PASTA: Why quality counts

One of the cardinal rules of Italian cooking: always use the best ingredients available to you. Pasta is no different.  It is especially important since pasta really brings together the whole dish. There are many, many brands of dried pasta, or pasta secco,  on the market.  Like most people I used to think they were all the same. I would buy Barilla or De Ceicco at the supermarket and that would be it. Then I tasted the difference between those brands and true Italian artisan pasta or Pasta Artigianale,  

Most of this pasta you will see in stores in the US comes from the famous town of Gragnano which sits in between Naples and the Amalfi Coast.  Gragnano boasts an over 200 year old tradition of pasta making.  There are many special steps and details that have to be followed in order to produce pasta with superior taste and texture.  The center of town is even said to be laid out so that the main street captures the salty, cool breeze off the the Mederterainian creating an ideal scenario for pasta drying.  All of these seemingly small details add up and in the end a superior product, both from a taste and texture standpoint, is created.

There are two important differences in the process vs mass produced dry pasta: the pasta is extruded through bronze dies instead of through industrial Teflon, giving it a rough-textured surface to which sauce clings rather than slipping off, and the pasta is dried slowly at low temperatures so that it retains more of the nutty flavor and aroma of durum wheat. 

Pasta from Gragano has become more widely available over the past few years.  In New York City, you can find it in specialty shops as well as some Supermarkets.  Some of my favorite brands can be found at Eataly, Buon Italia or Agata e Valentina.  Look for Afetlra, Di Martino and Garofalo.  Also keep in mind, many shapes come in larger packages, 500g or 1.2 lbs.  Most mass produced pasta comes in 1 lb portions.  Either way you will pay more for the small batch pasta, but you will not be disappointed.  Every time we have guests, we serve this special pasta, sometimes just with a very simple Carbonara or Aglio e Olio, and we get "recipe" requests every time.  

Gragano, Italy

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Afaletra Garganelli

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Food Cravings NYC Style

if you have been reading my posts, you know that I love food.  Sometimes it gets extreme.  Sometimes I HAVE to have something very specific and I don't care if I have to go to great lengths to get it.  Here are my TOP 5 food obsessions in New York City.  Most of them I have gone  on a solo mission to eat on my own, definitely my "happy place".  This list could have been longer, but I forced myself to edit!

1. Luke's Lobster- The cravings usually kick in around April and last through the Fall and they are intense.  I love lobster and this is by far the best lobster roll in NYC. The best part about Luke's is that they do not use mayo just some lemon butter, secret spices and a buttered roll.  The pure Maine lobster meat is the star of the roll. There are a few locations, unfortunately none of them deliver to my apartment.  I have to walk about 6 blocks and 4 avenues to get my roll if the Nauti truck is not close by. Apparently, Caviar the delivery service will deliver Luke's, but I haven't attempted that yet.  I think I like it better when it seems harder to get!

2. La Rosticceria at Eataly-The Prime Rib Panino is my obsession.  The problem is, they always run out.  They start serving at 11am, my advice is to get there on the early side.  Every time I have been there after 5, the Prime Rib and the Carne of the day are sold out.  It is ridiculously flavorful and I have been known to go there alone on a summer Friday and devour the whole panino in Madison Park.  Side note, the rotisserie chickens are delicious as well!

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3. Shake Shack-Luckily I do not live far from the original Shack in Madison Park, but it is far enough to check the Shack Cam and see how long the line is.  If the line is not too long, I will volunteer to go, wait and bring back dinner before it gets cold if my husband will agree to eat Shake Shack.  I am a classic girl, Shack Burger with Cheese, fries and a lemonade is the usual order.

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4. Marea's Fusilli with Braised Octopus and Bone Marrow-One of the most delicious and unique pasta dishes I have ever had.  It is hard for me to eat at Marea and NOT order this dish.  I have made a trip there, just to sit a the bar and order it.  At $34 it is not a cheap craving, but it is worth it!  Check out this article from Serious Eats that shows how this dish is made.  http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2009/07/marea-nyc-manhattan-michael-white-fusilli-fussili-pasta-octopus-bone-marrow.html

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5. Big Gay Ice Cream- Before they exploded and opened brick and mortar shops, The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck took up residence on the corner of 17th street and Broadway, not far from my apartment.  This was when I got addicted.  Now, I will make a special round about trip to pick my son up at school stopping off at their 7th Avenue location on the way.  My go-to is the Bea Aurther, vanilla soft serve, dulce de leche and crushed up 'nilla wafers, haven!

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Taralli the Italian Pretzel

One of the go to snacks in our house are taralli.  Hailing from Puglia, they were first introduced to me in Naples by our cousin Laura over 10 years ago.  I was addicted at first bite and I think I ate a whole bag!  I couldn't believe the flavor that could come from such a plain looking bread product.  When my son was old enough to eat crunchy food, we introduced taralli to him right away.  They have become the snack he requests most often, although he did not like it when I tried to slip in the fennel flavored ones to his school snack.  Taralli come in many variations. There are savory flavors like fennel, peperoncino and black pepper. You can also find sweet taralli glazed with sugar and often flavored with lemon (we are talking about Southern Italy so makes sense!)  We use the savory ones as part of our go to cheese plate adornments and they are also great dunked in wine.  You can find them at any Italian  special shop from Eataly to Di Palo's in NYC.  A bag usually costs around $3.50, a pretty inexpensive treat that will add a little piece of Puglia to your day.  On my list is to make them from scratch, so stay tuned to see how my homemade taralli come out!

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Truffles, Everyone loves truffles!

It is that time of year, it is truffle season.  Although we are planning a pretty amazing Thanksgiving menu, my husband and I could not resist Truffle Day at Eataly!  We got some beautiful white truffles from Piemonte for $5.80 per gram, a pretty good deal! Urban is one the the largest and most trusted truffle distributors in Italy. Stay tuned to tomorrow's post when you see what we do with them.....