On Friday night, we were treated to an incredible home-cooked Moroccan meal by our friends G & P. The impetus for this meal was a dinner the four of us had enjoyed at a local Moroccan restaurant. One of the dishes I had eaten was called Bisteeya. G, who was very familiar with Moroccan cuisine, understood that this dish was hard to prepare properly in a restaurant. He offered to treat us to a Moroccan meal prepared by him. Since he is the best chef/cook I have ever known, I knew this would be a special treat.
(On a previous occasion, before a trip to Provence, I had asked him if he could describe daube, a Provençal stew I had seen mentioned in a book on Provence. He not only described it, but he prepared a complete Provençal meal, including daube. I tried daube three times in Provence, including at Les Deux Garçons in Aix and Le Safari in Nice. None held a candle to his daube.)
On Friday, he prepared two main dishes for us - bisteeya and lamb shanks in Moroccan spices. Both were incredible.
Bisteeya is a chicken pie with chicken, onion, eggs, spices, and a layer of gound almonds, wrapped in filo dough and topped with confectioners sugar and cinamon. (The dish was originally made with pigeon.) It requires a great deal of time to prepare from scratch, the way he prepared it. I cannot begin to describe how mouthwateringly delicious this dish was.
Needless to say, the lamb was equally delicious.
The wines he served were two whites:
- Hugues Beauvignac Coteaux de Languedoc made with the Picpoul de Pinet grape
- Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand
Both were perfect accompaniments to this feast.
There are many examples of this recipe on the Internet. One of these recipes, with a picture of the finished product, can be found at http://www.suite101.com/content/bisteeya--moroccan-chicken-pie-a259546
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Today's Dinner for Friends
I enjoyed making dinner tonight for our friends Ivan & Iris, and Jack & Mary Ann:
- A simple Lombard antipasto salad of celery, walnuts, grana padano cheese, and olive oil (insalata di sedano e noci)
- Acquacotta Maremmana, a soup from the Maremma area of Tuscany. Acquacotta means, "cooked water." It refers to the fact that this soup is made with water rather than a broth. I combined two different acquacotta recipes. This one had onions, tomatoes, celery, carrots, swiss chard, eggs, garlic, and a bit of chili powder. It was poured over toasted stale Tuscan bread covered with pecorino Romano cheese. Many Tuscan soup recipes use stale bread (pane raffermo). I bought a fresh loaf of "Tuscan bread" from Fresh Market a couple of days ago and let it age. Of course, it was not real Tuscan bread because its ingredients included a bit of salt, which is not used in Tuscan bread.
- Stracotto alla Fiorentina - Florentine-style eye of round larded with carrots and pancetta, and cooked in wine, tomatoes, carrots, and celery, and simmered for a couple of hours. At the end, I made a sauce by using a hand blender to blend the vegetables.
- Panna cotta with a caramel sauce. It took me two attempts to make the caramel sauce. The first attempt produced a slightly burnt brick.
We had three nice wines:
- An Umbrian white made with Greccheto and Vermentino grapes and produced by Colle Solato. Colle Solato also produces a nice, every-day red.
- a 2008 Morellino di Scansano Maremma red with 85% sangiovese and 15% Canaiolo Nero produced by Mantellassi.
- a 2005 Casalino Chianti Classico Riserva
- A simple Lombard antipasto salad of celery, walnuts, grana padano cheese, and olive oil (insalata di sedano e noci)
- Acquacotta Maremmana, a soup from the Maremma area of Tuscany. Acquacotta means, "cooked water." It refers to the fact that this soup is made with water rather than a broth. I combined two different acquacotta recipes. This one had onions, tomatoes, celery, carrots, swiss chard, eggs, garlic, and a bit of chili powder. It was poured over toasted stale Tuscan bread covered with pecorino Romano cheese. Many Tuscan soup recipes use stale bread (pane raffermo). I bought a fresh loaf of "Tuscan bread" from Fresh Market a couple of days ago and let it age. Of course, it was not real Tuscan bread because its ingredients included a bit of salt, which is not used in Tuscan bread.
- Stracotto alla Fiorentina - Florentine-style eye of round larded with carrots and pancetta, and cooked in wine, tomatoes, carrots, and celery, and simmered for a couple of hours. At the end, I made a sauce by using a hand blender to blend the vegetables.
- Panna cotta with a caramel sauce. It took me two attempts to make the caramel sauce. The first attempt produced a slightly burnt brick.
We had three nice wines:
- An Umbrian white made with Greccheto and Vermentino grapes and produced by Colle Solato. Colle Solato also produces a nice, every-day red.
- a 2008 Morellino di Scansano Maremma red with 85% sangiovese and 15% Canaiolo Nero produced by Mantellassi.
