Carlo's Kitchen

Sicilian Sea Salt - A Gourmet Treat

2008-12-08T18:03:00.000-08:00

According to Roman and Greek mythology, sea salt was historically known as "the union of the sun, sea, and the Sicilian land".

Vital and essential minerals from the sea, including iodine, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, are all preserved in this salt, allowing it to have a much lower percentage of sodium chloride, or "saltiness" than table salt. It has a delicate taste and wonderful and complex mineral flavor without being too concentrated.

Of all the sea salt available today, some of the most prized is from the Mediterranean Sea on the Northwest coast of Sicily in the Trapani region. Sicilian sea salt from Trapani is a highly sought-after and delicious condiment, full of both flavor and texture. This unrefined salt is unique for its taste and crunch.

The natural reserve saltpans in the Trapani region are renowned for their purity of salt. This all natural salt is hand harvested from the salt flats on the coast of the Mediterranean. The harvesting season for sea salt in Italy is between the months of June and September. The process uses salt pans that are filled with the seawater in the spring and left to evaporate by the heat of the Sicilian sun and strong African winds.

Harvesting takes place once the water has evaporated. The softball sized "salt rocks" are then crushed and ground without any further refining. The moist crystals and mineral-rich flavor make this sea salt ideal for both cooking and as a finishing touch. Its noticeable crunch makes it a perfect topping for grilled meats, salads, and tomatoes.

Enjoy the magnificent tastes and textures of authentic Sicilian sea salt from the beautiful shores of Trapani. It lends the delicate scent of the southern Mediterranean wind to every meal.

For a breath of the Mediterranean, try one or all of Vivande's outstanding House Packed Sicilian Sea Salts. Choose from Sea Salt with Fennel Pollen, Rosemary Flavored Sea Salt, Lavender Flavored Sea Salt, and Thyme Flavored Sea Salt. You can also select from one of our unflavored sea salts as well.

The Turkey Alternative - Cornish Game Hens

2008-11-24T16:09:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving and the winter holidays upon us, many of us turn our thoughts to family, friends, holiday festivities and food! Though a traditional holiday meal in many homes might include a turkey dinner with all the fixing’s, you may want to think about an alternative, especially if your holiday dinner does not include a houseful of guests.

Cornish game hens are as versatile as regular whole chickens, but give an elegant touch to your menus. They usually weigh from one to two pounds; however the standard is about 1-1/4 pounds. They are very meaty, and each hen can easily serve one or two people.

If you are serving a lot of courses or side dishes, you can probably plan one-half hen per person. They can be easily split before cooking, since the bones are not strong. Like a turkey, the giblets can also be used as standard poultry giblets in gravy.

Many markets carry fresh game hens ready to cook. Choose hens that look plump, and have unbroken, unblemished skin. Be sure to cook them within 24 hours or get them into a freezer.

When freezing fresh game hens, first remove the giblets, then wash and pat dry before wrapping in an airtight freezer bag. Make sure all the air is removed. You can keep properly-frozen game hens in the freezer at 0 degrees F. for six to nine months.

Markets that do not carry fresh game hens will usually carry frozen ones in the meat department, along with turkeys and wild game.

If you are using frozen game hens, be sure to sufficiently thaw them in the refrigerator before cooking. It’s very important to cook thawed hens as soon as possible. Never re-freeze previously-thawed uncooked hens.

Once cooked, game hens can be refrigerated for up to three days or frozen for up to one month.

For a wonderful Cornish Game Hen recipe, check out Carlo’s Recipe of the Month “QUAGLIE IN UMIDO” on the Vivande web site.

2008-11-19T09:32:00.000-08:00

Carlo Named One of the Best Chefs of the Year

"Northside San Francisco" magazine has named Carlo Middione one of their 2008 Chefs of the Year. As featured in the article, when Vivande opened in 1981, most Americans still thought that an Italian dinner meant only spaghetti and meatballs. Carlo has been credited for turning out traditional southern Italian dishes for over 25 years, using the freshest and highest quality ingredients available. Never giving into the fads, he just kept making food the way his Sicilian immigrant parents taught him. Somewhere along the way, what he was doing became a trend, and Vivande the success it is today. You can read about Carlo in the November 8th issue of the magazine.

Fillmore Street Jazz Festival

2008-07-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

Talk about crowds of happy people, the Fillmore Street Jazz Festival was a blend of colorful people, jazz performers, and over 8 blocks of fine art and crafts and gourmet food and beverages. On Saturday the stage just out side of Vivande came the knockout vocals of Kim Nalley. This isn’t only my opinion but I can tell you that most of the visitors to the festival were parked right out side of Vivande to get a look and a listen. It was packed, no getting in or out of the restaurant for four hours. Who cared, the music was great.

Strolling along the eight blocks of Fillmore we past from one sound to the next, up-and-coming jazz fusion and Latin-flavored acts to seasoned crooners belting out jazz standards. It was a beautiful day and all was right.

Frittata Di Menta - Mint Omelet

2008-07-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure to instruct the multitudes at the Fillmore Street Jazz Festival this year (more about later) on the fine points of making an omelet and it is my pleasure to share the recipe, Frittata Di Menta Mint Omelet with you.

Buon Appetito,
Carlo

Frittata Di Menta
Mint Omelet

Makes 6 servings (1 – 9-inch pan)

§ 10-12 large mint leaves, medium-fine chopped
§ ½ Cup chopped Italian parsley, about a half-bunch, well washed
§ 6 AA large eggs
§ 2 or 3 Tablespoons bread crumbs (not seasoned)
§ 2/3 Cup grated pecorino cheese
§ About 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – I use our house Vivande House Olive Oil for best taste

Combine all ingredients except the oil and whisk with a fork. Let rest for about 5 minutes to help combine the flavors.

Put the oil in the frying pan over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Gently pour in the mixture and lower the heat a little. When the bottom is set, about 2 minutes, pull back one edge of the frittata with a fork, and tilt the pan so that any uncooked runny eggs will slide onto the hot pan surface. Do this until the eggs are no longer runny, and the bottom of the frittata is golden. Check this by gently lifting an edge of the frittata with a spatula.

When the bottom is golden gently flip or turn the frittata over and gild the other side. Be sure it is fully cooked and not runny in the middle and the bottom has a nice golden color. You can place a dinner plate over the pan, and carefully turn the pan over so that the frittata falls onto the plate. Slide the frittata back into the pan, and let it cook for a little longer until the bottom is golden.

Gently slide it on to a warm serving plate, let cool a few minutes and then cut into wedges and serve. This frittata is also good at room temperature. So you can make it early in the day and serve it for lunch with a tasty salad of sliced tomatoes and red onions, or mixed greens.

It is also a very good snack, or cut into smaller pieces or wedges, it is a great hors d’oeuvres food, delicious with wine or cocktails, and some olives.

Pasta and Panini by Carlo Middione

2008-07-16T10:26:00.001-07:00

Whew! I thought I would never finish writing and editing my books just published by Ten-Speed Press (July 1, 2008 but available now.) Pasta was edited to fit a new small book format. Panini (it could be a companion to Pasta) was written with the idea of taste foremost, and simplicity. Buy them from me and I will personalize them. My handwriting is terrible but I am sincere.

Enjoy,

Carlo

Fettuccine Alfredo - What’s In a Name?

2008-07-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

Somebody long before me said that; but I got to thinking about “Fettuccine Alfredo”. What it is it? Supposedly it was invented in the restaurant Alfredo alla Scrofa in the Via Alla Scrofa in Rome by the venerable Alfredo di Lelio himself. Actually, he simply amped up the amount of butter into the fettuccine and reportedly used very young parmesan cheese (in itself suspect because true Reggiano must be aged under consortium rules that go back 700 years, so how did he manage this?). Since butter was added before and after the pasta was tossed into a bowl and he add twice as much to begin with it became Fettuccine al Triplo Burro, Fettuccine with Triple Butter. The constant tossing of the butter, cheese and the fettuccine eventually make a sauce coated pasta to die for. And it goes without saying, the less you do to this ethereal dish, the better. The ingredients, though must be past the diamond test; brilliant, true, the best and the freshest, and it does not hurt to be a genius.

Nowadays, one finds basil in it; garlic (oh MY GOD), sea food, sun dried tomatoes. None of this will do. Some folks even make a thin béchamel so that the fettuccine can literally swim in what passes for “sauce”. All this is like painting Dali-like mustaches on the Mona Lisa in the name of “improving” it and making it more modern.

I make a killer version of the authentic vaunted dish and it is called, simply, fettuccine al burro. A medium dry red wine is all else you need and you can get a peek of heaven – a fork full at a time..

Ciao,
Carlo

The Good Pear

2008-07-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

Pear, pere, poire, any way you spell it, it is one of the major aristocrats of the fruit world. It is also versatile, lending great taste and texture to savory dishes as well as sweets.

Finding a “good” pear is another matter; I am famous (infamous is probably more descriptive) in fruit stands and supermarkets. I will only shop when I have time to be leisurely and inspect the pears without fear of harassment. The pile of rejects mounts quickly as I sort through very gingerly from the enormous pile of pears. My pile of “maybes”, is not quite so big, and the pile of “ahah! Maybe these are it!), is tiny. The produce folks that know me leave me alone. They also know that I respect the pears, not squeezing the top near the stem, not dropping them, and certainly they know I put them back in beautiful arrangements, sometimes better than how I found them.

When the perfect pears are finally plucked out of the bin, they are taken home and ripened until barely soft and juicy. I don’t eat pears that are not juicy (requiring a bath afterwards.) An example of how I serve pears when not simply from a bowl, dead ripe, accompanied by cheese and bread and stout red wine, follows. Enjoy them this season while “good” pears are possible to find.

Good Eating, Good Pears
Carlo

Flott Tuna

2008-07-09T05:59:00.000-07:00

The other day at Vivande Carlo was so busy he missed lunch. When he finally took a break he broke open a can of Flott Tuna. In a matter of minutes he created an amazing treat.

Carlo scooped cooked cannelloni beans into a bowl and added chopped red onion, chunks of peeled orange, and a couple dashes of lemon juice. He mixed in the Flott Tuna (with olive oil) and topped it off with Sicilian coarse ground salt and plenty of black pepper.

He quietly enjoyed his creation spread on fresh chunks of Italian bread and a glass of Sicilian white wine. Carlo was content.

Ciao,
Giorgio

Vinegar and Oil Pairing

2008-07-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

The vinegar and oil pairing that features Santa Chiara olive oil and Tiburtini white vinegar is enjoying an enthusiatic following. I have been using the pairings with a variety of summer salads.

While I am partial to the Vivande-brand balsamic vinegar, I have been substituting the Tiburtini white wine vinegar. The result is a bold, zesty flavour that punches up my salads. I have also enjoyed this pairing with slices of homegrown tomatoes garnished with red onion and plumpy capers.

