Anyone that knows me knows how obsessed I can be about getting information. Hey, what can I say, I’m a do it yourselfer with an addiction for answers. This is especially true when it comes to wine. There’s just so much to know, that sometimes I have trouble drawing the line between beverage and obsession. Ask my wife, she’ll tell you!

I’m not one to just walk the line, or drink the grape flavored Kool-Aid as they say. I want to know why things are the way they are. If someone tells me that I need to lay a bottle down for a few years before drinking, I want to know why. When a waiter hands me the cork at a restaurant, what’s that all about? These are things I want to know.

So, on a recent trip to Italy, you can imagine how frustrated I was when I realized that I truly knew nothing about the world of wine. Don’t get me wrong; I knew all about the grapes, the growing regions, and how the wine was made, etc. But what I was truly clueless about was the global culture of it all and how differently wine is perceived in other parts of the world.

In Italy, for example, wine is an everyday phenomenon. It’s ingrained in the culture. At local events and festivals they erect portable wine bars. Not because it’s a “wine event”, but because it’s an event. Wine is sold in ice cream shops and coffee bars. It’s everywhere. Grandparents drink it. Young adults drink it. Even kids drink it. There’s no level of knowledge that has to be reached before you’re deemed worthy enough to truly appreciate wine.

This open approach to wine is unlike many “new world” countries (areas outside the traditional wine-growing areas of Europe) with shorter wine histories, where we have a tendency to overanalyze wine instead of just enjoying it. On this point, I’m  as guilty as the next person. Everything I thought I knew about wine came from the bottle or glass, magazines or books. But for many people around the world, including those in Italy, wine is a lifestyle, a cultural constant passed down for generations.

So, I invite you to join me as I start over in order to gain a more global appreciation for fermented grape juice. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and learn about wine from scratch.

* Marcus Pape has worked in media and design for over 10 years with an extensive background in all forms of visual communication. As a proclaimed vinophile Marcus hopes to leverage his abilities to inspire interest in wine, recently launching WineCHATr.com – an online resource for the growing wine community, where both popular wine bloggers and businesses come together to connect and share information on wine.

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Categories:	wine	3 Comments
Tags:	Italian • Italy • new world • old world • wine

As a restaurateur, the ambiance and experience your guest will have in your restaurant is just as important as the food they will eat. Often months of research and development take place before a restaurant opens while the owners, chefs and management search for the right look, feel and taste to define what their new venture will be. Instead of trying to replicate that slow-cooked tomato sauce that tastes authentically like an Italian grandmother’s secret recipe, one restaurant owner decided to go straight to the source. According to the New York Daily News, Joe Scaravella of Enoteca Maria Italian restaurant on Staten Island has hired eight Italian-born grandmothers to  cook truly authentic Italian cuisine every night. Each of the women rotate cooking for the 35-seat restaurant and since each of the women come from different parts of Italy, regional dishes can vary from night to night. One woman was quoted saying that she’s happy to cook what she wants and how she wants, her husband is spoiled and doesn’t appreciate what she does, at Enoteca Maria, people clap in appreciation at the end of the night.

If you can’t get to Staten Island any time soon, you can attempt to create your own Italian style dishes- here are some standouts from Foodista for inspiration.

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Categories:	Restaurants	Leave a Comment
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My Aunt Dolores always makes this wonderful pasta salad for her barbecues and I’m adding it to my repertoire this summer as well. It doesn’t really have a name, so I’ll call it Mediterranean Pasta Salad, as it contains a lot of the yummy goodness from that region: Kalamata olives, Roma tomatoes, fresh basil, Balsamic vinegar… It’s slightly different each time, depending on what ingredients you happen to have around. The shape of the pasta can change too, though it’s best to use a variety that can “hold” the dressing otherwise it will dry out too quickly.

In this case, I happened to have some nice broccoli flourets on hand, some lovely ripe tomatoes, fresh tarragon, and a beautiful red onion. For the dressing, mix in a bit of aioli (mayonnaise can be used) to coat but not drench the noodles. This will give it a nice creaminess. Then add Balsamic vinegar, some sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, and mix well. Adjust to your personal tastes: if you want it creamier, add more aioli; richer, add more Balsamic. Toss in a bit of extra virgin olive oil before serving for added flavor.

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Categories:	Italian • Mediterranean • Salads • Sauces	Leave a Comment
Tags:	Italian • Mediterranean • pasta salad • salad • side dishes

We tasted this creamy little delight the other evening at the Rising Stars event and I can’t seem to get it out of my head. It was prepared by McCaw Hall’s restaurant SAVOR, which wasn’t even part of the awards, but to me this dish was a winner.

Asparagus Panna Cotta.

It was served with fresh asparagus ribbons that were lightly dressed with a champagne, shallot and Dijon vinaigrette; an interesting flavorful hollandaise and tapioca maltodextrin powder; then topped with a crisp delicious square of housemade Guanciale bacon.

Mmm, mmm!

