 In English you might call it a Yule Log, in France it's called a Buche de Noel, but in Italy it's il Tronchetto di Natale. Here is my version I made a few years ago for Christmas. They are really easier than you think to put together... a simple sponge cake (yellow or chocolate--your choice), a filling, some icing and lots of fun with the kids scraping with spoons and forks to you think it looks like a real log in an early winter's forest. The only technical part that needs some attention is learning how to rold the jellyroll cake. (There are many Youtube videos if you need help). In my version, I added holly leaves made from fondant with berries and mushrooms made from marzipan. A dusting of decorative or confectioner's sugar for a light snowfall and you're transported into the Italian Alps. I've included a basic recipe to make your own. If you have kids, by all means include them, especially with the decorating and Lucas' favorite thing... licking the beater... Ingredients Filling
Directions
The slide show below will give you some other great decorating ideas.... --Jerry Finzi
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 I am a second generation Italian-American with parents from Southern Italy--my Mother's family was from Naples and my Dad was born in Molfetta, Puglia. Both are seaports and both cultures love fish. Both my parents loved fish... all sorts of fish. They'd eat them in cans, shells, with tentacles, with the heads and tails on, smelly or not smelly, dried or oily and bony. My Dad would go down to the docks on the Hudson River and catch eel, crab and whatever else he could catch in his traps, reel and line or drop line and bell screwed into the dock. He always ate what he caught and couldn't understand the concept of "catch and release". My Mother had a bad reaction to most shellfish, but that didn't stop her from eating them. Yes, both of my parents were obviously Catholic from long lineage of seaport dwellers. The sea's bounty holds great significance for Catholics, with fish being the preferred food during times of fasting. You see, Jesus died for our sins on a Friday, and as was written as far back as the first century AD, Christians honored his sacrifice on Fridays by only eating fish. Here's the logic: a cold blooded creature doesn't sacrifice any warm blood for our meal (as Jesus sacrificed his own blood for us), so it was fair game during fasting. A warm blooded animal sacrifices his blood for our meal, so they are off limits on Fridays and during Lent and other religious holy days. When I was a kid, eating red meat on Friday was absolutely forbidden--a sin, the nuns told us. In more orthodox households, fasting might also exclude poultry and dairy.... yes, cheeses, too. Our Friday meals were as simple as opening a can of tuna and having a cold summer salad with cucumbers, tomatoes and olives (my favorite) or with my Dad frying up some floured or breaded smelt (the whole fish) in olive oil and having it with some spaghetti and marinara. I loved the taste of smelt--hated the bones. Another favorite of mine was breaded and fried flounder or sole--no bones! Friday nights were fish, fish fish--until the 1960s when Pope Paul VI did away with Meatless Fridays. (A side note here: one reason why pizza take-out became so popular in the States was because of all the Catholics ordering pizza for Friday dinners! After the rule was lifted, many Catholics started going our to burger joints on Fridays... Now, back to this fishy story... ) But come Christmas eve--in Italian, Vigilia di Natale--we'd see just about every kind of fishy thing you could pull up out of the Deep Blue. Mussels (cozze) cooked in tomato sauce, spaghetti with clams (molluschi), fried calamari, octopus, filet of sole (the safest fish for me to eat), baccalà (salted cod, soaked and de-salted overnight), pesce stocco (dried cod), raw clams (sorry, not a fan), crab, stuffed-baked clams, scallops and shrimp. I even remember a couple of years where they splurged and bought lobster tails. Then there was the ever-present eel... yes, that slimy, bottom dwelling creature that my Dad would cut into chunks and fry in olive oil. (When I caught them with Dad, I hated the way they would wrap around your arm as you tried to get them off the hook... yuck). Mom and Dad really loved that oily fish! I know, that's more than seven fish... the menu would change up year to year. I'll be honest, eating each and every type of fish on the table was not my thing. I had some pretty traumatic episodes with fish bones in my childhood that scared me off fish for a couple of decades. 
But Why Seven... and Why Fish? I think I remember asking my Mom once, "Why seven fish?"... she didn't know. My Dad told me it had something to do with the seven days in the week, and God resting on Sunday. That didn't make much sense to me, but then again, none of the odd traditions did back then. I just wanted to eat the spaghetti and get to bed before Santa came to put my presents under the tree. In Southern Italy, the Festa dei Vigilia meal might include seven, eight, nine or even twelve types of fish (one for each of the Apostles) depending on what village you lived in. As for seven fish... there can be many meanings and no one knows for sure which is the real reason. There are the seven sacraments: Baptism, Penance, Holy Eucharist (First Communion), Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Sacrament of the Sick. God took seven days to create everything that exists. Biblical scholars consider the number seven as a symbol of perfection. In the Bible, the number seven appears over 700 times--more than any other number. Perhaps my Dad's theory about it being because of God resting on the seventh day has some merit, especially if you consider his finest "work" in creating the miracle of baby Jesus. Now, the fish... One of the more popular fish to have for La Vigilia is baccalà (salt cured and dried cod fish) or pesce stocco, the unsalted version. It's also one of the cheapest and most plentiful fish that you could keep for long periods of time--the stuff feels like a piece of wood when you buy it. Need a bit of protein? Break a piece off and soak in water and presto--nearly fresh fish! Even today in a specialty Italian shop, you will see large boxes filled with baccalà.
 Scallops and risotto Italians emigrating from the South were coming to America for a reason--to escape poverty and hunger. If you really think about it, red meat would be a real treat for these people of the South. It would be a long time between pigs or cattle being slaughtered, so pork and beefsteak were rare indeed. Even bread and flour was being over-taxed during the late 1800s, making it difficult to even afford bread. So, in essence, this fish "feast" was actually fasting... no red blood. Just cold blooded fish. Where my Dad was born, fish was right there for the taking. The sea is all around where my ancestors came from. My grandfather lived a couple of blocks from the old port of Molfetta. Fishing was easy. Fish could be free for anyone with a line and a hook or a net. Nets might catch a small school of smelts (sperlano), and any child can catch their fair share of crab (granchio). A drop line and a bell would surely catch an eel after a while. And in Molfetta, at the corner of the main harbor sits the Mercato del Pesce (Fish Market). I wanted to go inside when we visited Molfetta, but my son Lucas's nose told me "No Way, Dad!" I admit, the smell in the air was fairly... er... ripe that morning. Fish must have been fairly affordable, even for the poor back in my Grandfather's day.