The Tiburtini vinegar comes from Italian dessert grapes, delivering a light and fruity flavour. The Santa Chiara extra virgin olive oil is extremely light, used exclusively as a finishing oil. Drizzle this over fish, vegetables or light entrees.

A Fast Trip to Sicily via My Kitchen Table:

2008-07-02T17:50:00.001-07:00

I just made a batch of pure (poo-ray) di oliva; what some folks would call Tapenade. I put in some lavender leaves, black olives, anchovy and lots of extra virgin olive oil (Sicilian, of course), and made a paste of it with my 60 year old English chemist’s mortar and pestle. Spread on crostini this is as good as olives can get.

Good Eating

Carlo

What's Cooking at the Fillmore Jazz Festival

2008-07-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

I’m doing a cooking demo accross from Yoshi’s during the Fillmore Jazz Festival on Saturday, July 5, 2008 at 1 p.m. I am going to show everyone how to make a frittata of eggs, pecorino cheese, bread crumbs and parsley. It is a sensational dish and can be eaten hot or at room temperature. For busy folks this should a handy dish to learn.

Ciao,
Carlo

Had to Relax

2008-06-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

I was so busy in the kitchen and some folks had me in such a lousy mood that I did not have time to eat some lunch. I took a break mid-afternoon and went home where I had some cooked cannelloni beans, a small can of Flott Tuna packed in olive oil, some red onion, an orange and some lemons. I mixed the beans and tuna, chopped red onion, chunks of peeled orange, and some lemon juice. Some Sicilian coarse ground salt, and plenty of black pepper brought the whole thing together. What a treat that was with chunks of bread. I sipped a glass of Grecanico, a Sicilian white wine, and suddenly was calm and happy.

Ciao,
Carlo

Black Figs

2008-06-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

I just bought some black figs (Mission), removed the stem, cut them in half and put them on sliced, toasted ciabatta bread thickly slathered with whole milk ricotta, fresh ground black pepper, and lots of extra virgin olive oil. OMG!

It Must Be Summer

2008-06-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

I can tell it is summer, because now I am dreaming about cold, sweet, red, dense watermelon – lots of it. Even though I can get by with just a spoonful of ice cream if absolutely necessary (you know about waistlines, don’t you?), when it comes to cocomero (Sicilian word for watermelon) it is either huge slices or forget it.

My wife Lisa and I had lunch in our garden yesterday. Simple chicken salad with huge beefsteak tomatoes, Japanese cucumbers, raw snap peas, bruschetta, the best extra virgin olive oil – what a meal. Watermelon in huge chunks was our dessert. With the giant Bing cherries I got the day before, it was heaven; a bit of melon, a cherry, and so on. Ah, summer.

Ciao
Carlo

Delicate Olive Oil is Perfect Match With Light Wine Vinegar

2008-05-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

Summer harvests that produce ripe vegetables and amazing green salads that pair well with light entrees have been much discussed at Vivande in recent days. Our readers know that Carlo has been touting the attributes of Santa Chiara olive oil and Tiburtini white vinegar. The two together "work like gangbusters," he told me, especially with fruit, fish or seafood salads.

The Tiburtini vinegar is purposely made with dessert grapes, delivering a light and fruity flavour that is haunting.

We had a couple 90-degree days in San Francisco last week, so I made up a light dressing and served it with some fruit and cheeses. Wow! I washed it down with my favourite Pinot Grigio and headed off to Yoshi's. I couldn't get the savoury flavour out of mind.

Carlo and Lisa found some trial sizes of the Santa Chiara olive oil, so you might consider checking out this hard-to-find product with a smaller size.

Experiment With White Wine Vinegar

2008-05-08T15:49:00.000-07:00

Serious home chefs are not normally hesitant to try new and different pairings. Yet we often find limited experimentation when it comes to vinegars. Carlo Middione encourages his restaurant staff at Vivande Porta Via and his cooking students to view vinegars the same way we view a vintage wine or extra virgin olive oil.

Carlo reminds us that vinegars offer great diversity and discovering new pairings is virtually unlimited. An interesting white vinegar is Tiburtini Aceto Fratelli POFI, made from the Malvasia grape, a sweet, aromatic grape with almond and apricot flavors often found in dessert wines. Tiburtini blends Greco grapes which impart smokey and toasted nut flavours. The grapes are grown organically near Rome and hand harvested. Tiburtini is aged for a full year in chestnut (castagna) barrels, and annual supplies are limited.

So be bold and try different vinegar pairings! You can find the perfumey, fruity Tiburni brand in speciality stores or many upscale Italian delis, or order through www.vivande.com. Carlo says you can even sip this vinegar straight!

Rosmarino Farm: Home of Santa Chiara

2008-05-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

Good extra virgin oil is made with olives harvested in very late fall and early winter. Picking olives directly from the tree in November, December and January -- as soon as the olive starts to change colour from green to black -- is the peak time to harvest.

Only olives pressed within 48 hours of harvest and imparting no taste imperfections can be labeled "extra" virgin olive oil.

In the mid-1990s, the Rosmarino Farm in Liguria, a cool coastal swath on the Mediterranean Sea in Northern Italy, was producing vintage supplies of superior quality extra virgin olive oil for the most demanding chefs and gourmets. To this day, supplies of Santa Chiara are still limited by the Ligurian harvest of Taggiasca olives.

Today's home chefs and discerning gourmets are seeking this delicate oil that connoisseurs describe as "light and fruity with a slight peppery aftertaste." If you are looking for a superior extra virgin oil for use as a finishing oil with salads, fish, and pasta sauces, you will want to give Santa Chiara Costa Dei Rosmarini a try. We use it here at Vivande Porta Via. We have limited supplies available for shipping at www.vivande.com.

Shells or no Shells?

2008-05-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

I am still asked, when preparing spaghetti con le cozze (spaghetti with mussels), should one leave the shells on the mussels? I covered this nicely in my book The Food of Southern Italy:

“When I left Puglia, the battle was still raging between two old men I had met in a restaurant there about whether it is necessary to remove the shells from the mussels of spaghetti con le cozze or not. One felt the shell look unsightly on the plate, and no host or hostess who wanted to make a bella figura (“look good”) would do such a thing. The other man maintained you get more flavor with the shells left on, and if your hosts were really considerate, they would let you pick them up and suck on them to get every last drop of sauce. It really depends on the host and guests, whether to shell the mussels or not. Me? I never take the shells off!”

by Carlo Middione from The Food of Southern Italy, William Morrow, 1987

That should settle it!

Ciao,
Carlo

SANTA CHIARA, Costa dei Rosmarini, Liguria Olive Oil

2008-04-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

Our best selling olive oil and this is the reason why!

Santa Chiara is a light, but very tasty olive oil, beautiful color and great balance of sweetness (freshness, nuttiness, and with a smooth feel in the mouth. Santa Chiara does not "coat" the mouth as some oil can do. Typically, many quality extra virgin olive oils have a slightly bitter, and somewhat biting, even fiery hot taste (if very fresh.) This is a desired and expectable taste.

For those who like a delicate yet flavorful oil, Santa Chiara is excellent on steamed vegetables, on salads, and a favorite way to serve it is on grilled fish, with a few drops of lemon juice on it and finally, a generous drizzle of Santa Chiara extra virgin olive oil.

Ciao
Carlo

Traditional Polenta in the Paiolo

2008-04-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

Even in a contemporary world, traditions are important.
And many home chefs conjure up memories of their heritage by preparing traditional dishes using long and time honoured methods. This holds true whether you are making a pie from scratch or a minestrone soup.

Today I bring you Carlo Middione's traditional polenta.

Poletna Sulla Tavola
8 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
2 cupts polenta (real Italian polenta, no substitutions! Try what we use "Farina di Granoturco Bramata")

Bring the water in the paiolo (an unlined copper pot) to a brisk boil and add the salt. In a fine but steady stream, drizzle in the dry polenta with one hand and stir with the other hand using a long wooden polenta spoon. Stir continuously in a clockwise motion, and lower the heat slightly if the water boils too high.

When the polenta is in the water, lower the heat to a gentle simmer and let your mind wander a bit! "Be sure you don't have anything important to do for 30 minutes," Carlo asserts. "Just stand there a stir the whole time!"

When stirring polenta, Carlo likes to daydream about his Sicilian heritage. He imagines his grandmother teaching him to stir in a clockwise motion to preserve the texture of the grain. He learns an important lesson: Lumpy polenta is impossible to fix!

The polenta is done when it pulls away from the sides of the pan. Be sure it is not undercooked or it will impart a bitter flavour. Dump the entire panful onto a clean unfinished wooden table or a smooth wooden board -- oak and birch are good candidates -- at least 18 inches square. You can let the polenta cool for later frying and making a crouton. Or you can add favourite toppings or ingredients used by your grandparents.

Carlo sometimes adds meat juices or tomatao sauces with grated cheeses and serves the polenta right from the wooden board. "In Abruzzi, the villagers gather around the board and eat the whole thing community style," Carlo says.

In Italy, everybody has a polenta recipe. Some families like to stir in grated mozzarella, fontina or parmesan while cooking polenta, cheeses that are a perfect compliment for robust meals like meat. In coastal areas, you often find plain polenta because it goes well with fish and lighter fare. Still other locations prefer a hearty polenta using milk or a broth of veal, chicken or beef.

With polenta, the options are virtually limitless and I will pass on a few more of Carlo's favourite polenta ideas.

In the meantime, be sure you have a sturdy polenta spoon. Carlo offers a hand carved, signature polenta spoon through vivande.com. You can also find wooden polenta spoons in many quality retail outlets. Carlo also reminds me to use only authentic Italian polenta and avoid common corn meal found in most markets.

Ciao,
Giorgio

Easy Polenta Recipe

2008-04-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

Carlo gave me this recipe for Easy Polenta and I think you will see why it is one of my favourites.

CARLO'S EASY POLENTA
4 cups of water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
1 cup polenta (try Farina di Granoturco Bramata)

4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In the top part of your double boiler, bring four cups of water to a boil over direct heat. Meanwhile, fill the bottom boiler with water and bring to a simmer.

Use a whisk to swirl the top-boiler water. Pour the polenta slow and steady and continue to stir for about 5 or 6 minutes until the polenta begins to thicken.

When the polenta starts to thicken, put a lid on the top boiler and put it over the bottom part of the double boiler. The water in the bottom pan should be boiling.

Cook for about 90 minutes, stirring occasionally and tasting for doneness. The polenta is done when it is smooth, not grainy or bitter. Add salt, pepper, cheese and stir.

At this point, polenta is easy to hold. You can keep it on a very low flame for several hours this way. Serve it hot, or pour it on a sheet pan and cut it into shapes when it has cooled.

I like polenta both hot and cold. So when I prepare this dish I always have a hot portion on the day I make it and put the left overs in the refrigerator for easy side dishes the next few days.

