Don Genova's Blog

All You Can Eat - Clam Digging Vol. 51

Join me for an excursion to Salt Spring Island in this edition of All You Can Eat, as I go clam digging with freelance journalist and author Tom Koppel.  Tom's latest book is called Ebb and Flow, Tides and Life on Our Once and Future Planet. It's a fascinating look at tides from many different historical, scientific, and yes, food angles.  You can order it from amazon.ca and save 37% by clicking on the link above.  You can see more photos of my excursion on my Facebook photo album.

Tom does a great job of taking what could be a very dry (pardon the pun) subject and breaks down the science into simple terms while throwing in many tales of his own adventures with tides around the world, include circumstances where the powerful flows nearly cost him his life.

In the second half of the podcast I visit The Lobster Man seafood shop on Vancouver's Granville Island with executive chef of The Fish House at Stanley Park Karen Barnaby.  Karen is the editor of Shellfish, The Cookbook, published by Whitecap Books, and if you don't want to dig in the mud or otherwise sully your hands at procuring your own shellfish, just go right to the recipes in this book, a compilation of many of the recipes published in Whitecap cookbooks over the past few years.  And you can save another 37% off the cover price by clicking on the link above and ordering from Amazon.ca.

Here's shot of Karen Barnaby with sacks of shellfish waiting to be loaded into the Lobster Man shop.  It's spot prawn season, so you might want to hurry down and grab a couple of pounds and find a good recipe from the book.  But why don't you download the podcast first and put it on your iPod so you an listen to it while you walk around the shop.

All You Can Eat - Trail of Crumbs vol. 50

In this episode of All You Can Eat, meet Kim Sunee, author of Trail of Crumbs, her story of being abandoned as a child in South Korea, and searching for a sense of her true self through the language of food.
You can listen directly to the podcast by clicking here.

Kim is currently the Food Editor of Cottage Living magazine and is based in Birmingham, Alabama, about as far away as you could get from her earlier lives in South Korea, New Orleans, Sweden, and France.  The book is a combination of memoir and recipes, the recipes at the end of each chapter drawing from her times in the places she lived during the formative years of her life.

You can click on this link to go to amazon.ca and order Kim's book, saving 37% off of the cover price.

All You Can Eat - Vol. 49 Anna Olson Saves the Day!

In this episode of All You Can Eat, Food Network Canada star Anna Olson helps me out of a jam by taking a shopping excursion and making suggestions for a great impromptu meal.

To listen to the podcast or subscribe to the feed, visit my podcast page.
Anna made some quick and easy Asiago Spinach squares for an appetizer, and gave me super suggestions for grilled leg of lamb, fresh green salad and rhubarb-apple crisp.  I'll be posting in more detail about this for foodtv.ca, and I'll link to that post, uh, when it gets posted!

You can watch Anna Olson's new show called 'Fresh' weekdays on Food Network Canada.

All You Can Eat Vol. 47 Had A Glass 2008

This week, a great new guide to choosing excellent wines.   The guide is called 'Had A Glass, Top 100 Wines for 2008 Under $20'.  The authors are James Nevison and Kenji Hodgson.  I took a tour of the Marquis Wine Cellar in Vancouver with them to talk about the book.

You can save 27% off of the cover price by clicking the link above and ordering through amazon.ca.  Me, my wife and my creditors will thank you for the small portion of the proceeds I receive from leading you to the sale.  Also in this podcast, a visit to the Food For Thought archives and February 2006.

In this episdode I talked about the resurgence of Slow Cookers as a method of cooking and featured recipes from a book by Judith Finlayson called The Healthy Slow Cooker. (Click on the link to purchase from Amazon.ca and save 37%!)

I haven't used a slow cooker in ages, but I've made 3 recipes from the book, all with great results.  Here's the one for Apple Oatmeal with Wheat Berries, a great way to wake up in the morning, with breakfast already made!

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups steel-cut oats

1/2 cup wheat berries

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 cups water

1 cup cranberry or apple juice

This works well in a small, slow cooker, but I used my large one and just cut the cooking time by a couple of hours.  First, grease the slow cooker stoneware with butter, margarine or oil.  In the cooker, combine the steel-cut oats, wheat berries, apples, cinnamon and vanilla.  Add water and juice.  Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or on Low for 8 hours or overnight.  When ready to serve, stir well, spoon into bowls and top with fruit, nuts or sugar of your choice.

My slow cooker is from Breville. The company is from Australia, and features excellent design along with sturdy construction. I already have an excellent electric grill/griddle combination I use for steaks, breakfasts, whatever!  Anyway, the slow cooker is finished in brushed stainless steel and looks so good you won't be embarassed to have it sit on your countertop, unlike the 'flowery' designs of the past.  That is, unless you're into retro.  This one retails for about 50-60 dollars, with a 5.3 quart capacity.  Now here's kind of a fun site from the original Crock-Pot company, Rival.  The link goes to a history of Crock-Pots, and guess what?  You can even order a slow cooker with your favourite NASCAR driver featured on the exterior!!!

I haven't used a slow cooker in ages, but I've made 3 recipes from the book, all with great results.  Here's the one for Apple Oatmeal with Wheat Berries, a great way to wake up in the morning, with breakfast already made!

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups steel-cut oats

1/2 cup wheat berries

2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 cups water

1 cup cranberry or apple juice

This works well in a small, slow cooker, but I used my large one and just cut the cooking time by a couple of hours.  First, grease the slow cooker stoneware with butter, margarine or oil.  In the cooker, combine the steel-cut oats, wheat berries, apples, cinnamon and vanilla.  Add water and juice.  Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or on Low for 8 hours or overnight.  When ready to serve, stir well, spoon into bowls and top with fruit, nuts or sugar of your choice.

My slow cooker is from Breville. The company is from Australia, and features excellent design along with sturdy construction. I already have an excellent electric grill/griddle combination I use for steaks, breakfasts, whatever!  Anyway, the slow cooker is finished in brushed stainless steel and looks so good you won't be embarassed to have it sit on your countertop, unlike the 'flowery' designs of the past.  That is, unless you're into retro.  This one retails for about 50-60 dollars, with a 5.3 quart capacity.  Now here's kind of a fun site from the original Crock-Pot company, Rival.  The link goes to a history of Crock-Pots, and guess what?  You can even order a slow cooker with your favourite NASCAR driver featured on the exterior!!!

All You Can Eat Vol. 46 Kitchen Gadgets 2007

This podcast is the second podcast featuring selection for kitchen gadgets and more for successful giftgiving.  Just go to my podcast page to find the link to the audio, and scroll down for more details.  Sorry I haven't had time yet to add all the photos, but at least you have the descriptions.

