Buffalo Day at Doney

Last Sunday I was lucky enough to have inside knowledge of the special buffalo-themed brunch at Doney Restaurant.

Part of the range

Their supplier of buffalo mozzarella, La Perla del Mediterraneo, would   be there to make the cheese live in the restaurant itself!

With buffalo mozzarella being one of my top 3 favourite foods, I really couldn’t miss it, so I braved the near 40°C Rome summer heat, dressed up and took off in my dusty car. Pity I couldn’t persuade anyone to come with me, albeit at very short notice.

James in toque, with the staff of the caseificio

A word on the company: La Perla del Mediterraneo (Capaccio, Paestum) was created by two brothers with a passion for buffalos. One in raising them, one in making the divine cheesy products. They have even patented, together with the Federico II University of Naples, a system to make lactose-free buffalo mozzarella and buffalo milk products. LPDM produces all things buffalo, even down to Bufalato (buffalo gelato) and buffalo ricotta tarts, all in house, all in the same plant. Buffalo yoghurt, kefir, ricotta and cream cheese become almost slightly obvious results.
 

1-The curds

 Needless to say I was more interested in watching, taking pictures and 

 eating the still warm cheese, and comparing it with the one brought in  

 fresh that morning, than in tasting the rest of the offerings.

2-Breaking the curds

 This was made even easier by the  dishy green-eyed cheese-maker,     who adeptly broke the curds...

3-Adding hot water at 75°C

...stirred them in hot water and spun a white blanket out of them, before forming it into balls, plaits and dainty knots. 

4-Stirring the curds results in this

5-Pulling the 'pasta filata'

6-Shaping the balls

7-Shaping MY plait

At the end of the proceedings I was presented with a 2 kilo plait of mozzarella, especially made for me (I can’t say James didn’t have something to do with it!)

8-Floating goodness

Bufalato Nocciola e gianduja

The Hazelnut Bufalato with Gianduja swirl was divine. The mozzarella luscious. The ricotta unctuous and creamy, but also very light. 

Due to the summer Sunday and everyone being at the seaside, the event will be repeated in October. And I 'll be sure not to miss it!

My new website!

My website is finally on the Net-waves..... Check it out! and give me (positive) feedback!

www.lalunanelpiatto.com

Hope to post something new soon...

San Teodoro Market, Rome

San Teodoro Farmers’ Market

On a hot spring day, what could be better than heading to the San Teodoro Farmers’ Market in Rome, right next door to the Circus Maximus, to bask in the delight and abundance of local produce?

It’s been running on weekends for the past couple of years, in connection with the Campagna Amica, in a quest to promote the consumption of low mileage local produce.

  

Cheese, cured meats, fresh meat, preserves, cakes and breads, spreads, olive oils, honeys, wine, beer, even ice cream: you name it! You will find everything you need to stock your pantry for the week. It’s a feast for the eyes and the senses.

Stealing the show at the moment the king of spring, the Romanesque Artichoke. When you’ll see the imposing displays, the walls of this majesty of the vegetable world, you will literally feel like bowing to it and reaching for a pot of ‘pinzimonio’ to dunk it in.

We bought fresh buffalo mozzarella at 10 euro per kilo, which was refreshing!, cured meat; tomatoes, bread, cake, a bottle of wine and headed towards the Aventine, just 10 minute walk away, where we settled down in Giardino degli Aranci (The Orange Grove), by the Basilica of Santa Sabina, for a lazy pic-nic.

She's been away

I know, I haven't posted anything for weeks..... All of my NUMEROUS regulars must have been wondering why...
Well, aside from the usual Christmas hustle and bustle, I had to cater impromptu for a Christmas party for a TV semi-celebrity on Dec 23rd, the ideal time, cook a few odds and ends for a few ladies who are now past cooking their own christmas eve poached fish etc... Run around to find presents, help with the family Xmas lunch and FINALLY get to meet the in-laws!

This involved a rocket speed trip to northern Italy, 6 hours on the train and we were met by snow

 and cold....
And WARM, very warm and welcoming, in-laws.

The boxing day lunch: an array of cold meats and sundry pickles for antipasto, home made casoncelli (or casonsèi), a stuffed pasta with a sweet and savoury filling which has amaretti, raisins, pears and may or may not contain meat, dressed traditionally with a rabbit sauce, i.e the gravy juices from a roasted rabbit, butter and sage. Then roasted rabbit, roast lamb, polenta, NO veggies in sight alas, wine, and later, when we could manage it, panettone with bubbly.

