Lara Ferroni » Travel

Food Styling and Photography workshop, May 2012 in France

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:39:51 +0000

I have some exciting news. It’s been a while now since my friend Bea and I started talking about running a food styling and photography workshop together. It took us some time to find a time when it both fitted our schedules. Yet we had found an amazing place to run it. In France! We will have full details available soon *but* today, we’d like to share the essence of the workshop with you:

Where:

The beautiful Chåteau de Ventenac in the south of France, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Ventenac is located 20 minutes from the historic city of Narbonne, and 40 minutes from the Mediterranean coast. Both the Pyrénées (to the south) and the Cévennes mountains (to the north) are less than one hour away. The medieval city of Carcassonne lies 45 minutes to the west.

When:

May 19 to 24, 2012

How many people:

8 (most of the rooms are shared, see the floor plan here), with possibilities of a few more depending on number; 2 instructors

What:

A 5 night & 4 day food styling and photographing workshop with Beatrice Peltre and myself.

Cost:

US $ 2.200 , about 1680 Euros , excluding transportation. (Non-student companion rate $1690 US)

Will be included: 5 nights accommodation, 5 breakfasts, 4 lunches & 2 dinners with wine–plus tea, coffee and soft drinks available all day.

Possible activities included are a winery tour, the visit to a French local farmer’s market, the renting of bikes–and more.

~~Let us know whether you are interested so that we can confirm this time slot!~~ We’ve had a lot of interest, so we’ll be opening up the official registration soon! Look for an announcement, and don’t delay signing up, as the class will likely sell out quickly.

We cannot wait to meet you there.

Bunny Chow and Buttermilk Rusks

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:00:49 +0000

What better mementos could you bring home from a trip than a handful of new recipes? They don’t take up space in your suitcase, and you’ll have them for years and years to come.

From South Africa, I came home with more than a couple of recipes, but I’ve been very eager to share these two with you. Of course, arriving home after two weeks away meant that things got very busy, but this week has pleasantly returned to a more leisurely pace. Time for cooking and shooting and sharing.

First off, when we were in Durban, it was all about the Bunny Chow, a hearty dish of knock-your-socks-off curry that is served in a bread bowl that is a half loaf of bread. Bunny chow doesn’t have anything to do with rabbits, but rather the dishes Indian heritage, from a vegetarian immigrant group known as the Bania. The original vegetarian curry was served up in a loaf of bread, which allowed it to easily be transported to eat in the streets, at work or wherever (depending on whose history you believe). Over the years, the curry has changed and is more often a lamb or mutton curry made with a very spicy red curry spice. But it’s still eaten without utensils, using the bread to scoop out bites of the curry.

The day after the race, Cam and I stopped in to a cute cafe in Durban, Bean Bag Bohemia, to sample our first bunny chow, although there it was called Durban Stuff. And stuffed it was, with chicken and prawns and one of the spiciest curries I’ve ever had. Good thing there were also cocktails!

There were really only two challenges to making bunny chow when I got home… first, I really should have bought some Durban curry powder which goes by some great names like Mother-in-Law-Hell-Fire. If you don’t happen to be in Durban, try this homemade substitute. Secondly, is finding unsliced sandwich bread! Of course, I could have made my own, but to be true bunny chow, you need the super fluffy light stuff. Not rustic, country loaves. You really want unsliced Wonder bread. But, I was able to find a not-too-rustic white bread loaf at the little bakery just up the hill from me. The rest of the dish was a breeze.

Buttermilk rusks are kind of the opposite of Bunny Chow.

When I tried my first rusk, my first though was why? Imagine scones, without any additional flavorings like fruit or spice, baked until they are hard and crumbly. There’s not much flavor and they are very, very dry. Almost rock like. Do people really want to eat these? And then, for no apparent reason, I took another nibble. And another. The subtle sweetness kind of grew on me. A dunk into a cup of sweet tea, and the rusks soften and become oddly addictive. I’m not saying that they are going to replace doughnuts or anything, but they are kind of a neat snack to have around.

I can’t wait till we get to go back to South Africa again, next time to see some of Cape Town with perhaps a wine tour or two.

Bunny Chow
I love this combination of shrimp and chicken with a very spicy curry, but you can make bunny chow with any curry recipe you wish.