Before this list, a short programming note:

 Please be sure you have the correct feed address for All You Can Eat.  It should be: http://feeds.feedburner.com/AllYouCanEat. The show will soon be switching feeds, and if you're subscribed via Feedburner, you'll never miss an episode! (Once there, you can click on your podcatcher and be subscribed automatically)

To update your iTunes settings manually, click on "Advanced", then "Subscribe to Podcast", and type in the feedburner URL, http://feeds.feedburner.com/AllYouCanEat , and you're good to go. I’ll put all this info on my podcast page on my website, don genova dot com, so just head there while you’re listening to check your feeds.

 

Fontaine Wong from Ming Wo Cookware in Vancouver is my guide.  And if you can't find these things where you live, she'll be happy to mail order them for you.  When you go to the website, make sure you contact the Chinatown store on East Pender Street.

Tender Press      $19.95        Fusion
-    gentle way to tenderize and flatten meat without
-    pounding , stabbing or using chemicals. 
By using a rolling motion ( like a rolling pin with tender teeth)
it reduces tearing and eliminates meat juice splatter.
The teeth tenderizes the meat and the bars flatten the meat.

Skrub’a       
Practical multi purpose nylon Scrubbing glove for removing dirt from potatoes and carrots and other vegetables.  Rinse after use, wring and hang dry.
Machine wash warm water or top rack dishwasher safe.
$12.95
* works great on golf balls too*

Gourmet Masher       $28.98      Chef Jamie Gwen
What makes the gourmet masher so special?
Innovative design of diamond shaped cutting tines/ blades
and a soft comfort grip handle makes preparing food a breeze.
Food doesn’t stick to the blades like other mashers.
It effortlessly mashes, rices and whips potatoes in 60 seconds.
Works with vegetables, egg salad, baby food and more…
and even blending berries for jams and jellies.
Allows for greater control over texture and food consistency.
Simply press the Gourmet Masher straight down through
the hot cooked potatoes / vegetables.

Gourmet Pastry Pro    $28.98
Designed to cut through flour and even cold butter .  No need to
Pre-sift your flour.  Just toss your ingredients into a bowl and
in seconds you get the precise consistency you need for pastry.
Dishwashersafe
Rigid stainless frame
Soft Comfort grip handle

Poach Pod        by Fusion         $12.95 pair
Simple to use and clean
Floats in water during cooking
Just crack a raw egg and pour into an oiled  pod
and place it in a pan of simmering  water until desired firmness
Simply run a spoon around the edges and gently remove the egg.
You can use to bake, mold and even make ice treats.
Great for melting butter or chocolate.

Buzz Buzz   2 in 1 Electronic Mill       Cole & Mason
Reg $79.95    Spec $63.99
Unique battery operated mill has two diamond sharp ceramic mechanisms for grinding salt and pepper.
Simply slide the top button  to choose salt or pepper and press.
Fully adjustable mechanisms for fine to coarse grind.
Viewing windows so you can tell when to refill.
Stylish Brushed stainless steel body
Batteries included    6 x AAA

U-select Peugeot Pepper/Salt Mills      
Takes the guesswork out of grinding pepper or salt.
U-select allows for the perfect degree of grind,
With 6 Pre-set levels for grind for pepper or salt.
Just adjust the mill to your preferred grind and
turn.

BREVILLE IKON BLENDERS
Patented Hemisphere 6 blade system, powerful enough to crush ice into snowlike consistency, while still making smoothies, pesto, and mayonnaise.

The revolutionary blade system is designed to hug the base of the bowl, therefore eliminating any food traps.   This prevents lumps in smoothies and cocktails, so that ingredients are shredded into fine and even particles.

Varies from 600, 750, 1000 watt motors.
5 speeds The 600 model offers a Pulse  & LCD countdown display.
550Xl  unit Reg $179.99   Spec. $139.99
600XL unit  Reg $229.99  Spec $179.99
800XL unit  Reg  $299.99  Spec $249.99

Breville Ikon Removable Plate Grill
Reg $199.99   Spec $149.99
1800 Watt element
2 removable ribbed plates for easy cleaning
1 extra flat Quantanium non-stick plate
Variable temperature control
12 x 11”
Adjustable grilling height control is a unique feature that
reduced the weight put on delicate foods like fish or bread
and you can set it high enough for making open melts.
Fat reducing angled grill plates and removable drip trap
It’s now easy for everyone to be chef.

Garlic Zoom    by Chef’n             $12.95
Garlic Chopper
Takes the odour out of chopping garlic.  Simply fill a peeled clove and roll.  The stainless steel blades chop peeled garlic into perfect chunks.

The GRID                        $11.98          Silicone Zone
Potholder, trivet, Jar Opener  3 in 1
Pliable, soft  silicone square, with airy grid pockets to keep protect your
hands when picking up hot items. 
Versatile usages.  Safe up to 675 degrees F, Dishwashersafe

SQUID whisk            $14.98     Chef’s Planet
Squid like shape, thick legs with rounded ends works wonders in a bowl
Design aerates mixtures in half the time of other whisks.  Eggs, cream and
any cold whisking task.
Put this on your Whisk List
Dishwashersafe   top rack

Drip-Less Collar      $3.50
Keeps your messy spoon or fork off the table.
Unique collar prevents messes by keeping your utensil tool heads off
the counter or falling into the pot.   Hinged design with magnet for easy attachment to the tool handle.

“Zoo Friends”  Pancake Pan           $35.98        Nordicware
Have fun making and eating these cute pancakes
Makes 7 – 3”  pancakes with fun animal icons.  Durable cast aluminum
with a non-stick finish for quick release and easy clean-up

Fridge Fresh           $9.98
All natural odor and moisture absorber
Absorbs all odors and moisture inside your fridge .
Prevents cross contamination of food smells and flavors
Keeps fruits and vegetables fresher and longer
Leave in place for one to three months
Recharge by placing in direct sunlight for 8 hours or outdoors in fresh air for 10 days to recharge. Reusable, Non-toxic, unscented and environmentally friendly
Main ingredient is a naturally occurring mineral formed through volcanic activity.
The minerals are molecular sponges with large internal cavities, where molecules can be absorbed. Odors have positive charges and Naturzaire products have negative charges.
Good news is opposites attract!

