Tasty Tapenade

                         Tapenade served with local Pastis at Julia Child’s villa in Provence 

I am a raving fan of tapenade.   A popular olive spread in the south of France for centuries, typical Provençal tapenade is made with olives, olive oil, anchovies, capers, garlic, and herbs of Provence---all pulverized into a puree of spreadable yumminess.  Although it’s closely associated with Provence today, the first tapenade just might have been invented by the Italians.

Olive spreads have been referenced in ancient Roman cookbooks for nearly 2,000 years.  A written recipe for an olive-caper spread appeared in 150 BC in a book written by Cato (a Senator and historian in the Roman Empire).   Currently in Italy, an olive spread is often used on a panini in northern Italy.

               Sun-dried tomato, artichoke, fennel & eggplant are only a few tapenade flavors  

Tapenade, however, remains a classical food item associated with Provence.  While the traditional recipe features tiny Niçoise olives (a varietal from the area of Nice, it’s small but packs a punch for flavor), tapenade can be made with any varietal of olives.  Go to an outdoor market in the south of France and you’ll often see tapenade vendors selling their spreads in a huge variety of flavors other than the one made with Niçoise olives:  green tapenade made with green olives, Kalamata olives, mixed olives.  There are also non-traditional tapenade in every flavor of fruit and veggies possible.  Tapenade has become synonymous with an olive base spread in which anything else can be added.

                                           Dried figs add an unusual nuance to tapenade

One of my favorite recipes is from David Lebowtiz, an American foodie living in Paris.  His rendition uses dried figs.   https://www.davidlebovitz.com/top-tapenade-ti/

Another fave is Wolfgang Puck who uses both black and green olives.  I really like the depth of flavor of this one.  Add a log of goat cheese and some magnificent bread….voila!      https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/black-and-green-olive-tapenade-234059

Wine-Knows will be conducting a tour in 2022 to the estate in Provence where Julia Child wrote her iconic cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  One week in 2022 is sold out, but we've added a second week.  This second week is now available for viewing on our website:   http://www.wineknowstravel.com/julia-2022-1-itinerary/

Bon appetit !

Perfect Foodie Gifts to Bring Home from Italy

I'm on my way to Italy with two different groups.  Often times on my tours I am asked by my clients what gifts are best to bring home  for their food-loving friends.  My answer depends on the district of the country in which the group is----each region has certain gourmet specialties.  Below I’ve listed my recommendations beginning with Umbria and Tuscany as that’s where Wine-Knows has rented villas this June, however, I’ve added ideas for many other regions.  My suggestions are based on the weight of the item, ease in packing it, perishability, and uniqueness.

Umbria

   ~ Umbria is world famous for its black truffles.  Truffle oil and truffle paste are great because they are not near as perishable as fresh truffles.

   ~ Nothing says Umbria like a piece of Deruta pottery for the kitchen.  There are all sizes and shapes of these colorful ceramics available, many of which never make it to the export market.

                                                             Deruta's tempting wares

Tuscany:

   ~ Vin Santo (a dessert wine often eaten with biscotti)  is a Tuscan tradition.  While available in the U.S., many of the boutique producers’ Vin Santo does not leave the country.  As it is frequently packaged in half bottles, it can easily be brought home packed in your suitcase.

                        Biscotti, another Tuscan specialty, pairs beautifully with Vin Santo

   ~ Finocchiona salami is a specialty of the Chianti wine region.  This savory deeply flavored salami is chocked full of local fennel.

Emilia Romagna:

   ~ The capitol of Italy’s gourmet cuisine, there’s a plethora of goodies to tempt you (e.g. home of Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and Balsamic Vinegar).  Pasta attains true stardom in this region and you’ll see shapes and sizes that you’ll  never see again.  If packed between layers of clothes, a package of dry pasta weathers the journey home nicely.

                                Butterfly-shaped pasta in the colors of the Italian flag

   ~ Balsamic is in every grocery store these days, however, aged Balsamico is not.  Pickup a small bottle of 20 or 30 year old rich, aromatic, syrupy Balsamic for drizzling back home on fruit dessert (or add it at the last moment to a savory sauce for major complexity).

Amalfi Coast:

   ~ Gigantic lemons are one of the hallmarks of the coast.  While US customs forbids bringing them back, you can bring back a memory of them in the form of a kitchen towel, pot holder or even a small ceramic platter decorated by local artisans with colorful lemons.  All are very abundant in shops.

                              When life gives you monstrous lemons, make limoncello

  

~ Superbly yummy San Marzano tomoatoes are grown on the slopes of Mt Vesuvious which looms over the entire Amalfi Coast and Bay of Naples.  Tomato paste (double or triple concentrations are the best) are fabulous gifts to bring home…I usually buy a dozen and stick one in to a hostess gift.

  

                         Paste comes in 3 strengths:  regular (L), double (C), & triple (R) 

Sicily:

   ~Capers are available in every province in Italy, however, the Sicilian varietal is the pinnacle.  Dry-packaged in salt (which is rinsed before serving), these taste like no other caper you’ll ever have.  They are expensive but worth every Euro.    

                                 Meaty, plump capers like you're never had before

   ~Bottarga is another Sicilian specialty.  Somewhat like dried caviar, it is a salted and cured fish roe.  Expensive, it is often added in small amounts to pasta dishes, although it can also be served on a crostini.