If you decide to try the traditional Italian method of cooking polenta, you need a Polenta Spoon and be prepared for continuous stirring.

More Pasta Calorie Counting

2008-04-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

I was leaving Vivande Porta Via heading to Yoshi's on Fillmore the other day, when I overheard Carlo talking about preparing pasta.

This reminds me again of the major differences between Italian pasta and American pasta. One can make you heavy and fat, the other fulfilled and full of energy.

In Italy, pasta is central to the sauce. The Italian "sauce" is a favourite vegetable from the garden, or fresh shellfish, maybe a light dose of a delicate olive oil as a finish and a drop of wine with fresh herbs.

In America, the pasta dishes usually take their name from the sauce, too often a rich concoction that overpowers the pasta. It results in less attention on the pasta itself.

So let's stay focused on the pasta and cook it al dente so the energy is released gradually. Nutritionists have measured hundreds of calories difference between the same pasta prepared and eaten in Italy as opposed to the U.S.

Choosing Olive Oils Is Not Always Easy

2008-04-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

Most of the world's premium chefs are well versed in how to choose and use olive oils. That's why you will often see several different bottles next to the savvy chef. Carlo Middione is no different. He usually has three to five oils within his immediate reach.

Carlo chooses an oil that matches perfectly with the dish he is preparing. For example, many Tuscan olive oils are strong. These Tuscan oils hold up well when preparing dishes that require longer cooking times. Olive oil from Puglia is often associated with a bitter taste. Both match well with specific dishes.

Santa Chiara extra virgin olive oil originates in Liguria, where olives are mild and delicate. This makes Santa Chiara Costa Dei Rosmarini one of the most delicate oils available. Carlo uses this product for finishing certain dishes, such as salads, fish, grilled meat, and pasta sauces served at Vivande Porta Via.

Santa Chiara can be difficult to find for retail purchase, but Vivande currently has a good supply. Carlo and Lisa recommend that home chefs give this product a try.

Spain is the Source of World's Largest Olive Harvest

2008-04-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder how so much olive oil can come out of Italy? Some of the most famous -- and expensive -- Italian brands blend oils from other countries, especially Spain where most of the world's olives are harvested. Hazelnut oil is also commonly used as a blend.

Throughout Europe, the oils are clearly stated on the bottle. And because the U.S. does not require such strict labeling, many brands produce two product lines: one for Europe and one for outside Europe.

One of the purest and most difficult-to-find is a Santa Chiara Extra Virgin Olive Oil called "Costa dei Rosmarini" produced in Northern Italy's Liguria region. Santa Chiara is delicate, light and fruity with a slight peppery after taste that many chefs, like Carlo Middione, prefer as a finishing oil.

Santa Chiara distributes just one line of Costa dei Rosmarini, so the same bottle purchased in Italy can be purchased in the U.S. If you can find it! Vivande.com is well stocked with Costa dei Rosmarini and you can buy it today.

Polenta: Delicious Alternative to Pasta

2008-04-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for an alternative to pasta, try preparing some polenta. Polenta is course Italian corn meal and is often served with cheeses and sauces. Carlo likes to prepare one of his favourite polenta dishes with a ring of sausages.

Polenta is not fancy and it is not complicated. It is economical and a good source of fiber. The flavour is subtle and it can be made with your favourite seasonings.

Traditionally, Italian polenta must be stirred -- always in the same direction to maintain perfect texture and prevent lumps -- throughout the boiling process. But Carlo says a double boiler can relieve the need for constant stirring, but the double-boiler cooking process requires about 3 to 4 hours of cooking over a low flame.

Polenta finishes in a dense form, allowing the cook to mold or shape the final presentation. Some cooks like to allow polenta to firm up on a shallow flat pan and use a cookie cutter for an entertaining presentation topped with a pesto or tomato sauce.

Polenta is highly versatile. Once made it keeps for days in the refrigerator. It can be served at room temperature or reheated.

Watching Those Pasta Carbs & Calories

2008-04-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Carlo recently wrote about pasta in a recent blog. He noted that the Italians eat much more pasta on average than Americans. Yet somehow the Italians aren't as chubby as Americans. There's great news here if you are watching your diet.

The secret -- as Carlo pointed out -- is not to overcook your pasta! Pasta should be chewy. It simply tastes better when cooked "al dente." But there are health benefits to eating al dente pasta, especially for the millions of Americans who are susceptible to Type II diabetes or trying to lose weight. Al dente pasta releases its energy gradually because the starches are broken down naturally over a longer period of time. Inversely, when pasta is overcooked, the starches quickly turn into simple sugars. This is not good for those watching their carbohydrates or trying to curb their appetites.

Overcooked pasta is like eating a Snickers Bar. It's satisfying, but the satisfaction quickly wears off after the "carb rush," and sure enough you are soon hungry again.

The good news is that pasta can be part of every diet. Prepare pasta "al dente" and you have less concern about both carbs and calories.

UNDERSTANDING PASTA

2008-03-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

Some wise words from Carlo Middione, VIVANDE

We are cooks, not nutritionists, nor food biologists, nor scientists. However, we talk to lots of people who love to eat, many of whom are experts in food science.

An eminent animal nutritionist in Bologna reminded us that wheat, to be
digested at all by humans, must be first cooked in liquid. If we were ruminants, like cows, our multiple stomachs would send the cud to be chewed and chewed again, which would take care of this just fine. But humans have only one stomach; it needs care, attention, and respect.

Pasta, as we have been told, is best eaten al dente “to the teeth”, meaning it must be chewed and not just inhaled or slithered down the throat because it is gelatinous from over-cooking.

If the pasta is cooked correctly, or very firm with the “anima”, the “soul” in the middle of it barely visible, then it can be successfully chewed, which means it will remain in the mouth longer to promote more taste and enjoyment (we don’t taste or appreciate texture once food has passed our mouth) as well as digestion.

And, because the starch of the pasta remains intact longer when slightly UNDERcooked, it will act more like a complex carbohydrate, allowing you to digest it more slowly over a period of time. In this way, the food value has more staying power; you feel sustained, buoyant and happy. Even pastas cooked and served in soups should be cooked and served “al dente”.

When pasta is overcooked, - beyond “al dente”, it gets soft and mushy, and is more quickly converted to essentially simple sugar which hits the blood-stream immediately it is ingested, to produce a huge rise in energy.

However, this type of energy is short lived; it dies down almost immediately.
When that happens, you feel slow, dull and overly full.

This promotes gas and discomfort, and it will let you down to become hungry again, sooner; which tends to make you gain weight.

It might take a bit of trial and error and experience at the table and even in the kitchen to learn to enjoy eating pasta “al dente”, but once you do, you will never again accept overcooked pasta. You can count on it!

Buon Appetito !

PASTA FACTS

2008-03-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

Carlo and Lisa Middione at VIVANDE

Travel in Italy and you won’t see as much obesity as in the United States.
Yet, the Italians eat 65 lbs. of pasta per capita per year, as opposed to 20 lbs. per capita per year eaten by Americans. How do the Italians manage to stay so slender ?

In Italy by law dried commercial pastas are made ONLY from pure durum
wheat and water, with NO artificial colorings or preservatives. Commer-
cial egg pastas must, by law, contain at least 5 whole fresh eggs for every 2 pounds of durum flour. Such complex carbohydrates, especially if unrefined, give muscle tissue plenty of food to grow on and little fat to worry about.

Hard durum winter wheat, the flour and semolina ground from it, is rich in gluten, stronger and superior to ordinary flours for making pasta.

In America while some commercial water based pastas use only durum flour, others may be made with the addition of ordinary white processed flour, enriched with fortified vitamins. Powdered dehydrated vegetables are used in colored pastas, or just vegetable based dyes. Commercial egg pasta is generally made with frozen eggs or egg solids.

In Italy, handmade or partially handmade fresh pasta from only durum flour with whole egg to tenderize the dough, is still widely used. Some believe it is the only true pasta experience.

In America, some makers add ordinary white flour to fresh pasta to soften the durum so it can more easily be worked by hand or by smaller machines.

Pasta in Italy is never overcooked. Pasta chewed “al dente” releases its energy gradually by breaking down the starches over a period of time.

Pasta in America is often cooked too long, turning the starch more quickly to a simple sugar. This can even give a “rush”, then make you feel hungry sooner to eat more often.

In Italy the pasta is central to the “sauce” which is often not a “sauce” at all, but a favorite vegetable-in-season or shellfish sauteed with a little extra virgin olive oil, a splash of the water in which the pasta was cooked, maybe a drop of wine, and always fresh herbs.

In America pasta dishes generally take their name from the sauce, which is often too rich and over-powering. Such sauces drown out the pasta which takes second place in the dish.

No wonder nutritionists have detected literally hundreds of calories difference between the way the same pasta recipe is eaten in Italy and America ! No wonder the Italians who eat pasta are lean, whereas alot of American pasta eaters are fat !

So, what are you waiting for ? You, too, can eat pasta the way the Italians do, and enjoy it fully without worrying about gaining weight !

Yoshi's Opens This Week

2007-11-26T21:14:00.001-08:00

The Fillmore District is buzzing about this week's opening of Yoshi's just eight blocks south of Vivande. Yoshi's is the renowned jazz club in Oakland and the super-popular venue is opening a second club in the Fillmore Heritage Center, within walking distance of Vivande Porta Via.

Yoshi's San Francisco grand opening is Wednesday night and features 82-year-old drummer Roy Haynes who has played with all kinds of different musicians ever since he first worked in the Big Band era.

The legendary Taj Mahal is playing an extended Thursday through Sunday session...and in late December the Count Basie Orchestra will be on Fillmore Street for almost an entire week! We are expecting the dinner crowds to get a bit busier, so if you're planning to dine with us don't forget to give us a call to reserve your favourite table...415.346.4430.

Post Thanksgiving Blues

2007-11-26T21:04:00.000-08:00

Following a wonderful turkey prepared by Carlo and the wonderful staff at Vivande, the second half of the holiday weekend was uneventful. The day after Thanksgiving was sunny and warm, but Saturday and Sunday remained cool. The nights were chilly and clear with spectacular views throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Here at Vivande, the week started with muses and talk about the Christmas rush, holiday decorations, special orders, wine, and yet another round of turkey and stuffing we'll be preparing for our loyal customers. Carlo and Lisa have already started to plan the menu.

Thanks to Kirk

2007-11-25T14:38:00.000-08:00

A restaurant does not run on food preparation and service alone, it must have its accounting done. There I was slaving over a hot spreadsheet when an ecstatic Kirk comes by. Kirk is our guru of procurement, he knows all, does all and finds all. He shoves a jar of open capers in my face with a plastic spoon and sez “taste these”. I told him no way. I love to cook with capers but eating them out of a jar by the spoonful, not for me. He went on to rave about these ‘jewels’ and insisted I try them.
Fortunately I did. The taste was astonishing, a whole new flavor experience. I had another spoonful and made Kirk take the jar away from me before I ate them all. Villa Reale Farmer Style Capers have a delicate taste and yes they are addictive right out of the jar.