Bodum Travel Press       $12.50    Spec  $9.99
Have your favorite coffee or tea wherever you go.
Add ground coffee or tea leaves, hot water, press and enjoy.
Holds 16 oz of keeps beverages warm for up to 2 hours
Use coarse ground coffee for optimum results approx 2 tbsp
And water according to your personal taste

For Life “ Tea Infuser”          $17.98
Turn you mug to “tea for one” anytime
Perfect for brewing loose whole leaf tea
Mesh bottom allows for smooth tea flow.
Lid doubles as a coaster.
Stainless steel and silicone construction

Cupcooley       $4.95       FusionBrands
Reusable silicone cup cozy, fits standard cup
sizes.  Heat resistant & slip resistant
flexible and collapsible.

Munchlers Insulated Lunch Bags       $11.98         BUILT
Whimsical and practical lunch bags.  Made of lead and food safe polypropylene.
Unzips to a flat placemat.  Save hundred of bags over the year.
Fun Animal Characters.

Gourmet Getaway Insulated Lunch Tote.    $29.98   Spec $14.99   BUILT
Great for carrying all kinds of objects besides food.
Neoprene material keep things cool or warm for up to 4 hours

All You Can Eat - Tribute to James Barber vol. 45

This episode of All You Can Eat is a tribute to the late James Barber, also known as The Urban Peasant.  He passed away Nov. 29th at age 84. James was a mentor, colleague, neighbour and friend.  I'll miss him.

In the podcast you will hear a lengthy interview with James I conducted in October or November of 2006, as I was getting ready to go to Italy and his latest cookbook, One Pot Wonders, James Barber's recipes for Land and Sea was being promoted.  While we talked about the book, we also spent quite a bit of time talking about his earlier years in England and France and how he ended up being a restaurant reviewer and cookbook author. 

I left for Italy and while I had the interview with me, I never ended up using it.  So, it is being heard for the first time on this podcast. To listen to this podcast directly, click here for the audio file, or visit my podcast page on my website to subscribe.  If you would like to pay tribute to James, you can comment on the bottom of this blog entry, or go to his website, where your thoughts are also being accepted. 


This episode of All You Can Eat was brought to you in part by Hamilton Beach, makers of the Eclectrics line of kitchen appliances.  Check out the great all-metal stand mixers at www.hamiltonbeach.com or www.hamiltonbeach.ca.You can also find all of your website hosting and design needs at my other sponsor, www.godaddy.com.  You can save on the products there by entering the code eat1 when you check out.

All You Can Eat Vol. 44 - One Pot Italian Cooking

This week on All You Can Eat I welcome Massimo Capra into my 'Test Kitchen'.  Massimo is the author of One Pot Italian Cooking, and the owner of two Toronto Italian restaurants, Mistura and Sopra. 

You can order the book by clicking here to follow through to amazon.ca and save 37% off the cover price! 

In the kitchen, Massimo guided me through his braised rabbit with apricots and tomatoes; earlier I made some tasty back ribs cooked with julienned cabbage.

This episode of All You Can Eat was brought to you in part by Hamilton Beach, makers of the Eclectrics line of kitchen appliances.  Check out the great all-metal stand mixers at www.hamiltonbeach.com or www.hamiltonbeach.ca.

You can also find all of your website hosting and design needs at my other sponsor, www.godaddy.com.  You can save on the products there by entering the code eat1 when you check out.

All You Can Eat - Two Meatballs, Vol. 43

Okay, that's more than two meatballs you see here, but this podcast is about four chefs putting their best meatballs forward in a somewhat impromptu competition at Barbara-jo's Books to Cooks in Vancouver.

The Two Meatballs in the title are Mark Strausman and Pino Luongo, chef/partners in Italian restaurants in New York City.  They have just published a new cookbook called 'Two Meatballs'.

The cookbook goes much further than meatballs, but I have to admit, after watching these guys cook their favourite meatball recipes, I've been inspired to make more of my own.  You can order Two Meatballs via this link to amazon.ca and save 37% off the cover price.  You can see a few more pictures of the 'guys with balls' on my Facebook album.

This episode of All You Can Eat was brought to you in part by Hamilton Beach, makers of the Eclectrics line of kitchen appliances.  Check out the great all-metal stand mixers at www.hamiltonbeach.com or www.hamiltonbeach.ca.

You can also find all of your website hosting and design needs at my other sponsor, www.godaddy.com.  You can save on the products there by entering the code eat1 when you check out.

All You Can Eat, Vol. 42 - One Smart Cookie

This woman is One Smart Cookie!  She is Julie Von Rosendaal, and she helped me bake healthier cookies on this edition of All You Can Eat.  Julie has a blog, as well, so if you want to check out what's going on in her crazy cookie-cutter life, check out Julie Was Here.
Listen to the podcast by clicking here. 

Oh yeah, the contest winner from All You Can Eat. vol. 40 is Debbie Vargo!  She picks up a copy of Cinda Chavich's 'The Guy Can't Cook'.



One Smart Cookie is an updated version of the original version Julie wrote several years ago.  I like this book a lot, as it's one of those cookbooks that have you saying as you page through it, "oh, I want to make that, and those, and these, too!"

You can order the cookbook through Amazon.ca by clicking here, and you'll help me support the costs of this blog while saving 37%!

This episode of All You Can Eat was brought to you by Hamilton Beach, makers of the new Eclectrics line of home appliances.  Here you can see the fantastic looking and working Apple Green Standmixer I used in this episode.  To find out more about this mixer and other appliances in the line, American listeners should go to Hamilton Beach.com, while Canadian listeners can visit Hamilton Beach.ca.

All You Can Eat is a member of the Culinary Media Network, where we have a cookie baking challenge on the go, so make sure you listen to the podcasts of other members. 

All You Can Eat is also brought to you in part by www.godaddy.com, where you can find all your web domain needs.  Go shopping there and enter codes eat1, eat2 or eat3 to save.

All You Can Eat - The Guy Can't Cook!

On this episode of All You Can Eat I welcomed Calgary cookbook author Cinda Chavich to my test kitchen.  We chatted and I cooked a couple of dishes from her latest book, The Guy Can't Cook, a super collection of recipes that even the most challenged of cooks can handle. To listen to the podcast, click here.

During the podcast you will hear details of how you can win a copy of Cinda's book!

And to see some more photos of the dishes we cooked, you can view an album on my Facebook page.  To save money on your website needs, check out www.godaddy.com.  When you finish shopping, enter code eat3 for savings.