Adapted from 2010 Eat In Magazine, page 54

2 tablespoons oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stick cinnamon
1 curry leaf
1 to 2 tablespoons red curry powder*
2 tablespoons curry paste**
2 chicken thighs, diced
8 prawns, peeled and cleaned
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 waxy potato (like Yukon Golds)
1 cup stock
1 loaf unsliced bread
cilantro, chutney and sambal for garnish

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onions when hot, and reduce heat to a simmer, slowly softening the onion. When the onion is translucent, increase the heat to medium high and add the garlic, cinnamon stick, curry leaf and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes, and then add the curry powder and curry paste. The mixture will thicken. Add the chicken, and stir to coat. Add the prawns, tomatoes and potatoes and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the stock, and and loosen any stuck bits on the bottom of the pan, and taste for seasoning, adjusting as needed (salt, pepper, curry powder, cayenne pepper). Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. If the curry gets too thick, add a bit of water. Now is a good time to remove the cinnamon stick and curry leaf.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F.

Cut the loaf of bread in half, crosswise, and scoop out the middle of the bread to create a large bowl (keep the interior bread). Then fill each bowl with the curry, making sure to add plenty of the sauce. Top with the pulled out dough, and then wrap each “bowl” in parchment. Bake for about 10 minutes to warm and slightly toast the bread.

Serve with sides of freshly chopped cilantro, chutney and sambal, and eat using the bread to scoop up the curry.

* Ideally you’ll have either Durban curry powder or an equally delicious red curry paste. If not, you can use garam masala, but add either cayenne or red chile powder for flavor and heat.

** I used Shiba’s curry paste. If you want to make your own, this recipe looks tasty!

Makes 2 very filling bunnies

Buttermilk Rusks

Adapted from 2010 Eat In Magazine, page 59

1 1/4 cup (160g) all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (75g) sugar
100g butter, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 tablespoon buttermilk (for glazing)

Preheat your oven to 350F and prepare a baking tin (a large loaf pan or a cake pan with high sides)

Sift the flour and powdered together, and then whisk in the salt and sugar. Cut the butter into small cubes, and rub into the flour mixture with your fingers until you have fine crumbs.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla and egg. Then add to the flour mixture, and stir with a fork until a soft, moist dough comes together. It will be very similar to a scone dough. A little sticky, but workable. If it is too sticky, add a bit more flour. Place the dough on lightly floured work surface and knead lightly to form a fat log. Cut the log into 8 to 10 pieces, form each into small balls, and place in your baking tin so that the edges touch. Brush the tops of each ball with a bit more of the buttermilk.

Bake for 30 minutes and then reduce the heat to 300F. Bake another 30 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven, and carefully pull the buns apart and place them on a parchment lined baking tray, at least 1 inch apart. Reduce the oven temperature to 200F, and bake again for another 3 to 4 hours or until the rusks are dried.

Makes 9 large rusks

Lions and Tigers and Bunnies, Oh My

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:10:43 +0000

Ok. There weren’t any tigers. But there were certainly lions, elephants, cape buffalo, cheetahs, vultures, white rhinos, ostriches, crocodiles, hippos, wildebeasts, zebras, giraffes, wild dogs, hyenas, impala, water bucks, elans, warthogs, black eagles, jackals and more. And, perhaps more importantly, there were bunnies. But I’ll get to those later.

Let me just start out by saying South Africa is a fantastic place, and I don’t think I’ve ever traveled to a spot with friendlier, happier people. Everyone was excited… for the race, for the World Cup, for the beach, or just to be there doing whatever it is they were doing. Our flights out were incredibly uneventful, and even downright easy given we had a 9 1/2 hour flight from Seattle to Amsterdam followed almost immediately by a 10 1/2 hour flight to Johannesburg. A quick night at an airport hotel, and the next morning we were off to Durban, which would be our home base for Comrades.

One of the benefits of jet lag: I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many sunrises in 12 days…

Durban is a located on a beautiful beach, although the day we arrived it was hard to tell because of the extreme winds. Apparently, every year they have a crazy storm day that marks the switch over between summer and winter… and that was it. Luckily, the next morning we woke to a beautiful temperate day (cool by the local standards, but quite a bit like an early summer day here in Seattle) which was typical of the weather the rest of the trip.

Race day was on Sunday, and Cam and his friend Randy both did a great job. Cam even beat his goal time by a few minutes, which is incredible for such a crazy race paired with jet lag. Needless to say, after running 55 miles, the boys were pretty wiped for a few days, so we had a lazy day before heading back to Johannesburg to catch our shuttle up to Kruger park for a quick safari.

Our safari took us both into Kruger National Park (for a full, 10 hour drive) and to a private game reserve for 2 evening game drives (we booked through Intrepid and they managed everything beautifully). In case you can’t tell from the photos, you do get incredibly close to some of the animals.

