Gli Antipasti

     Italian meals generally consist of four courses served in a specific order starting with L'antipasto, which literally means "before the meal". Gli antipasti consist of a variety of appetizers that can range from soups and salads to bruschetta and crostini to a number of other tasty items to wet the appetite.

     Pictured are a few favorites at L'Osteria. From the top, Panzanella, a traditional summer bread salad originating in the central regions of Italy. Like most dishes, panzanella varies from region to region, village to village. The panzanella at L'Osteria consists of day old bread, mixed vegetables, basil oil, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and is served with black celery sorbet.

     Next is the tortino cavolfiore or cauliflower tart, followed by braised baby octopus with capers,pine nuts,olives and tomatoes. Insalata Federico is the next pic, and it is one of the best summer salads I've had. Mixed greens, with mixed fruit, almonds, pine nuts, fresh mint, apple cider vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Really simple and really delicious. I probably eat two to three a week. 

     Rounding out the pics is one of the top sellers in the antipasta category and it is also pictured with the cauliflower tart. Named "Caramella", because it resembles a caramel, or a candy, it is local caciotta cheese(artisinal semi-soft farm house cheese native to Tuscany and Umbria) wrapped in puffed pastry, then baked and served with parmesan cheese fondue and black truffle sauce. The other top seller for the anti is the previously pictured eggplant parm. Buon Appetito!!!!

Missing Things

     With Lucius' birthday last week, I started to get a little home sick again. I'm truly having a blast here, but it made me think of all the things that I miss. Of course, there are the obvious things that I miss terribly, like Niki, my family and friends, Lucius and my job. But, for some reason I started to think about the little things that I miss. Things that remind me of home and of America.

     With it being slow, and me having too much time on my hands I decided to make a top five list of the little things that I have been longing for. So here goes...

     #5. THE K9 UNIT. My car. She really is a rusty heap, but I love her and I hope she is still alive when I get back. Nothing screams freedom like bombing around town with a wagon full of wet, stinky dogs. I should really buy a new one but I swore that I would drive her in to the ground and I'm going to stick to it. Unless, of course, my Mom beats me to it. 

     #4. ETHNIC FOODS(Variety of food). Don't get me wrong, the food here is amazing, but I've been having some serious cravings for some sushi, Margaritas and Mexican food, Tai food, Dinosaur BBQ, Dim Sum, Cold Stone, the list goes on. 

     #3. MY GUITAR. I seriously thought about bringing it, but I was too worried about it getting busted. I saw one in Perugia for 50 euro, but it's not a necessity and I can't spear the cash. I would have to leave it behind anyway. It's just such a great way to relax. Very therapeutic.... Be strong sir!

      #2. WEGMANS. Often times I think that Danny is a total crook and he should be locked up in one of those things in the town square so we can pelt him with rotten tomatoes. You know, those wooden things that you put your head and both hands thorough. He has got a great thing going though. If it is going there to shop, to eat, or just look around for inspiration no place beats the wonder of Wegmans. 

     #1. COLLECTING A PAY CHECK. Poverty really sucks. I don't have to worry about it too much, because everything is paid for for me and everyone is really generous here, but this is the first time in my life not being able to spend money freely and it's kind of tough to handle. I guess I'll just have to suck up and deal!

     Things that didn't quite make the list, but I still miss a lot....Lazy Sundays, gotta love em. Going to the movies. Baseball and the onset of the football season. Go Yanks!!! Go Giants!!! The Food Network, King Of The Hill, and I'm going to really miss the fall. My first one ever outside of New York.

     Back to my current world. Today at lunch, I had the sweetest, juiciest, most delicious fig that I have ever tasted, and it came fresh off the tree out back. Soooooo fantastic. You can see the sugars oozing out of the bottom. I know that there are a lot of traditional parings with figs in Italian cusine, so I can't wait to see what becomes of them. I'll try to get some good pics!! Ciao! 

      

La Porchetta

     

This week is the Sagra Della Porchetta(festival of the Porchetta) in the town of Costano, about 5 minutes from Assisi. 

     Porchetta is an artisinal preparation of a pig that is believed to have begun with the Etruscans as far back as 900 B.C. La Porchetta is a whole pig that is gutted and boned out and then stuffed with various herbs and spices and then roasted on a spit or in a special oven. The artisans who make Porchetta di Costano are known as Porchettai, and are known through out Italy. Porchetta is a tradition practiced mainly in central Italy, primarally in Umbria and The Marche, but can also be found in Tuscany and Lazio, with Porchetta di Costano being among the most famous.

     I was pretty excited when Chef asked if we all wanted to go to the festival because I have been hearing about La Porchetta di Costano since culinary school. It actually plays a roll in how I got here. Chef Tonelli actually met Chef Barbanera while making a documentary about La Porchetta for the CIA. Chef Barbanera is from Costano and he was acting a a guide for Chef Tonelli in the making of the video. 

     La Porchetta varies from village to village. The tequnique is the same, but the herbs and spices are different. Normally served cold in a sandwich, or tepid by it self,Porchetta di Costano is heavy on the fennel, which I love, and had great depth of flavor!!!! Yes!! Deepness!!! Finally got to use the term!!! But it's true. It really had an outstanding flavor. I was not the least bit disappointed. 

     I normally don't like to put pics of myself on the blog, but I thought this one was cool. It looks like I am superimposed, or I just telaported in from eating a sandwich some place else or something.   

La Sagra Della Lumaca

          This weekend we picked up a last minute catering event in Spoleto. Leaving the restaurant, the only information I had was how many people, and what we were serving. I had no idea that I was going to be surrounded by swarming motorcycles, go-carts, classic cars and Ferraris for two days.