- a 2005 Casalino Chianti Classico Riserva
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Home-Cooked Meals in Italy
Homefood is a very interesting organization in Italy. It is dedicated to preserving traditional home-cooked Italian food. Every month, they offer home-cooked meals at homes throughout Italy. These meals are prepared by women called, "cesarine" (singular "cesarina"). They will also try to set up private home-cooked meals. The meals are reasonably priced. One has to join Homefood to participate. I'm currently trying to arrange a meal during our upcoming trip to Italy. The web site for Homefood is http://www.homefood.it/. The site is in both Italian and English. To change languages, look for the drop-down menu toward the top of the home page.
Wine Database
On my mobile phone (HTC Tilt 2), I keep a wine database of most of the wines I've tried since 2002. (I did have a catastrophic loss of about a year's worth of data in 2003.) I currently have 1,365 records of wines we've tried. I use the database to help me when I order wines in stores or restaurants.
I used the HanDbase mobile database software to create this database. (I've used this software to create other databases for my phone.) I originally used this software with Palm phones I previously used. I kept the same software and converted it to work with Windows Mobile with my most recent phones.)
The fields in my database are:
- Name
- Type
- Origin (Country, Region/Province/State, Town)
- Grapes
- Vineyard
- Year
- Rating (My rating system)
- Vintage
- Store
- Price
- Date (when we had the wine)
- Negociant
I used the HanDbase mobile database software to create this database. (I've used this software to create other databases for my phone.) I originally used this software with Palm phones I previously used. I kept the same software and converted it to work with Windows Mobile with my most recent phones.)
The fields in my database are:
- Name
- Type
- Origin (Country, Region/Province/State, Town)
- Grapes
- Vineyard
- Year
- Rating (My rating system)
- Vintage
- Store
- Price
- Date (when we had the wine)
- Negociant
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Last Night's Dinner
Made crostino al tonno and spaghetti all'amatriciana last night. Both turned out nicely. The crostino recipe came from a Redbook.com recipe and the spaghetti from a Tuscanytonight.com recipe. The crostino took a lot for time to prepare than the 14 minutes than the Redbook recipe indicated. That's because they assume everything's ready to assemble. Took a while to pit the kalamata olives and tear up the arugula leaves. Doesn't help that I'm a novice cook.
Michigan Taste Treats
After visiting Sauble Beach, we went to Michigan for a reunion of my high school class. While there, we had a couple of nice food experiences. I wish we could have stayed longer and tried more restaurants. Our best experiences were:
1. Beirut Bakery (http://www.beirutbakery.net/menu.html). This institution is more than a bakery. My brother has been patronizing it since 1976. It makes wonderful Arabic food like mom used to make. My brother ordered take out food for a wonderful meal that included:
- grape leaves stuffed with lamb, rice, and spices, and cooked in broth. These were nice and firm, not the mushy stuffed grape leaves often found in restaurants in the U.S. (The Arabic stuffed grape leaves are not covered in egg lemon sauce - avgolemono - like the Greek version. They can be dipped in yoghurt.)
- cabbage rolls stuffed with lamb, rice, and spices, and cooked in broth.
- Mjedara - lentils and rice cooked in olive oil and topped with caramelized onions.
- tabouleh
- cheese bread
2. Matsuchan
This is a genuine Japanese noodle restaurant like those we used to patronize when we lived in Japan. It not only has noodle dishes, but others like katsudon. Many of its clients are Japanese. One of the main types of dishes it serves are huge bowls of ramen noodles in broth and with various veggies. (Don't confuse Japanese ramen with those little ramen cups you buy in supermarkets.) Matsuchan had the three basic types of ramen broths - soy, salt, and miso. I had corn butter ramen and my wife had katsudon. With two sodas, our total bill came to $19.90.
Matsuchan is located at 5990 N. Sheldon at Ford Rd. in Canton.
Don't confuse this restaurant with Ichiban, a large Japanese steak house located just around the corner from Matsuchan. (FYI, you won't find those Japanese steak houses in Japan. I only saw a couple in 4 years - one in the U.S. military hotel in Tokyo and one outside a U.S. military base on Okinawa.)
3. Palm Palace
This is an Arabic restaurant in Ann Arbor, MI. It is part of a chain (http://www.palmpalace.com/homemain.shtml). My brother, his wife and son took us there and treated us to a delicious meal. The food was very nice, but the grape leaves did not compare to those of Beirut Bakery. The Arabic bread was terrific - out of this world. My wife and I had the lamb combo, which included lamb meat pies, lamb shawarma, lamb kibbeh (cooked), a hummus dip, and a garlic dip.
4. DeLuca's Italian Restaurant
The night before our reunion dinner, our class had a pizza party at DeLuca's, which is owned by the family of a classmate. The pizzas were very tasty. In addition to our group of 80 or so people, who were in a separate room, the restaurant was packed - a testimony to its quality. It was wonderful to go back to a place whose food I'd enjoyed many years ago, and to see that it was still run so expertly by the same family.
