In the past few years, two major trends have redefined Italian cuisine as we know it, especially in Italy itself. The Slow Food movement has been garnering quite a lot of press lately - essentially, Slow Food promotes a diet of meals prepared slowly and carefully from ingredients of the highest quality. The Slow Food Movement began in Italy in 1986 as a direct response to the outrage Italians expressed at the opening of the first McDonald's in Italy - at the base of the Spanish Steps in the Piazza di Spagna in Rome - and now has over 100,000 members in 132 countries worldwide. Heirloom vegetables, artisanal cheeses, locally raised and organic proteins all feature prominently in the Slow Food movement. Members believe in celebrating traditional regional cuisines, supporting independent farmers over agribusiness and promoting responsible buying at supermarkets in addition to local farmers' markets and the like. All of these concepts are quite popular in the United States as well, particularly as we continue to recognize the benefits of a healthy diet. Slow Food is, at its core, a revolution against the homogenization of cuisine and culture that continues to spread as large fast food chains multiply their franchises worldwide. It's a stand against the "dumbing down" of our food.
The second food trend gaining prominence is that of Cucina Povera - literally "poor peoples' food." The basic tenet of Cucina Povera is a diet rich in vegetables both cooked and raw, grains and nuts, fresh fish where possible, olive oil, good bread and wine; with milk, cheese, butter and meat serving as seasonings or garnishes rather than staples. As the name implies, this diet is based upon that of poor farmers - people we perceive to be hearty, healthy working folk – and it’s the basis of the so-called "Mediterranean Diet." Cucina Povera's popularity is in some respects a reaction to the same health concerns that guide the Slow Food Movement. We know that a diet rich in fatty, over processed foods laden with sugar can lead to all sorts of health problems, especially when combined with the lack of exercise that modern life imposes on so many of us. Cucina Povera is both healthy and frugal, since produce in season is generally quite affordable.
Restaurateurs in Italy have discovered that nearly everyone - locals and tourists alike - have great affection for the recipes associated with Cucina Povera. Things like Tortellini and Cappelletti - small stuffed pastas most often served in broth - grace the menus of even the finest restaurants; these pastas originated in the Emilia-Romagna region of central Italy when humble farmers hoarded bits of cheese and scraps of meat to make a special meal for any number of religious festivals. The pasta and broth stretched tiny quantities of the pricier ingredients so everyone could have a taste. Even now, when ingredients are cheap and plentiful for those of us in the developed world, Cappelletti is served in our family only for Christmas and New Year's; we could have it any time, but we save it, insuring that it's special. The end result is that humble foods command big prices on menus as we celebrate the ways of our forefathers.
Bringing things full circle into the meals of my childhood, we come to polenta, a staple of Cucina Povera. Polenta, for the uninitiated, is most easily described as Italian grits. It is made from coarsely ground cornmeal, simmered in water or milk over the stovetop and served as the filling starch in many meals. Polenta is much more common than pasta in northern Italy, where corn was cultivated beginning in the 16th century. When I was growing up, we had polenta and pasta in nearly equal quantities, as my family's cuisine combined both that of my grandfather's Venetian heritage and my grandmother's Emilia-Romagna roots. Polenta is made from both white and yellow corn varieties and it is served in varied consistencies, from a soft mush to something resembling mashed potatoes to polenta so firm that it can be sliced and grilled or fried. Much like the risotto recipes I featured a few weeks ago, polenta isn't a start it and forget it food - it requires attentive and regular stirring, so some time at the stove is required. (Slow Foodies must love the stuff!) You can buy prepared polenta in the refrigerated cases of most grocery stores, but the flavor is a little chemical to my palate. And, just like oatmeal and potatoes, there's an instant version that cooks in just 5 minutes - please, don't bother, as the results are about the same - bland, nearly tasteless imitations of the real thing. Most of my Italian cookbooks state that it takes 45 minutes to an hour for polenta to cook, but in reality, it's ready to go in just 20 minutes if you modify the recipe a little. Polenta can be purchased in bulk in many organic food stores, and small packages are available in most supermarkets under the Bob's Red Mill brand.
Polenta can be served with just about anything, from sautéed mushrooms or vegetables to a hearty tomato sauce or Italian sausages. In my family, however, we had it most often with baccala - salt cod stewed in tomatoes (one of my favorite foods for which I'll share the recipe here someday) - and pot roast. Pot roast is a catch all term, and could be beef chuck, whole or cut up chicken, lamb shanks, short ribs or spare ribs. I'm featuring spare ribs here because they're my father's favorite; like many of my recipes, this is a basic cooking method that can be adapted to use with just about any protein, so long as it's one that will benefit from a low, slow braise. The herbs, garlic and cooking juices of the meat perfume the polenta when they're served together, and the result is comfort food at its finest!