La Vigilia
Vigilia di Natale translates as the Vigil of The Birthing--waiting for Jesus to be born at midnight on Christmas Eve. It is also known by other names, depending on which part of Southern Italy you are from: La Vagilia di Natale (Vigil of the Nativity), Cenone (Great Supper), Cena della Vigilia di Natale (Supper of the Vigil of the Nativity), and Festa dei Sette Pesci (the Festival of Seven Fish). This feast is not only an Italian-American event (as some think), but is celebrated by many Italian descendants around the world as well as Italian natives. Oddly, once you get north of Rome you hardly hear of La Vigilia. But in Southern Italy and here in Italian-American homes, it's a meal planned long before Christmas Eve, with Nonnas, Moms, Aunts and sisters breading the fish, calamari and shrimp and putting on large pots of pasta and marinara. And all this is done as early as possible so everyone can eat, celebrate, discuss, argue and of course, get ready for Midnight Mass... In our little household, "We Three" have trimmed down the fish choices to perhaps three kinds--representing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit... and for Lucas, Lisa and me. Only for us, we eat after our Parrish's 5pm Christmas Eve Mass services. Traditions are worth keeping, aren't they? And even if you don't keep all of them or your traditions have evolved into a mere shadow of the traditions of your ancestors, they are still valid and worthy of passing along to your children. When learning about tradizioni del passato (past traditions), we learn more about ourselves and where we came from... and perhaps where our family is headed... Buon Natale, tutti! --Jerry Finzi If you enjoyed this pose, please feel free to SHARE it with your online friends... Ciao! You can't get any better than cooking with Nana Clara. --JF
  Here in our home, one of our Christmas traditions is making gingerbread cookies and one gingerbread house each year. (CLICK to see what we built last year.) I often wondered if there is something similar in Italy and in fact, I discovered something very similar to gingerbread in Calabria... the Mostaccioli, a shaped, honey and spiced, unleavened hard cookie. Some recipes even contain red wine. With it's roots deep in Italian history, perhaps from the time of the Romans when they were placed on temple alters as offerings to the Roman gods, the tradition of Mostaccioli was continued by 15th century Dominican monks. These shaped, edible works of art are very hard and longlasting--just like gingerbread! (We have a gingerbread ornament that Lucas made in pre-school that we hang on the tree each year... still smelling nice and spicy.) You might see Mostaccioli under other names in local dialects throughout Southern Italy: Mastazzola, Mustazzoli, Mastazzuolu, 'Nzuddha, Mustazzuali, Mustazzolus (in Sardinia). Those dialects in the south can change from village to village! Regardless of the name, this spice cookie is considered by most historians to be the oldest cookie recipe in the world. The name comes from the Latin mustacea, a cake made out of “must” (un-fermented, pressed grapes, including skins, seeds and stems) that has been made since at least 300 BC. In the 1st century AD, the ancient Roman philosopher, Cato, wrote about mustacea being made with rye flour, cheese, cumin, anise, cheese, eggs and wrapped in bay leaves. Modern recipes are very different from 2000 years ago, but Mostaccioli have been made throughout central and southern Italy for hundreds of years--maybe more. The recipes for creating the most intricate shapes contain no leavening and create a dough that can be shaped by sculpting tools or pressed into molds. While most versions contain honey, others might contain chocolate, but in all cases they are very spicy, similar to a spice cookie or gingerbread. There are simpler, non-sculpted Mostaccioli, in either a round or diamond shape, that are covered with a chocolate icing, which are more common--especially with home bakers. Some may even contain various nuts like almonds, hazelnuts or pignoli and might be shaped into a traditional biscotti shape. One version in Puglia even adds a special ingredient: a sweet wine with sugar added that has been reduced over heat into a syrup... adding a hint of the cookie's ancient past when grape must was used. And believe it or not, there are also recipes for Mostaccioli pasta, typically in a penne shape. CLICK HERE for a Ciao Italia recipe. Food historians tend to agree that the current recipe gained popularity in 1653 after Saint Domenico--the patron saint of the Kingdom of Naples--distributed Mostaccioli cookies after a devastating earthquake in Sariano, Calabria. Every since then, on August 16th (my birthday and the Feast Day of St. Domenico), people in Calabria celebrate by baking Mostaccioli cookies and auctioning them off to benefit charity. The traditional shapes hearken back to temple offerings: a parma (the palm), a sirena (the siren), u panaru (the basket), u pisci spada (swordfish), and a grasta (the heart)... all real items that historically might have been left as an alter offering. The other shapes--saints, goats, roosters, horses, pigs, lambs and birds--reflect Roman Catholic holidays and the desire to please children around the holidays. Besides Christmas, Mostaccioli are also gived as gifts at Easter, weddings and on special saint days. The intricate shapes are made even more decorative by the addition of colored foil "jewels". Some of these cookies have been elevated to a fine art form and were the subject of a special exhibit at National Museum of Applied Arts in Rome with 36 ancient shapes being displayed. During the holidays, you will often see Mostazzolari (vendors) selling their cookies at Christmas festivals and markets throughout Italy, but especially in the South. Many display their cookies in a traditional manner--in wooden treasure chests. After all, these do resemble precious bejeweled treasures.    --Jerry Finzi
If you enjoyed this post, SHARE it and please tell your friends about Grand Voyage Italy... Boun Natale!  Cheese was being made before the birth of Christ... way before. As much as 6000 years ago! Cheese has been made all over the world from the milk of cows, goats and sheep, water buffalo, yak and even boar and reindeer. Who knew? Egyptian tomb murals show butter and cheese being made, and we know that the Romans took a lot back from Egypt--perhaps they took back a lot of recipes for cheese too. Today, a huge number of cheeses are made in Italy--up to 600 many say. Romans developed cheese making to a science, a craft and some would argue, a high art. Roman cheese makers were skilled artisans who developed many of the types of Italian cheese we still see made today. The Romans were the first to develop techniques for aging and storing cheese for long periods of time. It was these aging techniques that gave way to many new flavors--as aging progresses, flavors change and develop and grow more intense. Some even say that the French owe their own cheese making skills to the Romans, when Gaul became part of the Roman Empire. Roman villas had separate cheese kitchens, the caseale, and cellars where cheeses could be stored and aged. There would even be a specialist cheese makers brought their products to for smoking. At first cheese was a luxury food item in Rome, but cheese soon became a common staple for common people, and was even carried as rations by the imperial armies. In fact, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Roman soldiers went into the hills of Italy and became farmers, and took some of the cheese making traditions with them. This is the reason there are so many types of cheeses made in Italy.... one type on this hill, another on that mountain, yet another in the valley and so on... So, here is an assortment of Italian cheeses worth learning about. Some you may know, some will be a new treat for you. Before you start, slice an apple, get out some cheese and snack as you read...
 Bocconcini Bocconcini, means "morsels" in Italian. These are little, semi-soft, bite sized Mozzarella balls from Naples which traditionally are made with buffalo milk, but nowadays are also made from cow's milk. Bocconcini come in containers with brined water or milk and are eaten as soon as possible. They are best in a salad, but are also eaten as they come--perhaps drizzled with olive oil and tossed with peperoncino (red pepper flakes) and great with prosciutto. They are a great addition along with cherry tomatoes in a traditional antipasti selection. These mouth poppers have a creamy, mild, slightly buttery flavor and are also great sliced on pizza.  Bra The Italian cheese Bra comes from the town of Bra in Cuneo in the region of Piemonte, Italy. This cheese is made in other areas of Italy, although the Cuneo product is authentic one. It is made from cow's milk, but can have some goat or sheep's milk added. While it can have small eyes, the rind generally is off-white or beige in colour when aged, and the interior can range from pale cream to dark yellow. The cheese comes in three different ages: Bra tenero is soft and mildly spicy (six months); bra duro is hard, nutty and more pungent, aged 1-2 two years; Bra d’alpeggio, is made only from cow that graze in mountain pastures from June to October.  Manteca Manteca is a soft, creamy cheese made in limited areas of Puglia, Campania and Calabria and across most of Basilicata. The drawn curd of a cow milk covers a ball of butter to preserve it in any season, especially in hot summers. The outside rind is thick and yellow in color while inside paste is stringy, smooth, creamy and pale yellow. It has a flowery aroma with hints of ripe fruits, lilies. This "cheese" might really be considered a flavored butter under cheese wraps. Use it on toasted bread as you would any butter.  Cilentano ai fichi Cilentano ai fichi is one of the most ancient types of cheese made by a Casa Madaio dairy farm in Cilento, Campania, Italy. Mixture of sheep, cow and buffalo milk is used to make the cheese, which is then covered with figs and dried on bamboo racks with natural ventilation. The cheese has a milky aroma infused with a mild buttery flavor and a hint of figs.
