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The Ten Most Recent Posts By Gina DePalma
From Serious Eats
Posted by Gina DePalma, June 3, 2008 at 8:25 AM
From left: Frolla and sfoglia.
The conversation went something like this:
Friends: "We're going to Naples tomorrow."
Me: "Really?"
Friends: "Yes. Business. Do you want us to bring you back a sfogliatella?"
Me: "Of course. It is my favorite pastry, ever."
Friends: "Frolla or sfoglia?"
Me: "Both!"
Friends: "We knew you would say that."
When it comes to sfogliatella, this is an enduring and significant question among Neapolitans. Sfoglia, also known as riccia, refers to the shell-shaped version that most of us are familiar with, made with tissue-thin dough that is stretched and then rolled to create overlapping, irresistibly crisp layers. The frolla variation features soft, tender, flaky dough that literally melts in your mouth. Both pastries contain the same delicious filling, made from semolina, ricotta, sugar, cinnamon, eggs, and bits of candied citrus.
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From Serious Eats
Posted by Gina DePalma, May 27, 2008 at 8:00 AM
My Italian friends know well enough by now that any trip with me along for the ride, whether a stroll outside of my own neighborhood or a weekend visit out of town, must include a meaningful encounter with something sweet. It is an unspoken arrangement that works for everyone involved; I get my research done, and they get a chance to show off a hidden pastry gem that I probably wouldn't find on my own.
Such was the case this weekend, during an overnight visit to the tip of the Frosinone province, southwest of Rome. We ventured to the very top of the Ciociaria, a vast geographic swath that extends from Frosinone down to Naples. It is an area rich in history and gastronomic traditions, completely off the beaten path but filled with exciting discoveries.
Pasticceria Battisti is a sweet gem located in Ferentino, one of the principal towns of the Ciociaria. We were greeted with warm smiles and enticing aromas on a late Sunday afternoon, when the spring sun had started to retreat and locals were out and about, walking off the traditional Sunday family lunch. Everything we sampled was excellent, including tiny tartlets made from local, wild cherries, exquisite pasta mandorla, (tender, oval-shaped macaroons made from almond paste) and the most delicious examples I have found so far of Lazio's traditional cookies, tozzetti and ciambelle al vino.
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From Serious Eats
Posted by Gina DePalma, May 19, 2008 at 8:30 AM
Last week, I took a little lunchtime trip to Frascati, one of a handful of little towns in the Castelli Romani, a culturally rich area just southeast of Rome shadowed by the Alban Hills and dotted with volcanic lakes. Thanks to a direct commuter train, I was there in only 30 minutes, and at the very appealing price of €1.90 (US$2.96) each way.
Frascati is home to a number of grand villas built by some of Rome's most powerful and wealthy families as retreats from the city's sweltering streets. Most of Frascati's day tourists make a beeline straight from the train station to visit the elaborate gardens of Villa Aldobrandini (right), the largest of the estates. I headed in the opposite direction, climbing a steep stone staircase to get to the compact center of town.
After wandering up and down the narrow, cobbled streets, I reached the Piazza del Mercato. As the name implies, it is ringed with the kind of stores that meet the daily needs of residents: an alimentari, a few bakeries, the butcher shop, and a place for household odds and ends. But at the far end of the circular piazza, I paused, gasped, and beheld "Leda, La Regina della Porchetta."
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From Serious Eats
Posted by Gina DePalma, May 13, 2008 at 8:30 AM
In a city of numerous and terrific markets that are spread among wonderfully characteristic neighborhoods, it is almost hard to become attached to yet another one. But Rome's twice-monthly Organic Market has definitely won me over.
It takes place on the second and fourth Sunday of every month, which is more than enough to get excited about. If the timing is right, it is a relief to have a place to head for fresh produce on a day when everything else is shut down tight. The location is right, too, in a little piazza where some of the most characteristic streets of the Centro Storico converge, not far from the Campo de'Fiori.
Relaxed and Leisurely Pace
My first visit had a very relaxed vibe, especially compared to the usual frenzied commotion at every other market on Fridays and Saturdays, when everyone is scrambling to get their shopping done. Sundays are sacred for most Romans, reserved for relaxing or spending time with the family. Although this little market was buzzing, it wasn't too busy to have a leisurely chat with the organic producers who had traveled from all over Lazio, Umbria, and lower Tuscany, eager to answer questions or give me a sample to nibble.
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From Serious Eats
Posted by Gina DePalma, May 6, 2008 at 10:45 AM
"Come hungry, and bring money. Lots and lots of money."
My visit to Torino last month would not have been complete without a stop at Eataly, the grand and glorious emporium dedicated to the finest foods and gastronomic traditions of Italy. A short taxi ride from the center of the city brought me to the more working-class area of town where Eataly sits, framed by views of the Alps and across the street from the original Fiat factory complex.