All You Can Eat Vol. 38 -Sustainable Seafood

This edition of All You Can Eat is all about Sustainable Seafood.  In this show you will hear 2 documentaries.  One is about  Red Fish, Blue Fish, a great new take out fish and chips and more place on the Victoria, BC waterfront.  You can get all the info on Red Fish, Blue fish by going to this blog entry for the documentary.  The picture at right shows some of the most delicious anchovies I have ever eaten at Slow Fish in Genova earlier this year.

You can see the blog entry for Slow Fish here. As you will hear in the podcast, it was weird to go to a city and see your last name plastered everywhere!  But the Italian pronunciation is different from the way we say it here in Canada, where we put the emphasis on the second syllable instead of the first, like they do in Italy.  On the above blog entry, you will also find many links to websites concerning sustainable seafood.

Someone else I met and interviewed was Anne Mosness, from Bellingham, Washington. She fished in the Gulf of Alaska for 28 years, now is part of the Go Wild Campaign and was also distributing some fact sheets from the Food and Water Watch.

And for a great book that lays out all the pros and cons about the salmon farming industry, check out Peter A. Robson's Salmon Farming, the Whole Story.

All You Can Eat - Back Home in Canada Vol. 37

Well.  After nine months of living in Italy, studying for a Masters of Food Culture at the University of Gastronomic Sciences near Parma, I have completed my class work and have returned to Vancouver. (that's me and my wife Ramona on the Stanley Park Seawall)  I'm still working on my final project, and will return to Italy for a week in November to present my project and graduate.

In the meantime, I'm back in the podcast saddle again.  This edition of All You Can Eat features three of the documentaries I did for CBC Radio in the last few months of my Italian sojourn, and includes reports from a barrel-making factory in Burgundy, the public market system in Barcelona, and food highlights over the year as related by some of my classmates.  Click here to listen to the mp3 of the podcast or subscribe to the feed, or here to find a link on the Podshow network.  Don't forget I'm part of the Culinary Podcast Network, where you will find more great audio and video on food.

All You Can Eat Vol36 - Classic Crete

This week on All You Can Eat, I take you to the Greek island of Crete where I experienced an excellent week full of culinary tourism.  In the program you will hear two of my Food For Thought documentaries, then a feature interview with the man who was our guide for these amazing adventures.

One day we started our morning atop a mountain where shepherds (or are they goatherds?) were milking their herd of goats.
On top of the mountain there are no milking machines, not even any electricity to run them if there were!  Instead, the men use highly trained dogs to round up the goats from wherever they are on the mountain, then herd them into a pen, pushing them forward so the men can grab them and milk them by hand, rapidly squirting the milk into a large can set into a concrete holder.

Here are my classmates MJ, Bronwen and Betsy enjoying some fresh cheese and raki.  This was all taking place at about 10am, and raki is a fairly powerful liquor, somewhat like Italian grappa.  Hour of the day means little to the Cretans, however.  When I met the grandmother of the man whose place I was staying at around 8 one morning, she quickly offered me a shot of grappa.  Since I had already imbibed what seemed like 25 shots in two days of our trip, I graciously declined.

From the mountain we descended a few minutes into a village where the local cheese makers process the milk we had just seen being obtained from the goats.  They make several kinds of fresh and aged cheeses there, which we got to taste...along with more raki!

Just when we thought we had had enough drinking for the day, and were chock full of cheese, it was back into our vans to visit another tiny mountain village...where the whole complement of villagers was waiting for us.

The typical dress for the men of Bis-dye-ee (phonetic spelling) are these hunter-style pants, usually black or tan, and black shirts, with a sharp knife stuck into their waistbands.

Before we went inside the village community hall we were treated to the sight and smell of goat roasting beside hot coals.  This is a traditional way of roasting meat in Crete, skewering the meat on spikes and resting it on stakes pounded into the ground so the fat drips away from the meat without creating flare-ups.

When we were finished with the greetings outside, we trooped inside the village community centre to see a massive display of foods lining the perimeter of a large room. Each woman in the village had brought a different traditional dish for us to try.... over 40 in total.  There were pastries made with homemade strawberry and apricot jams, tiny fried pastry pockets filled with sweet cheese, savory pockets stuffed with spinach or wild greens, pork with wild greens, cured olives, umpteen artichoke dishes, rabbit and much more.  There was no way we could try everything, but we did our best, along with tasting as many homemade wines that were pressed upon us.

The days that you hear about in the documentaries are a prime example of the kind of culinary tourism Kostas Bouyouris wants to bring to Crete.  As you saw on my blog last week, Kostas is an agronomist who is also involved with a Soil Health association and culinary tourism.  He was with our class for the entire week and really gave us an authentic taste of Cretan life, not just through the food, but the music, art and above all, the people.  If you are interested in reading more about what Kostas is involved in, visit the Mediterranean Association for Soil Health website. Much of the English side of the site is under construction, but there is an email address to contact for further information.  For culinary tourism on Crete, which I highly recommend you experience at some point in your life, visit the Agrion Terra website.

SPECIAL BONUS FEATURE!!!  My classmate Marta loves taking portraits, both posed and candid of all of us when we are on our field trips, or 'stages' as they are known in our program.  I downloaded some software called Photoshow which allows you to mix music and photos together with some special effects, and so I sifted through all the photos and put together "Classic Crete" .  It is a .wmv file and hopefully it will just start playing in whatever player you have on your computer once enough of it has downloaded. The file is about 50 megabytes.  Enjoy!

All You Can Eat is brought to you in part by GoDaddy.com, a domain and webhosting company. And to take advantage of GoDaddy.com offers such as 10 percent off any order, use this code when you check out:  eat3

One day we started our morning atop a mountain where shepherds (or are they goatherds?) were milking their herd of goats.
On top of the mountain there are no milking machines, not even any electricity to run them if there were!  Instead, the men use highly trained dogs to round up the goats from wherever they are on the mountain, then herd them into a pen, pushing them forward so the men can grab them and milk them by hand, rapidly squirting the milk into a large can set into a concrete holder.

Here are my classmates MJ, Bronwen and Betsy enjoying some fresh cheese and raki.  This was all taking place at about 10am, and raki is a fairly powerful liquor, somewhat like Italian grappa.  Hour of the day means little to the Cretans, however.  When I met the grandmother of the man whose place I was staying at around 8 one morning, she quickly offered me a shot of grappa.  Since I had already imbibed what seemed like 25 shots in two days of our trip, I graciously declined.

From the mountain we descended a few minutes into a village where the local cheese makers process the milk we had just seen being obtained from the goats.  They make several kinds of fresh and aged cheeses there, which we got to taste...along with more raki!