 Pecorino Romano The word pecora means sheep. Pecorino Romano, an ancient sheep milk cheese, is salty, aged and hard. It is used as a grating cheese over pasta, soups, and salads, and not usually used as a table cheese, although I love having little slices of it for a quick snack,especially with slices of apple. It has a bit sharper taste than Parmigiano-Reggiano. Variations are Pecorino Toscano (from Tuscany) or Pecorino Sardo (from Sardinia) are not particularly salty and are eaten by themselves or in sandwiches. Pecorino Romano dates back to the Roman Empire when it was a staple part of a Roman soldiers' rations, besides wine and bread. The cheese rounds are handled many times by hand... salting, turning, wiped... for over a year. The texture is dry, crumbly and almost sandy when grated. The taste is salty, spicy and smoky. This is an excellent cheese grated for pasta, breads, focaccia and lasagna.  Capra al Fieno Capra al Fieno is made from pasteurized goat's milk made in Veneto, Italy. The cheese is wrapped in a dry hay and then allowed to mature on wood boards for 7 to 8 months. The organic grass used during aging gives scents of flowers and grass to the cheese. This firm textured cheese with strong aroma has intense and clean taste. It can be eaten with sweet jams or at the end of the meal.  Quartirolo Lombardo Quartirolo Lombardo was first manufactured in the 10th century. The cheese was traditionally produced during a short period at the end of summer, from the milk of cows which had fed on the herbage that had regrown after the third cutting. The local term for the hay from the fourth cutting of the year was "erba quartirola", thus its name. Today, it is produced during the whole year under DOP protection. Quartirolo is made in loaf form with a thin rind... rosy colored and soft for younger cheese, and reddish grey-green for more mature ones. The interior has a lightly clotted structure, possibly with small cavities, which is friable but becomes more compact and soft with age. The inside color goes from pure white to a straw-yellow as it ages. The taste is slightly sour for the younger, and more aromatic for the older cheeses.  Piave Piave is a cow's milk cheese named after the Piave River up in the Dolomites area of Belluno province of Veneto. It has DOP designation and is often called Parmesan's Cousin because of its similarities in flavor and characteristics, its flavor mild and sweet. Piave is cooked curd cheese sold at five varied agings. The color of the interior is white in young cheeses, but becomes straw color in older products. There may be holes in young Piave but as it ages the holes disappear. Like Parmigiano-Reggiano, it is well suited for grating as well as a table cheese.  Asiago Asiago made from cow's milk, is a salty yet mild cheese. It is produced in the Alpine slopes near Trentino north of Venice. It can be soft and mild (aged a few weeks) or very hard, nutty and spicy (piccante--aged over a year). The more aged variety can be very useful as a grating cheese. I find asiago a bit too salty for pizza, but it's saltiness compliments fruit nicely. Try it with a dry salami and crusty bread, sliced pears, or toss some flakes on top of a salad. If you are a bread or focaccia baker, try some grated on top before your bread goes into the oven. Any wine goes with this cheese. Asiago is very common in American supermarkets, but it might be worth it to search out a more authentic imported version in a good Italian specialty shop.  Caprese di Bufala Caprese di Bufala is a soft pasteurized buffalo milk cheese with flakes of dried tomato in paste. After a brief aging period, the wheels are subsequently rubbed with a treatment of extra virgin olive oil and oregano. This gives it a fresh and delicate flavor and an aromatic aftertaste, reminiscent of the Mediterranean.  Fontina Fontina is a cow's milk cheese and perhaps one of my all time favorites for topping pizza. My Dad (a deli man his whole life) turned me on to it. I can describe the flavor as mild, incredibly creamy, with a nutty tanginess. In the U.S. the deli meat company Boar's Head has a fairly good slicing Fontina for sandwich use. An imported Fontina is aged longer has a stronger flavor with a thicker, nutty rind. In Italy, it's called Fontina d'Aosta having been made in the Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps since the 12th century. The original Fontina cheese from Italy is fairly pungent and has quite an intense flavor, and cheeses labeled Fontina that are produced in other countries tend to be much milder. There is a supermarket offshoot called Fontinella that I don't care for--way too bland. Fontina is pretty amazing melted in a grilled panino or over fruit. Try using it on top of French onion soup, in a frittata or to make a cheese fondue. And by all means, add fontina to risotto or polenta--you'll love it.  Pecorino al Tartufo Pecorino al Tartufo is an Italian, raw, sheep's milk cheese encrusted with small specks of white and black truffles from the area between Volterra and San Miniato. It is aged for thirty days and pairs well with boar cold meats and a good red wine.  Grana Padano Grana Padano, is a DOP protected cheese and the only real competition for Parmigiano-Reggiano. Created by the Cistercian monks of Chiaravalle in the 12th century, it is still made throughout the Po River Valley in northeastern Italy. The cheese is made from unpasteurized, semi-skimmed cow’s milk and is aged for two years. At the end of the cheese making process, Grana Padano develops a firm, thick and deeply straw-colored rind protecting strong scented and dry, flaky interior. As Grana Padano ages, the intense sweet flavors become more pronounced, spicy and complex, and it gets more crombly. Though similar to Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano is much less expensive. Grana is also less crumbly, milder and less complex than its long-aged sibling. Grana Padano is manufactured in wheels measuring up to 18 inches in diameter, and 7 inches tall. There are three difference agings: Grana Padano (9 to 16 months), Grana Padano oltre (over 16 months) and Grana Padano Riserva (over 20 months).  Scamorza Scamorza is a cow’s milk cheese belonging to the pasta filata family. Shaped similar to a provolone or caciocavallo in pear shape, it's also made in other shapes. A semi-soft white cheese with a texture comparable to that of a firm, dry Mozzarella, Scamorza is made throughout Apulia and in some parts of Campania and Molise. Typically it's made from pasteurized cow’s milk or from a mixture of cow and sheep milk. The cheeses are hung together in strings to ripen for about two weeks. The process of ripening the cheese has given Scamorza its name, which in southern Italy means ‘beheaded’. A smoked variety called Scamorza Affumicate is made by smoking the cheese over flaming straw for around 10 to 15 minutes. A fresh version of Scamorza is also sold within a few days of production. The texture is elastic, stringy and has less moist than Mozzarella. The flavour is spicier, milky and creamy. Smoked Scamorza has a subtle, smoky flavour with a sweet, light caramel note. It can be used in the same way as mozzarella and since it has excellent melting qualities it is often used in casseroles.  Parmigiano-Reggiano Parmigiano-Reggiano is considered to be il Re dei Formaggi--the King of Cheeses. Made from cow's milk and aged two years, this is a hard cheese best for grating. In Emilia-Romagna where it is originates, the cows graze on pastures--not hay--so this cheese can only be made between April and November when the fields are green and lush. The flavor is spicy and salty and essential as an ingredient on top of and in many recipes. Slice shards to place in salads and on top of vegetable dishes, eat with fruit and wine, add to soups, and grate over pasta and add to sauces (like carbonara) to add a salty, nutty flavor. When you have a rinds of Parmigiano-Reggiano left over, save them in your freezer and add them into soups or stock pots when making soup or slow cooked stews. Be careful... if your supermarket offers a "Parmigiano-Reggiano" that doesn't have the name stamped on the rind, or if it seems wet or soft, it's not a real Parmigiano-Reggiano. This cheese has D.O.C. designation and should always be well aged and very hard. If this cheese has matured for more than a year--18 months--the mark "Extra" or "Export" can be added. A system of colored seals help the consumer identify the level of maturation of the prepackaged products available in retailers.
