Ciao Italian Foodies!

[flyinfingers]

Tonight I made my turkey meataballas with sauce (cooked for hours).  Then I decided to stuff my artichokes today and steam them also for hours.  While I was stuffing them, I had to wonder where this family recipe comes from. 
I stuff ALL the leaves with garlic, parsley, then slightly drizzle olive oil all over them, then salt and pepper and steam them in a pot for a very long time (I think it depends on the ripeness of the artichoke because it seems to take forever at times)!
I have never seen this method of stuffed artichokes anywhere, like, on the food channels, so I was curious as to how our family came to stuff them in this manner.  Is this something that they do in Italy?  If so, which parts of Italy?   Grandma from Naples. Grandpa from Piennepennamonde (phonetic spelling).
Thanks!  Daddy is in heaven so I can't ask him, but he leaves me coins on a regular basis!   

[costicina]

It's an Italian recepit,, I know it very well!!!! But I don't know exactly the  region it cames from, probably South Italy,  maybe Puglia (they have a lot of delicious plates  with  vegetables).

You could also try a recepit from Rome, the 'Carciofi alla giudia' ('artichokes in the judaic manner"), a typical food of Roman Ghetto: you should put the artichokes for a very short time, upside-down, in a pan with a lot of very very hot oliv oil (but be sure it's extra vergine oil, the best quality): they get immediatly rosted and crispy, really delicious... and don't worry, in this way they don't absorb too much oil

Buon appetito!!!!

[flyinfingers]

Thanks!  I will look into that info!  I'm hungry!

[m1469]

I was looking for a different thread and found this one, and I think this thread should be super alive  !  My diet is going to be dedicated to Italian (along with some German influences) foods for awhile ... maybe quite awhile, in fact.  Delicious recipe, I declare!  Haven't tried it but I certainly might.  Right now I'm focused on some pastas and Italian meats ...

*wants cookbooks*

[m1469]

I might be pretty obsessed for awhile ...

Lunch

[m1469]

What is real bruschetta?  What I had in Italy is not like what they serve in the US and what I am finding in recipes.  Is there more than one way, or is there actually only one real way?

[pts1]

Such a pity, her "embroidery aria" morphed into "twelve sizes larger aria". LOL

[m1469]

I believe your behavior is rather quite the pity ...

[pianowolfi]

I believe your behavior is rather quite the pity ...

Indeed, his behaviour is pathetic and offensive. I wonder why the administration of this board does not react to my repeated reporting of his posts.

[pts1]

My... look at how fast the two of you jump in to scold with righteous indignation ... K and her Prince

I have a suspicion more went on in Italy than music...

You two feeling guilty about something you'd like to share?

[pianowolfi]

Yeah I feel so guilty that I didn't share this yet again:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=46348.msg505227#msg505227

I wondered where my hubcaps had gone.

Thal

I think it's hilarious 

[pts1]

Wolfi

You cannot have your hubcaps and spin them too!

Either its hilarious or offensive.

And after all.... its K who aspires to eat a diet befitting an Italian Tenor(ette)!

I merely bring it up.

[pianowolfi]

@pts1:

when I read some of your first posts it seemed like you had some valuable contributions to offer. But then you started to attack Marik and shortly afterwards m1469 ad hominem, and of course I have admittedly a sensitive point when it comes to those two personal friends of mine, and, re-reading your post history, I can't really find any objective reason for your often very agressive snipey attacks.

I am convinced that you had quite a bit to say about your motivations here:


https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=46708.msg510260#msg510260

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=46708.msg510253#msg510253

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=46702.msg508533#msg508533

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=46348.msg504801#msg504801

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=46348.msg504546#msg504546

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=46308.msg504161#msg504161

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=46308.msg504078#msg504078

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=46308.msg504063#msg504063

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=39668.msg503197#msg503197

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=39668.msg503154#msg503154

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=39668.msg502939#msg502939

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=46038.msg502797#msg502797

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=46038.msg502791#msg502791

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=39668.msg502781#msg502781

and here:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=45823.msg499761#msg499761


but you decided to delete your posts.

Often other posters would quote you, so a part of it still remains.

So, well, if you are not open and clear about your real motivations, how should indeed anyone here take your input seriously at all?

Just wondering.

[m1469]

And after all.... its K who aspires to eat a diet befitting an Italian Tenor(ette)!

I must admit that I was rather surprised to find out that I was losing and lost weight while I was in Europe.  I developed a different perspective on several points regarding all of that while I was away, and while I can't claim to know what it's actually like to be European as somebody who was born and raised there, I definitely developed a better insight on what it's been like to be an American.  

