Yes, we know June may be a little late for soup, but the lucchese specialty garmugia tastes good at any time of year. And with wonderful fresh peas and asparagus in the shops…
It’s a dish that has very ancient origins, probably dating back to the 1600s. In its original and completeversion, i.e.containing meat,
it was a dish highly appreciated by the nobility of Lucca, andt hought ideal for recovering from the diseases of winter. The peasants would of course get it only in its vegetarian form! Today you can prepare it either way.

Here are the ingredients for 4 people:
4 fresh onions 4 artichokes 4 tablespoons fresh peas 4 tablespoons fresh pods 4 tablespoons of asparagus 120 grams veal mince 70 grams bacon or ham 1.2 litres beef stock 3 slices of Tuscan bread Oliveoil(extravergine fromLucca,ofcourse) Salt
Preparation:
Brown the finely chopped onion with the olive oil and finely chopped bacon in a saucepan. When the onion is browned, add the veal andthenthefreshbeans,peas,artichokes,cleanedandcutintopieces,andthen thelightlycookedasparagustips.
After 5 minutes, add the stock and slowly bring to the boil until the vegetables are cooked (probably an hour and a half on the lowest possible heat). Serve the garmugia with toasted bread cut into cubes (croutons).

Balsamic vinegar

Dark, glossy, sweetly sour, balsamic vinegar is the perfect condiment for both salads and desserts. Here’s how to choose a great one.

It costs more than many wines. It fills the rooms of a museum. It even inspired one of Italy’s greatest designers, Giugiaro, to create a bottle out of Murano glass. It’s hard to believe that aceto balsamico is a humble byproduct of grape must.
But then many elements conspire to make this vinegar special. Its history for starters—the very first grape must vinegars were made in the area in Roman times, although the qualifier ‘balsamic’ was only appended to the condiment in the 18th century.

Then its production method—must from Trebbiano, Lambrusco or Ancellotta grapes is cooked, then fermented and aged in progressively smaller casks made of chestnut, mulberry, oak, juniper, ash and other woods, for at least 12 years. And most of all, its taste—thick, viscous and glossy dark, it teases the mouth with a round, velvety texture and a complex flavour that has notes of must and of the many woods the vinegar aged in. And, unlike any other vinegar, the balsamico’s perfect balance of sweet and sour ensures it is just as good on salads, meats and parmesan as on strawberries, zabaione or custard.

However, not every aceto balsamico is the traditional, mouth-watering deal. Only balsamic vinegar made in the Reggio Emilia and Modena provinces, following the strict rules laid out by two local consortia—which include mandatory tastings of each vinegar before it is released to the public—can be called aceto balsamico tradizionale.

The traditional variety tastes much better than plain aceto balsamico di Modena (which is usually a blend of must and wine vinegar, sometimes with added caramel, and doesn’t require ageing in casks), and is a world apart from the cheaper, so-called ‘balsamic’ vinegars, which are just normal wine vinegar with caramel and thickeners.
Traditional balsamic vinegar are usually made by passionate small producers, like Modena’s Ermes Torricelli, who runs a garage by trade and makes vinegar for fun, and are covered by a European Protected Denomination of Origin, as well as its Italian equivalent, the DOP.

The label is not only a useful tool to help consumers distinguish the small-scale, cask-aged artisanal product from cheaper industrial versions, but also a recognition of the part the vinegar plays in the local culture—events such as weddings or births are often celebrated by acquiring new casks to use in the production process, or bequeathing old ones to grown-up sons and daughters.
So if you are after the richest, most complex balsamic vinegar flavours, look for an aceto balsamico tradizionale DOP. Then look carefully at the bottle to find out how long the vinegar is aged for and what flavour you can expect from it.

Among the Reggio Emilia vinegars, choose the lobster-orange label for those aged at least 12 years, which have a clear vinegary note (great on meat and fish carpaccio); the silver label for those aged at least 18 years, which have an intensely sweet and sour taste (perfect on grilled fillet); or the gold one, for those aged at least 25 years, which have the richest flavour (try them on strong cheese, ice cream, custard, chocolate desserts or even drink them on their own at the end of a meal). Among the Modena ones, those with the white cap are aged for at least 12 years, whereas those with the gold cap are aged at least 25 years.

But if you want to savour only the very best, choose those tradizionali that topped the rankings at the Palio di San Giovanni, the annual competition for artisanal balsamic vinegars that takes place in Spilamberto, a village near Modena, which is home to the balsamic vinegar museum.

