Cosa Bolle in Pentola?
Correction of the Radio Time, and a
Couple of Recipes
Being the 63rd issue of Cosa Bolle in Pentola, your Italian Cuisine newsletter.
This is a quick edition of Cosa Bolle, primarily to let those who would like to tune in on my talk with Arthur Schwartz this Tuesday (18 July) that it will take place from noon to 1 PM, on WOR. The broadcast will also be on the Internet, through Arthur's website or WOR710.com. Arthur also mentions something called braodcast.com.
In a funny way the interview will be a leap into the past for me; when the Gulf War broke out my brother-in-law was producing the news for a Florentine TV station and needed a simultaneous translator to handle the press conferences. He called me up, to say he was coming to get me, ignored my objection that I knew nothing about simultaneous work, and in less than a half hour he was wiring me with a microphone and giving me headphones. Then President Bush came on. Alessandro indicated the camera, and said, "You're on the air." The first ten seconds felt like about a month, but afterwards it wasn't so bad, though it did feel odd to be listening in one language and speaking in another. At least with Arthur we'll be speaking English.
What happened with the TV station, you wonder? I prepared the international news feeds for the anchor people for more than a year, and might still be doing it if the company hadn't gone bankrupt. It was interesting work, and having the mornings off allowed me to work on my translation of Artusi.
What Italians (Men, Especially) Revere
Discussion forums can be fascinating; last week a chef posted asking about work opportunities in Italy, and the thread has evolved into a discussion of What Italians Revere, with a detailed list from Mulino:
OK! So off the point, but still interesting ........A list by ranking of Italy's Religions - feel free to disagree! Interested in your views.......
- Soccer - in all shapes and forms
- Cycling - spectator or participant - but must have THE GEAR!
- Ferrari ... not Grand Prix Motor Racing - when Schumi's out, they leave the bar!
- Food/Eating - used to be Wine but that's faded......Wine's now down around 15th I'd guess......
- Driving - quickly, usually in the rain....no quarter given or received.......
- The Telephone - especially the Cellulare!..........especially in restaurants while one's eating companion remains in patient silence - he/she's no where near as interesting as the person on line!
- Sex - most particularly talking about it - or dancing about it - or watching pretty naked/nearly naked ladies on television and dreaming about it - incidentally other questions arrive here about those who work at it! - it is unique, surely, to Italy.
- Talking generally (and volubly) about "nothing" - or Politics, which in Italy is the same thing!
- Style - in appearance particularly but also in cars and other "gadgets".
- The Family - especially "La Donna" whoever she is within it and then the latest child and other children.
- Cards - Briscola or Scopa in the main (up here!)
- God - with luck!..........and HE's got to beat Opera!
I think I'd rank Ferrari above cycling, but that's me. As for the rest of it, it's pretty accurate, especially for men. Woman might be a little less interested in sports, put family (L'Uomo, the man) and fashion/style a bit higher, and not care about the semi-nude soubrettes who bounce around on all the variety shows (though they will certainly do care about sex in general). I doubt women would put playing cards on their list, because it's more of a male pastime, with guys getting together to wile away the hours at the bar. But they would put health and well-being.
If you want to comment on or add to this list, please do so in the discussion forum (you'll have to scroll down a little).
Coniglio con Pinoli e Olive Nere -- Rabbit with Pine Nuts & Black Olives
Finally, a couple of recipes. First, a recipe for rabbit with pine nuts and black olives that Anna Maria posted a couple of years ago on It.Hobby Cucina, the Italian equivalent of the Rec.Foods.Cooking newsgroup; she notes it's from her home town of Groppo di Treseana in Lunigiana (Tuscany's province of Massa, inland) and that it was a Sunday dish her grandmother used to make when she was little. You'll need:
- A rabbit, cut into pieces -- you could also use poultry
- A handful of pitted black olives (the mild variety)
- A handful of pine nuts
- A white onion
- A cup of dry white wine
- Rosemary and Sage
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Vinegar
Begin by rinsing the rabbit in vinegar, then heat it in a dry pan to make it sweat out its juices, which you will want to discard. Anna Maria notes that this operation, while necessary for range-raised rabbits, is not for those bought in the supermarket.
Mince the onion with a few leaves of sage and the leaves off a sprig of rosemary, and sauté the mixture until the onion begins to turn golden, in a large pot that should ideally be made of terracotta. Add the meat and brown it, then salt it and add the white wine. Reduce the flame, partially cover the pot, and simmer the rabbit until it's fork-tender and there's no blood in the joints, adding the pine nuts and olives mid-way into the cooking. You can, she says, use either just olives or just pine nuts.
A printer-friendly version of this recipe.
Taglietelle e Zucchine
Since we're in the midst of zucchini season, here's a recipe for tagliatelle e zucchine, drawn from Alessandro Molinari Pradelli's Grande Libro della Cucina Italiana. He has you make the pasta from scratch, which makes the recipe more involved than it might be; when Elisabetta and I do this we simply buy our pasta, at which point it becomes very quick. Select small zucchine, because they're more delicately flavored. You'll need:
- A pound (500 g) of tagliatelle, or the pasta of your choice. Long-stranded in any case
- A pound (450 g) of Zucchine, preferably small ones
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 leaves basil, shredded
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (this is a Piemontese touch, which we generally omit)
- Freshly grated Parmigiano
- Salt & pepper to taste
Set pasta water to boil.
Wash the zucchine, trim the ends, and cut them into thin rounds. Heat the oil in a broad pot, add the minced herbs and let cook them, being careful to keep the garlic from browning, and add the zucchine. Season to taste and sauté over a brisk flame.
As soon as the pasta water comes to a boil, salt it and cook the pasta. Drain it when it's just shy of being al dente, and transfer it to the zucchini pot before the colander stops dripping completely. Stir the pasta and the butter into the sauce, cook until the pasta is al dente, and serve, with grated cheese.
Timing is important here; if you are using pasta that takes a long time to cook, for example thick spaghetti, don't add the zucchine to the skillet until you've added the pasta, or the zucchine will overcook.
A printer-friendly version of this recipe.
A presto,
Kyle Phillips
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