I am happily still eating a slice of bread with a smear of some brie/blue cheese and some Italian meat on top, as well as a cappuccino for breakfast.  Generally, my body seems to be craving Italian food, as we were served pasta while at the Festival for nearly every, single meal!  I really couldn't seem to go back to my old habits once I got back to the US and, as it turns out, I'm not the only one!  Some other individuals from the US who I befriended there, also couldn't get back to the old ways, and they bought foods they grew accustomed to for breakfast upon their return.  We'll see if the world stops turning or so because of it ...  

[goldentone]

I must admit that I was rather surprised to find out that I was losing and lost weight while I was in Europe.  I developed a different perspective on several points regarding all of that while I was away, and while I can't claim to know what it's actually like to be European as somebody who was born and raised there, I definitely developed a better insight on what it's been like to be an American.  

The losing weight is interesting in light of having pasta all the time.  (And all that pizza!)  

Better insight on what it's been like to be an American, yes.  When I went to Mexico, I was struck by how humble everyone was, and the contrast was great.  That was one facet I noticed.  Europe isn't Mexico, so I'm sure the backdrop of Europeans and European culture against yourself and American consciousness made other facets sparkle.

[oxy60]

I must admit that I was rather surprised to find out that I was losing and lost weight while I was in Europe.  

I am happily still eating a slice of bread with a smear of some brie/blue cheese and some Italian meat on top, as well as a cappuccino for breakfast.  

 and they bought foods they grew accustomed to for breakfast upon their return.  

I always loose weight in Europe even though I also have a car there. I just walk more. Parking is never close by and often it is better to leave the car well parked. In the US everything seems to be stretched out and we can park in front of the door of our destination.

I loved that breakfast in Europe but I can't make it work here. I'm always looking for another meal at 10:30. So I'm stuck doing a heavier breakfast so I don't run out of gas before lunch.

It's tricky buying those foreign foods, isn't it?

[m1469]

It's tricky buying those foreign foods, isn't it?

Well, it would be a lot trickier if the foods I was buying were specific to that area or even to the Country, but they aren't/weren't.  The pasta has been in our cupboard, it's just dry pasta from Costco, and the bread is just a French bread from a local grocery, the cheese and meat were just pretty normal finds in the deli.  But, I've weened myself off of it for now, as even the cheese and meats are not generally in our budget.  I'm falling back into "American" foods.

The losing weight is interesting in light of having pasta all the time.  (And all that pizza!)

Well, yes, pasta a lot.  Pizza not that much really except for one time out and once it was served at our "cafeteria."  Bruschetta, a little more .  One thing that I caught a perspective on, which I am seeing now was just a glimpse, is how a type of diet-oriented thinking and the numerous hangups/complications that get in the way seems to be quite American.  I didn't exactly experience it there, anyway, but obviously I don't have a full scope on Europe (or other Countries and Continents, for that matter).

[oxy60]

Well, it would be a lot trickier if the foods I was buying were specific to that area or even to the Country, but they aren't/weren't.  The pasta has been in our cupboard, it's just dry pasta from Costco, and the bread is just a French bread from a local grocery, the cheese and meat were just pretty normal finds in the deli.  

Yes, the basics also come from Costco (with whom I have a lot of personal connections) but getting the taste right involves certain ingredients from somewhere else. However if you poke around in their deli, you can find some of those cheeses from the old country.

For those special meats we shop at a German market.

[m1469]

Yes, the basics also come from Costco (with whom I have a lot of personal connections) but getting the taste right involves certain ingredients from somewhere else. However if you poke around in their deli, you can find some of those cheeses from the old country.

For those special meats we shop at a German market.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to when we go to Costco again because I know they have a selection of fresh pastas and some cheeses, and I think they have some Italian meats, too.  Two things that I had while in Europe, too, were gnocchi and some raviolis.  I had the raviolis in Vienna, actually, on my last night there which I just got from a (quite nice) grocery store deli.  I was having an extremely difficult time deciding to eat anything at all that evening, and after literally a few hours of calculating about it, I finally decided upon ravioli because it was one of the easiest things for me to order (I found myself feeling pretty intimidated about restaurants when I was on my own).  I pretty much thought it would taste like I've had in the US, but it didn't, it was completely different somehow and was the best ravioli I ever had (and I wasn't going to let the fact that I was in Europe convince me things were better than I had previously known, but this was truly better).  I never got some in Italy, unfortunately.  The gnocchi was something a friend ordered and it was rather amazing, also having mixed into it what I think was the soft cheese, specific to that region, which I fell in love with there.  Plus bacon  .  *SO* good ... I took a photo .  I'd like to make my own pastas and such, but the reality is that we'll probably keep getting dry stuff and sometimes some store bought fresh stuff.  Ah well  :-.