Just when we thought we had had enough drinking for the day, and were chock full of cheese, it was back into our vans to visit another tiny mountain village...where the whole complement of villagers was waiting for us.

The typical dress for the men of Bis-dye-ee (phonetic spelling) are these hunter-style pants, usually black or tan, and black shirts, with a sharp knife stuck into their waistbands.

Before we went inside the village community hall we were treated to the sight and smell of goat roasting beside hot coals.  This is a traditional way of roasting meat in Crete, skewering the meat on spikes and resting it on stakes pounded into the ground so the fat drips away from the meat without creating flare-ups.

When we were finished with the greetings outside, we trooped inside the village community centre to see a massive display of foods lining the perimeter of a large room. Each woman in the village had brought a different traditional dish for us to try.... over 40 in total.  There were pastries made with homemade strawberry and apricot jams, tiny fried pastry pockets filled with sweet cheese, savory pockets stuffed with spinach or wild greens, pork with wild greens, cured olives, umpteen artichoke dishes, rabbit and much more.  There was no way we could try everything, but we did our best, along with tasting as many homemade wines that were pressed upon us.

The days that you hear about in the documentaries are a prime example of the kind of culinary tourism Kostas Bouyouris wants to bring to Crete.  As you saw on my blog last week, Kostas is an agronomist who is also involved with a Soil Health association and culinary tourism.  He was with our class for the entire week and really gave us an authentic taste of Cretan life, not just through the food, but the music, art and above all, the people.  If you are interested in reading more about what Kostas is involved in, visit the Mediterranean Association for Soil Health website. Much of the English side of the site is under construction, but there is an email address to contact for further information.  For culinary tourism on Crete, which I highly recommend you experience at some point in your life, visit the Agrion Terra website.

SPECIAL BONUS FEATURE!!!  My classmate Marta loves taking portraits, both posed and candid of all of us when we are on our field trips, or 'stages' as they are known in our program.  I downloaded some software called Photoshow which allows you to mix music and photos together with some special effects, and so I sifted through all the photos and put together "Classic Crete" .  It is a .wmv file and hopefully it will just start playing in whatever player you have on your computer once enough of it has downloaded. The file is about 50 megabytes.  Enjoy!

All You Can Eat - Living the 100-Mile Diet

To get the audio file for this week's All You Can Eat podcast, click here. Volume 35 features an in-depth interview with two people who really know how to 'eat local'.  The 100-Mile Diet , a Year of Local Eating, is a book by James MacKinnon and Alisa Smith, based on their experience from March 2005 to March 2006 of eating only ingredients produced or procured within 100 miles of their homes in downtown Vancouver.  You can click on the link above to order the book from amazon.ca and save 37  percent off the cover price!  You can also learn more about their experiences by visiting the 100-Mile Diet website.

All You Can Eat is brought to you in part by GoDaddy.com, a domain and webhosting company. And to take advantage of GoDaddy.com offers such as 10 percent off any order, use this code when you check out:  eat1

All You Can Eat - 500-year Old Olive Trees

This posting for volume 34 of All You Can Eat is a work in progress, as I want to add some photo albums and video clips as I go along.  So if everything isn't quite here yet, keep checking for the added content in a couple of days.  The podcast takes you through part of my most recent field trip to Puglia.  You will find a couple of other postings with photos here and here, so this one is meant to fill in some of the blanks not yet covered.  The photo you see at the right is of a traditional Pugliese song and dance troupe that entertained us the first night we arrived at our hotel.  They were truly energetic and had our class all up and dancing with them even before dinner and wine, so you know they were good.  One of their specialties was the tarantella, a frenzied dance that was supposedly invented in the 16th century to help cure victims of tarantism, supposedly caused by tarantula spider bites.  Here's a short video clip of one of the dances.  And dinner was pretty good, too.  Here's a captioned photo album of a few of the dishes we enjoyed that first night.

Our last day in Puglia involved a lot of raw fish.  Here is just one of the platters we were offered to eat at lunch.  The squid and shrimp were fine...but the octopus.  Well, I took too big a bite and I chewed and I chewed and I chewed, and then it started to get a little much for me so I ended up spitting it into my napkin as surreptitiously as possible.   The other platter consisted of raw mussels and clams as well as two kinds of sea urchin, one 'regular' and one that was in the midst of spawning, to the roe was milky with a spermy-looking substance.  The mussels and clams were sweet and fresh, but the urchin couldn't compare to the sweet, mango-like urchin I've had on the West Coast of Canada. Here is a clip of classmates Betsy and Daniel getting up close and personal with their mussels.  Nice face, Betsy!

This box of unlikely looking seafood contains something the fishermen on the docks of Brindisi were calling 'white truffle of the sea'.  Right. Not exactly to all tastes, including my own, it was very strong, but I managed to choke it down, even though what was inside the thick skin of the 'sea truffle' looked like a big ball of phlegm.  I've put together a little sequence of my tasting of this seafood in this photo album.  Photos by Betsy, thank you.  I was using my still camera when she had her own try, and I think I caught her face just at the moment when she was struggling not to throw up her particular 'ball of phlegm'. Have to wait to have the photos developed...gee, what a concept in this age of digital technology.

The first documentary you hear in this podcast is about olive trees in two different places, the Marche, and Puglia. Two quite different groves, with the most mystique, if I can call it that, about the trees in Puglia, a grove where the age of the average tree has been pegged at 500 years.  Also just as fascinating, a trip underground to a subterranean olive oil mill...quite the undertaking for the time it was built, which was sometime before 1423.  The people who restored the mill know this, since they managed to find a document from 1423 which detailed the expansion of this mill.  When you think about it, it was a pretty remarkable feat of engineering to carve a cave out of solid rock that would fit 15 to 20 workers, a couple of horses or donkeys, and the olive mills and presses.  Why underground?  Apparently back then it was cheaper to dig than to build, easier to secure, lower, constant temperatures which were more conducive to making quality oil, and the presses could use the roof of the cave for support.

Here is a nice wide shot of part of the mill, but it is really much larger than what you can see in the photo.  I've put together a photo album of Betsy's pictures of the olive grove and the mill, along with this short video clip of the mill owner showing how the press worked.

