Articles by: Michele Scicolone

 Salvo Montalbano is the leading character in a series of Italian mystery novels written by Andrea Camilleri.  Salvo is a decent and humane man with a fiercely independent streak who happens to be a police commissioner in Sicily.    He fights corruption, solves crimes, has girlfriend problems, and never fails to enjoy a good meal.   Normally I'm not much of mystery reader, but the series is well written and the characters are appealing.  The books capture a real feeling of life in Sicily.  The highlight for me though is the opportunity to experience Sicilian food vicariously with Montalbano.  You can bet that no matter how grim or perplexing the crime, Montalbano will sit down to a good meal and a bottle of wine either at his beachside home, prepared by his faithful housekeeper Adelina, or at some truckstop or trattoria on the way to or from the crime scene.

Recently, my friend Diane Darrow picked up a copy of  I Segreti della Tavola di Montalbano--Le Ricette di Andrea Camilleri (The Secrets of Montalbano's Table -- The Recipes of Andrea Camilleri)  by Stefania Campo.  Diane is a great home cook and the author, along with her husband Italian wine expert Tom Maresca, of several Italian cookbooks.  Undaunted by the lack of detailed info in the recipes, Tom and Diane decided to undertake a Sicilian dinner Montalbano-style and Charles and I were delighted to attend.

The meal began with Adelina's Caponata from Excursion to Tindari.  The flavors of the eggplant, onions and celery were balanced though it had less tomato than I am accustomed to and was topped with crunchy toasted almonds.  Altogether delicious.  Next came the Pasta col Ragu Siciliana (also from Excursion to Tindari), which was as good as it looks.  The ragu was made with sirloin that Diane and Tom had ground themselves and the pasta was topped with caciocavallo, a classic Sicilian cheese.  Our main course was a dramatic 'mpanata di maiale, from The Wings of the Sphinx, a baked drum of bread dough stuffed with sauteed sausages, potatoes, olives and cauliflower.  Diane accompanied it with roasted red peppers, the ideal complement.

Tom selected the wines for the dinner.  Though we started with a magnum of French Champagne, at the table there were three Sicilian reds:  Don Antonio from Morgante, and the Rosso del Soprano and Faro from Palari, which we all enjoyed.

Little dark chocolate cakes with orange sauce (sformatino di cioccolato amaro con salsa all'arancia) from The Snack Thief were a nice finish to our memorable Montalbano dinner.  Salvo is a lucky character to eat this well in every book, and we too felt lucky to share it with Diane and Tom.

Click here to read more about this dinner and Diane's kitchen adventures.

             Vino 2011 is known as Italian Wine Week, though for me, one of the most interesting events was the panel discussion entitled “Has the Popularity of la Cucina Italiana Surpassed French Cuisine as the Source of Inspiration and Motivation for Future Chefs?”  

            The host was Fred Plotkin, an expert on all things Italian, author of “Italy for the Gourmet Traveller” and numerous articles and books on Italian food and opera, and a popular speaker and lecturer.  Fred introduced the first panelist, Bob Lape, host of WCBS Radio 88’s Dining Diary for the past 15 years, and Emmy Award winning newscaster. 

            Bob told us about the amazing growth of Italian culinary influence in this country that he has witnessed over the years in his role as a food and restaurant industry commentator, while French cuisine has declined.  He cited cooks like TV Chef and Author Mary Ann Esposito for introducing the public to the “honesty and simplicity of Italian foods” with her television show, Ciao Italia!, the longest-running cooking show on TV.  Bob surveyed several of the top culinary schools and discovered strong indicators that Italian cuisine is the more popular.  For example, the Italian Culinary Academy is expanding to California and New York’s Institute for Culinary Education current schedule lists 87 Italian cooking classes versus only 28 French.

