I have
been following
Elizabeth Minchilli's blog for quite awhile now. It's always the
perfect site to visit when I want a virtual moment in Rome.
About
this time four years ago, I was reluctantly planning my first trip to Rome, a
city which held very little appeal for me. I assumed it was just another big
European city with little or no charm.
Mark has
been several times, and studied there for a semester in college. He was so
excited that we were going; he couldn't wait to show me his Rome, and relive
his memories. He knew I wasn't over-the-moon about it, but he was confident I
would like it.
Beyond
liking it, I loved it - more than I ever dreamed!
When I
was offered an I opportunity to review Elizabeth Minchilli's new book,
Eating Rome, I didn't even think twice. I knew her writing from a book we bought when
considering a move to Italy:
Restoring a Home in Italy.
I start
my review by saying that this book,
Eating Rome, while a guide for Rome, is an
excellent read for anyone considering their first - or fourth or tenth
– Italy trip. More important to
me than the recipes and beautiful photos is her guide to
being there, and her
advice is easily applicable to most places in Italy.
The book
contains all the basics: How and when to order coffee, and why they do it that
way. How to pay for it and
then order. Why you knock it back standing at the
counter, and don't take it to a table. And the cardinal rule: never order
cappuccino (or other dairy-laden coffee drinks) after noon.
She warns
us never to eat on the streets unless: (a) you are seated at a caff
è table; (b) you just bought a
slice of
pizza bianco; or (c) you have a gelato (cone or cup) in hand.
The book
includes what Italians eat (or don't eat) for breakfast, behavior in
trattorie,
how to stock your pantry like a Roman, and how to shop in the markets. (And why
the phrase
«Non toccare!» - Don't touch! - is important to know.)
Some of
her lessons I learned on my own, not knowing I was even learning lessons. To
me, it is instinct that when I find a
fruttivendolo (fruit and vegetable
seller) whom I like - whether in Rome or Tucson - I return daily/weekly to
forge a relationship, and would never "cheat" on her/him unless THEY
suggest I go elsewhere for something they don
’t have. It's true - in the
market and even restaurants. Mark had told me that if you return, you honor
them with your patronage, and your service and produce will only get better.
|
"Our" fruit and vegetable dealer at the Campo dei Fiori. |
It is a
fun book to read and, with every page, I am transported to my one,
all-too-short week in the Eternal City.
Okay... on to the recipes. Having discovered I love Roman cuisine, I want to make all the recipes in this book. Well, most of them anyway. There are some ingredients that will be
hard to come by in Tucson. Lamb's pluck, for instance - the lung, liver, and
heart of the lamb - will not be readily available at Trader Joe's.
As of
this post, I have already made three recipes from this book: the tagliolini al limone;
osso buco (Roman-style); and her Amor Polenta, a breakfast cake. Several
of her recipes are already in my regular repertoire of Roman pasta dishes -
spaghetti alla Carbonara,
spaghetti cacio e pepe, and
orecchiette con cima di rape. Her recipes are simple, elegantly presented, and - above all - authentic.
A note to bakers: she gives both gram and cup measures for her baked goods. I
tested both measurements and found they were not always eye-to-eye. I used my
instincts when deciding which measurement to follow.
On the
subject of pasta, Minchilli tells us she doesn't actually make her own. If she
needs fresh, she can find it in her neighborhood. Lucky her! Besides, she tells
us, most iconic Roman dishes call for dried pastas. She tells us that, for C
arbonara and
cacio e pepe, she prefers to use penne or rigatoni; my sources for traditional
Roman cuisine indicate spaghetti when making these two dishes. Really, you can use any form of pasta you like... just don't tell
Nonna!
My one
wish for the book? More photos - of the food and, of course, life in Rome. And
that just makes me want to go back all the more.
Eating Rome is a delightful, beautiful, helpful, and deliciously fresh memoir of an
expat living abroad. I finished the book feeling that I had just had gelato
with Minchilli. Maybe, someday, I will.
Eating Rome, published this month (April 2015) by St. Martin's Griffin, is available
on
Amazon. I was sent a review copy by the publisher for my honest opinion of
the book.
~ David
Elizabeth
Minchilli, Eating Rome
6
tablespoons (80 grams) unsalted butter
finely
grated zest of 2 large untreated lemons
1 pound
(500 grams) fresh tagliolini (recipe follows)
1/2 cup
heavy cream
1/4 cup
finely chopped fresh parsley
Melt
butter in a sauté pan
large enough to hold the cooked pasta. Add the lemon zest and heat for 1 minute.
Remove from the heat.
Bring a
large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook just until it is
almost done; the pasta will continue to cook as you dress it.
Place the
pan with the butter back on the heat and, using tongs, lift the pasta out of
the water and into the pan with the butter. Stir to combine and gradually add
the heavy cream, letting it thicken slightly. If it gets too thick, use a bit
of the pasta water to thin it out. Serve in heated bowls, topped with parsley.
Serves 4.
Homemade
Pasta
(my own recipe)
If you
can’t
find fresh pasta for sale, it is easy enough to make. This recipe makes enough
for 4 as a main course, and 8 as a first course. For today’s post, I made a half batch to
serve 2 or 4.
2 cups
"00" flour, plus extra as needed
4 large
eggs, at room temperature
Place
flour on the counter and make a well in the center. Crack in the eggs and,
using a fork, beat the eggs as if making scrambled eggs. Little by little, beat
in the "wall of flour" until you have a very sticky dough. At this
point, abandon the fork and use your hands to finish. Add enough of the
remaining flour to make a firm but pliable dough. Knead for several minutes,
then wrap in plastic wrap and let sit for 20-30 minutes. This resting period
allows for the gluten to develop.
When
ready to roll, cut the ball of dough into 4 pieces. You will notice that the
dough is moister after resting. Take one piece and re-wrap the others until you
are ready to use them. Flatten the piece into a squarish shape. Dust lightly
with flour. Roll the piece through the rollers of a pasta machine at its widest
setting. Fold in thirds and roll again at the same setting. Fold in half and
roll one more time at the widest setting, feeding the fold end into the rollers
first. Change the setting on the machine to one setting narrower. Roll the
pasta through. Dust with flour whenever necessary. Continue rolling, making the
setting narrower each time until you are at the second-to-last setting. Set
your strip of pasta onto a floured board. Repeat this process for the remaining
three pieces of dough.
Change to
the rollers for cutting the pasta, and cut all four pieces of dough into
tagliolini. Dust them with flour and set them on the floured counter to dry for
a few minutes. I tend to "tousle" them now and then to make sure they
aren't sticking to one another.
This
pasta cooks in about 3 minutes.
|
"Rome will remain eternally within me." (It should be rimarrai... I love typos in graffiti!) |
Labels: cookbook, Eating Rome, Elizabeth Michilli, homemade pasta, review, tagliolini al limone