1. Beirut Bakery (http://www.beirutbakery.net/menu.html). This institution is more than a bakery. My brother has been patronizing it since 1976. It makes wonderful Arabic food like mom used to make. My brother ordered take out food for a wonderful meal that included:
- grape leaves stuffed with lamb, rice, and spices, and cooked in broth. These were nice and firm, not the mushy stuffed grape leaves often found in restaurants in the U.S. (The Arabic stuffed grape leaves are not covered in egg lemon sauce - avgolemono - like the Greek version. They can be dipped in yoghurt.)
- cabbage rolls stuffed with lamb, rice, and spices, and cooked in broth.
- Mjedara - lentils and rice cooked in olive oil and topped with caramelized onions.
- tabouleh
- cheese bread
2. Matsuchan
This is a genuine Japanese noodle restaurant like those we used to patronize when we lived in Japan. It not only has noodle dishes, but others like katsudon. Many of its clients are Japanese. One of the main types of dishes it serves are huge bowls of ramen noodles in broth and with various veggies. (Don't confuse Japanese ramen with those little ramen cups you buy in supermarkets.) Matsuchan had the three basic types of ramen broths - soy, salt, and miso. I had corn butter ramen and my wife had katsudon. With two sodas, our total bill came to $19.90.
Matsuchan is located at 5990 N. Sheldon at Ford Rd. in Canton.
3. Palm Palace
This is an Arabic restaurant in Ann Arbor, MI. It is part of a chain (http://www.palmpalace.com/homemain.shtml). My brother, his wife and son took us there and treated us to a delicious meal. The food was very nice, but the grape leaves did not compare to those of Beirut Bakery. The Arabic bread was terrific - out of this world. My wife and I had the lamb combo, which included lamb meat pies, lamb shawarma, lamb kibbeh (cooked), a hummus dip, and a garlic dip.
4. DeLuca's Italian Restaurant
The night before our reunion dinner, our class had a pizza party at DeLuca's, which is owned by the family of a classmate. The pizzas were very tasty. In addition to our group of 80 or so people, who were in a separate room, the restaurant was packed - a testimony to its quality. It was wonderful to go back to a place whose food I'd enjoyed many years ago, and to see that it was still run so expertly by the same family.
Canadian Taste Treats
During a recent trip to Sauble Beach, Ontario, we had a some interesting taste treats:
1. Beaver Tails. This is the name of an Ontario type of pastry. It is one of the best desserts I've ever had. It's thin, flat, wide and messy to eat. Mine was topped with maple butter and my wife's with hazelnut chocolate. We had ours at the Beaver Tails stand in Little Tub Harbor, Toberymory.
2. I had a very nice fish & chip lunch with whitefish at the Princess Hotel in Toberymory. The menu has a mix of Canadian and Greek food. The Greek food appears to be the real thing. For example, the Greek Xoriatiki (Country) Salad did not have lettuce - the sign of a genuine Greek salad. Our waitress was originally from the Peleponnesus in Greece.
3. We had some terrific home-made ice cream at the Big Bay General Store, a terrific little store on the south side of Colpoys Bay, east of Wiarton. The same people have owned it for at least 15 years.
4. I had a delicious sausage sandwich at the weekly market at Keady. The market is a farmers market and antiques market. When a local heard me discussing a sausage sandwich as I was standing next to a booth that sold sausage sandwiches, he told me that the best sausage sandwiches were at the F&M booth. My niece and I went to the F&M booth and each had one. They were terrific. The owner, Floyd Wallerstein, said that he only uses pork, salt, and pepper, with no filler. The buns he uses are home made.
The Keady market has a lot of beautiful produce in summer. However, you have to be very careful. Some of the stands sell produce that is at the end of its freshness.
5. I tried some poutine (french fries and gravy) in Wiarton, but it did not match what I'd had in Montreal. This dish is from Quebec.
6. We had some wonderful Montreal-style bagels which my niece's husband had brought up from Montreal. (For a description of Montreal-style bagels, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal-style_bagel)
7. We had wonderful meals prepared by my two nieces.
8. In Sauble Beach, there is a Chinese restaurant called Channings. It reportedly has tasty Chinese food. What I found amusing on the web site menu is that they have a section entitled, "Canadian food." That section comprises three items:
- chicken fingers
- french fries
- grilled cheese
1. Beaver Tails. This is the name of an Ontario type of pastry. It is one of the best desserts I've ever had. It's thin, flat, wide and messy to eat. Mine was topped with maple butter and my wife's with hazelnut chocolate. We had ours at the Beaver Tails stand in Little Tub Harbor, Toberymory.
3. We had some terrific home-made ice cream at the Big Bay General Store, a terrific little store on the south side of Colpoys Bay, east of Wiarton. The same people have owned it for at least 15 years.