Ciao
Giacomo at Vivande

The Peach Happening

2007-11-21T08:21:00.000-08:00

When all of the stars and planets are aligned, the weather is just right, the stock market is up, and Carlo goes to the market and finds just the right sweetness and size The Peach happens. Although it has happened to me since the first time I encountered The Peach it was grand. Carlo takes the perfect peach, poaches it, fills it with his own marzipan and covers it with zabaglione cream and sprinkles of pistachio slivers. Then it is oohs and aahs as the flavors engulf one’s senses. I always check in with Vivande during peach season and you should too. I know this is not the season, but keep it in mind for next year. This is the desert served on Olympus.

Ci vediamo
Giocomo at Vivande

Richard Rodriguez Encounter

2007-11-20T13:12:00.000-08:00

The summer before last, Joy and I were having a scrumptious Vivande lunch on one of those bright days in the Fillmore, where as no place else in the world, the rays of the sun are greeted with ceremony and adulation. Eating at Vivande is always an indulgence for all of the senses but this day was going to be more.
Looking up from our table I spotted Richard Rodriguez seated at a table near the front of the place. For those who don’t know Richard Rodriguez is an award winning essayist, author and television commentator. No one had to tell Joy this; Richard Rodriguez is her favorite author. Too shy to walk up to him, Joy dashed out of Vivande and a few doors down ran into Browser Books and purchased a copy of “Brown” one of Richard Rodriguez’s books.
Still reticent about approaching Mr. Rodriguez I told Carlo Middione, the proprietor of Vivande, Joy’s dilemma. Nothing shy about Carlo. With his winning smile and Joy’s book in hand he approached the author and asked if he would sign the tome.
Mr. Rodriguez did more than that. He came to our table and, not only signed the book for Joy, but we had a nice conversation about the charm of Vivande. Like us he loved the casualness and quality of the surroundings and food. A wonderful retreat back to Italy right on Fillmore Street!

Ci vediamo
Giocomo at Vivande

Mopping up a Mess on a Cold & Foggy SF Weekend

2007-11-16T13:45:00.000-08:00

The weekend is starting cold and foggy here in San Francisco's Fillmore District. Carlo and Lisa and our entire Vivande staff are operating at full throttle preparing for the crush of Thanksgiving turkey orders that have started coming in.

Soon I will be in my flat overlooking San Francisco Bay. I have just a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. But out on the water, fishing boats will be busy at work trying to mop up the oil that spilled from a container ship last week. What a mess...what a disaster! But there's still a lot to be thankful for.

After a hard week, I'm taking a few large Pantelleria capers straight from the Mediterranean. (They're really in jar, but I think I can smell the Mediterranean sea air when I remove the lid.) After a couple rinses to remove the salt, these bulbous capers are heading straight for my martini glass which will already be filled with cold gin.

...A not so traditional martini for a very traditional American holiday.

Vivande Featured in Chronicle's Holiday Issue

2007-11-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

Vivande was featured in Cindy Lee's and Elizabeth Gruse's column in The San Francisco Chronicle's Thanksgiving issue this week. The Wednesday food pages were loaded with great tips on wine pairings, cranberry recipes, a turkey bake-off and a wide assortment of side dish ideas. If you missed it, there is a link on SF Gate.

As featured in The Chronicle, Carlo is preparing ready-to-serve feasts. Start with a free-range turkey for either 12 or 20 guests. Choose from three different kinds of amazing stuffings, plus cranberry chutney and baked squash. Time is growing short to reserve one of Carlo's Thanksgiving feasts. Call by by Saturday. 415.346.4430.

Renaissance of Upper Fillmore

2007-11-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

Fillmore Street is loaded with San Francisco history and Vivande is and was a big part of it. In 1906 with the City of San Francisco devastated by the great earthquake and fire; much of the city government and commerce located to the still intact Fillmore Street. It was hustle and bustle through two world wars and the music scene of the 1940’s when the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Billie Holliday played its clubs. The music continued through the 1970's with the Fillmore hosting such artists as Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. The years following were hard on Fillmore Street and the place fell into disrepair.
In the 1980’s the renaissance of upper Fillmore Street started fueled by such establishments as Vivande bringing the tastes of Southern Italy to the district. Fillmore Street soon became a hub of stylish commerce with Vivande a big part of the resurgence. Today Vivande carries on this tradition still drawing visitors to The Fillmore.

Ci vediamo
Giocomo at Vivande

nome di penna

2007-11-11T09:33:00.000-08:00

I love this place so much I decided to contribute my feelings for Vivande on Carlo’s blog. I have been contracting to Vivande for some very interesting years. I write under the nome di penna, Giacomo; it's so Italian, just like Vivande. But my writing is not about Vivande but about me. Isn’t that why we do anything? It’s about what I feel when I am in San Francisco, on Fillmore avenue, and in Vivande. Maybe you have the same feelings for special places.

Ci vediamo
Giocomo at Vivande

Not All Tomatoes Are Created Equal

2007-10-12T05:58:00.000-07:00

The San Marzano tomato is Italy's most famous plum tomato and is now protected by tight rules of the restricted D.O.P. (Denominazione di Origine Protetta literally translated Denomination of Protected Origin) from the European Union for exceptional products. But why protected?
The harvest of the San Marzano tomato usually begins in August and continues until the end of September and sometimes later. It is a delicate crop and mechanization is not used. Intense labor is required to train the vines, and the harvest is hand picked multiple times, only when the fruit is completely ripe. Why all the work? The D.O.P. San Marzano tomato from the volcanic soil of Vesuvius, Campana, outside Naples is generally accepted as the best species to use for tomato sauce, - bar none.
In my restaurant Vivande the hard to find Strianese brand is our choice. Strianese brand are sweeter and more vibrant tasting than other DOP San Marzano canned tomatoes. Now these delicate tomato jewels are available on the Vivande shopping cart. Become a believer, taste them right out of the can, but be careful not to eat them all!

Ciao Carlo

ALL THAT JAZZ

2007-06-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

This week-end, June 30 and July 1, will be the great Jazz Festival of Fillmore Street, the biggest street Jazz event on the West Coast. I believe it, being several blocks long and loaded with all kinds of folks who have one thing in common – they love jazz and, wow, is it good.

Vivande will be open for lunch and dinner as usual. Come on over to hear the sweet sound of music and have a meal. Parking is a NIGHTMARE! Do what the smart folks do; find a parking facility nearby and park your car, then 1.) walk – that is best; 2.) take a bus (the City always finds ways to let them through); 3.) take a taxi and get as close as you can. It is fun, worth any effort (not all that much), and have a great time. Remember: there will be over 90,000 people here over the week-end – be a part of it all. Drink responsibly; eat irresponsibly. Check out the Jazz Festival website. It is really good and very informative, and there are some great parking tips. http://www.fillmorejazzfestival.com/?op=home

IT MUST BE SUMMER

2007-06-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

My wife Lisa and I had lunch in our garden yesterday; perfect San Francisco summer weather, 70 degrees F., gossamer breeze, all shaded by tiny-leafed Japanese maple trees. Simple chicken salad with huge beefsteak tomatoes, Japanese cucumbers, raw snap peas, bruschetta, the best extra virgin olive oil, Trebbiano white wine – what a meal. Watermelon in huge chunks was our dessert. With the giant Bing cherries I got the day before, it was heaven; a bite of melon, a cherry, and so on. Ah, summer.

Bread and Chocolate? Wine and Chocolate!

2007-06-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

I wrote something about this a couple of days ago, and there is more to come.Here is how we described the first of the three chocolates served with the three wines we thought complemented each other the best: “Pistachio-Almond - A double layer of pistachio-almond marzipan set atop creamy almond/chocolate enrobed in dark chocolate, finished with roasted almonds.” The chocolates are tiny, but so are pearls and diamonds.

We poured a terrific 2005 Nero d’Avola made by di Giovanna, a fruit-forward, luscious berry-kissed wine. This Sicilian wine holds its own with many of the world wines available. The Sicilians have made a huge contribution to the wine drinkers of our planet. The wine intensified the marzipan taste, and of course, if almonds aren’t Sicilian, than neither are pistachios (more about them in another blog.)

A tiny bite of chocolate to “set” the moth, and a miniscule sip of wine prepares you for long lovely tastes. A true treat and a rare one. You shouldn’t miss out on this.

Bread and Chocolate? How About Wine and Chocolate?

2007-06-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

I loved the film Bread and Chocolate. To me it was one of the most tragic stories done in such as funny way that many people missed the irony. Now, however, we have wine and chocolates to wile away our time and woes.

The wines are chosen by me and my staff at Vivande. The chocolates I am talking about come from a fabulous, small, artisanal shop Chocolaterie Wanders, in the old fashioned way, with a highly trained, journeyman German chocolatier and his wife, she a trained chef – wow – what a combo. The chocolates are small, hand made entirely, even cut by hand – no molds needed or wanted here (I will explain why in a later blog – stay tuned).

Right now we are offering, in our restaurant, a flight of three wines, and a flight of chocolates together on a beautiful ceramic tray. In the next couple of days I will give you our combinations. Our customers are raving about the chocolates! And lapping up the wine.

Fish to Fry

2007-06-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

Someone said to me he could not fry fish the way he gets in the restaurant. He likes it almost crisp on the outside and very moist in the middle. It is very hard to make both sides crisp unless you have a very thick piece of fish. But whether you pan roast it (brown it and then pop it into the oven), fry it, grill it or broil it, the theory is the same.

Broiling is hardly worth doing unless you have a super-hot (1,800°F. or more) broiler. Otherwise you just up poaching it. The fish ideally should be about 1 ½ inches thick for best results; 1 inch will work but watch out you don’t overcook it. Pat the fish very dry with towels, and lightly salt and pepper it all over. To fry the fish, the best alternative to grilling, is to put a heavy frying pan on medium heat, add a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and let it get hot, about 1 minute. Carefully put in the fish, and then LEAVE IT ALONE! Do not try to move it around. People love to do that; put it in, and immediately start the hockey game pushing it here and there,

In about 2 minutes you should see from the side that it has cooked about 20% of the way from the bottom. When it is almost 33% cooked (you can easily see where it is cooked and where it is still raw), carefully flip it over with a spatula. The bottom should be beautifully dark, and not have stuck at all. Cook up to another 2 minutes. Remove the fish from the pan onto a towel-draped warm place to drain excess oil. Let it stand about 3 minutes, then serve it on a very warm plate garnished any way that pleases you.

Serve hot. Give yourself a treat; do not put any lemon juice on the fish and see how you like it. Lemon is put on everything it seems, and sometimes the flavor of the fish disappears under a swamp of acidic juice.

