Pesto with cashews

Due to the difficulty and expense of finding good pine nuts, the idea occurred to me to use cashews instead. This was also suggested by the abundance of fresh basil in my container garden. Cashews are not common in Italian cooking at all; in fact, the only time I saw them there was in Chinese restaurants.

So how did it turn out? Fine. I made it with my mezzaluna, and not a food processor. I minced the basil, added the cashews, then the fresh garlic, then the freshly-grated parmigiano-reggiano. I added extra-virgin olive oil as I went, tasting for texture and liquidity. Be careful if the cashews are already salted to take that into account. Let me just say that making pesto with a mezzaluna is good (grainy), but labor-intensive.

After I made it, I remembered that the ready-made brand I usually bought in a small jar when I was living in Italy (Tigullio brand) did indeed use cashews (anacardi). And that was also good, and extremely labor-unintensive.

You should not cook or heat your pesto. What Italians will often do is to add some acqua di cottura (the boiling water from the pasta) to dilute the pesto. They will also add a noce di burro (about a teaspoon of butter) to each plate of pasta and pesto to enhance the taste and make it less tangled.

Much ado about David Cameron

British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, like many of their countrymen, are on vacation in Tuscany right now, lucky dogs. They're on a swank estate near Arezzo, an area I dearly love, called Villa Petrolo (in the photo).

The poor man got much attention from the press for not having tipped at a local cafe', after the young woman at the counter, who had too many customers, told him to take his own cappuccino to his table. This was perfectly justified. I never tipped in Italy in restaurants and bars; service is included. Sometimes one might round off the amount due, if paying in cash, but mostly as a matter of convenience. Also, customers normally are charged more if they sit down as opposed to eating and drinking at the counter- so a tip is superfluous.

Many foreigners, especially Americans who are used to tipping, don't know this or are insecure. Don't expect the Italians to be forthcoming with this information; it's obviously not in their interest to do so. The prices for eating and drinking are already high enough in Italy, don't inflate them any further.

Pasta salad tips

Here are some tips to make pasta salad (in Italian, pasta fredda):

1. Cook pasta al dente, drain and rinse with cold water (do not rinse pasta when making hot dishes).

2. Avoid mayonnaise and salad dressings. Use the best quality olive oil you can to coat. Yogurt, especially Greek yogurt, is a possibility.

3. Add ingredients, mix, add salt and pepper and fresh herbs to taste. Seasonal, fresh ingredients are best. A minced combination of flat-leaf parsley and basil will go well with most things; chives are a good substitute for raw onion, which I dislike. Mint is also good.

4. Do not overload with ingredients or add ingredients at random.

5. I always allow pasta salad to sit at least an hour for flavors to blend; longer is even better. This is a good dish to make ahead. If it is hot, you can cook in the morning when it's cooler, and serve for lunch and/or dinner.

Authentic pasta salad recipes can be found on the sites of Italian pasta makers such as Barilla and De Cecco.

Here are a few of my own recipes to get you started:

Pasta salad with cherry tomatoes, tuna and olives

Pasta with zucchini, fresh tomato and fresh mint

Pasta salad with peppers, zucchini and eggplant

La pasticceria

One of the great attractions of Italy, after restaurants, wine and art, are the pasticcerie. We might translate with "bakery," but Italians mostly separate bread products from pastries. So a bakery (non-sweet) will be called a panettiere/panetteria. Alas, the latter are increasingly rare, what with the Italians going to supermarkets and not wanting to be bakers. Not that you won't find some mixture in both places. But the pasticceria is going strong.

A pastry in Italian is una pasta, just like the word for the savory dish, but it will usually be found in the plural, le paste. I find that Italian pastries and cakes are superior to American ones, but pies aren't. An excellent idea when you're in Italy is to skip the dessert and coffee at the restaurant and go to a pasticceria after your meal. You're likely to save, too, and have more of a choice.

Restaurants in Italy- some consumer tips

One of the main attractions of a trip to Italy is restaurant dining.

But the experience is potentially fraught with danger (to your wallet). And not only for foreign tourists- the Italian consumers' association Adiconsum has issued a list of tips to prevent fraud and overcharging.

