briciole

lenticchie nere ennesi con tonno

black lentils from Enna with tombo

The beautiful black lentils on the right are lenticchie nere delle colline ennesi, black lentils from Enna hills (Enna is a city in the heart of Sicily), an old cultivar that came close to extinction under the pressure of mechanized agriculture. I purchased some of those lentils in Italy and prepared lenticchie nere ennesi con tonno (black lentils from Enna with tombo).

You will find more information on this special legume, the recipe and the accompanying audio file in the guest post I wrote for My Legume Love Affair 37 — Year 4, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by the creator herself.

It is a very special honor to contribute to the celebration for My Legume Love Affair, an event in which I have participated 16 times before this one — starting with the very first edition — and which I have hosted three times.

Many thanks to Susan for continuing to bring together bloggers from around the world around the table of this beautiful event.

lentil

un libro sull'arte bianca

a book on bread baking

Readers of my blog know that I am passionate about baking bread. Friends who come to our house for dinner know that there will be homemade bread (pane fatto in casa) on the table (and homemade ice cream for dessert). Hence, it was with enthusiasm that I answered the offer to review a book on bread baking (the art of making bread is called arte bianca in Italian, literally: white art). The enthusiasm never left me as I explored The Handmade Loaf by Dan Lepard.

The photo above shows my rendition of one of the recipes in the book: Maize bread (pane di mais), made with polenta and corn flour. My review of the book has just been published on the Daring Kitchen site: follow this link to navigate to the relevant page. Photos of five of the recipes that I realized from the book accompany the review (recensione).

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

un libro sull'arte bianca

or launch the un libro sull'arte bianca audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

Cucina in California

In my first guest column for Francesca’s blog, I talked about farmers’ markets. My third contribution describes three other ways of buying or procuring food with which I have become acquainted in California: Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA), community gardens and bulk products.

(The English version of the post follows the Italian version on the same page.)

pollo arrosto per Paz

roast chicken for Paz

I wrote a guest post for Paz, of The Cooking Adventure of Chef Paz, describing my first attempt ever at preparing pollo arrosto. Fear not, the adventure has a happy ending.

Hear me pronounce the words and expressions on the pollo arrosto audio file [mp3] or go to the pollo arrosto audio page for more listening options.

Cucina in California

My second contribution to Francesca's blog is my first restaurant review ever. The restaurant in question is Chez Panisse Café, located upstairs in the same building that houses the celebrated restaurant. Talking about Chez Panisse means talking about Alice Waters and her role in the the culinary history of North America, so you will find a bit of that in the post (which is in both Italian and English).

Cucina in California

When I first moved to California, 14 years ago, shopping for food was a way to get to know my new environment, it was a little adventure (in some ways it is still an adventure). I lived in Orinda then and I remember when the farmers' market started there. So, for my first contribution to Francesca's blog, I decided to talk about farmers' markets (the post is in Italian and English).

I do not get all my food from farmers' markets, so I am planning to talk about other interesting shopping options in future posts.

Since today is February 29, I will conclude by letting you know that leap year in Italian is anno bisestile.

Cucina in California

A little while ago, Francesca of francescav and I started planning a guest column on her blog where I would talk about California food and cooking. Today Francesca announced the upcoming publication of the first post: the announcement and the future posts will be bilingual.

Many thanks to Francesca, the wonderful host, and to Keith, who designed the beautiful logo for the column.

See you all on Francesca's blog!