We also had the privedge of visiting the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Center which helps injured, abandoned or problem wildlife. The fact is that throughout Africa, the loss of natural habitat for animals is stunning. Parks like Kruger help preserve some habitat, but it is far too little for most animals, and there is a huge threat to the ecological balance. Moholoholo doesn’t have all the answers, but is doing what it can to help raise awareness of how precious the wildlife and habitat are to the continent. At the center, most of the animals they take in are treated and released back into the wild, but there are a good couple of dozen animals that have been socialized with people (although still quite dangerous) and act as ambassadors for their species, including much to our luck two 10 week old cheetahs which we were able to “help” socialize by petting.

The hyena was in love with Cam.

We got to feed the vultures…

…but feeding the lions is best left to the professionals.

This trip wasn’t much about food… the guys needed to keep it mild and carby before the race and the safari meals were tasty but definitely tourist “safe” (emergency bathroom breaks in the bush aren’t necessarily a good idea!) But, I did manage to pick up a handful of great looking South African cooking magazines, and have been very inspired by what I’ve found.

I can’t wait to go back, next time to sample more of the food & wine. In the meantime, I’m happy to indulge in buttermilk rusks, milk tart and one of my new favorites: bunny chow!

Have you ever had bunny chow (if you are cool, you just call them bunnies… but I love saying bunny chow!)? Or are you just as curious as I was when I was in Durban trying to hazard a guess as to what it might be?

On Guadeloupe and Martinique

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:20:19 +0000

Some time ago, Cam switched from being a mostly scotch drinker to a mostly rum drinker. I’m not talking Captian Morgan’s here. Aged rums, particularly those from the Caribbean and even more particularly those from Martinique, are fine sipping rums that, at least in our opinion, rival high-end whiskeys. The only problem is that they are very hard to get, particularly in Washington state. So, for Cam’s Christmas present last year, I decided it would be fun to take a trip down to Martinique to visit some of his favorite distilleries. Back in October, we finally made it on the trip. I can’t quite believe that it has taken me this long to get to the photos so I could share them here. But, I suppose that if it took us 9 months to actually fit the trip into our schedule, a month or so to polish up the photos isn’t bad.

It’s not exactly high season on these islands at the end of October. The beaches were quiet, restaurants had seating (if they were open… unfortunately a big if for some places), and the weather has started to mellow (still warm but fewer chances of hurricanes). It’s a great time to visit if you aren’t looking for a big party. On Martinique, we were the only guests in the gorgeous plantation Inn, Le Domaine St Aubin with only a few more guests in the quaint and lovely Le Diwalli on Guadeloupe. We spent our time lazing around on the beaches under palm trees, driving around the islands to see some of the local culture, and mostly, eating and sampling the local rum (we made it to Clemant, JM Rhum, Neisson, St. James, and Damoiseau).

I have so many photos to share, but I think 200 would be a few too many for this post!

We arrive in Guadeloupe, after about 16 hours of travel overnight. Seattle to Miami, Miami to Haiti, Haiti to Guadeloupe. After a bit of a confusion trying to figure our way out of the airport, we arrive at the hotel and take a short wander down the beach to grab some lunch… crepes & sandwich, with of course, two Carib.

The botanical gardens on Guadeloupe are definitely not to be missed. Particularly, if you don’t mind being covered with birds.

After the gardens, we tried to have dinner in Deshales, but it had been fairly badly hit in the hurricane that came through the week before. Most of the restaurants were under repair or just closed for the down season. So, we grabbed a quick bite at the small convenience store, and sat and watched the sunset.

One of my favorite things about Guadeloupe is that there are cows, everywhere. In fact, immediately after leaving the airport, one of the first things I saw (even before we made it to the rental car place) was a cow grazing on the median of the highway. Everyone seems to have a cow. Or rather a steer or a bull. I didn’t see any girl-cows the entire time we were on the island.

The tasting room and shop at Damoiseau was very friendly, and let us have a “ti” (little) sip of whatever we’d like. In addition to sipping rums, they make a selection of flavored rums. We found that our favorite was “Shrub” which is an orange scented rum similar to Grand Marnier. Perfect over ice cream, if you find yourself with a bottle.

Quiet beaches were everywhere in Guadeloupe in October.

Dinner and then breakfast at Le Diwalli.

I thought the cats were perhaps after my salad niciose at this beachside cafe, but they really just wanted attention.

One last sunset for us on Guadeloupe… then we are off to Martinique.

Sugar cane fields back to banana plantations all over Martinique.

