mbfant's Profile
What Are Your Most and Least Favorite Pasta Shapes?
Thanks. You may be sure I'll shout it from the rooftops, but first I have to finish the manuscript. (aargh)
Zuckerberg and Roman tipping culture
A 15% tip, or even higher, is not appropriate in Rome, but some cash on the table is always appropriate. Restaurants are not allowed to put through credit card charges for an amount different from the total of the receipt, which is why the tip needs to be in cash.
I agree that it's outrageous to publish somebody's receipt.
What Are Your Most and Least Favorite Pasta Shapes?
@huiray
yes, c'est moi. Oretta and I are finishing the manuscript of a new book on pasta, a cookbook this time, in English but not a translation, so the question of what shapes people like is of great interest. I can't help feeling that those who don't like fettuccine might feel differently if they took the trouble to spell it properly. Who knows what they're eating? Clearly there are people who like a sturdy pasta and others who like something more slippery and comforting. Personally I prefer smooth to ridges, but not in a major way. And some of the comments suggest to me that people are judging a format unfairly because they have not bought a good brand. Properly made, cooked, and sauced pasta should not feel slimy. But this thread confirms what Oretta says: tradition is the most important factor, and much is highly subjective.
What Are Your Most and Least Favorite Pasta Shapes?
"I've got your book on the trattorias of Florence, Venice and Rome. It proved invaluable on our second honeymoon, which we spent in Venice. Alas, we spied no cazzetti d'angelo, nor pisarei, let alone falloni, in the Veneto."
I'm delighted the book, out of print now, was useful. Those shapes are rare to nonexistent in restaurants except possibly very particular neo-trattorias that go to some trouble to research and prepare obscure but traditional foods.
What Are Your Most and Least Favorite Pasta Shapes?
Not to be prudish, but for the record, the pasta names I listed are genuine traditional shapes not even remotely as graphic as the illustration arktos has so kindly provided. Those vulgarities are sold only in tourist shops. There is a long tradition of naming foods after naughty bits. And, for that matter, naughty bits after food. I actually wrote a semischolarly paper on this a few years ago (Italian food names, not just naughty bits).
What Are Your Most and Least Favorite Pasta Shapes?
There is a pastina (for soup) called cazzetti d'angelo ("angels' weenies"), also known as pisarei ("baby penises") and, at the other extreme, falloni ("big phalluses"). On the distaff side, there are fregnacce.
This was meant to be a reply to arktos, but it didn't post that way, not an introduction of the topic out of the blue!
Rome report 3 days/nights
Delighted you liked Nerone. The young guy is Teo, the Romanian waiter. The owner is Eugenio De Santis -- you can tell because he does all the bills. The lady in the kitchen is his sister (they look exactly alike to me), generally considered a champion carbonara maker. The father, who used to always be around somewhere, recently celebrated his 100th birthday.
back in town help me choose
If I have to rate them, the order would be: Pipero first, then Metamorfosi, All'Oro, each by a nose, and La Gensola far behind. My last dinner at All'Oro was slightly disappointing, not for the food, which was good as ever, but for the service. It wasn't rude or anything. Technically it was fine, but we were in the hands of a young waiter and got no attention from the "adults," while on previous visits we felt more welcome. But the last time my nice Italian husband wasn't with me, and I went with two American gents, visitors from New York.
Train from Rome to Naples - What about lunch?
I agree with Mimì alla Ferrovia, but would worry about the luggage. I'd love to know what people suggest.
back in town help me choose
It's spelled Metamorfosi, and it's newish, but not as new as Pipero (chef of Metamorfosi was at Pipero's old place). Metamorfosi and Pipero are the fanciest of your group. All'Oro is a good compromise between seriously good food and youngish ambience (but still serious). La Gensola is a whole different category -- way more casual and usually bustling (euphemism for: I hate to go there in the evening). Depending on where your guests fall on the foodie scale, it is probably the best ambience for college students, unless they don't like fish.
your favorite food movie..
Best food scene in a masterpiece of a nonfood movie: Big Deal on Madonna Street (I soliti ignoti). Will say no more.
Also Tom Jones.
and
It's Complicated
Eat Drink Man Woman
Babette
I am probably the only person in the world who was irked by Big Night, despite the great actors. The brothers' Italian accents were really American, thus lost credibility. And, given their purism, that timpano and the seafoodless seafood risotto were unlikely to come out of the same kitchen.
Kraft "real Parmesan cheese"
Thank you. So the bottom line is that in the US "parmesan" can mean anything, and we still don't know who is keeping the green box in business.
Taking Food From Italy into the US (Customs?)
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/prohibited_restricted.xml#MeatsLivestockandPoultry
Don't take our word for anything. Go online and get the official rules. In any case, no meat, no fresh produce, no fresh cheeses. Have other cheeses vacuum packed. Olive oil is fine. Spices, vinegars, and packaged foods in general are OK.
Whether you carry or pack is between you and your luggage. Except for the liquid issue, it makes no difference to the airlines or customs.
Kraft "real Parmesan cheese"
@ cheesemaestro
Thanks. That's just what I wanted to know. They can call anything Parmesan in the US ("real" or not), while in Europe Parmesan is parmigiano-reggiano.
I am curious (up to a point) about what kind of cheese (they call it cheese and not "cheese product," don't they?) goes into the green can and with what kind of cynicism it can be called "Parmesan" and indeed who buys it. Is parmigiano-reggiano available in US supermarkets? grated parmigiano-reggiano?
