Wednesday, June 17, 2009

You can only find this in Italy

Chef Frank A. Terranova M.C.F.E.

You can only find this in Italy

If you are looking for great pasta dishes, seafood and finally, pizza, look no further than Italy. Being in the food business for quite a few years and having eaten all around the USA, I finally found real Italian food. Not that we as Italian-Americans can’t do it, but the simplicity of food in Italy is what makes it so wonderful.  That, and the-top-of-the line products like the Semolina used for pasta and bread/pizza dough. The flour, by Italian standards, is 00, which means it is milled to the finest texture. It comes from the Molino Caputo region and has an 11.5% gluten content. It’s used in the making of their pastas and, of course, the famous Semolina di Grano Duro, which is the best semolina in all of Italy. But what makes these dishes outstanding is the additional products used.
My family and I recently spent a week in Capri. The seafood was like nothing I have ever had before. I catch my own fish a lot; the fish purchased here isn’t that fresh. The process by which it is prepared in Italy is wonderful. Take, for example, the simple fried calamari. Here in America, it’s a cut cross-section, which is then breaded and fried, and then for some reason it is served with vinegar hot peppers. This is, of course, to mask the calamari which could easily be a garden hose cut up, breaded and served! In Naples the squid is tender and just simply served with lemon or a simple tomato puree sauce; you could actually taste the squid! I also had a whole sea bream, which is a type of fish weighing about 2 pounds. They bring the whole fish to the table along with the others which are all daily catches. Just one look at the eyes was enough to see that it was caught only 3 hours earlier, right down the walkway in the Mediterranean Sea. It was grilled and served with lemon and olive oil on the side. By the way, the Italians are very, very territorial when it comes to food as I was constantly reminded: in Naples they have the best fish; in Almalfi the best lemons; the Tuscans have the best olive oil, and so on.
When you dine even in the simplest restaurant it’s all about the food. But what they are lacking in most restaurants is the professionalism of the service staff. The tables are set perfectly.  And as we found in many, many places on our two trips in Italy, one place is cleaner than the other, so that’s never an issue. But Americans have the guest check bounced on the table as soon as the last spoonful of dessert has been eaten. It’s just turn ‘em and burn ‘em, which means get them in and get them out.  On many occasions I had to look for the server because in Italy, one person services the same table all night, since the emphasis is on food/service. And then again, the view from the top of the Isle of Capri makes it all worthwhile. As Americans, we live to eat and it shows. In Europe they eat to live.
Okay, now for pizza. My friend, Mario, took us to a place in Italy where two famous food ideas were started.  First is the famous Napolitano pasty called sfogliatella. I have tried them everywhere from NY to Boston and even here in RI. The flavor is not even close here, so I will not eat them again unless we go back to Naples. The flavor can’t be described with its buttery, crisp NOT heavy crust, and they had a filling unlike the ones we get here. They use ricotta and lemon in the filling; it is certainly not mass produced. When they sell out, their attitude is “too bad; wait until the next day when we’ll have more”.
Then came the final treat in Naples: their famous pizza.  Mario took us to a place that has been family-run since 1870.  It seated only 35 people, with a waiting line of at least 100 people. We were the only Americans in the line! I was seated next to the wood oven; my face was hot because of the high heat coming out of the oven. They use 3 types of wood, as Luigi explained. The surface of the oven was 600C which is equal to 1,112F:  pretty hot. They only serve 2 pizzas in 3 sizes. First of all was the pizza napolitano, made of tomato and REAL mozzarella, not the plastic stuff used in many pizza places here.  The pizza marinara was topped with tomatoes, sliced garlic, and oregano. I opted for the medium size; the pizza was paper thin with a slightly puffed outer crust which was just a little bit charred and had a tender, crunchy texture. It measured about 14”, and was served with a knife and fork. You can actually taste the wood flavor. The price for the medium pizza was E4.50 which is about $6.00 US. Here it would be $12.00 in the famous restaurants (not naming them!). Fortunately I purchased 25 pounds of the 00 flour and had it shipped, and the flavor and texture is wonderful. I have already made a few paper thin pizzas using it. So it’s safe to say, at least in R.I., no more pizzas and sfoglitelli; they will not be on my shopping list for a while.  As always…That’s Cooking with Class.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Sweet Harbinger of Summer

Chef Frank Terranova M.C.F.E.

By Linda Melfi Production Assistant Cooking with Class

Sweet Harbinger of Summer

When it comes to fruit, the Northeast may be best known for the apple, but nothing heralds the arrival of summer in New England like the strawberry.  Like its fall weather friend, strawberries come in many varieties, with such enticing names as Earliglow, L’Amour, Jewel, and Sparkle. Yet, when most of us go to the market to buy our strawberries, all we care about is that they are red, sweet, and juicy.

One of my fondest memories from childhood is volunteering at my church’s annual Strawberry Festival.  At sunrise, the men would head to the fields of a local farm and pick berries in the early morning light.  Flat upon flat of the luscious little gems would be brought back to the church, where the women would be busy in the kitchen, their fingertips stained red, hulling and slicing the berries that would become jams, jellies, and countless strawberry pies. The very best part, though, were the indescribably delicious strawberry shortcakes.  By mid-morning the line of people waiting for one of these tasty treats would wrap around the side of the church and into the parking lot, but it was well worth the wait.  A customer could order their shortcake one of three ways:  with two scoops of vanilla ice cream (the smoothest, creamiest ever), with a whole biscuit (the most tender and flaky ever), or, my personal favorite, half-and-half - one scoop of ice cream and half of a biscuit.  All piled high with sweet, juicy strawberries and freshly whipped cream.  Yum.

It has been many years since I have had one of those amazing strawberry shortcakes.  Nothing I have had since can compare to the flavors that are still so fresh in my memory.  Yet while nothing can ever really rival a memory, it doesn’t mean that I won’t keep trying to recreate the perfect strawberry shortcake. 

Strawberry season is now upon us here in New England.  It lasts just a few short weeks (from mid-June to mid-July), so now is the perfect time to plan a trip to one of the local farms that offers strawberry picking.  If you are lucky, you may even stumble upon a strawberry festival taking place.  If not, you can always have your own festival at home.  All you need is some ice cream and biscuits (or sponge cake, or chocolate cake, or pound cake…you get the idea), and lots of fresh, sweet strawberries.

Strawberry Fun Facts:
One cup of strawberries provides about 140% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C.
Strawberries are sweet little cancer fighters.
Strawberries are the only fruit to have their seeds on the outside.
Smaller berries are usually sweeter and more flavorful.
The founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, once said of the strawberry “This berry is the wonder of all the fruits growing naturally in these parts.”