Let me start by saying that I am not crazy about the name. When I first read the news of Eataly Torino’s grand opening in 2006, my first reaction was that it sounded like a cool place with a lame name. I still can’t say I’m entirely comfy with it, but once I got inside, they could have called it Foodaly and I wouldn’t have cared.
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From Serious Eats
Posted by Gina DePalma, April 29, 2008 at 8:30 AM
It is nearly impossible to visit Torino without having a deep, personal encounter with chocolate in some way, shape, or form. Solid chocolate was born in the city toward the end of the 18th century, and today its aroma wafts through the air inside pastry shops and beckons from elaborately decorated window displays. There are oodles of places to worship chocolate in Torino, but during a recent whirlwind trip I was most excited about visiting the bottega of Guido Gobino. The elegant, wood-paneled shop on Via Lagrange presents a traditional setting for handmade chocolates with a decidedly modern edge.
Enter the shop and your eyes are immediately drawn to the display of tiny, molded chocolates filled with different flavors of ganache and decorated with touches of color; a dusting of spice or a sprinkling of pulverized nuts give clues to the flavors enclosed. Peperoncino, mint, hazelnut, and orange were each delectable, and my friend Jay and I nearly swooned when we tasted the ganache flavored with Barolo Chinato.
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From Recipes
Posted by Gina DePalma, April 22, 2008 at 8:30 AM
The markets of Rome are always ablaze with color, but as the weather gets warmer and the variety of produce grows, the vivid hues have intensified. This past Saturday at the Campo de’Fiori was a riot of spring colors, but it was the reds that leapt out and grabbed my attention.
Locals elbowed wide-eyed tourists for space and the usual Italian cluster mobs had formed, but the hand-to-hand mortal combat wasn’t enough to distract me from seeing red at every turn, bright and deep, from pink to purple. The last of the apples were being nudged by baskets of tiny fragole di bosco, or wild forest strawberries, delicate, variegated Radicchio di Castelfranco nodded to me in the breeze, and tomatoes of every shape and size from Sicily screamed of juicy ripeness.
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From Serious Eats
Posted by Gina DePalma, April 15, 2008 at 8:30 AM
My friends and I set out for our day in Abruzzo on a rainy, foggy, downright chilly morning in Rome. It was a straight shot out on the autostrada, and within 40 minutes we had hit the Abruzzese border, bidding Lazio farewell in order to immerse ourselves in the foods, sights, and countryside of a region that is blissfully off the well-beaten tourist track.
In no time we reached Sulmona, a pretty little city known as the birthplace of the Roman poet Ovid and the home of the candies known as confetti. The rain had stopped and bits of sky were starting to peek out of the low-hanging clouds. I was told that the entire city would be filled with the sweet aroma of the confetti factories but I wasn't prepared for the overwhelming perfume of wisteria, as the sun gradually emerged and warmed the blossoming vines. The mountains revealed themselves from behind the fog, the smell of wood-burning stoves pierced the air, and the bustling little town suddenly came alive.
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From Recipes
Posted by Gina DePalma, April 7, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Italians have an undeserved reputation for hammering vegetables to a fault, an accusation most often leveled at us by the" tender-crisp" camp. While I agree that cooking vegetables to the point of disintegration can be yucky, I think undercooked veggies are an insult to the vegetal world. Too many fine, deserving vegetables suffer an inconsequential position in a meal by being left in a slightly crisp state of unfulfilled flavor that no sauce can rescue.
Asparagus are the perfect example of a vegetable that needs a good long hammering (ahem) in a hot oven. Sorry, fans of tender-crisp, but I really dislike waterlogged, boiled asparagus, and steaming them renders them equally tasteless. If you don't believe me, bite into a "tender-crisp," steamed asparagus spear—no cheating with mayo, please—and tell me if any fireworks go off.
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From Serious Eats
Posted by Gina DePalma, April 1, 2008 at 3:00 PM
1. Butchers
I love Italian butchers. I have never met an unfriendly macellaio, anywhere. Most Italian food purveyors are happy and even eager to talk about their goods, but my butcher has an amazing amount of interest in what I will do with the 1/2 kilo of whatever I just ordered. This is especially true when I demonstrate an inadequate thirst for his knowledge. If the right questions about my veal or lamb or sausages aren’t posed, my butcher will ask me what he suspects I need to know, then gallantly and gently coming to the rescue when I have revealed exactly how clueless I am, and showing genuine happiness if I prove to be on the right track.
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The Ten Most Recent Comments By Gina DePalma
Responses to Comments by Gina DePalma
Website: http://www.ginadepalma.net
Location: New York, NY and occasionally, Rome, Italy
About: I've been the Pastry Chef of Babbo Restaurant and Enoteca for the past ten years, and my cookbook, Dolce Italiano was published in October of 2007. Right now, I'm researching book number two in Italy, and am the Rome correspondent for Serious Eats
Favorite foods: anything lemon, pasta of all shapes, my mom's Sunday sugo, a perfect grilled cheese sandwich, toast with butter and jam, ripe peaches.....
Last bite on earth: un bacio from someone who loves me.