Perhaps the most important is that you should demand a written menu (which should also be posted outside), with prices. Avoid verbal orders. This is the law. Be careful about wine prices, too. The cover and service charge can be set independently by each business, but it must be stated on the menu. In Lazio (where Rome is), a cover charge is no longer legal. No tip is ever mandatory in Italy beyond the included service. I never give extra tips in Italy. Frozen foods should be clearly indicated on the menu. Ask for the receipt (preferably itemized).

In case of suspected irregularity, you can go the vigili urbani (the local municipal police). A young Japanese couple was charged nearly 700 euros at a Rome restaurant this summer- they reported them, and the restaurant was even closed for violations.

(In the photo, the picturesque Locanda Montin in Venice)

The Frugal Eggplant: keeping cool in summer

Here's one big tip about keeping cool(er) and saving money that I'm surprised many people don't know about, perhaps because it's counter-intuitive.

I learned this while living in Northern Italy, in the Po Valley, which gets very hot and muggy in the summer. Italians use A/C a lot less than we do; many think it's unhealthy. At the very least, the settings are not frigid.

When it gets really hot, you should keep your windows open at night when the air is cooler, and use fans. As soon as the outside air is no longer cooler than the inside air (usually in the early or mid-morning), shut windows and blinds to block out hot air and sun. You can do this even if you have air-conditioning, as it will save on the bill by bringing the temp down.

This is of course subject to safety considerations. Most Italians don't live in single-family homes and therefore are less likely to be sleeping on the ground floor. They also have persiane or tapparelle (in the photo) which are built-in shutters that seal the interior partly or wholly from air and light.

Some other stuff. I also quickly learned in Italy why warmer climates have siestas more than we do. The hottest hours are in the early and mid-afternoon, when it is advisable (if you can) to slow down or even take a nap. Cut down on coffee and alcohol. Take hot showers- also counter-intuitive, but the hot water and soap all over your bod will open your pores and free your skin of oil, allowing for better sweating and thermoregulation. Cool down in the last few minutes with cooler water. Avoid synthetic clothing, including underwear- prefer cotton and linen. Cut down on cooking (and calories) by eating more raw and simple foods.

Save your wet cell phone with risotto rice

This may well be one of the strangest things you'll ever read on the Internet. And that's saying something.

When technological disaster strikes, as is its wont, I go to the oracle. Not the oracle at Delphi. The oracle at Mountain View. Google.

Recently, when my cell got wet (rain), it stopped working entirely. I consulted the oracle and found that the treacherous manufacturers will not honor the warranty if your device has been exposed to moisture. They have even installed a doohickey that shows such exposure, so don't play innocent ("but it never rains or snows in Boston!")

In despair, I perused the Web for solutions. Ever attuned to food, I chose the rice fix. Take battery out, lid off, cover with rice in a bowl. I put the bowl on a radiator overnight. I also used risotto rice, which absorbs more humidity than long-grain. To be precise, I used vialone nano, the most absorbent risotto rice. Worked like a charm.

Google.it

From the very beginning of the Google Age (which wasn't that long ago) I asked myself if the various national versions of Google would yield up the same results.

And the answer is a resounding NO. If you enter any given search query in, say, google.com or google.it, you will get different results. Far be it from me to explain the differences- no one really knows what Google's algorithm is.

But see for yourself. Enter various search terms related to Italy and you'll see the difference. If you know Italian, using google.it is a good shortcut to get to the more authentic stuff, written in Italian for Italians (per capirci). Select the option "pagine in italiano" or "pagine provenienti da Italia." This is a good way, for example, to get to authentic recipes and insiders' info on tourist locales. In other words, if you enter "Capri" or "risotto" in google.com or google.it you will get results that differ by quantity and quality, and you can bypass countless American sites telling you how to prepare carbonara or visit Venice.

Risotto tips

Yesterday I made an excellent asparagus risotto. Mighty fine eatin'. I was thus inspired, if not to share some with you (that's going too far), to bequeath my profound knowledge of risottology- the theory and practice of risotto-making.

