Memory and Recipe from Calabria: Orange rice cake

I had just turned 18, it was an age before Facebook and Twitter, and for the first time in my life I was allowed to go on holiday alone. With a bunch of friends we decided to travel all the way down to South of Italy. Starting from my home town, Turin, we planned to follow the West coast and reach the far end of the booted shaped peninsula in Calabria. We had a month, a car, tents, sleeping bags and very little money.

Needless to say that the journey went down in the annals of our personal history. We saw breath taking landscapes, we slept outdoors on the beach, we got lost in the countryside of Latium. After around 20 days we reached the wild land of Calabria, one of the least industrialised areas of Italy. We camped in an olive grove near the town of Tropea, with the volcanic island Stromboli in front of us. The nature was wild and beautiful as our young age.

Insalata Russa – Russian salad the Italian way

The end of the winter chill is almost here. Spring is in the air, nature awakens from her long winter sleep, and birds keep me company again with their early morning twittering. And in celebration of Spring time, we hosted a Ма́сленица (Maslenitsa), the Russian Sun celebration, which takes place just before Lent. Of course, food was at the core of the party with lots of Russian dishes, such as blinis (Russian pancakes), round and yellow like the Sun, and pelmeni (Russian dumplings) – all served with a generous serving of Vodka.

Cook From Scratch Challenge: Leek Risotto

This is an experiment, apparently a simple one. On Monday, I’ll be taking part in the From Scratch Challenge. This is a week-long event, during which I’ll be eating just my own meals cooked from scratch. If I fancy an orange juice, I’ll squeeze oranges , I’ll bake my own bread for my sandwich instead of buying them from my local shop, I’ll bake my own biscuits for breakfast.  However, how to manage a full time job – which takes almost three quarters of my daily life, considering commuting and extra hours – a social life, a partner and many hobbies with cooking from scratch?

What’s wrong with pre-washed lettuce, tinned soups, Domino pizzas or a family pack of fish fingers, one may object? Firstly, industrially processed food is unhealthy. Then, as we know all about the latest apps for our latest i-something, I think it’s a bit of a shame that most of us don’t know how to make bread, for example. And, I also think that it’s boring. Imagine a world where every thing had the same ”Mac” taste, no room for imagination, or surprising flavours combination. Is that what we want? Once more, I think food is a mirror through which understand ourselves  and the world we live in. 

Now, I’ll stop boring you with snobby city-dweller talks. It’s time for action. I need to get organised for the challenge. I may even loose few pounds in weight and save some in my pocket. Wish me good luck. In the meantime, let’s start with an easy Italian classic, of course from scratch: Leek risotto.

‘TIS THE SEASON FOR REAL FOOD: CACIOCAVALLO

I am packing my case to go home for the holidays - a big fat Italian Christmas is awaiting me. Not sure about the menu yet, but I know there will be  a lot of talking about the recent political developments, governments cuts and the latest scandals.  I’ll make sure to bring back lots of stories,  recipes, facts and opinions  to share with you all on my return. I hope you too will have a great time, rediscovering the joy of slow cooking and real food.

And, if you like real cheese and want to add an Italian twist to your Christmas dinner, caciocavallo! From the Locride area of Calabria, one of the many little hidden treasures of  Southern of Italy.

The Locride is an area of Calabria stretching from the Ionian coast—the “Jasmine Riviera”—inland towards the Aspromonte national park, home to a wealth of Mediterranean flora and fauna. Among the narrow, picturesque valleys of the Calabrian Apennines, the small villages that have survived the waves of emigration and urbanization are still dedicated to agriculture, protecting the region’s rich biodiversity and ancient food traditions. One of the most ancient of these traditions is the production of Caciocavallo cheese.

The Tree of Wooden Clogs and authentic polenta recipe

A friend of mine is sitting on the sofa with a funny paper hat on her head while another one, wearing a giant clown-style bow tie, is busy chatting holding a whisky & coke in his hand. We spent a whole Saturday afternoon making paper decorations and fancy hats while it would have been much cheaper and quicker to buy them. The point is, however, that it wouldn’t have been quite the same. I feel we are missing authenticity in our pre-cooked and pre-assembled world. Making things ourselves, baking a cake – who doesn’t love the smell of a cake baking in the oven- or growing your vegetables in a pea-sized allotment in the hearth of London, all this kind of things giveus more satisfaction than splashing our hard-earned money in mass produced products.