Inflation; Not the Soufflé Kind

2007-05-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

I read with horror a snippet from the Financial Times. I hope I copied it right: “In the US, [food] prices have risen by 6.7 per cent, seasonally adjusted, since the beginning of this year, compared to 2.1 per cent for all of 2006, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics." Wow. This certainly has been borne out since I have been shopping for my home meals at a big variety of markets, just to see “what’s out there”.

One well-known place had rib-eye steaks that were 2 1/2-inches thick and cost $21.00 a pound. The one I looked at and did not buy would have cost me $33 dollars. While it is true I could have easily fed 5 people normal servings of meat, (but most folks eat a half-pound steak each). By the time you add some veggies and some potato or rice and let’s assume no good steak even needs a sauce, I would have had to add another $13. So, it would have cost me $10 per person for the food, only if I did all the cooking, serving, clean up, and gave no dessert.

Restaurants compare pretty favorably to buying and preparing your own food, I think, when you consider the portions, the quality of the cooking, the labor and does anyone out there even think about the SKILL it takes to cook well!? Let alone the overhead (landlords have to eat, too). I still think we should all cook at home as much as possible; we should support the restaurants that are in it for the craft and the long run, and then there should be a nice balance for all. If you go to every “latest, new” restaurant that means you will never patronize the same place twice – it is nearly impossible. It's like leaving your spouse every other day for another bite of forbidden fruit.

I am told constantly that customers vote with their dollars and if they don’t like a restaurant and don’t think they are getting their money’s worth they won’t patronize it. Please do this at your market – they deserve a kick in the teeth once in while like we in the restaurant business get sometimes a little too often.

Happy cooking, and remember, a good dish of red kidney beans, onion, rice and water and little salt and pepper, topped off with a little excellent extra virgin olive oil, you can still eat an epicurean meal and beat the hell out of inflation.

Danish Anyone?

2007-05-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

If you did not like Victor Borge (shame on you), don’t read the rest of this blog. Here is a real Danish joke and one he might have told if he knew it. He should have spoken to my wife – she told it to me decades ago and I just thought of it again and laughed and laughed.

A man goes into a restaurant and sits down. The man says to the waiter “Do you have any strawberries without cream?” The waiter says “Just a moment. I will go and ask the kitchen.” The waiter returns and says to the man “We do not have any strawberries without cream – but – we have strawberries without milk.” The man says “Well, in that case I don’t want any.”

I Should have Blewit Today

2007-05-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

This morning there is a light rain. The air smells fresh and invigorating – the kind of day one should be looking for mushrooms. If only I had some more time and peace of mind (I guess I could get some if I went into the woods and starting looking for little fun-guys to play with). My wife and I used to go out on days like this with a picnic basket loaded with mini-salamis made by our now deceased friend Bruno Iacoppi – what a terrific guy he was, and the salametti were divine; we had bread, simple prosciutto or ham sandwiches, wine, celery hearts, radishes, green onions, apples, oranges, dry crunchy cookies. It seems like a mountain of food but it was always just enough and soooo good. Usually we had good luck and came back almost always with chanterelle but sometimes boletus edulis (porcini), or armillaria mellia, the honey-mushroom or blewits, lepista nuda (they are light purple and you can just image the Adams Family making infernal dishes with them but they are fantastically tasty). I used to make a simple blewit stew; with dry white wine, a touch of fresh thyme, scallion and that was it; and with bruschetta it was heaven.

Well, back to reality. The stoves and the ovens becken. Ciao

Spring is Here – Again

2007-05-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

It was here for a few minutes a few weeks ago; now it is winter again. I made some really good minestrone with cannellini, red kidney, and pinto beans, onions, and the usual stuff, but no chicken stock; I like water based soups. It was fantastic with bruschetta, and each bowl I served was drizzled at the last moment with the greenest, most fragrant extra virgin olive oil I could get. Delicious. I sat there with my Irish rain hat on, my Scottish cashmere muffler, a long gray one, and a goose down vest I bought in Chinatown for $9.00 (wow), and had my minestrone. Ah, Spring in San Francisco (er, was that Winter?).

ELECTRIC VERSUS GAS RANGES

2007-05-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

O.k. Turn on the juice.

I did that just three days ago firing up the electric stove in our rented apartment (we have long since given up the huge house with EVERYTHING one could want – downsizing sucks). We turned on one large burner and watched the electric meter gyro as if it was out of control. It was astounding. I am trying to figure out how much it would cost to roast a big turkey for 3 hours in the electric oven as opposed to a gas oven. Gas is my choice and I am frantically trying to get a gas range that is simple, direct, does little else but provide heat with some controls, and is somewhat less than one-million dollars. Of the gas ranges I have looked at I like 30-inch BlueStar the best with American Range as a follow-up, although it is not as clean and Spartan as the BlueStar. Oh. I forgot to tell you, you should have seen what it took to get a gas line installed to the kitchen. We live in a building more than a hundred years old; its charm being more visual than its function and it makes one wonder why we are living in it.

Does anyone out there really prefer electric to gas? I know the cost of installing a new electric service and range is much, much cheaper than gas, but fueling becomes a major issue later on unless you heating up a can of soup. I don’t use canned soups so I make my own. Moreover, if they are big time, delicious ones, we are talking major time on the burner. That meter would probably explode with a minestrone going.

Wish me luck on my quest for the perfect gas range. Anyone out there got a free (Ok, make that cheap BlueStar) they want to provide me for my soup making?

Next, I might take up the issue of ventilation. HooHoo. That is a good one, too.

Tempus Fugit

2007-04-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

It certainly does fly, time does. It seems only yesterday I wrote my last blog. I have to get organized! I am thinking about the next few days preparing for my “speech” at the Leonardo ca Vinci Society in San Francisco in the middle of May. My subject is “Food Now and Then; Has progress been good for us”. It is a semi-doom and gloom/yippee! kind of talk. I really want to concentrate on how good things were when we reached a certain high point and how everything can backfire on you if you try to “improve” things too much. I’ll keep you posted – meantime keep thinking tradition, and sound, good cooking with the best ingredients – not just what is new and kookie. Ciao for now.

Primavera - Again

2007-04-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

PRIMAVERA – AGAIN

Global warming has not hit San Francisco yet. It is running a cool 55°F. pretty regularly – and bone chilling in the shade. At home, just by chance there was bright sunshine coming through one of my East windows. I sat down for a moment to look at the large citron tree in my neighbor’s yard – beautifully yellow against brilliant green leaves. It felt warm near the window so I got closer and promptly fell asleep, warmer than I had been in months. It was the kind of warmth neither fire, nor heater can provide. It looks like I am going to do more citron gazing this season. I need the warmth.

PRIMAVERA

2007-03-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

PRIMAVERA

Finally. Spring. Asparagus; young lamb; artichokes, grilled or braised or fried; peas and pea shoots; spring onions (ramps); salmon grilled or poached, with pesto; morel mushrooms; bulb fennel sliced and eaten raw or poached tender; lemonade with amarena cherries at the bottom of the glass; yum.

I am soon to make a dish of pan-roasted lamb chops, steamed asparagus with mashed English pea and scallion sauce, grilled poached fennel drizzled with the best green, earthy extra virgin olive oil and cracked pepper and crushed sea salt. Simple sesame topped bread, and a big bottle of medium-bodied red wine completes my “hello” to spring. A basket of wild strawberries will be ferreted out from somebody, somewhere, and they must be small, sweet as sugar, and with perfume you can smell ten feet away.

More on Bread Baking

2006-10-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about bread - again. My home oven sucks. I can't have a wood oven in my business because of the age and construction of the building. The required vent system would equal the budget of a small country. With all you geniuses out there, is there no one who is a thermo-engineer who can make a LIGHT WEIGHT material oven lining that would be easily removeable when not needed? There is one out there that is NOT light weight that I have never used and do not want to spend all that money to try. It also looks small but I have never seen one up close.

Most bread needs about 450 degrees F. so there is stove power but the evenness, and just the quality of heat is lacking in almost all home ovens. If you could maintain the heat and keep it even some breads baked at home could be edible. I have tried tiles in my oven, some fire bricks and dark thick sheet pans. None are as good as the wood oven with the stone floor I used to have.

I am also working on a good proofing box. I thought of making a clean wood box with a light bulb in it and a good thermometer. Even a big box would be portable, and I even thought for apartment dwellers with no space for storage, maybe it could be collapsable or easily re-assembled when needed. It could be stored under the bed in the meantime. What do you think?

Le me know if there is a solution to the thermal lining thing. We can join forces and not only encourage more bread baking at home, but we might might make a little money. Gates and Buffet have too much of it and I'll bet anything I have that neither of them has a wood oven at home. If they would just give me some money I would gladly supply them with bread.

More on Michelin

2006-10-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well, now that I have finshed my class at Tante Marie's Cooking school in San Francisco where I did a Tuscan radish salad with pecorino fresco (what a hit that was), roasted mixed vegetables (even bigger hit and looking like a renaissance still-life painting) with diced potatoes, beets, whole cloves of garlic, carrots, whole shallots, chanterelle mushrooms, tiny button crimini mushrooms, fresh sage and rosemary all bathed in extra virgin olive oil, umbrian quail stuffed with herbs and pancetta and braised with white wine and John Whitman's red flame and Thompson grapes (John is my sister Dee's fiance and has a farm in Fresno), and let's not forget dessert! Florentine Apple cake - yum. I love teaching and wish I could have my old job back as an instructor and demo teacher at the California Culinary Academy. Actually, I'd like a teaching job at a small school with fewer students in the class. The ideal job I really wanted at a small school is not available to me (and probably never will be) was given away under my nose. So much for "tight" friends and collegues.

OK. Michelin Guide. I railed about it in my last blog, but bless them, they are trying to get into the vast American market and probably felt there was room for them, too, along with Gayot and Zagat among many others including Patty Unterman's excellent book San Francisco Food Lover's Guide. Even though I hate to admit it, many of us restaurateurs in S.F. have a goodly portion of business from travelers, and I don't mean just the ones from the city next to us. We like to think we are "local" and our clentele adore us and keep coming back. While this is partly true it is also true that with a popolation of roughly 750,000 people and well over 4.000 restaurants, making us the second (I challenge this) most restaurant-dense city after New York, that is far to few people and far too many restaurants to make a viable market. God bless the travelers and tourists - at Vivande we get lots of travelers and not so surprizingly we get a tremendous percentage of Europeans and Asians. I think they are looking for more of what they get at home than the "latest" word on food. Remember, Michelin is international, and once they have slipped into the Bay Area market, quite a number of foreign travelers will look to them for guidance on where to eat when they come to visit us. This should pump book sales for Michelin.