First of all- how do you pronounce it? Ree-ZOE-toe. Please do not persist in pronouncing this word with an -aw sound. It is annoying.

Now. Various odds and ends.

A well-known Italian proverb tells us that la pratica vale piu' della grammatica. Practice is worth more than grammar- that is, real-world experience is more important than book learnin'. This is particularly relevant to the science of risottology. Practice, practice, practice. You will not become a proficient risotto-maker by reading recipes. Or even by reading this post.

You must have particular rice for our star dish, but not only Arborio. See my previous post here on this weighty matter.

The basis of the risotto is the soffritto. I prefer a soffritto of onions in butter and olive oil. Risotto would be a great dish to make in the microwave, saving you all sorts of time stirring (because the microwave cooks evenly, unlike a flame). Alas- the soffritto suffers in the microwave, and comes out tasting funny.

All sorts of things can be the basis of your risotto, but Italians classically prefer one main ingredient. Which should be fresh, or at least frozen. The Veneto tradition goes in for seafood or vegetables. Avoid the bok choy, melon and prosciutto risotto. Or the apple, Canadian bacon and jalapeno pepper risotto.

You do not need to continuously stir your risotto. Do you remember the difference between "continuous" and "continual"? You need to continually stir your risotto. Make sure before a break in stirring that the liquid/solid ratio is evenly-distributed and the surface is flat.

Real freshly-grated parmigiano-reggiano is a common addition to our dish. However, do not add this with seafood. Do add fresh minced flat-leaf parsley.

I have seen a number of recipes (even Italian) stating that you can use water as the liquid base. I have found that this does not work. Use vegetable or chicken broth. Adding wine is often a good idea.

Risotto, like pasta, should be al dente. Keep adding the hot liquid for about fifteen minutes. Taste. Based on the degree of doneness, continue to add small quantities of liquid. You will finish by stirring with heat off.

Good ingredients for risotto. Asparagus, artichokes (I use frozen here), strawberries, radicchio, shrimp, scallops, mixed seafood, zucchini, fiddleheads, mushrooms (porcini, if you got 'em), cheese, apple, pear (haven't tried, but sounds promising), pumpkin or butternut squash, spinach, lobster, crab. Not all at the same time.

Practice!

Getting around Venice

Venice is not like other cities, or haven't you noticed? I know, people talk about the "Venice of the North" and the "Venice of the East." Pshaw! There is only one Venice. And one of its chief characteristics is that it is not linear (even by Italian standards) and thus not so easy to get around in.

The city is divided into six sestieri (something like a borough, but then again, not like a borough). On the left bank you will find (see map above), coming from the station: Santa Croce, San Polo, and Dorsoduro. You will need to cross a bridge to get from the train station to the left bank (this is one reason so many traipse through the other side). On the right bank, also coming from the station: Cannaregio, San Marco (where many monuments and attractions are), and Castello. Normally, Venetian addresses are not street or square plus number. That would be too much like a mundane city. They are the sestiere name plus the number. You will see things like 2647, San Polo and 4391, Cannaregio.

As you can see, these semi-boroughs are rather large. This address form obviously favors the natives, who can get an idea just by the number what part of the sestiere the venue would be in. You can of course use interactive maps with zoom which show you exactly where something is located. But when you're just wandering about, preferably without your laptop or GPS device, remember the old-fashioned, no-tech habit of Venetians for using the nearest Church as a landmark. For example, La Zucca restaurant in Santa Croce is near San Giacomo dell'Orio. Further, some larger streets (calli) or squares (campi) will have a regular address. Sometimes, especially for outsiders, the name of the street, square, or a nearby bridge will be added. Guides will also feature the nearest vaporetto (water bus), just as you might indicate the nearest subway stop for orientation in another city. Finally, it is useful to know where the bridges and traghetto (cheap shuttle gondolas going from one side of the other of the Grand Canal) stops are, so that you can cross from one bank to the other semi-efficiently.

Italian virtual Yellow Pages

Now here is one cool tool for your Italian travel, especially if you are planning your own trip. It is the newish (still in beta) virtual version of the Italian yellow pages.