I also promised to repeat the tips about the purchase and storage of olive oil:

So how do you choose a good quality oil?  If it says extra-virgin on the label, that means it is the first, cold pressing of the olives. UPDATE: In studying for my olive oil technology exam today, I realize the idea of first cold pressing is out of date.  Because modern mills use a continuous centrifugal press, there is no second pressing of the olives.  To read more about the grading and production of olive oil visit the Olive Oil Source. If you choose to purchase extra-virgin, then you  need to smell and taste.  Unfortunately, it’s not like going to a wine bar where you could try 3 or 4 different wines in an evening.  Some gourmet grocery stores may have tasting stations and that’s a good start.  An oil should smell fresh, perhaps grassy or fruity, not rancid.  The taste is a personal discovery.  Some people like oils with a real peppery finish that leaves a bite in the back of your throat.  Others want something smoother.  It depends on what you are using it for, dressing a salad, drizzling over some warm vegetables or garnishing a soup.  Buy small bottles to start with until you find something you like. Keep your oil away from heat and light, and use it up within a few months. And remember, like wine, every year brings a different harvest and different flavours.

All You Can Eat - Tetra Pak Wine and Natalie Maclean

On this edition of All You Can Eat, you'll hear some advice on wine shopping and her take on modern wine journalism from popular Canadian wine writer, Natalie Maclean. You can find out all about her and her take on wine by visiting her extensive website.  On her website you can also subscribe to her free e-newsletter, and make sure you check out her comprehensive food and wine matcher.

Don't be fooled by the 'glamour' photo of Natalie you see here.  She is a very down-to-earth person who carries an infectious enthusiasm for the world of wine.  To follow some of her travels, you could order her first book from Amazon.ca and save 37 percent off the cover price!  Red and White and Drunk All Over is the story of her visits to some of the most important wine production in the world. 

At the beginning of this podcast I mentioned a fun way my wine journalism instructor Richard Baudains taught us of doing a blind wine tasting that can also reveal how different, or similar, your perceptions of wine colour, aromas and tastes are to your friends.  I would say having about 10 people to do this would be fun, but you could go even higher and put people into groups of two.  Here's what you do:

• Buy five bottles of red or white wine.  They should all be the same colour, and there should be some variety in the way they taste, but not that much.  Try mixing different vintages, and varietals. 
• Cover the bottles in foil or paper and number them 1 to 5. 
• Then give each taster five pieces of paper on which they will describe each wine in three different categories:  Colour, aroma and taste.  Make sure they are smaller pieces of paper so they don't go wild!  Each taster writes their name on each piece of paper.
• But they don't write the number of each wine on each description.  They make themselves a letter key.

The key would look like this, for example:
1  2  3  4  5
D O N N  Y   

• So when they describe wine number 1, on the sheet of paper they write 'D', on the next sheet for number 2 they write 'O', and so on.  For the descriptions, colour could contain red, dark red, ruby red, brownish red, etc.  Aroma could be tobacco, fruit, blackberry, etc.  Taste can be tannic, soft, acidic, plummy, jammy, etc.  There are really no rules as to what you write down for the descriptions.
• When everyone has finished tasting and writing throw all the descriptions into a hat.  Then each taster picks out 5 descriptions, none of which can be his or her own.  Then after reading the descriptions each person writes the number of the wine they think it is, and write their own name beside the number they think it is.  Then everyone returns their descriptions to their respective owners.
• The fun begins when you see whether people have recognized the wines they tasted by the way the other people described them.  The better the job you do describing your wines, the more people should guess which is which, right?  Well, maybe not...that's where the fun comes in when you discover whether your describe your perceptions in the same way as your friends or colleagues.

In this podcast I also talked about Tetra Pak wines and how they are turning up more and more often in liquor stores and wine shops not only in Canada, but around the world.  Here's the Tetra Pak story of how French Rabbit wines in Tetra Paks first came to Canada. If you go to this link on the BC Liquor Distribution Branch website you can download as a pdf file the spring edition of Taste, which is relatively new publication from the LDB, very ably put together with help from my friend at the branch, Anne Gilmour.  Nice work, Anne!  On page 61 you will find a feature about the new line of Tetra Pak wines you can find soon in BC Liquor stores, and even if you're not from BC, check out Anne's very useful story on outfitting your bar with glassware depending on how much space and how much money you have!  That's on page 30.  Update: The Globe and Mail's wine writer, Beppi Crosariol, just wrote an amusing little feature with a hint of insouciance on wines in boxes and plastic bottles.  Here's the link.  Hopefully it will remain active and not go immediately into the 'pay' archives of the newspaper.  Let me know if it goes down....

thanks to my sponsors for this week, Folgers Gourmet Selections and GoDaddy.com.

For free samples of Folgers Gourmet Selections coffee, visit www.folgers.com/podshow.  While quantities last, act soon!

And to take advantage of GoDaddy.com offers such as 10 percent off any order, use this code when you check out:  eat1

 

All You Can Eat - Venice, Milan, and Teaching Kids About Food and Nutrition

Hi everyone...this is a bit of a multiple purpose post.  It gives you information on my recent visits to Venice and Milan which I mention briefly at the beginning of my most recent podcast, All You Can Eat Volume 32.  And it has some details about the people I spoke with in my panel of Home Economics teachers at their conference I spoke at last fall.  On the right is one of the covered malls lining the Piazza San Marco in Venice.  The tiles are under about an inch of water, as was the part of the rest of the piazza, something that happens when the water rises up through the ground.  Reminds me of the old Spirit of the West song, 'And If Venice Is Sinking'.

We saw some of the platforms they have to put in the square so that people can walk into the duomo without having to wade through water when it gets really high!  I have many more photos to upload in an album for you.  Click here to view it. I'm also experimenting with putting some low-quality Real Video clips here.  This is one of a 'stroll-by' I did of some street musicians .

We hit the city of canals right at Carnivale time and both the streets and canals were jam-packed with people sporting amazing masks and costumes in the Venetian tradition.  Traditional foods and drinks we enjoyed included deep-fried bits of sweet bread called frittelle, which were moist, puffy and not soggy with oil…then there was a sweet which almost tasted like fruitcake but was pistachio green because of all the pistachios used, and topped with almonds.  I think a fist-sized square of it cost about 4 euros, but it was worth it!

As far as beverages go, at night you could buy hot and spicy mulled wine called vin brule, yes they used the French term, but by day we started our meals with a glass of bubbly prosecco, or before we sat down we would have an aperitivo of Campari, soda, a slice of lemon and a big fat olive.  That’s the way Venetians like their Campari!  And don’t try to order it much past 12 noon.  The bartender will say, ‘it’s finished’.  They just don’t make them in the afternoon!