Every year, tasting masters sample more than a thousand balsamic vinegars over the course of two months to select the twelve best, which are awarded a prize. Here are the winners of last year’s edition, but beware—like all artisanal products that take time and effort to make, these vinegars don’t come cheap. Expect prices in the region of €40-€100 for 100ml bottles.

Leslie Halloran
Please check out my website at: www.lihdesigns.net

“A frog in the well does not know the sea.” – Japanese Proverb

Tuscan recipes: Zuppa Toscana

ZUPPA TOSCANA (NORTHERN TUSCANY)
This recipe was contributed by Michele Molinari, whose great-grandmother was from southern Reggio Emilia on the border with Northern Tuscany. She used to call it Zuppa Toscana because she said that was the way it was prepared in Tuscany; Michele has no precise details as to where it originated for sure.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup millet
1 cup borlotti beans
2 cups chickpeas
2 cups lentils
2 cups farro
water
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 white onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
5 sage leaves
10 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 bay leafs
1 cup green peas
salt and pepper
Soak the millet, borlotti beans, chickpeas, lentils and farro in water overnight, changing the water 2 or 3 times if possible. Rinse and drain.
Place them in a pot, cover with water, and bring to boil. Then simmer for about 2 hours, covered. Add salt towards the end of the cooking time.
Meanwhile, heat 1 cup extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan, add onion, garlic, celery, carrots and sage. Fry for a few minutes over a medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. When the onion and the garlic begin to darken, add the tomatoes. Simmer until the excess water from the tomatoes evaporates. Turn off and wait for legumes to be ready.
When legumes are cooked, take about 2 cups of the legumes and purée in a food processor or food mill. Return the purée to the pot.
Add the bay leaves, green peas and the olive oil mixture, simmer for 1 hour semi-covered. Add boiling water if needed to reach the preferred thickness.
For a perfect taste, serve the following day after preparing the soup. Serve hot with a swirl of extra virgin olive oil, ground pepper, and a couple slices of slightly toasted bread.

Buon appetito!

Leslie Halloran
Please check out my website at: www.lihdesigns.net

“A frog in the well does not know the sea.”- Japanese Proverb

Truffles

The Tuscany truffle area around San Miniato in Pisa province

Every autumn hundreds of truffle lovers congregate in the ancient main squares of the towns to sample, judge and evaluate the many varieties of this so desired and costly fungus or tuber about which the great Brillant Savarin once said that it could ‘make a woman more tender and a man more loveable’.

In San Miniato in Pisa province, in woods on low hills armies of expert hunters, aided by their faithful pig or pup, literally dig up first-class specimens of both the white and black varieties. In those autumn days of gourmet festivals the truffle is king of the kitchen and its unforgettable aromas never cease to amaze and spell-bind.

What is the truffle ?

Truffles grow only on or near the roots of trees, mainly limes, poplars and weeping willows and especially oaks, at depths up to thirty centimetres (twelve inches). They are hunted with the aid of keen-nosed pigs or talented dogs, but since porcine predilections for the precious lumps are even more enthusiastic than mankind’s, determined digging sprees for the prize are usually won by the pig. It is therefore prudent to train up a dog, by nature indifferent to truffle charms. Commercial cultivation is impracticable – rare and special soils are needed in addition to the right tree roots, and the creation of fecund conditions requires much costly, expert and laborious care for eight or ten years before, if ever, any useful specimens appear (often none ever do).

Truffles are so rare in North American that few people have ever heard of them, let alone hunted any. Apparently truffles live in symbiosis with the tree, absorbing water and mineral salts from the soil through the tree roots. Colour, texture, aroma and flavour seem to be determined by the symbiosis. Oak-borne truffles have a more penetrating, pungent aroma compared with those growing near lime trees, whose perfume is powerful but gentler, sweeter. It should be remembered that truffles have very little flavour by themselves – their preciousness derives from their unique ability to impart a wonderfully delicious, almost magical flavour to accompanying or ancillary foods on which they are placed or with which they are mixed.

The use

The very best sorts should be cut into paper-thin slices for covering the food they are to garnish – meats, pastasciutta, vegetables. Lesser qualities are excellent for cutting into little pieces and browning them in oil with a little garlic and thyme, this condiment to be applied quickly and directly to the main dish on the plate or they may be ground into sauces for innumerable uses.

