For those of you on your way here. the new oil is on the market! My friends arrived with 4 plastic bags with tops that they use for camping to carry oil home!
All the local mesticheria's( our local houseware stores) will also sell plastic gas-can type container's too. My other friends buy 4 cans of oil, about 20 liters and when they arrive at the hotel the night before they leave, they transfer the oil into the plastic containers and take them as extra luggage..... Of course we also have Fed Ex and Mailbox Etc now and shops in the Central Market in Florence can ship. My veggie guy Stefano Conti has web site for food from his stand The new oil just came in so it isn't listed yet but you can write to him and let him know what you want. Shipping is expensive, but look at the price differences in the REAL traditional balsamic vinegar and some of the other treasures and it may be worth it to shop online.
Judy Divina Cucina Florence Everyone should try being Italian at least once a day!!
I have friends in Sonoma who grow olives and have been at their winery when the oil is very fresh. Its amazing. I also have tasted fresh oil at a frantoia in Marin County that had been pressed the day before. It isreally a different animal than oil that has been in the bottle for a time. Thiscker, richer, more aromatic.
A friend in Castellina with a winery and a sott'olio olive mill tells me that the highlight of his year is standing at the machine as the first oil drips out. They hold bread over the drip pan and take the first few drops and share it. I would love to be there to try it!
If life is an opera by Puccini... I want to be Calaf!
Posts: 4612 | Location: Casa del Fenicottero Rosa, Silver Spring, MD USA | Registered: 06 August 2002
I did take some students once and we participated in the crush, encouraged by the man running the frantoio ( olive oil mill) we all tried the NEW oil.. almost gagged.. they all laughed. It is a really burning sensation, quite a kick. but what they all do is since you spend hours there. You bring a loaf of bread, some wine and wait.. the one I have been to in Panzano has a small fireplace to keep warm while waiting and to toast the bread for Fettunta.
Toast the bread cut about one finger thick... Cut a clove of garlic in half widthwise and rub the cut side gently on the bread, you will feel it melt into the bread. Drizzle ( ok, an Italian drizzle is a pour to most) Sprinkle with salt and take a bite! You are in Italy.
then you can do other versions, such as topping it off with some cooked white beans and their broth... in a soup bowl. Or in January after the first frost, with Cavolo Nero a black leaved cabbage!
I love fall and winter here.
Judy Divina Cucina Florence Everyone should try being Italian at least once a day!!
Dean - we started picking our olives yesterday. Come on back and we'll go taste the new oil together next week.
Judy gave a perfect description of what the frantoio is like - even down to the fireplace in the corner of every frantoio we've seen. It's is delightful to see the finished oil as it comes out of the centrifuge and begins pouring. The peppery taste of new oil is one of life's great taste sensations.
We grow Cavolo Nero in our garden. Is there an American equivalant?
It's a kale.. I haven't seen it in america, but there are some fun chards that work too! here is site for buying seeds
It is called Dinosaur Kale or Lacinto. Enjoy! It is the in the market now and is a MUST for Tuscan Minestrone, which then becomes the famous Ribollita when it is reboiled. This is also blesses with a generous pouring of olive oil on top before eating as is the Pappa al Pomodoro Soups on!
Judy Divina Cucina Florence Everyone should try being Italian at least once a day!!
[This message was edited by Diva on October 31, 2002 at 11:22 AM.]
[This message was edited by Diva on October 31, 2002 at 11:24 AM.]
[This message was edited by Diva on October 31, 2002 at 11:27 AM.]
We (Whole Foods Market) carry the dinosaur kale this time of year. Its a bit smaller, more curly and less intensely flavored than the real Cavalo Nero. When we stayed at Residenza Il Carmine last week, we bought cavalo nero, bietola (I think) which would translate as beet greens but seems to be more chard like, celery and zucchini along with parsley, basil and a dollop of olive oil from San Donato to make a huge pot of minnestrone. The second day it became ribollita with the addition of left over bread and some more basil. Next we added some fresh porcini from the Mercato Centrale (the stand right at the top of the stairs seemed to have the best porcini) and made a zuppa di funghi out of it. We actually had to leave behind about a third of the soup as we ran out of days and didn't think it would pack well in our luggage . We would up with the basis of 4 meals from about $5.oo worth of vegetables (and $5.00 worth of porcini) and maybe a bucks worth of bread. I feel that earns my stripes as a honorary Toscanne at least!
If life is an opera by Puccini... I want to be Calaf!
Posts: 4612 | Location: Casa del Fenicottero Rosa, Silver Spring, MD USA | Registered: 06 August 2002
I am a devoted patron of the Whole Foods Market in Santa Fe. You can usually find several types of kale there. Kale is an excellent food (and is a standard green in the Macrobiotic diet). Wash it, boil it in salted water for 20 minutes. Tastes good and is good for you. Same with Collards and Mustard Greens.
My only complaint about Whole Foods is that they favor vegetables from large organic suppliers. We have many organic farmers in New Mexico. But we have a small, locally owned Natural Foods store (The Marketplace) where I usually buy my vegetables because they sell for all the local farmers, plus we have a weekly Farmer's Market.
The Olive Bar at the Whole Foods is as good as the one in Dean & Delucca in NYC. Incredible selection of olives from Italy, Greece, France - and you can sample for free (and I do!).
If you decide to do some food shopping while in NYC I suggest that you skip Dean and Deluca and Balducci's. Rather go to DePalo's on Grand Street for the best Italian cheeses. Lou De Palo imports several kinds of Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy, but ask him for a test of the "Red Cow" Parmigiano Reggiano. He will be happy to have you taste any number of his cheeses and salumi His prices are good. The other place I would urge you to visit it Buon Italia in the Chelsea Market at 9th Ave and 16th St. You will find a outstanding selection of wonderful olive oils from many Regions in Italy. Yesterday I bought a beautiful bottle of olive oil from Asciano. It is the deep green color oil that one sees in Tuscany. There are also imported artisnal pastas there. Look for the Setaro brand, which is produced outside of Naples. This is truly outstanding pasta.
Don't forget the farmers' market in Union Square!
Peter
Posts: 1366 | Location: Essex Fells, NJ and Longboat Key, Florida | Registered: 21 July 2002
Thanks Peter! We spend a week a month in NYC for a year and stayed at a small hotel near Union Square. I loved that location and walked through the market many times.
I am going to add those stores you mention to our NYC page - so I won't forget to go there. PAULINE POST
Its a very different variety of chard, lighter leaf structure, much smaller stem, much sweeter and complex structure from the chard available here. Thanks for the info.
If life is an opera by Puccini... I want to be Calaf!
Posts: 4612 | Location: Casa del Fenicottero Rosa, Silver Spring, MD USA | Registered: 06 August 2002
The Setaro pasta is fabulous, one of the best I have had in ages! Look for pasta from Gragnano, it is from Naples and there is a local coop, that produces for others too. I have tried the "Verace" and loved it too. I prefer the thick bucatini, spaghetti with a hole in it.. Hard wheat pasta, extruded through bronze and then dried slowly. It takes longer to cook, but fills you up more so you eat less and are getting a great full flavor from the pasta itself!
Judy Divina Cucina Florence Everyone should try being Italian at least once a day!!
Topic Closed
. We would up with the basis of 4 meals from about $5.oo worth of vegetables (and $5.00 worth of porcini) and maybe a bucks worth of bread. I feel that earns my stripes as a honorary Toscanne at least!
) -- it was confusing last time.
