AUGUST FOOD


UPCOMING COOKING CLASSES: Here's where I'll be teaching
Tuscany Market, Austin
Thursday, September 16
http://www.tuscanymarketandvineyard.com
512-249-1500

Central Market Cooking School, Austin
Wednesday, September 29
http://www.centralmarket.com
Reservations: 512-458-3068


UNDER THE TUSCAN, LIGURIAN, LOMBARD, PIEMONTESE, AND MANY MORE SUNS -- A FOOD JOURNAL OF ITALY

On tour in Italy, your days looks like this: Wake up, have coffee, pack your stuff,  hit the road. Stop for lunch. Arrive, sound check, stop for dinner. Play the show, have a drink, hit the hay. (By now it's 4 a.m.)

On my recent road trip with songwriters Ginger Leigh and Patrice Pike, sightseeing and leisure time were a rarity. Eating, however, was never optional, and as it turns out it became our most important and sometimes our only cultural experience. So as we navigated in the rent car from one town to the next, I would sit in the back seat with my guidebook, reading not about museums and cathedrals but about regional food that shouldn't be missed. Passing through Modena I hollered out, "Hey! They make balsamic vinegar in this town!" and suddenly we were veering off the autostrada to find some lunch. And on a tiny country road, as we whizzed by ham factory after ham factory, I grew mystified and consulted my guidebook. "Y'ALL!" I screamed. "This is where they make San Daniele prosciutto! So sweet that it melts in your mouth, and the people dress up like hams and march through the streets!"

And so it went. A peek at my travel journal shows a sampler of food items tasted, wines imbibed, and restaurants visited on our 17-day tour. Buon appetito....


7/14/04 il Latini, Florence
Ribollita (tomato soup thickened with stale bread)
Spinach-ricotta ravioli with ragu
Sauteed fresh spinach with nutmeg and butter

7/15/04 Canazei
Polenta with beef goulash

7/16/04 Bologna
Spaghetti at home with family-made red wine
Gelato at Stefino, Via Galiera, near the old city gate

7/18/04 Modena
Antipasti of braised chicory greens, oven-dried tomatoes, fried zucchini flowers, mortadella with peppercorns, oven-roasted onions soaked in balsamic vinegar
Tagliatelle al ragu
Nocino and house-made macaroons

7/19/04 Torino
Maltagliati with fresh shrimp and dried tomatoes
Whole-roasted branzino with rosemary and sea salt

7/20/04 Albenga, Ligurian coast
Lunch on the beach: spaghetti al tonno e olive
Poached branzino with herbs

7/22/04 Cortina d'Ampezzo
Pasta e fagioli soup
Polenta with beef goulash
Spinach with butter and nutmeg

7/24/04 Spilimbergo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Ristorante Consul
San Daniele prosciutto and melon
Homemade lasagne with San Daniele prosciutto and peas
Rigatoni with grated zucchini, cheese and cream

7/25/04 Lerici, Ligurian coast
Spada agrodolce (sweet-tart swordfish)
Riso alla marinara (rice with mussels, octopus and shrimp)

7/27/04 Treglio, Abruzzo
Suppli (tomato, rice and cheese croquettes)
Deep-fried green olives stuffed with meat
Spaghetti with tomatoes and red peppers
 

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