Alla carbonara

Today, and for the next 3 days, my youngest daughter (Joana) is going through several examinations, along with 32,000 other candidates, for a spot in one of the largest Brazilian Universities, the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in Porto Alegre, the capital of our state, as she plans to study Computer Engineering.  Today she had exams on Brazilian Literature, English and Physics, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., and the temperature was reaching 95oF.  No need to say she left the exams pretty exhausted; and has to go through additional ones for the next 3 days, as I’ve already mentioned.  We ate something fast for lunch, but I figured she would need something more substantial in terms of energy for dinner.  Something like a pasta (full of carbohydrates, fast energy for the brain) with some fat (some lipids for slow burning metabolic processes).

Made a search on Foodista and decide to go for the Spaghetti Alla Carbonara.  The result you can see below.

Penne rigatti alla carbonara

You sure have noticed I used penni rigatti instead of spaghetti (I didn’t have any).

I have to say that, although I didn’t have an Italian pancetta, the result was rather similar to the dish we had in Italy last summer.  We stopped at a roadside trucker joint between Assisi and Rome, and  they served the best spaghetti alla carbonara I’ve ever had.  I believe the secret was the pancetta, fantastically flavorful.

Spaghetti alla carbonara - The real thing

New Year’s rainbow

According to the Wikipedia, the Irish leprechaun’s secret hiding place for his pot of gold is usually said to be at the end of the rainbow. Although this place is impossible to reach, because the rainbow is an optical effect which depends on the location of the viewer, what is a perfectly prepared meal if not a pot of gold?  Thus, to make sure I’d reach this pot of gold on this new year I decided (after the suggestion of my brother-in-law Reynaldo, who in fact furnished all the ingredients) to prepare a rainbow trout with almonds.

Rainbow trouts (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are salmonids native of the Pacific Ocean, in Asia as well as in North America.  They were introduced in southern Brazil in the 70’s, in the central mountains of the state of Santa Catarina.  One of the pioneers in this process was Prof. Hélio Antunes de Souza.  In 1977, while college mates (we received our Biology degree together in 1978), Hélio decided to start some experiments with this species, and thus released some individuals in ponds he constructed in his father property at the margins of the Pelotas river.  Such experiments demonstrated the potential of these trouts to grow in those crystalline waters, and evolved to turn Prof. Hélio into the largest commercial producer of this species in southern Brazil.

The recipe of my trout with almonds is rather simple.  Take some fish filets, season with salt, sprinkle with paprika, and bake them in the oven for a few minutes (10-15 min will do).  Meanwhile heat 2-3 tablespoons of butter (for 2 filets) on a skillet and add some sliced almonds (about 3/4 cup).  When the butter starts to turn brown add a shot of Frangelico (an Italian hazelnut and herb-flavored liqueur).  Let it simmer for a while.  Remove from the fire, add 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream and pour over the fillets.  That’s it.  I’m sure you have a pot of gold in your mouth as you chew through this rainbow.  A wonderful way to start 2010.

Rainbow trouth with Frangelico, butter and almonds

Die Wurst

Food conservation, since the most ancient times, has always been a problem, as it was (and still is) the single most important way of assuring a continuous and adequate food supply for an ever-growing population. One very old method for preserving meat is the preparation of sausages, which by 500 BC were already known in China, Rome and Greece. This history probably had its beginning when man learned that salt could be used as a meat preservative (the word sausage itself is believed to come from “salsus“, the Latin word for salt).

Presently sausages can be found either fresh or cured. Fresh sausages can be conserved for shorter periods of time, being usually kept under refrigeration. Cured sausages, which can be cooked or dried, however, can last much longer. The curing process can involve a variety of techniques and agents, such as salt, smoke, nitrates, nitrites and even sugar.

Germany is, I believe, the champion of sausage making, and thus no trip to this country would be complete without a visit to a “Wursthaus”. Guess the pictures speak for themselves.

Buying "Wurst" at "Schlemmermeyer", downtown Heidelberg/Germany

"Wurst"...

More "Wurst"...

And more "Wurst"

The state of “Santa Catarina“, where I happen to have been born, still exhibits very strong signs of a 19th century European immigration, the vast majority of the population being descendants of those European settlers. Among these are the Germans, which started to arrive in 1828, and have formed large colonies. Even today, in some areas of the state, towns exist where over 90% of the population is composed of German descendents, and the German language is fluently spoken. No wonder German tradition, including the preparation of sausages, is still much alive in these areas.