Web-site: www.comune.san-miniato.pi.it

Tuscany food

Lardo di Colonnata: Tuscan Treat
Regional Cuisine from Tuscany for Marble Workers

One of the most unusual traditional Italian foods is Lardo di Colonnata. This is a type of cured pork fat, which comes from the little village of Colonnata, high up in the Apuan Alps in Northern Tuscany. Colonnata is close to Carrara, famous for its fine marble, and lardo was the food of the marble quarriers: cheap and filling. Today lardo di colonnata is a delicacy, rather like a fine ham. It might sound horrible but it’s said to be silky, smooth and very tasty.

Traditional Tuscan cuisine uses up all scraps of food – nothing is wasted. And this dish is a prime example. It probably dates back to Roman times. Pigs used to be kept in the area, fed on the acorns that fell from the oak trees that grew on this unfertile mountain ridge. Lardo di Colonnata is made from very thin strips of pork fat, taken from the back of the pig.

It’s traditionally made in a marble vat, called a conca or conche – the inside of which is rubbed with garlic. The strips of fat are placed inside the vat in layers, and seasoned with salt. Each layer of fat alternates with a layer of herbs and spices. Every local producer has their own special combination of flavourings: but they generally involve seasonings like black pepper, rosemary, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, sage, oregano and even aniseed.

The vat is then sealed and traditionally left in a cave, where the cool mountain air passes around it. The salt dries the pork fat, and the flavours of the herbs and spices seep in. Some say that it’s important that Carrara marble is used for the vats, as this is free from lime. After 6 to 8 months the vat is opened and the lardo is ready to eat. You can buy it from one of the larderie in Colonnata, though these days it is made under different conditions due to new hygiene laws.

Leslie Halloran
Please check out my website at: www.lihdesigns.net
“A frog in the well does not know the sea.”- Japanese Proverb

Olive oil

Olive Oil History
Homer called it “liquid gold.” In ancient Greece, athletes ritually rubbed it all over their body. Its mystical glow illuminated history. Drops of it seeped into the bones of dead saints and martyrs through holes in their tombs. Olive oil has been more than mere food to the peoples of the Mediterranean: it has been medicinal, magical, an endless source of fascination and wonder and the fountain of great wealth and power. The olive tree, symbol of abundance, glory and peace, gave its leafy branches to crown the victorious in friendly games and bloody war, and the oil of its fruit has anointed the noblest of heads throughout history. Olive crowns and olive branches, emblems of benediction and purifiation, were ritually offered to deities and powerful figures: some were even found in Tutankhamen’s tomb.

Cultivating the Sacred
Olive culture has ancient roots. Fossilized remains of the olive tree’s ancestor were found near Livorno, in Italy, dating from twenty million years ago, although actual cultivation probably did not occur in that area until the fifth century B.C. Olives were first cultivated in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean, in the region known as the “fertile crescent,” and moved westwards over the millennia.

Beginning in 5000 B.C. And until 1400 B.C., olive cultivation spread from Crete to Syria, Palestine, and Israel; commercial networking and application of new knowledge then brought it to Southern Turkey, Cyprus, and Egypt. Until 1500 B.C., Greece—particularly Mycenae—was the area most heavily cultivated. with the expansion of the Greek colonies, olive culture reached Southern Italy and Northern Africa in the eighth century B.C., then spread into Southern France. Olive trees were planted in the entire Mediterranean basin under Roman rule. According to the historian Pliny, Italy had “excellent olive oil at reasonable prices” by the first century A.C, “the best in the Mediterranean,” he maintained.

In the land of the Hebrews, King Solomon and King David placed great importance on the cultivation of olive trees; King David even had guards watching over the olive groves and warehouses, ensuring the safety of the trees and their precious oil.

Olive trees dominated the rocky Greek countryside and became pillars of Hellenic society; they were so sacred that those who cut one down were condemned to death or exile. In ancient Greece and Rome, olive oil was the hottest commodity; advanced ships were built for the sole purpose of transporting it from Greece to trading posts around the Mediterranean.

The belief that olive oil conferred strength and youth was widespread. In ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, it was infused with flowers and with grasses to produce both medicine and cosmetics; a list was excavated in Mycenae enumerating the aromatics (fennel, sesame, celery, watercress, mint, sage, rose, and juniper among others) added to olive oil in the preparation of ointments.

