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August 16, 2016 by Gina Stipo Leave a Comment

August Palio of Siena

The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin on August 15 is a national holiday in Italy and throughout most of Europe, and many Europeans go on vacation around this time – which is why so many places are closed when you take an August vacation to Italy! But in Siena, Tuscany, the feast of ferragosto has special significance to the Sienese: the city has been dedicated to the Madonna del Assunta since the middle ages and the exceptional horse race known as the Palio has been run in her honor on August 16 for over 300 years.

Throughout Siena’s long history, the Madonna of the Assumption has protected the Sienese people. From the victory over Florence in the battle of Monteperti on September 4, 1260 to World War II and the present day, the Sienese have begged for and received divine protection and have dedicated themselves to honoring the Virgin. So the Palio run in her honor on August 16 is special and the winning contrada – neighborhood of Siena competing in the race – streams into the cathedral after the race, waving their colors, beating the drums and singing a Te Deum of thanksgiving to the Virgin.

The palios held in Siena in medieval times were horse races that started outside the city and ended at the Duomo, in addition to competitions and mock battles held in the Piazza del Campo. The first Palio run as we know it today – 3 times around the Piazza del Campo on a temporary dirt track – was run on July 2^nd in the 1650’s and the August palio was added in 1701. Ten neighborhoods of Siena compete with each other in a race that takes 1 minute and 15 seconds. The winning contrada gets to claim the drappellone, a silk banner especially painted for each race, as well as bragging rights to the victory. The banners are beautiful pieces and always have the image of the Madonna and the ten contrada colors or symbols that are competing in that race.

It is an exciting time in Siena during the days of the Palio. A week before the race the dirt is put on the piazza track and the Sienese say “C’e’ la terra in Piazza”, which literally means “the dirt is in the Piazza” but figuratively means “life begins again, hope begins again.” Four days before the race the horses are chosen and then assigned to each of the ten competing contrade and trial races are run both morning and evening leading to the actual race at 7 pm on August 16^th.

The night of August 15 is a festive night with a special dinner in each contrada’s piazza featuring lots of singing, celebrating and hopes for a victory, or at the very least defeat for your enemy! On the afternoon of the race the horse and jockey enter the contrada church and are blessed by the contrada priest before taking part in the historic medieval parade, winding through the streets of Siena and ending in the Piazza. All 17 contrade participate in the parade and at the very end the palio banner enters on a cart pulled by six white oxen to lots of cheering and clapping! You can feel the emotions increasing and running high – thousands of people are packed into the Piazza with thousands more crowding every window and balcony.

When we took a group to the Palio two years ago we had perfect seats on a balcony that gave us a great vantage point for watching the start and finish of the race, as well as the crazy excitement that happens as the winning contrada celebrates, hoisting high the jockey, waving the Palio banner and hugging and kissing the horse and each other. We were fit in like sardines on our balcony, but we didn’t mind because the view was so wonderful. Oh, and we had refreshments…and a bathroom.

Nothing can compare to participating in the Days of the Palio with an insider like Gina. In 2017 we’re planning to take a group to the August Palio – the Selva (the contrada that Gina is a member of) will be running! If you’re interested, let Mary know and she’ll get you on the list! We limit our group to 10 people.

To listen to the race on the 16^th August at 7 pm, Italian time – click here. You can also watch after the race on YouTube.com (google 16 Agosto Palio of Siena 2016).

April 19, 2016 by Gina Stipo 3 Comments

Why does every food writer and recipe I read in the US call for kosher salt? It’s so prevalent I find myself wondering who is behind the big push for Americans to be better cooks by using kosher salt? I was reading the recent NYTimes article “The Single Most Important Ingredient” by Samin Nosrat who wrote “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat”, and was super excited to see what she said about salt! Because it truly IS the single most important ingredient you can use. And there it was – she advocated kosher salt. I was crushed.