 Caciobarricato Caciobarricato is a pulled curd (pasta filata) cheese, aged in barrels with red wine and a liquor called marc. This pear-shaped cheese is matured for a minimum of 3 months, during which the curd is pulled and twisted to give it a soft, elastic, stringy quality. Its flavor is medium intense with strong hints of wine.  Mascarpone Mascarpone is a cheese from Lombardy, made by curdling milk cream with citric acid or acetic acid, it turns into a thick creamy, soft cheese. This cheese is very high in butterfat, resulting in a very high fat content (60% to 75%). It is an essential ingredient in Italian recipes like Tiramisu and cheesecakes. The texture can vary, from smooth to creamy to buttery. Mascarpone is more akin to a thickened cream that is stopped short before it turns to butter. Making the cheese is so simple that it can easily be made at home. Mascarpone is used in both sweet and savory dishes. The cheese is often mixed with anchovies, mustard and spices, or mixed with cocoa or coffee. Tiramisu contains espresso, brandy, chocolate and Mascarpone. Mascarpone can be used to thicken puddings and dessert creams. It can be eaten on its own with fruit, honey or jams. Mascarpone needs to be consumed within a few days.  Ricotta Fresca One of the most most versatile of the Italian cheeses, ricotta fresca (fresh ricotta) is an Italian cheese from sheep, cow, goat or buffalo’s milk. Ricotta means cooked twice. The first time it's cooked gives you a separate cheese and the whey needed to make ricotta as a by-product. The second cooking of the whey (with an acid, like lemon juice added) gives you ricotta. Since we've been back from Italy, Lisa has been making home made ricotta like a pro. It tastes so much better freshly made. A simple pleasure I've discovered is having some with a little honey on it. Ricotta is high in protein while low in fat--another reason Italians are thinner than Americans. It's got a smoother texture and a mild, sweet flavor. Ricotta fresca is never aged. It's pretty firm, but is wet and crumbles when spooned out. Ricotta is an incredibly useful cheese... in manicotti, lasagna, Italian cheesecake (Lisa makes a fantastic one--I'll post her recipe soon), "white" pizza, calzone, ravioli filling, to thicken sauces and soups, and to make ricotta gnocchi. And try it on it's own the way Italians do... with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or honey, with figs, on bread with fig spread, or on a bruschetta with tomatoes, olive oil, olives and basil. There's one more unexpected treat made from ricotta... ice cream. Trust me, è vero!  Burrata Burrata was invented in the early 1900s, and is a specialty of Puglia, Campania, and Basilicata. Traditionally made from buffalo's milk, nowdays they usually make it using from cow's milk. Burro means butter in Italian--Burrata is buttery and creamy in taste and texture. Burrata is essentially a package of cheese, with outside skin made from stretched sheets of mozzarella. The soft, oozing center is made from fresh cream and shredded pieces of the early stages of mozzarella-making called stracciatella. The package is typically tied on top with a blade of grass, a string or a ribbon. When you cut into a burrata, the cream oozes and you enjoy the varied textures and flavors. Burrata should be eaten as soon as possible and will only keep in the fridge for a couple of days at most. You can try it on top of slices of heirloom tomatoes, sprinkle with pepper and olive oil or drizzle with a pesto sauce. It's wonderful spread onto a nice crusty, toasted bread or as the crowning glory to a leafy salad.  Ricotta Salata I absolutely love Ricotta Salata, a sheep milk cheese originally from Sicily. It is a much firmer, crumbly, salty version of ricotta. It is snow white and doesn't have a rind and is usually wrapped in plastic but when bought fresh it can be sold in a brine or milk. In fact, I tend to keep mine in a container enough skim milk to just cover it. It is made pretty much like regular ricotta (twice cooked)--salted sheep's milk curd is pressed, dried, and aged for a minimum of 3 months. Ricotta salata has a nutty, salty-sweet flavor that is great in salads and pasta dishes. Use it in the same way you use Greek feta cheese. I also love it sliced with apples or drizzled with honey--you can't beat a sweet-salty combination on your tongue.  Baronerosso di Capra Baronerosso di Capra is an Italian semi-hard cheese prepared with raw goat's milk. It is a pressed, uncooked cheese aged for a minimum of 5 months during which the wheels are immersed in Barbera grape pomace, where they are left to mature for several weeks. It has a white, slightly crumbly paste enveloped by a dark purple flavored rind with a strong wine aftertaste with aromas of grape must and sour cherries.
 Barricato al Pepe Barricato al Pepe is made by the Moro family and comes from pasteurized cow’s milk. The Italian term for barrel aging is barricato. This is a firm, buttery cheese from Veneto Italy is covered in Brazilian black pepper and aged in oak wine barrels for almost a year. This cheese is sweet, wine-y with plenty of peppery zip and a nice crumbly, delicate flavor. The peppercorns give the taste a bite which complements then natural buttery richness of the cheese. The tradition of making this spicy cheese dates back to an ancient fairytale. It is said that a poor peasant boy was in love with the most beautiful and richest girl in the county. The girl’s father was a money hungry man who did not believe in love and was busy looking for a rich man to marry his daughter and would not even consider the peasant boy. The boy so in love with this girl, created a cheese from his prized cow and covered it in the most expensive of spices, from the market, peppercorns and gave it to the father. At the sight of this work of art with all the expensive peppercorns even the money hungry father was moved by the cheese and gave his blessing to the young couple.  These should be yellow CAUTION tape on top of each jar! Ricotta Forte My Father's father in Molfetta more than likely made his own jar of ricotta forte and kept it in a dark cupboard. This is an authentic Puglese stinky, pungent cheese. It's a southern ricotta cheese gone bad--in a good way. Spread a VERY thin layer of ricotta forte on bread or crostini and its sourness blends nicely with the bread. But, be forewarned! If you put an American size dollop on top of your bread, the cheese will have your face and nose more twisted and contorted than a mouthful of those sour lemons and rotten egg. If you have too much at one time, your eyes will tear. We were first introduced to ricotta forte by our Trullo Gallo Rosso host, Hugo in Puglia... all of winced, then smiled as we tasted this monstrous cheese. This might be an acquired taste, but it's well worth exploring. Ricotta forte is made by taking leftover fresh ricotta and stirring it periodically and removing any excess liquids. This is done for at least 3 months before placing it in small jars to age for about a year. In Italy the jars are usually kept in the cupboard under a sink.  Gorgonzola Gorgonzola is one of the world's oldest blue veined cheese, made from unskimmed cow or goat milk. Authentic Italian gorgonzola is primarily produced in Piedmont and Lombardy, Gorgonzola, just north-east of Milano. There are two types: Dolce (sweet, tangy and creamy) and Piccante (spicy, and more aged). It takes at least 4 months to age this cheese to the Dolce level. The texture is crumbly with excellent melting qualities... perfect for pizza, pastas like penne rigati, risotto or polenta. --Jerry Finzi If you liked this article, please LIKE it and share with your friends. Ciao! BONUS VIDEO: Shaping Caciocavallo cheese.... Copyright, Jerry Finzi, Grand Voyage Italy, All rights reserved  So this is the last use of our Thanksgiving Turkey leftovers. Early this week, Lucas said that he wanted to make a turkey pot pie. Chicken pot pie is one of his favorite meals when we take a ride up the Delaware River to a rustic bakery-restaurant in the little town of Delaware Watergap. I said OK, but only if he'd help. We got to work. First, I made about a half batch of my thin crust pizza dough recipe... about 1-1/2 - 2 cups of flour, yeast, a tad salt and sugar. Put it up to rise, then started the filling. I pulled the rest of the turkey meat off the one remaining drumstick and a wing and some left from a thigh. I chopped them up and started the base of the sauce. I made it pretty much the way I do a bechamel base for my cheese casserole, except instead of 2 cups of skim milk, I used one plus a cup of chicken broth. About four sticks of butter melted in a small saucepan, whisked in about 4 tablespoons of flour, then after it browned a little, I start adding milk and keep whisking, adding more milk until I finished it. Then I added the broth little by little, watching the texture of the sauce. If it gets too thick I can always add in more broth or even a bit of hot water, then which it back to a silky consistency. Then I diced a large onion, and sauteed in a fry pan with a little olive oil until translucent. Then I added the leftover baby carrots from Thanksgiving and a drained, 16 ounce can of Italian style green beans. Next I added celery cut into 1/8" slices (so they'd cook quicker). After about 10 minutes more of cooking, I added the mix into the bechamel pan, mixed and let it simmer on a very low rear burner. After about 30 minutes or so, we divided the filling into three small individual casserole crocks. I floured my work surface and rolled out my dusted pizza dough ball into a 1/4 thick slab. I cut long 3/4" wide strips while Lucas did the lattice work. At first, I tried to show him how, but he pushed my hand away, saying "Dad, I'm a lattice expert! I've been making lattice craft projects since kindergarten--I think I KNOW how to do a lattice!" He did... Just look at the results in the photo above! Thanks, Lucas. By the way, it was delicious. Lucas had the idea of sprinkling some sea salt on top after brushing with beaten egg. Perfetto! --Jerry Finzi You might also find these interesting...
