Almost Italian: A Cookbook & History of Italian Food in America

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That link is very important. Before I could speak Italian, I would just listen to the way people in a family kitchen would argue about what to do with a recipe. Your next book, by an American, focuses exclusively on the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. Why is this region so important? Bologna is where you have bollito misto , which is mixed boiled meats. You serve it with lentils and salsa verde. There are some books for when you are in a hurry and want to do something quick, but when I really have time to cook and make a long, slow recipe, this is the book I go for.

You commented earlier about your experience of Italian food growing up in America, that it was chiefly from southern Italy and quite heavy. Has northern Italian food now grown in popularity in the US?

In New York you can definitely find more regional Italian. There are Roman restaurants as well as Florentine and Venetian. It is much more sophisticated now.

Marcella Hazan really is a teacher. She is a very disciplined and thorough chef. She takes you through each step and really cares about the way you go through a dish.

I also love the drawings in this book. She revolutionised Italian cooking for a very wide audience. She has been credited with starting the craze for balsamic vinegar, which some people say is now overused. If you were going to gift books to someone who wanted to start cooking Italian food, they would get a very good grounding with Marcella Hazan and Elizabeth David.

Recipes and Stories from the 'Little Italy' Communities Across America

I wanted to choose a really regional cookbook because I am so interested in regional cooking. This one is about Rome, a city that I love. The most distinctive thing about Roman food is the meat. They use spinal cords — all parts of the animal. One of my favourite dishes of all time is something called vignole , which is artichokes, broad beans and peas.

Almost Italian: A Cookbook & History of Italian Food in America

The food in Rome is quite tough. There are other great books on Rome but I came across this one recently and started to use it. Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books or even just what you say about them please email us at editor fivebooks.

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Damona rated it it was amazing Apr 07, Richard Holms rated it liked it Apr 11, Canoe41 marked it as to-read Oct 24, Linden Priest added it Sep 04, Katherine marked it as to-read May 07, Toriana Zeyzus marked it as to-read May 18, Sharon Gray marked it as to-read Jul 13, Robert Beveridge marked it as to-read Sep 04, Michelle marked it as to-read Aug 24, John Aceto marked it as to-read Aug 28, Anna added it Sep 22, Sharil marked it as to-read Jan 13, Hoss marked it as to-read Jan 23, Jennica marked it as to-read Oct 04, Nick Titone added it Jan 02, I like to use anchovy fillets, garlic and dried chilli.

Heat a good glug of EV olive oil in a wide and deep frying pan and add this mixture, stirring about to break up the anchovy. Add some greens to the pan- I like to use broccoli Calabrese, a side shooting broccoli that is even finer than broccolini and cooks in a minute, a few young leaves of cavolo nero and some immature zucchini cut into the same shape as the other greens. Toss these about for a few minutes, then add a ladleful or two of the pasta cooking water. Raise the heat to reduce the liquid a little. Once the pasta is al dente, drain it and add it to the pan of greens.

Toss about and season with ground pepper. Serve in big bowls and dress with grated Parmigiano or more good oil, or leave it as is.

No quantities are mentioned in the recipe. This recipe only works because the greens in question were picked 20 minutes beforehand. Lettuce, chicory, chard, shaved young artichoke- whatever you can find or forage. The annual garlic crop has been harvested and is hanging out to dry for a month, though a few young specimens have made their way into the kitchen. Organic Australian garlic tastes superb: Some get plaited but most are stored in a dark spot for the season. Christmas baking odours permeate my kitchen as dried fruits soak in brandy for a day or a week, followed by the slow baking of fruit cakes, evoking memories of an another time.

ALMOST ITALIAN – Food, Photography and Travels

Our loganberries are in full flush, picking a kilo a day is enough at a time. The peaches are about to ripen while the netting of apples, nectarines and pears has come early this year. Meanwhile, the markets are full of mangoes, apricots and cherries. I love the way my loaves take on individual characteristics when baking. Perfectly imperfect but always so tasty. This lovely bunch of roses arrived to dress my kitchen table a few weeks ago, courtesy of my dear friend Diane, a rose aficionado and dedicated gardener.

Pierre de Ronsard is a joy to behold.

See a Problem?

Your immediate inclination is to sniff a rose, but Pierre De Ronsard is not known for its sweet perfume. Its romance lies in the shape and delicate colour. Each bloom is said to hold petals.

I am determined to grow this lovely climber next year. I love fresh flowers throughout the house: A singular stem of a leek in flower, a bunch of flowering chives or mauve blossomed sage, herbs and weeds also look lovely. Thanks once again to Sherry for hosting this series. And finally, I must mention a food related link this month- a thought-provoking article from The Angry Chef.

And a few links to my December IMK posts from past years. Same same but different? There was nothing appetising or appealing about cooked greens in the Australian kitchens of the s and 60s. All the culinary devotion was given to the meat, the centre piece of all our meals except on Fridays. The range of greens was fairly limited and included beans, peas, cabbage, brussel sprouts and lettuce, that is, iceberg lettuce. Broccoli, broccoletti, cima di rape, kale, cavolo nero, fennel, asparagus, broad beans, radicchio, bok choy, chinese broccoli, choy sum, wong bok and the vast variety of lettuces came to Australia much later.