Allow me to clarify a few things:

Kosher salt, used exclusively in the US, does not equal whole sea salt. Sea salt is made up of sodium choride (about 85%), as well as dozens of naturally-occurring minerals that help to temper and balance the sodium, both on the palate and in the body. Kosher salt goes through a process that strips all these minerals, leaving 99% sodium to which a chemical is added as an anti-caking agent. It’s called “kosher” because when koshering meat you needed to use a large kernel of salt, not the fine stuff that would melt. So, kosher salt has large kernels, what they call “grosso” in Italian or “gros” in French.

I lived in Italy for 13 years, long enough for my palate to change. After a few years, when I would return to the US for a visit, I was struck by how the addition of kosher salt adds acrid and bitter notes to any dish. The Culinary Institute of America did a study that reflected this surprising development in their quest for taste differences in various whole sea salts; I’m on the hunt for that study and will post it as soon as I can get my hands on it.

This denatured salt is then chemically laced to reduce clumping. It renders a product far inferior to natural, whole sea salt. I call it a “dead salt”. Kosher salt certainly should not be used in trying to reproduce authentic world cuisine, such as the Saveur magazine article on arab influences on the Italian island of Sicily. Here is a recipe from the city of Trapani on the west coast of Sicily, where they’ve been farming salt since the ancient Phoenicians 5000 years ago, and yet the Saveur recipe calls for kosher salt! Why? Salt from Trapani is a main export from Sicily and it’s available in the US – in grocery stores (Alessi brand), at TJMAXX, Home Goods and Italian specialty shops near you!

There is farmed whole sea salt available in the US from around the world: France, Spain, Brazil. But even salt mined from a mountain, such as beautiful Himalayan pink salt from the mountains of Pakistan, was once a sea 10-100 million years ago.

Well I for one have had enough and am on a crusade to fight kosher salt and help whole sea salt find its place in America’s kitchen. Join me! Buon Appetito!

https://www.attheitaliantable.com/kosher-salt-us/

December 21, 2015 by Gina Stipo 2 Comments

Feast of the Seven Fishes

The holiday celebration of the Feast of the Seven Fishes is considered by many non-Italians to be the quintessential Italian Christmas Eve festivity, but in fact it’s much more of an Italian-American tradition. The custom of having no meat comes from the Catholic church’s restrictions on eating meat during advent, and with the abundance of fisherman and fish from the coastal regions of the peninsula, the last day of advent being Christmas Eve, the tradition took hold of eating an elaborate fish dinner before meat returned to the table on Christmas Day.

Since a great majority of immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries came from the coastal cities of Naples and Palermo, the custom of eating fish morphed into a feast of many courses of fish and seafood and entered the Italian American vernacular as the Feast of the Seven Fishes, the accepted way to celebrate the holiday in Italian style.

In my family, where my grandparents came from mountainous areas of southern regions (Potenza in Basilicata and Avellino in Campania), we celebrated with cheese ravioli in tomato sauce followed by a large baked fish and finished with platters of fried pastries. Christmas Eve to me meant my grandma’s fried struffoli drizzled with honey and fried chestnut and cocoa ravioli drenched in powdered sugar. Outside grandma’s house, my family has always celebrated with a huge platter of spaghettini tossed with seafood: rock shrimp, lobster or shrimp, roasted in garlic and herbs – all accompanied by copious amounts of wine!
This year in my new osteria in Louisville, At the Italian Table, we will be celebrating the Feast of the Seven Fishes in the days leading up to and following Christmas. Tiny fried shrimp and calamari, scallop shells baked with seafood, bread crumbs and herbs, drizzled with great Sicilian olive oil; mussels steamed in white wine and tomato, served on toasted bruschetta doused in the new Tuscan olive oil; baked snapper or branzino, drizzled with lemon and orange olive oil from Sorrento – a full evening of delicious southern Italian fish dishes and crisp wines to complement them.
Here’s my recipe for Calamari Arabbiata – squid simmered in tomato and hot peppers – delicious served with bruschetta! Buon Appetito and Buon Natale a tutti!!

