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 →
If you love Florence, chances are you also love the food. I mean, I can’t think of better moments than devouring something delicious like a truffle panini at Procacci with a glass of prosecco along tragically fashionable Via Tornabuoni or sitting elbow to elbow at a bustling trattoria, wolfing down ribollita, bistecca and chianti immersed in old world soul. This city, with all its imperfections, really leaves an impression on every single person who visits. And if it doesn’t, that person isn’t awake to little joys of life. You live here (like me) because you love the lifestyle. Part of that romanticism comes from the food. 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 →
One of my favorite food memories in Italy was on New Year’s Eve a few years back. I had just spent a month working in London, as part of a much needed breather from Florence during a time when I was (almost) ready to throw in the towel and give up on Italy. That month taught me a lot of things about why (for me) Italy is pretty great and that it has (quite possibly) one of the best food cultures on the planet. Continue Reading →
Besides just going at it and stuffing your face with these aromatic, umami nuggets of gold- I have a couple ideas for how to use truffles in the kitchen.
Last weekend, I headed over to the truffle festival in San Miniato with Girl in Florence, her hubby-to-be and met up with one of our foodie idols, Emiko Davies. Wow, that’s a lot of name dropping but I must give cred since Emiko and her sommelier master hubby (sounds like a team!) organized a rather decadent day for us and it wouldn’t have been possible without either of them for the truffle-y goods I got my paws on. Continue Reading →