Forktales – Page 11 – Italian foods, recipes, tradition, nutrition.

A Tipple, a Tid-Bit, and Delights Discovered at the Italian Trade Commission

Posted by Julia della Croce at 1:12 pm 5 Responses »

Mar 212014

Spring is in the air everywhere, not least at the Italian Trade Commission in New York City, the Italian government agency charged with promoting and educating about Italian products abroad. Always on the job, at a special reception this week for the newly appointed Commissioner and Executive Director, Pier Paolo Celeste, I turned up some discoveries, old and new. One, panettone gastronomico, or unsweetened panettone, a fairly recent phenomenon in Italy for making little bar sandwiches, and new to most Americans. It was carved up into a layered tower of delicious “tramezzini,” triangular sandwiches with various fillings of genuine Italian products. Francine Segan, a […more…]

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A Tipple, a Tid-Bit, and Delights Discovered at the Italian Trade Commission

St. Patrick Had His Day, Today is St. Joseph’s!

Posted by Julia della Croce at 2:56 pm 4 Responses »

Mar 192014

Did you know that today is St. Joseph’s Day, or la Festa di San Giuseppe, Fathers Day for the Italians? Because my paternal grandfather’s name was Giuseppe, Joseph, there was always a celebration with special foods, and a favorite pasta dish of their region, orecchiette with rapini (rapine in Italian). Just as Irish immigrants changed the recipe for their storied St. Patrick’s Day soda bread, so my grandparents, once in America, were forced to adapt the pasta dish using broccoli. Cime di rapa, or rapini (“broccoli rabe” as it has come to be known here) were not grown in the United States […more…]

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St. Patrick Had His Day, Today is St. Joseph's!

Teaching the Irish (Immigrants) How to Make Soda Bread

Posted by Julia della Croce at 10:16 am 4 Responses »

Mar 172014

If you think you’ve eaten real Irish soda bread, you probably haven’t. So says Darina Allen, queen of Irish cooking. “Real Irish soda bread doesn’t have any sugar or caraway seeds in it,” she said, “That’s the emigrant version.” She ought to know. Her dominion is the world-class Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, County Cork, but her pupils are scattered the world over. If they haven’t been initiated into fine Irish cooking under her personal tutelage, they have learned what she calls “the forgotten skills of cooking” by virtue of her knowledgable books (her last one, Irish Traditional Cooking, when re-issued two years ago, […more…]

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Teaching the Irish (Immigrants) How to Make Soda Bread

Upcoming Culinary Tours to Italy with Stars as Your Guides

Posted by Julia della Croce at 10:59 am 2 Responses »

Mar 052014

Many a tourist has been hustled along the deep-rutted routes of Venice-Florence-Rome-home, yet some travelers got off the highways and criss-crossed the countryside, writing about the cities, small towns and byways. One such traveler is former New York Times staff writer, Zester Daily contributor, author, and Tuscany resident, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, who has savored Italy with great learning and a deep and abiding love. Today, previously overlooked regions that she has captured masterfully in her writings are popular destinations for the American traveler interested in the glorious food of Italy, and there is hardly a better guide. Nancy has announced two upcoming tours to […more…]

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Upcoming Culinary Tours to Italy with Stars as Your Guides

Heart of Nicaragua: Grace and Magic in a Corn Masa Cookie

Posted by Julia della Croce at 1:06 am 9 Responses »

Mar 042014

Travels with Julia || Nicaragua Maybe because growing up in a family that endured the last world war in Italy, often hungry, my journey as a writer is concerned with food. For me, everything about it fascinates—growing it, harvesting it, cooking it, understanding its cultural trajectory. The recipes are metaphors, albeit edible ones. When I traveled to Nicaragua recently to meet up with my daughter and make our way together to a remote village in the country’s highlands, I learned such a recipe, one that has come to have meaning for me far beyond the discovery of a new dish. […more…]

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Heart of Nicaragua: Grace and Magic in a Corn Masa Cookie

Cooking with Julia: Master Class on Rapini at Eataly – April 25th

Posted by Julia della Croce at 6:52 pm No Responses »

Feb 272014

Here’s an announcement for my next class: Chef’s Kitchen: Cime di Rapa: One Ingredient, Infinite Recipes with Julia della Croce Friday, April 25, 2014 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM (Eastern Time) La Scuola Grande at Eataly 200 Fifth Avenue – New York, New York 10010 (212) 539-0204 ext.304 $110 Class Description Cime di rapa; broccoletti; rapini, rape, friarielli…here is a vegetable dear to the hearts of the southern and central Italians. Loved for its pungent and spicy character, its brilliant pairing with pork or lamb; its affinity for pasta, potatoes, polenta, and egg dishes; or solo, sauteed simply in garlic […more…]

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Cooking with Julia: Master Class on Rapini at Eataly - April 25th

The Magical Gluten-Free Cookie: A Rosquilla Lesson, Step-by-Step

Posted by Julia della Croce at 10:50 pm 3 Responses »

Feb 242014

Following up on my recent story in Zester Daily about delicious corn masa cookies I discovered in Nicaragua, we took photographs of the method in hopes that you’ll find them as easy to make as I did. Sweet rosquillas are Nicaragua’s answer to shortbread, but wheat-free. Both sweet and savory versions of mass-produced rosquillas are ubiquitous in the markets and on street corners all around the country. Peddlars hawked them at the bus terminal where we started our journey but they are not the same as those I learned to make in El Lagartillo. I have no doubt that the national obsession with this […more…]

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The Magical Gluten-Free Cookie: A Rosquilla Lesson, Step-by-Step

Julia’s Sweet Potato Gnocchi Recipe Airs on NPR

Posted by Julia della Croce at 10:45 pm 4 Responses »

Feb 212014

If you missed it, click on the logo below to hear my broadcast on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” The lead: For 27 years, Julia made her gnocchi with sweet potatoes, mixing an American staple into the classic recipe. “Here I was, one foot in the new world and one foot in Italy, where my family is from, and they seemed perfect for gnocchi. Why not?” And in all that time, her dumplings were sweet, served with a hazelnut butter sauce, and — most importantly — a lovely shade of orange. This is one way I serve them–American style–alongside roasted duck. […more…]

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Julia's Sweet Potato Gnocchi Recipe Airs on NPR

Julia’s Sweet Potato Gnocchi Broadcast Update: on NPR today at 4:20 p.m.

Posted by Julia della Croce at 1:58 pm 4 Responses »

Feb 202014

Tune in to “All Things Considered” at 4:20; broadcast scheduled for 4:25 EST. Listen in! Video: Gabriella della Croce, with thanks to Joan Gussow

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Julia's Sweet Potato Gnocchi Broadcast Update: on NPR today at 4:20 p.m.

Julia on NPR Radio: “Found Recipe”–Sweet Potato Gnocchi to Brighten Your Winter

Posted by Julia della Croce at 4:11 pm 4 Responses »

Feb 192014

February, with its serial blizzards and record-shattering low temperatures has been a cruel month for New Yorkers. At the farmers market, such as it is, there are root vegetables galore, potatoes that have been in storage since fall, and not much else. In truth, it’s the best time for pillowy sweet potato gnocchi, which are best made when the tubers are not freshly harvested and brimming with moisture. My friend and neighbor, Joan Gussow, grows her own sweet potatoes and we made them together on a recent blustery day along with my two daughters in her light-filled kitchen on the […more…]

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Julia on NPR Radio: "Found Recipe"--Sweet Potato Gnocchi to Brighten Your Winter

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