The Clemant Distillary has a fantastic botanical gardens and museum that shows how rum is made. Definitely one of the nicest exhibits we saw.

The afternoon at Anse des Salines.

We took a full day tour of some of the islands off the coast of Martinique, including a stop at “iguana island” where the trees are hiding some huge lizards which are only found on this one island. They warn you to be careful as sometimes they drop down on you. Eek. Other stops included some hanging out in Josephine’s Baths and doing a bit of snorkling.

Lunch at Le Ghetto, one of our favorite meals of the trip… ti punch (which is ironically named, since it’s really a huge punch to your head) which was self-service here with tasty Clement rhum, acras (salted cod fritters) and a whole, creole style poisson. Yum.

A stop into JM Rhum which was much smaller than the Clemant tour but just as tasty in the sampling room.

The porch, right outside our hotel room on Martinique. We had quite the view as we sipped our punch plantuer and punch coco.

The next day, we were going to take a drive over to the other side of the island through the mountains. After quite a ways of driving, we learned what “route est barrée” meant. Yes, that is the road behind that puddle. No wonder there were no cars going the other way.

We managed to find another route and took a quick stop into the Neisson distillary where we found yet another yummy rhum concotion… this one is a cacao rhum, which as it turns out, is fantastic when also mixed with the Shrub. We also stopped in for a meal in Fort de France (more acras!) and a bit of shopping. The next day, it was time to start our trip home.

Once we were back home, I remembered a piece I shot for Seattle magazine on bacalhau the Spanish salted cod, which is available at The Spanish Table in town. I picked up a little package this week to make my own acras and bring back a little of our trip, complete with a little ti punch.

There are tons of variations for making acras… some separate and beat the eggs for a lighter batter, some add baking powder. The recipe I went with did neither, but still made nice, light fritters. However, as soon as they cooled, they got a bit chewy… so the search is on to find a recipe that stays crisp longer (text time around, I’m going to try this one.). In the meantime though, if you are looking for an easy, tasty appetizer that’s a little different, give these a shot.

Acras

5 oz. sifted flour
Salt and pepper
2 t creole spice
2 eggs
6 T (100 ml) cooled scalded milk or equal parts water and milk
7 oz salted cod fillet
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
1 chile, of the heat-level of your choice, minced
oil for deep frying

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and creole spice. Make a small well in the center, and mix in the eggs, one at a time. Then, add the milk and mix until smooth. Cover the batter and let it rest on the counter for 1 hour.

While the batter is resting, rinsing the cod well. You may wish to let it sit in water, refrigerated, overnight to help remove more of the salt. Then, place the fillet in a pot, cover with water and add the bay leaf and thyme sprig. Poach for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and rinse. Take a fork and start to shred the fish into little, hair like pieces, removing any bones or skin as necessary. You want the cod to be quite thinly shredded (but don’t use a blender… you don’t want paste).

Start to prepare your oil for frying. I used my deep fryer, but you can also use a deep pot with about 1 to 2 inches of oil.

Once the oil is hot, stir the shredded fish and minced chile into the batter. Take one teaspoon of the batter and drop it into the oil. Do this a few more times, but don’t overfill your pan or the oil will cool down too much. Let each fritter cook on one side for about a minute, and then flip it over to brown on the other side. When it is golden brown, remove it from the oil and place on a paper towel to drain.

Serve immediately. I like them with some chipotle mayonaise or a little tomatillo salsa and a squeeze of lime or lemon.

Two Tacos Please

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 23:20:30 +0000

There has been a scheme in the works for some time now to have a day devoted to tacos. We’ve (Cam and I) been sampling various trucks and busses one by one for the past year, but never on a particularly organized basis and it became too hard to decide which one was really the best. Memories quickly fade, and we just end up with vague recollections of what we did or didn’t like. This would not do. We needed hard data to compare and contrast all the tacoy goodness. So, we decided that we’d pick a beautiful sunny day, and just drive around, trying tacos at the various Seattle taco trucks, to try to decide on an ultimate winner of Seattle’s Best Taco. Saturday, October 11th turned out to be that day.

After a morning of planning to find all of the taco trucks online that I could, and organizing a set of directions to most efficiently get us from spot to spot, we picked our targets and headed out. Of the 27 trucks I plotted, we’d try to go to 8 or 9 of them, ordering one carne asada and one al pastor taco at each, and splitting each of them. We were allowed sides but given the number of stops we had ahead of us, we were just going to stick to the two taco rule, at least until the end of the day.

