Thursday, January 15, 2009

Ups and Downs of the Sicilian Table




As most of you know, I love to cook. One of my big fantasies when I thought about moving to italy was that I'd meet some tiny hundred year old woman who would want to teach me everything she knew about Sicilian cooking. She wouldn't know English and I wouldn't know Italian but we'd be able to communicate through the universal and magical language of food.


This hasn't happened yet.


In the meantime when I go to the Italian grocery store I try to come home with something that I've never cooked before. Last week it was artichokes. "Cariciofi" are in season right now. I know what is in season based on what people are selling out of the back of their trucks as I'm driving home from work. In the fall it was cauliflower, which for some reason is purple here. Then around Christmas the food was replaced with poinsettias. They're called Stella Natale, or Christmas Star, which I like a lot better than the name "poinsettia". Along with the stella natale the vendors would be roasting chestnuts. Now it is oranges and artichokes. I've never made artichokes before; the only way I've eaten them is artichoke hearts out of a can in salads, dips, pizzas, etc. Eric has had whole artichokes before and assures me that they are very tasty. I also have a memory of my mom making these for a fancy grown-up dinner party 20 or so years ago. Anyways, I'm not afraid of these pointy vegetables. I find a recipe online for stuffed artichokes involving lots of garlic, breadcrumbs, cheese, white wine, parsley, and a few other things that all sound delicious. I get to work. A couple hours later I present the plate pictured above to my adoring husband. I couldn't believe how good they smelled and how beautiful they looked. I don't usually photograph my food, but it looked so nice that I couldn't resist. Eric instructed me on how to use my teeth to extract the artichoke flesh from the leaves and I tore into my gorgeous creation. As we started picking them apart, all my hopes were dashed. They were terrible! I don't understand how something that looks like an artichoke and smells like an artichoke can have no actual edible artichoke within.

Luckily, I didn't throw my Calphalon cookware into the sea that night. This week I decided to try something a little more in my "range"- Spaghetti alla Carbonara. This is on many of the ristorante menus here in Aci Trezza. I'm familiar with it b/c one of the main staples of my college years were Lean Cuisine dinners, and one of my favorites was Linguine Carbonara. Of course, this sodium-filled concoction is nothing like getting the real thing here in Italy. I decided to learn how to make it. Turns out, it is so simple I bet my brother Glenn could even pull it off! Well, maybe not Glenn, but Greg or Steve could handle it for sure. I made it once for just Eric and I, and then another time for company. You should try it!

In a large pan on med-hi heat cook 3/4 C pancetta, cut into 1/2" cubes, until it is browned and getting crispy. Pancetta is the italian equivalent of american bacon, except it is usually cut up into small chunks and tastes smokier than bacon. I could never find pancetta in the states, but as I've said in other posts, my grocery store has an aisle where they've virtually dissected a pig (see above), so everything porcine is abundant. You could substitute pancetta with thick-cut bacon. Back to the recipe- after the bacon is browned, remove it from the pan onto a paper towel. Into the drippings, add a finely chopped onion and saute until translucent and soft. In the meantime, add 1 pound spaghetti to boiling heavily salted water. In a bowl, beat 3 large eggs. Add a good amount of freshly ground black pepper. I don't know exactly how much, just grind until you say to yourself "boy, that's a lot of pepper". Now add 1 cup grated parmesan cheese and 1 cup grated provelone cheese to the egg mix. (traditionalists would say to use romano or another hard parmesan-like cheese, but I think the provelone makes the sauce creamier). By now your pasta should be al-dente and your onion should be cooked. Add the bacon back to the pan and turn off the heat. Drain the pasta and add to the onion/bacon. (I actually suggest using tongs and directly transferring the pasta from the water to the pan) Pour the egg mixture over the pasta and mix everything together. The heat from the pasta instantly cooks the egg & cheese mixture into an unbelievably smooth and creamy sauce, the bacon adds some smokiness and the pepper gives a nice kick. Now just sprinkle with some chopped italian parsley and serve. Enjoy!

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