Life...Italian Style

Umbria vs. Ireland: The St. Patrick's Day Challenge

(photo: Soda "Cake", Irish Soda Bread, Torta al Testo)

This time of year my Irish roots always always get the better of me and I find myself craving a pint of Guinness, beef stew, and Irish Soda Bread.  It's one of those "expat" holidays that I have learned to just keep to myself.  When I happily proclaim to my neighbors that it is indeed St. Patrick's Day, they look at me like I have three heads.  When I go to the "pub" and order a Guinness, it comes out looking like a Coca-Cola.

Anyway, in my annual research of Irish Soda Bread recipes, this year I stumbled upon The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread.  Let me tell you, these people mean business!  The site is full of interesting tidbits about the history of this controversial bread.  Why is it controversial?  Well, first of all, it is not supposed to be sweet!  Any additives such as eggs, raisins, sugar, orange zest, whisky etc., and you no longer have Irish Soda Bread, you have Soda "Cake" (which is what I always made...)!

So what is the real Irish Soda Bread?  Well, as it happens, it is not a far cry from Umbria's own Torta al Testo (obviously la torta is flat like a pizza, but the idea is the same).  Flour, baking soda, salt... and because it is Ireland, a healthy dose of buttermilk instead of our ubiquitous olive oil.  In the olden days it was cooked in a bastible pot (or dutch oven) with coals placed above and below the pot - just like the southern Umbrian version of Torta al Testo, Pizza sotto il Fuoco.  Makes sense:  2 agricultural lands, covered in rolling green hills, both steeped in the traditions of peasant cooking.... 

Therefore, tonight I will feast on Irish Beef Stew with a nice stout and Irish Soda Bread.  Tomorrow.... Spezzatino di Manzo (beef stew), a bottle of Torgiano Rosso and Torta al Testo.  Salute!... or... Sláinte!

(photo:  Irish Soda Bread and Torta al Testo with their respective cooking vessels.)

The REAL Irish Soda Bread recipe (from The Society for the Preservation of ISB):

4 cups of all purpose flour.
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt
14 oz of buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425 F. degrees.  Lightly crease and flour a cake pan.

In a large bowl sieve and combine all the dry ingredients.

Add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough.  Place on floured surface and lightly knead (too much allows the gas to escape)

Shape into a round flat shape in a round cake pan and cut a cross in the top of the dough.

Cover the pan with another pan and bake for 30 minutes (this simulates the bastible pot).  Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

The bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped so show it is done.

Cover the bread in a tea towel and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth to keep the bread moist.

 

 

Sagra-landia

Here's a copy of the guest post I did for Silvia Ceriegi of Trippando!

It’s that time of year again, when small towns in Umbria (and the rest of Italy) literally explode with festivals. Some are music festivals, some are art festivals, some are religious festivals, but my favorites are the food festivals, le sagre.

 So how do you find a sagra?

While you are taking a stroll through town, look around! Posters are usually plastered all over the walls of piazzas boasting the lastest party.

How do you know which ones are good?

I judge a sagra based on organizzation, activities, and general atmosphere, but the golden rule is this: I go “dove si mangia bene,” in other words, where you eat well. Now, there are hundreds of sagras around – some are obviously for kids, like the Sagra della Nutella, some have nothing to do with anything – like the Sagra della Tequila (I’m not making that up!) and some are just plain out of season – like the Sagra della Ciliegia (cherry) which tends to go on a month before cherries are in season (where are they getting their cherries, I wonder???).

So how do you choose? Let common sense be your guide: are you in Norcia in the fall/winter season? Then you can bet that if there is a mushroom or truffle sagra a) you’re in the right place, in the right season, and b) its a local product, so c) it must be good! Still not sure? Grab an older citizen of the town you are in, point to a poster and ask “si mangia bene?” If they nod yes, you are good to go… if they nod no, no worries, people here tend to be full of opinions about food, so they will surely point you in the right direction!

How do they work?

Every sagra is different, and sometimes it can be confusing even to Italians…but most work like this:

1. Bring a pen – you will need it

 2. Look for a long line in front of a booth with a sign Cassa – this is usually where you order and pay.

3. Get a menu – usually there is a table somewhere in front of the cassa with menus scattered around on it. Here is where your pen comes in – check the boxes next to each item that you want to order – its usually 1 menu per table so if you want more than one of something, just fill in the box with a number.

4. Find a table – after you’ve waited in line and ordered and paid, the real challenge awaits – finding a table! We usually split up, so while one person is ordering the food, the other goes hunting for a good spot.