First of all, if you don't know Italian, look in the lower right corner of the home page where the versions in other languages are found, cleverly concealed in abbreviations with tiny font size: English will be the second ("en"). Be aware, however, that as so often happens (alas, life is so difficult), the translated versions are not equivalent to the original. Not only that, but in this case as in others, at a certain point, the translated version reverts to the Italian, as if it were a real-life person pooped out by having to speak in a foreign language. This will happen, for example, when you go to use the reservation feature.

So. You can search both by person and by business. And businesses and other organizations can be searched by Category e.g. hotels, restaurants. Once you've found your hit, it will show the person or business location on a map. Here's the fun part. You can zoom in (like Google Earth) and it will show you a street-level (or nearly) photo of the place. I played around with the feature for Venice, and it clearly showed that one inexpensive hotel near the station was right next to an enormous parking lot. Not everyone's idea of that romantic venue.

Once you've got, say, your hotel (which you may have obtained through other research), zero in on the hotel, and find restaurants and all sorts of other amenities nearby, including "events". You could even combine the people search and the business search: if you know someone in Italy, zoom in on them, then find hotels nearby. For each business listing, besides the map and zoom for your voyeuristic pleasure, you will find the phone number, e-mail, website, how to get from one location to another, and reservation utility (they take Visa and Mastercard). You will sometimes have the option of making reservations either through the Yellow Pages or through the business's site itself.

Check it out. Even if you're not going to Italy anytime soon, you can take a fun peek at your favorite city. Again, remember that it's still in beta, and like all things, fraught with imperfection. Alas.

Italian gift ideas

The weather outside (at least here in Boston) is frightening, as the song says. So why not do some Christmas shopping online? Or at least do your research online, then venture forth heroically to make the real-world purchases.

An Italian-themed gift basket is nice, but hardly personal. I would either make up my own basket or give one (or a few) nice, thoughtful presents, perhaps with your own basket or container. Here are some possibilities:

For the learner of Italian: the Pimsleur course. My students tell me this is preferable to the much-publicized (used by CIA and FBI- is that a recommendation? probably not for Arabic) Rosetta Stone. Both are expensive.

For Italians, or those who know Italian well. La Settimana Enigmistica puzzle magazine. Not cheap. When I was in Italy, I enjoyed the useful and entertaining women's magazine, Donna Moderna. Oggi and Gente are lower-brow, L'Espresso and Panorama are higher-end (with more difficult Italian). Obtain through Amazon.

Sweets to the sweet. Marrons glaces are one of my favorites (candied chestnuts, in photo), but hard to find in the States. Venchi makes good 'uns, also, good chocolate. Expensive. To stay with the chestnuts, the insufficiently-known chestnut honey, which has an appealing bitterish edge. Good to pair with cheese. Also expensive (do you detect a pattern?- this is why I advised against the Big Basket approach).

For the meat lovers possessed of slicers. Forms of prosciutto di Parma or San Daniele, or the lesser-known speck from Alto-Adige (a sort of smoked prosciutto). Make sure that they are really from their respective areas.

Parmigiano-reggiano. Again, determine its authenticity.

Wine. As we are in winter and presumably eating more meat and heavier dishes, you might go with a Barolo or Brunello di Montalcino. No, not cheap. Pair this with a nice, higher-end bottle of Prosecco or two (the king of Prosecco is Cartizze), for pleasant quaffing at New Year's. Or, give liqueurs or amari.

Dried porcini. Give with box of fine risotto rice (Carnaroli or Vialone Nano). Make sure the rice is vacuum-packed. I seem to remember that Williams-Sonoma has some good Carnaroli (and other good stuff as well).

Olive oil, balsamic vinegars. The first will not be easy, if you have heard the news on adulterated olive oil from Italy. Do your reseach. And remember that real balsamic vinegar is used as a condiment, an accent, and not a vinegar as such. And therefore it is ... expensive. It will not cost ten dollars.

Specialty pasta. Again, do your research. It seems that recently paccheri have become quite chic. They are big fat short pasta shapes from the Naples area. Orecchiette from Puglia are always nice.

