Omelette with Zucchini Flowers and Pancetta

Zucchini flowers are such a versatile ingredient, yet they are so frequently served battered and fried. No, these blossoms have much more to offer than that.

The other day I decided to make an omelette with zucchini flowers. Really simple, and it came out beautifully. I browned some pancetta cubes and a little onion with a tiny bit of olive oil. Once those were almost done cooking, I tossed in some chopped zucchini flowers and let them cook for a minute or two before adding the beaten eggs to the pan. Once the eggs finished cooking, I filled the inside of the omelette with ricotta and chopped mint.

I hope to be finding a lot more recipes featuring zucchini flowers this spring! If anyone out there knows of a good recipe, don't hesitate to leave a comment!

Chocolate Giveaway!!!

So, after my post the other day, I want to know about YOUR most memorable meal while traveling! (Italian or otherwise!) It could be about anything, from an elegant 5-star meal to a cheap lunch on-the-go to the worst meal ever! We need details, humor, and of course great description of the food! I know I have readers from ALL over the globe, so I hope there will be lots of diverse memories!

The winner will receive a taste of Naples in the form of the city's most famous chocolate: Gay-Odin. Trust me, their chocolate is SO amazing!! If you've never tried, you're missing out on something very delicious!

Please submit all entries to

live.italiano@gmail.com

before the 15th of March. The winner will then have their story published on Live.Italiano and of course get their chocolate fix! I want to have lots of entries, so tell your friends and family, too! Get writing!!

Hello, my name is Alison and I am addicted to gastronomic tourism.

After my post about the prepackaged bonet, I've come to a realization. I LIVE for gastronomic tourism. While some may collect magnets or postcards or t-shirts, I bring back the flavors and tastes of a city. An almost obsessive, compulsive need comes over me to eat and buy-the beginnings of a dangerous game thanks to skinny jeans, luggage weight limits and having to go through customs.

As a general rule, wherever I am, I tend to stay as far away from "touristy" restaurants as humanly possible. Little good can come of these places with their watered-down, over-priced versions of local favorites. If the restaurant is on the main street, chances are it's not for me. The menu's translated into 3 or 4 other languages? No, thanks. Unless it's something really memorable, like sipping coffee on the Champs d'Elysees or getting slapped in the face with a 36 euro bill for 3 Bellinis at Ernest Hemingway's favorite bar in Venice, I'd stay away. I'd rather take the chance with the locals...

Sometimes, my intestines just can't take all of that local food though. Case in point: Peru. The markets (and streets!) of Peru are some of the absolute best places to eat. In Lima's central market, one food stand had a simple, divine fish broth and the best ceviche in the world for less than 2 dollars. Can't forget the anticuchos in Cuzco either-skewered beef hearts and potato grilled at the moment. If I remember correctly, it was in Arequipa when my digestive system had a meltdown. A soup of unknown ingredients, most likely dried potatoes and intestines, was just too much to handle at that altitude. Oh well...you can't win 'em all.

Just don't let that risk deter you. The great thing about hanging out in local haunts is the fact that you never know what could happen or who you could meet. One of my favorite places in the world is the rooftop Jamaica bar at the El-Hana International in Tunis. Sitting there the evening we arrived from Rome, two friends and I drank the local brew Celtia and were rocking out to a curiously amazing mix of classic rock. While singing along to "Sweet Home Alabama," the young man responsible for the tunes approached our table and a new friendship was born. Wael, a native of Tunis and a speaker of perfect English, quickly became my guide to a Tunisia I would have never experienced if not for him.

I always like to prolong the memories of a trip by bringing home some of the local goods with me, customs permitting. Harissa and spices from Tunisia, coca tea from Peru, stroopwafels from Amsterdam, mustards and Cassis liqueur from Dijon, and yes, even maple syrup and peanut butter from back home. Sometimes I try to recreate the dishes I had while away, other times I create my own, new dishes. Those simple flavors make it possible to almost relive certain experiences, even when vacation is long over.

Of course, I also love to share some of the great Italian food I eat with my family when I go back to the States. Normally, I'll just get a bottle of Molinari Sambuca for my dad and some good quality pasta, but this Christmas I found myself in a different situation. My suitcase was packed with the traditional bottle of Molinari, a boxed tiramisu-flavored cake, lemon candies, small bottles of limoncello and a 1.5 liter plastic water bottle filled with homemade red. (Wine, that is!) It didn't stop there. I was given a large, freshly baked pastiera for my parents that had to be carried as delicately as possible, by hand. After some 15 hours in transit, the unwrapped pastiera had certainly seen better days, yet we are not ones to judge food on merely an aesthetic level.