The Recipe:
Polenta
Serves 4
Cooking time: approximately 30 minutes
Traditional Italian polenta is cooked in a copper pot; it's stirred constantly with a perforated wooden spoon until it readily pulls away from the sides of the pot - 45 minutes to an hour. It is placed into a large round bottomed bowl and allowed to cool and set for 10-15 minutes, then turned out onto a wooden cutting board and sliced with a string. In this updated method, a nonstick saucepan or wok pan and a bit of olive oil prevents the sticking so that the polenta is ready in as little as 20 minutes. Serving suggestions follow.
Ingredients:
1 C dried polenta
3 C water
1-2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. salt (more or less to taste)
Bring the water to a boil in a large nonstick saucepan, add the salt and olive oil, then add the polenta in a slow stream, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring regularly with a silicone spatula to prevent sticking to the sides and bottom of the pan. You'll know that you've got the heat correct when the polenta bubbles occasionally (like the mud pots in Yellowstone Park!) When you've reached the consistency of thick porridge, you have a few options for serving; you can pour it into a bowl and turn it out onto a cutting board to cut it with string in the traditional manner, or you can simply cover the pan and let it rest for ten minutes then serve it with a large spoon. Finally, you can pour the polenta out onto a large jelly roll pan greased liberally with olive oil, let the polenta cool for several hours until it's firm and then slice it into squares or triangles for grilling. This last method obviously requires some planning, but the charred bits can be particularly good, especially when the grilling is done on the barbecue.
Leftover polenta is the best breakfast in the world! Slice cold polenta into 1/2" thick slabs, fry it in butter until the outsides are crispy and lightly browned, then serve with warm maple syrup. I ALWAYS make extra so I can have leftovers. YUM!
The Recipe:
Pot Roasted Spare Ribs
Serves 4
Total prep and cooking time: 2-3 hours, depending on the cut of meat used
Beef spare ribs or Texas style ribs work well for this recipe. I use this recipe most frequently for chicken thighs, but really any hearty meat is fine. If you're using lamb, try changing the rosemary to oregano, mint and marjoram for a distinctly Greek flavor.
Ingredients:
2-3 lbs. spare ribs (this allows for normal portions when you take the weight of the bones into account)
5 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 C. cooking olive oil
1 tsp. dried rosemary (or more to taste)
1/2 C. water or light chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
Coat the bottom of a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot with olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add the garlic, stirring frequently to prevent burning. (If you burn the garlic, throw it away, wash the pan and start over! The flavor will not make anyone happy.) Add the spare ribs and brown them slightly; you're not looking for a heavy seared crust, just a little color. Be sure and keep the ribs and garlic moving so the garlic doesn't burn! (Did I mention burnt garlic tastes lousy?) Add the rosemary, crushing the leaves in your palms to release the essential oils; salt and pepper the meat liberally, then stir to distribute the seasoning. Add the liquid - you can also add a splash of white wine if you like, though my mother never does - reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover the pan and let it cook until the meat falls readily off the bone - probably around 2 hours. Don't let the pot dry out - check it occasionally and add a little liquid if necessary. Serve with a large spoon so you can pour a little of the cooking juices over your polenta.
Cut up chicken cooked with this method will generally take just 90 minutes, and it's best to plan on the full three hours with pork. This recipe is a staple for my mother because it's so simple, and little changes in the seasoning make big changes in the flavor. Leftovers are great, too, and this is a dish that you can prepare a day ahead and warm up on the stovetop when time is short.
Mangia, mangia, fatte grande!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Nonna's Kitchen 8 - Nonno's American Birthday
My grandfather, Alfredo Cipolato (Nonno), arrived in the United States on April 25, 1940; he was 27 years old. He came to New York City to work as a waiter in the Italian Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. The job was actually supposed to go to his brother Carlo, but Carlo joined the Italian cavalry instead, so Nonno came in his place. Nonno had a repertoire of stories that he told often, and the one about his first day in New York has always been one of my favorites. After being processed through Ellis Island, he went to Central Park where he was approached by a policeman on horseback.
“Hey, shorty!” the policeman yelled down to him. (My grandfather was not a big man.) “See that cart over there? Go get me two hot dogs, plenty of mustard, and a root beer.” He then handed some money down to my grandfather. Nonno spoke English fairly well, but his training and work history was at some of the finest hotels in Italy and France, where one assumes they must not have served hot dogs… As he retold the story, time and time again, he said that he knew what “hot” was, and he knew what “dog” was, just as he knew both “root” and “beer”, but he’d never heard the words used together like that. He was confused, and wondered to himself if Americans really ate dogs and drank beer made from tree parts.