During my last trip to Florianopolis, the capital of Santa Catarina state, which itself was founded by Portuguese, I had the opportunity of visiting an open-air market, where “colonos” (people from the original German and Italian colonies) come to sell sausages, cheese, bread, and other products prepared at home or at small family owned factories.

Sausages at the market in Florianopolis/Brazil

More sausages at the market in Florianopolis/Brazil

More sausages, and some smoked pork ribs, at the market in Florianopolis/Brazil

And some more sausages from Santa Catarina/Brazil

Literally hundreds of sausages varieties exist (as you can easily figure out from the above pictures), a sample of which can be found at the Cook’s Thesaurus. If you have any interest on the subject, and would like to prepare your own sausages at home (why not?), I suggest you start by taking a look at “The art and practice of sausage making“, published by the North Dakota State University and freely available on the net. I’m quite sure the end result will be much better than most of the products you’re presently getting from your supermarket.

A bit of Lindos, Greece

Around 50 AD St. Paul was sailing around the Aegean sea, more specifically along the coast of Rhodes, one of the Dodecanese islands, when his boat was caught by a terrible storm. He then sailed towards land and reached one of the most wonderful protected bays you will ever see. Today known as St. Paul’s Bay, in the village of Lindos, it is a unforgetable view, specially seen from the Acropolis, at the top of Lindos hills.

St. Paul's Bay - Lindos/Rhodes/Greece

In the Greek hot summer, after reaching the top of the hills and enjoying such a marvelous view (I won’t even mention the Acropolis itself), if you are a normal human being, and not a saint as Paul, you should be thirsty as hell (even though I presume saints get thirsty too). One suggestion, don’t drink anything. Resist. Be strong. Walk all the way down and go to the Pallas beach. Walk, don’t ride the poor donkeys available for the lazy tourists.

Pallas Beach - Lindos/Rhodes/Greece

There you will find a couple of small bars/restaurants, and I guess any of them will do (I sat at the one with the blue roof right in the middle of the above picture). Then, order a bottle of ouzo (my favorite one is Plomarion, from Plomari, in the Island of Lesvos, the capital of ouzo), a tall glass filled with ice to the top and some mineral water, relax and enjoy, after all you’re in Greece.

Clearly, you won’t be able to drink ouzo for very long on an empty stomach, that’s when some seafood should be more than welcome. I ordered some squid, fried to perfection, with a very simple salad (tomatoes, onions and lettuce) with tzatziki (you can find dozens of different recipes on the web, this one here is very basic – use high quality yogurt).

Batter fried squid - Lindos/Rhodes/Greece

As you can see, the squid was covered with a nice looking batter, which I assume was prepared by mixing some seasoned flour with cold sparkling water, as it was filled with small gas bubbles, which usually form when a batter loaded with dissolved gases (what you achieve by keeping the temperature low), carbon dioxide in this case, gets in contact with hot oil and tries to leave the mixture. The final result is a very thin, crispy and flavorful coat, which does justice to a fresh squid such as this one. Nothing could go along better with your second, or third, or fourth….(how many???) glasses of ouzo.

Spices – They made the world go ’round

Every society seems to have its own luxurious items, available only to the dominant casts, to the rulers, to those who dictate not only the present, but in some ways also the future.

Clearly, you can get quite rich, very rich, if you happen to dominate the market of these goods, as history has shown that no logic exists regarding their market price. In fact, it seems that the more expensive they are the more they seem to be used as a symbol of power and wealth, regardless of their real value.

During the middle ages some of the most luxurious products someone could lay hands on were the spices. Products like cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, nutmeg, for example, were among the most prized ones. And their market was dominated by the Venetians. The Republic of Venice, for around 6 centuries, dominated the trade of these substances with the Middle-East and most of Asia.

By the XVth century two of the most powerful countries in Europe, Portugal and Spain, where, for obvious reasons, quite unhappy with this situation. The decision taken by their rulers was an obvious result of such unhappiness: they decided to free themselves from the Venetian monopoly establishing their own trade routes with the Eastern world. How to do that? Build nice ships, hire good sailors, and set them to sea in search of practical new routes. Among the most known expeditions launched were those headed by Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus), Pedro Alvares Cabral and Vasco da Gama. Colombus landed in America in 1492, Cabral discovered South America, having reached Brazil in 1500 and Vasco da Gama commanded the first ship to sail directly from Europe to India in 1497-1498. All of this mainly because of spices.