4. I had a delicious sausage sandwich at the weekly market at Keady. The market is a farmers market and antiques market. When a local heard me discussing a sausage sandwich as I was standing next to a booth that sold sausage sandwiches, he told me that the best sausage sandwiches were at the F&M booth. My niece and I went to the F&M booth and each had one. They were terrific. The owner, Floyd Wallerstein, said that he only uses pork, salt, and pepper, with no filler. The buns he uses are home made.
The Keady market has a lot of beautiful produce in summer. However, you have to be very careful. Some of the stands sell produce that is at the end of its freshness.
5. I tried some poutine (french fries and gravy) in Wiarton, but it did not match what I'd had in Montreal. This dish is from Quebec.
6. We had some wonderful Montreal-style bagels which my niece's husband had brought up from Montreal. (For a description of Montreal-style bagels, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal-style_bagel)
7. We had wonderful meals prepared by my two nieces.
8. In Sauble Beach, there is a Chinese restaurant called Channings. It reportedly has tasty Chinese food. What I found amusing on the web site menu is that they have a section entitled, "Canadian food." That section comprises three items:
- chicken fingers
- french fries
- grilled cheese
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tuscan & Umbrian Dishes and Wines
We'll be going back to Umbria & Tuscany soon, so I've made a list of some food terms and some Tuscan and Umbrian dishes and wines. I've concentrated on dishes that are either regional specialties or specialties of the towns we'll be visiting. We're going to Spoleto, Norcia, and Gubbio in Umbria, and Montalcino, Montepulciano, Cortona, Siena, the whole Chianti Classico area, and San Gimignano. I've tried some of the dishes before, and I've even cooked a few, but there are a number of dishes I'd like to try for the first time. There are others I plan to avoid. Hope I haven't missed any important dishes.
Some Terms
Antipasto - appetizer - literally means “before the meal”
Bacelli - Tuscan word for fava beans
Cacio - Tuscan word for cheese
Casalinga - Home cooking
Castagne - chestnuts, used in flour and otherwise in many Tuscan dishes (see marroni)
Chiocciole - snails
Lumache - snails
Marroni - chestnuts. Rounder, more plump, and more expensive than castagne
Nepitella - a unique wild herb that is described as a cross between oregano & mint or basil & mint. Considered one of the key herbs for every Tuscan kitchen & very important in Umbria
Ricci - sea urchin
Sagra - Italian word for a food-related festival. Other names for a festival are: festa, festa popolare, and fiera. A festa or a fiera can be food oriented. I am not sure of the different connotations of these terms A festa religiosa is a religious festival.
Tramezzino - a type of sandwich. The difference between tramezzini and panini is the bread. Tramezzini use soft, slice bread (that looks like Wonderbread slices). The tramezzini are triangular in shape.
Tartufi - Truffles. Truffles are “fungal fruiting bodies.” They’re like mushrooms, but grow underground. White truffles are tartufi bianchi and black truffles are tartufi neri. They are rare, expensive, and tasty. In the past, pigs were used to hunt truffles. Now, dogs are primarily used.
Umbria
1. Umbrian Dishes
Attorta – apple-filled pastry dessert (Gubbio)
Beccaccia alla norcina – woodcock stuffed with gizzards, with sausage, butter, marjoram, thyme, and in season with white truffles (Norcia)
Brustengolo - a dessert made with corn flour(Gubbio)- Budelline – intestines
Castagnole – dessert made with eggs, sugar, yeast, flour, lard, honey, and anise liqueur in shape of chestnuts and fried (Gubbio)
Ceci e farro, minestra de – Chickpea & farro soup
Ceci e quadrucci - chick peas and quadrucci pasta soup
Ceriole/ciriole – type of rustic pasta season with a soffrito of garlic & oil
Ciauscolo - a spreadable salame, originally from the Le Marche region
Crescia – Gubbio specialty. Like focaccia bread. Can be eaten plain or stuffed with sausage, prosciutto, pecorino. Must have.
Cresciole di ciccioli – Rounded cakes that can be sweet or salted (Gubbio)
Farro - traditional grain. Used in soups salads and other dishes. Fed the Roman legions. Translated as “spelt,” but is supposedly not the same thing.
Farro al prosciutto – minestra w. soffritto, prosciutto bone & fat, olive oil, grated cheese
Fettunta (A Tuscan word for bruschetta)
Frascarelli – rich pasta soup once reserved for nursing women
Lenticchie di Castelluccio - famous lentils from the town of Castelluccio. Meaty texture.