     My thoughts immediately went to my brother who is the car enthusiast in the family.  Among all of the old Fiats, Alfa Romeos, Ferraris, and motorcycles, there was one lone American representative...a 1970 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. I mean, after all you can't really have a car show without some good old fashioned American muscle.

     On Saturday, go-carts and classic motorcycles raced around a closed off section of the city for a couple of hours followed by a couple of laps made by the classic cars. Sunday was all about the Ferraris. Super cool. I've never seen so many in one place. Classics all the way up to last years limited edition model.

     There were signs all over town saying "La Sagra Della Lumaca" (The Festival of the Snail) After thinking about it for a bit I thought that it was a type of joke to call it the festival of the snail and then have all of these fast cars and bikes zooming around. I mentioned this to Spera who informed me that that was another unrelated festival that takes place every year where they cook and eat snails and slugs. I'm kind of sad that I missed out because even though I have eaten snails before, and they were not my favorite thing in the world, it is always interesting to see the local festivals, and you never know, maybe this time I would love them(I have some texture issues)

     The food went over well. It was really a lot more like a picnic. Really casual and really easy.  

...And In Unrelated News...

     Today is Lucius' birthday!!!!!! Lucius was born 7 years ago today, I can't believe it! This is the first birthday that I have missed, and I miss him tons, so if you see him wish him a good one and give him a hug for me. Ciao!

The Realness

          I will never forget the first time that I tasted the realness. I was working at the Park Avenue Cafe and it was a component on one of our app specials. I remember tasting it and thinking, wow, now I see what all the fuss is about. It really opened my eyes to the importance of quality ingredients. I am speaking of course about Mozzarella di Bufala, or Buffalo Mozzarella.

     Buffalo Mozzarella is a fresh, unripened cheese made from the milk of water buffalos which were first introduced into Italy from Asia in the 7th century. It is a very flavorful, slightly tangy, slightly salty amazing cheese made primarily in the Campania region and mainly in Salerno and Casserta. The cheese is Denominazione D'Origine Protetta which means it is made under strict rules and regulations which allow it to be called Mozzarella di Bufala.

     When first made, the cheese has a slightly firmer texture. If it is allowed to sit in the whey that it is packed in for a couple of days it's texture takes on new qualities. Three distinct layers form. The first being a slightly stringy skin that forms as an outer layer. Under that there is a thin creamy layer that forms, followed by the internal layer which makes up the majority of the cheese. Juicy and truly outstanding.

     In the U.S. we are more familiar with Fiordilatte, or mozzarella made from cows milk. In my humble opinion, there is no comparison. Fresh mozz from cows milk is pretty flavorless and the texture is really lacking. I know that Buffalo Mozz is available in the states and even though it is a bit pricey, if you see it, I highly recommend snatching some up so you can at least try it once. It's worth it. 

     All is well here. It has been super slow and hot as blazes!!!! It has been so hot that full bottles of top quality extra virgin  olive oil have been exploding. The first time it happened, it was really cool because I was looking right at the bottle when it exploded. We were working out side for a wedding and I was staring at this bottle of oil while cleaning my station and it burst all over! At first I thought that I did it with my mind and I was like "Yes!! Yes!! I knew it!!I knew it all along!! I knew I had the power!!!" But of course Chef dashed my hopes by telling me that this happens from time to time when it gets really hot. What a let down.

    The next couple of times weren't so cool. They happened while they were in the cupboard, indoors, during service. No fun at all. I was just working away when I heard a loud pop followed by a cascade of oil from out of the cupboard all over the station and all in the mise en place. What a mess. Luckily the cupboard door was closed or else I would have taken shrapnel to the face. If we were busy it could have been a disaster, but fortunately things were slow so we were able to recover with out effecting service. 

     I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer. Thanks so much to everyone for all of the encouraging emails. Ciao!

    I just read through this and realized that many people may not know what mise en place is. It is a french term meaning literally "put in place", but in kitchen talk it refers to everything for my station. My salt and pepper, my diced zucchini and tomatoes my julienned carrots and so on and so forth. There is also a broader meaning involving mental preparedness, but there is no need to get into that now. Ciao ancora!!!

Oh yeah, the food.

                Yes, of course, the food, the whole reason that I'm here. I have had a number of people asking me why don't I write about the food more, and they are right, I should be writing more about the food. I don't know if it is because I feel slightly intimidated or I was waiting to have a better understanding on the subject before I dove into writing about it. In any case, here goes. 

    The food at L'Osteria is for the most part really great, straight forward Umbrian/Italian cuisine. I say for the most part because many of the dishes are very traditional and deliciously rustic, while others are classics that Chef has reinvented in his style. They are more complex and contemporary. Everything is great. I can honestly say that I haven't eaten anything that I didn't like.

      This is a broad topic so for starters I am just going to scratch the surface. Pictured is Chef's take on eggplant parm. Perfect little individually packaged eggplant parms baked to order. In the center is fresh basil, buffalo mozzarella, Grana Padano cheese and tomato coulis, and then the two sauces are tomato coulis, and basil oil. Deepness! Great, great flavor.

     The other pics are of the near by sunflower fields from a couple of weeks ago. So beautiful. The one with the buildings is the background is just across the street from the restaurant, and the others are from the fields near my apartment. Those were crazy!! Yellow as far as you could see. They are all past peek now, but it was great while it lasted.

     Gotta get ready for work. Ciao tutti, a dopo!!!