Kelly Gaddis, Executive Chef at SAVOR and creator of this divine dish, was kind enough to send me the recipe, which I am sharing with you all. You will love it!

What a lovely thing to serve for a spring brunch. It’s already on my Easter menu.

Click here for the recipe:

A traditional Panna Cotta recipe:

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Categories:	Italian • Veggies	1 Comment
Tags:	asparagus • asparagus panna cotta • brunch • Italian • panna cotta • vegetables

For such an amazingly good dish it has such a pessimistic name: malfatti. In Italian, malfatti translates to “bad made.” That doesn’t sound very promising, does it? Kind of like the outstanding hazelnut meringue cookies we had the other night at Spinasse called “Brutti ma Buoni” (ugly but good). If I were a food, such as a malfatto, I don’t think I’d be too happy to have either “bad” or “ugly” in my name, considering how I’d be so divinely delicious.

Contrary to their name, these little malfatti were about the prettiest little things ever – so much so that I think we should rename them belfatti (pretty made). Unlike gnocchi, their dumpling cousin, malfatti are more “roughly” made: hand-rolled, then crudely cut without much thought to uniformity or perfection. But that’s precisely what makes them so lovely – their provincial form and handmade taste.

Because they’re made mostly with ricotta and contain no flour (other than the flour used to roll them in) they result in light and airy pillows, a feat not so easily achieved in gnocchi making. In fact, if you’ve ever made gnocchi you’ll find that more times than not they turn out more dense than you’d like, and you have to concentrate fiercely on the task at hand, making sure to not overwork the dough. Malfatti, on the other hand, are easy to make and hard to ruin. You can actually do other things as you gingerly roll and cut, like sing along to the opera piping out of your Bose and take sips of your Super Tuscan.

Malfatti
I jotted this recipe down in haste one day and forgot to write the name of the magazine from which I got it, but I’m fairly certain it was from the December 08 issue of La Cucina Italiana.

1 cup cooked, well-drained, chopped spinach
1 ½ cups Ricotta cheese
1 cup Italian-seasoned bread crumbs or panko
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
¼ cup minced scallions
1 tablespoon basil, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
½ teaspoon salt
Flour
4 tablespoons butter
Approximately 10 sage leaves

Drain cooked spinach and squeeze out extra liquid until very dry. Combine with all ingredients, except flour. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Bring pot half full of salted water to a simmer. Drop spinach cheese mixture by tablespoons into flour and roll each lightly into long logs. Cut into 1.5 inch dumplings.

Drop dumplings into the gently simmering water. When they rise to the top, remove with a slotted spoon (approximately 3 to 5 minutes).

In a saucepan, heat butter and sage leaves until both are browned and sage leaves are crisp.  Spoon butter over malfatti and top with the crisp sage leaves. If preferred, top with more Parmesan cheese.

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Categories:	Cheese • Cooking tips • Italian • Pasta & Grains	11 Comments
Tags:	Food • foodista • Italian • malfatti • pasta

I discovered limoncello years ago in Italy and have been hooked ever since. But I’d never heard of Limoni di Sicilia, a lemon liqueur made by Averna, an old well-known Italian brand. The kind folks at Averna recently sent me a box of their wonderful libations and I’ve been sipping Limoni’s lovely nectar almost nightly.

At first I thought Limoni was just limoncello rebranded. But, no, there are differences, especially in the distillation. Limoni is distilled from the juice of Sicilian lemons, making it a more pure lemon digestivo. Limoncello, on the other hand, is made from the peels of lemons that are infused in grain alcohol. Limoncello is often a bright lemony yellow, whereas Limoni has a softer paler shade. It’s as if the former is the outgoing one at the party, while the latter smiles demurely and speaks with a sultry whisper. Both are sweet, citrusy and delicious over ice. The thing I love about Limoni, however, are its beautiful floral notes and pure, clean lemon flavor.

It goes down a little too easily…

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Categories:	Uncategorized	3 Comments
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Photo: James.Whisker

Every day as we walked to school in Siena, Italy we passed the big panforte factory. We could smell the delicious confection baking and it was intoxicating. Back then I didn’t appreciate this dense and chewy cake but it’s now something I look forward to during the holidays.

Panforte dates back to at least the Middle Ages, some believe back even further, and originated in Siena (or at least Tuscany). It literally translates to “strong bread,” referring to its piquant flavor. Being so densely packed with dried fruit, nuts, spices, and honey I’m sure the Crusaders referred to it as their energy bar.

Many regard Siena as the panforte capital of Italy. While there are various recipes for panforte most Senese believe it should contain seventeen ingredients to represent the seventeen contrade (subdivisions) of the walled city (my beloved contrada was the Istrice, or the crested porcupine!).

If you’re making panforte follow the traditional Italian way by baking it in small 4-inch disks. Wrap it in wax paper, then brown butcher paper. Tie it with string and, if you want to get really fancy, seal it with red embossed wax. Che bella! A little slice is perfect in the morning with a cup of cappuccino, or after a meal with a nice glass of vin santo.