Mazzafegati - sausages made with pork liver & other ingredients
Miele di Castagno - Chestnut honey (Spoleto)
Minestra di Cavolo Nero (Soup of Tuscan Black Cabbage)
Mungana – type of milk-fed veal
Mostaccioli – cookies made during vendemmia
Pagliata – veal intestine
Passata di fave di finocchietto selvatico – puree of beans of wild fennel
Porchetta – fantastic pork sandwhich (Norcia)
Prosciutto (Norcia)
Salumi
Strangozzi al tartufo – strangozzi pasta with truffles
Strascinati – pasta with sauted sausage mixed with eggs mix with parmesan cheese
Tortino di patate con lenticchie
Trecciole – intestines cooked on embers
Umbrici – rough, spaghetti-like pasta
Zuppa di Farro - soup with farro grain
Zuppa di Verdura (vegetable soup, includes stale bread)
Wines
In addition to Umbrian reds I’ve had, I'd like to try
Grecchetto white wine (Spoleto)
Tuscany
1. Tuscan
Acquacotta Maremmana (“Cooked Water” soup) (Maremma)
Agnello - lamb
Anatra in porchetta (also called Nana in Porchetta) - roast duck
Arista (“alla Fiorentina” or “alla Toscana”) pork roast with garlic, rosemary, olive oil, sometimes sage - name from Greek word meaning “the best”
Baccalà alla Fiorentina (Florentine-style salt cod), many variations
Bastardo - a type of salame originally from Montalcino (also called Mezzone). Principally pork with a bit of beef
Biancomangiare - a mousse/custard with ground almonds. An older version included chicken.
Biroldo - blood sausage
Bistecca alla Fiorentina (Forentine steak, minimum size of 2 lbs.) I love it!
* Bread (pane) - Tuscan bread is different from other Italian bread because it is made without salt. I have read two reasons for this:
1. During the 12th Century rivalry between Florence and the powerful maritime republic of Pisa, Pisa blocked the delivery of salt into the interior of Tuscany.
2. Salt was heavily taxed in Tuscany.
Buglione di Agnello - Lamb Casserole (Maremma)
Buristo - blood sausage
Bruschetta (see fettunta)
Budino di Riso - a rice pudding pastry
Cacciucco all’Uso della Costa Maremmana - Maremma Coast Seafood Soup (Maremma)
Caciotta - a Tuscan cheese
Cantucci (cookies, biscuits) eaten with Vin Santo
Capocollo - pork shoulder cold cut
Capponi - capons
Castagnaccio - chestnut cake
Castagne Ubbriache - literally “Drunken Chestnuts” - chestnuts in red wine
Cavalluccio - rustic biscotti
Ceci - chick peas - in lots of dishes
Cenci - fried sweet pastries usually made at Carnival time in Jan & Feb
Cervello - brain
Chianina beef from the Val di Chiana (which includes Siena, Montalcino, Montepulciano & Cortona) (http://www.val-di-chiana.com/)
Cinghiale - wild boar - used in many Tuscan dishes. Try a cinghiale ragù (sauce) over pappardelle or tagliatelle or pici pasta
Cinta Senese Pork (Siena area) - Cinta Senese pigs are a distinct breed with a white band around the fore part of the body.
Cipollata - duck sausage
Coniglio - rabbit
Crespelle alla Fiorentina - Florentine style crespelle. Crespelle are Italian crepes.
Crostini - toasted bread with various toppings - an antipasto. Similar to bruschetta & fettunta but smaller sized bread - baguette size. One of the most popular is crostini di fegato - crostini with chicken liver.
Crostoni - similar to but larger than crostini
Dolceforte - a type of sauce whose name means “sweet and strong.” It is used with meats - typically, wild boar (cinghiale) and hare (lepre). It has ingredients such as chocolate, candied fruit, sugar, raisins, onions, carrots, celery, etc.
Fagiano - pheasant
Fagioli al Fiasco - A simple cannellini bean dish. Fiasco means, “flask.”
Fagioli all’Uccelletto - cannellini bean stew with or without sausages
Faraona - guinea fowl
Farro - traditional grain. Used in soups salads and other dishes. Fed the Roman legions.
Fegatelli - pork liver
Fegato - liver
Fettunta - a Tuscan word for Bruschetta. Originally - 2 day old bread toasted and coated with olive oil & garlic. Larger than crostini. Now made with various toppings.
Ficattola - a sweet bread made with figs and often served with prosciutto
Finocchiona (Fennel-flavored salami)
Fiori di Zucca Fritti - fried zucchini flowers
Fiori di Zucchini Ripieni di Salsiccia - Fried zucchini flowers stuffed w. sausage (Siena)
Ginestrata - a soup with egg yolk, chicken broth, marsala, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar.