I’m not even going to mention the spices discovered in this new world, like chili pepper, vanilla and chocolate, which, also needless to say, spread around the world in a reversed travel towards the East and in such a way that it’s almost impossible to imagine present-day Eastern food without their presence, specially of the chili pepper (just take a look at some of the main dishes in China, Thailand, India, etc). The point is, spices really made the world go ’round at that time.

Among the old Eastern spices 2 of my favorites are star anise and cinnamon.

Star anise is the fruit of Illicium verum, a small tree native of China, widely used in its dried form not only in China, but also in India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Cinnamon, is actually the bark of Cinnamomum verum, also a small tree, but native of Sri Lanka. Cinnamon, along with black pepper, are perhaps the most widely known, and still used, spices in present-day cuisine.

All of this just to mention that I was very happy to find a recipe by one of my favorite chefs, the Australian Kylie Kwong, using both (cinnamon and star anise) to prepare a sweet-sour plum sauce to go along a crisp-skin duck.

My version of Kylie Kwong's crispy-skin duck with plum sauce

I followed the recipe available at the ABC site with 2 exceptions: (1) the plums were not really blood plums, but a lighter version, as you can see in the above picture and, (2) instead of Sichuan pepper and salt I used sea salt with crushed black pepper corns (4:1).

The result, and specially the sauce, was superb. The 2 spices, star anise and cinnamon, added a very nice dimension to the simple water/sugar base, perfectly complementing the sourness of the lime. My daughter Juliana, who happens to be a professional chef, ate it even with ice cream.

That’s BBQ

I’ve read dozens of blog posts about barbecue and the art of cooking various types of meat with the heat produced by a wooden fire or with the use of charcoal. I’ve even written a few lines myself on this subject (see From the heart, “Churrasco” – the Brazilian BBQ and Parrillada in Uruguay). Nevertheless, nothing prepared me for what I saw last Sunday – a gigantic BBQ made with around 1,500 pounds of ribs by my friend Tito. Yes, that’s right, 1,500 pounds of ribs, not to mention the additional 100 pounds of various other cuts and sausages.

This BBQ, or “churrasco de chão” in Portuguese, is a typical “gaucho” preparation, and can be found throughout the pampas region, from Southern Brazil to Southern Argentina (where it’s known as “asado”). Whole ribs ( or “rib windows” as they are called in this area of Brazil), each one weighting around 20 pounds, are placed in vertical iron spikes which are then stuck into the ground at a certain distance from a huge open air fire.

The only seasoning employed was coarse sea salt, and around 25 pounds of it were consumed.

Seasoning - coarse sea salt only

The fire was lit around 7:00 a.m. and the meat started to cook around one hour later, when the 5 cubic meters of wood had already produced a nice amount of charcoal.

Overview - around 1,500 pounds of ribs being grilled

Just before serving, around 4 hours later, the salt was beaten off the meat and the “windows” cut into small pieces by skilful “gauchos”.

Ready to serve.

Tito (Gabriel Molon) proud of his BBQ

I should mention that I don’t recommend you to try this at home, unless you can guarantee that: (1) You have a huge enough garden where you can set tables for around 1,000 people, (2) The process is going to be coordinated by a professional who makes a living preparing food for the crowds, like my friend Tito.

Watch a video of the event on YouTube.

Kibbe, the Middle Eastern steak tartare

Visiting my hometown, from which I’ve been away for almost 35 years, is always a special moment. Florianópolis is not only a very nice place worth visiting, but for me it’s also a wonderful bag of memories. In the early 70’s I was just a like any other teenager around the world, loved to listen to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Carlos Santana, among others, and enjoyed partying with friends. But differently from other kids anywhere else in the world we used to visit quite frequently a rather unique place, “Kibelândia” or, literally, the land of kibbe. “Kibelândia” was then a small joint (it was stablished in 1966), neglected by almost every grown up in town, a rather typical magnet for teenagers.

Kibbe, or kibbeh, is a Middle Eastern dish, and Lebanon’s national dish, found in many forms, the most common one a torpedo-shaped fried croquette stuffed with minced beef or lamb. The basic recipe contains burghul (a kind of crushed wheat) and chopped meat to which spices like garlic, onions, cinnamon, pepper and mint may be added. The kibbes at “Kibelândia” were prepared and fried right before your eyes (you could even see when the cook licked his finger to open a hole in it were an olive was placed). I don’t know if because of this nasty habit or not, but the kibbes tasted great.