“Hot dogs?” he repeated to the cop.
“Yeah, plenty mustard,” came the reply. “Get yourself one, too.” Nonno went to the stand, parroted the order and then enjoyed his first meal in the United States.
My grandfather never planned to stay in the US. When the World’s Fair closed in October 1941, he decided to visit other parts of the country until his work visa expired. He was in Florida when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and when the US entered WWII he was classified as an “enemy alien” along with 600,000 other Italians living and working in the country. In early 1942 he was arrested and sent by train to Fort Missoula, which served as an internment camp for nearly 2000 Italian and Japanese nationals. After his release in 1943, he met my grandmother singing in the church choir, and they were married shortly thereafter. My grandmother still has his unused return ticket to Milan!
We have celebrated Nonno’s American Birthday for as long as I can remember, so I assumed that it had been a tradition for much longer than I’ve been around. However, when I asked my mother about the origins of this “holiday,” she told me that it just sort of happened some time around 1970, perhaps with the casual mention of Nonno’s having been in the United States for 30 years. At any rate, every year until his death in 2008 we observed Nonno’s American Birthday on April 25, the day he arrived in New York. The menu? Hot dogs and root beer, of course! I’m not kidding – every year, we had what Nonno joked was the most American of meals; hot dogs, boiled on the stovetop and served on gooey white buns with ketchup, mustard and relish. Baked beans from a can, potato chips and my mother’s potato salad rounded out the meal, and the beverage offerings did include beer for the adults, though Nonno always made a point to have a small glass of root beer. He would always tell the story of that first hot dog in Central Park, and we all listened with rapt attention, even though each of us could recite the story word for word.
It can’t be Nonna’s Kitchen without a recipe or two, so I’m including Nonna’s recipe for potato salad. It’s much drier and less “dressed” than deli potato salad, allowing the flavor of the potatoes to shine through. The other recipe is for Gold Cake, a dessert that found its way to the table only a handful of times each year. Gold Cake was reserved for my grandparents’ anniversary, my parents’ anniversary, Nonno’s American Birthday and occasionally Valentine’s Day, when Nonna would make a small Gold Cake for Nonno and cupcakes for the kids. My mother suspects that Gold Cake was invented by Grandma D’Orazi – Bisnonna – her maternal grandmother. It gets its name from the color (duh), a rich yellow hue that comes from the 12 egg yolks in the cake (Bisnonna raised chickens behind the house on Pine Street.) The anise flavoring is a very traditional Italian touch, as is the mild sweetness – Italians aren’t big on rich or sweet desserts as a rule. Most meals are completed with a piece of fruit or maybe a bit of chocolate, and things like Tiramisu are reserved for very special occasions. Gold Cake is dense and pretty dry, and it is almost always served with Bolla, a fruit and wine punch for which I’m also including the recipe. Gold Cake is great when dunked into the Bolla, and this is the preferred method for everybody except Nonna, who doesn’t like “bumps” in her wine.
The Recipe:
Nonna’s Potato Salad
Serves 8-10 as a side dish
Total prep and cooking time: approx. one hour
Ingredients:
5-6 large russet potatoes
2 stalks of celery
2 green onions
6 eggs
1/4 c mayo
1 Tbsp. sweet relish
1 tsp. yellow mustard
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for garnish
Boil potatoes in their skins until tender, but still firm. Over cooking will make a squishy salad. Hard boil eggs - usually 14-15 minutes at a simmer. Chop celery into bite sized pieces; slice the green onions into 1/8” rounds - use the green part also, as it gives good color. Place both into a large serving bowl. Rinse the potatoes in cold water until cool enough to handle, then peel and dice into ½” pieces; place into serving bowl and toss gently to incorporate the celery and onions. Peel the eggs and set aside one for garnish. Roughly chop the remaining five and place into the serving bowl. Mix the mayonnaise, relish, mustard (Dijon works also) in a small bowl, then pour over the potato mixture and fold in until all of the ingredients are coated with the dressing. Add extra mayonnaise if the salad seems too dry. Salt and pepper to taste. Slice the remaining egg into rounds, place on top of the potato salad and sprinkle liberally with paprika. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.
