Pasta Fresca - Fresh Pasta

I had to return to Jesi in early May for a few days to finish some school admin business. I also visited one of the many very nice people I have come to know there.

In Jesi, there is an open air market every morning, with numerous stalls selling, well, everything - to cook, eat. The fruits and veggies are fresh, so are the meats, and the seafood is, in some cases, still flipping. If you need a break while shopping, you can get coffee and pastries. And don't be surprised if you run into someone you know.

This is Paola Ruzzo. Her shop sells salumi, cheese, and she also sells her own fresh pasta. I've come to know her because whenever I would visit between days at school, we would chat about food, and she would give me samples of things to taste. One day, I bought a chunk of bread and some lettuce from another stand, some salumi and cheese from Paola, and she put the sandwich together for me.

The little room behind her is where she makes pasta.

Here are videos on making pasta by hand:



Here is a sheet of pasta ready to be cut:

And here is the sheet of pasta being cut into tagliatelli:



Once all is said and done, you have wonderful fresh pasta which, together with your equally wonderful ragu, makes for one of life's greatest pleasures.

Near the Finish Line....

Wow!!! Five months have and gone.

Upcoming will be the last week for me at Al Vedel. That went by fast.

I can honestly say that I learned tons, and on many levels. But at the same time, I can also see that this same amount is a mere dr0p in a huge bucket that comprises the grand cooking traditions of Italy.

The restaurant closes 6 July. I'm sure we'll have some semi-big celebration, and then everyone will go on vacation for about a month. Why don't we in USA-land do vacations like this? My vacation will be as a tourist - I will visit Lake Garda, Liguria, several towns in Tuscany, and finally Rome. Come early August, I will be a Californian again.

Whew!!!

And I will be able to play Fetch once again with my dog on the beach...

Lo Storione

Storione is the Italian name for sturgeon. I think that, served in a smaller portioning, this would be a great appetizer in the U.S.

Chef Matteo has been selling this dish like crazy. It is a study of various contrasts: lean and rich, soft and crunchy. The lean is the storione - cut into large cubes and sauteed in a very hot pan to get that crusty caramelization. The rich is foie gras, also cubed large and beautifully caramelized. The crunchy is a refreshing salad of julienned celery and carrots, dressed simply with olive oil, salt and pepper. All these are nestled atop a pea sauce - peas cooked in bacon or pancetta fat with a pinch of salt and sugar, which are then pureed. Whole peas finish the decoration.

Rich, and yet light - you'll come away feeling comfortable and refreshed.

Progress Report from Al Vedel....

It occurred to me a few days ago that I have been preparing a vast majority of the fresh pasta at Al Vedel, from simple to filled pastas. I feel pretty proud of this....

Little ol' me, an American making and serving fresh pasta to Italians, in their own country. A few months ago, if you were to tell me I'd be doing what I'm doing now, I would have looked at you funny....

Over one stretch of two weekends I must have made around 2500 pieces of the various filled pastas we serve, mostly Tortelli Erbetta. This includes a day where I made over 1000 pieces...

Where is my massage therapist when I need one????

Chocolate Gelato!!!!!!

Beware!!!!

It's Gelato Season!!!!

Gelato is not merely ice cream. Nooooooo. It is much more than that. It is a conspiracy. It is cruel. In fact, I cannot think of many more diversionary tortures in Life than this.

Gelato is devious. It has telepathic powers. It can, and will, control you. It works like this: Imagine yourself walking somewhere, perhaps for a hair appointment, perhaps home. Suddenly, you are abruptly yanked by your ear into the gelateria, and a cup of your favorite gelato appears in one hand. Inexplicably, the other hand moves to place a morsel of this gelato on your tongue. You feel powerless. No. You are powerless. Paralyzed.

You are levitated to another dimension that you cannot touch or hear. It seems that you can perceive the world (as you know it) around you, but just the same, it seems very far away. At this moment, it is just you, and that gelato. You are compelled to consume it. You find that you actually enjoy its company. Then, suddenly, inexorably:

It is just you, and your gelato. There is nothing else.