Recipe: Thanksgiving Day Pizza Recipe Idea: Zuppa di Tacchino con Acini di Pepe French Onion Soup Goes Italian: Zuppa di Cipolle Italiano
--Jerry Finzi
If you enjoyed this post, please pass it along to your friends who enjoy wines... grazie! Fantastic scene from the classic film Saturday, Sunday & Monday where Sophia Loren goes to a butcher shop to buy special meats to make her ragu sauce, only to get into an argument with the other women about whose method is best. Although this video is a bit dark, there is a wonderful translation--almost good enough to write down and make a recipe from. Enjoy...  For the last five or six years I've been making something special with the leftovers from our Thanksgiving meals... I call it Thanksgiving Day Pizza. Basically, I make a pan pizza dough recipe and instead of using my tomato pizza sauce, mozzarella and other Italian toppings, I use just about all the fixings from our Turkey Day dinner. I make this as a large pan pizza where I do a second rise of the dough in an olive oil coated round rimmed pan. The second rise in the pan helps make the crust thicker to help support the heavy toppings. In place of a pizza sauce, I spread our home-made turkey gravy (and this time, gravy means the brown stuff, not Sunday Gravy) on top of the dough. The rest is easy... place dollops of my cheese potato casserole, stuffing and cranberries on top of the gravy, then spread shredded fontina cheese all across the top. The sliced bits of turkey get spread over the top of the cheese, along with a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle some of your favorite spice on top and bake. (I used dried oregano). In my oven on top of a pizza steel, I baked this pizza for 22 minutes at 425F. Ingredients for a robust, basic, deep dish pizza dough Yeast mixture: (mix together until foamy, about 10 minutes) 1-3/4 cups water at 115F 1 heaping tablespoon dry active yeast 1 tablespoon honey 3 cups bread flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon salt
I'd recommend having either a Beaujolais Nouveau, a Stella Artois beer or some sparkling apple cider with this pizza.
 Well worth waiting once a year for this... each bite offers flavors of the entire Thanksgiving Dinner! --Jerry Finzi If you have some Thanksgiving leftovers, try this pizza and leave a COMMENT to tell us how it came out. Ciao! Copyright, 2015 Jerry Finzi - All Rights Reserved
 A simple recipe... a frittata (potatoes and eggs). Start by browning up some diced potatoes. (I use canned, but you can boil up some until tender, and then dice). Slice some cherry tomatoes and saute with the potatoes. Salt, pepper, some oregano. Pour some beaten eggs on top and let cook on the stovetop 'til the bottom browns. Place slices of a "panino roll" of mozzarella-salami across the top. Place in an oven under the broiler for a few minutes to finish cooking the top side of the eggs and melt the panino roll slices. Slice and serve with a marinara of your choice with some grated cheese on top. Finito!
 If you enjoyed this recipe, please share with your friends and give us a LIKE. Grazie!
 Last week we made a simple pizza: Pizza Margherita with Speck. I should explain what speck is. It's not the same as the German speck found in German speaking areas of Northern Italy. (Actually, in German, speck literally means bacon.) Their speck is more like what Italians call lardo, which is a very fatty bacon cured with loads of spices. Speck as we discovered it in Italy (as far south as Puglia) is basically a smoke-cured prosciutto. It's much less fatty and perhaps a bit saltier tasting, but not overly so.
The pizzas we had in Italy with either prosciutto or speck placed the meat on the pizza after it came out of the oven. As you can see in the photo, the speck is crispy because I put it on before the pizza went into the oven. It is absolutely delicious crispy like this. It's also great when used in pasta dishes like carbonara. You can find speck in Italian specialty markets and online--even on Amazon. But, unless you have a deli slicer, I wouldn't recommend getting a large one online. Like prosciutto, speck needs to be sliced paper thin. I really recommend finding an Italian deli that carries it and have it cut to order. --Jerry Finzi Don't forget to share this post with your amici. Grazie! Every fall when I was a kid, just before Thanksgiving, my Dad would bring home a bunch of chestnuts from his store. On Thanksgiving day--and on Christmas, too--he'd cut crosses on the sides and put them up in a broiler pan to roast in the oven. Toward the end of the huge day of eating (pasta dinner first, then rest for a hour or two before the American style turkey dinner) the chestnuts would be on the table with the tangerines, kumquats, "Chinese Apples" (pomegranates) and Italian pastries. This is also when my Dad would get out the tiny aperitivo glasses on a round carrying tray, each looking like little glass mugs with handles. I can still remember the smell of the roasted chestnuts and Amaretto wafting into my young nose. Of course, my Dad would always let me have a sip or two. And even though I wasn't a big fan of chestnuts back then, I still had a couple with my tangerine. Perhaps because I sensed the tradition was important to my Dad, or maybe simply because HE had bought and roasted them.  Roasted - Italian street style  Castagne (Cast-AH-nyeh) have been cultivated for over 2000 years and were imported into Italy and the rest of the European continent from the Near East and Turkey. Ancient Greek writers--Dioscorides and Galen--wrote about the chestnut's health benefits while warning of the flatulence caused by overindulging. Early Christians thought chestnuts symbolized chastity. Communities in mountainous and forested areas of Italy relied on chestnuts as their main source of carbohydrates, and in some regions, a cake made of chestnuts is used as a substitute for potatoes.
The European Chestnut can grow to 60 feet tall, or can be quite bushy. There have been reports in history of some trees reaching 50 feet in circumference around the trunk. But, just as with the huge, ancient 2000 year old olive trees we saw in Puglia, some trees love Italy so much and seem to live forever. Il Castagno dei Cento Cavalli (Chestnut of 100 Horses) on the eastern slope of Mount Etna in Sicily is the oldest known chestnut in the world, estimated to be between 2000-4000 years old! The tree's name comes from a legend about The Queen of Aragon and her army of one hundred knights being able to take shelter under the massive tree during a severe storm. In the 1700s its then intact trunk measured almost 200 feet around. Today, the tree's trunk is split into several different sections, but all are growing from the same roots and are still alive.  Chestnut vendors can be found all over Italy The Mugello area in northern Tuscany is no doubt the heart of chestnut cultivation in Italy. In fact the Mugello Sweet Chestnut has been given Protected Geographic Indication status by the European Union. It is sweeter than others, peels easily and supposedly tastes of vanilla, hazelnut and the scent of fresh bread.
