lassi

Today I'm going to talk a little Italian food. Probably a little overdue in my case but really, it's
a much talked about cuisine and considering my background--both having to do with my career and
my gene pool---I've felt there are people who at the moment live for it a bit more than I do.

And then I changed my mind.

A friend of mine, Roberta Corradin, a food writer from Rome is in NYC for a while
and spending even a small amount of time with her opened the flood gates for all that I
know and love about Italian food.....and chocolate.
In some ways chocolate is very separate from food for me. I've been very fortunate to have
had a lot of experience with great Italian chocolate before most people knew anything other than
Perugina Baci.
(When I was a kid we would go down to Little Italy for Sanguinaccio---chocolate and blood pudding.
I loved it. That's a very different post but it gives you an idea that I'll take chocolate in any form.)

Roberta and I have been talking a lot of chocolate these days. Domori has always been my hands-down
favorite. I worked for them breifly a few years back when the company was very small and everything was really
made by the owner, Gianluca Franzoni. Illy Coffee bought it recently. Which makes me very happy for Gianluca
and hopefully happy for the rest of the world as well. Perhaps now more people can experience it.
She's helping me get my hands on some to do some great baking at Lassi.


In her visit to NYC, Roberta is writing a piece on great lunch spots. So cool. I love lunch.
I'm a little over dinner these days and lunch always fits the bill.
She is also helping a dear publisher friend get his new project out there. It's a English version
of a famous cookbook in Italy "Nonna Genia's Classic Langhe Cookbook".
Langhe is not a particularly well-know part of Italy for Americans, I know. Tuscany shines bright
in that case but with my new found skill of cutting and pasting, I give you a little bit of Langhe from
some website I found:



Tucked away in northwest Italy and bordered by the Alps and Liguria, Piedmont (literally "Foothill") does not feel quite as Italian as other regions, the neighboring countries of Switzerland and France having had a distinct influence on its people. It is, however, a highly alluring region and one of the most delightful to be discovered in Italy. Nestled in the heart of Piedmont, the hilly, mist-cloaked area known as the Langhe is a region within a region. Located among medieval castles which stand guard over vineyards on gently rolling hills, the Langhe is an area almost entirely devoted to the cultivation of wine grapes and hazelnuts.

Did you read that? Wine grapes and hazelnuts. And the wine they are best known for is Barolo. Langhe is your
new best friend. They also specialize in white truffles, great cheeses and wild mushrooms.

The cookbook is really great. I don't have a lot of patience for a lot of cookbooks....not to say that I don't own a ton
and enjoy reading them but this is a book that makes you want to cook. Only a few do that for me.
It's a modest book. If you want pretty pictures, this isn't your thing but the recipes are fabulous and easy to read.

Some favorites:
Fava Bean Soup
Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce

Some that wow:
Chickpea soup with Spareribs
Blood Lasagne
"Capricious" Frittata (with salami, left over vean and parm)
Woodcock with Polenta

Roberta is a woman on a mission. She is here to help her publisher friend so he can put his kids in
school next year. She's got the book selling in Kitchen Arts and Letter and Bonnie Slotnick.
And you can always contact me for a book....or five.