Picking Olives in Emilia Romagna

A spilt but very much alive and very old olive tree

When it comes to training and education there is little that beats hands-on experience. Possibly (massive pinch of food obsessed salt) this statement is most true in understanding the food chain and how it can result in perfection, or in contrast be fouled.  Therefore the invite before Christmas to join the UK Carluccio's team on a trip to meet one of our expert olive producers in Emilia-Romagna was an opportunity not to be missed. Not a herd of wild horses, as they say was going to stop me joining them....and what a fantastic experience it was!  

A big bowl of olives

Tom Mueller's 'Extravirginity' (my bedside reading at the mo.) gives an interesting but negative perspective into the Italian olive oil business. However, it sells a very different reality to that of the passion, care and effort which I encountered with the Lo Conte family, who produce Carluccio's Olio Novello (new season E.V.O.O.) every year.

An olive picking rake lying on the olive net

The family go to great effort to ensure the quality of their E.V.O.O. by taking more than just a few simple steps to ensure extravirginity..... the basics of which are...carefully picked and netted olives, all (and only) from their own groves, pressed within 24 hours, under temperature controlled conditions (27 degrees ideally). 

The Lo Conte olive groves

Biggin' up the little guy - Terra Madre

I am labelling Terra Madre a 'must-go' restaurant for 2012. 

Taste of Emilia was my eye catcher for 2010, with the best fare from Emilia-Romagna in a wonderfully informal setting. I will happily while away an evening with friends over a platter of meats and bottle of Lambrusco.  In contrast, Eastern Seaboard Bar and Grill and its wonderful baking neighbour the Brownhound, stand out from all the rest of my Irish-oriented food trips (Sorry Cafe Paradiso - you came close) in 2011. I need to refresh my memory with a second trip very soon.  

Terra Madre has already made its mark on me as perhaps the best local restaurant on the northside, if not greater Dublin.  It is definitely the best Italian restaurant (in the purest sense) on the northside, with Plan B having burnt some serious bridges with price hikes no-longer justifiable for a bowl of meatballs and a decline in level of service. Peppe's the "ITALIAN RESTAURANT" in Stoneybatter is a quirky but reputable little venue, but has caved somewhat to the Irish palette...the obsession and need for cream added where it should not - it is by no means a stalwart of Italian cooking ingredients. 

And so to the point - Terra Madre. I booked a table last minute on Saturday night for myself and four good friends - indeed my best-men included.  I had fortunately, or unfortunately, just missed a call from James in Rigby's Deli who had a cancellation but fate drove us to the basement of No. 13 Batchelor's Walk.  When we arrived, we were warmly greeted and I offered up my name for the booking......."Sorry, when did you book?". "Um, two hours ago!?".....as I scanned the twenty of so covers available, none looked like a free table for five. This was not to be a problem. I did not have to beat Ciaran Cuffe out of his seat in one corner, or the table of Italians, who were clearly in some way related by friendship, bed or blood to Marco and the crew who run this little spot. 

But still I ramble. What of the food?  The menu is compact. Two bruschetta, three anti-pasti, three pasta, & one meat.  Either bruschetta would have kept me happy - one with caper sprouts ...a revelation....warmed slightly and dressed with olive oil and the other with Lardo di Colonnata... thinly sliced cured pork fat, again warmed onto the bruschetta.  Both were excellent.  Two of us opted for the anti-pasti - mine a 'carpaccio of porchetta' and the other a 'vitello tonnato'.  I have always been quite thrown by the idea of vitello tonnato - thinly sliced veal served with a tuna mayonnaise.  It sounds like never the twain should 'meat' but oddly it's a great dish and Terra Madre's version would hold its own in any Italian deli I have eaten it in.

I say three pasta but in truth it was one gnocchi and two pasta.  We all opted for pasta - perfectly portioned bowls of fettucine with a rabbit sauce or tonnarello with a pheasant ragout.  You can go wrong with neither but I did prefer the pheasant.  The pasta is a fresh one, which is imported in from Italy, by a supplier who shall remain nameless, because they would not tell me.... but I could take a stab at it. It did raise the question - which is better - fresh or dried pasta?  The answer is - it depends on the dish!

All of this was supported brilliantly by a big Primitivo di Manduria red.  Puglian wines have been a revelation to me in the last couple of years, along with Umbrian.  I will hands-down order either ahead of Chianti's, Barolo's or indeed any other Italian wines. At €20 a bottle for any of the three reds (not listed on the menu), it's a wonderfully simple, uncomplicated way to manage your wine-list.

And this is at its core what I loved about the meal in Terra Madre on Saturday night - it represented the simplicity and straight-forwardness that I love about Italian food culture.  It's not fussy, pretentious or confusing and does not strive to be something else.  Terra Madre is what it is, a room to enjoy good food with good people, just as they do it all over Italy. 

Put Terra Madre on your list of 'go-to' restaurants in 2012. I cannot wait to go back. 

Bill was €180 for five of us, including three bottles of wine. We all had desserts!