[m1469]

Some foods from Italy:

Gnocchi:


My dish:  Homemade egg noodles with things on it (I forget what):


Wolfi's:


My first gelato, called an "after eight" (it was mint):




aaaannnnnd, the pastry counter at my hotel's breakfast  :

[oxy60]

Thank you for the pictures m1469. I can remember the tastes clearly. That spaghetti with the cherry tomatoes had been forgotten and your picture will cause us to cook it up in the next few days.

btw After Eight is the company who makes that square chocolate mint stuck into your ice cream. The mints are available all over Europe and this is the first time I've seen one stuck into an ice cream. Cute!

[littletune]

Is that a bunny in a stroller?

You don't know After eights in America? really? that's so funny to me I buy that for my mum a lot of times or she gets them as presents from kids at preschool or something... we eat them a lot of times. 

[m1469]

Is that a bunny in a stroller?

Yeah  .  These funny girls would walk around the neighborhood near my hotel, with their bunnies in the strollers.  After seeing them a couple of times, I finally had to take a photo.

Okay, my "lunch" (but so far my only meal) for the day:



I'm WAY back to wanting almost only Italian food/diet (I rather loathe my old American diet).  For the small percentage of Italian in my heritage, I sure am connecting with it  .  We went to Costco and got some groceries for the next ... month.  My makeshift mini mozza balls are cut string cheeses ...  .  The green stuff is a little bit of pesto.

Here are some things that I realized; the US doesn't really have a "diet" ... it's eclectic, which is good in some respects, but there is not truly an American diet except for eating anything and everything (and there is some kind of epidemic about this), and it being "Americanized" if it's ethnic.  What I really enjoyed about traveling is seeing that, although there are varieties of restaurants and foods available, there are actually specific diets that are part of the culture.  It took me this long to put it into words, I guess because I'm not used to that.  I love the cohesiveness of that, and actually, it's less expensive to shop that way (so long as you go less expensive routes, like string cheese vs. little mozza balls) because it has some kind of logic to it vs. being some of everything and random at will.

So, I'm back to wanting my slice of bread and a smear of soft cheese and some Italian meat on top for breakfast, and I'm going even more Italian than when I first got back (no fresh pastas, we'll just make do with dry for now).  

Nope, didn't know about "after eights" thanks for telling me.  The US has its own mints like that called "Andes" and from what I understand, it serves basically the same function.  There are also "Thin Mints" which are even more similar to after eights, but taste quite a bit different, actually.  Somehow I like to compare even these small details of similarities and differences.  Traveling and learning is (unfortunately) extremely and deeply appealing and fulfilling to me, just as I suspected it would be.  I'm still learning so much from my experiences away (and I'm still figuring out what, exactly, I've even learned/experienced while I was away).  I want to travel the whole world  .

[m1469]

You don't know After eights in America? really? that's so funny to me

Well, now I wonder if they are here in the US  :-.  I looked it up on google and the box looks familiar.  Maybe they are even the thin mints I was thinking of when I talked about thin mints ... 

[cherub_rocker1979]

Dry pasta can be quite good. Just make sure it's made from Durum wheat, the hardest type of wheat--which is what is used in Italy and has a very high protein content.

And I saw your other post mentioning Ravioli.  I could be wrong but I don't think it's all that popular in Italy. Maybe our Italian forum members can confirm this.

[m1469]

Dry pasta can be quite good. Just make sure it's made from Durum wheat, the hardest type of wheat--which is what is used in Italy and has a very high protein content.

I don't know what kind it is, but when we buy more, I'll check it out!

And I saw your other post mentioning Ravioli.  I could be wrong but I don't think it's all that popular in Italy. Maybe our Italian forum members can confirm this.

Yeah, the restaurant we went to (from when I posted those photos), they had one ravioli dish and it was sold out  .

[oxy60]

 We went to Costco and got some groceries for the next ... month.  

Nope, didn't know about "after eights" thanks for telling me.  

At Costco it's food for a month and toilet paper for a year! Out trips there have gone from less than $100 to close to $300!

In Europe there are several makers competing for the mint fan. They are all good, each balanced differently. Here in the US the mint doesn't seem to have the edge of its European cousin.