Is this your first time reading Curious Appetite? If the answer is no, and you already follow on facebook and instagram, then you’ll know how obsessed I am with pistachios!
It all started when a fiery Sicilian-American woman met an Iranian guy with a ‘fro in a club back in the early 80’s. A few years later they made me and ever since, I was exposed to many exotic flavors as a result of being born to a Sicilian/American mother and an Iranian pop. Continue Reading →
This big ol’ blob of red mush is one of my favorite things to make in the winter: ragu’. When serving ragu’, you “should” toss the sauce with all the pasta before plating. I on the other hand like mixing it all in the serving plate, I guess its that kid in me that enjoys playing with food. Instead of beef and/or pork, I used Elk sausage I found at Uli’s in Pike Place Market in Seattle (since I’m visiting for the winter). Why Elk? Out of curiosity, of course! I’ve been happy with wild boar in the past and wanted to experiment. If you are in Italy, you can try deer or cervo for a similar game-y effect.
Oh! And did you know that there is a deeper meaning to the term: ragu’? According to The Gourmet Wino, “the word ragu is a derivative of the french verb ragouter which means “to stimulate appetite.” In Italy, “Ragu” it is a staple tomato based meat sauce cooked/simmered for hours with celery, onions, carrots, wine and garlic and is traditional to the north of Italy, but also in the central region of Tuscany.”
Regions have variations on ragu’, like in Bologna they are known to add a cinnamon stick to the pot’ o meat and in Tuscany, there are historical variations such as “ragu bianco” which was common during Medieval and Renaissance times, made without tomatoes since tomatoes did not become strongly apart of the Italian food repertoire until later. Continue Reading →
Gnudi- the ‘gn pronounced like gnocchi’s, is a dish I absolutely adore to make. In Florence, I also work assisting cooking classes. Thanks to the patience of lovely mamma cooks, I learned a few recipes for peasant dishes like this: Spinach and Ricotta Gnudi. Continue Reading →
Before I moved to Italy, I dabbled in food and wine pairing classes in Seattle and in certain ways I feel like it was easier to play and experiment around with food/wine pairing at home than it is here…WAITAMINUTELETMEESPLAIN!
Because in Seattle we have amazing shops that shelf a huge variety of wines including little boutiques that specialize in hand picked small selections and big mega stores that could be the mall of wine for all I know. Which means, international wines. In Florence, you can find everything under the Tuscan sun (sorry, I couldn’t help it) and maybe a few labels from other parts of Italy but a Spanish wine? A Washington wine? Forgettaboutit! I’ve been lucky to find a few international labels in wine shops here, but mostly French. So. Typical. Continue Reading →
Making fresh pasta is ridiculously easy as long as you have a machine where you can roll out dough and cut the sheets. You just need time and patience. Fresh cut pasta can keep in the freezer for a while (but why would you store it if you could…eat it) or the fridge for like 5 days.