Silverbeet appeared occasionally, always served under a blanket of bechamel. Parsley was the main herb grown, the curly variety used to decorate scrambled eggs or a casserole, never featuring in its own right as a pesto or in tabouleh. Basil Genovese was still to make itself known and loved, followed by Thai and Greek basil.

Talking to: Domenica Marchetti, Food Writer and Cookbook Author

All the greens of the world have their moment of glory in my garden and I would be lost without them. Most grow wild now. They are the star of many a dish, or are the inspiration for others. These silverbeet and haloumi fritters were popular for lunch. They are fast and easy to prepare. Some oil softened onion could be a good addition to the mix. I always keep a tub of brined Haloumi in the fridge and find that buying it bulk in a Middle Eastern store is economical. A big tub lasts a year. Grate the haloumi on a box grater large hole into a bowl. Remove the white stalks from the silver beet and finely shred then add to the bowl.

Save the stalks for a soup or gratin. Add the mint, lightly beaten eggs, and flour. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Scoop large tablespoons into the pan, and slightly flatten as you go. Gently turn to brown both sides and place them on a plate with paper towels to absorb the oil.

Serve with a lemon wedge or yoghurt. The broad beans starred in many a recipe during Spring, but this dish, also using haloumi, was popular. Shell the beans and cook briefly in a pot of boiling water for minutes. Drain and submerge them in cold water to stop the cooking. Remove the skins by popping the green centres out between your thumb and forefinger.

This is an easy but tedious task, and one I hand over to my kitchen hand, Signore Tranquillo, who is an uncomplaining soul. Smash most of the beans in a mortar and pestle, adding some finely chopped garlic, salt and pepper and a dash of olive oil. Meanwhile fry rectangular pieces of haloumi in hot oil. Prepare the serving dish with salad leaves, then the smashed fava beans, then the fried haloumi and torn mint leaves. I have a few more wonderful green dishes to share with you dear reader, but am waiting on one of my taste testers to give her final verdict on my latest silverbeet invention.

Until then, addio, and happy green cooking and I mean that literally. Lacking inspiration, I pour myself a drink, an encouraging white wine and immediately think of risotto, a dish that asks if it may share some of the bottle. There are tons of broadbeans fava beans and leeks in the garden and plenty of herbs: At other times, I do the common thing and google a few ingredients in the subject line, hoping for an instant answer, fully conscious of the fact that random internet recipes are unreliable and are simply another form of procrastination.

I often ask Mr T what he would like for dinner.

The Talisman Italian Cookbook

In our household the answer always comes back as a one word statement indicating a particular ethnic cuisine. Vietnamese is off my cooking list- I save that cuisine for at least one economical dining option when out and about. When Melburnians eat, they choose from a huge array of influences and are familiar enough with many cuisines to cook them confidently in their own kitchens. Sitting in the A1 Bakery yesterday, a cheap and cheerful Lebanese restaurant in a vibrant inner suburb, we were surrounded by Australian people of the world, dressed in all manner of clothing styles, from Hijab to Hipster.

The decor is eclectic and a little quirky. Above the counter stands a large statue of the Virgin Mary, draped in all her blue and white Catholic glory, an outfit not dissimilar to that worn by some of the customers, while displayed in front of her is a long row of 1 metre high golden hookahs. An odd assortment of pictures decorate the far walls: The place is always noisy and very busy. On a nearby table, a large group of girls are enjoying a shared lunch together: My next door neighbour in the city has just returned from her annual holiday in Greece.

For the last 22 years she has tried to teach me basic Greek. We chat in a mixture of broken English and, in my case, almost non-existent Greek — a case of trying to recognise as many Greek roots and suffixes or Italian sounding words, over a some warm Tiropsomo , a fetta cheese bread snack. Like a little bit of Ouzo, says Anna at any time of the day.

Oooh, my favourite Greek word: She pours herself a thimble full while I receive a good little glass, enough to change the flavour of the day. She is now 86 and I want to spend more time in her kitchen. Greek influence in my kitchen extends to old favourites such as Spanakopita , that famous greens and fetta pie, Gigantes , the best of bean dishes, home-made taramsalada and dolmades.

When I arrive at most parties, I usually reach for a glass of wine before perusing the food offerings. Barnadi is a chef who once ran a famous Indonesian restaurant, Djakarta. Lately, he has returned to his roots and is cooking more traditional Indonesian recipes. The first thing we checked out was the menu.

The food is fabulous and varied: He hopes to eat this well when he is elderly and so he cooks as if he were a guest at the table. These Aussies have Chinese, Malaysian, and Filipino backgrounds and I am so thankful for their loving care of my mother. Pantacce pasta is my new favourite shape. I have substituted pantacce, a pasta that resembles hand-made pasta when cooked.

I have also substituted a rich home made vegetable stock for the chicken stock in the original recipe. Either will do nicely. Add the potatoes and stir well. Add the lentils and the warm stock and cook for around minutes or until the lentils are tender and the potatoes have broken down. Season with salt and pepper.

While the lentils are cooking, cook the pasta pantacce in a separate pot of boiling salted water. When the lentils and potatoes are soft, add the tomato passata, stir through, then add the cooked pasta. The soup should now be quite rich and thick.

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