Lombardy:

   ~ Northern Lombardy is home to polenta, risotto, Gorgonzola and Taleggio, all of which are widely available in the US.  It is also home to mostarda, a heavenly savory fruit condiment somewhat like chutney.  Served with meats or even cheeses, this labor-intensive delectable can make even the simplest dish into a masterpiece.

  

                                     Mostarda made from plums, pears, peaches & apricots

Piedmont:

   ~ Home to the Slow-Food movement, this northern most district that shares a border with France is one of my favorite for gourmet gifts.  Piedmont is synonymous with the white truffle, the King of truffles.  Truffle-centric gifts are everywhere from salami to truffle oil.  Truffle shavers are also available in every shop.

                  White truffles are so expensive that they require a shaver to thinly slice them

        

   ~ If it’s not summer, than one of the best gifts to bring home from Piedmont is gianduja, the marriage of chocolate and hazelnut.  Gianduja is an art-form here as exotic, imported cocoa beans are mixed with the smoky local hazelnut.   (If it is summer, bring home just the unusually rich, and intense local hazelnuts).

                                            A Italian marriage made in heaven 

The Finest Capers are Sicilian

While capers have become an indispensable part of every foodie’s pantry, some may neither know that Sicily makes la crema de la crema of capers, nor how caper berries differ from capers.  For certain, few know of caper leaves.

Most caper lovers are aware that these culinary gems are actually edible flower buds of a bush.  Their wild bushes thrive in the Mediterranean, so it’s no surprise that Morocco, Spain and Turkey produce the bulk of the world’s capers.  While there are many countries from the tropics (where capers are thought to have originated) to Europe that produce the delectable buds,  the ones from Sicily are the most prized among the globe’s most sophisticated chefs.

Sicilian capers are packed in sea salt versus their briny counterparts from other parts of the world that are preserved in an acidic solution.   Packed in salt?  Don’t despair, as soaking them for five minutes in water will rid them of any salty taste.  Whereas a brine overwhelms capers, the Sicilian salt-cured technique produces delicately flavored morsels.  It’s no wonder in Sicily why their versatile, tantalizing capers appear in everything from antipasto, to pasta, and even gelato.

A few other important facts about capers:  less is more. The smaller the caper, the more concentrated the flavor.  Check out  the jar of capers in your frig or cabinet.  The label most likely will say “non-pareil.”  The smallest size of capers are called non-pareil.  Most capers sold in the US are non-pareil.  The general rule of thumb is the smaller the size, the better (and more expensive) the caper.

Another interesting note:  if the caper bud is not picked, it flowers and then produces a fruit called a caper berry.  Caper berries are significantly larger (the size of the average olive) and considerably milder in flavor.  They are also far less acidic.  One of the best salads we had on our recent Wine-Knows private yacht trip through the Greek Islands, was a salad made with caper berries.   The salad’s ripe tomatoes were acidic and the caper berries were the perfect match to downplay the dish's already acid profile.

But, hold on to your hat!  While Sicily may produce the best capers, Greece provides another addition to the caper's culinary prowess.  Greeks use caper leaves in many of their salads and fish dishes.  These tiny leaves of the caper bus, preserved in salt or a brine, are rarely seen outside of Greece so is you do spot a jar buy everyone you can.  They are the most delicate of all the caper bush's gifts and add an interesting, almost lemon-like component.  I would not be the least bit surprised if caper leaves don't become the next hottest gourmet product in the US.

Sicily’s Fall Harvest—a Bounty for Wine & Food Lovers

Fall's plethora in Palermo's most famous outdoor market

October is idyllic in Sicily.   While summer is Dante’s inferno-hot and mega-crowded---especially in popular tourist spots---October brings cooler temperatures, as well as significantly fewer crowds.  The grape harvest begins in August and the picking continues through September.  In October wineries are in full swing with the new vintage—for an oenophile, it’s the perfect time to visit.  If you’re coming on the 2014 October tour we’ll be staying at one of Sicily’s most revered wine estates and we’ll have ample opportunity to watch up close all of the processes involved in making a wine.  But, wine is just one of the many culinary abundances of Sicily in the fall months.

Sea salt from Sicily is highly-prized.  The harvest begins in August and continues through early October.  Fall also is the season for Sicily’s pistachio and hazelnut harvest...these nuts frequently appear in Sicily’s traditional handed-down-over- generations dessert recipes.   But, perhaps the most famous of all of the Sicilian food products produced during the fall months is its olive oil.  The group visiting Sicily with Wine-Knows next year will be staying on an olive estate, and you will have the option to participate in the harvest and make the oil.

Sicily’s fall vegetables read like a who’s who of its gastronomic world.  Eggplants, onions and an array of peppers in red, oranges and yellow compose the holy trinity of fall dining.  One of the island’s most famous dishes is caponata (the Sicilian version of ratatouille.)   Sicily’s rendition includes capers, another jewel in the island’s culinary crown.  Sicilian capers, preserved in local sea salt, are coveted by Michelin star chefs around the globe.   Last, we can’t discuss Sicilian cooking without discussing tomatoes.  Early fall brings over-flowing market stalls full of vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes.  Late fall ushers in the year’s crop of sun-dried tomatoes that are used throughout the other seasons in many of Sicily’s classical dishes.

Stay tuned for the upcoming blog posting on Sicily’s capers.…once you’ve tasted their salted version, you’ll never return to the brined capers popular in the US.

Viva Sicilia!