No, I do not judge food by appearance or the presence of Michelin stars. Food is judged by the memories it leaves. Sitting down among unfamiliar faces, trying unknown dishes is what it's all about for me. Even getting sick in the process, if that's what happens! The necessity of eating has become something else, a search for good, authentic food that becomes my souvenir.

Bonet in a box!

In Revello's tiny little market, I spotted this:

After the previous night's encounter with bonet, or bunet, I wanted to see how the pre-packaged version stood up to the original. I know, I know, how could a boxed dessert even compare to the rigorously homemade one from La Virginia? But this was something I would never be able to find south of Torino, so more bunet was in store!

The whole process took about 5 minutes. I covered the mold with the included caramel sauce, then started to cook the bunet mix with some milk (from the milk vending machine, of course!). After that, the tiny crumbles of amaretto cookies were added into the batter. The whole affair was then popped into the fridge for 3 hours while I anxiously awaited the results.

In the end, this bunet was a firm pudding which did not look very attractive in photos. Yes, all of the right flavors were there, but the texture was way off from La Virginia's original. It was fine, however it was definitely not bunet as it should be!

The Bell Tower of Revello

It seemed like the bell tower was the big attraction in Revello. Everybody I met asked if I had been up there yet! Well, after a short trek up the hillside, I was there and had a great view of this picturesque town.

Museo Nazionale Del Cinema

This has got to be one of the coolest museums I've ever been to! The National Museum of Cinema in Turin is really a must-see (especially if you are traveling with kids!). The museum itself is located inside of one of Torino's landmarks, the Mole Antonelliana, and film buffs will love the huge, interactive collection.

The museum isn't only film memorabilia and movie posters. The visit begins with the very basics of cinema: optical illusions, the physics of sight, and shadow puppets. (Yes, we are going way back here!) From there, the very first incarnations of "movies" are shown. 3-D pictures, zoetropes, and Thomas Edison's Kinetograph interactively show the visitors the height of technology around the turn of the 20th century. Slowly but surely, we get to the more modern days of film. The museum has a great collection of vintage movie posters and some very interesting memorabilia, including Superman's cape and Federico Fellini's trademark hat and scarf.

My favorite part of the museum, though, came at the very end. After exploring some 4-floors of cinematic history, we finished up the visit in the Aula del Tempio, or Temple Hall. This hall is surrounded by reproductions of famous movie sets, quite inviting for cheesy photo-ops. In the middle, there is a glass elevator for visitors wishing to see the panoramic terrace of the Mole. However, the great thing about the Temple Hall are the chaise lounges. Here, after a tiring walk through the history of cinema, you can finally relax and watch some movies or the light show projected on the ceiling.

The Museo Nazionale del Cinema is located inside of the Mole Antonelliana, on via Montebello, 20. Open every day except Monday, it even stays open until 11 p.m. on Saturdays! Tickets to the museum cost 7,00 euro, though if it is a nice day, pay the extra 2 euros to see the Mole's panoramic terrace.

Museo Egizio di Torino

"La strada per Menfi e per Tebe passa per Torino."

(or "The road to Memphis and Thebes passes through Turin.")

Torino is home to Europe's foremost collections of Egyptian art. It is said to be the most important collection of Egyptian art after the museum in Cairo. And interestingly enough, this museum is also the oldest Egyptian museum in the world!!!

The collection began almost one century ago, back in 1824, and is largely due to the work of two men. Bernardino Drovetti and Ernesto Schiaparelli were the adventurers who brought back the bulk of the museum's holdings. In 1824, Drovetti sold some 5,000 pieces to the King of Sardegna Carlo Felice di Savoia, providing a sound basis for the new museum's collection. Later, at the begining of the 20th century, Schiaparelli's work helped to enlarge the collection by more than 25,000 pieces. Some of the most famous works held in the museum include a statue of Ramses II, the tomb of Kha and Merit, and the temple of Ellesija.

The museum is open everyday except Monday from 8.30 until 7.30 p.m. Tickets cost around 7 euros. If you happen to be in Torino, this museum is a great way to switch things up!

Revello

A Feast of Epic Proportions

Hoping simply to try some typical local dishes, my dear friend Cristiano took me to an agriturismo near Revello. (An agriturismo is a small inn/bed and breakfast that also serves food they normally grow out in the back garden.) Little did we know that a four hour feast was in store!