And it is at this moment that the gelato has you, not the other way around, as most people would believe.

I've had quite a number of these moments while here in Italy, and unfortunately for me, I don't regret any of them. Some of my best out-of-body gelato experiences have been in Jesi, where there is a small bar that produces some of the best gelato in all of Italy.

But I digress. Take heed and be warned: Gelato is actually a experimental vehicle for an extraterrestrial being that is looking to take over the earth. This is fact, and yet you see untold numbers of humans being consumed by gelato.

We must be vigilant!!!

OK - all kidding aside - my latest ritual on my days off are this: on my way back to my bus stop, I stop in at my favorite gelateria, and then ooze my way to said bus stop in sheer bliss over silky smooth choco gelato....

Go Sharks!!!!

The only regret I have about this escapade to Italy is that I am missing telecasts of the hockey season. And with the NHL playoffs underway, I am gnashing my teeth in agony - my only source of hockey is online sports news updates. And what's more, it's not just hockey - it's Playoff Hockey!!! I so miss the excitement of watching...

Sigh....

Can someone please send me game videos???? Pleazzzzze????????!!!!!!!

And now for the shameless plug: Gotta love those San Jose Sharks!!! Congratulations on the conquest of the Calgary Flames, and now on to battle the Dallas Stars! Oh, Yeah!!!

My team is looking pretty darn good right now.....

Go Sharks!!!

Testaroli: Italian for pancakes....

We North Americans love our pancakes. Light, fluffy, and resplendent with butter and maple syrup (or whatever else we love on them...) - there are few finer ways to start a day.

But the Italians have them, too, little do we know. And they use them a little differently.

A food item from the region of Lunigiana, in what is now Tuscany, right next to Liguria, Testaroli are amongst the many examples of how humble ingredients such as flour and water are transformed into food that satisfies.

And how humble this is - just two parts flour to three parts water and a pinch of salt, mixed together to form a thick batter. The secret to leavening the testaroli is to have a large, thick pan heated very, very hot. Cast iron would be pretty ideal here. The steam from the heat will be the leavening. Starting from the center of the pan, pour the batter in a spiral fashion to form a large pancake. From there, proceed with the cooking as per pancakes.

Once removed from the pan, let it rest a few minutes, then cut it into two-inch squares. Toss with a sauce, and it is done.

Per Lunigiana tradition, you can use pesto, or an asparagus cream, or simply butter and parmigiano. We use a simple lamb ragu for the sauce. And just like fine pasta, the testaroli are finished with a handful of grated parmigiano reggiano.

...My Front Door...

It looks as if I live in a barn, and it might as well be one - it is big enough for a flock of barnyard animals. But instead, there "lives" the salumi - culatelli, salami, etc. - that are doing their time, going through the inescapable aging process. Once mature, they will move to the grand aging cellar adjacent to the restaurant.

But no, I don't live here. There are stairs that lead up to an upstairs apartment.

Relatively sparse by North American standards, this place that is my home for the next few months is still comfortable just the same. It even has a small deck, which I will be using come warmer weather. There are two rooms, both very spacious, and lucky me, I have my own room all to myself. Since I am the only occupant, I am a pretty happy guy.

To get to work, all I do is exit, turn left, and walk about 150 meters (or so). No car, no hassles with traffic and parking...

Life is pretty simple right now...

We get to work at 0900 (most of the time in a beary-eyed zombie state), prep until 1100 or 1115, at which point we eat lunch, and talk/laugh about whatever topics de jour happen to evolve. At 1200, lunch service commences, and when the last order goes, we clean up and resume prep work until 1700/1730 (that's 5 pm to 530 pm to the rest of the world).

At this point, I'm usually pretty tired, so all I do is go home and crash. I can't actually fall asleep, because I'm wired from work, but lying down and closing the eyes still still feels really good. At 1800 (6 pm), I go back to the restaurant and get dinner, and then return home. Dinner service begins at 1930, and we work until 2300, sometimes a little longer.

Alas, I ease myself one final time through that barn door. Home at last, I unwind and await that first big inescapable yawn that beckons the visit to Dreamworld...