Keeping it Italian: 'A Past' Asciutt' Pt 1

Misconception Americans have about Italian food #32b, Section 2:

Fresh pasta is superior/preferred to dried pasta, the latter being merely a convenient substitute for the unskilled and lazy.

Many times I have heard people say, "But fresh pasta is definitely better." Well, not exactly. I will start by saying that fresh pasta is a more Northern tradition, while dried pasta is a more Southerly thang.

The absolute Mecca for fresh pasta is without a doubt, Emilia-Romagna. That being said, all regions, no matter their Latitudinal persuasion, boast their own fresh pasta. (In Naples, they have eggless scialatielli, made with regular flour and water, typically dressed with frutti di mare...yum!)

Dried and fresh pasta have two very different but equally important uses. For example, no Italian in her right mind would EVER make a puttanesca with fresh pasta (click here to read DoBianchi's excellent history on this misunderstood sauce). On the other hand, who ever heard of dried ravioli? Spaghetti/penne with fresh tomatoes would not be the same without perfectly al dente, high-quality dried pasta.

Since I am a girl of the south, on both sides of the Atlantic, we'll concentrate on the latter. (In my series Keeping it Italian, we'll focus on how to get the good stuff right here at home.)

There are a few indicators of quality to help you navigate a grocery isle (stay away from anything that says "noodles" unless you're making Asian food, please.) The most important is the surface of the pasta, whatever shape it may be. It must-a to be ruvido (that means rough), not like sandpaper, but a bit like the fine side of a fingernail file. This helps the sauce adhere to the pasta, clinging to the hope of making your mouth happy.

Buy one of those bags of 79 cent "noodles" when you buy your good spaghetti. You'll feel the difference!

The second, which reveals itself only after cooking, is the integrity of the pasta. If it falls apart when you stir it with the sauce, it is too old. It may have been a fine bag of love in its prime, but it's a sign that your grocer isn't turning over his stock.

**Digression alert**
One more thing, and this is a personal preference, but I believe with my entire Texan being that all "cut" pasta (penne, ziti, rigatoni, etc) should be ridged, or rigata. There is nothing uglier than a plate of smooth penne, espesh when one or two are broken. Why have Lays when you can have Ruffles? Why would you forgo the extra fun of added texture for the flat and boring landscape of liscia (smooth)?

Back to business...

Must we spend 5-7 dollars a pound on Rustichella d'Abruzzo to get it right? Maybe. This is terrific pasta, but this starch's humble purpose in the kitchen becomes a luxury when it should be a nutritious and everyday option.

In most supermarkets you can find DeCecco, which is a fine product, though industrial, but I use it regularly. My favorite, however, is I SapORI di Napoli (this is a bit of a word-play, sapori means flavors, the capitalized ori is the plural of oro, which means gold). I found in this brand what I had been looking for since I returned from Italia. It's made in Caserta (just outside of Naples) and feels like a true artisan pasta.

Otherwise, Garofolo is great AND made in Gragnano. This Southern Italian town is home to panuozzi, eponymous fizzy red wine, and it is molto famous for its dried pasta...

Please stay tuned for Part 2 where we'll talk about cooking the pasta!

Happy Birthday Mom

So today is my mom's *%th birthday and this is the first time in years that I've been lucky enough to spend it with her. I wanted to post earlier with a picture of her, my sister, and me, but getting photo approval from the 3 of us would have been a miracle on the scale of organizing world peace.

I was faced with clenched-teeth threats such as, "I BETTER not find this on your blog tomorrow." Even the hint of death by Big Sister never fails to intimidate me.

If we had just taken one more, I'm sure that we would have looked like three luscious super models. Unfortunately, the home-made coconut cake staring at my dad through the camera lens turned him into an impatient 2 year-old with a world class sugar jones.

Oh well.

Happy birthday anyway, Mom. I love you :)

Ain't That the Truth

This is a brief exchange that took place between a student and me as I was looking over his shoulder at some recent prom pictures.

me: Is that the prom queen?

student: No.

me: Oh, I thought that was her because she's wearing a tiara.

student: No ma'am, they just all think they're queens.


And you know he's right :)

Very Smart and Totally Sincere Student Quoted

Very Smart and Totally Sincere Student: Are you our sub(stitute teacher)?

Me: Yes

Very Smart and Totally Sincere Student: You're too pretty to be a sub.

Me: Well...thank you! Flattery will get you everywhere.

See? This girl is smart, if not a bit myopic. Maybe this gig isn't so bad...