The Recipe:
Gold Cake
Serves 12
Nonna often served this cake with a drizzled icing made of confectioners’ sugar and milk, usually spelling out ”Happy Birthday” or Anniversary or whatever. Nonno, ever the jokester and imp, believed the best way to serve this cake was to tear pieces off by hand (much like rustic bread at dinner) and toss them to diners around the table. Of course, we especially loved this as kids…
Total prep and baking time: approx. one hour
Ingredients:
12 eggs, separated
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 ½ C. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. anise extract
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1 ½ C. cake flour (my mother says regular unbleached flour is fine)
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees; grease and flour either a bundt pan, two 8” round cake pans or a 9 x 13 baking pan. (The rectangular pan is best if you insist on the authentic tearing method of serving!) Separate the eggs: place the yolks in a large mixing bowl, put four of the whites into a smaller bowl and set aside the remaining eight egg whites for another use. Using a whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks on medium high speed until pale yellow and creamy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium; gradually pour in the melted butter – work slowly so as not to curdle the egg yolks – then slowly add the sugar, ¼ cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth and the sugar is fully incorporated. Add the baking powder, anise and vanilla extracts and salt, allowing each to be mixed in for several seconds before adding the next one. Gradually add the flour – again ¼ cup at a time – until the entire mixture is thoroughly mixed and glossy. Beat the four egg whites to soft peak stage, then fold into the batter. It’s better to mix them in thoroughly (even if they deflate a little) than to have lumps of unincorporated egg white. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool and serve!
The Recipe:
Bolla
Serves 8-12
Bolla is Italian for “bubble” – this wine punch is most often served in the summer when fruit is fresh and flavorful, but frozen berries are fine in the winter. Use wines you want to drink, but don’t break the bank – no need for vintage champagne or a fine white. $10 wines are great for this. Also, this is better served in wine glasses or wide champagne glasses rather than flutes, especially if you plan on dunking Gold Cake!
Ingredients:
1 bottle Prosecco or other dry sparkling wine, very cold
1 bottle Pinot Grigio, Frascati or other light white wine, very cold
2 C. strawberries, raspberries or peaches – fresh or frozen
If you’re using strawberries or peaches, cut them into bite-sized pieces. Place the fruit into the bottom of a large serving bowl or punch bowl, then pour the white wine over it. Gently pour in the Prosecco, stir with a ladle to incorporate and serve!
Mangia, mangia, fatte grande
“Hey, shorty!” the policeman yelled down to him. (My grandfather was not a big man.) “See that cart over there? Go get me two hot dogs, plenty of mustard, and a root beer.” He then handed some money down to my grandfather. Nonno spoke English fairly well, but his training and work history was at some of the finest hotels in Italy and France, where one assumes they must not have served hot dogs… As he retold the story, time and time again, he said that he knew what “hot” was, and he knew what “dog” was, just as he knew both “root” and “beer”, but he’d never heard the words used together like that. He was confused, and wondered to himself if Americans really ate dogs and drank beer made from tree parts.
“Hot dogs?” he repeated to the cop.
“Yeah, plenty mustard,” came the reply. “Get yourself one, too.” Nonno went to the stand, parroted the order and then enjoyed his first meal in the United States.
My grandfather never planned to stay in the US. When the World’s Fair closed in October 1941, he decided to visit other parts of the country until his work visa expired. He was in Florida when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and when the US entered WWII he was classified as an “enemy alien” along with 600,000 other Italians living and working in the country. In early 1942 he was arrested and sent by train to Fort Missoula, which served as an internment camp for nearly 2000 Italian and Japanese nationals. After his release in 1943, he met my grandmother singing in the church choir, and they were married shortly thereafter. My grandmother still has his unused return ticket to Milan!
We have celebrated Nonno’s American Birthday for as long as I can remember, so I assumed that it had been a tradition for much longer than I’ve been around. However, when I asked my mother about the origins of this “holiday,” she told me that it just sort of happened some time around 1970, perhaps with the casual mention of Nonno’s having been in the United States for 30 years. At any rate, every year until his death in 2008 we observed Nonno’s American Birthday on April 25, the day he arrived in New York. The menu? Hot dogs and root beer, of course! I’m not kidding – every year, we had what Nonno joked was the most American of meals; hot dogs, boiled on the stovetop and served on gooey white buns with ketchup, mustard and relish. Baked beans from a can, potato chips and my mother’s potato salad rounded out the meal, and the beverage offerings did include beer for the adults, though Nonno always made a point to have a small glass of root beer. He would always tell the story of that first hot dog in Central Park, and we all listened with rapt attention, even though each of us could recite the story word for word.