And a moment of silence for the 300,000 forms of parmigiano-reggiano that fell down when their storage structures were destroyed in the recent earthquake in northern Italy.
Souvenirs from Spain and Sicily.. how to enjoy?
If you don't like "fish that tastes fishy," you might not like bottarga, but I always think it tastes like the sea rather than like fish. However, it is a distinctly marine taste. I wouldn't say it makes the pasta creamy. It has a sort of waxy consistency when sliced thin, but it's usually grated on pasta. It is usual to combine it with olive oil rather than butter.
Best of What is in Season in Early July?
Scampi are langoustines, which most, or at least many, Americans are familiar with. They also go by many other names, including Norwegian lobsters and Dublin Bay prawns, but langoustine seems to do it these days. If you just say "scampi", most Americans will think of the Italian-American dish "shrimp scampi."
Kraft "real Parmesan cheese"
I can't believe that at this stage of my life I'm wondering what's in the green box (which the Kraft website calls "iconic"! I'd have thought notorious, but never mind). However, I have just been writing something about parmigiano-reggiano terminology and came up against the English word "Parmesan."
Italians used to use the term, in English, derisively, to indicate the international imitations of parmigiano-reggiano, but the European Commission approved the term as a translation of parmigiano. And so, in the European Union, Parmesan is parmigiano-reggiano DOP.
But the European Commission cuts no ice, I'm sure, with the green boxers, or anyone outside the European Union, so the question remains: what is in the green box? what do they mean by "real Parmesan cheese"? (I have no illusions that it is imported from Italy!)
A solution for too noisy?
Wouldnt it be nice if restaurants published the average decibel level along with the opening hours and dress code?
Best of What is in Season in Early July?
Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini. Lots of fruit. Great melons. Green beans, including a kind that is as long as spaghetti. Fresh shelling beans. Pappa al pomodoro, Tuscan tomato and bread soup. Panzanella, bread and tomato salad. If you go to a decent place and there is wild boar on the menu, I certainly wouldnt hesitate to order it. The best wild boar to eat is from the young animals, not the big specimens hunters bring home in the fall.
Vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Rome
Unless you're vegan, I really wouldn't worry at all. A quick Q-and-A (does this contain meat or meat broth?) doesn't get you into the sphere of special treatment. But don't worry too much about special treatment. Asking questions and making requests, if done in a spirit of curiosity and interest, is a good way to get everybody interested in your dinner, and you will eat better. This is sometimes hard for Anglos, who don't want to be a bother, to accept, but trust me.
There are plenty of cheeses, salads, and vegetables at every sort of restaurant, and even a seafood place can whip you up a veg pasta, and you shouldn't hesitate to ask.
Souvenirs from Spain and Sicily.. how to enjoy?
To no. 5, I would say yes, that is the right idea, but have you ever had it alongside fresh beans (borlotti or cannellini) dressed with sliced sweet red onion, red white vinegar, best extra virgin olive oil, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper? Ventresca is too dellicate and precious for pasta sauce and should be eaten as is.
No. 2 is right too except don't forget the extra virgin olive oil, lots.
Rome - Museo-Atelier Canova Tadolini
I haven't been in quite a few years, but the place is beautiful and it's nice for a rather retro change of pace. As a destination I see it more as a girlfriend place. Otherwise, it's good for stopping in during shopping. There's a bar downstairs that seemed to have nice sandwiches and pastries, restaurant upstairs with some un-Italian dishes, but I forget what. Sorry not to have more details, but I did like it. Oddly, had forgotten its existence until a couple of days ago when I thought about it (have not seen the articles).
Carbonara with peas
I'm going to guess you didnt use a very good brand of pasta. The better pastas are extremely absorbent and if you toss the pasta in the bowl quite a few times (having previously heated the bowl so the pasta doesnt get cold) and let it sit a minute before serving, you will see a lot less liquid in the bottom of the bowl that you started with. I find it hard to believe your draining skills are so wanting. I hope you didnt bother with adding wine, which has no place in carbonara, even variant carbonaras.
Rome: 5 nights with a toddler and a vegetarian
Of your Friday choices, I vote Vino e Camino, and Saturday Pipero.
Sunday, Perilli is roomier than Campana. Piperno is more formal than either. Felice is rather cramped. Flavio (which I don't actually like, but admit I'm a minority) has a garden off the street, so it might be a good bet, not that I want to encourage small children to move freely around during other people's lunch.
Rome: 5 nights with a toddler and a vegetarian
Vegetarian menus don't exist outside vegetarian restaurants, but that doesn't mean a restaurant is unable to create one on request. Often they will ask if you'd like them to create a tasting menu on the spot and they'll ask you what you don't eat. I'm suggesting calling ahead. Yes, of course tasting menus are high-end, but the OP is talking about a special occasion.
Artichoke Omelette from Sostanza in Florence
I'm curious to know whether you are consulting Italian-language or English-language recipes. I've just been looking at Italian YouTubes and they all use a plate or lid to turn the frittata. Some slide it onto the plate, while others (inexplicably) flip it over so that the raw side is in contact with the plate, but so far I haven't seen anyone put it in the oven.
Artichoke Omelette from Sostanza in Florence
The only reason to finish a frittata in the oven is if you are using so many eggs that it would collapse under its own weight if you tried to get it out of the pan to turn it. The normal way to cook a frittata is to slide it out of the pan onto a plate or lid, invert the pan over it, and flip it over. It has always seemed ridiculous to me to heat an oven or broiler to cook side B. "Il Talismano della Felicità " offers the oven as an alternative, but the preferred method is what I said, or else a double pan.