You food critics out there - heed this: I still think there needs to be more emphasis on the preparation of the food and less on its source and the architectural ambience of the space. Don't we have anough "shelter" magazines out there already? Do we need to know that the puce walls did not go over well with the critic while he was eating his brilliant green sauteed spinach and thought the puce would have been better with blood sausage? I once ate caviar and champagne and strawberries and choclate truffles served out of the trunk of a friend's car in Golden Gate Park. I never once complained about the "ambiance" of the trunk, or of the cypress and pine tree umbrella overhead - I thought it was damn good eats, and the air and natural canopy was terrific. Also, those lunches on summer Sundays at Stern Grove hearing fine music - free - that was damn good eats too.

Anyhow, in over 4,000 San Francisco restaurants (not the Bay Area itself) to find that Vivande is one of the 192 listed but with no banana (star - excuse me), it is nice to know Michelin did in fact do its homework. The big complaint about Michelin was there was a lot of typo erros and factual errors. Reading the local papers is not much better yet they do not criticize themselves (go figure). But when Michelin in France can come and find Carlo and Lisa Middione at Vivande and say something true that is also very nice means I can't fault them - only praise them. This is more than our local "press" is doing for us. They know we exist but will be damned rather than give us a nod. Go figure again. It is true, then, isn't it that you have to leave home to be appreciated in your own hometown. So Michelin did it for us among deserving others. Thank you Michelin.

Michelin Guide Ratings

2006-10-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

Well. It is out. I have a lot to say about this "rating", as in who the hell is Michelin? And what have they done for understanding ingredients and taste. If you could resurrect the late, great Fernande Pointe of La Pyramid and took away the sterling silver service, the handblown glasses and the table linen woven by virgins in some remote island you would still have exquisite cooking, but no banana - at least not 3, 2 or even 1.

When cooking became a sport (competition - and remember, if there is a winner there is a loser), and show biz (good example: the Food Network which proves you CAN cook with clowns), there went the LAST hand craft in common use in the U.S. If you think cooking is not a valid craft, think about this: When did you have your last shirt sewed for YOU? When did you have your shoes cobbled for YOU? When did you last have your dining room chairs carved for YOU? Even if you go into a breakfast joint, a lot of things are made from scratch (unless you are eating on the cheap out of necessity or miserliness and go to places that use off-prem food service dishes such as frozen waffles, etc.) such as pancakes with batter made on-prem, eggs cooked to order using real butter or real olive oil, and coffee brewed with a good machine and real coffee as opposed to colored hot water.

Oh, yes. I have a lot to say - so stay tuned. I am off to teach yet another class at Tante Marie's in San Francisco, my 27th year of doing so. You will have to wait just a bit until I recover and catch my breath and then Michelin here we go.

Oh. Remember that Michelin Guide was started for people who were using the automobile in its infancy and needed to know where to stop to get vittles. This should give you a clue.

The Spinach Crisis

2006-09-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

My condolences to those poor souls who either died or got really sick from the e. coli contamination of fresh spinach. When your food becomes your poison something is really wrong.

I know the farmers are having a hard time with this not only economically but they also have feelings and do not want to see anyone harmed. In my restaurant, Vivande, I simply removed all spinach dishes whether raw or not. I think it helps the mind to know that the problem simply is not present. You know, if someone had a plate of sautéed spinach with garlic and extra virgin olive oil and had the flu and did not know it at the time, and a few hours later had the stomach gripes, you can guess what the reaction would be. Fear is not rational, always.

Anyhow, I think the answer will come, and in the next few short weeks we will have spinach again.

And if this does not convince you that contamination is insidious and shows up in the least expected places, now you know. Tough as it is there must be diligence in protecting the water supply and fertilizer supply, but don't forget machinery. For short periods of time dirty machines can harbor all kinds of bad bugs.
Most of all, don't forget the human element. You will not believe how dirty humans are, how poorly brought up most people are especially regarding dangerous uncleanliness.

Far too many people don't wash their hands after eliminating, whether it be liquid or solid and how many folks who are conscientious don't know that hand contact with doorknobs and doors and surfaces have to be considered dangerous places that harbor bugs – you don’t know who was there before you. . So, wash, wash, wash! And Health Departments listen up - you are NOT doing a good enough job reinforcing correct and safe hand washing and appreciation for how a bug you can't even see can kill you. You may be bug police but your biggest job is educating.

One last thought: How come you cannot give a massage without a license, or cut someone's toenails without a license or wash and curl their hair without a license, do plumbing or electrical work without a license, yet you can be a "cook" with the filthiest habits known with the potential of wiping out an entire restaurant population due to no training or simply not caring? Isn't it time that everyone in the food industry be qualified? Who cares if you are cute and entertaining, like some of those clowns on the Food Network who wipe their sweaty upper lips with a side towel and then wipe the cutting board with it, or tasting with a spoon and then shaking the remnants back into the pot, or you make apple pie better than granny when you possibly are killing people because of your stupidity, or socially destructive attitude. I think this is the real terrorism - watch out.

My Day in Salinas

2006-09-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

I was asked to do a food demonstration in Salinas, CA the lettuce basket of the world. If it has leaves it probably comes from Monterey County. The event was "SaluteToAg", I guess you can figure out it means salute to agriculture celebrated September 14, and an awards lunch recognizing Andy Matsui, self-anointed "Farmer" and honored also as a "Philanthropist" on September 15. I could not attend the luncheon because I had to return to work in San Francisco the next morning after my demo.

The event was held at the National Steinbeck Center in downtown Salinas, a charming part of the City. The Center itself was fascinating mostly because of the Museum devoted to artifacts and certainly literary references to John Steinbeck’s work. I loved the old Model T Ford (I guess that is what it was; I was so motivated to do my demo that I spent only a little time looking). I want to go back some time soon and spend more time poking around.

Lisa, my wife, and I arrived in Salinas about 11:30 a.m. We checked into Hotel with great difficulty (I was used to 11 to noon check in times in many European hotels but here in the U.S. it is 2:30 to 3 p.m.). But after much lower lip biting and whimpering, a kindly desk clerk "found" a couple of rooms for us (my Sister Dee and her friend Jeanne came to give moral support. They also had a hell of a good time partying). After checking out the Center and the demo area we decided we were hungry, and went for a stroll. Happily we found just the perfect spot for lunch at the Monterey Brewery. The place was a revamped warehouse of exposed brick and looked at once old-timey and up-to-the-minute. It offered micro brewed beer and a tasty offering of foods, several of which were deep fried. Deep frying is an art. I loved what they did. We had fried calamari (what else?), fried breaded baby artichokes (what else?), a delicious grilled artichoke that was first blanched until almost tender, then marinated in beer for a full day, and then grilled. It was very meaty and tasty - next time I must order more. We also had bleu cheese salad made with local bleu and a tasty mixed green salad with balsamic dressing.

What we also had which just made me happy was a "beer sampler". You could get 4, 4-ounce tastes or 8, 4-ounces tastes of their beers. We, of course, had the 8's - what did you expect? And for only $4.50 for the 8 samples. We could have had 4 samples for $2.50 which would be perfect for wimpy beer drinkers. The beers were poured into small straight glasses, and were delicious and went down very easy with the food. It was fun to see the beers laid out on a plastic rectangle identifying which was which. It is funny to see this at the time, because I had just had the idea to do something similar at the Vivande Piccolo Wine Bar with wine (but not 8!). Maybe I'll do 4-2 ounce pours. What?

At the demo it was the usual chaos. The coordinating Chef was Todd Fisher who owns a very nice and nice-looking restaurant called Hullabaloo. When you meet Todd you will know why; he defines Hullabaloo - a stand-up comic who cooks. This is a great attribute and gets one through some tough spots. If you were, on occasion, not feeling so perky you might want to smack him, though. He and his side-kick, a young Chef really on the make from all indications was Tyler Stone, a boy-Chef-wonder already at the tender age of seventeen. He was cute and sincere and I liked him.

He and Todd demonstrated beet and goat cheese napoleons, and fig tatin. What with figs not arriving (this happens all the time in kitchens which is why we are Chefs; we know what to do), so they used fresh plums. Tyler and Todd are fun together and probably X-rated - maybe only R-ratd. But their enthusiasm only amplified their sincere effort to get folks to cook.I wonder why I don't have as much fun when I cook?

I made a duck leg salad. You say what has this got to do with Italian cooking. Well, it does. The dish, made with pan roasted duck legs (for economy), has all the taste of duck breast about at 15% of the cost, and has dried prunes and raisins soaked in red wine. Such combinations are popular in the Northern parts of Italy, around Veneto and the Austrian parts. The greens were raw turnips (I LOVE them) matchstick cut, tender, yellow celery hearts, fresh grated horseradish, toasted walnuts, and lots of extra virgin olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice. The salad was arranged on spokes of Treviso radicchio and the cutest and most tender Sweet Gem local lettuce which I also love. They look like baby romaine but have the creamy tenderness of really good butter lettuce and they are small. I cannot get them for my restaurant, try as I might. The radicchio comes from Royal Rose and is grown locally there plus in other locations.

Royal Rose is the biggest radicchio grower in the world. I know the owner Lucio Gomiero and have cooked several dinners for him based on his products including the excellent Vignalta wines from his wineries in Italy. Dennis Donahue, the President of Royal Rose is my friend also, and he was there in Salinas being a very responsive host. Dennis is one of the friendliest people imaginable. It is hard to fathom how he can head up a large company and make it all work and be like this amiable papa figure; and he really means it. Dennis is running for Mayor of Salinas. Why anyone would try to govern these days is beyond me, but he will be very, very good at it, and when you meet him you know he is dedicated.

Pilar Sanchez from Napa was there doing her magic with paella. We all learned something very important - don’t' say "paella pan" because that is redundant. Paella IS the pan - Ha! Anyway, she made a really great vegetarian paella, which ties in the with the greens theme and proves, once again, that vegetables can and must be part of your diet. In the hands of a pro, they are as satisfying as meat, any day.

My favorite colleague was Walter Potenza from Walter's Restaurant in Rhode Island (I don't know how to create a link yet but try this; www.chefwalter.com/). We call him Mario, too, because that is part of his name. Walter's father named him so because he liked the name and it was distinctive in the small town in the Abruzzo where Walter was born. Walter is a philosopher as well as a master cook. Every phrase he utters is stentorian, even a little joke. "Uomo imponente", imposing man - that's Walter Potenza. It doesn't hurt that he is also a trained historian. He was charming without being false, and he was like an adoring father to the extremely cute and equally extremely hardworking 4-H "kids" who served the food and were all around good-buddies helping wherever they could. Walter got some of them up on the dais with him while he was cooking a delicious penne pasta dish with lots of vegetables. He was very funny with them and really taught them to do the dish and he did it with real regard and respect for them. I think they really liked being there in the spotlight and were just what you imagined youngsters should be. How nice an older head in the house treating the up-and-coming with respect. (Walter is by no means old. He is a youthful, and very fit, handsome, ex-soccer player and you can see his athleticism in his every movement).

