FOOD

FOOD

We don't mean restaurants here, but a few of our favorite foods on the trip, which you might not try if we didn't nudge you, and which you will most certainly plan to serve when you get back.

Because various cuts of meats, even the meats themselves, may have different names in different provinces, you'll need a good menu book. There are thin purse-size paperbacks just with menu items. Use one; don't depend on the waiter. We almost passed up a marvelous warm breast of guinea hen salad because our helpful host thought the proper translation was "pigeon." (By the way, if you didn't know this, squab is actually pigeon, but raised domestically, not snatched from cathedral tops.)

Remember, the main rule is this:

TRY EVERYTHING!

VEAL STEAK ON MASHED POTATOES
The veal is pounded very thin, cooked on a grill about twenty seconds per side, then placed on mashed potatoes with what tasted like a bordelaise sauce on top. (Russ' note: the 20 seconds sounds extreme, but if the beef is about one-quarter inch thick, cooking it any longer will toughen it.)

CRITICAL NOTE: Don't eat beef south of Florence -- a silly rule perhaps -- but even very expensive beef in Rome and elsewhere can be very chewy. Tuscan steaks are a specialty.

YOU GENERALLY WON'T FIND CHICKEN ON THE MENU
We were puzzled by this during our first trip; it's because it's such a common part of eating in the home, that Italians don't go to restaurants to eat it. This situation is changing slightly as more Americans ask for it and KFC destroys palates.

WILD BOAR PASTA
Tournedos of wild boar (a cross in flavor between beef and pork, not a wild taste) are grilled, then cut up in a wide, flat pasta, a fettuccine or similar, with butter and a hint of cream.

You'll find wild boar for yourself at www.pheasant.com.

SMOKED DUCK SALAD OR PASTA
The smoked (or cured) duck has a strong, almost ham-like flavor, so a little goes a long way. We prefer it warmed slightly in a salad of aromatic greens and herbs, such as Joel Robuchon's famous one, with a sharp dressing. If you want recipes, you'll find almost 900 recipes for duck alone (and almost 6,000 for salad dressings) at the marvelous www.fooddownunder.com.

You'll find smoked duck at www.smokedfoods.com and other fine websites.

ANCHOVIES
Not the salty canned stuff you get in the states, but a wonderful, lightly marinated anchovy found all along the coasts. In the States, you'll find them at such stores as Whole Foods (from Spain) under the name Boquerones. About $1.50 an ounce, but you don't need many to dress up a salad. Russ prefers them on a plate with a hard crust bread, a local wine of one's choice, and either silence or waves breaking on a shore; but he's weird.

FISH SOUP
We believe no paella, no bouillabaisse, no concoction of oceanic pleasures with or without vegetables -- and we've had them everywhere -- can touch the Fish Soup at Da Gemma in Amalfi. We made the drive from Positano down the coast just for that dish, and it was worth it. We're still trying to figure out the recipe, but if you can get FRESH (not frozen) firm flesh white fish (2 or 3 varieties), langoustini (not lobster), scampi, octopus and squid, try cooking them in a bit of butter and (pick an herb - we're still trying to figure it out) and water for longer than you'd think, but not so long as you usually do. Serve in the pan over a warming flame with bread to soak up the juice. In Italy, try the fish soups everywhere along the coasts, and let us know where the best are.
LATER NOTE: Go to the web; search on Cioppino recipes; select one with the most elegant directions and OMIT THE TOMATOES.
(Russ' note: I give up. Now that I've been to Da Gemma and had the soup twice, I understand my failures to reduplicate it - I've been searching for the specific ingredients I had that first time. If you like this sort of thing, go to your favorite fish market (if you're lucky enough to live somewhere such as Boston or New York or Seattle that boasts such establishments) or your favorite upscale market and just get a 'bunch' of the freshest stuff, as follows: shellfish, octopus and/or squid, whitefish, langoustine (almost never available) or small lobster. Don't get frozen of anything, or farm-raised; it's mushy. If you can't get a single lobster at one pound, it's acceptable to use frozen claw meat - the frozen tails are too chewy - but don't add it until the last 30 seconds of cooking.

WHITE TRUFFLES AND PASTA
Here is how it must be done if you are to have the wonderful flavor of this expensive delicacy. ($150+ per oz., or two truffles) [OOPS! - times have changed since this was first written in 2000. Two truffles last November (2005) cost $350 total, for 1 1/2 oz. Aaargh. November 2008 - ONE truffle cost $350!!!]]

Do not simply slice them on top of pasta. Do not use oil in the pasta. Do this:
  Because you won't be able to make homemade thin enough, use the best quality dried cappelini
    or spaghetti you can find. (Never use the dairy case stuff - Italians don't.)
    Put hot water in individual pasta bowls and set aside.
    Heat some butter (not too much).
    Grate some Parmesan (not too much).
    Slice the truffles VERY THINLY and divide evenly at side of bowls.
        (Figure two people per decent sized truffle, or 1/2 ounce.)[NOTE: At these prices, it's worth your
         buying (probably on the Internet if you don't have a Sur La Table near you) a real truffle slicer
         which you can dial to see-through dimensions. A thicker truffle doesn't have more flavor than
        a thin one - 3 skinny slices are much more flavorful, and add more to the pasta, than a thick slice.)
    The instant pasta is done, drain it, return it to pot, and toss with the butter and cheese.
    Empty bowls of hot water and wipe dry; divide pasta into them, and place truffles on top.
    MIX TRUFFLES AND PASTA WELL, BURYING TRUFFLES UNDERNEATH.
    PLACE A PLATE ON TOP OF EACH BOWL AND LET INGREDIENTS BLEND FOR ONE MINUTE. TRUFFLE AROMA WILL INFUSE THE PASTA
    SERVE. TAKE THANKS. TAKE CONTRIBUTIONS.

Some day you will e-mail us to say how superb this was.

Side note: Thanks to Camponeschi, maybe the best restaurant in Rome, for our experience with truffles served this way. For those in the Los Angeles area, the restaurant routinely rated best of the Italian restaurants in L.A., located in Santa Monica, does not know how to serve truffles. They just slice them on top. This is a waste of your money and a sign they need to revisit Rome to learn how to cook. A restaurant should be more than an overpriced wine list and self-conscious ambience.

(Don't buy truffles online unless you have no other way to get them. You want to be sure the truffles are fresh; they'll smell divine. If they're dry and crumbly or have little odor, run away. And don't buy truffle oil. It's not truffle oil; it's an oil with synthetic truffle flavoring.)

(And remember to keep your truffles wrapped in paper towel in rice. We used to say that a truffle could be stored for a week or more this way, but in 2005 an entire truffle turned to mush, and life has not been the same. Buy your truffles for use within a couple of days. And save that rice; it will be wonderful, especially in risotto.)

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