Request Newsletter | Food Online Website | Submit Articles and News | Return To Main Page
| |
| |
|
Recipes Information |
|
|
|
Apples of Love
If the Spanish conquistadors had known what they were onto when they brought tomatoes to the old world in the sixteenth century, they wouldn't have spent the rest of their careers searching for gold, because they had already found it. If any of them had any prescience at all, they would have simply opened a canning facility somewhere in the vicinity of Mount Vesuvius, and begun mining the gold that became known as pomodòri 'golden apples'. By the time southern Italians began manufacturing pasta asciuta 'semolina pasta' in the late eighteenth century, inovative chefs had already invented dozens of preparations for tomatoes (also referred to pómi d'amore 'apples of love'). So when tomato sauce was introduced to pasta, it was indeed love at first sight. Pasta alla marinara was love at first sight for me, anyway. But due to restrictions imposed by Mother Nature, we here in America can enjoy fresh, vine-ripened plum tomatoes for only about three months of the year. The rest of the time, we depend on the canned variety. Of those tomatoes that find their way into cans, foodies and gourmets acknowledge those that come from the region of San Marzano to be the finest. There's a lot of talk about the volcanic soil of Calabria; the intensity of the sun in the region; even the name God works its way into the conversation from time to time. Nevertheless, the Italian government has taken the region seriously enough to give the local growers a D.O.C. (Denominazione d'Originata Controllata, or Government Certification). But there's a knock-off artist lurking around every Cypress tree, and it wasn't too long before canned tomatoes labeled tipo di San Marzano, 'San Marzano-style' began appearing at Italian delis. The latest craze in the tomato game, is taking the seeds from San Marzano tomatoes, and growing them elsewhere in the world. I'm aware of a California grower who's doing well by marketing his tomatoes as having been grown from "San Marzano tomato seeds." It is encouraging, though, that for the past several years, American growers have begun competing favorably against their Calabrian bretheren. Muir Glen, in Petaluma, CA., for example, grows wonderful organic tomatoes that are readily available at your local grocery super-store. But there's a problem that crops up with canned tomatoes, especially if they come in unlined cans: they taste "canned." Tomatoes, being acid as they are, often interact with the metal, and absorb some of the metallic taste. My Sicilian grandmother (and I'm sure her peers as well) solved this problem by adding grated carrot to her marinara sauce. I've seen some validation of this technique in recipes from Mario Batali, and recently, from Pino Luongo in his cookbook, "Simply Tuscan." In fact, Mr. Luongo goes so far as to include a stalk of celery too. Here in Connecticut, we're probably two and a half months away from picking the first plum tomato. But wouldn't it be great to go to a farmer's market, and see that someone there is selling plum tomatoes grown from San Marzano seeds. And here is the most requested recipe from the archives of my first Web site, www.northend.com; my grandmother's tomato sauce. (reprinted from my first cookbook, La Cucina dei Poveri). Buon appetito. Salsa di Pomodoro Ingredients: Olive Oil Preparation: Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat, then add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic, and sauté, shaking the pan for about one minute, until the garlic begins to give up its aroma. Remove the pan from the heat and add the tomatoes. Return the pan to the heat and begin to break the tomatoes with either the back of a fork, or a wooden spoon. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer the tomatoes to evaporate some of the liquid, then add the carrot, the red pepper flakes and the oregano. Simmer gently for about twenty minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and the clear liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated. Add the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Makes approximately 1 1/2 Quarts Skip Lombardi is the author of two cookbooks: "La Cucina dei Poveri: Recipes from my Sicilian Grandparents," and "Almost Italian: Recipes from America's Little Italys." He has been a Broadway musician, high-school math teacher, software engineer, and a fledgeling blogger. But he has never let any of those pursuits interfere with his passion for cooking and eating. Visit his Web site to learn more about his cookbooks. http://www.skiplombardi.com or mailto:info@skiplombardi.