It can’t be Nonna’s Kitchen without a recipe or two, so I’m including Nonna’s recipe for potato salad. It’s much drier and less “dressed” than deli potato salad, allowing the flavor of the potatoes to shine through. The other recipe is for Gold Cake, a dessert that found its way to the table only a handful of times each year. Gold Cake was reserved for my grandparents’ anniversary, my parents’ anniversary, Nonno’s American Birthday and occasionally Valentine’s Day, when Nonna would make a small Gold Cake for Nonno and cupcakes for the kids. My mother suspects that Gold Cake was invented by Grandma D’Orazi – Bisnonna – her maternal grandmother. It gets its name from the color (duh), a rich yellow hue that comes from the 12 egg yolks in the cake (Bisnonna raised chickens behind the house on Pine Street.) The anise flavoring is a very traditional Italian touch, as is the mild sweetness – Italians aren’t big on rich or sweet desserts as a rule. Most meals are completed with a piece of fruit or maybe a bit of chocolate, and things like Tiramisu are reserved for very special occasions. Gold Cake is dense and pretty dry, and it is almost always served with Bolla, a fruit and wine punch for which I’m also including the recipe. Gold Cake is great when dunked into the Bolla, and this is the preferred method for everybody except Nonna, who doesn’t like “bumps” in her wine.
The Recipe:
Nonna’s Potato Salad
Serves 8-10 as a side dish
Total prep and cooking time: approx. one hour
Ingredients:
5-6 large russet potatoes
2 stalks of celery
2 green onions
6 eggs
1/4 c mayo
1 Tbsp. sweet relish
1 tsp. yellow mustard
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for garnish
Boil potatoes in their skins until tender, but still firm. Over cooking will make a squishy salad. Hard boil eggs - usually 14-15 minutes at a simmer. Chop celery into bite sized pieces; slice the green onions into 1/8” rounds - use the green part also, as it gives good color. Place both into a large serving bowl. Rinse the potatoes in cold water until cool enough to handle, then peel and dice into ½” pieces; place into serving bowl and toss gently to incorporate the celery and onions. Peel the eggs and set aside one for garnish. Roughly chop the remaining five and place into the serving bowl. Mix the mayonnaise, relish, mustard (Dijon works also) in a small bowl, then pour over the potato mixture and fold in until all of the ingredients are coated with the dressing. Add extra mayonnaise if the salad seems too dry. Salt and pepper to taste. Slice the remaining egg into rounds, place on top of the potato salad and sprinkle liberally with paprika. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.
The Recipe:
Gold Cake
Serves 12
Nonna often served this cake with a drizzled icing made of confectioners’ sugar and milk, usually spelling out ”Happy Birthday” or Anniversary or whatever. Nonno, ever the jokester and imp, believed the best way to serve this cake was to tear pieces off by hand (much like rustic bread at dinner) and toss them to diners around the table. Of course, we especially loved this as kids…
Total prep and baking time: approx. one hour
Ingredients:
12 eggs, separated
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 ½ C. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. anise extract
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1 ½ C. cake flour (my mother says regular unbleached flour is fine)
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees; grease and flour either a bundt pan, two 8” round cake pans or a 9 x 13 baking pan. (The rectangular pan is best if you insist on the authentic tearing method of serving!) Separate the eggs: place the yolks in a large mixing bowl, put four of the whites into a smaller bowl and set aside the remaining eight egg whites for another use. Using a whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks on medium high speed until pale yellow and creamy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium; gradually pour in the melted butter – work slowly so as not to curdle the egg yolks – then slowly add the sugar, ¼ cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth and the sugar is fully incorporated. Add the baking powder, anise and vanilla extracts and salt, allowing each to be mixed in for several seconds before adding the next one. Gradually add the flour – again ¼ cup at a time – until the entire mixture is thoroughly mixed and glossy. Beat the four egg whites to soft peak stage, then fold into the batter. It’s better to mix them in thoroughly (even if they deflate a little) than to have lumps of unincorporated egg white. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool and serve!
The Recipe:
Bolla
Serves 8-12
Bolla is Italian for “bubble” – this wine punch is most often served in the summer when fruit is fresh and flavorful, but frozen berries are fine in the winter. Use wines you want to drink, but don’t break the bank – no need for vintage champagne or a fine white. $10 wines are great for this. Also, this is better served in wine glasses or wide champagne glasses rather than flutes, especially if you plan on dunking Gold Cake!
Ingredients:
1 bottle Prosecco or other dry sparkling wine, very cold
1 bottle Pinot Grigio, Frascati or other light white wine, very cold
2 C. strawberries, raspberries or peaches – fresh or frozen
If you’re using strawberries or peaches, cut them into bite-sized pieces. Place the fruit into the bottom of a large serving bowl or punch bowl, then pour the white wine over it. Gently pour in the Prosecco, stir with a ladle to incorporate and serve!
Mangia, mangia, fatte grande
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