Tips - 

- Have an espresso, at very least to taste the chocolate-ness of it....that dry unsweetened flavour you get from 90% dark chocolate.  And then add sugar, for the 70% sweetened version. 

- Have a slice of the fig jam tart - the winner by a margin of four to one. 

- Do book. Phone: 01/8735300

- If you smell pizza being cooked out the back at the end of the night.....do compliment the smells and you might be lucky like us and get to taste it when it's ready. 

Italian love of presentation extends far beyond personal preening!

Via Drappiere, Bologna

Here are a few more shots from my meanderings around Bologna the week before last.  No doubt the Italian love of self-presentation, preening, style and fashion extends through to their food and merchandising! Or perhaps it's the other way around - chicken or egg?  Either way, in and around Via Drapperie in Bologna, displays move from the beautiful to the bizarre......and your stomach growls with hunger and temptation.  

Where's Wally? Waste not, want not

The variety of food available with which to create these presentations is astounding. The average butchers have far more than rashers, bacon, sausages, a few chickens & a side of beef.  The pasta stands include such a selection of shapes and sizes, you can easily eat a different pasta shape every night for a month and only have skimmed the surface of options.  The fruit and veg. stands have such an array of dried, fresh and cured produce the mind boggles at where to start. 

Which mortadella would you like?

What really struck me was, on a street of six or seven fantastic delis, is how you can watch a local shopper work their way from one to next.  They have clearly defined a pattern of shopping that shares the wealth across the retailers but also targets them for specific quality, price or perceived value.  It's fascinating to watch, and reminds me of my Granny (Dad's mum), who would single out the right butcher for the right meat........and if she wasn't happy with it, the butcher knew all about it next time!

Pasta, gnocchi, pasta, pasta, pasta

Tip: If you love Italian food, a long weekend in Bologna is a must. 

Packaging to match the product - Atti's of Bologna

It goes without saying that packaging can make all the difference in marketing a product. From the own-brand factory biscuit to the artisan chocolate maker, packaging sets out the manufacturers stall for how they want their product to be both perceived and priced. For the customer it can be complete trial and error when blitzed with countless options for the same product! 

In Bologna last week in Paolo Atti's deli, I discovered product and packaging that grasped me in equal amounts....and neither let me down. In short, the best handmade tortellini, boxed like I have never seen pasta boxed. Atti's, a fourth generation family business, have been on the go since 1900 and clearly know their customers and their food.

The tortellini were beautifully boxed, wrapped, ribboned with full storage and cooking instructions.  In one minor hiccup, I forgot to ask what to serve them with so I made a simple cream sauce - cream, a little pasta-water as stock, some parmigiano, black pepper and a little nutmeg! Worked a treat.

Clams on a hot stone in Riccione

A small part of dinner in Il Pescatore last night.

Antica Osteria de la Valle

Truffled pecorino fondue makes for the centre-piece in this antipasti.

This is just a little taster - an amuse-bouche of a post shall we say - to give you an idea what I spent my time eating in Umbria in September. As a result, I have become somewhat obsessed with the culinary delights of Umbria.....truffles, pecorino cheeses, Norcian meats, Sagrantino wines. This antipasti selection was served up to us in Antica Osteria de la Valle in Todi, a very Umbrian restaurant run by a very Cumbrian gentleman chef called John!

A day trip to Nemi, Lazio

In Italy last weekend, we took the opportunity of an overnight in Rome with my uncle Des to take a spin just south of the city (about an hour).  The parents made the same trip to the town of Nemi last year and came home singing the praises of the little town on the crater-lake. It is a prize little town just beyond the Popes summer residence Castelgandolfo.  The compact shops and restaurants lined along the small main street are a testament to traditional wall-to-wall food merchandising and are to be admired in awe - prosciutto (with and without the hair on), coppa, salami with all sorts of seasoning, lardo, pancetta, guanciale, coppieta,& endless local cheeses.

The added advantage of this food haven are two of the local specialities......Porchetta & Wild Strawberries (Fragoline).  We indulged in both. They made for a very tasty lunch!  That said the strawberries also made a special appearance in a local delicacy......salami with fragoline.  Let's just say the sweet squishiness of the strawberries is not something I would personally go running back for. 

Porchetta sandwich

Fragoline tarts

Salami with Strawberries

Ricotta & Lemon Tart from Antonio Carluccio

I watched Antonio make this on the Two Greedy Italians last week with Gennaro. I had to give it a go! It is absolutely 'amazeballs'. Think summer, sun, lemons, sitting on the terrace & finished off sipping a chilled limoncello.

Ingredients:

400g puff pastry (& a little plain flour).

250g Ricotta

250g Mascarpone

200g Candied peel (I got my hands on some *Cedro, as Antonio recommends)

120g Caster sugar

6 Eggs (separated)

1 Lemon for zesting

Roll out the pastry so that it fits comfortably (hanging over the edge of your decent sized tart dish - 25/30 cm).  Leave it aside covered with a damp cloth. (I used a pre-made frozen puff pastry, as I've a slight aversion to making pastry). It worked.