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Recipes - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Spanish Food - The Perfect Paella Looking for a traditional Spanish recipe? Without doubt, the best-known is going to be the prodigious paella .. Basic Quick Mix and Recipes With an easy basic quick mix, you can make a wide variety of inexpensive homemade biscuits, breads, and other baked goods. This mix is easy to make and store and great for any family on a tight budget. Cool Summer Gazpacho This refreshing tomato soup is a great cool meal for those hot summer days. If you don't like your food spicy, you can leave out the jalapenos, if you like it spicier, just add a few drops of your favorite hot sauce. Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake Bottom Layer:1/2 cup butter or margarine1 cup sugar2 cups flour1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon baking powder1/4 cup milk2 eggs1 teaspoon vanillaCream shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs and stir in milk. All About Strawberry Shortcakes Strawberry shortcake may be a 200 year-old American invention. With the advent of chemical leavenings in the early 1800's, biscuits became popular. Sweet & Sour Pork (Gu Lao Rou) Sweet & Sour Pork is the most well known Chinese food abroad. According to a Cantonese chef, the primitive or the authentic cooking method of the dish is to add Cantonese pickled vegetables. Spanish Recipes - Tempting Tapas Dishes Spain is famous for its tapas and, whichever Spanish bar you frequent, in whichever area of the country, you are sure to find them.So, what exactly are "tapas" and where did the name come from?Tapas are, essentially, snacks and the word literally means "cover". Mays Featured Holidays and Recipes There are three great days in the month of May that I would like to talk about.. Ribolitta: The Italian Way Of Having Your Five Veggies A Day! Ribollita is a delicious low fat Italian soup, a bit similar to the famous minestrone, but instead of pasta, you cook it with beans.Ribollita is very filling, as you serve it on top of 2 bread slices and a cooking spoon of slightly fried spinach, and top all that with a tablespoon of low fat Parmesan cheese. Home Made Ice Cream Recipe for Coffee Can Ice Cream The very best thing about having birthday cake is the ice cream that goes along with it. This delicious home made ice cream recipe can be made with a few simple ingredients and a couple of coffee cans. Spanish Food - How To Prepare Boquerones Whilst on your travels in Spain and pausing to take a breath from site-seeing, you have surely experimented with "tapas" at a welcoming bar.If this is the case, it is more than likely that you have come across the small, tasty filleted fish, preserved in olive oil, sliced garlic and chopped parsley, and highly popular throughout Spain. The Official Parenting Cheesecake Recipe Whoever writes all those fancy cookbooks has never been a parent. To begin with, the pages are never spill-proof, almost guaranteeing that somewhere in the middle of mixing ingredients, a spill will cover the remaining two ingredients listed. Steaks Eating steak has always been a symbol of prosperity. During the turn of the century, steak houses were patronized by the elite. Sot Suppe (Norwegian Sweet Soup) My mother was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants who homesteaded our small Wisconsin dairy farm in the late 1800s. When my mother was a child, sweet soup was a traditional part of Christmas Eve, served cold with julekake, lefse, Christmas bread, or open-faced sandwiches. How to Make a Seductive Chili Dedicated Chili cooks always seem to be looking for an amazing recipe for a blow-you-out-of-the-water chili. Wouldn't it be exciting to UNLEASH your chili and rock your family and friends' worlds, save money and have a great time preparing it?Searching the Internet, I found so many of you looking for new chili recipes. Fish Recipes These recipes are wonderful and they are old family recpies. Armenian Baked Fish3 lbs. Crockpot Cooking - Advantages and Disadvantages In my 'un-biased' opinion, the crockpot / slow cooker is one of the most convenient and easy to use appliances in my kitchen. The time savings features of the slow cooker and the delicious dinners that have resulted more than offset any minor drawbacks. Straight Talk from a Comfort Foodie - Fast Food My parents lived for convenience when it came to feeding their children. I was a Beech-Nut kid, and breast-feeding wasn't my mother's idea of liberation. Straight Talk from a Comfort Foodie - Simpler Times When it was unfolding, I never thought I lived in "simpler times". That would have described pioneer days, or the world prior to the industrial revolution. Chinese Dumplings on Chinese New Year One of my fondest childhood memories is the celebrations around Chinese New Year. This was a time of great excitement and joy, families came together, children were given gifts, and everyone enjoyed traditional New Year's foods.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