Olive trees have an almost titanic resistance, a vital force which renders them nearly immortal. Despite harsh winters and burning summers, despite truncations, they continue to grow, proud and strong reaching towards the sky, bearing fruit that nourishes and heals inspires and amazes. Temperate climactic conditions, characterized by warm dry summers and rainy winters, favor plentiful harvests; stone, drought, silence, and solitude are the ideal habitat for the majestic olive tree. Italy and Spain are now the most prolific producers of olive oil, although Greece is still very active. There are about thirty varieties of olives growing in Italy today, and each yields a particular oil with its own unique characteristics.

Olive Oil Properties
Sun, stone, drought, silence and solitude: these are the five ingredients that, according to Italian folk traditions, create the ideal habitat for the olive tree.

We treasure extra-virgin olive oil for its nutritional and salutary virtues. La Cucina Italiana reports that extra-virgin olive oil is the most digestible of the edible fats: it helps to assimilate vitamins A, D and K; it contains so-called essential acids that cannot be produced by our own bodies; it slows down the aging process; and it helps bile, liver and intestinal functions. It is also valued for its culinary virtues and organoleptic properties as well: flavor (sapore), bouquet (aroma), and color (colore)

Climate, soil, variety of tree (cultivar) and time of harvest account for the different organoleptic properties of different oils. Certain extra-virgin olive oils are blends of varieties of olives; others are made from one cultivar.

The European Community gives the following parameters:

Extra-virgin olive oil with perfect taste is oil of the highest quality; it has a minimum organoleptic rating of 6.5 out of 10, low acidity (1% or less), and is untreated.
Olive oil has a minimum organoleptic rating of 5.5, a maximum of 2% acidity and is untreated.
The production of all other olive oils involves treatments.
Extra-virgin olive oil is produced in all regions of Italy, except Piedmont and Val D’Aosta. The leading producers are Liguria, Tuscany, Umbria, and Apulia. Tuscany produces such a great assortment of extra virgin oils that many do not resemble each other. In Umbria, it is so widely produced that it would be hard to imagine the landscape without the abundance of olive trees. Apulia is home to an impressive one-third of Italy’s olive trees.

The price of extra-virgin olive oil varies greatly. Two factors are influential: where the olives are grown and which harvesting methods are implemented. Certain locations yield more bountiful harvests; consequently their oil is sold for less. Olive trees planted near the sea can produce up to 20 times more fruit than those planted inland, in hilly areas like Tuscany. It is in these land-locked areas that the olive trees’ habitat is pushed to the extreme; if the conditions were just a little more severe, the trees would not survive. Extra-virgin oils produced from these trees have higher organoleptic scores.

Good olive oil: www.aziendaagricolamatteucci.com

Leslie Halloran
Please check out my website at: www.lihdesigns.net
“A frog in the well does not know the sea.”- Japanese Proverb

Italy ice cream

The history of gelato dates back to frozen desserts served in ancient Rome and Egypt made from ice and snow brought down from mountaintops and preserved below ground. Later, gelato appeared during banquets at the Medici court in Florence. In fact, the Florentine cook Bernardo Buontalenti is said to have invented modern ice creams in 1565, as he presented his recipe and his innovative refrigerating techniques to Caterina de’ Medici.

She in turn brought the novelty to France, where in 1686 the Sicilian fisherman Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli perfected the first ice cream machine [1]. The popularity of gelato among larger shares of the population however only increased in the 1920′s-1930′s as in the northern Italian city of Varese, where the first mobile gelato cart was developed.

Gelato (Italian pronunciation: [dʒeˈlato]; plural: gelati) is Italy’s regional variant of ice cream. As such, gelato is made with some of the same ingredients as most other frozen dairy desserts.Milk, cream, various sugars, flavoring including fruit and nut purees are the main ingredients.
Gelato differs from some other ice creams in that it has a lower butterfat content.

Gelato typically contains 4-8% butterfat, versus 14% for many ice creams. Gelato generally has slightly lower sugar content, averaging between 16-22% versus approximately 21% for most ice creams.
Non-fat milk is added as a solid. The sugar content in gelato is precisely balanced with the water content to act as an anti-freeze to prevent the gelato from freezing solid. Types of sugar used include sucrose, dextrose, and invert sugar to control apparent sweetness. Typically, gelato and Italian sorbet contain a stabilizing base. Egg yolks are used in yellowcustard-based gelato flavors, including zabaione and creme caramel.