 Montebianco (Mont Blanc) dessert Although you can eat chestnuts raw, the flavor can be a bit astringent. The best way to enjoy them is roasting, although they can also be candied, boiled, steamed or deep-fried. For roasting, the outside of the fruit needs to be scored (yes, chestnuts are actually fruits) to prevent them from exploding. The texture is something like a dry baked potato with a sweet, nutty flavor. The flavor can be enhanced by tossing in sugar or a cinnamon-sugar mix. Some even toss them in a bit of melted butter. Chestnuts are used in many different ways: milled into flour for bread (long lasting!), cakes, pastas or polenta; to thicken soups and sauces; to make fritelli (fritters); candied or pureed and sweetened for desserts or as spreads; as an element of stuffing for turkey or goose; as a substitute for potatoes in stews; Tuscan chestnut cake; and in as a Montebianco dessert in Italy.
 A wonderful, swinging chestnut roaster on the street The chestnuts in Europe--especially in Italy--are superior to the ones we typically find in American supermarkets. If you can, find someone who carries imported Italian Sweet Chestnuts. If not, there is always Amazon. Otherwise, here's a method of roasting chestnuts that won't dry them out while adding a bit more flavor:
Of course, chestnuts need to be eaten right away--as soon as you can touch them without burning your fingers. (Ouch). Peel. Eat. Peel a tangerine to go along with them. Sip some Amarreto. Tradition. Buon Giorno del Ringraziamento a tutti! (Happy Thanksgiving, that is.) e Buon Natale! (Merry Christmas, too!) --Jerry Finzi
If you enjoyed this post, please LIKE it and SHARE with your amici... grazie! We also have pages on: Google+ StumbleUpon   My son, Lucas loves the film Ratatouille, and so do Lisa and I. It's a wonderful jaunt through a vintage Parisian kitchen through the eyes of "Little Chef", a mouse who loves to cook. After seeing the film, Lucas wanted to make ratatouille, so we set out to do a rustic, delicious version and have made it many times since. But ever since re-discovering our Italian roots during our Grand Voyage of Italy, we have been concentrating more on Italian recipes. Well, this time we though we'd combine the best of both worlds--French country cuisine with the height of Italian culinary skills--in the making of a great risotto. I think we succeeded with our Ratatouille & Risotto. It's perfect for autumn or winter--a stick to your ribs supper. But this dish has two distinct personalities... the obvious simplicity of making the ratatouille--basically a vegetarian peasant stew--and the technically oriented risotto. For the Ratatouille Ratatouille is a very basic vegetable stew made in Provence and around Nice in southern France. It uses several basic ingredients: eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onion and pepper. There are many variations on the recipe, but the one I use is fairly rustic and traditional. Ingredients: 1 large Vidalia (sweet) onion-diced 1 bell pepper, diced 2 smaller sized eggplant-skinned, cut into 3/4 -1" cubes, (you can use one large, but they have more seeds and tend to be more bitter) 5-6 whole garlic cloves 3-4 young, slim zucchini-skin on, sliced once lengthwise, then into 3/4" half moon slices, (for the same reason, younger are more sweet and less seedy) 1-16 ounce can of diced tomatoes (I use Del Monte, oregano & basil spiced, in summer use fresh heirloom paste tomatoes) 1 cup chicken (or vegetable) broth 1/4 cup port wine 1 tablespoon salt 2 tablespoons oregano 1 tablespoon rubbed sage 3 bay leaves (remove after cooking!) 40 cracks of fresh pepper (from a pepper mill, fine grind) 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes Olive oil for sauteing
 For the Risotto We mainly use Arborio rice when we make risotto, but even better is if you can find Canaroli rice--it makes an even creamier risotto and is a bit more forgiving. The trick with making risotto is patience. It can take the better part of an hour or more--constantly adding broth and stirring--until the starchy exterior of the rice breaks down enough to make a creamy risotto, while still keeping a pasta-like "tooth" in the cooked rice. You don't want any crunch, there shouldn't be any mushy rice, and the texture when finished should be loose, glistening and creamy. While there are some tricks for making risotto faster, there's no substitute for a strong arm and standing at the stovetop for up to an hour... Ingredients: 2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice 2 tablespoons light olive oil 1 medium sweet onion (or half a large Vidalia)-diced finely 1 cup dry white wine (Frascati or Pinot Grigio, or one of your choice) 6 cups of chick or vegetable broth, heated in a saucepan (for ladling into the rice) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 stick unsalted butter 1-1/4 cups of finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (plus additional for topping off the dish)
Toward the end, you will notice the starch in the rice being released to make a creamy consistency. Occasionally, taste the rice to make sure it is cooked through while still having a little bit of "tooth". You do not want it mushy, but you don't want crunch on individual grains. You will also know when the rice is nearing completion when you experience a sort of "wave" when you stir the rice, making a circular motion with the flat edge of your spoon around the bottom of the pan. Italian chef's call this the all'onda (wavy) effect. When your spoons passes and the rice behind it slides back like a silky wave, the risotto is at the right texture.
