Italian Gelato No Cone No Cup!

Posted on Monday, July 20th, 2009

This funny looking bun on the counter is called “Brioche” and in Southern Italy it is the very best way to eat Gelato (in my opinion of course!) Leave it to the Italians to take a good thing and make it better!!

Let’s see, I will have cioccolato, nocciola and “Rocher” the name of this flavor says it all!!!

After making your selection your brioche (an egg bread that is soft and not too sweet, similar to easter bread) will be filled with gelato and served with  a wink!

Thankfully you are furnished with a spoon… even still this is a messy endeavor but worth the effort for sure!

So you’ve caught me taking a break in beautiful Italy!  I promise I have been working as well and may offer a “sneak peek” soon…until then Buon Appetito once again!! And remember to visit www.celebrateart.com for updates on the upcoming show.

p.s. Why are all these posts about food???

Breakfast Italian Style

Posted on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

This is a post about ricotta cheese, somewhat of a staple here in the south of Italy. Our quest for the freshest ricotta possible begins at 8 am with a drive throught the Calabrian countryside.

I know we have arrived when I notice the sheep  grazing on the hillsides, the cows on the other hand were happily munching on fresh hay in the stall.

In a small room, attached to the stall is a large copper pot on the boil over a gas fire. A larger basin holds the curds and whey. The curds are being made into forms of cheese that will cure over the next year. The whey is slowly added to the copper pot where the ricotta will form.

Tapping the copper pot with a wooden pole assists the ricotta to rise to the top- once the ideal temperature is reached the ricotta is skimmed off the top and put into cheese containers.

The most obscure and traditional way to eat ricotta, I assume would be foreign to most because it entails close proximity to the farm. “Ricotta con siero” is what we came for  this morning. A peasant food fondly remembered by those who grew up here. It doesn’t get any fresher than this!!

Hard bread is broken into a bowl and moistened with a generous amount of ricotta and a good amount of “siero” the liquid that remains with the production of the ricotta. I apologize for the gruel like appearance, I can assure you it tastes much better than it looks!

Another herd of sheep arrive as we eat our breakfast on the farm. Golden hillsides dotted with blooming oleander, olive trees and yellow wildflowers abound. A sight to behold, a day to remember! I took many pictures which are sure to become frescoes soon! All will be unveiled at the 20th anniversary exhibit at the Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale Arizona.

Visit again soon as my next post will be about my trip to Sicily! A presto e Buon Apetito!!

My Italy – 2009

Posted on Saturday, June 20th, 2009

My arrival to Italy was  on June 15.  Around 4pm in the backyard of the house that will be my home for the next 30 days, I am immediately greeted by a glorious apricot tree. A sign of things to come in this country where the food culture is prominent and wonderful!  The branches are heavy with fruit, so of course it was a feast at the tree…picking and eating fresh apricots, the view of the Ionian sea always in view!

Soon the ladies of the house prepare dinner of “Fagiolini” ( a flat green bean prepared with fresh tomato, garlic and olive oil) and sardines, rolled up and breaded with their little tails sticking up like a frill.  By 9pm “the boys” are a little late for dinner but they don’t come empty handed. Fishing for the last few hours they come home proudly with their catch… a bucket of these little silver fish that are sure to be part of tomorrows menu.

The next day warrants an early trip to the village, the one many of you know through my frescoes of Ferruzzano. There are three sisters, part of a handful of families that still live in this quaint mountain town, that still make bread in their wood oven up there.

We arrive and are quickly invited in and we enter a small kitchen. An older gentleman sits in the corner by a sunny window with a sweater over his shoulders. He wears a woolen cap even though it is June, and rests his hands on a wooden cane. His eyes sparkle as he greets us and we sit with him.

On the table were three brown paper packages, the bread we were to take with us. In one package there were three round loaves of a very rustic type, split lengthwise and filled with fresh anchovies and extra virgin olive oil of their own production of course!. This is a specialty called “schiacciata” (meaning “pressed” so it is kind of a flat-ish bread.) When the bread comes out of the oven and while hot, it gets split and drizzled with olive oil. It is then that it is either sprinkled with oregano, or filled with anchovies. I have also had it with an aged goat cheese, a personal favorite! Another package contained plain loaves, and on the window sill there is a third package for us, a container of fresh eggs from the chickens of course!

“Do you drink wine?” was the next question…

The small man in the corner utters, “our wine is no good this year!”

His sister disagrees with him and insists that it is because he doesn’t taste like he used to.

she quickly leaves the kitchen.

“Where did she go?” I ask,

My compare replies, “go follow her and you will see”

Out the front door there is a set of stairs with no bannister, just a very old grape vine that follows the incline of the stairs so perfectly it acts as a bannister! Around the house to the back is the wood oven and beside it the cellar door…our host is crouched down filling a bottle of wine from the cask, it is cool and dark but the sunlight spills in from one tiny window and the open door…her sister quickly approaches with 2 glasses so we can taste, it is only 9 am but it is good!

We leave the cellar and enter an adjoining room where the bread that was made that morning rests on a bed. There were at least two dozen loaves. Big, small, round some with a hole in the middle and covered with sheets.

Hanging from the ceiling were a dozen salami’s of different types tied up with string to cure. This room was also cool and dark and filled with the remnants of another life. A life disappeared except for these few people that are keeping parts of it alive. But for how much longer?? I feel sad but look around in amazment! It has been a beautiful morning and I feel lucky to be here.

On the way home we must stop to check if there are any ripe figs on the trees. It is only mid June so still early for fig season, but if you are persistant and patient you can get lucky! We stop at the side of the road, enter through a gate and traverse the uneven tilled earth beneath our feet. My father, on a mission a forges ahead, my compare however stops at the sight of a plum tree, picking and eating them like large grapes, I take a picture before I join him.

No figs from these trees today, “But with this heat they will need only another week” my father shouts.

Ok, back to the plum tree for another feast but I soon hear the sound of bells…”clunk clunkity clunk”, Alas a small herd of goats, white and tan and a small  black one with the big bell around his neck. They become aware of me and start to run, most on the hillside a couple on the road in front.

The sound of the bells waining in the distance brings this morning to a close and  down the mountain we go. Now with a trunk filled with fresh bread, fresh eggs,  a bottle of homemade wine and a bag full of freshly picked  plums! no money required!! I am not sure, but this could be heaven!

O yes, by the way, I think admist all the excitement I think I found a subject for my next fresco. What do you think?

Until next time,

Arrivaderci and Buon Apetito!! and remember you can view my new body of work inspired by “My Italy 2009″ at the Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale Arizona. Visit www.celebrateart.com for details on next years 20th anniversary exhibit. 3m9ar78jux