So. Buyer beware. Merchants will try all sorts of underhandedness, such as saying that prosciutto or pasta is "imported" when it comes from Canada. Try to find the actual Italian origin on the label somewhere. Where to find these goodies? Amazon.com. Igourmet.com. Formaggio Kitchen. Zingerman's. And others too numerous to mention.

Trattoria alla Madonna, Venice

Finding a good, moderately-priced restaurant in Venice, especially in the most heavily-touristed areas, is no easy feat. It has become a cliche' among Italians that "a Venezia non si mangia bene." (one does not eat well in Venice).

Here is an old standby, patronized by both Italians and furriners. Adding to its attractiveness is its position just off the Bridge of Rialto, but on the side opposite St. Mark's (the area, or sestiere, is known as San Polo).

As they say in their site , they have good fresh ingredients at hand due to their proximity to the fish and produce markets. While the cuisine is not particularly inspired or creative, it is a reliable choice for real Venetian food in an authentic atmosphere, with competent and friendly service.

Note: the shellfish shown on the home page is a granceola. Yum.

How to recognize real Parmesan

Real Italian Parmesan, or Parmigiano-Reggiano, is expensive and it's expensive for a reason. It is not an industrial product, it is aged, and it comes from a strictly delimited area in Northern Italy with centuries of experience, giving it the DOP mark (denominazione di origine protetta).

You will find plenty of attempts out there to pass off imitations for the real deal.

Real Parmigiano-Reggiano will have the characteristic branding on the rind that you can see above. Even small pieces should have this branding, although the top of the form is without it. The official Consortium in Parma has told me that the cheese should be cut by the vendor in the manner shown in the figure on this page from their site. This allows even pieces from the top to show the branding.

Parsley and basil

I know that the song (a beautiful song) says "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme." But that is probably a bit much as a combination.

In order to fulfill two of my Ten Commandments of Italian Food, you have to go in for the fresh herbs and eat a variety of veggies. And one leads to the other. Your veggie eating will be greatly enhanced by using herbs. And here is the winning combination: (about) equal parts of the two most commonly-used herbs in Italy, parsley (flat-leaf, of course) and basil.

Try mincing both and adding to your veggies, solo or in combination. Olive oil and/or garlic is a nice addition. You can also use this combo in minestrone (pronounced mee-neh-STROH-neh and not mih-nes-TRONE) or in tomato or other vegetable-based pasta sauces. When the season, alas, comes to an end, as it must, freeze the two and continue to use as frozen. Avoid both dried parsley and dried basil.

Saponetta Carli

Just hopped out of the shower and I'm sitting here with wet hair. I showered with Dial. Aren't you glad you use Dial- don't you wish everyone did?

Actually, no. I've been alternating the White Dial with my Carli Olive oil bar soap which I found at the counter of the Syrian Grocer on Shawmut Avenue here in Boston, while looking for Delverde gnocchi. The Carli soap, made by the same folks who make the oil, definitely comes out the winner. It's long-lasting and solid, with a very pleasant fragrance which will probably be more pleasing to those of the feminine persuasion (of either sex).

If you've never tried olive oil soap, this would be a good one to start off with. Although more expensive than regular bar soap, it will still be cheaper than the artisanal olive oil soap you may see on sale. Be advised that it neither smells nor feels like olive oil; there is no greasy film whatsoever. While not easy to find, it is available online through igourmet.com.

Freshly-ground pepper

You've probably seen plenty of recipes calling for "freshly-ground pepper" and then thoughtlessly substituted the old pepper from the shaker. But it really does make a difference if you use pepper that is fresh from a mill. Not only in cooking, but at the table.

Don't believe me? Try this. The next time you go to your supermarket look out for built-in pepper grinders in the spice section. Several companies make them, including McCormick's, Spice Islands and Alessi (an Italian-American business). All you do is turn them upside down and rotate the bottom back and forth. They will not be cheap, but they'll give you the opportunity to check out the difference. Use the grinder in place of the pepper shaker, and you'll be converted.

At this point, you can graduate to buying your own fresh peppercorns and permanent mill. Do not be intimidated into buying an overly expensive, showy or unwieldy mill. This should become an everyday household object for you.