We were welcomed to La Virginia by a glass of spumante and a plate artisanal bread, juniper-scented lard and salami. (Yes, lard. It's quite popular here and really delicious despite the name.) Then came a procession of appetizers. There was a beef carpaccio with raw artichokes, a spinach salad with crunchy pancetta, and an eggplant flan covered with melted Tuma di Martiniana cheese. The two first courses were really great. There was risotto with radicchio and homemade sausage as well as "cujette," or gnocchi, covered in a Castelmagno cream. (Normally, castelmagno is made with cow's milk, but this tasted a lot like goat cheese.) Our meat dish consisted of thinly-sliced roast capocollo with baked potatoes. And finally, for dessert, there were a few choices. Most were generic Italian desserts, panna cotta, apple cake and semifreddo. However, there was also the bunet, a traditional sweet from the area. The bunet is like a pudding-y chocolate cake with amaretto crumbles and caramel sauce. The meal finished, of course, with a coffee and some home-brewed limoncello.

I'll be working this dinner off for a while, but it was so worth it!

Moo Machine

One store is always open in the small town of Revello. No matter what time it is, the latteria is open. Inside, there is a small machine that delivers fresh, unpasteurized local milk. A liter of this milk costs 1,20 euro, including the ,20 cents for the bottle.

Emphasis here is put on the fact that the milk is from farms in or neighboring Revello. This of course, provided me with delicious, fresh milk that both supported local farmers and respected the environment. (In fact, the whole Slow Food movement began in Bra, a nearby city.) Yeah, we all know Italian wines are great, but don't hesitate to pick up a liter of fresh Italian milk too!

Saluti da Revello

Hi everyone! I am currently in the picturesque mountain village of Revello, far up in the north near Turin.
The smell of wood fires floats through the air, the people are incredibly friendly and the scenery is amazing.
I've never really spent any time in the northern parts of Italy, so this is really exciting! Being such a small town
(Circa 4,000 inhabitants!), I'm having a hard time finding a cafe with a Wi-Fi connection. Hopefully I will find
someplace soon! Lots of pictures, lots of beautiful sights....coming soon!!!
A presto!

Underground Naples

Naples is a fantastic city to see, but like many Italian cities, a lot of the history is underground. (Basically cities were built vertically, new buildings on top of the old ones.) Here, there are three different choices to see the subterranean city. I'll eventually visit all of them, but a few days ago I visited the most popular. Right in the historical center of the city, the tour is an interesting way to see a part of Naples that lots of Neapolitans haven't even seen.

The tour begins in a very typical apartment called a "basso." (The name refers to the fact that the apartment is "low," or on the street level.) From this unassuming abode, my group simply walked down a few stairs to the family's cantina. Not just a place to keep wine and food, this basement area was actually the backstage of an ancient Roman theater!

From there, we went to an ex-woodworking shop. This area, back in the 1st century, was part of the seating area of the amphitheater. Now, it's a quick stop on the tour and filled with nativity scenes. (Naples is famous for this and vendors sell nativities and figurines nearby year round.)

The bulk of the tour, though, takes place in a much more ample underground space. Here, you go underground and back about 5,ooo years. The tour visits both the Greek and Roman cisterns. (The private Greek cisterns were much smaller in comparison to the public Roman aqueducts.) For World War II buffs, this is also where 3,ooo or so Neapolitans lived during the war. Naples was heavily bombarded during the war, so many took refuge underground during that period. Unfortunately, claustrophobia may set in here, since many of the passageways are (incredibly) narrow.

The underground is so interesting, however, I must say a great tour guide can make all the difference in the world. My tour was led by Alex, a super-personable, knowledgeable, and fun guide, who spoke perfect English. (And Spanish! He even translated so a Spanish couple could understand everything he had to share!)

Napoli Sotterranea is a must-see, even if you only have a day here. It is open every day and tours leave roughly every two hours. The entrance is located in Piazza San Gaetano, off of Via Tribunali. Tours cost 9.30 euro, a deal for such an interesting experience!!!

Around Naples Today...

Walking around today, I found some pretty interesting sights. It would be easy to walk past both without knowing it!

There is this great apartment building on via Foria (close to the Archaeological Museum), which is a true mix of architecture and art. The statue busts on either side of each window turn this rather typical building into a more interesting sight.

As for another 'interesting' sight, I came across a few eyes this evening off of Piazza Bellini. I believe they are part of a temporary exhibit, but I think they should keep them up! The colorful eyes are a nice contrast to the white building and the night sky.

The Egg Castle

So many aspects of life in Naples are bathed in legend or superstition. Castel del Ovo, literally translated the Castle of the Egg, is no exception. Frankly, the history/legend behind this site reads like a long and complicated fairy tale. There are names like Conradin of Swabia and Alphonse of Aragon and a very interesting "reason" behind the structural integrity of the castle. Let's take a look....