...HA! Gotcha.

Talking in Texan, Lesson Three

After last week's challenging footnote, I hope you're ready to move on. Here we go!

boll: boil, pronounced...well, "boll"
contextual example: We done ate 'bout 200 pounds of bolled crawfeesh thuther day.

thuther: the other, pronounced "thuuuuhther "
contextual example: (you may also see the example for boll)
Person A: You wont thiswin?
Person B: No, I wont thutherwin.

Do you smell that? I think my spell-checker is burning...

Talking in Texan, Lesson Two

So I hope that y'all have been practicing your new Texan vocabulary. Now that we have muhskeetas under our belts, let's learn some compound words.

mamanim: (noun, plural and/or singular) mom and them, as in your mother, or sometimes used to refer to one's entire family

Contextual Example:
Nephew: Uncle Ricky, can I have a coke?
Uncle: I don't know Brady, you better ask your mamanim.
Nephew: She said yes.
Uncle: Alright, what kahnyouwont (kind you want)?

Charmin', idn't** it?

**idn't: (contraction) meaning "is not", pronounced "idnt," soft on the d, and dropping the t. Sorry folks, stay with me. We have entered some complex, muhskeeta-filled dialectical territory here.

Talking in Texan, Lesson One

I've spoken to y'all before about how Italians pronounce our English words and now that I'm home visiting I would like to share with you how we Texans (Southeast, at least) like to pronounce our English words. This is the first in a series of vocabulary lessons that will have you speaking of the old republic like a true native.

Lesson #1

muhskeetahs: more commonly recognized as mosquitoes

Contextual example: "Well you jist cain't watch the game with awthese muhskeetas!"

See how easy it is!

Reunited

...and it feels so good."

I went to Austin last week. I lived there from 1995 until 2003, when I left for Italy. I love that city, but most of all I love the tacos. My friend woke me up Wednesday morning uttering the most beautiful words I've heard since someone taught me how to pronounce prosciutto:

"Tracie, I brought you some Taco Shack."

This, if you don't already know, is one thing I miss when I'm in Italy. And she showed up with a box of carne guisada, eggsbeansandcheese, sausageandegg, and...my all-time favorite:

POTATO.
AND.
CHORIZO.

With just a little bit of fresh and spicy salsa it's enough to make your stomach wonder what it ever did to deserve such a rude awakening, while making yo' mouth wonder what it ever did to deserve such pleasure.

And what could be more exciting than such sensory ambivalence? I don't know! Well, maybe I do. Whatever.

"We both are so excited 'cause we're-UH reunited hey hey..."

It's a Southern Thing

Mom: Do you want me to bring you a Coke?

Sister: Yeah.

Mom: What kind?

Sister: Dr. Pepper.

If you followed that, your Texanocity is officially confirmed.

He is SUCH an attention hog

Tobey Reed! 3/21/07, 7 lbs. 8 oz, 18.5 inches long (The metric system is SO overrated)

Proud siblings :)

Sshhh! Tobey-wan Kenobe is sleeping! (I couldn't help it. You know with an aunt like me, he doesn't stand a chance.)

Finally

My nephew will make his debut today! I went to the obstetrician yesterday with my sis and they found out that the stubborn little bugger was ready jump out feet first, so cesarean it is. We scheduled it for one-o-clock today and I couldn't be happier.

My sister is extremely disappointed that she will not have to live through yet another excruciating natural labor and delivery, which makes her about one sandwich short of a picnic if you ask me. Despite her high hopes for hours of pushing a large object through a small area, things will proceed surgically and we will see our new little guy this evening.

A domani!

What a Forecast

I was reading my March horoscope and here is a little snippet of my near future:

"...Uranus will be close to the Sun this month.."

Makes me want to say OUCH!

You knew this would happen

Yes, you knew that I couldn't resist writing about my sister's most adorable children, being that I'm here and all. On the way home from the airport the other day, my 5 year-old nephew Brady dropped another philosophical nugget (see the first one here), and it went like this:

Misty (my sister, talking to me): Brady is such a cut-up! You should see him...

Brady: Mama, if you make people laugh, they like you...really!

(Us laughing)

Brady: You know, if you tell 'em a joke, they'll be your friends.

You can't argue with that, can you? I knew I liked him for a reason...

Sana e Salva

I'm home! Despite being hassled by my own country's passport control, I made it out of the airport and into the hugs of my whole family.

Thanks for the well wishes, and I'll be back tomorrow :)