            Ariane Batterberry spoke next.  Together with her late husband Michael Batterberry, Ariane was the founder of two major culinary periodicals, Food & Wine and Food Arts.  Ariane recalled that in 1971 when she visited Menton, France near the Italian border, it was obvious that neither the French cooks nor their Italian counterparts on the other side of the border had any interest in emulating one another.  Today culinary schools teach aspiring cooks French techniques, but those same cooks go on to work in American restaurants with menus inspired by Italian cuisine and ingredients.  Some of the recent examples of menu items Ariane noted in American restaurants include Locavore Crostini with Mostarda, Pesto, Polenta and Pancetta; Seared Scallops with Porcini; Bucatini with Roasted Cauliflower and Pecorino; and Heritage Pork Ravioli.  She said that this shows that Italian culinary concepts are so entrenched in the American kitchen that young chefs today accept foods like mostarda, ravioli and bucatini as American, not foreign.

            Steven Kolpan is Professor and Chair of Wine Studies at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York and the author of “Exploring Wine”.  He believes that Italian cuisine has risen in popularity because Italian food is recognizable, not overly manipulated, and based on the model of home cooking as opposed to that of restaurant and hotel food.  He also pointed out that French haute cuisine is not food that people can or want to eat every day as evidenced by the fact that France is the fastest growing market for Mc Donald’s, and that the most popular book about French food in recent years is “Why French Women Don’t Get Fat”.  Though Asians still revere French haute cuisine, Steven feels that its influence is declining in favor of other cuisines. 

            Darrell Corti, owner of Corti Brothers, a gourmet grocery and wine store in Sacramento questioned the notion of “popularity” of Italian food versus its “inspirational” ability and pointed out that popularity eventually fades.  Italy as a country is only 150 years old, whereas France has been around since the 1500’s.  Chefs today admire Italian cuisine because it uses good sense and simple ingredients.

            The final speaker was Arthur Schwartz, known as “The Food Maven”, author of “Naples At Table” and “The Southern Italian Table.”  Arthur pointed out that to predict the future, we should look to the past.  In 2003, he said, Bon Appetit magazine cited Alain Ducasse as the premier chef in America, and few would agree with this today.  While Italian food is popular at the moment, it may not continue to motivate and inspire chefs in the future.  He cited the influences of globalization as today’s chefs seek fame around the world and prefer to startle the public and the press with novelty.  He said that cooking schools report that anything Italian sells, but Italian cooking technique is not taught to professionals who still learn French technique.  He feels that more education is needed but in the end Asian cuisine is winning out.

            Summing up, Fred Plotkin pointed out that the Italians have always been creative people.  He said that the most important thing is not to forget the past, and that Italians can learn a lot from the French.  Like several of the other panelists, he credited the Italian Trade Commission and other Italian government agencies for introducing the American public to Italian food and wine.  Italy’s strength is the high quality of the ingredients used in Italian cooking, using the 5 senses in the kitchen, and understanding that we are one with nature. 

            I think that American chefs are open to new ideas and love experimenting.  This is a good thing and it’s the reason why there are so many exciting restaurants in this country.  But for most of us, on a day-to-day basis, nothing is more appealing, satisfying, or doable than an Italian meal.  If I was somehow transported to Copenhagen to dine at Noma, recently named the World’s Best Restaurant, where the specialties include radishes with edible dirt, and buttered langoustine on a hot rock, with milk skin and rape seed oil, I might enjoy the experience.  But you won’t find me craving that kind of food, preparing meals like that at home, or going to a restaurant in my neighborhood that serves such dishes. 

            Italian food will always inspire and motivate future chefs because it is ultimately what they and their customers want to eat and enjoy the most.   

             All around the world, Pesto alla Genovese will be showcased on January 17 to mark the International Day of Italian Cuisines. Chefs who are members of itchefs-GVCI will prepare and serve this dish according to Italian culinary tradition to promote unity and signify authenticity of Italian products.  Each year since 2008, a different authentic Italian dish has been selected for this honor. 

In anticipation of the event, an industry workshop was held at The Italian Culinary Academy on January 12.  Chef Cesare Casella, Dean of the Italian Culinary Academy and owner of the acclaimed Salumeria Rosi presented a series of seminars and tastings featuring authentic Italian products, some familiar, and some not. 