Guanciale, flavorful pig’s cheek - used as a flavoring in dishes rather than eaten alone
Lampredotto - type of tripe
Maremmana beef from the Maremma (Maremma)
Marroni - type of chestnuts
Marzolino cheese (probably only available in March, as name implies)
Melatelli - apples fried in batter
Migliaccio - various dishes, including a cake dessert, made with fresh pig’s blood
Milza - spleen
Minestra di Cavolo Nero - Black cabbage soup
Nana in porchetta - roast duck
Pan Co Santi - Autumn walnut, raisin, pepper bread
Panforte (fruit and nut cake) (Siena), (Montalcino)
Pan pepato - version with spicy crust
Margherita - fruitier version with powdered sugar
Panunto - another Tuscan word for fettunta
Panzanella (Salad including stale bread)
Pappa al Pomodoro (Tomato soup)
Pappardelle sulla lepre - papardelle pasta on hare
Pappardelle al Cinghiali (can be with porcini) - pappardelle pasta with wild boar
Pasta e ceci alla Toscana - pasta & chick pea soup
Pasta e fagioli soup - Tuscan version w. cannellini beans and ditali or ditaloni pasta
Pecorino cheese - many, many types
Piccione - pigeon
Pici pasta dishes (Siena & south)
Pieducci - pig’s feet
Pinci (same as pici pasta)
Plum preserves made from plum (susina) called Coscia di Monaca (Nun’s Thigh)
Porcini mushrooms (porcini means “little pigs.”) Season is Sep - Oct
Prosciutto. A unique type of prosciutto, saltier, with very low production. For details, see http://www.florencevillas.com/newsletter/nl_21.htm#dis
Raveggiolo - a delicate, soft white Tuscan cheese
Ribollita (Reboiled soup)
Ricciarelli - almond & macaroon cookies (Siena)
Rigaglie - giblets
Risotto al Chianti - risotto with beef or sausages and chianti wine (many variations)
Salsiccie (sausages)
Salumi - various cold cuts
Salviata - sage pie, sage omelet
Sanguinaccio - blood sausage
Sbricciolona - a type of finocchiona (fennel salami)
Schiacciata - Tuscan flat bread. Various types, including sweet and with grapes.
Scottiglia - meat stew with almost any kind of meat. Originally from the Maremma.
Stiracchio - boiled beef, tomatoes, garlic, red onions, etc.
Tartufo bianco - white truffles (Montepulciano, Crete Senesi)
Tartufo nero - dark truffles
Tiramisu (Siena)
Tordo - thrush. Montalcino has a thrush festical (Sagra del Tordo) last weekend of Oct.
Torrone - nougat sweet made with honey, almonds, sugar, egg whites (Siena)
Torta di Riso - Rice tart, a dessert
Tortelli Maremmani e Sugo - Maremma Tortelli & Sauce (Maremma)
Tortino di Carciofi - Artichoke flan/omelet/souffle
Trippa alla Fiorentina (Florentine Tripe)
Umido - stew. Usually “in umido” Various types.
Zafferano (saffron) (San Gimignano)
* Zucotto - a Tuscan dessert cake with whipped cream, chocolate, and nuts. Its
name supposedly derives from the word for a cardinal's skullcap.
Zuppa del Duca (same as Zuppa Inglese). Created in Siena. It's like English trifle.
Zuppa di Fagioli alla Senese - Sienese bean soup (Siena)
Zuppa Frantoiana - Olive mill soup - typically associated with the olive harvest in late autumn
Zuppa di Lentichie col Fagiano - Lentil soup with pheasant
Zuppa di Rane - Frog Soup
Zuppa di Verdura - Vegetable soup
Zuppa Inglese (see Zuppa del Duca) - dessert
Tuscan Wines
In addition to Brunello, Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, there are a couple of Tuscan wines I'd lie to try or have again.
Galestro - white made primarily from Trebbiano & Malvasia (Chianti)
Vernaccia di San Gimignano (San Gimignano)
Some Terms
Antipasto - appetizer - literally means “before the meal”
Bacelli - Tuscan word for fava beans
Cacio - Tuscan word for cheese
Casalinga - Home cooking
Castagne - chestnuts, used in flour and otherwise in many Tuscan dishes (see marroni)
Chiocciole - snails
Lumache - snails
Marroni - chestnuts. Rounder, more plump, and more expensive than castagne
Nepitella - a unique wild herb that is described as a cross between oregano & mint or basil & mint. Considered one of the key herbs for every Tuscan kitchen & very important in Umbria
Ricci - sea urchin
Sagra - Italian word for a food-related festival. Other names for a festival are: festa, festa popolare, and fiera. A festa or a fiera can be food oriented. I am not sure of the different connotations of these terms A festa religiosa is a religious festival.
Tramezzino - a type of sandwich. The difference between tramezzini and panini is the bread. Tramezzini use soft, slice bread (that looks like Wonderbread slices). The tramezzini are triangular in shape.
Tartufi - Truffles. Truffles are “fungal fruiting bodies.” They’re like mushrooms, but grow underground. White truffles are tartufi bianchi and black truffles are tartufi neri. They are rare, expensive, and tasty. In the past, pigs were used to hunt truffles. Now, dogs are primarily used.