Two restaurant suggestions for you, the first one is right near the Fondamente Nove Vaparetto stop, which are the boats that ply the waters in and around Venice like bus lines.  It’s called Algiubagio…and we actually enjoyed two great meals there, the first one featuring a delectable trio of seafood antipasti.  This pic shows a salad of arugula,tomatoes, carrots and tender, tender rings of squid. 

The other restaurant where we enjoyed a meal with some of my classmates who were also visiting Venice that weekend was called La Cantina, which is right on the Strada Nova near the Ca d'Oro vaparetto stop, although the actual address says it is at Campo san Felice, 3689.  Don't worry if you get lost in Venice at some point, everyone does.  The second night we were there we made our way from our hotel to the Rialto district and then Piazza San Marco in just a few minutes.  Think we could find our way back?  No way.  We found ourselves way out of the way late at night when there was hardly a person on the street.  We found a restaurant open...three of the staff pored over the little map that was on the brochure for the hotel and finally said, 'well, we don't know where this is but if you walk down this street and kind of head off to the left you should find it.'  Not a chance, but the instructions did lead to a square and I spotted a name on the square that matched a name on our map and YAY!, we finally found our home sweet home after what seemed like hours of wandering.

Anyway, at La Cantina we started with raw oysters, and a savoury lentil soup, then eventually the wait staff brought out huge platters of roasted pork with crispy crackling and mustard, green beans, and even dill pickles!  I was in heaven, my favourite food groups!  The place was quite busy and we found ourselves waiting quite a while to get our food and wine once we ordered, but we found the food to be quite tasty and I think it was around just 25 Euros each.

A week later Ramona and I found ourselves in the Piazza del Duomo in Milan, and wondering what the heck was going on!  It was some sort of children's festival and the piazza and pedestrian streets around the duomo were filled with thousands of people.  Every kid from 2 to teen was dressed up in some sort of costume, but what we noticed the most were all the mess-making accoutrement's available. Big bags of confetti, cans and cans of silly string and some sort of shaving cream-like foam were for sale in the square, and the stuff was all over the place.  Coming from Canada we were naturally shocked at what we would consider to be 'littering'.  I'm just glad I wasn't on the clean-up crew responsible for trying to get rid of all that confetti.  On the other hand, this is Italy.  They might just wait for the rain to wash it into the sewers. Here's a real video clip of people standing over a subway vent, at least that's what I think it was, as the confetti and streamers fly about.

Our Milan highlights included an expensive but mostly very satisfying lunch at a restaurant called Peck.  Ramona had been looking forward to her saffron-laced risotto Milanese and she wasn't disappointed. Our problem was that we went for a full-fledged lunch but we totally full after the antipasto of Culatello di Zibello and primi of her risotto and my pasta with mushrooms and walnut sauce.  After Peck the restaurant we went to Peck the deli and Peck the wine shop and the foods in the deli are so beautiful they made me want to cry.  Of course the prices made me want to cry as well.  I guess they get too many gawky tourists so they have a sign on the door saying 'no photos'. :(

That's okay, I don't think a photo would do it justice.  Rows and rows of beautiful chocolates, cheeses galore, spotlessly clean and well-stocked shelves full of olive oils and vinegars and....

Here at least is a shot from across the street, in case you're wandering the streets of downtown Milan and you need a 'lighthouse' to guide you. The sign says that the shop was founded in 1883.  Now that's longevity.

 

The other beautiful things strewn around Peck the deli were these amazing Berkel meat slicers.  We'd seen them in use in Venice and a classmate's boyfriend is gaga over them.  They really are stunning pieces of fine machinery.  They had one from the 30's that had a real art deco feel to it, and one from the 50's that had that sleek sort of rocketship styling common to that era.  Here's a picture of one I found on a website that sells these things refurbished.  I think they go for about $7500 U-S....meat not included. More pictures of Milan in this photo album.

Okay, now you're at the point where the rest of the podcast material comes in.  First, thanks to my sponsors for this week, Folgers Gourmet Selections and GoDaddy.com.

For free samples of Folgers Gourmet Selections coffee, visit www.folgers.com/podshow.  While quantities last, act soon!

And to take advantage of GoDaddy.com offers such as 10 percent off any order, use this code when you check out:  eat1

Thanks also to the teachers from THESA who took part in my panel discussion on what kids need to know about food and nutrition when they finish high school: Judy Chan, Joy Galea and Denise Lemard from BC, and Jane Edwards from Australia, for taking part in the discussion.  (sorry if I got the spellings wrong!)

You also heard a piece from my Food For Thought archives that featured Mara Jernigan, formerly of Engeler Farm, now of Fairburn Farm, a bed and breakfast and cooking school in BC's Cowichan Valley.  Mara is still heavily involved in the Slow Food movement and is always looking for volunteers to help out with projects on southern Vancouver Island.

All You Can Eat - Popcorn and Chinese New Year

This podcast re-visits Vancouver's Chinatown with an archived Food For Thought piece from the year 2000, and my taste panel evaluates 3 kinds of microwave popcorn in anticipation of the Academy Awards show airing on TV this coming Sunday.  The winner was Act II popcorn, beating out an organic competitor, Whole Alternatives, and Orville Redenbacher's 'Corn on the Cob' flavour.

I am pleased to continue with three sponsors to my podcast this week, Folgers Coffee, Barilla Pasta, and web services provider GoDaddy.com.   

To download the free cookbook I mentioned from Barilla, go to www.pastaloverscookbook.com.

For free samples of Folgers Gourmet Selections coffee, visit www.folgers.com/podshow.  While quantities last, act soon!

And to take advantage of GoDaddy.com offers such as 10 percent off any order, use this code when you check out:  eat1

Update:  Try Making Your Own Microwave Popcorn

Late last week I received a note from listener Heather Webber, who makes her own style of microwave popcorn.  I haven't tried this in the test kitchen, so please be careful!

1.  I use a paper lunch bag or one the size you get from a grocery 
store bakery.  I choose not to use those with lettering  to avoid the 
printer chemicals.
2.  Pour in 1/4-1/3 cup of popcorn and fold over the top of the bag 
about an inch and then again.  (a double fold)
3.  Put it in the microwave on popcorn setting.  Sometimes I add an 
extra 30 seconds to a minute if it was slow to start popping.
4.  Put some butter or margarine in a microwavable cup and get a bowl 
out.
5.  As soon as you remove the bag from the microwave, put the butter 
in for 15-20 seconds.
6.  Pour the popcorn in the bowl, top with butter and add a touch of 
salt. Enjoy.