He is also is quite inventive; he created some fabulous-looking clay casseroles to cook in. What a brilliant medium. I love my very old Vulcania clay pots and use them for braising and for light sautéing. Walter says his pots are better and I am ready to believe him. I have yet to obtain one, but it is on my list. He also invented some incredible eye-glasses which bridge the nose with magnets and stay wrapped around your head or neck as you wish. I have never seen anything like them - and red, yet! Walter is a special man. Lisa, my wife liked him immensely, no mean recommendation, that. Walter made hay out of Sister Dee's name, Dolores, which in Italian is really Dolorata. So he was Mario and she was Dolorata - and that's that. I think they had fun naming names. Lisa and Jeanne were bemused most of the time.

After being on stage with the spotlight flaring in my aging eyes meaning I could hardly see the cutting board and the knives, let alone the audience, I cooked my duck legs and made my salad and had a really comfortable time conversing with the audience, disembodied as they were. We exchanged ideas, some questions were answered, and it was just a very nice event.

Afterwards, Lisa, Dee, Jeanne and I were going to return to Monterey Brewery for a late supper. But as luck would have it we ended up at Hullabaloo. I had planned to go there in any event, but someone told me it was a ten-mile drive and I did not want to go that far on a dark night and being tired. I was dissuaded and regretted it, but, it turns out Hullabaloo was only two blocks away! So much for getting directions in Salinas. Fortunately, we ran into Walter again and he joined us. We sauntered the short distance and were warmly greeted by a charming waiter/host. There were lots of young and good-looking men and women there (actually all over the place), and friendly and approachable. I was thinking how different they were from some of the hatchet-faced, grim, not to say bitter service people one easily finds in San Francisco restaurants. Hatchet-faced in a good metaphor because a lot of these folks seem to really have an axe to grind. Anyway, our server got us settled in and got a little lesson in wine pouring from Walter. Walter is irrepressible. The server loved the lesson and beamed. He did a good job of taking care of us. As we sat and chattered, Dennis Donahue joined us and we had a very good time, indeed.

We had arancini, and cold melon. This was perfect for late-night eating. The wine, a California selection that was not so well suited to my palate, was OK, but I would have liked an Italian Pinot Noir or in a white, a crisp Gavi di Gavi - but, in all an enjoyable supper. One flavor note; Salinas, get a good water purification system! It was crystal clear but if your eyes were closed it would be a sure bet you were sipping well-aged algae. Non-gassed bottled water was hastily ordered and much appreciated.

At the next table were Tonie Francis, my contact for the event, and her husband Butch who was so helpful to me in lugging stuff around. Butch was so solicitous, it was all I could do to keep from exploiting him. They were with a whole gang of Event people and were they having a good time! If good times were decibels they would be a bag-pipe brigade. Tonie, (wouldn't you know she was Italian), was on the phone with me back and forth for more than a month about this event, and the e-mails - well, they were carrier pigeons without feathers - one message sent, one message received, lord knows how many. She also made sure we had rooms at the hotel being the go-between for Laura at the Chamber of Commerce.

There were so many helpful nice friendly people who looked after us, that I hesitate to try to name them all; George the Sous Chef looking like he was going to implode from all the requests (make that demands) made on him by all the Chefs and he was so calm and so accommodating and getting all the ingredients for all those mad Chefs - thank goodness none us was a prima donna (well, I wasn't). Laura at the Chamber of Commerce was like a den-mother checking everything with her walkie-talkie on "alert" at all times, and CarrieAnne, MC in the Salinas room where we Chefs cooked our little hearts out, and Felicia the ambassador of goodwill for the Chamber.

I look forward to returning to Salinas. I only hope I get an invite. Mayor Dennis are you listening; Laura, CarrieAnne, Tonie - are you all listening?

We're the Best!

2006-08-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

When you know you are the best that’s enough – right? Not exactly. It is good to be the best but it is even better when others say you are the best. Vivande has been praised and acknowledged to be the best in many respects and in many places. Diner’s Club Signature Magazine said that we were among the nine best delicatessens in the WORLD, and the Government of Italy recently awarded Vivande the coveted accolade of “…true Italian Restaurant outside of Italy”, and we were one of only eighteen such awards issued in the entire United States. And the only one in the Bay Area.

On a more local level, well, not so local if you think about the internet, we have been included in a survey of the Best Italian Restaurants in the U.S. in CitySearch. How about that? We love the attention, and we feel rewarded for the hard work and the hewing to tradition in the face of “creative chefs” who often blend Sicilian shrimp (whatever that is) with mango, reduced balsamic, lemon grass, and garnished with a blueberry froth (I always think of dying snails when I see that foam stuff). Our food reviews tend to be very good to excellent, but jaded, pantywaist food “critics” (aren’t you glad you are not married to one?) bring up things like the atmosphere at Vivande as “dated” meaning it is not generic steel and expensive wood veneers and hand blown (up) chandeliers and so on, and so noisy you will be, guaranteed, deaf before you reach thirty-five. We like to say we are traditional; and yes, we do look it.

I guess any painting before Pollack would be considered “dated”. If I find some pre-Pollacks I wonder if I should throw them out – maybe make a fire out of them and cook some ribs soaked in honey and ketchup. And that Louis XVI bombe chest – thank goodness I did not buy that – I’d have to trade it in for a little bleached wood and glass number from Ikea – now THAT’S modern and up to date. Anyway, I love the fact that we cook like we used to cook a hundred years ago, and it still makes quite a number of folks very happy and grateful they can still get it. And the cooking is sound, and the flavors familiar and delicious and comforting.

I guess a little veal demi-glace ice cream or vanilla basted roast leg of lamb needs to go into your mouth now and then just remind you that you are, indeed, in the twenty-first century. It is not for me. But a lot of folks are really “into” the “new” taste ( I call it bizarre), and we have proponets of it like Anthony Bourdain, a very likeable looking guy who is probably now so rich he will never again need to cook with the success of the burping, gagging, drinking, and farting show from all corners of the world. I missed the connection to cooking, unless it was the cow eyeball he was chomping on one night; it was roasted I think.

Speaking of paintings: Now we can have a Carpaccio of anything. I see lots of things like zucchini Carpaccio, smoked salmon Carpaccio, tomato Carpaccio. Myself, if anything is thin-sliced I say that “this is thin-sliced…”. The real Carpaccio as we should all know was first produced according to my rather reliable history source in Harry’s Bar in Venice. It consists of beef shell steak (not tenderloin), sliced paper-thin (not previously frozen) filmed onto a cold plate and then slathered with a sauce of mayonnaise, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce and a little lemon juice. The whole idea here was to honor the name of Vittore Carpaccio the Venetian Renaissance painter who made the most dramatic and intense red backgrounds for so much of his painting. The raw beef dish approximated the base color, and the creamy sauce counterpart added as a kind of crosshatch pattern made an edible art piece. This makes some sense, taste wise, and also looks great. This is an example of modern Italian cooking and is less jarring because it is in the spirit of the way Italians eat and how their food looks. This is evolution in cooking, not revolution.

Well, this has been a long trip trying to tell you to take a look at Vivande by clicking on the link that follows. I hope you will enjoy reading about us and that it stimulates you to come and join us for a traditional meal in a traditional room, with traditional (good) service and some of the best Italian (only) wines you will ever see on such a Lilliputian list. Buon Appetito. http://sanfrancisco.citysearch.com/bestof/winners/italian_food/?brand=msnhttp://sanfrancisco.citysearch.com/bestof/winners/italian_food/?brand=msn

Big Dinner - Big Night Coming up

2006-08-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

I prepared an enormous dinner matched with superb wines from our friend Lorenzo Scarpone who owns Villa Italia, a wine merchant from whom we buy lots of good vino. I prepared six courses comprising 13 separate "dishes" if you include antipasto misto, a mixed appetizer and the "contorni" conturs to the second dish (what Americans call the main course). Italian don't use such terminology; the theory being that no dish is more important than another one, it simply shows up in the meal at a different place. These dishes represented various regions in the North of Italy. If you also count the three kinds of bread I made the number of "dishes" goes up.

The highlights of the wine, for me were the 2004 "Weisshouse" Pinot Bianco - utterly delicious. The 2000 Barbera d'Alba Superior Gallino, 2000 Gattinara Anzivino were like drinking nectar, and the 2003 Castellum Vetus Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Centorame made you almost faint it was so good. With this we nibbled on Boschetto cheese studded with large chunks of black truffle. What a heavenly contribution that made to the palette.

We went from Pollo Albese, Alba style chicken with truffles to Lamb Ragu from Abruzzi to oven-roasted Guinea-hen to braised amaretti filled onions to a nice rummy Savarin cake with sottoboschi (forest-floor), a selection of summer berries.

I do believe I am the only person in America (at least the only one I know of) that makes Pane Ferrarese or Coppia, the almost cracker-like rolled up bread also popular in Bologna and shaped like a four-armed starfish. When you see the effort it takes you know why no one makes it - but I like doing stuff like this. We also had hand made crackers, long and wicked looking called "streghe" - witches.

In September I am preparing a meal with appropriate wines from Sicily and Sardegna. It will be, as ususual, a block-buster. I'll tell you more as time goes on.

Ciao

Tomatoes, Pomodori, Tomate

2006-08-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have sugar-plums dancing in your head – and your mouth watering, waiting for one to drop in? That happened to me just a few days ago and in my head were dancing not sugar-plums - but heirloom tomatoes. They are bigger, plumper, and much more colorful than sugar-plums, good as they are. And just think what you can do with them. Simply drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, cracked pepper, a pinch of sea salt, and there is a dish to set before a king. A nice mess of chopped basil on top makes it even more kingly.

I was so taken with heirloom tomato season that I went to our local Fillmore Farmers’ Market on a recent Saturday morning. Everybody who goes is in such a good mood, and friendly. There must have been eight different types of heirlooms, and I bought some of all of them. Tomato-greedy is a good thing. Afterwards, I wrote a piece for our neighborhood newspaper New Fillmore. I took some pictures at the market and was actually complimented by my editors on their quality. In case I forget to tell you; they liked my writing, too. If you can get a copy of the New Fillmore get it to read my story, but there is lots of other good stuff to read as well.

I had also bought Japanese eggplant, and baby zucchini for dinner along with the kingly tomatoes. My, what a treat that was. I grilled the veggies and sprinkled them with garlic and a bit of chopped anchovy. Along with bruschetta and a bottle of big and dark red Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine the meal was as good as it gets. Meat? Maybe next time after heirloom tomato season.

For dessert we had more bruschetta topped with dead ripe Mission figs and Bing cherries. Of course a bit more of the Montepulciano was handy so we had that, too.

