It's Italian: April 2010

Destination: Rome

Click HERE for a last minute weekend deal to Rome, and when you are there, visit some of my most treasured places. These recommendations are meant to make your last minute deal feel planned.

Torre's Picks:

Checchino Dal 1887

Phone:	574.63.18

This temple of traditional Roman cuisine, run by the Mariani family--Ninetta and her two sons--is a dining den where you can sample Italian delicacies, for lack of a better word. For the adventurous and not the vegetarian, specialties include tripe head, trotter, intestine, heart of beef, stewed oxtail and braised milk-fed lamb. Dine on old wooden tables under vaulted ceilings as you fill your glass and your belly.

Cul de Sac

Phone:	880.1094

For a wine bar older than the oldest vintage it offers, step round Cul De Sac, Romes first den de vini. Like a 1960s train carriage, the interior is outfitted with wooden benches and luggage racks. Cold meats and cheeses accompany your choice of over 1400 wines.

Galleria Nazionale D'Arte Antica (Palazzo Corsini)

Phone:	880.23.23

16th- and 17th-century frescoes and trompe loeils adorn this palace, which houses a portion of Italys extensive national art collection. For more color, explore the palace groundsthey have been converted into Orto Botanico, the citys premier botanic gardens.

Museo Nazionale Delle Paste AlimentariI

Phone:	699.11 19

Definitely kitschy, but informative nonetheless, this national pasta archive organizes various shapes of semolina and speaks the history of Italys national dish. With a portable CD player that narrates the exhibit, you will witness an array of pasta-making equipment, labels, art inspired by the starchy food, and prints and photos of people enjoying bowls of the stuff. You couldnt ask for a better appetite stimulator.

Nando Severini

Phone:	678.60.31

This 40 year-old eatery is owned and run by local legend Nando and his dog, who make their own-label prosecco and fagolino, and rose made from uva fagolastrawberry grapes. Have a seat on a crate, have a drink and a nibble. He closes in the early evening, so be sure to stop by before dark.

Pantheon

Phone:	280.02.30

Though Rome has as many renowned art and architectural treasures as L.A. has famous people, the Pantheon is perhaps the best-preserved representation of ancient Rome and remains one of the most famous architectural designs in history. Designed in its current form by the Emperor Hadrian in AD 120, the Pantheons walls are of the same height as its diameter, creating a sense of balance and harmony that was to reflect the unity of the Roman Empire. Do some neck stretches before entering, as your eyes will be drawn to the oculus, or eye of the sun a 30 ft. wide open hole at the center of the dome. At varying times of the day, sunlight would bathe each of several statues of the gods that used to adorn the circumference of the floors great circle. It is the only source of light for the dark, damp interior of the Pantheon.

Trastevere District

An historic (but what part of Rome is not?) quarter of the city that feels like a small country village with its narrow cobbled roads, medieval palaces and traffic-free streets. Fountains and 13th-century mosaics decorate Piazza di Santa Maria, the areas central square. Nearby, the elevation of Giancolo, known as the hill of Janiculum back when the Roman Republic was being threatened by French troops, offers the best views of the city and mountains beyond.

Tre Scalini

The hot spot on the Piazza Navona for tartuffo, that beloved and decadent Italian desert comprised of chocolate gelato and coated in a dark, hard shell of chocolate. Sit and let the creamy flavors slip down your throat as you watch the colorful people and action in the oval piazza. It tastes divine, but if you were staring at a wall, youd still be heaven.

Torre's Tips:

BEFORE YOU GO: Rome

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

-A valid U.S. passport is required for entry. No visa is necessary for U.S. citizens. -Non-US citizens, please contact the nearest consulate or embassy of the country to which you are traveling to determine your entry/visa requirements. LANGUAGE -Italian CURRENCY --The Euro. Exchange rates vary, but currently are about: 1 U.S. Dollar = .83 Euro LOCAL TRANSPORTATION -Rome's Fiumicino Airport, also known as Leonardo da Vinci, is about 18 miles (30 km) from the city. -There is an express rail service between the airport and Termini Station, which takes about 30 minutes and runs hourly from 7am-10pm daily. Tickets in either direction cost approximately $8 (15,000 lira). -A taxi between the airport and the city costs about $40 (80,000 lira), including a surcharge (11,500 lira from the airport, 14,000 lira from the city). Use only yellow or white officially licensed cabs lined up at ranks. -Major car rental companies have desks at the airport. ELECTRICITY -240V AC. Standard 110V AC U.S. electrical appliances won't work, but some dual-voltage models may be compatible using an adapter--check with the manufacturer. HEALTH & SAFETY -Just as you would when traveling to any large city, consult a major guidebook or check with your hotel about precautions to take, and use common sense. -You may have heard of Mad Cow disease (which affects humans) and Foot & Mouth disease (which only affects livestock). As a general rule, refrain from eating meat such as beef, veal, lamb or pork of European origin. (Fortunately, many restaurants are serving meat from other countries, such as Argentina.) Check out www.cdc.gov/travel/ for further information, or ask your doctor. EUROPEAN VALUE ADDED TAX -Many purchases are subject to a Value Added Tax (VAT) usually about 17%. Refunds are available in many cases for non-European Union (EU) citizens. Make sure the store fills out the necessary forms for each purchase, bring all purchases and the paperwork to the Customs VAT counter at the airport prior to departure, and have them stamped. Usually, you will mail the forms from the airport and receive a credit card reimbursement. -Each traveler returning to the U.S. is entitled $400 of goods tax-free. For any dollar amount above that, there is a percentage fee. TELEPHONE TIPS -Country code: 39 -City code: 06 -Dialing from the US: 011 + country code + city code + local number. -Calling home from abroad: Ask your long-distance company (e.g. AT&T, MCI, Sprint) for rates and access numbers from overseas. It is often cheaper to buy a local phone card to call home. CALLING CUSTOMER SERVICE: When calling Customer Service from Italy, dial 172-1011 prior to the toll-free number printed in your confirmation e-mail. NOTE: U.S. State Department passport, visa and travel advisory information can be found at www.state.gov/www/services.html.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Two Easter Pies and a lot of confusion

Felice Pesach ai miei amici ebrei!

My Nana used to make the best Easter Pie in the entire universe. This is an indisputable fact. It was made with diced cold cuts, and had a cheesy, eggy filling to bind the whole thing together that was reminiscent of a heavy quiche. A slice of this pie looked like something from a biology poster, for it revealed cross sections of hard boiled eggs that looked like cells and their nucleus as well as the chunks of Italian dry sausage, Sopressata, Salami, Pepperoni, and ham and/or prosciutto, and cheese. The funny thing is, I never knew what to call it. Our nuclear family called it "Easter Pie" and when Dad tried to remember the Italian name one time, he said Pizza Grana, and then quickly corrected himself and said pizza "Gaina". Being a know-it-all tenager at the time, I tried to convince him he was confusing the name with Pizza Grana (or Grain Pie), another Easter pie made with ricotta and wheat berries. I'm pretty sure he remained unconvinced, but he let the matter drop, and we all went back to calling it Easter pie.

Many years after my Nana died, I happened to be in the Aurora Bakery in Poughkeepsie NY, picking up some pasteries for Easter, and to my surprise, they had Easter pie! They called it Pizza Rustica which is what I called it for the nearly twenty years, and Dad was silently complicitous in this eggregious error, until one day we happen to mention Pizza Rustica and Pizza Grana in the same conversation, and he says "Pizza Gaina, pizza Grana, eat Pizza Gaina, and you gain a lot of weight." I remembered my uncle Andy used to say the same thing when ever the topic of Easter Pie came up, and I had also recently talked to another person of Neapolitan decent who called the meat-and-cheese pie Pizza Gaina, so I Googled it, as any self -respecting word-geek would, and here is what I found:

Pizza Gaina (Full Pie - Americanized spelling based on pronunciation)
Pizza Chiena (Full Pie - 'correct' Neapolitan-Italian spelling )
Pizza Chena (Full Pie - 'alternate' Italian spelling )
Pizza Cena (Dinner Pie - Alternate Italian name based on similar spelling)
Pizza Rustica (Rustic Pie - Alternate Italian name and spelling)
Pizza Ripiena (Full Pie - Similar Pie from Northern Italy)
Pizza Pieno (Full Pie - Alternate name in Italian)
Pizza Grana (Grain Pie) - Another "Easter Pie"
There is also a festival of Pizza Chene at Torre Nocelle in October every year.

I never actually ever got my Nana's recipe for Easter pie, Each of her sisters made it differently. My Aunt Lucy said the recipe was simple, you just throw your old cold cuts in a pie crust with ricotta and eggs. I've tried several recipes now, and you know, Aunt Lucy was right, that pretty much IS how you make Pizza Rustica, I mean Gaina, er-um Chiena, ah what the heck... Easter Pie.

This is the recipe my daughter and I used this year (with pictures!):

Filling for two pies:

Ingredients:
12 eggs Raw
9 eggs boiled
1 basket Cheese (or fresh cheese - Fromaggio Fresca) to dice like the meat - That's me on the left: the basket-case draining the basket cheese.
3 lbs Ricotta cheese
1 lb Ricotta Salata in chunk to dice like the meat
1 lb boiled ham
2 sticks of dry sausage-sopressata (remove casing)
1 stick of pepperoni (remove casing)

Dice all meat and hard cheeses, put aside.