During my last visit to Florianópolis I was invited by my brother-in-law to have a kibbe with beer at “Kibelândia”, and for my surprise it still exists in the very same address (Rua Victor Meirelles, 98), right in the heart of town.

Kibbes from "Kibelândia", in Florianópolis/SC/Brazil

To my joy the kibbes were very good, even though you can no longer see if the cook still licks his finger (the olive was inside though).

One kind of kibbe I never eat outside my home is “kibbe nayyeh”, or raw kibbe, a type of steak tartare. At home we prepare it mixing ground beef or lamb with burghul (around 60%:40%). Add some cold butter (around 100 g for every 2 pounds of meat) and seasoning (we use lots of garlic and mint and a splash of Syrian pepper). The burghul should be soaked in water before combining with the meat (there is some controversy on that). Traditionally the fat used in Lebanon is “samma”, a kind of clarified butter, or the fat obtained from the tail of a sheep (I haven’t been able to find that around here yet).

The meat is then shaped like a loaf of bread, scored with a knife and drizzled with olive oil.

Kibbe nayyeh - Lebanese steak tartar?

Top left: kibbe bi saniyeh (kibbe in a tray). Top right: orange and lettuce salad (orange juice, olive oil and cinnamon dressing). Botton left: kibbe nayyeh (raw kibbe). Botton right: tabbouleh

You can also press the raw kibbe in a flat baking pan, which is then scored with a knife into diamond shapes about one or two inches in length, topped with olive oil and then baked in the oven until done (be careful not to let it dry). This is called “kibbe bi saniyeh” or “kibbe in a tray”.

At home we eat kibbe (usually two or three variations) with a very simple salad made with lettuce, slices of orange and walnuts, dressed with a mixture of olive oil, orange juice and cinnamon (try it, I’m sure you’re going to aprove it). Tabbouleh and pita bread are also mandatory presences.

Six months…some statistics

This week we celebrate, so to say, our half birthday, i.e., we’ve been on the air for six months.  Here are some statistics about this period:

- 48 posts
- 17 categories
- 359 tags
- Top Post:  Parrillada in Uruguay (367 views)

- 1,439 views
- 84 different countries – Top countries – USA, followed by Brazil, UK, Germany and Canada.

So far so good.  I wasn’t expecting to be flooded by viewers (even though that would be very nice), specially considering that I’m neither professionally involved with gastronomy, nor have any out of the ordinary ability for writing or taking pictures (I always use my phone camera).  Besides that, writing in English is a permanent challenge, as I’m not a native speaker (I learned it over 35 years ago during a period I spent in the USA as an exchange student).

One frustration though, no one dared to share any culinary experience through this blog.  Anyhow, it’s a moment to thank all the readers, specially those who wrote a few comments on the blog itself or have reached me through e-mail.  You comment is my salary. Thanks.

Now, let’s wait and see if anything changes in the next 6 months.

From the heart

How about a food that is low in sodium, as well as a good source of folate, pantothenic acid, phosphorus and copper, and a very good source of protein, riboflavin, vitamin B12, iron and zinc? Well, nothing is perfect, it has also a high cholesterol content. But, to compensate that, besides being very nutritious it’s also dam tasty.

Chicken hearts, that’s what I’m talking about. In Brazil, they are a mandatory presence in a BBQ, as appetizers, specially in the southern areas of the country.

Chicken hearts

Last Sunday I took 1,0 kg (around 2,0 pounds) of chicken hearts, trimmed the excess fat (remember, it’s high in cholesterol), seasoned with salt and pepper, and placed them in a special device I received as a gift from my friend Renan. It’s like a cylindric grill that you fill with chicken hearts and place over the fire turning around now and then to get an even cooking.

Cylindric grill for chicken hearts (Posing for pictures out of the fire. Yes, that on the back are pork ribs)

After around 45-60 min they are ready. In Brazil we usually serve them with manioc flour and an ice cold beer (even though I prefer a red wine).

Grilled chicken hearts with manioc flour

Ok, let’s assume you don’t have such a cylindric grill, nor a Brazilian style BBQ pit, but you still would like to try some chicken hearts (and I recommend you to do that). Then maybe you can take a look at the 1956 grilled chicken heart recipe from the father of American gastronomy, James Beard (yes, some of us have heard of him in Brazil).

It´s a pizza, I’m sure!