Umbria
1. Umbrian Dishes
Attorta – apple-filled pastry dessert (Gubbio)
Beccaccia alla norcina – woodcock stuffed with gizzards, with sausage, butter, marjoram, thyme, and in season with white truffles (Norcia)
Brustengolo - a dessert made with corn flour(Gubbio)- Budelline – intestines
Castagnole – dessert made with eggs, sugar, yeast, flour, lard, honey, and anise liqueur in shape of chestnuts and fried (Gubbio)
Ceci e farro, minestra de – Chickpea & farro soup
Ceci e quadrucci - chick peas and quadrucci pasta soup
Ceriole/ciriole – type of rustic pasta season with a soffrito of garlic & oil
Ciauscolo - a spreadable salame, originally from the Le Marche region
Crescia – Gubbio specialty. Like focaccia bread. Can be eaten plain or stuffed with sausage, prosciutto, pecorino. Must have.
Cresciole di ciccioli – Rounded cakes that can be sweet or salted (Gubbio)
Farro - traditional grain. Used in soups salads and other dishes. Fed the Roman legions. Translated as “spelt,” but is supposedly not the same thing.
Farro al prosciutto – minestra w. soffritto, prosciutto bone & fat, olive oil, grated cheese
Fettunta (A Tuscan word for bruschetta)
Frascarelli – rich pasta soup once reserved for nursing women
Lenticchie di Castelluccio - famous lentils from the town of Castelluccio. Meaty texture.
Mazzafegati - sausages made with pork liver & other ingredients
Miele di Castagno - Chestnut honey (Spoleto)
Minestra di Cavolo Nero (Soup of Tuscan Black Cabbage)
Mungana – type of milk-fed veal
Mostaccioli – cookies made during vendemmia
Pagliata – veal intestine
Passata di fave di finocchietto selvatico – puree of beans of wild fennel
Porchetta – fantastic pork sandwhich (Norcia)
Prosciutto (Norcia)
Salumi
Strangozzi al tartufo – strangozzi pasta with truffles
Strascinati – pasta with sauted sausage mixed with eggs mix with parmesan cheese
Tortino di patate con lenticchie
Trecciole – intestines cooked on embers
Umbrici – rough, spaghetti-like pasta
Zuppa di Farro - soup with farro grain
Zuppa di Verdura (vegetable soup, includes stale bread)
Wines
In addition to Umbrian reds I’ve had, I'd like to try
Grecchetto white wine (Spoleto)
Tuscany
1. Tuscan
Acquacotta Maremmana (“Cooked Water” soup) (Maremma)
Agnello - lamb
Anatra in porchetta (also called Nana in Porchetta) - roast duck
Arista (“alla Fiorentina” or “alla Toscana”) pork roast with garlic, rosemary, olive oil, sometimes sage - name from Greek word meaning “the best”
Baccalà alla Fiorentina (Florentine-style salt cod), many variations
Bastardo - a type of salame originally from Montalcino (also called Mezzone). Principally pork with a bit of beef
Biancomangiare - a mousse/custard with ground almonds. An older version included chicken.
Biroldo - blood sausage
Bistecca alla Fiorentina (Forentine steak, minimum size of 2 lbs.) I love it!
* Bread (pane) - Tuscan bread is different from other Italian bread because it is made without salt. I have read two reasons for this:
1. During the 12th Century rivalry between Florence and the powerful maritime republic of Pisa, Pisa blocked the delivery of salt into the interior of Tuscany.
2. Salt was heavily taxed in Tuscany.
Buglione di Agnello - Lamb Casserole (Maremma)
Buristo - blood sausage
Bruschetta (see fettunta)
Budino di Riso - a rice pudding pastry
Cacciucco all’Uso della Costa Maremmana - Maremma Coast Seafood Soup (Maremma)
Caciotta - a Tuscan cheese
Cantucci (cookies, biscuits) eaten with Vin Santo
Capocollo - pork shoulder cold cut
Capponi - capons
Castagnaccio - chestnut cake
Castagne Ubbriache - literally “Drunken Chestnuts” - chestnuts in red wine
Cavalluccio - rustic biscotti
Ceci - chick peas - in lots of dishes
Cenci - fried sweet pastries usually made at Carnival time in Jan & Feb
Cervello - brain
Chianina beef from the Val di Chiana (which includes Siena, Montalcino, Montepulciano & Cortona) (http://www.val-di-chiana.com/)
Cinghiale - wild boar - used in many Tuscan dishes. Try a cinghiale ragù (sauce) over pappardelle or tagliatelle or pici pasta
Cinta Senese Pork (Siena area) - Cinta Senese pigs are a distinct breed with a white band around the fore part of the body.
Cipollata - duck sausage
Coniglio - rabbit
Crespelle alla Fiorentina - Florentine style crespelle. Crespelle are Italian crepes.
Crostini - toasted bread with various toppings - an antipasto. Similar to bruschetta & fettunta but smaller sized bread - baguette size. One of the most popular is crostini di fegato - crostini with chicken liver.
Crostoni - similar to but larger than crostini
Dolceforte - a type of sauce whose name means “sweet and strong.” It is used with meats - typically, wild boar (cinghiale) and hare (lepre). It has ingredients such as chocolate, candied fruit, sugar, raisins, onions, carrots, celery, etc.
