To Everything There Is A Season

One of my constant whines – I can only imagine the surprise it must be for many of my friends to think I would actually whine about something – when I first returned from Italy had to do with food. It just wasn’t the same in Canada. Things weren’t fresh picked – they had been shipped in unripened and allowed (or forced chemically) to ripen in the store. There was not flavor! No great variety! And many of the vegetables and fruits were available – if in perhaps a state of tastelessness – year round. There was no seasonality!

Now given the climate in Ottawa the idea of fresh picked does have its seasonal limitations – the probability of anything growing is low and the improbability of anyone harvesting at -32c are reasonably high. But come on now variety? Would that be so hard to do?

Though things are looking up for varieties – particularly heirloom vegetables – but this photo taken at a flower shop in Sorrento will give you an indication of the variety of tomatoes that are grown in Italy.

You say tomato - I say TOMATOES! Eleven!  Count them - eleven types of tomatoes.  You name the occasion and you've got a red (yellow or green) ball of goodness that was made just for Nona's secret recipe.

Eleven – count them eleven different seed packets and none of them are “heirloom” – just your average Italian garden variety. Some for sauce, some for salad, some for roasting (god is there anything closer to heaven than roasted tomatoes?), others for stuffing, yet another for matching with a good Mozzarella di Buffala. I recall buying tomatoes from our local greengrocer (who by the way is still there and greeted us with big smiles and the hope that we were back to stay) and the first question was always: what are you using them for?

And of course what was available depended on the time of year – for everything. The watermelons were sweet and juicy in August but forget finding any on the market in September, artichokes were the last weeks of March and the first week of April, figs (the sweet, pale green skinned Italian variety) in June and July and this time of year: late October early November it’s kaki season!

A type of persimmon, but unlike any from North America I've every tasted, the kaki has a custardy texture with just a touch of astringency.  And apparently you can use it as an instrument to foretell the weather for the coming season.

Sidd joined me at Peter and Joe’s in savouring the joy of a chilled kaki ready to burst its orange skin and deliver creamy, custardy, astringent but sweet goodness.
I’m not sure if they remember my child-like (okay perhaps childish is a better adjective) joy when kaki season arrived but it was the perfect finish to a splendid meal with cherished friends in a place I love.

November 10 - 1871:Henry Morton Stanley locates missing explorer and missionary, Dr. David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika, famously greeting him with the words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

Spaghetti Frittata - From Our Christmas Pot Luck

The gang at work did a pot-luck lunch today so I thought I'd bring a touch of Italy to the festivities with a spaghetti frittata.  I first had this quintessential Neapolitan dish at Leon d'Oro, a quintessential Neapolitan trattoria in Piazza Dante.  My friend Wendy loving and accurately described this friendly family run restaurant, that she visited last month,  over at Flavor of Italy.

This is a great way to use up left-over spaghetti, vegetables or whatever catches your fancy.  Its a good buffet dish, a lunch/brunch dish with a salad or as a primi for a more elaborate dinner.

1/2 lb of spaghetti*
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
4 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
Other ingredients can be added - almost anything that you would normally use with spaghetti - bacon, cooked zucchini, roast peppers, basil, canned tomatoes or left-over tomato sauce. 

1. Cook spaghetti until just slightly al dente - it will undergo further cooking later.
2. Drain and toss while still hot with butter, Parmesan and parsley and allow to cool completely
3. Lightly beat eggs in a small bowl with salt and pepper
4. Add the beaten eggs to the spaghetti and mix thoroughly
5. If you are using other ingredients they should be added and thoroughly mixed in at this point.
6. Spray a 11-12 inch non-stick skillet with Pam or 2 tablespoons of butter and heat over a medium burner until foam subsides.
7. Pour mixture into skillet and spread to an even thickness over the bottom of the pan.
8. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes without touching the pan.  The tilt the pan slightly and bring the edge closer to the centre of the heat.  Cook for  minute or so and then rotate the pan about a 1/4 turn and cook for another minute.  Continue until a full circle has been completed.  This will make sure it is cooked evenly. Lift the edge with a spatula to see if a nice golden crust has formed on the underside.
9. Place a platter slightly larger than the pan upside down over the pan and turn it over.  Let the frittata plop onto the plater.  Grease the pan again and side the frittata back into the pan.  
10. Repeat the cooking process above until the second side has formed a good golden crust.
11. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into wedges.  