Beneath a shady tree, the hero spread
His table on the turf, with cakes of bread;
And, with his chiefs, on forest fruits he fed.
They sate; and, (not without the god’s command)
Their homely fare dispatch’d, the hungry band
Invade their trenchers next, and soon devour,
To mend the scanty meal, their cakes of flour.
Ascanius this observ’d, and smiling said:
“See, we devour the plates on which we fed.

These are the translated words of Virgil (70-19 b.C) in the “The Aeneid”, describing the legendary origin of the Roman nation and their cakes or circles of bread, probably the first written record of this amazing culinary creation, the pizza.

After “It’s not a pizza! Or is it?“, I just can’t go on for too long without writing about the real pizza. At least if you define pizza as a “shallow bread-like crust covered with seasoned tomato sauce, cheese, and often other toppings such as sausage or olive (take a look at “Pizza, History and Legends“).

Although of uncertain origin, the standards of what became known today as pizzas were probably set in 1889 by Raffaele Esposito in Naples. In that year he prepared tree kinds of pizzas: one with pork fat, cheese and basil; one with garlic, olive oil and tomatoes; and another with mozzarella, basil and tomatoes (in the colors of the Italian flag – yellow, green and red) which were offered to the Queen Margherita di Savoia. The Queen really enjoyed them, particularly the third type, which than became known as “Pizza Margherita” and is today considered the most basic and traditional type of pizza.

Travelling around Italy you will certainly find thousands of pizzerias, offering pizzas that range from heaven to complete hell. In my last trip to Italy, the third one I had the pleasure of making, my son Thiago, who just loves pizza, decided to try them in almost every meal. We travelled around Liguria, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Marche, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto, thus, from the center to northern regions. I’d like to highlight two of them:

1. “Tonno e cipolla” (Tuna and onions) from the restaurant “Il Vecchio Dado” in Pisa/Tuscany – The city of Pisa has for quite a long time been known for one single thing, its Leaning Tower, which in fact became a symbol of Italy itself. Although an impressive building, the Leaning Tower is just one component of the beautiful “Campo dei Miracoli” (Field of Miracles) which also includes an amazing church, a baptistery and a cemetery.

Pisa flourished mainly around the XIth to the XIIIth century, declining after it was defeated by the Genoese in 1284. It was also governed by the Medice, from Florence, who re-established the famous University of Pisa were Galileo Galilei served as a teacher.

Campo dei Miracoli, in Pisa/Tuscany, with the Leaning Tower and part of the Dome.

When looking for a meal please, run away from the restaurants around the “Campo dei Miracoli”. They are expensive and usually of low quality – real tourist traps. Take your time and walk towards south, in the direction of the Arno river. It should not take more than 5-10 min (a little more if you stop for pictures and to admire the nice architecture along the way). Then just walk along the river and look for “Il Vecchio Dado”, at Lungarno Antonio Paccinoti, 22 (if you came through Via Santa Maria, which starts at the “Campo”, just turn left and walk a couple of blocks).

Walk along via Santa Maria towards the Arno river

“Il Vecchio Dado” is a 200 years old establishment serving good quality pizzas right on the waterfront. It also has a good selection of fish and seafood dishes.

Pizza Tonno e Cipolla from Il Vechio Dado - Pisa/Tuscany - According to my son Thiago the number 1 in Italy

2. “Tartufo Nero” (Black truffles) from the restaurant “I Monaci” in Assisi/Umbria – Assisi is well known as the birthplace of St. Francis, the first Italian saint and the founder of the Franciscan Order. It’s a beautiful medieval town, filled with tourists and pilgrims during most of the year, but worth of visiting for at least a couple of days.

Basilica of St Francis - Assisi/Umbria

We had an amazing pizza at “Il Monaci”, whose entrance is in a stepped alley (Scaletti del Metastasio) off the north side of Via Fontebella, a few steps down from Piazzetta in downtown Assisi. I had never had truffles before, but will not comment on that now, as it believe it deserves a special blog entry.

Pizza de Tartufo Nero from Il Monaci - Assisi/Umbria

These two pizzas had a few things in common: (a) first quality ingredients, specially the tomatoes, the mozzarella cheese and the olive oil; (b) they were baked in wooden ovens, acquiring a natural and unique smokiness; (c) a crunchy and delicate crust and (d) abundant toppings.

Have you had a similar experience? Wanna share your favorite pizzas with us? Get in touch.

http://borderlesscooking.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/its-not-a-pizza/