The first stop was our closest truck, Rancho Bravo, in Wallingford. This truck is set up in a Winchell’s doughnut shop parking lot so you can always grab a doughnut if the craving strikes you after your tacos. At $2 each, these were the most expensive tacos we tried (which isn’t surprising given the neighborhood), but they were also some of the biggest. The corn tortillas are full size (but seem store bought), and well filled. The tacos have sliced, fresh radishes in addition to cilantro, onion and lime, and the salsa they have on the table are quite good. I like the salsa verte which has a bit of a kick.

Next, it was over to El Asadero, which seems to be a Seattle favorite. First off, there is something about having tacos sitting on the little stools inside this old school taco bus that really completes the taco eating experience. They also have great pickled carrots and peppers. The tacos ($1.20 plus tax each) are good. They are the usual small, double tortilla shells which seem to be housemade. The meat is good and juicy, with lots of flavor. Cam thought they were a bit heavy on the onion.

We kept heading down Rainier, hoping to find Taqueria Dos Hermanos, but it wasn’t around, so may have either moved or gone out of business. A few blocks further south, we found Los Potrillos, a small truck parked in a gas station parking lot. These tacos ($1.10 each) were drippy juicy with lots of diced meat and salsa. I wished for a bit more cilantro, but the onion balance was nice.

Next up was perhaps my favorite stop of the day, Costa Alegre. This old metro bus (complete with the old Priority Seating window stickers) is decked out with bright red, rodeo-inspired curtains, tables and chairs. It’s red overload, but quite comfortable and feels very homey. The folks that run it are lovely. You even get to eat on real plates! Our tacos ($1.25 each) were super hot and fresh, with a good balance of cilantro (ie: lots), onion and meat with good red and green salsa to add yourself. They also had some sort of non-alcoholic sangria, but we passed on that.

We’re not really sure what the next taco truck was called. The menus all said Tacos Maria, but the truck itself said Tacos Patzcuaro. This truck, parked on someone’s front lawn on MLK Blvd, is going to get swamped when the light rail system is in right across the street. For now, it kept a stead pace of taco eaters happy with its small taco shells heavily loaded with meat and a pile of caramelized onions on the side ($1.25 each). The salsa verde here is a bit on the sweet side and the red is quite hot. It was about this time that I was starting to get pretty worried about how I was going to finish this crazy taco eating extravaganza. We were on truck #5, with 3 more planned to go. The radishes were no longer going to be eaten.

We had made it through all the Rainier trucks we had planned, so then it was off to South Park for a couple of well known stops. El Rincon (which has several different trucks around) on 14th was first. This truck had a line the whole time we were there waiting for it’s super juicy $1.10 tacos. The pork bordered on greasy, but in a lick your fingers clean kind of way. These had just the right balance of cilantro and onion to meat. They came with pickled carrots in addition to radishes and lime, but I was not a fan of them. And, oh god, there are still 2 more stops to go….

Further up the street in South Park is Muy Macho, which used to be a taco truck, but now has a permanent restaurant. Despite lots of seating, we decided to get ours to go to keep with the taco truck theme, so we ate them in the car. Muy Macho probably has the most interesting and best salsa of any of our stops, but on our visit, both the pork and the beef were too dry and kind of unpleasant. They were the cheapest of the day though, coming in at a very odd $1.095 each (how they charge a half-cent we couldn’t quite figure out).

We had one more stop to go. A mystery truck that was supposed to be located in the parking lot of the 76 gas station in Georgetown. At that point, I thought I was going to explode and I was seriously not looking forward to trying yet another taco. I had definitely hit my limit. Seven tacos is too many tacos. As we pulled into the 76, and looked around, I think I gave a little scream of delight. The mystery truck was nowhere to be seen. We were done. Whew.

Instead, we stopped into All City Coffee for a late afternoon mocha as a digestive and shared a cupcake Cam had made earlier in the day at the Edible Seattle event at Metropolitan Market. As we reviewed our carefully taken notes from the day, and I whined about too many tacos, we mulled over who would win the Seattle’s best taco award. The end result? It’s whatever taco truck happens to be closest to you. I won’t go so far to say that they are all the same. But, they are all good enough when the taco craving strikes.