The mixture for gelato is typically made using a hot process, which includes pasteurization. White base is heated to 85°C (185°F). Heating the mix to 90°C (194°F) is essential for chocolate gelato, which is traditionally flavored with cocoa powder. Yellow custard base, which contains egg yolks, is heated to 65°C (149°F). The gelato mix must age for several hours after pasteurization is complete for the milk proteins to hydrate, or bind, with water in the mix. This hydration reduces the size of the ice crystals, making a smoother texture in the final product. A non-traditional cold mix process is popular among some gelato makers in the United States.

Unlike commercial ice cream in the United States, which is frozen with a continuous assembly line freezer, gelato is frozen very quickly in individual small batches in a batch freezer. The batch freezer incorporates air or overage into the mix as it freezes. Unlike American-style ice cream, which can have an overage of up to 50%, gelato generally has between 20% and 35% overage.

This results in a denser product with more intense flavor than U.S. style ice cream. U.S. style ice cream, with a higher fat content, can be stored in a freezer for months. High-quality artisan gelato holds its peak flavor and texture (from delicate ice crystals) for only several days, even when stored carefully at the proper temperature. This is why gelaterias typically make their own gelato on the premises or nearby.

Leslie Halloran
Please check out my website at: www.lihdesigns.net

“A frog in the well does not know the sea.” – Japanese Proverb

Tuscan cooking

From the beach to the kitchen
A gastronomic competition that can change your life. Aprons girded and utensils at the ready! For the 18th edition of “A tavola sulla spiaggia” the epic clash of fabulous dishes from ancient recipe books and others that valorize traditional on the beach picnic foods at the Roma di levante arena in late August.

Besides tasty tidbits, the event has proved its capability to “dish up” unexpected talents: many of the partecipants in past edition have transformed a hobby into a profession at which they excel. Take Toni Brancatisano, a Pietrasanta resident originally from Australia, the house-wife contender at the 2008 edition who recently took first place at the “La scuola-cucina di classe” gastronomic talent show and now hosts a program on Gambero Rosso Channel.

Or the Roman princess Orietta Boncompagni Ludovisi who in 2006 tickled Forte’s palates with the turquoise cabochon dessert she invented just for fun and went on to author the novel and very popular “Guida delle migliori pizzerie d’Italia”. Or Fabiana Giacomotti, a journalist and writer who delighted us in 2007 with her Mediterranean antipasto and has now launched Dolcelieve, the first-ever line of haute patisserie for gluten intolerants with a sweet tooth.

Web-site: www.atavolasullaspiaggia.it

Farro -Spelt

Farro – Spelt
The Farro of  Garfagnana is a very ancient cereal, cultivated on small plots of land which are low in nutrient levels, in a band from 300 m to 1.000 m above sea level. The sowing heppens in the autumn in pre-prepared ground with the use of the dressed seed, a derivative of the local population of Triticum dicoccum (spelt).
Following the traditional practices of the Garfagnana, the farro production occurs without the use of chemicals or chemical fertilizers, resulting in an organic product.

In the Garfagnana it is polished, or freed from its outer covering, in traditional stone mills and used for typical local recipes – farro soup, farro cake and farro with beans.
The farro of Garfagnana has been recognised with the IGP marque.
There are about 80.90 farms today involved in the cultivation of farro, for a total area of about 100 hectares. The average size is quite small, many farms growing in less than one hectare, while around 10% grow on an area greater than 3 hectares.

Strawberries

Candied strawberry “soup”

Ingredients (serves 6 )
. Six cups of fresh, excellent strawberries
. 3 tbsp butter
. 4 tbsp sugar
2. tbsp lemon juice
. Salt, white pepper

Method
In spite of its name, this recipe is really a dessert. At this time of the year it should be possible to buy wonderful, juicy strawberries – if possible, choose the organic ones.
Wash the strawberries under fresh running water, eliminate the green stems but do not cut the fruit. Heat the butter in a large pan, add the fruit and move the pan around to let them braise at quite a high heat. Add salt and pepper, and the sugar and keep cooking for 5 or 10 minutes until the fruit caramelises.
Finally, pour over the lemon juice, keeping the pan moving until a sauce is formed. Serve hot or lukewarm in a bowl just like real soup, topped wwith milk, ice cream or freshly whipped unsweetened cream.