One hope in my gourmet work, is that I promote the revival of some food traditions that are seemingly becoming garbage, such as Aperitivo. Why is it becoming garbage- there are more and more bars boasting Aperitivo more than ever. Precisely!
To me, the concept of Aperitivo is to have a snack and a light appetite-stimulating drink (socially) before dinner. Aperitivo is not dinner and I shun the current wave of “aperi-cena” Continue Reading →
I occasionally cook, it is the root of my love affair. Not to suggest I am great in the kitchen, I simply appreciate the work that goes into cooking. And to be frank, if I am paying someone else for that work- it better be worth it.
One of the things I love to make the most when I host people are aperitivo snacks. If you’ve read anything on this blog, you’ve hopefully gathered by now that I’m aperi-obsessed. I could have a whole dinner just on finger foods and aperitivo snacks. You can be creative and arrange beautiful looking spreads, while creating a social atmosphere around eating.
I invent things mostly on what I think flavors would go together- I like to experiment. A recent experiment brought me these crusty crostini chunks of delight:
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 →
I have said this once and I’ll say it until I am blue in the face- I love cucina povera aka “poor” cuisine. When the Italians faced hunger during WWII, they foraged buckwheat in the mountains and thus was born delicious hearty dishes like pizzoccheri.
One of the things I absolutely LOVE about Tuscany is seasonality in the local cuisine. It’s not trendy like it is in the states, it’s just the way it’s done because: IT MAKES BLOODY SENSE. I love how the markets change the availability of foods with the season and I love that restaurants change their menù, too. I can’t stress enough how much that I love that eating seasonally isn’t mega trendy like it is back in the states because otherwise it would come at a hefty inflated marketed price. In Florence, we can get a bunch of local, organic kale for less than a euro while in Seattle the same costs $3 a bunch. Continue Reading →