Of course, we still have that whole north Seattle taco loop to do, and haven’t even touched the eastside or the deep south yet. Once I can actually think about tacos again, I’m sure we’ll find another sunshiney day and head out…

A few Seattle taco truck resources:

L’s Taco Truck Google map
Married with Dinner’s Seattle Taco Crawl
NWSource’s Taco Truck Guide
Yelp’s taco truck picks
Los Taco Trucks Seattle
Seattle Taco
Chowhound Seattle Taco Truck thread
Seattle Weekly Taco Truck investigation

Manfricoli all a'Matriciana

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:46 +0000

At least one of you guessed what my new favorite ingredient is. It’s the thing that makes matriciana (aka a’matriciana) go from yum to oh, wow. I think I’m probably the last one to find this out. Mario Batali even has a great recipe up on his website that includes it. But, for some reason, I always thought that matriciana was made with thickly cut pancetta. It turns out, it really should be made with guanciale. Guanciale is the dried meat that comes from pigs jowl rather than its belly. It’s meatier, saltier and I think that it holds up better in the sauce, becoming just a tiny bit gelatenous, but in a very pleasing way… sort of like perfectly cooked pasta has a bite to it.

Finding guanciale may take a bit of work. If you are in Seattle, it’s easy. Just head down to Delaurenti and pick up some of Armandino Batali’s locally made stuff. If you aren’t in Seattle, you can order it online. (While you are there, I highly recommend getting some of the mole salami. yum). If you are particularly excited about guanciale though, try making your own! I plan on it, and in fact, ordered a copy of Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie book as soon as I got home from Italy. Batali also has a recipe online. Unlike many cured meats, it only takes about a month.

Matriciana

This particular recipe originates from a taverna in Rome, Renato e Luisa, via the Gambero Rozzo (~~the Slow Food guy~~ apparently, I’ve learned not the Slow Food guy, Gambero Rosso, although the name is deceptively similar.) cookbook that I picked up in Italy. The cookbook is all in Italian, and my Italian translation skills are pretty minimal (or non existant without babelfish), but I’ve managed to do a rough translation of the recipe.

There seems to be some controversy over the origins of the dish as well. Many claim that it is is from a small town in Lazio, Amatrice, which would certainly make sense. However, others also claim the sauce is Roman (onions seem to be the dividing factor there…), citing that the word has its root in words from matraccio (a vessel to hold tomatoes), matriarcato (matricarchy) or even that the word matrice (matrix) was used to mean pig jowl. The one thing that everyone agrees on? Use guanciale.

The traditional pasta used in Matriciana is bucatini, a slightly thick version of spaghetti. However, when we were in Umbria, we used the local, freshly made manfricoli (see below), which worked beautifully. The noodles are square, more like a thick linguini rather than rounded like spaghetti. When choosing a pasta for this dish, do try to find a thicker pasta or the sauce will overwhelm the noodles instead of creating the perfect “marriage.”

500 g pasta
500 g peeled tomatoes
30 g red onions
1 clove garlic
300 g guanciale, cut into lardon
100 g pecorino, grated
50 g parmesan, grated
extra virgin olive oil
crushed red pepper
salt

Place a large pot of water on the stovetop to boil. While that is heating, lightly fry the guanciale with a little olive oil and a whole clove of garlic. Add the red onions, and cook until the guanciale has released its fat. When it is well browned, add the crushed red pepper and the tomato sauce. Lower the heat and cook very slowly, letting the color of the tomato change from red nearly orange. Then, add the grated pecorino. Remove the pan from the heat, and take out the clove of garlic. Taste the sauce, and season with salt as needed. It is important to taste because the amount of salt in the guanciale can vary greatly, and you don’t want an over-salted sauce.

Add salt to the now boiling water, and add your pasta, stirring to prevent sticking. Cook until the pasta has softened, but is still al dente, or firm to the tooth, and then drain. Place the warm pasta in a large serving bowl. Slowly pour in the sauce and stir together to lightly coat the pasta (you may not use all your sauce). Lightly dust with grated parmesan, some fresh basil leaves and a thread of olive oil to serve.

Manfricoli

Manfricoli is a pasta by many names. You may find it referred to as umbrichetti, cordelle, ciriole, strangozzi, or my favorite, strozzapreti (priest strangler). The noodles look like thick, slightly rough, squared spaghetti. The pasta can be made with our without eggs (sometimes called manfricoli bianco), a sign of the relative lack of affluence in Umbria. These days, making the pasta without eggs is a symbol of pride… the pasta tastes just as delicious to me without them, particularly when paired with the matriciana sauce.

Finding a recipe for the homemade pasta is tricky. Some use semolina, some don’t. Some add salt, others leave it out. How long you knead it always seems to come down to “when it is done.” One thing is certain… you’ll need to find some Italian “00″ flour if you want to come close to the texture of real Italian pasta. You can find it at Italian specialty shops, or online here, here and here.

I’ve found with a bit of experimenting, I’ve developed a recipe that I like. It’s not quite as beautiful as the stuff from the pasta fresca shop in Narni we could pick up for just a couple of euro, but it will do.

