italian white wine

In my web site: www.classicpasta.com, in the wine section, I made the basic generalization that, in general, Italian white wines were best when drinking them in a trattoria near where they were grown. They did not transport that well, I claimed, and the quality did not generally justify the price for those wines purchased here. I admit I included a couple of "possible exceptions", but not that many.

I have had to "eat crow" a couple of times, as one may note on the updated web site, most notaby after drinking a Terredora Greco di Tufo Loggia Della Serra 2005 recently. From the Campania region, in the hills near Avellino, this wine from the greco family, is a delight. Its producers do caution that it is a wine to drink now, but what a lovely, floral treasure.

Chapter Two in the "eating crow" department occurred last week, when I had the pleasure of visiting a relatively new wine ship, Biondivino, in the Russian Hill section of San Francisco. The proprietor is the charming, incredibly knowledgeable Ceri Smith. Her beautifully designed store is devoted to Italian wines, and especially unusual, hard-to-fine, specially crafted wines. Every region of Italy is represented, and mostly all from small producers. Biondivino is truly a worthy Temple of Italian wine.

On the question of Italian whites, Ceri said in an interview in the Chronicle: "I love the Italian whites. People know Pinot Grigio, but there's so much more to Italian whites. They are so complex, and they have so many layers and subtleties and nuance and elegance. If someone wanted to change their mind about white wines, they should try Kerner -- it's a hybrid produced in Trentino-Alto Adige."

So I did. I bought three whites (above). On Ceri's recommendation we had the Kerner with a cheese course. Perfecto! The second selection was a Biondi: "Gurna" from the base of Mt. Etna. It is a blend of Caricante, Cataratto, Minnella, Malvasia and Moscadello Etna. (This one is still to be tried). We filled out the triad with a different Greco: from Benito Ferrara.

In addition, we also picked up, on Ceri's further recommendation, a Castellum Vetus Montepulicano d'Abruzzo, Colline Teramane. I had picked up some superb hand-crafted bucatini at a nearby Italian market, and the menu for the next evening was to be a favorite: Bucatini d'Amatriciana. (see two of the posts below for this special treasure). The Castellum Vetus was absolutely perfect with this dish. Thanks Ceri!

guanciale

Here it is: where we get our guanciale, to make the perfect all'amatriciana (see the previous posts)


This is the storefront of Salumi, in the southern part of the city of Seattle. It is owned by Armandino Batali, father of Mario, and specializes in salami and cured meats. I was in the shop/restaurant a week ago, for a lovely and typical Salumi lunch: a minestrone with a wonderful assortment of cured meats as a welcome additive, and then a plate of mixed, cold salami and other cured meats. Fourteen different varieties on the plate. A delight, and a wonderful change of pace for lunch. The store/restaurant serves soups, pasta specials, sandwiches (with their meats of course) and plates of either cold or hot salami and other meats. Open for lunch only.


They are located at 309 Third Avenue South, just north of the Seahawks stadium. And best of all, they sell their wares on line. So this is where you can get your guanciale.


On the web: www.salumicuredmeats.com. Details for buying on line therein.

amatriciana (part two)

This is an image from a wonderful article in the New York Times of January 16, by the superb food writer Florence Fabricant. The subject is a favorite of ours: bucatini all'amatriciana. (You can check our previous post on this dish below) and is headlined as "The Meat of the Matter in a Pasta Debate."

In the article, Florence rightly claims that true Amatriciana must be made with guanciale, which is cured, unsmoked pig jowl. She rightly says that the great cook books in America almost always call for bacon or pancetta, rather than guanciale. But, in defense, she reports that it was by necessity: guanciale (which means pillow in Italian, which describes its shape) was simply not available here.

She also describes the fine points in the ongoing debate between Rome and the village of Amatrice on whether the dish should have onions (Rome, si; Amatrice, non), olive oil, and how much pecorino. And whether the pasta should be bucatini, or thick spaghetti, or even some penne. The debate on the fine points, and the hearty opinions, alla Italiana, are great fun.

But, wonders of wonders, guanicale can now be found in the United States. (more on this in our next post). So in keeping with our demand for authenticity, not to mention the shear taste delight of the "official" amatriciana, here is the recipe, WITH guanciale. (compare it with our original recipe posted earlier).

For the sauce:

• two tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• one medium onion, thinly sliced
• three cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• one-quarter pound guanciale, sliced in one inch length slivers, one-quarter inch thick
• one 28-ounce can San Marzano peeled plum tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
• one-half teaspoon red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper
• one-half cup freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese
  
  
• one pound bucatini
  

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic. When it starts to sizzle, add the onion. Saute for five minutes. Add the guanciale, and saute until it just starts to brown. Roughly chop the tomatoes, and add them to the saute pan. Continue cooking at a lower heat, uncovered, for about fifteen minutes, while regularly breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. The sauce should be relatively smooth (not lumpy). Add the red pepper flakes, a twist or two of freshly ground pepper, a half teaspoon of salt, and a tablespoon of pecorino. Stir and set aside.

Cook the bucatini in a large pot (4 to 5 quarts of water) of salted, boiling water. Cook until al dente. Drain (reserving one cup of the pasta liquid) and add to the saute pan of sauce, which you have now reheated. Stir and meld together. Add the cheese and a tablespoon or two of the reserved pasta water if the sauce is too thick to meld well with the pasta. Cover, turn up the heat for two minutes to get it really hot. Serve with extra pecorino on the side.

