotti
I first learned about Zaletti from Thomas Halik, the proprietor of Not Just Rugalach, which has stands at various Greenmarkets around the city. (See my Maven’s Diary entry called Jury Duty Eats.) Zaletti are cornmeal biscotti with raisins from Venice. [more]
Thursday, April 26, 2001
Wine Buy: Falua from Portugal
This is a tiny bit confusing. Falua is the name of the wine and the name of the type of sail boat that is depicted on the elegant, minimalist label. The word is printed small but still in larger (capitol) letters than the words Duas Castas, which are in tiny (upper and lower case) script and mean that the wine is made from two grape varieties: Periquito and Trincadeira. [more]
Tuesday, April 24, 2001
Asparagus Milanese
Have you ever eaten asparagus raw, the moment they are cut from the ground? They taste almost like nuts, hazelnuts, with a bit of sweetness and a balancing hint of bitterness. My neighbor in Connecticut has a stand of asparagus at the edge of his property that abuts mine. Asparagus are a perennial plant in the lily family, and the part we eat are the new shoots that pop up from the soil in several-inch lengths overnight. It’s very magical. Really. Where there was nothing one day, there’s a six inch asparagus the next. [more]
Sunday, April 22, 2001
Neapolitan Stuffed Artichokes
Artichokes are at their seasonal peak right now and it is as if Mother Nature synchronized them with what we call Spring Fever, that feeling of love and romance that overcomes all of us as the days grow longer and warmer. [more]
Thursday, April 19, 2001
Kosher Naples At Table
When I sign books at events I am often approached by potential buyers who say, "I would love to buy your book, Naples At Table, but I’m kosher." [more]
Wednesday, April 18, 2001
Great Restaurant Dishes
When I was the restaurant critic of the New York Daily News, every few months I would write a column called “The Best Things I’ve Eaten,” which singled out dishes the taste of which I couldn’t get out of my head, off my palate ... however I should be expressing it. I have eaten more than the usual number of such memorable dishes in restaurants during the last few weeks. So, like old times, I’m putting them down in print. You should know, too, that all of these dishes are served at restaurants I can recommend wholeheartedly overall. [more]
Monday, April 16, 2001
The Best Italian Easter Cake
Buona Pasquetta. Happy Easter Monday. I don’t celebrate myself, but all of Italy does. It’s a national holiday there, a day traditionally devoted to family picnics. In my adopted city of Naples, it used to be the day people took their pizza rustica, also called torta rustica, and drove out into the country to eat it. Pizza rustica is a pie made with ricotta and various diced cheeses and pork products – dried sausage, sopressata, pancetta, prosciutto, etc. Pizza, as you must know means pie. Torta, as you may not, means cake. It’s all the same. [more]
Sunday, April 15, 2001
Fish Marechiaro-style
Marechiaro is a spot in Naples. The word literally means “clear sea” and the spot is – surprise! – facing and bordering the sea. Actually, it is technically not on the open sea, but on il golfo di Napoli, the Gulf of Naples, or Bay of Naples as we more often say in English. Marechiaro is a small section of the greater neighborhood of Posillipo, which is a spit of land, a peninsula that encloses the Gulf on the north. It is the northern edge the city, and some would say the best neighborhood in Naples. In any case, as my friend Maurizio De Rosa, a native Neapolitan, says, “If you live in Posillipo, you’ve arrived. To make this a little more complex, some Neapolitans will also tell you that Marechiaro is not really part of Posillipo, but part of Mergellina (or Margellina, as Neapolitans call it), which is the sea-side section next to Posillipo, and also an excellent, elegant neighborhood. [more]
Thursday, April 12, 2001
Wine Buy: Horse Heaven Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc, Columbia Valley, Horse Heaven Vineyard 1999, which is produced by Chateau Ste. Michelle, a famous Washington State winery, is a Sauvignon Blanc for those who don’t love Sauvignon Blanc. [more]
Wednesday, April 11, 2001
Migliaccio: Aunt Loretta's Cheesecake
I suppose the subject of migliaccio has come up several times lately because in some Italian-American families it is traditional for Easter. [more]
Tuesday, April 10, 2001
Jacques Torres and Molten Chocolate Cake
Jacques Torres, the French pastry chef and now chocolatier, was on my radio program today. He made his name in the U.S. as the pastry man at Le Cirque, which led to two cookbooks, Dessert Circus and Dessert Circus At Home, put him on public television with a program called Dessert Circus, and catapulted him into the position of Dean of Pastry Arts at Manhattan’s French Culinary Institute. He’s now preparing for another TV program all about chocolate, which will be aired on the Food Network. [more]
Monday, April 9, 2001
Tsimmes
I have been making my great-grandmother’s prune and sweet potato tsimmes for at least 20 years, and I watched it being made and ate it for 30 years before that. But ask me for a recipe and I still have to give it as my grandmother would – some of this, some of that, you know. [more]
Thursday, April 5, 2001
Wine Buy: Bogle Petite Sirah
Bogle Petite Sirah, 1999 is from Sacramento Delta, California, hardly the best-known wine growing area out West. Then again, Petite Sirah, which is not to be confused with Syrah, is not the best known wine grape. Years ago, I remember tasting light, fruity, altogether pleasant wines made from Petit Sirah. So I was surprised by the gorgeous, deep red-violet color of this one with its rich, voluptuous mouth feel and a bouquet full of what Carol Berman, Food Talk sommelier, calls “black fruit, including blueberry mingled with subtle spices that draws you right in.” It’s “full of lush fruit on the palate,” she goes on to say, “and wonderfully balanced and held together by soft tannins.” [more]
Wednesday, April 4, 2001
Chocolate Mousse Sponge
My dear friend Rozanne Gold has done it again, written a cookbook that is sheer genius. And I don’t exaggerate just because I love her like a sister. She’s written another three-ingredient cookbook in which she manages to rend full flavor, contemporary style, and, in this case, healthful dishes from what seems like nothing. [more]
Tuesday, April 3, 2001
Cabbage and Matzoh Farfel
Back in 1993, I must have conducted a “Passover Favorites” recipe contest, which was probably a promotion for one of my sponsors. (Who can remember?) Because, looking through my Passover files last week, I found a slew of recipes submitted by listeners that were marked “My Passover Favorite.” I wish I could remember what the winning recipe was. Maybe one of you can. At any rate, this was one of those that appealed to me most – last week, not back then. It’s something different for me. We never made such a thing in my family. However, it is very traditional. It was sent to me by Shelley Smith of Mahopac, who tells me that it was her Hungarian grandmother’s, by way of her recently deceased mother, Dorothy Kalish. That make sense. My paternal grandmother, who had a part Hungarian background, made cabbage with noodles, to which this dish is akin. Indeed, when I told Shelley this, she told me that her grandmother also made this with noodles when it wasn’t for Passover. [more]
Monday, April 2, 2001
Philadelphia's The Book and The Cook
I’m just back from Philadelphia’s The Book and The Cook, the original and still largest event of this type. What is it? Cookbook authors from all over the country go to Philadelphia to host dinners held in restaurants where food from their books is featured. There is also a “fair” at which some of the authors do cooking demonstrations and/or sign books, of course meeting the public at the same time. These demos and signings are set up in the Philadelphia Convention Center where there are also booths representing food and cookware companies. Kitchen Aid has become a major sponsor in recent years, so there’s a kitchen appliance display, among many others. [more]