Needless to say, I was defeated, undone. No dinner, just a couple of kiwis. The house pet Tommy/ Ciccio, a fierce looking crossbred American/English bulldog, did NOT take to me notwithstanding the common genealogical heritage. He became fiercely jealous and tried to stop me from getting into the bedroom with James by draping himself across the stairs in front of me.

Next day, a walk in Bergamo alta, beautiful medieval town, perfectly preserved, perfectly freezing. Tonight I ate the last of my bag of pralines from Pasticceria Cavour, on the main drag: a bag of little chocolate balls filled with different liquid liqueurs.... my favourite, or almonds, or hazelnuts. In fact, I've just decided I'll make Vienna almonds tomorrow, although they will never be as shiny and glossy and as perfectly oval...  but who cares!

In the afternoon we visited James's broither in law at the beef breeding farm he manages: 600 fuzzy beautiful cows, bulls and calves... so sweet and smelly!

Dinner was one of them cooked on the open fireplace, I mean a steak from that breeder, sausages and salad. YUM!

Next day mum-in-law made cassoeula especially for me. No, it's not cassoulet, but it's a hearty wintery stew anyway, made with different bits of pork and melt-in-the-mouth savoy cabbage with a splash of grappa. Really good

This is pizza!

This is a long overdue post for all of those who are disappointed with the average quality of available pizzas in restaurants, at least in Rome.

I was alerted to this pizzeria by my sister, who lives round the corner from it, and just 10 minutes walk fromme, so... do I live 10 minutes round the corner from it too?

Pizzeria La Fucina http://www.pizzerialafucina.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1 is hidden away in the Portuense area (Via Giuseppe Lunati 25/31), kind of on a level with San Camillo and Forlanini hospitals, is a great find. Pricey, but you will NOT walk away asking yourself why you had yet another pizza, or regretting the money spent. On average 20 euro per person. Isn't that more or less what we end up spending anyway for an average, if not disappointing, pizza?

Here is their philosophy: ONLY pizza. No starters, no salads, no supplì, no bruschetta. Desserts: from Cristalli di Zucchero, in Via di Valtellina. Only organic, semi-wholegrain, stoneground flour. Only designer DOP ingredients, mostly organic. Only one pizza served at a time, per table, sliced, to share. 6 traditionals (margherita, marinara etc), 8 seafood pizzas, 8 'turf' pizzas, and 6 of their 'classics' such as wild alaskan smoked salmon with designer ricotta.

 What we had: one margherita, delicious; one  Melanzane, zucchine e pomodorini con "Conciato di S. Vittore" e scaglie di soldo di cacio. One beer (wine-size bottle; wine-size price!) but very good. Although it didn't quite agree with my pizza, when they met in my little tummy.

 Altogether, we are going to go back, as James said, whenever we 'NEED' pizza.