Fagiano - pheasant
Fagioli al Fiasco - A simple cannellini bean dish. Fiasco means, “flask.”
Fagioli all’Uccelletto - cannellini bean stew with or without sausages
Faraona - guinea fowl
Farro - traditional grain. Used in soups salads and other dishes. Fed the Roman legions.
Fegatelli - pork liver
Fegato - liver
Fettunta - a Tuscan word for Bruschetta. Originally - 2 day old bread toasted and coated with olive oil & garlic. Larger than crostini. Now made with various toppings.
Ficattola - a sweet bread made with figs and often served with prosciutto
Finocchiona (Fennel-flavored salami)
Fiori di Zucca Fritti - fried zucchini flowers
Fiori di Zucchini Ripieni di Salsiccia - Fried zucchini flowers stuffed w. sausage (Siena)
Ginestrata - a soup with egg yolk, chicken broth, marsala, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar.
Guanciale, flavorful pig’s cheek - used as a flavoring in dishes rather than eaten alone
Lampredotto - type of tripe
Maremmana beef from the Maremma (Maremma)
Marroni - type of chestnuts
Marzolino cheese (probably only available in March, as name implies)
Melatelli - apples fried in batter
Migliaccio - various dishes, including a cake dessert, made with fresh pig’s blood
Milza - spleen
Minestra di Cavolo Nero - Black cabbage soup
Nana in porchetta - roast duck
Pan Co Santi - Autumn walnut, raisin, pepper bread
Panforte (fruit and nut cake) (Siena), (Montalcino)
Pan pepato - version with spicy crust
Margherita - fruitier version with powdered sugar
Panunto - another Tuscan word for fettunta
Panzanella (Salad including stale bread)
Pappa al Pomodoro (Tomato soup)
Pappardelle sulla lepre - papardelle pasta on hare
Pappardelle al Cinghiali (can be with porcini) - pappardelle pasta with wild boar
Pasta e ceci alla Toscana - pasta & chick pea soup
Pasta e fagioli soup - Tuscan version w. cannellini beans and ditali or ditaloni pasta
Pecorino cheese - many, many types
Piccione - pigeon
Pici pasta dishes (Siena & south)
Pieducci - pig’s feet
Pinci (same as pici pasta)
Plum preserves made from plum (susina) called Coscia di Monaca (Nun’s Thigh)
Porcini mushrooms (porcini means “little pigs.”) Season is Sep - Oct
Prosciutto. A unique type of prosciutto, saltier, with very low production. For details, see http://www.florencevillas.com/newsletter/nl_21.htm#dis
Raveggiolo - a delicate, soft white Tuscan cheese
Ribollita (Reboiled soup)
Ricciarelli - almond & macaroon cookies (Siena)
Rigaglie - giblets
Risotto al Chianti - risotto with beef or sausages and chianti wine (many variations)
Salsiccie (sausages)
Salumi - various cold cuts
Salviata - sage pie, sage omelet
Sanguinaccio - blood sausage
Sbricciolona - a type of finocchiona (fennel salami)
Schiacciata - Tuscan flat bread. Various types, including sweet and with grapes.
Scottiglia - meat stew with almost any kind of meat. Originally from the Maremma.
Stiracchio - boiled beef, tomatoes, garlic, red onions, etc.
Tartufo bianco - white truffles (Montepulciano, Crete Senesi)
Tartufo nero - dark truffles
Tiramisu (Siena)
Tordo - thrush. Montalcino has a thrush festical (Sagra del Tordo) last weekend of Oct.
Torrone - nougat sweet made with honey, almonds, sugar, egg whites (Siena)
Torta di Riso - Rice tart, a dessert
Tortelli Maremmani e Sugo - Maremma Tortelli & Sauce (Maremma)
Tortino di Carciofi - Artichoke flan/omelet/souffle
Trippa alla Fiorentina (Florentine Tripe)
Umido - stew. Usually “in umido” Various types.
Zafferano (saffron) (San Gimignano)
* Zucotto - a Tuscan dessert cake with whipped cream, chocolate, and nuts. Its
name supposedly derives from the word for a cardinal's skullcap.
Zuppa del Duca (same as Zuppa Inglese). Created in Siena. It's like English trifle.
Zuppa di Fagioli alla Senese - Sienese bean soup (Siena)
Zuppa Frantoiana - Olive mill soup - typically associated with the olive harvest in late autumn
Zuppa di Lentichie col Fagiano - Lentil soup with pheasant
Zuppa di Rane - Frog Soup
Zuppa di Verdura - Vegetable soup
Zuppa Inglese (see Zuppa del Duca) - dessert
Tuscan Wines
In addition to Brunello, Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, there are a couple of Tuscan wines I'd lie to try or have again.
Galestro - white made primarily from Trebbiano & Malvasia (Chianti)
Vernaccia di San Gimignano (San Gimignano)
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