Here’s a little tip: if you see a sweet little old lady sitting by herself at a long empty table, don’t even bother to ask if there is space available as she has been sent on a mission by the younger members of her family to guard their places (usually about 2 tables worth). If you even look twice at those empty seats, that sweet little old lady will practically jump on the table and shoot flames out of her eyes at you to defend her spot!… just keep looking…

5. Once you have a seat, look for a server. The servers are always local volunteers and tend to range in age from 5-15, and then 80+. They will then take your reciept and disappear until the food is ready. Don’t be surprised if dessert comes out with your antipasti, or they just bring everything all together – that’s just the way it is!

…And then???

Just when you feel like you are about to explode from eating and drinking, the band starts up and everyone hits the dancefloor! This will explain some of the “outfits” you may have seen as the dress code tends to go from summer casual shorts and t-shirts to clubbing-all-night gear to elegant gala ensembles. Those better dressed individuals will be strutting there stuff all night long, dancing to everything from old italian folk tunes to YMCA – don’t be afraid to join in!

My personal favorites….

Here’s my shortlist of what I consider to be the best sagras in the central Umbrian Valley:

1. Sagra della Porchetta in Costano: this is a whole hog sagra – you can eat everything: roasted ear and foot, braised tripe, liver, salumi, the list goes on… 

2. Sagra della Lumaca in Cantalupo: this little snail sagra stays near and dear to my heart as it was the first sagra I ever went to in Italy and still continues to be my favorite – my husband and I even had them cook their famous roasted snails at our wedding!

3. Festa della Cipolla in Cannara: this is the big daddy of sagras, and all to celebrate the humble onion! This sagra has everthing: a market which winds through the town, art shows, multiple concerts every night, the onion disco pub, and 6 different stands where you can eat – my favorite is La Taverna del Castello – they make the best onion parmigiana around… and don’t forget the onion cream-filled doughnuts for dessert!

Corn, Corn everywhere, but not a Kernel to Eat!

It cracks me up when my neighbors pull me over to tell me something “top secret.”  This time it was about corn….well not just corn, which is called mais, but Granturco… a whole other world. 

Anyway, I had asked my neighbor if he had any zucchini (as he works a small vegetable garden daily).  He said he didn’t, but then pulled me over so that no one else would hear…and he said in a hushed voice… “oh – I’ve got some Gran Turco – do you eat gran turco?”  Apparently he had planted a few rows for his son (because he likes to eat it) - but the whole operation seemed pretty covert... I don't know why no one can know about the corn, since no one here eats it... I'll just chalk it up to another of Cannara's many mysteries....

So of course I responded yes, because I’ve learned that if you ever turn anything down that’s free, you don’t get offered anything else in these parts.  Then my neighbor explained to me that its not like the corn that I’m used to eating, (ie sweet, tender, and delicious), but its better…  I know what that means – the usual corn that you find around here – corn for polenta (not really for eating).  As I’ve previously written, people around here don’t eat fresh corn.  You can just forget about finding something like Jersey Silver Queen – its either a variety for animal feed or for polenta making (or unfortunately for biomass  - but that’s another topic…). 

As my neighbor’s wife had been listening (purely for gossip puposes) to our conversation, a bag of corn was immediately tossed down to us from the window above.  So I went home to make dinner.  I would call this “late-harvest corn” as the husks were already pretty dried out – not a good sign… So my first plan of attack was to boil it.  Italians love to boil (the crap out of) everything so I figured this was the best way to go.  After about 20 minutes, the Granturco was unbelieveably still a little “al dente,” so I decided to puree it – but it woudn’t puree – it was still too chunky… So I mixed in a leftover boiled potato, an egg and some bread crumbs and tried to make a corn cake out of it.  Boiled, pureed, and fried – I finally got something edible – but it was actually better the next day, as the time spent in the refrigerator softened the corn considerably - that must be the trick.... 

Result:  another corn on the cobless summer….

Stracciatella Affogatto al Caffe': The Anti-Capp

 

Well, I’ve done it!   I’ve cracked the code.  I should get an award or something from the general Italian population.  I figured out a way to get tourists (specifically Americans) to stop drinking cappuccinos in the afternoon.  Now, I’m not a total snob…I lived in Seattle, the coffee drinking capital of the world (probably), and I have spend many an afternoon walking around with a double-tall latte in hand…but that was America.  I don’t live there anymore.  I live in Italy.  Its a different country, a different culture.  And here in Italy, the culture dictates that one does not drink cappuccino after breakfast.

The responses are always the same.  Its either: “but I like my cappuccinos after lunch (or worse yet, dinner)…” or “Italian espresso is just too strong!”.  Its the second response that really gets me… Lets just compare some quick facts.  A standard double shot of “insert brand here” espresso contains 150 mg of caffeine and a tall drip coffee contains 260 mg of caffeine!  Compare that to a standard european shot of espresso which contains between 40 and 70 mg max of caffeine (depending on how short or long one takes their coffee).  Now, I’ve realized that when I tried to explain this to people, no one really cares – they still want their cappuccino… I’ve tried to get people to just suck it up and drink an espresso, I’ve tried to meet them half-way – “you can get a caffe’ macchiato – its like a baby cappuccino,” but nothing works…

So last week I was sitting outside of L’Alchimista in Montefalco on a hot early summer day, winding down after lunch, and, of course, I started to see the cappuccinos float by… (it literally makes me shrink down into my seat in embarrassment for my country)… then I start to hear the rumblings from my little group of Americani – they want cappuccinos too! NOOOO!!!