Go to your local fresh market and make a meal like this one and just see how good you can feel – and drink a toast to yourself, but be sure to include me, too.

Bright Yellow on a Grey Day

2006-06-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

Today is chilly and while not forboding, not very cheerful. It would be a good day to see some blue, but bright yellow would work, too. Like sunflowers. A great big pot full of them. I like great big ones with thick stems. Or, because it is easier for me, how about a nice big pot of soft, cushy, unctuous, hot and steamy polenta? Yeah, I know. This is not your typical Sicilian dish, but as Ma used to say "Some day Italy will be unified and we will be as one. But for now let's take all the good things from any Region and as long as can eat them, tht will do just fine". Polenta is the one of the mainstays of Northern cooking in Lombardy, and the Veneto area. When Ma wanted to make an "international" meal she would make polenta, then we would have some wine from Piedmont. There - you have a travelogue. We felt very worldly.

Yes. That's it. It's yellow. I put 2 quarts of water into the top of a bain marie. Any kind of makeshift double boiler works, too. Then I filled the bottom part high enough to eventually touch the bottom of the top part of the boiler. Both are set on high fires to bring to a boil. I add 1 tablespoon of Sicilian sea-salt to my 2 quarts of water and drizzle in 2 cups of polenta - not cornmeal like you make for Thanksgiving cornbread. That's good but not like what I am making. Then, with a special spoon for stirring polenta (wouldn't you know I designed one and had it hand made), I stir in one direction only until the polenta begins to thicken and suspends in the gently boiling water. The spoon has a round hole in the middle of it so that when you streak and stir through the hot polenta there is not so much resistance. It makes life easy. But life is easy with my method of cooking polenta - you'll see.

Now that the polenta is a little thick, and nicely suspended, I put it on top of the boiling water in the bottom part of the double boiler, add a lid, and then lower the fire so that the water in the bottom boils but not violently. Now the polenta will cook all by itself for an hour-and-a-half, stirring a couple of times. This is my idea of easy kitchen work. I can eat the polenta hot (I'll tell you how I'm going to eat mine in a little while - I havn't yet figured out what I want), and, when I have eaten all I can possibly hold I will spoon and smooth out the remainder in a shallow sheet pan and cool it. Later, in some other meal I will grill it, or bake it, or even make a kind of pasticcio with it, layered with tomato sauce, cheese, and plenty of basil. Another way is to make shapes with a cookie cutter, and scoop out the center a little and fill with Gorgonzola or other cheese you like, or sauteed mushrooms, drzzle with a little extra virgin olive oil I like Nocellino from Sicily), and bake them until they are bubbly hot. What a treat that is.

When I first came up with idea of cooking polenta like a just told you, I had a huge meal to prepare for friends and I was going nuts. I couldn't stand and stir, the accepted method for cooking polenta, so, here came Mother Polenta with her own solutions and off I went. Since this epiphany many, many years ago, my method has been included in some of the most popular and respected cookbooks, and I have even been credited with the method - Imagine That!

What makes me feel really good about making polenta this way is that the dish itself is completely preserved as authentic, but most of all, delicious. Anybody of the old-world folks would eat the polenta in a wink and declare it tasty and excellent. Joy be to me!

Oh. The soft polenta; it's done now and I have dolloped a big spoonful on a hot plate, showered it with fresh ground black pepper, a few spoons of tomato chunks sauteed with garlic, and a few leaves of basil, some extra virgin olive oil, and now I am happy surrounded by yellow inside and out, and feeling full and satisfied. Dont' think I ate the whole thing! This recipe serves 10 or 12 people (actually less if they like to eat and you have, thanks to me, become a great cook).

See you in the kitchen in a while.

Making Bread

2006-06-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

It seems unbelievable that folks are actually baking! Imagine. A one-hundred-thousand dollar kitchen and what to do? Kitchens are tools, just like dad's old shed with the iron pry bars hung on the wall, the screwdrivers, the hammer, the pliers - you know what I mean. Unlike so many of today's monied folk, though, dad probably actually used the tools. Well, the kitchen is the tool rack and it holds the latest stove, the space-age refrigerator, and of course, the granite countertop. So let's make dad happy. Now let's use it, OK? How about baking bread?

Even though a lot of people like bread baking machines, I don't. If I had a choice of no fresh-baked bread because I did not want to use my oven or use a bread making machine, then of course, I would do so. But making bread essentially by hand is my idea of deep satisfaction; craft at work.

Since bread is as old as time (and I'm getting there too, but not for a while yet), I will have snippets of thoughts, advice, and lore about bread baking. Knowing myself as I do it will also include the eating of bread in its many variations - lots of it.

Below is a the bread I made for a dinner on Augst 8, 2006 we called "Emerging Stars" "Stelle Sorgente" with fabulous wines from the North of Italy coming forth from grade A wine makers who are not yet household names but they will be. People loved the crunchy exterior and cracker-like interior. The aroma and taste of extra virgin olive oil was pronounced - I know this area is the land of lard and butter, but they are not dummies those Ferrarese and Bolognese, they know delicious things are also called good olive oil. I do believe I am the only person in the U.S. who makes this bread. Who would be dumb enough to do this much work on a truly rare bread but me?

Making the bread is not so much hard as it is fastidious, and here is where skill and experience really comes in (think of playing those scales on the piano endlessly but when you need to tickle the ivories - there you have it). The bread is supposed to honor the creatures in the sea, but Ferrara nd Bologna are hardly sea-coast towns. It does not matter. This bread is delicous and I am glad I broke my back to make it. Now if I could only figure out how make hundreds of them, and had a wood oven, and had a way to sell them all....

Rubbing Shoulders In San Francisco

2006-05-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

I came to San Francisco to get away from being “ethnic”, and guess what? It did the opposite. It allowed me to know who I am and realize that I am rubbing shoulders with others, equally ethnic.We definitely are cross-pollinating each other with all that friction, most of it good. Where else, on a whim, can you decide what type of cuisine you want to cook, and within minutes be where they sell every component of it? I am essentially a European cook, but I love thinking about making other kinds of dishes because I can. Having traveled a good deal, I find the scale of our Bay Area to be just about perfect for finding all the riches tucked away here and there. Even in large metropolitan areas (maybe Manhattan is an exception), it is very hard to find not only the depth of goods with which to cook but the diversity we relish here.

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to live, work, and cook in San Francisco. Being away from here reminds me how good I have it. I especially love the exchange of greetings, food talk, and friendliness of most of the vendors I frequent. When buying meat, fish or fowl, I still love to go to the young butchers and ask them "How do you cook yours". They don't have the panache of the older ones or the opinions, but it is fun and every once in a while, enlightening.

What is it like to be "ethnic" in birth, upbringing, milieu, influence, and above all, what is the experience? In my case, it started with my presence on earth, the thirteenth child born to Sicilian immigrants. My father came to America in 1915 as an adult schooled in the conventions of peasant village life in Campobello di Licata. My mother came here five years after. Even as peasants in the truest sense of the word, they were both highly accomplished cooks, my father being distinguished in that he had the classic European apprenticeship training to be a chef - and so he was. My mother, daughter of the owner of a trattoria in Términi Imerese, my nonna Serafina LaPaglia, cooked, served tables, crocheted tablecloths at a level that in these days would make her an artist.

I learned to cook as an apprentice to my father. I had no choice; that was made for me even in the liberated days of the thirties of the last century. Now, being a Chef is an intellectual, academic pursuit (can a parvenu be close behind?). Can I forget the smells and tastes spoon-fed a little at a time over years of development, and finally to maturity? Hardly. Can one define "ethnic" by smells, tastes, textures, social constraints, and insularity? Yes.

When I came to San Francisco in the middle 1950's I was enchanted by the views, the hills, of course the cable cars, the formality of folks on the street, usually sporting hats - real ones. But the sight, smell and taste of the Italians when there were any in North Beach, and the Chinese in the next blocks on the edges brought me to the mat, so-to-speak, drawing me back into all the things I thought I wanted to move away from at home with the family. This gave new meaning to the word renaissance.

The live crabs on the wharf, the bread in bake-ovens on Grant Avenue, the incredible array of fresh fish in dozens of varieties bought from the scowling Chinese who did not understand one word of my fairly fluent Italian. But waving hands and exchange of paltry dollars made it all happen. I bought, for very little, all the things I loved to eat, and certainly loved to cook.

San Francisco Bay Area still has a preponderance of fresh and diverse food compared to much of the U.S. Imagine having a hard time selecting which of a dozen herbs to use with that live crab yet to be cooked; the pig's feet ready for stuffing and curing; the thirty or forty types of bread made by dedicated bakers, one slightly better than the other one; the fruits from small orchards in the East Bay; greens from Peninsula farmers; wine in such abundance and diversity as to be embarrassing. Imagine that.

Myself, I find it amazing how people in this dining habitat still do not understand regional Italian cooking. Yes, it exists, no matter what you heard. That all courses are equal is a mystery to most who encounter a true Italian meal. A primo piatto is just that, a first dish. A secondo piatto is not the main event; there is none, it is simply the second dish. There, you have it. No course is more important than the other, just different.

I eat “out” only 5 or 6 times per year of late. Acquerello has both high style, and regional Italian dishes, and a civilized dining room; I favor the regional dishes. In the skilled hands of Chef Suzette Greshem-Tognetti, and the best Maitre d’ around, Giancarlo Paterlini, it makes for good eating. I also like Absinthe Brasserie for the atmosphere, but mostly for the food. Chef Ross Browne’s dishes are tasty and light and the style is right for enjoyable dining (he has left since I wrote this and I have not yet returned). I like the ricotta gnocchi and occasionally I get some sent to me – including the plate!

I find inspiration from the foods of other cuisines, but I am not a tinkerer; I am the slavish monogamous spouse to food I grew to know as sound, historically important, authentic, but utterly delicious and completely suitable for today's taste. How nice to be able to cook in the style of a hundred years ago, and still please the crowds. Sure, I may put vegetables on the same plate as the meat now, but each element that goes on is a stand-alone entirely correct dish in itself, and certainly, delicious. This, I guess, is my contribution to novelty.

My ethnic identity is reinforced almost daily. With the old ingredients I know and love like devoted friends come other treats from the land of my progenitors; citrus-kissed olive oil; tomato extract so powerful one lick equals five lugs of the perfect fruit; bottarga, salted tuna roe, mixed with garlic and pasta, or sprinkled on bruschetta; Veneto cheese coated in hay and flowers, left to age in barriques stuffed with walnut leaves; pistacchio-studded mortadella best ingested like an edible handkerchief dropped into your mouth; fruit mustard so sweet it turns your blood to syrup tempered by fiery hot mustard oil; amarena cherries to eat with a spoon or dolloped on ice cream; of course, chestnut honey to drizzle over perfect Gorgonzola dolcelatte. I can get all these here, and I am not only glad, but also proud.