7.  The "old maids" in the bottom of the bowl can be re-popped in the 
same bag, if you want to try.  The best ones have the texture of 
puffed wheat or corn, or even corn nuts.
8.  I use the bag up to three times.  I don't think it is safe if the 
bag has a lot of fat on it from re-poppings.

I heard about this from a friend in Alberta who uses a large paper 
grocery bag to make popcorn for his family.  I haven't tried a big 
grocery bag - maybe it works even  better.

Have fun.  Heather

All You Can Eat - Cheese and More Cheese

This week's All You Can Eat is all about cheese. The podcast  begins with  a visit to  a Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese plant near Parma, Italy,  (top left), then shifts to  the basement of British Columbian artisan cheese maker Hilary Abbott. (below) 

Then you'll hear from  cheese making consultant  Peter Dixon on a bit of the history  of the artisan cheese industry in America, how it nearly died out , and how it is now experiencing a  resurgence.  You can find links, a photo album and notes from the  Parma experience  at this blog entry, and notes and photos  from  my visit to Hilary's here.

I am pleased to welcome three sponsors to my podcast this week, Folgers Coffee, Barilla Pasta, and web services provider GoDaddy.com.   

To download the free cookbook I mentioned from Barilla, go to www.pastaloverscookbook.com.

For free samples of Folgers Gourmet Selections coffee, visit www.folgers.com/podshow.  While quantities last, act soon!

And to take advantage of GoDaddy.com offers such as 10 percent off any order, use this code when you check out:  eat1

All You Can Eat - Madhur Jaffrey and Oysters

On this episode of All You Can Eat, meet Madhur Jaffrey, the celebrated cookbook author who has finally written an autobiography of her early years in India. We had a great stroll up and down Main Street in Vancouver, stopping in to the various shops in the Punjabi Market, including a sweet shop.

If you would like to learn more about her book, Climbing The Mango Trees, A Memoir of a Childhood In India, just click here to  go to amazon.ca, where you can also order the book and save 37% off the cover price!

I also dipped into my Food For Thought archives to round out the program, as I have been thinking about oysters a bit over the past few weeks.  Ever since I paid about $45 for 6 raw oysters at a restaurant in Rome!  I've also been thinking about oyster growers on the West Coast of BC because they have been hit hard by wicked winter storms.  You can hear my report from the Clayoquot Oyster Festival in Tofino that took place in December 2003, but for current information on the state of the industry make sure you visit the website of the BC Shellfish Growers Association.

On this episode of All You Can Eat, meet Madhur Jaffrey, the celebrated cookbook author who has finally written an autobiography of her early years in India. We had a great stroll up and down Main Street in Vancouver, stopping in to the various shops in the Punjabi Market, including a sweet shop.

If you would like to learn more about her book, Climbing The Mango Trees, A Memoir of a Childhood In India, just click here to  go to amazon.ca, where you can also order the book and save 37% off the cover price!

I also dipped into my Food For Thought archives to round out the program, as I have been thinking about oysters a bit over the past few weeks.  Ever since I paid about $45 for 6 raw oysters at a restaurant in Rome!  I've also been thinking about oyster growers on the West Coast of BC because they have been hit hard by wicked winter storms.  You can hear my report from the Clayoquot Oyster Festival in Tofino that took place in December 2003, but for current information on the state of the industry make sure you visit the website of the BC Shellfish Growers Association.

Parma Palate - Christmas in Rome - Photos and Podcast

What can I say?  Rome is one of the most remarkable cities in the world I've ever been to.  There's always something fascinating to look at around the next corner, and something else to eat!  I could go on and on and on, but I have already posted an idea of what I ate in Rome at Christmas in this entry.

Another hit at our dinner table was the veal saltimbocca I made, with a Marsala twist.  Pound some veal scallopini thin.  Lay on a slice of prosciutto and a few fresh sage leaves.  Fold over and pound together again.  Dredge in seasoned flour.  Fry for a couple of minutes on each side in a hot frypan with butter and olive oil. Remove the veal from the pan, pour in some Marsala wine, (careful, if you're cooking with gas you will flambe for sure!) and boil until the sauce has thickened, scraping up anything on the bottom of the pan.  Pour the sauce on your veal...enjoy!

Just a couple of more food highlights.  Ramona and I went to a wine bar named Roscioli twice, so you know it has to be good.  The first time we decided to splurge a bit. I think it was Ramona thought the waiter was cute, but it also could have been the fact that I was missing out on a truffle hunt with my classmates up north...anyway we ordered our pastas to be covered with thin slices of white truffle and did not regret for a moment the 30 Euro surcharge added to each plate.  Sometimes you just have to do it.

At the other end of the scale Ramona and her friend Ann hauled me down to a restaurant they had eaten at before I arrived in Rome called Sora Margherita.  Actually, it's not a restaurant, it's a 'Cultural Association'. Something to do with being closed down by health inspectors as a restaurant and reopening under the auspices of an association for which you have to sign a membership card before you can eat there.  Here is a shot of the front door, which you don't get through unless you have a reservation or there is actually a seat there.  Just finding the place could be hard, as there is no sign above the door!  The food was excellent though, polenta on a wooden board with tomato sauce like my mother made and a savoury sausage, agnolotti with meat sauce, a carciofi alla guidia, and for dessert?  A mound of ricotta cheese slathered with Nutella and doused with Grand Marnier.  Three of my favourite things in the world!

To see a photo album of my Top Twenty Photos from Rome, (okay, there are actually 24 posted) click here.  Sigh.  Back to school next week.  But we get to go and see how Parma Ham and Culatello di Zibello are made this month, and start courses in olive oil, wine and semiotics.

Oh yeah, almost forgot the podcast!  Go to allyoucaneat.podshow.com and listen to Christmas in Rome and 'things you should be cooking(and drinking) in 2007.'

Ciao for now...

All You Can Eat Vol. 27, Cookbooks, Traditions and Ricardo

Podcast number 27 deals with my Christmas cookbook gift suggestions for this year, and you will find the listings and the links to the books on amazon.ca, here.

You will also hear some neat Christmas food traditions from some of my classmates at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Colorno, Italy, and finally, a visit to the All You Can Eat test kitchen by Ricardo Larrivee, a French Canadian multimedia whiz who has English and French language TV shows, English and French language magazines, and a cookbook to boot!  You can find out more about Ricardo by going to this blog entry.

This post needed something pleasant to look at so here is my classmate Betsy.  She has some of the nicest peppers I've ever seen!  (I'm talking about the ones on the plate...)  Betsy was the architect of a great selection of Turkish dishes she made for us a few weeks ago...and I promise to blog about that soon!

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