Panforte
Adapted from Chef Gina DePalma

Nonstick cooking spray, for pan
3 cups whole blanched almonds
1 3/4 cups whole hazelnuts, skinned or unskinned
2 cups diced candied orange peel
6 ounces dried apricots, diced
5 ounces dried figs, diced
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups honey
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees with a rack set in the center of the oven. Generously spray a 9-by-2-inch heavy-bottomed, nonstick round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with a parchment paper circle, spray parchment paper circle with cooking spray. Coat bottom and sides of pan with flour, tapping out excess.

Using a sharp knife, roughly chop almonds and hazelnuts and place in a large, wide bowl, along with orange peel, apricots, and figs; toss to combine.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, cocoa powder, salt, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper. Add to bowl of nuts and fruit and toss until well combined.

Place sugar, honey, and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook mixture until it reaches 217 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove pan from heat and quickly pour sugar mixture into nut mixture. Using a heatproof spatula, stir until well combined. Transfer mixture to prepared cake pan, smoothing surface with a spatula.

Transfer cake pan to oven and bake until entire surface is bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer cake to wire rack and let cool completely. Wrap well with parchment paper, and then again with plastic wrap. Store in a cool, dry place up to 3 weeks.

To serve, dust the panforte with confectioners’ sugar and cut into thin wedges with a sharp knife.
For more on the history of panforte check out Siena’s Panforte: A Christmas Delight.

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Categories:	Baked Goods • Fruit • Herbs • Holiday • Italian • Nuts • Seasoning & Spices • desserts	6 Comments
Tags:	baking • Christmas • Food • foodista • holiday baking • Italian • Italy • panforte • siena

I know it seems strange to be sharing a chicken recipe with you the day before Thanksgiving, but I just couldn’t resist. It’s that good. Technically I suppose you could use turkey instead of chicken, but today let’s just stick with the chicken.

In this dish the chicken is cooked smothered in red cabbage. By the time the chicken has finished cooking the cabbage has broken down into a sweet, dense sauce. We served it over polenta and it was heaven.

Chicken Fricassee With Red Cabbage
Adapted from Essentials of Italian Cooking

1 cup onion sliced very thin
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
4 cups red cabbage, shredded fine (about 1 pound)
3-4 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup dry red wine
Fresh ground black pepper
Salt to taste

Put the sliced onion, 1/4 oil, and the garlic in a sauté pan and cook over medium heat until the garlic turns a deep gold. Add the cabbage, sprinkle with salt, and stir thoroughly until well coated. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cover. Cook cabbage for about 40 minutes, turning occasionally, until it becomes tender and has reduced.

Wash the chicken pieces and pat dry. In a separate pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Once oil is heated add chicken skin side down. Once browned, turn to brown the other side. Transfer all pieces, except for the breasts, to the cabbage pan. Turn the chicken over in the pan with the cabbage, add the wine and pepper. Place the lid on the pan, leaving it slightly askew to allow steam to escape, and continue cooking at a slow simmer. Turn the chicken occasionally, sprinkling once more with salt. After 40 minutes ad the breasts. Cook for about 15 minutes until tender and the meat comes easily off the bone.

Transfer everything to a warm platter and serve immediately.

Serves 4

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Categories:	Meat & Poultry • Veggies	2 Comments
Tags:	cabbage • chicken • chicken fricassee • Italian • Marcella Hazan • polenta • red cabbage

I know I’ve talked to you about polenta before, and specifically an exotic mushroom polenta, but before you ask me to apologize for what appears to be blatant redundancy let me just explain that this recipe, although similar, is actually quite different. You see, the last one was firm and grilled, and yes, quite tasty if I do say so myself. But this one…oh! this one is soft and creamy goodness.

If the angels above had a charming little café this would surely be a standard on their menu.

Creamy Porcini Polenta

1 cup polenta
4 cups water
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup porcini mushrooms (dried or fresh)
1/2 cup heavy cream (or until desired consistency)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or more to taste)
salt to taste
In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, season water with salt and bring to a boil. Quickly whisk in the polenta until fully incorporated.

Lower the heat to a simmer, add the butter and porcini and allow the polenta to cook, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes. Finish by stirring in the cream and Parmesan cheese. If necessary, add salt to taste.

Yields about 8 side servings (or 4 if you really like polenta).

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Categories:	Italian	6 Comments
Tags:	corn meal • cornmeal • cream • Food • foodista • Italian • mushroom • parmesan • polenta • porcini • side dish

Everyone has their own tastes, politically and culinarily. Some like it sweet, some like it salty. Lots of meat or veggies only.

The beauty of pizza is that it can be a little bit of everything for everyone. The vegetarians can have their corner, the carnivores another. Anchovies can rule the salty roost of one quadrant, and olives can hail from the other. But it’s all piled on top of the same sauce.

And together it works.

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Tags:	election day pizza • Food • foodista • Italian • Pizza • political pizza