The history of this castle dates back to ancient Roman times and before. Way back when, this piece of land was actually an island called Megaride. It was where the Greeks supposedly first landed in the city, and later became a holiday resort/fortress for Roman leader Lucio Licino Lucullo. The isolated location also later served as a rather popular place to lock people up. Over the next few centuries, the land and existing structures were used by monks.

After the Normans conquered the city in 1140, the castle was used as the palace of King Roger. In the years to follow, many changes were made to the castle in order to make it a fortified structure with high towers and walls capable of protecting a king and his treasures.

Finally we arrive at how the castle got its current name, Castel del Ovo, around the 14th century. It may be because the castle has a vaguely egg-shaped plan. More frequently, however, the name is attributed to the famous poet and magician Virgil. According to legend, Virgil himself hid an enchanted egg somewhere in the castle to insure its future. It was believed that if the egg broke, Castel del Ovo was then doomed to destruction as well. So, if we are going by the legend, the egg is still intact somewhere in the castle to this day!

Castel del Ovo was actually used by the military up until 1975. Now, it is open to the public every day, for free. There are often very few people there, which gives it the feeling of an abandoned, fortified medieval city you could definitely get lost in. There are great views of the city and the bay from the top. (This facility also has elevators!) Just try not to break the egg when you go!!!

An Introduction to the Nardecchia Family

Trying to come up with a great pine nut recipe, I asked my mom for some help. Little did I think that in about 15 seconds, I would have a recipe and a post sent to my e-mail! (She must have been planning this...) So, without further ado, here's Joy recounting a great recipe for stuffed peppers and the first time she met my father's family.

Nardick's Grocery Store, Main Street, Fonda, NY, May 1980

I walked into an old, dark store. There weren't many groceries on the shelves and not hardly as many people as I had anticipated to be there. That was until I walked past the cash register into "il ristorante" and "la cucina." There they all were...the matriarch, Aunt Fanny, the chef, Aunt Liz, and the baby, Aunt Millie and their respective families.

The aroma was amazing. The sauce simmering on the stove, the smell of freshly baked rolls, and the heavenly aroma of Italian stuffed peppers. Here is the family recipe.

12 long green Italian frying peppers (bell peppers work fine too)

2 cups flavored breadcrumbs

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

1 cup golden raisins, plumped in water

1 1/2 cup pinoli (pine nuts)

1 can petite diced tomatoes or 1 1/2 cups fresh diced tomatoes with juice

salt, pepper

Split peppers and clean the insides. Mix the rest of the ingredients together well. (More olive oil can be added at this point if the mixture seems too dry.) Fill the pepper halves with the mixture and place in a baking dish coated in olive oil. Sprinkle with a few pieces of diced tomatoes, some more cheese and oil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Pinoli!

I had to do a bit of a double-take when I was walking past a fruit and vegetable stand the other day. Amongst the apples and the eggplants was something strange: a pine cone. Hmm, I know pine nuts come from pine cones, but I've never seen one for sale!

Well, I had to give it a try. Three euros later, I had 3 rather large pine cones. Ideally, they go into a warm oven for a few minutes until the cone starts to open. (This is where I went wrong. As a first time pine nut gatherer, I left them in for far, far too long.) Then, you have to pry it open to get the nuts out.

We're not done quite yet. After the nuts are out, they still need to be shelled! Popped out of the black shell, we have the finished product: a pine nut.

Pine nuts are known for being incredibly expensive, and I can completely understand why! They really are a pain to collect (especially if you don't know what you're doing) and there weren't any more than 20 nuts in each pine cone. Now, let me show you all the results of all my hard work.

Ta-da! That's all of them! And here I was, ready to make 2 or 3 dishes with pine nuts....

I'm still going to make them, but maybe with store-bought, ready to use pine nuts!

Snack time!!

Around 6 at night, something special happens in the Vomero neighborhood of Naples. Friggitoria Vomero is open and that means you're going to be seeing a lot of these hand-rolled paper bags around. Nestled inside is what this place does best, a mixture of freshly, expertly fried goodies. And that is the only thing they do.

There are smooth potato croquettes flecked with black pepper, crispy blocks of golden polenta, and the traditional algae fritters. Balls of rice, eggplant, spinach, all fried to perfection. Even the plain pasta cresciuta is too good to be just dough, fried. All this for less than 2 euros!

I know, fried food isn't good for you. Well, there's fried "food" and then there's fried food. This is an experience, a must. Sometimes you have to fight through the crowds, but that's a good sign. Straight from the fryer, the food goes to the marble serving counter. It's there for a few minutes at most before it is wrapped masterfully into a tight little package of good, fresh food that just happens to be fried. Can't argue with that.