Posted in Arezzo, Florence, Italian, Tuscan, beans, braised, fabada, hearty, herbs, pork, pressure-cooker, tuscany on Apr 28th, 2010
“I eat my candy with pork and beans.
Excuse my manners if I make a scene.”
-Pork and Beans, by Weezer
I could begin this post with a rose-tinted anecdote about how, during the run-up to our wedding in Italy, as Amy and I were lingering romantically over a typically rustic Tuscan dinner one warm June evening against [...]
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Posted in Garlic, Olive Oil, Potato, Spain, brandy, castille, chicken, cognac, crispy, fried, herbs, sauce, tapas on Mar 13th, 2010
“Eat no garlic nor onions, lest they find out thy boorish origin by the smell…”
-Don Quixote to Sancho Panza, Chapter XLIII,
Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Sitting around the table last night with gusts of strong breath coloring our domestic atmosphere, Amy and I were considering the profound effect garlic has on [...]
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Posted in France, French, Garlic, Meat, chicken, fried, herbs, offal, poultry, shallots, thyme, tradition, travel on Feb 20th, 2010
Do you ever wish you had a secret power? I don’t mean like some stupid superhero who can fly, make it rain, or look great in a unitard. I mean like a gerbil’s ability to store tasty bits in its cheeks for later, or a tiger’s ability to eat 30lbs of wild boar at a [...]
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Posted in Arezzo, Florence, Garlic, Italian, Italy, Meat, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Olive Oil, Pasta, Recipes, Tuscan, bolognese, carrots, celery, chicken stock, duck, flour, game, guanciale, hearty, herbs, indulgent meal, mushroom, mushrooms, noodles, philosophy, porcini, sauce, tomato, tradition, travel, tuscany, wine on Jan 23rd, 2010
It might be generational, or, perhaps, philosophical, but there are, on the one hand, those who enjoy and appreciate handmade things, and the art and craft they require to make, and, on the other, those who prefer their things machine-made, reliable, and standard. The ‘things’ here could be quite literally anything. My father, who, to [...]
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Posted in Garlic, Italian, Italy, Meat, Recipe, butter, cream, herbs, liver, offal, sage, shallots, tourism, travel, veal on Jul 14th, 2009
“Two households, both alike in dignity
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene”
- William Shakespeare, Prologue to Romeo and Juliet
On our honeymoon, almost exactly two years ago today, we arrived in the fair city of Verona thoroughly pissed off. And then things got worse. It wasn’t as if the day had started badly either: waking [...]
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Posted in Argentina, Buenos Aires, Chorizo, Colombian, Mexican, Recipe, South America, bread, grilled, grilling, herbs, morcilla, pork, sandwiches, sausage, street food, tourism, travel on Jun 24th, 2009
Virtually everywhere they make sausages, and in a lot of places they don’t, some form of sausage in bread combination is sold by street vendors, often to the inebriated, and, in many cases, the consumer is best advised to be under the influence before taking their life in their hands with one of these mystery bag [...]
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Posted in Pasta, Potato, Recipe, butter, fava beans, gnocchi, herbs, mint, parmigiano reggiano, vegetables on Jun 20th, 2009
As you may be able to tell, if you are a regular reader of this blog, we love mint. We use it often in the summer because it grows like a freaking weed. Because we live in Brooklyn, we barely have any outdoor space (but are very fortunate to have any). Yet, in that small [...]
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Posted in herbs, top five on Mar 26th, 2009
Asking you, dear readers, for your Top 5 fresh herbs was a way to help us think spring. This winter has honestly killed me. It has been one of the longest and, even today, only five days before the beginning of April, I’m about to put on my ugly, annoying, tired heavy coat on my [...]
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