Entries tagged with 'Seriously Italian'
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"Dark and spicy, with touches of smoke and leather, chestnut honey is complex, mysterious, and nuanced." Previously Fig and Almond Cookies » All Seriously Italian recipes » Autumn in Italy means chestnuts are everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. Chestnut trees observe no regional boundaries in Italy, and at this time of year, outdoor markets are piled high with the local crop and the smell of roasted chestnuts fills the air. And where chestnut trees abound, so does chestnut honey. The gift of chestnut honey arrives a bit earlier than the chestnuts themselves; mid to late summer is the time for chestnut honey to be harvested. But the chill of autumn is always the time that I crave chestnut honey,...
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Ricotta salata is riding a wave of new popularity. I like to think of it as a punctuation mark for both the eye and the palate. Position it strategically to call attention to the juicy sweetness of peas, shallots, watermelon and tomato, or the syrupy, honey-like quality of raisins, roasted butternut squash and parsnips.
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Melons are in their peak season right now, inexpensive, plentiful, and full of sweet promise. The cantaloupes I’ve lugged home for the last two weeks have been wondrous—intensely floral, sugar-sweet juice bombs that are an easy way to flex some Italian muscle. Italians have a particular fondness for cantaloupe and its cousins. A large platter of fragrant, sliced melone is a popular and refreshing end to a meal in just about every region. In Lombardia or Emilia Romagna it may be garnished with a grind of aromatic nutmeg or a dribble of aceto balsamico; in Rome, it might receive a shower of fresh mint, and in Sicily, a sprinkle of sea salt. The classic pairing before dinner is prosciutto...
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Editor's note: On Thursdays, Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma checks in with Seriously Italian. After a stint in Rome, she's back in the States, channeling her inner Italian spirit via recipes and intel on delicious Italian eats. Take it away, Gina! Photo from effe8 on Flickr I couldn’t help it. They were calling to me: black, shiny, bulgingly beautiful eggplants, piled high at the market. Magnifica! The skin was so smooth and glossy, I could have reapplied my lip gloss in its reflection. Sometimes a vegetable beckons in unexpected ways, compelling and beguiling. I lost my head and loaded up. Mom rolled her eyes when I got home. “That’s a lot of eggplant.” She was right; I went overboard, and...
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Editor's note: On Thursdays, Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma checks in with Seriously Italian. After a stint in Rome, she's back in the States, channeling her inner Italian spirit via recipes and intel on delicious Italian eats. Take it away, Gina! Fregola is a unique, rolled semolina pasta from the Sardinian region of Cagliari. It is most often compared to the large, pearly Israeli couscous, but I see it as way more exciting. Made with coarse semolina, fregola—or fregula—lacks the polished finish of Israeli couscous; it is misshapen and has a nubby, rough texture that makes it perfect for sopping up and conducting the flavors of sauce and broth. Another key flavor element is the toasting. After the simple dough...
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Editor's note: On Thursdays, Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma checks in with Seriously Italian. After a stint in Rome, she's back in the States, channeling her inner Italian spirit via recipes and intel on delicious Italian eats. Take it away, Gina! Alto Adige is Italy’s northern-most province, anchored by the cosmopolitan city of Bolzano, sharing a long border and a powerful cultural connection with neighboring Austria. Also known as Südtirol, or South Tyrol, the land fluctuated between Austrian and Italian control at the turn of the last century, finally becoming part of Italy after World War I. Speck is the most treasured food product of the Südtirol, a distinctly flavored, smoked, cured ham that represents well the character of Alto...
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Editor's note: On Thursdays, Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma checks in with Seriously Italian. After a stint in Rome, she's back in the States, channeling her inner Italian spirit via recipes and intel on delicious Italian eats. Take it away, Gina! Any serious student of Italian cuisine understands the relationship that Italians have with leafy greens. I can’t remember an evening meal, with my family or when I lived in Italy, without a pile of garlicky greens on the side; it could be dandelion, swiss chard, escarole, chicory, or my very favorite, spinach. Spinach in Italy is beautiful: deep green, with an almost velvety appearance, and a distinctive, mineral-rich flavor. It only needs a minimalist approach to make it completely...
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Note: On Thursdays, Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma checks in with Seriously Italian. After a stint in Rome, she's back in the States, channeling her inner Italian spirit via recipes and intel on delicious Italian eats. Take it away, Gina! Mulino Bianco is like the Keebler of Italy. Named after a mythical White Mill depicted on the logo—a pastoral setting from the Italian countryside—the brand offers a dizzying array of yummy crackers, grissini, toasts, cookies and breakfast goodies. In the Italian supermercato, the Mulino Bianco aisle takes up a considerable amount of real estate, for good reason. One of my favorite Mulino Bianco treats are Abbracci. Translated as an embrace or hug, these cookies are a variation on the vanilla-on-chocolate...
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Note: On Thursdays, Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma checks in with Seriously Italian. After a stint in Rome, she's back in the States, channeling her inner Italian spirit via recipes and intel on delicious Italian eats. Take it away, Gina! Last week, there was some scuttle on my Twitter timeline about fresh mint. It all started when @ruthreichl tweeted something she picked up from my friend Chris Cosentino of Incanto Restaurant in San Francisco; @offalchris told her that mint was the most widely used herb in Italy. How could that be true? The consensus was that surely basil or rosemary must hold that crown. I’m solidly with Chris on this one. Mint is indeed a universal ingredient in Italian cooking,...
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Editor's note: On Thursdays, Babbo pastry chef Gina DePalma checks in with Seriously Italian. After a stint in Rome, she's back in the States, channeling her inner Italian spirit via recipes and intel on delicious Italian eats. Take it away, Gina! Pecorino from Pienza tastes different from that made in Maremma, which is distinctive from what you find in Chianti, and so on. My mouth is watering for Pecorino Toscano this week, probably because I featured it in the dessert I prepared at the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival last weekend. Not that I needed a reminder—we’ve always featured this DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta, or Protected Designation of Origin) sheep’s milk cheese on our menu at Babbo, and...
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