Calamari o Polpo con Sugo Arabbiata (squid or baby octopus in spicy tomato sauce)

2 lbs squid, cleaned and sliced into rings and tentacles; or baby octopus

3 garlic cloves

olive oil

hot peppers flakes to taste

2 cups crushed tomato

1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

1/2 cup white wine

Sauté the garlic in the olive oil gently, add the hot peppers and half the parsley and cook a few minutes, being careful not to brown the garlic. Add the squid or baby octopus and sauté until coated with the garlic and parsley. Add the wine, allow it to cook off and then add the tomato and simmer for 30 minutes, salting to taste. Sprinkle the remainder of the parsley over the dish and serve with bruschetta.

Bruschetta: toast slices of heavy country loaves (the best in the US is Tuscan Pane from Trader Joe’s) until golden brown, gently drag a single clove of garlic over the toast and drench in great extra virgin olive oil.

October 23, 2015 by Gina Stipo Leave a Comment

Winter Squash in all its Golden Glory

I think winter squashes are glorious. They come in beautiful sleek packages and when you cut them open they are a glorious golden orange – alive and shining! And we have so many varieties now: butternut, acorn, spaghetti, delicata, Hubbard, pumpkin – both jack-o-lantern and pie – and some intriguing ones I don’t know the names of. Lots of pumpkins are sold in October to make into Jack-o-Lanterns, but they are delicious on the table as well.

In Italy they grow winter squash and the relatively new pumpkin as big as possible and then sell them at the market by the slice, allowing you to buy just how much you think you need. This certainly eliminates waste and encourages use. But I’ve noticed that here in the US they cultivate smaller sizes – people don’t want to purchase more than they’ll eat.

My all-time favorite squash is the Hubbard because there’s so much meat and it’s so versatile: you can make delicious soups and stuffed pastas, but it’s also great just roasted and pureed.

My new favorite this year is delicata! Elongated and striped, it’s a beautiful little squash, just right for one or two people. I cut them in half long-wise and roast them in the oven cut side down with a little water and olive oil in the bottom of the pan. When they’re soft, scoop the meat out and dress it with sea salt, butter or olive oil, and a good grating of nutmeg. What more could you want on a chilly fall evening!

A really luscious stuffed pasta is the traditional Tortelli di Zucca of northern Italy. Made with roasted and pureed squash, nutmeg, salt and parmigiano, it’s perfect in a simple butter sage sauce. Once you’ve pureed the pumpkin just be sure to wrap it in a cloth and squeeze all the water out; otherwise your stuffing is too wet and will destroy its pasta wrapping.

Enjoy the bounty of the fall season and Buon Appetito!

Ravioli di Zucca Gialla con Burro Salvia (winter squash ravioli w/ sage butter)
2 cups butternut or acorn squash
3/4 cup Parmigiano cheese, grated
1 egg
½ teas ground nutmeg
½ teas sea salt
pepper
bread crumbs, finely ground
Bake the squash in a 350° oven until soft. Let cool, scoop it out and mash it with a fork in a bowl until smooth. Place the pulp in a cheesecloth or linen towel, twist the ends together and squeeze as much water out as possible. Add remaining ingredients, mixing well;add bread crumbs if the mixture is still wet. It’s important that the filling not be wet or the ravioli will be more difficult to handle. Cook the ravioli for 2 minutes in boiling water that has been well salted.

Burro Salvia
1 stick unsalted butter
10 sage leaves
½ teas sea salt
Melt the butter in a sauté pan while the ravioli are cooking, add the sage leaves and salt. When the ravioli are cooked, scoop them out and place them in the sauté pan, stirring gently to coat. Serve with a generous garnish of grated Parmigiano cheese and be sure to eat the sage leaves.

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