For the mixture, spoon together the mascarpone, ricotta, candied peel, 100g of sugar.  Give it a good mix and then add in the yolks of 5 eggs.  Keep one aside for glazing the pastry. Whisk up the 6 egg whites until well fluffy and add in the remaining sugar and whisk again to give it a good sheen. Gently fold in the egg whites to the cheese mix. 

Get your tart tin and pastry out from hiding and pour the mix into the centre of the dish. Spread it carefully and evenly. Fold in the sides of the pastry and aim for the rustic uneven look rather than a perfected knife-cut edge. Glaze with the remaining egg yolk.

Pop it in the pre-heated oven (180 degrees) for 25-30 mins. There should still be a definite wobble to the mix. Leave to cool. Zest a lemon over it. Stuff your face! 

Notes:
Must try this with sheep's ricotta when I can get some. Should give a lighter texter & an extra little kick in flavour.

Used 250g of Ricotta & Mascarpone, as these are the packet sizes. Recipe recommends 300g to 250g.

*Cedro is particular type of lemon from Campania that is candied like other peels. It's almost a little sour in taste, even though candied, but works a treat. Some orange peel (as Antonio recommends) would help balance the sour with some sweet

Although loaded with eggs......it is not eggy or custardy.  It is lighter than a typical New York baked cheesecake. 

Dib dib dib......it's all about being prepared!

Be prepared

It is incredible watching the baristas in action in the busy coffee houses in Italy. The preparation and work-rate put in to give Italy its espresso caffeine fix is very impressive. From the Autogrill (don't dis it till you've tried it) flyovers across the Autostrade from Rome to Naples, to the more traditional but very stylish Caffé Alvino in Lecce the coffee turnover is phenomenal. 
I haven't quite figured out is the en-masse desire for an espresso simply an addiction or something closer to religion with millions of Italians worshipping  at the great altar of the barista. 

The bar at Caffe Alvino

Caffe Alvino had thousands of extra incentives to keep you seated......arancini, calzone, fagottini (hot dogs and chips wrapped in pastry), rustico, crostata, dolci, biscotti.... I could go on! Yum!

Dolci at Caffe Alvino

The one that didn't get away

I have been a little quiet in recently, mainly in preparation for what was a fantastic trip to Italy last week. Here is just a little taster of what we discovered! Lots more to come....

This one didn't get away! Lunch in 'A Casa Mia', in Porto Tricase, Puglia

Dolceacqua for Pizza, '07

We discovered it more by accident than anything. Driving from Menton on the french side of the France-Italy border we wound our way over the mountainous border to the quirky town of Dolceacqua.  Apart from its quirky shape and architecture, there is a wonderful pizzeria Il Borgo's, which claims to be 200 years old.  With prime seats by the hatch to the kitchen we had full view of the pizza-making and the open oven they are cooked in.  The pizzas matched our expectations.  We arrived at the restaurant starving and easily demolished everything put in front of us.

This was Claire's - bresaola, parmigiano and rocket.

Dinner in Umbria

Not that I live in history but I am just trying to catch up on updates from the last 12 months that cannot be overlooked.  As part of the first Italy trip last summer Claire and I spent nearly a week celebrating our good friends Gro and Haukur's marriage with friends and family.  We ate our way through the little town of Citta della Pieve, and worked our way through some of the local vineyards too.  Zafferano restaurant's slow whole roast pork legs with the crispiest crackling, thinly sliced rare beef with oranges and olives, and creamy saffron risotto were the highlights of the wedding dinner.  This was contrasted the following night with the best antipasto, pizza and beers in a local pizzeria!

Trattoria Corrieri, Parma

This is undoubtedly one of the best restaurants in which I have eaten in the last couple of years. Sooo good was this tip off from Clotilde, my Italian side-kick in work, that within a month I had brought firstly my girlfriend Claire and then my sister Jennifer to the Trattoria Corrieri.

Torta Fritta......pillows of deep-fried dough were the highlight.  They arrive warm to the table.  With a platter of the local prosciutto sliced fresh off the leg in the next room, the two make for a tasty anti-pasto. The tortelli di zucca (tortelli stuffed with pumpkin) are freshly made on-site and their sweetness requires no dressing other than a little (again local) parmesan.

If you are within 200km of Parma make the journey!  Parma is a very good spot for food hunting for obvious gastronomical reasons and is well worth a wander.

They sell themselves...Bra, 2009

Bra, Italy....funny by name and nature!

Better late than never, eh? I thought I had better get posting a little more regularly.

So here's one short and sweet post.

The Cheese Festival in the little town of Bra in northern Italy last September was an eye opener. With a nice little chunk of cheese experience under my belt, I decided that I couldn't wait another two years for this fantastic fare of the worlds cheese. I dragged my sister along.... fortunately not kicking and screaming for a weekend of cheese, cheese, wine, breadsticks, and more cheese! I did get some strange looks from even the foodies in work who thought a cheese festival was more than a little odd sort of concept. After trying at least 50 cheeses in one day, I proved at least to myself that I could not disagree more. I will be heading back in 2011 with more people in tow.

Tips - Try and stay in the town. Commuting even a from local towns whether by public or private transport keeps you away from the social scene in the evenings.