Then it came to me!  What has basically the same ingredients as a cappuccino, but better;  is absolutely 100% culturally acceptable; and actually makes sense (do you really want to drink a hot cappuccino after a big lunch on a hot day??!?).  Now you may be thinking Shakerato, but that doesn’t really fit the bill… its stracciatella affogatto al caffe’!:  a small scoop of gelato (stracciatella is basically milk flavor gelato with bits of chocolate) with a shot of espresso poured over it.  So simple, so perfect, and who wouldn’t agree that ice cream is better than cappuccino?  At the end its a win-win for everyone:  I wasn’t embarassed, they didn’t get glared at by the locals, and the trip went on happily-ever-after with the perfect ice cream/coffee substitute!

March 17, 2011

Today is St. Patrick's Day, but this year the Italians have unknowingly usurped the big day to celebrate (for the 1st time...) the unification of Italy - this year being the 150th anniversary (better late than never...). So to celebrate the eve of March 17, for dinner last night, the Italians brought antipasti including pizza with the flag of Italy (which reversed could be the flag of Ireland), and I provided Stout-braised beef, Irish Soda Bread, and of course, Guinness .... followed by grappa....

Its Official....

 After over 3 years of living in Italy, I am officially an official resident!  Why did it take so long???  Well my permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay) was at the police station, just sitting there waiting for me to get it for almost a year... I was just supposed to know to go and get it by telepathy, I guess...(with my first permesso, I received something in the mail and a text message to tell me that it had arrived  - it had arrived expired, but it was there...)  Then I applied for residency here in our little commune of Cannara last May, but the police kind of forgot to process my papers until now... I'm sure they were just busy - I can imagine that there must be tons of things to do in a town with a population of 4000......

Anyway, now the big question is what to do with it?  Like most things that have to do with documentation, or technology, etc., Italy is about 50 years behind.   They actually used a glue stick to stick on the photo inside accompanied by four little metal ring stamps to hold it in place!  Plus, this thing is big - no slick little credit card size documents to fit in your wallet, no sir - this thing is about 3x4 inches - does not fit anywhere.  And its just paper, so its obviously going to deteriorate like any other receipt or paper document that you may have living in your wallet.  So....what to do?  The uptight american in me wanted to laminate it immediately...but after living here for 3 years, I know what exactly what to do - the italian thing to do - what everyone else has done - fold it in half, stick it somewhere in my wallet, and watch it slowly fall apart over the next 10 years until its time for a new one.

A Simple Thanksgiving for 50

Choosing which holiday to spend in which country can be difficult, but after 3 years, I've got it down:

Christmas: USA - Umbria is so lacking in Christmas spirit that it makes me almost miss the commercialism of America, plus, you can't beat shopping the Christmas sales when you are buying with the Euro! 

New Years: Italy - I love the big multi-multi-multi course end of the year dinner! (skip the cotechino though....)

Easter: could go either way - I can definitely live without Easter breakfast in Umbria - a hard boiled egg, salami, lamb-innard stew (which I like, but not first thing in the morning), and the dry dry dry Pizza di Pasqua, which looks like a delicious cheese brioche, but its the driest, worst bread in the world.  Lunch/dinner is another story - whole baby lamb or goat roasted over the fire, fried artichokes, more innard stew, and lots of other good stuff! However, I do like a good honey baked ham, easter baskets, and all things easter bunny!

4th of July:  another either way - obviously the spirit lies in America, but its fun to try to recreate here in Itay - plus it gives Italians a chance to eat a real burger, not the weird gross little patty things they have here.  (and of course the burgers are good - Americans only know how to cook and eat hamburgers anyway, right? McDonalds, right???)

Halloween:  USA - its a new holiday here - and there are no mini-Snickers.

Thanksgiving is one of the holidays that I don't mind spending abroad, because I've found that Italians get just as excited about it as we do.  Who doesn't love the sight of a giant stuffed turkey???  This year at Trattoria Basilikó we even had a turkey carving race!