A grand day out

A local hero

Thursday I was lucky enough to be invited to an outing organised by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Policies, one of a series of events to promote certified Italian food products abroad. The Theme was Etruscan Land, so we visited 3 wineries in the Cerveteri and Maccarese areas, and had lunch at a local restaurant, during which we were also offered a tasting of wines from a 4th winery.  Altogether, a lot of wines for someone like me, who drinks on occasion a glass of red! Our first stop was the Castello di Torre in Pietra, along the Via Aurelia, the Roman road which goes from Rome to France. One day, I'll just have to take to it in my car and drive all the way up, to practice my French! The Torre in Pietra estate is a family owned and family run business and has been in the same hands for several generations and, incidentally, one of the family members used to live upstairs from us while I was growing up. I remember his cattle catalogues coming in the post!  Mr Filippo Antonelli showed us round, and having found out his uncle used to be my neighbour, to make the world feel a bit smaller I found out he's a relative of the lady I saw on Monday to make arrangements for a catered dinner on the 19th. She told me about her patissière granddaughter from Milan, who also happens to be this gentleman's niece. The winery has a fabulous grotto excavated in a tuff (or tufa) hill, the Mammoth Grotto, named after mammoth bones found in it. Tufa maintains a constant temperature of 15° C and a humidity level of 80%, which is ideal for wines. The farm turned organic three years ago and it will be certified next year, since by EU regulations it takes 3 years to switch from normal farming to organic. We tasted several wines, of which the Macchia Sacra white was my favourite, made with Fiano grapes. What really got to me was their olive oil: FABULOUS; the juice of life itself. I just couldn't get enough of it and had to buy a 5 litre can. For an organic oil, at 10 euro per litre it was very fairly priced, as were all other products. I also bought honey and chick peas, and the Macchia Sacra white, of course. Plus we were given some of their spelt pasta. I can't wait for James to taste them all and tell me what he thinks. The farm is open every day, and on Fridays and Saturday it offers the added bonus of a local cheesemaker (Pitzalis) and vegetable farm (Caramadre) bringing their products for sale. Being already quite satiated and tipsy, we moved on to Casale Cento Corvi winery in Cerveteri. Again, a family run business, producing wines and preserves. We were greeted by the owners who offered us a tasting of 6 different wines, 3 whites and 3 reds. They have the merit of having resuscitated an almost extinct variety of grapes dating back to Etruscan times, which they have named Giacché. Their Giacché Rosso has won several prizes, and is a very distinctive and rather unique wine, borderline passito. A rich, fruity, almost black liquid, impenetrable to the eye, whith notes of visciola (wild cherry) and dried prunes which, according to the owner, could be drunk on its own in front of the fireplace, or even with raw fish. I beg to differ with the latter. Maybe with tuna.  The wine costs 25 euro a bottle, or 38 $ in the USA.  They also make a Passito version of Giacché, reminiscent of Port but with only 15% alcohol and wothout the overly alcoholic quality and sweetness of port, very pleasant. Our following stop was Trattoria Zì Maria, on the hills towards Sasso. There we were offered lunch and a degustation of wines from Tenuta Tre Cancelli. I must admit that by lunchtime I was rather past tasting wines and couldn't quite focus on the whites, rosés and reds..... Lunch was good, with the chestnut and ricotta ravioli at the top of my preferences. We set off for the Onorati winery in a pretty merry state of mind. There we were greeted by the owner and his teenage son, who gave uys a very entertaining lecture on wine bottling and wine making procedures in English. The wine tasting part of the visit was slightly overlooked, and we were sat down at tables and only offered two wines, accompanied by divine roasted chestnuts and a local pecorino which flaked away like slate. Very special but, alas, so artisanal (the next door shepherd makes it) that it can't be bought. Needless to say, the world is getting smaller every day, so I found out that our guide used to be a  friend of my brother's in my teenages and we had spent countless afternoons playing together ina  band and at my house being served English tea by my mother. My visual memory must be glitching big time, because I had NO recollection of him whatsoever.

Ceilings at Castello di Torre in Pietra

The Mammoth's knee

The cellar

Tasting 'Life juice'

Mini ice creams in their shells

Mini deserts at Trattoria Zì Maria

SOMETHING WENT TERRIBLY WRONG WITH THIS POST'S SETTINGS...... I can't get it to be in a decent layout...... SORRY

A slice of heaven

This is a truly dense but light chocolate cake which I tasted 11 years ago in a café in Bowral, near Sydney. The cake was fabulous and I just had to ask for the recipe. The waitress didn't have the recipe, but said she knew the cake was made with Belgian cocoa and.... beetroot!

So this is what I came up with after a few attempts.

3 eggs
230 gr sugar (fine brown is better)
180 mls vegetable oil
230 gr flour
pinch of salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 cup dutch process unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup water
250 gr grated cooked beetroot

Oven preheated to 180° C
First of all, buy a packet of cooked beetroot from the supermarket. You will use half and can keep the rest in the freezer for when you get the urge to make this cake.
Grate the beetrot on a medium sized grater. I use the food processor and NOT the finest grating blade. Hole are about 4 mm wide.
Whip up the eggs with the sugar until nice and pale, add the oil and keep emulsifying. Sift flour, cocoa, raising agents and add to the mixer, mixing until just incorporated and adding the water to ease the process.
Mix in grated beetroot by hand.
You will need a 24 cm cake tin, or thereabouts. Pour into the buttered and floured tin, pop into the oven and give it 40 - 45 minutes.

This cake is lovely and moist, so it really doesn't need a filling or icing, but if you really must you can slice in half and add a good slathering of chocolate hazelnut paste (I like Rivoire from Florence, an artisanal nutella made with ONLY hazelnuts and cocoa) or a plain chocolate ganache.

Obviously, a good dollop of whipped cream wouldn't go wasted on this either.

I made this last weekend for James, I didn't have the recipe with me so I sort of improvised from what I remembered. Well, he said it was PERFECT and asked for the recipe for his hotel!  I couldn't have asked for more....