THE HOLY GRAIL
Food. It was 99% of our souvenirs as we traveled between Los Angeles and Florence. Indeed, we filled our suitcases. And filled them again and again.
The holy grail of Italian baking is 00 flour. It’s super fine and airy and, if possible, more refined than American pastry flour. But oh the lightness of being in the cookies and tarts. It is the flour of choice for pizza, though some prefer 0 flour. My palate is not so refined as to recognize the difference between those two … so it was bags of 00 flour we brought back.
People wondered why we schlepped flour that was available at the Italian market in Burbank. A one-kilo bag was $2.50 … but the same bag in Italy was 40 cents. Salt was an incredible bargain. One kilo of Mediterranean sea salt was only 11 cents. I could have packaged and sold eight 4-ounce decorative jars at a gourmet price, still keeping some for myself, and had a new business. The salt has now gone up to 17 cents …
And, of course, we brought back cheese … big block of cheese day. Parmigiano aged 24 months, 30 months … even grano for days when fromage ordinarie would suffice. And pecorino. Some from the grocery store, others from a dairy where we went with Roberto and Giovanna in the local hills … sampling the lactic love in a room overlooking the pasture where the sheep graze.
Then there was the olive oil. Our record is four 5-liter cans. Two from our favorite Sportoletti (in Umbria) … one from Liguria … another from a small place near Gardone Riviera. The oils from Tuscany and Puglia were available in Los Angeles, so we considered ourselves exclusive importers of less well-known brands. Drizzled on grilled bread or roast cauliflower, they became a staple of our Tuscan table when friends came to dinner.
The leavening preferred by many Italians is Paneangeli, so it became my preferred leavening, too. I was disappointed that it left a metallic taste when I used the amount recommended on the little green packets, so I cut the amount in half for a more pleasing result. I also found it rather temperamental … needing to be added at the very last moment of mixing and then rushed into a preheated oven, but I thought that was part of the Italian housewife experience.
Citron and candied orange peel. Large slices, supple and moist … so important to get the classic flavor to the Siena’s Christmas cookie cavallucci or its honey-and-nut filled panforte. The orange peel is the secret ingredient in Roman ricotta desserts, just like nonna used to make.
Some cans of San Marzano tomatoes, though the cans made it too heavy, even for us (apparently, there IS a point when one reaches “lugging”). Sardines, anchovies, capers in salt, Sicilian dried oregano … and once we had our house, dried sage from our garden.
Balsamic vinegar. Stores had shelves of various ages, bottles small and smaller, including, but not limited to (oh my, did that just pop out of my brain?) the Fini brand that I’ve been buying from Williams-Sonoma for decades … at a price Chuck wouldn’t want me to reveal.
I even ignored my no-honey-because-if-the-jar-breaks-it-will-be-a-huge-mess rule when I saw lemon honey. Well wrapped in two layers of plastic and socks, it arrived safely. A bottle of vinegar broke.
Truffle oil.
Meat products were forbidden, even vacuum sealed, so we didn’t consider that category. Good thing, otherwise we probably would have wanted to bring back a whole leg of prosciutto. I was told that the rule was recently changed, but I searched last year when a friend was here. Rather than prohibited, I found the language ambiguous. One paragraph says it’s ok if the product is well-aged … another page says it’s up to the discretion of the inspector … then a few sentences later, if the inspector is in a good mood (ok, I’m kidding about that). My friend ate the salumi in Italy, so we still have no definitive answer.
Yes, yes, yes, we brought back wine and limoncello, undoubtedly a few bottles over the limit, but we declared it to the customs man. When we decided to make our own limoncello, we brought back Amaro di Capo, a nicely bitter digestivo from Calabria. David had an ingenious method … we brought California pinot noir from Ken Brown and Littorai and SeaSmoke, still packed in the original cartons, to our wine cellar… then he used that packing to bring back brunello and barolo.
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To our new house, we brought cooking equipment … curtains … a curtain rod … flannel sheets (surprisingly hard to find here, despite the fact that Tuscany actually has a winter with fog and rain and temperatures cold enough for snow) … clothes and more clothes … a large litter box … golf clubs … an inflatable raft to use on the nearby lake, along with a pump, paddles and life jackets.
I see you shaking your heads. We were crazy. We had the luxury or curse of having upgraded tickets … and Delta allowed business class travelers three 70 lb. bags. Each. So this is the visual: six 70-lb. bags … me with Carrara as one of my carry-ons and a rollie … David with two carry-ons. We would arrive at LAX, and barely in the terminal, David was already vowing, swearing, cursing to never, ever again pack so much stuff. But like all pain, we somehow didn’t remember the schlepping. The arrival terminal at Fiumicino in Rome has two small and slow elevators, always with a queue, and a stairway up to the level where they have inconveniently placed the rental car offices … then a looong walk to those desks. Once we got to our vehicle, with jigsaw puzzle-like precision, David would wedge 8 … eight … suitcases, into a small car. Often upgraded. If I offered a suggestion or placed a bag randomly, he would say he’d strap me to the roof. Carrara in her sherpa carrier sat, throne-like, in the back seat with a view to the front and side. Other airports were more friendly to travel-weary passengers, but the wrestling with the rental car was always a fun part of the arrival process. And you can imagine the enthusiasm of the Super Shuttle driver upon our return home … and our mood to deal with his attitude after flying 12-plus hours.
But each bite, sitting at home in Los Angeles after a day of traffic and work and errands, took our taste buds back to Italy.
FETTUCCINE WITH RADICCHIO AND GORGONZOLA
2–3 bunches radicchio, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, sliced
¼–½ cup red wine
6 oz. gorgonzola, in pieces
1/2 lb. fettuccine (or other ribbon-shaped egg pasta)
- In a frying pan large enough to hold the pasta, saute the radicchio in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste
- When it has wilted, add the garlic …stir until the garlic is lightly browned, then add the wine. Most of it will evaporate, which is fine; use some of the fettuccine cooking water if the sauce needs extra liquid.
- Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine in salted water until barely al dente … be sure to reserve some of the pasta water before draining into a colander.
- Add the fettuccine to the radicchio, and toss thoroughly … then add the gorgonzola. Toss until the gorgonzola has melted and the well blended, adding some of the pasta water, if necessary, to keep the pasta moist and creamy.
- Serve.
Enjoy!
LEEK AND CREAM CHEESE SPREAD
1 large or 2 smaller leeks, including some of the green tops, chopped
10 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
- Saute the leeks in olive oil until lightly browned, adding salt and pepper to taste. Let cool slightly.
- Mix in the cream cheese until well blended.
- Serving suggestions: on crusty bread or focaccia … with lox/smoked salmon … by rolling up a dollop or two in slice of cooked ham … melting into a baked potato … or double the recipe and toss with penne.
Enjoy!
