blogfromafar

You too can be a food stylist! Local Karen Watts did this one, and we can learn from her:

I spoke with a New Yorker recently, who was very disappointed in what seemed to be the lack of ethnic diversity in Dallas. Upon one occasion, she asked someone what her ethnic background was and the reply actually came back: Southern Baptist! A followup question and some probing ensued with the same response: Southern Baptist!

The conversation stayed with me, mostly because when people ask us here about our Italian roots, we reply we have none! Not our grandparents, great- grandparents, great-grrrreat….. Nancy’s are all from the US, until you get back a couple of hundred years, and then you have a veritable kennel of great-greats coming in from all over the place. So when you ask us where our family is from, we’re likely to say….here! Our country has swung the pendulum from being a D.A.R-loving, WASP insiders club of a nation to one that celebrates authentic, ethnic roots.

And all that’s good: except for the balance thing. Somewhere in the middle a grandmother from the old country in East Texas is just as interesting and intruiging as one who braved the trip overseas.

The best thing? Vicenzo Labella told us a secret once: Italy is the mother land you get to adopt. More of a grandmother land, it’s a little less observant and more accepting. As honorary grandchildren, we can all use a little of that.

Our new Sicilian chocolate from Bonajuto (click here for their website and a wonderful story) is different than most European-style chocolates. It is made in the traditions of Spain and Mexico/Central America, is rougher, and more full of flavor. Instead of downing an entire bar in one bite, you bite off a little, and let it droop on your tongue, releasing flavor and texture bit by bit.

We visited Sicily last fall, and will have more to share on the Bonajuto family and their chocolate. For example, the young owner visits Central America where the Chocolate is made and found that the harvesters of the cocoa beans had never had a chocolate bar.

More on that later, but pictured above is another way to enjoy chocolate: grated over meat. We reported last week that it’s wonderful over beef, and are extending the 15% off offer another week so that you can try this at home: Saute thinly sliced beef or pork in Marta’s new 2007 Olive Oil from Puglia (normally $20.99) and grate Bonajuto’s Chocolate with Sea Salt (normally $6.99) on top as pictured above. Just bring in the coupon below or come in the store and say the magic keywords “Hot Chocolate!”

In Sicily, it’s possible to have an entire meal flavored by chocolate. In Texas, it’s possible to try this at home. A local chef at the Fancy Food Show this week gave us the following recipe. We’re trying it this week, and you can too. Here’s what you do:.

• Slice a lean cut of beef thinly.
• Saute in new, pungent oil like Marta’s Novello, which caramelizes the beef as it cooks.
• Grate chunks of Bonajuto chocolate with salt on top.
• Magnifico! A little egdy cuisine here at home.

We all do it: search for that Italian cafe experience back home. Sometimes it works, sometimes….well, not. While at the Fancy Food Show in San Diego, we tried a couple of haunts in nearby La Jolla and were surprised and what we found. If you go….

We started with Piatti, and loved the neighborhood feel right away. We started with a Prosecco, then Gary loved the orichiette with chicken, sundried tomatoes, and gorgonzola nestled in. I munched on the romaine lettuce wrapped in prosciutto and grilled, which I’ll be trying here at home. It was fun, and perfect, but it’s part of an American chain, so our hearts yearned for…

L’Osteria Romantica. It just seemed more “authentic”. We’d met Mateo the barman who gave us loads of insider information on Florence dining, and we loved the fact that the wait staff seemed to speak in Italian on break. But when it came to actually dining there, we were so sad! The service, delivered by an “authentic” Italian was slam-bam, the food, with the exception of Nancy’s baked eggplant, was indifferent to bad. For example, they tried to pass off not even a risotto rice mix, but something along the Uncle Ben’s line as “Risotto Milanese” and the Osso Buco, while good, was surrounded by a bevy of lukewarm veggies. The lesson: don’t judge a restaurant by it’s Mateo, and give even chain restaurants a chance!

The Fancy Food Show, America’s largest gathering of specialty food producers, offers up a microcosm of today’s world, with Italian foods in booths nestled right up alongside Aloe Vera juice from Korea and candied pansies. And what’s the best are the stories; everyone’s got ‘em, mostly about the heritage of the owners, their grandparents, maybe their trip across the ocean to make a better life here. And in these days with the winds of recession snapping in the breeze, and a little bit of maybe healthy self-doubt about what is right with America, those stories and the food that brings them alive are, well…. priceless.

Italians keep the Christmas celebration going by a visit from La Befana (translates “Epiphany”) on the 12th day after Christmas (January 6 this year). Legend has it that an old woman named La Befana received a visit from the Three Wise Men asking directions on their search for the Star in the East. La Befana was “too busy” to join them, but later thought the better of this and now spends her time searching for the Wise Men, giving goodies and coal to deserving children along the way.Lessons Learned: 1) Don’t miss the magic in every day and 2) Wise Men Ask Directions!

There’s nothing like a New Year for a little dose of mortality; the sense of a good year past and anticipation of the year to come. A new day breaks, and we’re more aware of time changing and passing quickly. We pause to consider the changes just beyond the horizon. A spare January spreads out before us, bereft of tinsel and garland; there’s enough room now to fill with purpose and direction.

Here at Flavors From Afar we wish you the warmest of New Years, with plenty of big sky to build a dream on.

Nancy and Gary Krabill