            The first was corzetti, a coin shaped pasta from Liguria.  Chef Andrea della Gatta talked about the history of this pasta as a poor man’s food while he prepared a sauce made with artichokes, zucchini, shrimp, tomato concasse, extra virgin olive oil and basil tossed with marjoram-flavored corzetti that had been imported from Genoa.  He pointed out that the dish was hardly poor man’s food any more since shrimp now cost about $35 a pound in Liguria.   Unfortunately, the corzetti, which were frozen, are not available in this country.

            Next up were fish products from Typical Italian Fish Food, or TIFF, a company seeking to establish itself in the States.  TIFF produces fish “salumi” made with salmon, palamita -- a kind of bluefish, and a type of small tuna called alletterati.  These are ground with spices to make salame, or dried and sliced like bottarga, or ground into a fine “flour” for tossing with pasta or seasoning salads. 

            Lou di Palo, or Di Palo Fine Foods presented the next items:  two very different extra virgin olive oils, one from Liguria and the other from Sicily, followed by lentils from Norcia, San Marzano Tomatoes, and Grana Padano, a fine aged cow’s milk cheese.  The cheese was tangy and creamy at the same time and would be featured the next day in the preparation of the Pesto alla Genovese. 

            Ferrarelle water both sparkling and still, a perfect palate cleanser, was next followed by a demo of kitchen appliances by DeLonghi, a 100-year old manufacturer headquartered in Treviso.  Their food processor has the unique ability to weight the foods added to the work bowl, a real boon to the cook especially when baking.

            On January 13, Chef Della Gatta returned to the auditorium of the Italian Culinary Academy to demonstrate Pesto alla Genovese made the traditional way with a mortar and pestle.  It seemed an odd choice of a recipe to demonstrate at this time of year in icy New York, where the temperature outside hovered in the low twenties, but just the thought of a fragrant plate of pasta sauced with fresh emerald-green pesto was enough to get me thinking warm thoughts of sunshine and summer gardens. 

            For more information about Pesto alla Genovese and the traditional recipe go to www.itchefs-gvci.com.  For additional information about the Italian Culinary Academy visit www.ItalianCulinaryAcademy.com.  

 Soup, roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes.  It all sounds like the typical American holiday meal, but I can't resist adding an Italian accent to the dishes I'll be making.


My mushroom soup is accented with Marsala (the recipe is in my book 

The Italian Slow Cooker

),and the turkey is roasted with herbs, garlic and white wine.  My turkey stuffing is one my grandmother taught my mother to make.  It's made with sausage, mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions mixed with rice.  The brussels sprouts will be roasted with garlic and pancetta while the potatoes are mashed with butter and Parmigiano Reggiano.  And I know Charles has a fine bottle of Amarone lined up to go with the meal.


Even the cranberry sauce will have an Italian accent this year.  I'm a big fan of mostarda, which takes various forms around Italy.  Sometimes it is made with whole fruits poached in a sweet mustard syrup, while other versions are more like a chunky condiment.  I combined tart cranberries, figs and two kinds of mustard to make a Cranberry Fig Mostarda.  Both tangy and sweet, it has a pleasant crunch from the fig and mustard seeds, and its a great companion to the holiday bird.  It's also good with a sharp cheese such as a mountain gorgonzola.      


Wishing you all a very delicious and Happy Thanksgiving!  

                                  

Cranberry Fig Mostarda

Makes about 3-1/2 cups

12 ounce bag of cranberries, rinsed

7 ounces dried figs, stems removed, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1-1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

1 tablespoon dry mustard mixed with 1 tablespoon water

Combine cranberries, figs, sugar, and orange juice in a saucepan.  Bring to simmer.  Cover and cook 10 minutes or until the cranberries pop, stirring occasionally. 

            Add the mustard seeds and mustard paste.  Stir in well.  Cook 5 minutes more.  Let cool.  Scrape into an airtight container.  Cover and refrigerate 24 hours before serving.  This keeps well for at least 2 weeks.