Here's what you need to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for 50 in Italy:

• 45 pounds of turkey
• 2 old hens for broth
• 10 pounds of butter (unheard of in olive oil-only umbria)
• 12 liters of heavy cream
• 3 loaves of Pugliese style bread - the saltless bread of umbria will not work for stuffing
• 13 pounds of cippollini from Cannara for creamed onions
• 25 pounds of potatoes for mash (actually, more - Italians eat mashed potatoes like they are going out of style)
• 11 pounds of brussel sprouts - special request item
• 10 pounds of sweet potatoes, or "American Potatoes"  - another special request item - and they only have the white kind
• 20 pounds of whatever root vegetables you can find - difficult because everything has the same name - rape (RA-pay)
• cranberry sauce - sent from USA - enough for personal use only - the thought of eating any kind of jelly with meat makes Italians absolutely sick!
• 6 cans of pumpkin puree - also sent from USA - there is no differentiating between different kinds of squash here in umbria - every type is called zucca - trying to ask for butternut or delicata or kabocha is futile - don't even try for sugar pie pumpkins - if they exist here, they exist only to be carved on halloween!
• a good egg nog recipe - the Italians were so-so about the egg nog, some liked it, some just didn't get it - the only person who loved it (and finished off everone's glass at her table) was a tall, thin, model-like girl from Romania - you never know!

Why Didn't McCain Pick Me???

I don't get it - I'm just as qualified as Sarah Palin, if not more so...lets look at the facts:

1. I am a 30-something woman (more appeal to that 10-18 year old demographic)
2. I have been a resident of 2 major American cities - Philadelphia (pop 1.5 million), and Seattle (pop 600,000 - small town values), representing the East and West coasts of our fair nation.
3. I am not registered Democrat or Republican, so I can attract those swing voters.
4. I was an entrepeneur and successful small business owner - and I repeat, a woman.
5. When I lived in Seattle, I was very active in my community to stop the addition of more parking meters in my neighborhood that would have taken away valueable parking spaces from the residents - this was a big win!
6.  I like polar bears - Sarah just wants them out of the way so she can put in her pipelines that will bring oil to the lower 48 for about 48 days.
7. I am a proud mother of 2 cats, whom I rescued from the dangerous Mean Streets of Foligno.
8. I live in a foreign country, therefore my foreign policy experience is much greater than that of Palin.
9. I am a Taurus - the best sign - characterized by determination, stability, drive for success, and stubborness -its my way or the highway -that's how we should be running this country.
10. I am a good cook, so we can cut need for the White House chef out of the budget, saving the taxpayers thousands...
11. And, most importantly...I am a woman (see points 1 and 4)

See the Huffington Post for more information about why McCain thinks that American women are really stupid.

When planning a 4th of July party...

...or any other American holiday, it helps to remember the items that don't exist in Italy - or at least, are really hard to find...

• brown sugar
• vanilla extract
• celery seeds
• american beer other than Bud
• and the good ziplocs

Can't wait for the "great american cranberry hunt" this november!

But will there be a Turkey???

ahhhh...the burning question these days.....

I am planning to have a 4th of July party at Basilikó this year just for fun, and because lots of our customers are curious to try "real American food."  However, 90% of Italians that I have spoken with seem to think that no American holiday is complete without that mythical "Thanksgiving Day Turkey" - its the stuff dreams are made of  - and they all want to try it.

Now that I have a pretty good grasp on the language here, once people discover that I am american, they love to shower me with every possible stereotype that they know of, to show just how much they know about american culture and history.  Just to be clear, these are people who have never set foot in the United States, let alone have left Umbria.  Some of the most popluar, and my favorites:

1. the streets really are paved with gold!  they think all americans are rich - I constantly have to explain that most American tourists who visit Italy represent a very small part of the population, and are, in fact, a little better off than everbody else.
2. stickin' with that gold theme - the golden arches of McDonalds - my customers can't even imagine how I learned how to cook so well having only been in Italy for 1 1/2 years, and having grown up only eating "fast food" my whole life.  When I say that I have been cooking in restaurants for 10 years, and that the food in america can be really good, I get a confused look...
3. we have a great healthcare system in america just like in italy.  I don't have time here to comment
4. America is roughly the same size as Italy - they can't fathom that their country is about the same size as California, one of 50 other states - look at a map!!!
5. this one is great - over heard by my partner Cristiana in a pizzeria:  instead of water faucets, Americans now have Strawberry Coca-Cola faucets in their homes...cherry coke, maybe...but strawberry - does it even exist??? ;-)
6. America is a place of constant change for the good of everyone - a true democracy.  I'm not going to argue that things happen in America a lot faster than they happen in Italy, but we have had a monkey accompanied by the devil reincarnate in office for the past 8 years, and have managed to create another war without end or sense...seems like we are moving backwards.  Here in italy, the government wasn't working, so they just ended it and changed - no endless waiting like us (whether its good or not is subjective, of course, but its at least change).
7. and the giant turkey its on everybodys table, every holiday.  If I have Thanksgiving dinner at the restaurant, there is sure to be a line out the door.  And there are going to be a lot of disappointed faces this turkey-less 4th of July...