Some recipes say that this will take only 30-35 minutes, but I have found it takes me 45-65 minutes until the rice is cooked and getting creamy. Risotto should be served immediately when completed, so timing is key. But in the event you have to let your risotto sit for a bit, just leave covered, unheated... then before serving, revitalize it by heating it with a little bit more hot water on a medium low flame until the water is incorporated and it has reached the "wave" stage once again. To service, place a portion of the risotto on your plates and add some ratatouille on top, toward one side (let the creamy risotto show itself off too). You decide to have a hearty Italian Chianti or a nice French Bordeaux with the dish... after all, it does have a split-personality. I'd also like to add that this is a basic risotto recipe. Once you learn how to make this, you can experience with adding all sorts of other things into the risotto... mushrooms, saffron, peas, shrimp, etc. And the ratatouille recipe is great topping a pizza, with pasta or even as a filling for a stuffed baked potato! Buon appetito! --Jerry Finzi If you enjoyed this post and have cooked the recipe, please leave a comment or post your feedback on our Facebook page. Grazie.  The "wave" slides in and closes itself as your spoon passes around the pan... è finito! Add the butter and cheese and serve. We fell in love with wines in Puglia when we Voyaged throughout Italy. Back at home, we discovered that Pugliese wines are, well, not discovered here. Local wine shops usually have only one or two from Puglia... our favorite go-to, affordable choice is a Primativo by Layer Cake. We haven't had a bad bottle yet. This gave Lisa an idea to try other wines, from the region, but to do that we needed a bigger wine shop. She decided on Astor Wines in New York City. I used to buy from Astor when I lived in Manhattan and can tell you from experience, this wine shop has everything. I mean everything... from $600 bottles of vintage bottles, to under $10 bottles. Well, being on the frugal side of life (and never having been satisfied with any wine that we paid over $50 for), the $10 range was just about right. Here is the first in the series... Cent'anni!  Torre Nova Negroamaro 2014
$10.98 (Astor Wines) This is an organic, un-oaked, red wine--that is, it was not aged on an oak barrel. It's from the Salento region of Puglia--the heel of the boot. It was full bodied and fruity at first, but then the acidic youthfulness hit my tongue. The finish was smooth and a bit spicy. It reminded me of a rustic Chianti. This might be a bottle to keep for a few years to see how it ages. It went great with a primavera pasta and would be a good mix on the palette with beef. --JF  If you watch the video snippet above, you'll enjoy the scene from Moonstruck where Olivia Dukakas' character makes Uova nel Cestino (Eggs in a Trashcan) for breakfast for herself and Cher's character. The simple method of tearing a hole in some slices of Italian bread and frying up some eggs in the holes is classic... a peasant food, a food for the lower-working class, but it's also a very pleasant food. The appearance of it in Moonstruck has also made it an Italian-American classic, if not totally of Italian origin. But the history of this rustic dish seems relatively modern. There are various names for basically the same dish--slices of bread with round holes or squares cut from the center and eggs dropped in the hole for frying. They can be called by many names: Eggs in a Basket, Eggs in a Box, Toad in a Hole, Gashouse Eggs, Spit in the Ocean, Egg in a Frame, Eggs Looking at You, One-Eyed Jacks, Bullseye, Hen in a Nest, Hobo Eggs or Hole in One. Update November 10, 2015: Thanks to many of Grand Voyage Italy's Facebook friends, they've come up with additional names that their own families have for this dish... Bullseye, Holey Eggs, Eyeball Eggs, Chicken in a Basket, Framed Eggs, One-Eyed Susie's, Framed Eggs, One-Eyed Pete, Egg in a Hole, Eggs in a Hat and Eggy in a Basket. These eggy delights have also been seen being made in films other than Moonstruck: Mary Jane's Pa (1935, causing it sometimes to be called Guy Kibbee Eggs); Moon Over Miami, (1941--which named this dish either Betty Grable's Eggs or Gashouse Eggs); and in the 2005 film V for Vendetta. Even the TV show Friends had a character making this dish. In the little bit of research I've done, it seems that there is some version of these eggs--using the various names--not only in most parts of our country, but also in many European countries. I believe it was truly a peasant food that came to America with immigrants from all sorts of countries, which is why there are so many different names and variations in the method of cooking and ingredients. For instance, if you watch the Moonstruck video clip carefully, you'll see that there was also pickled pimentos added to the dish. Here's how I made mine: Ingredients: A single egg for each bread "nest" you are making 3/4 - 1" thick slices of a crusty Italian Pane di Casa or Country Round bread (or Challah). Olive oil for brushing the bread Butter and Olive Oil for the fry pan (use a mix of the two for browning) One 2-1/2" round cookie cutter (or use an upturned small jar) An Italian spice mix (either a commercial one or a mix of garlic powder, dried basil and dried oregano)
For "sunny side up" (You might want a lower flame for this):
For "over easy" eggs:
I served the Uova nel Cestino with a couple of country sausages and a side of home fries. We also had some home made tomato ketchup that went well with the bread and eggs, but to keep the Italian theme, ,a nice marinara would work really well. To finish our brunch we each had a refreshing small serving of Lisa's home made ricotta with fruit and honey.  Prepping the basket  The first side with the egg dropped in the "basket"  Flipping is easier when you have only one in the pan  My finished Uova Cestino with home fries and country sausage.
And here are another two other delicious looking versions of Eggs in a Basket by Cookbook author, Camille Orrichio Loccisano. The first rustic version, with the addition of marinara with a dash of fresh chopped basil, really wets my Italian appetite. For the second version, the "nest" is created by scooping out holes in individual brioche rolls. Below the photos is the recipe for her Brioche Nest Eggs from her cookbook, Foodships: Living Life...One Recipe at a Time available on Amazon. I strongly suggest you pick up a copy (it's also available for Kindle), but not just for the recipes. Camille weaves the recipes around her life, her neighborhood, her friends and the sad loss of her teenage son. In fact, the cookbook was inspired by a recipe that was her son's favorite. "Living Life... One Recipe at a Time" isn't just the name of a cookbook. It's a philosophy of how to live past whatever life throws at us using great food as the means of forward motion. Brava, Camille!
From Foodships: Living Life...One Recipe at a Time... Ingredients: 4 round dinner rolls 2 tablespoons butter, softened 2 garlic cloves, peeled 1/2 cup basil, chopped 4 jumbo large eggs Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 4 sun-dried tomatoes, diced Parmigiano-Reggiano grated cheese Slice off top of each dinner roll. Carefully remove the inside of the bread to create a hollow, making sure the bottom of the roll remains intact. Spread the softened butter on the inside of each roll. Grate the garlic cloves so that the garlic falls into the hole of each dinner roll. Sprinkle in half the basil. Crack an egg into each dinner roll. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Add a teaspoon of diced sun-dried tomato and sprinkle with the remaining basil. Top with a generous amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. On a baking sheet, bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 17 minutes or until bread is toasted golden at the edges. Camille’s Tip: Use eggs and butter that are room temperature, unless a recipe specifically calls for cold. In the end, no matter what you call it, you really have to try making Eggs in a Basket. It is very rustic, completely satisfying, kids will love making it--and eating it, and there are many ways you can put your own spin on it regardless of your ethnic heritage. Buon appetito! --Jerry Finzi Copyright 2015, Jerry Finzi - All Rights Reserved