Note: more on guanciale in the next post

pasta with white truffles = $$$

It is our annual indulgent event: lunch at Felidia's during white truffle season. After a fabulous classic turkey and dressing Thanksgiving this year, on the following Tuesday we headed for Felidia's. We were not disappointed. Not a bit. Wife Carol, daughter Sarah, and yours truly settled ourselves in the warm and delightful first floor dining section at Felidia's on East 58th St. (Lydia herself was having lunch in the back corner of the dining room with Christoher Kimball of Cook's magazine.)

The menu took almost no browsing time. As announced, this was white truffle season at Felidia's and we were on. We each ordered the same: the recommended tagliatelle as the base. Simple, perfecto.

We started by sharing an excellent grilled octopus presentation, in oil. For the wine, we took the somelier's advice and had the Livon Chardonnay "Braide Mate" -- label above.

The tagliatelle was the home made variety using extra egg yolks. So it was wonderfully rich. It was presented with perfect texture in a simple butter sauce.

Then the white truffle expert came over with the jewel. He reported that the white truffles this year were maybe not quite as wonderful as last year's perfections, but they were still fabulous. He took his peeler and sliced an abundant array of this delicacy on each of our pasta dishes, while we just kept silent and inhaled, each in our own rapturous worlds.

The eating was everything we had dreamed about all year. Just tasting, eating slowly, ah'ing and oh'ing, and with conversation at something of a minimum, we cherished each bite.

Some cappucino to finish and our heavenly day was complete. The bill was $598 with tax. The pasta specials -- the tagliolini -- were $25 each, and each truffle addition was $110. Worth it.

We learned that a very large white truffle, found by an Italian truffle hunter near a pine tree near Pisa, was sold at a charity auction at Macao, in China, two weeks ago. The truffle was 1 pound, 10 ounces, and sold for $227,000. A record.

Zoe loves Bolognese

Zoe, just turned three, loves her Grandpa Pietro's Bolognese sauce. Rather than the usual tagliatelle or fettuccine as her pasta with her favorite sauce, Zoe prefers her ragu on farfalle. "I like the bow ties," she said, as she emptied her pasta bowl in rapid order.

To create this absolutely mouth-watering sauce, one of our favorites, go to the classic pasta web site: http://www.classicpasta.com and then click on sauces and then ragu.

We believe, no matter what your age, you'll agree with Zoe. "The best," she says.

tortellini presto

Many of us are lucky enough to be able to buy fresh,home-made egg pasta from a local source (we are not talking supermarket here). For those of us who are that fortunate, we, therefore, have available an almost instant dinner that ranks high among the stars in taste delight. Our tortellini is usually cheese filled (with four cheeses). Therefore we add the pancetta to the sauce. For a meat-filled tortellini, add or omit the pancetta as you wish. This is a recipe for two people:

• 48 - 60 tortellini (give or take either way)
• four tablespoons butter
• one tablespoon chopped shallots
• one tablespoon chopped pancetta
• one-half cup cream
• salt and pepper
• maybe a dash of nutmeg
• one-quarter cup freshly grated parmesan.

Put three quarts of water to a big boil. Add a tablespoon of salt. Add the tortellini.

Meanwhile in a saute pan, over medium heat: add the butter and let it melt. Add the shallots and pancetta and cook for a few minutes, until the shallots are soft, and the pancetta is cooked through (not brown). Add a half teaspoon of salt, some twists of the pepper mill, a dash of nutmeg if you choose, and then add the cream.

Cook until the cream is reduced -- maybe in half, but mostly judge how much sauce you want to coat the tortellini. Then take off heat. (This whole operation requires a minute or two to chop and about four to five minutes to cook!)

Meanwhile, test the doneness of the tortellini by taking one out, clipping off a tiny edge, and tasting. When the texture is truly al dente, drain. We find we can cook tortellini longer than we generally think we can. It does not get too soft for a while. Under-cooking seems to be more of a tendency because we are so tuned into keeping flat pasta totally al dente.

Put the tortellini in the sauce, which you have reheated. Add the parmesan. We then cover the pan and cook over high heat for one minute, to get the pasta very hot and steaming.

Add a spig of parsley and serve. Presto!

spaghetti with spinach and lemon

Spinach, that wonderful vegetable that disappeared, rightfully, from the markets for a while, is back, fresh and pure. We are into some wonderful pastas that are simple to prepare, combine ingredients perfectly, and are wonderful taste treats. Here is one of those: with fresh spinach, lemon and capers.

for the sauce:

• four tablespoons of olive oil
• five cloves of garlic, peeled and finely diced
• two tablespoons of capers
• one-half teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• four tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• two teaspoons of grated lemon rind
• four cups of chopped fresh spinach
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• one quarter cup freshly grated parmesan
  
  
  
  one pound spaghetti

In a saute pan, over medium heat, add the garlic. As soon as it starts to sizzle, add the capers and the red pepper flakes. Cook two minutes. Add the lemon juice and rind, one teaspoon of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Stir and cook for another two minutes.

In five quarts of water at a raging boil, add two tablespoons of salt and the spaghetti. Cook until just short of al dente. Set aside one quarter cup of the pasta liquid. Drain.

Re-heat the sauce. Add in the spaghetti and stir. Add the chopped spinach and stir. Add the parmesan and stir. Check for salt. If too dry add some of the reserved pasta liquid. Cover and cook for one minute over medium high heat.

Serve immediately.