350 g “00″ flour
150 g all purpose flour
1 t salt
water
semolina flour for dusting

Stir together the flours and salt into a large mixing bowl. If you have a mixer with a dough attachment, you can use that bowl. If not, make sure the bowl is large enough to really move the dough around in. Make a well in the center of the flour, building up the sides just a bit. Add about a ½ cup of lukewarm water, and lightly stir with a fork, pulling just a little flour at a time in. When that has become a paste surrounded by more flour, add a bit more water, about ¼ cup at a time, continuing to stir with the fork, until about half of the flour has been incorporated. Then, either using your hands or using the mixer, pull in the rest of the flour, to form a dough ball. If the dough seems too dry, add a bit more water (while continuing to knead) at about 1 tablespoon at a time. If it seems too sticky, add more all purpose flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Keep kneading until the dough has become soft and smooth. It should not be sticky… it should feel like soft skin. I find that even with the mixer, I like to hand knead the dough near the end to make sure I have the right consistency. Cover and let rest for about an hour.

Cut off small rounds, and run through a pasta machine, starting on the widest setting. Run the dough through once, fold it in half, and then run it through again, seam side down at the same thickness setting. Repeat this process on the widest setting until the dough seems fairly workable, and it is getting squared off. Then, narrow the setting on your machine, and run it through again twice without folding. Narrow one more time, and run it through one last time. Place the dough sheet on a floured surface and proceed with the next piece of dough.

To cut the manfricoli, you can either cut each piece by hand, or use the spaghetti cutter on the pasta machine. The pieces should be fairly narrow, so that they become almost square. Dust the cut pieces in semolina flour to help keep them separated and try not to pile them on top of each other. If they clump some, don’t worry about it too much… they should separate when boiled with the salt water. It’s best to use the pasta within 30 minutes of cutting it.

A Month in Umbria

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:25:52 +0000

How do I even begin to tell the story of our 4 weeks in Umbria?

Todi just before sunset

Rome & Florence were easy, by comparison. First, they were shorter… just a few days each. And, we did lots of the normal things… see the amazing architecture, visit the museums, eat lots of yummy food. In Umbria, I suppose, we did a lot of that too.

scenes from around our Villa, a few km outside of Narni

But we did it all over Umbria… we put about 4,800 kilometers on our rental car. And we saw things that we would never see if we had only spent a week.

We saw the Dunarobba petrified forest, full of million year old Sequoia-like trees, that was discovered by a mining company. We rafted down a river (learning quite a bit of “rafting Italian” in the process), crossing under 1st century Roman bridges. We kept being amazed each time drove by yet another ancient town on a hilltop. We found small, local wineries with amazing bottles of Sagrantino for less than 10€. We picked figs from the fig tree right out our bedroom door.

around Norcia

We took a cooking class on a hillside outside Assisi, and toasted with homemade Prosecco and limoncino. We shaved fresh summer truffles from the local norcineria over freshly made manfricoli from the local pasta shop. We soaked up the sun on a beach in Le Marche, and visited the towns of Cam’s great grandmother and grandfather. We watched Prince Caspian, in Italian, in the village square in Narni(a).

Narni

More from around the villa

Figs, from the villa

Porchetta!

Cooking class at Alla Madonna del Piatto

We hiked up and got drenched by a man-made waterfall… one that gets “turned off” at night. We sipped espresso a the geographic center of Italy. We walked across an ancient Roman bridge. We drove on roads that sheep might have had a hard time navigating. We got to ride in a tow truck. We toured Narni’s underground, and stood in chambers and cells that were used during the Inquisition. We saw the crypt of St. Francis. We feasted on gelato at the sagra della gelato and steak at the sagra della bistecca.

Sagra della Gelato in Massa Martana and Sagra della Bistecca in Cortona

Scenes from around Assisi

Typical Umbrian Fare

Paolo Bea Winery

We sat and looked at the view of the green heart of Italy, and read a book or three. We ate from porchetta trucks. We went for runs in 85F along the country roads and hills, giving thanks for each shady spot and the soaking pool back at the villa. We had more gelato. We shopped in the local markets. We had a fantastic tour of our favorite winery.

We sat on the steps and watched the world go by. In other words, we had a great time. I recommend everyone find a way to do this at least once in your lifetime.