 A re-created Goldberg's Neon Sign, as I remember it Back in the 1970s I was living and working in my loft/studio in Manhattan's Chelsea district. There were times when my staff and I would work late into the night and would have to stop work and get some sort of dinner--usually take out. The problem was that in those days, the Mom & Pop steam table lunch shops would close up after 6pm when all the factory workers went home for the day. They offered a blend of ethnic fare: Chinese, Italian and Spanish, often tastes of each ladled into a single aluminum take-out dish. About 2000 calories of fried chicken, BBQ ribs, fried or saffron rice or pasta, meatball, chicken parmigiana, you name it... all prepared fresh every day. I don't know how we got back to work after those lunches...  I found this rather musty copy of Goldberg's book online. His pizza recipe is generic, no secrets revealed You see, there were very few of us photographers back then in the warehouse loft-neighborhood, and even less actually living in our lofts. It was an industrial district (in years to come, it would be known as the Photo District because of the hundreds of photographers that moved into the lofts). During the day our neighbors were silk screeners, printers, fabric cutters, machinists and shoe factory workers. There was even a puppet maker and manufacturer of backgammon and chess boards across the street. I was the first photographer and the first person to ever live in my 11 story building. There were perhaps only 7 people living in lofts on my street at the time. After hours, the streets around my studio were pretty deserted. Walking along on the streets was not a good idea. (Unlike today... it's a bustling, gentrified nightmare). The problem was, when we worked late, we had to go several long blocks either west or east of our neighborhood to the residential areas in order to find dinner. There were a couple of family style diners, an Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, one fast food burger joint (ugh) and a few restaurants that offered take out. But there were also a few pizzerias, and new to the neighborhood was Goldberg's Pizzeria--which quickly became one of my all-time favorite pizza joints. "A Jewish Pizza?" people always would declare. Now, the special thing about Goldberg's was that their pizza was different from any New York style pie. And although New Yorker's had no idea about its origins, the Goldberg pizza was a deep dish, Chicago style pizza. The dear, departed Larry Goldberg achieved a bit of fame for his "Jewish" pizza concept back then. He was on TV and newspapers did big write-ups on his pizza. Sure, Goldberg offered his attention getting Goldilox pie (with lox), and the Nixon pizza (ketchup and cottage cheese toppings), The Garbage Pizza, the A-Little-of-Everything Pizza and the SMOG (Sausage, Mushrooms, Onions, Green Peppers), but the sausage, mushroom, pepperoni or meatball pizzas were the real stars. In all, he offered only 8 types of pizza on his menu in various sizes. These were amazing pizzas! In 1970, New York Magazine and its Underground Gourmet column named his New York's Best Pizza over all others they reviewed. The sauce was sweet and the crust was thick and steamy in the middle while holding a decent crust underneath. The crust had a sort of sweet taste on the tongue (as I remember it), much more robust and bread-like than its New York style counterpart. Bits of cheese and misplaced sauce would burn a bit at the edges of the individual aluminum foil pans, but this only added flavor to the crust. Although I don't remember specifically, Goldberg's Pizza was made upside down, as all Chicago style pizzas are made--the toppings are on the bottom, the sauce on top, and lots of oregano finishing it all off. He pressed everything down with a spatula right before baking. (Click here to read a 1970 LETTERS to the editor section of New York magazine, where readers some readers debate whether a Chicago style pizza should have won the award... and as a bonus, Larry Goldberg himself wrote an interesting letter where he talks about opening his new location on "Third Avenue in the 20s". That's the one that I frequented! ..... And here's another great article I discovered called The Skinny on Fats, referring to Larry's nickname of Fats Goldberg given when he was a younger, heavier 320 pounds before losing 150 pounds on his "controlled cheating" diet which he wrote about in his diet books.)  New York Magazine's "First Prize" for Goldberg's Pizza  Every so often I think of Goldberg's Pizza and late nights at my studio. I remember the high backed booths (great for a private date) and the walls decorated with copies of Chicago newspapers. I also remember the various sized aluminum pans nailed up on the wall for all to see... it made ordering the size you wanted very easy. I even ordered a heart shaped pie once. Well, reaching back into my fond memories, I tried to remember the flavors, the texture of the crust, the taste of the sauce... and I decided I'd try to make my own recreation of a Goldberg's Pizza. The trouble is, Larry Goldberg always talked about his "secret ingredient" but never put it in writing. There were theories and a lot of talk about some detecting a taste of rye flour in the crust. I have no memory of rye... but I think I had an idea what that special ingredient might be. The texture was a tad gritty. The crust was sort of stiff and well done on the bottom and sides, but inside was steamy and on the sweet side... it was also a bit more yellow than a normal pizza crust. Kind of like a corn muffin, I thought. (Lightbulb) That's when I got my big idea to try... Adding corn meal to the dough.
 The Smithsonian Institute deemed the Goldberg's neon sign so significant, it included it in its "Nation of Nations" exhibit until 1991 But how much... in what proportion? I even went out and bought some cheap, disposable 9 inch aluminum cake pans to bake them in--just like the originals. Ok, so here's what I did: Ingredients (for 2 - 9 inch, deep dish pizzas) Yeast: 1-1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast 1-2/3 cups water (at 115 ℉) 1 tablespoon honey Dough: 1 cup (to start) King Arthur's Bread Flour 1 cup Stone Ground Corn Meal (yellow or white, it doesn't really matter) 1 cup King Arthur's Whole Wheat Flour 1-1/2 tablespoons salt 3 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Toppings: Our Pizza Sauce (Click for recipe) or one of your own 16 ounces of part-skim mozzarella, shredded (Goldberg used part skim always) 2 tablespoons of dried Oregano Meat topping of your choice (Goldberg would use, pre-cooked, crumbled sausage, or sliced little meatballs, pepperoni, etc.) Preheat the Oven and Pizza Stone set on the middle rack to 450℉. You will need 2 - 9" cake pans oiled on the bottom and sides with Olive Oil (to be authentic I used 2 disposable aluminum pans for this recipe)
You really have to use your own best judgement here. As I learned recently when upgrading my wall ovens, no two ovens are alike. (Read about it here). Use your eyes to examine the pizza as it's baking. Ultimately, you want the bottom crust to brown in the same amount of time as getting the toppings cooked. If you find your crust isn't browning enough, try using a flat cookie sheet (not insulated) next time on top of your pizza stone (and under the deep dish pans in this recipe). Metal transfers heat quicker than a ceramic stone. To solve my problems with the new ovens, I've switched to using a pizza steel instead of a pizza stone. (Read how it solved my problems here). If you need to, adjust the time accordingly. You can use two dark 9" cake pans for this recipe, but you might have to shorten your baking time (and perhaps think about lowering the temp to 425℉). Dark pans brown much faster than light colored ones do. In the end, I think I re-created a decent representation of the Goldberg's Pizza. Sure, I can tinker with the sauce a bit (and I probably will, the next time... I think a tad sweeter, the sauce made only with crushed tomatoes). And I will try some rye next time, though I really don't think that was his secret ingredient. Perhaps you'll want to try your own SMOG or NIXON or even throw some lox on top to make a Goldilox. It's up to you to do Larry Goldberg proud. Bless you, Larry. You gave a lot of people full, satisfied bellies and great memories.... --Jerry Finzi, Pizzaiolo  My finished Re-Creation of Goldberg's Pizza.... crunch in the crust, steamy inside.  
 Addeo's Bakery
Arthur Avenue is the heart of the Bronx's Little Italy, its epicenter being at Arthur Avenue and 187th Street in the Belmont-Fordham neighborhood of New York City--and even going a bit beyond to Prospect Avenue. Although not as Italian in terms of the local residents as in years past, it is a haven for all sorts of Italian restaurants and many types of purveyors of Italian specialty foods. The lively, tight streets are lined with delis, bakeries, fish markets, green grocers, cookwares, butchers, cheese shops and more. This is not a tourist trap, as is the "Little Italy" in downtown Manhattan. This is the real deal.
Arthur Avenue was named after President Chester A. Arthur in the 1800s. Many Italians settled in the neighborhood while being employed to build build the Bronx Zoo. Once the word got out about how nice the neighborhood was (more like the country than down on the Lower East Side) and with the added convenience of the recently built Third Avenue elevated train ("The El"), Italian immigrants from lower Manhattan migrated north, swelling the Italian population of the neighborhood to 100,000 in the early 1900s.
There are special events held in the neighborhood that are well worth attending. One is the “Dancing of the Giglio” and the Feast of St. Anthony. This ancient tradition originated in Nola, Italy in 409 A.D. and is still celebrated today. The giglio is a custom, hand-made wooden structure, measuring 50 feet high and weighing several tons. It takes over 100 paranza (lifers) to hoist this enormous structure up on their shoulders as they carry it through the streets while performing various ritual maneuvers. The Feast of St. Anthony is held in early June every year and features live music, carnival games, rides, and fantastic Italian food.
And although Ferragosto (the end of summer holiday and celebration) in Italy is in August (Agosto), in the Bronx, they celebrate in early September. It's another chance to feast on Italian delicacies and enjoy the festive atmosphere of Arthur Avenue.
Cosenza's Fish Market
Calabria Pork Store
Cosenza's Fish Market
Arthur Avenue Market
While on Arthur Avenue, don't forget to walk through the Arthur Avenue Market, an indoor market with a dozen or so vendors, purveyors and green grocers. Then after you're done buying your cheese, fish, meats and deli specialties, take in a dinner at one of the many Italian restaurants... the offerings here are authentic and far better than the cheap tourist menus in downtown Manhattan's Little Italy. Personally, I'd recommend Emilia's Restaurant. Try their brasciole!
Use the interactive map below to find your way around the neighborhood. Happy eating! --Jerry Finzi |
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