It can be served hot, lukewarm or at room temperature but never just out of the refrigerator.


23 dicembre/decembre - San Giovanni da Kety

Devine Gelato Wine

Anyone who lives any time in Italy is bound to have a favourite gelateria: the place where they make "the best Gelato in the world".  I have heard arguments break out between normally rational people about where to find the best  Pistacchio or  Cioccolato and there are those who, with the same seriousness as they would offer their opinion on politics,  debate the merits of the Caffé or Zuppe Inglese at their preferred ice cream shop.  And I admit that I have been known to take part in these world-shaking discussions on several occasions when defending Leonard at Tropical Ice.   Though there are three other excellent gelaterie in our area if asked to name "the best" it would have to be the creamy delights and fresh flavours that Leonardo serves up.

However if by some miracle Gelati DiVini were to be moved lock, stock, staff and gelato tubs from Piazza Duomo in Ragusa to Porta Pia I'd be hard pressed to choose between the two.  This little shop and its sister shop next door offer two of my favourite Italian foods groups - gelato and wine.  And it mixes them.

I had read about Gelati DiVini (a lovely play on words - it could be read as either Wine Gelato or Devine Gelato) in Lonely Planet and on several websites and everyone lauded its fresh, creamy, often unusual and frequently wine inspired flavours.  When I arrived on Monday to find it closed up and a peep through the window revealed empty counters my heart sank.  I'm not saying that I prayed to blessed San Giorgio in his eponymous Duomo across the way but miraculously the next day I found their shutters open, tables set out in the Piazza and most important the counter now filled with jewel-like tubs of gelato.

There were 22 flavour available and though each was labelled - sometimes using a play on words - there were also little indications of the ingredients on each tub - a piece of fruit, a wine cork, a pod or spring of what had been turned into icy goodness.  And though my two favourites, Pistacchio and Caffé, seemed to be missing a few of the old standards were there -  Strawberry, Chocolate, Pear and Cream.  However you don't go to Gelati DiVini for the standard flavours - you go for the unusual and unusual they were offering.  How does Ricotta, Cardamon or Date gelato sound?  Or how about Beet, Peppered Chocolate or Carob?  Or Moscato, Rose or Marsala for those of us that like the idea of the mix of Gelatoria and Enotecha?

For my first go-around - yes I visited the smiling Rosalie twice during the day but I only ordered the medium size cup said he with a defensive tone in his voice - I had the Moscato and, at her suggestion, the Fragoline (field strawberry). DiVini! Laurent was a little more adventurous and went for the Date and the Beet. Beet??? Yes I had a taste of it but since my doctor once told me not to eat beets because they were disgusting I passed on that one. An interesting flavour not to my liking but very much to his.

Before tackling the 232 steps up to the first approach to Ragusa Superiore later that afternoon a gelato surge was required. This time I went for the Marsala - yes I know more wine - and Cinnamon with the sweetness of the wine contrasting with the bite of the spice. Laurent recharged with fiery Peppered Chocolate and cooling Fiori di pane (Rich Cream). Just what both of us needed - not for our waistlines on this trip but for our energy levels.

But before I left I had to ask Rosalie about one of the flavours that was puzzling me: Gocce Verdi. Now verdi means green and gocce means a drop - a drop of green???  That sprig of green should have been a dead give away but she gave me a taste and said "tell me what it is?"  It was olive oil - subtle but there;  the taste that Sicilia is famous for transformed into cold, creamy gelato.

Perhaps I should have stopped by and asked San Giorgio about doing that lock, stock, staff and tub transporting thing.

18 maggio - San Leonardo Murialdo