I know I promised a recipe with this post… but I think this post is a long enough as it is! So, a recipe, featuring my new favorite Italian ingredient, will be along next time. Can you guess what it is? Here’s a hint… there is only one photo of it in this post…

Bits of Florence

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:16:41 +0000

Ciao! I hope someone is still out there… I was really hoping to be able to post more while we were on vacation, but after my last post took an entire afternoon just to upload, I just didn’t have the patience. Now, I’m back home, and getting all caught up. While I remember how to do this whole blogging thing, I thought I’d share a few photos from Firenze (aka Florence).

While I’ve been to Italy several times before, it was my first trip to Firenze, and not surprisingly, it was amazing. We had unbelievable meals (thanks to my new favorite Italian food guide book, the Slow Food “Osterie & Locande d’Italia”… this book was a goldmine of great places, and I wouldn’t go back to Italy without it. One word of warning though: don’t trust the payment methods listed. Many of the places, esp. in Firenze, were cash only despite the description in the book), saw Italian opera in Boboli gardens, climbed the steps to the top of the Duomo, shopped like crazy, experinece plenty of Tuscan sun, and ate more than our fair share of gelato. While we were there, I was also lucky enough to get to meet Ilva of the lovely Lucullian Delights blog. What a wonderful treat! Ilva is a marvel with her camera and her recipes…

I hope to be back with some recipes myself from the trip later this week. Until then, here are the shots from Firenze:

A Few Days in Rome

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:37:47 +0000

Late July and August may not be the best time to visit Italy between the soaring temperatures and gaggles of tourists. But, then again, there really isn’t ever a bad time to be here. We are having an amazing trip. Here are a few shots from our first few days, spent in Rome, to give you just a taste.

[above: from our flat in Rome]

[above: Morning at a civilized 10am, at the market right out side our flat]

[above: Lunch is an escape from the heat in Trastavere with a fresh Insalata de Melone and fresh anchovies.]

[above: Cole has been enjoying her new camera taking in her own views of the city. We all enjoyed a bit of relief from the heat as an afternoon storm moved in.]

[above: walking through the Palentine and Forum instead of joining the long lines for the Coliseum. We are heading back to Rome sometime this month to see a few more of the traditional sites we skipped on this quick tour.]

[above: quiet moments]

[above: the market in Campo di Fiori]

[above: on our way to Firenze, we stopped into Parona, a small village off the beaten track, for lunch.]

PS: I’m posting over a cell phone connection which is a bit tricky… so sorry about the closed comments earlier! Something must have gone wrong in the posting. Comments should be open now!

A Little R & R at The Inn at Langley

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:05:57 +0000

Do you ever feel just stupidly lucky? I do. All. The. Time. I’m not really sure what I’ve done to deserve all the amazing good fortune I’ve had. So, when my friend Nathan called me up a month or so and asked if I’d be interested in doing a bit of photography work in trade for a weekend at The Inn at Langley, I got to experience yet another one of those moments, and sent a big Thank You to the powers of the universe. The Inn at Langley is very high up there on one of my favorite places in the Northwest. The town of Langley, on Whidbey Island, manages to hit all the quaint buttons without actually turning sickeningly sweet. There’s a good coffee shop packed with as many locals as tourists, a natural food store that you can poke around in for hours, two weekly farmers markets within a stones throw, and a thrift store perfect for cheap-os like me who aren’t into paying antique store prices. But when I think of Langley, I think of The Inn.

It was just over two years ago that I first experienced one of Matt Costello’s seasonal dinners. Matt is the General Manager of The Inn, but most people know more about his kitchen prowess. The Inn does 3 (sometimes 4) single seating, prix fixe dinners a week. Everyone sits down and eats the same thing (dietary restrictions of course are respected) at the same time. Matt starts each dinner with a brief introduction about the area, the producers, and which seasonal ingredients went into the nights courses… sometimes including things he’s foraged himself or that are brought in from the herb garden.

Then, the work begins. The open kitchen gives all the diners a chance to see all the action while dinner is prepared.

There’s never a pause in the work, but somehow the atmosphere remains calm. And, well, it’s easy to get distracted away from the busyness as the plates arrive at the table. Each dish starts as a visual treat, which quickly turns to so much more. Your spoon brings a translucent corn broth or an icy fresh strawberry sorbet to your mouth, and the flavors unravel. Words simply can’t do it justice… so here are a few more shots to help you see what I mean.

Could anything be more stunning than that crystal clear corn broth with fresh Dungeness crab and sage blossoms? Well, maybe these:

The meal is reason enough to visit The Inn, but then, so are the tranquil waterfront and forest views.

So, a big thank you to Nathan and Matt for such an enjoyable visit, and the universe for bringing such good fortune my way. Hope you all enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed my weekend!