Linda’s Tips and Travel Notes

Food and Dining Radio Show – 1.31.08 

Linda Gassenheimer (LG)

Fred Tasker (FT)

Joseph Cooper (JC)

Faith Willinger (FW)

LG:  How about traveling to

Italy today? Faith Willinger is the author of The Adventures of an Italian Food Lover. She has some fascinating stops for us. Welcome.

FW: Thank you. It’s great to be here. The weather is better here than in

Italy right now.

LG: What are we drinking today Fred?

FT: I’m going to talk with Faith about Brunello di Montalcino. It would be a good wine to serve at a Super Bowl party, but not with chips!

LG: We’ve been friends for a long time. It’s nice to see you here Faith.

FW: It’s great to be here. I love

Miami. My dad used to live here.

LG: You’re book is beautiful. There are watercolor paintings in it.

FW: Yes, my sister did the water color paintings in my book. She’s a fabulous artist and she made water colors of the countryside and all of the friends I have.

LG: You’re living the dream many Americans have — living in Florence and touring around Italy, and your tour of

Italy is my kind of trip. You talk about the best places to buy food and out of the way places to tour.

FW: This book isn’t only about restaurants, it’s about my friends. Some of them own restaurants but some are cab drivers. You can get a recipe from anybody. For example I have a beautiful and simple recipe for anchovies from a woman in Positano. She preserved anchovies that were unsalted, soaked in water, dried and then put into olive oil. She put them on bread with butter and it was a delicious appetizer she made for me in 2 seconds.

LG: All of the ingredients have to be high quality.

FW: Yes, this doesn’t work with wonder bread and anchovy paste! It has to be good ingredients.

FT: Your friends do own wineries as well?

FW: A lot of my friends do have wineries and everybody has given me a recipe.

LG: Take us further south. That’s a region not as frequently discussed and visited.

FW: There’s a village in

Puglia where one of my friends has an oven where bread is baked, and the oven is from 1526. It’s a straw burning oven, makes one kind of bread that’s 10 lbs and lasts for over 2 weeks. If you visit Angelo you can see where the bread is made and then have lunch next door.

LG: So it’s open to the public?

FW: It’s open to the public and inexpensive.

LG: Where is this again?

FW:

Puglia is the northern part of the heel of the boot. Also there is my friend Pepe who has an

Inn, restaurant and a cooking school. I was so surprised because we stayed in a two bedroom suite and the living room of the suite had a Le Corbusier leather grand sofa. I didn’t expect that for $60 per person.

LG: All of these recommendations are in your book, right?

FW: Yes, with addresses and websites. You can get to all of these places if you go to

Italy, but if you can’t go then you can make the recipes at home.

LG: What do you stock in your cabinet? What is the number one thing to have?

FW: The number one thing is extra virgin olive oil.

LG: And you’ve brought a tiny bottle for us.

FW: Yes, I like to travel with carry on luggage only! This is actually available here. It’s called Castello di Ama.  They’re also a fabulous producer of Chianti Classico. Put this oil on some bread, rub the bread with garlic, and it’s delicious.

LG: I have something else here. It’s so fragrant.

FW: It’s salt from my favorite butcher in the world. It’s called Perfume di Chianti (Perfume of Chianti) because all the herbs from the countryside are in the sea salt from

Sicily. It has rosemary, lavender, sage…

LG: How would you use it?

FW: Sprinkle it on meat or fish after you’ve cooked it. Dario thinks it’s fabulous on steak.

LG: The other product from

Italy we hear a lot about it balsamic vinegar. How do we know what to buy?

FW: There are two consortiums. The one I believe in is the consortium from

Modena. This is a product that takes many years to make. Any bottle that says a certain number of years on the bottle is meaningless. The law doesn’t insist on those numbers and they really don’t mean anything. A bottle of true balsamico is a combination of years. If you’re thinking of buying a middle range balsamic then just buy something inexpensive in the supermarket. It’s only worth spending money on the real stuff because you’re only using it by the drop. Balsamic Tradizionale (extra bold) is the good stuff.

LG: Where can you buy it?

FW: You can buy it in specialty stores and certainly online. I would go to Zingerman’s …you can find it many places. It’s called Traditional Balsamic Vinegar from

Modena.

LG: And you only put a few drops? Like on parmesan?

FW: Yes, or grilled tuna, strawberries, onions…it’s great with so many things.

LG: Or drops in water. I saw that there.

FW: Well you know really wealthy people would drink half a teaspoon as a digestive. It was a sign of wealth.

LG: Tell us more about traveling in

Italy today. Where can we go with the dollar being so weak?

FW: One of the great things to do is go to an Agriturismo. It’s a working farm where you can stay and frequently you can eat there. There’s one outside of Caserta in the region on Campagna between Rome and

Naples. It’s called Terre di Conca. They raise black pigs, grow specialty apples, and you can stay there and eat there. You can have a meal for $25 dollars with many courses and wine. They cook it at a stove right in front of you.

FT: Do I have to help out at the farm?

FW: No! The amazing thing is that the pigs eat a lot of the apples and when I was there he gave me some cured pancetta that he made and when I cut it open it smelled like apples.

LG: Well we’re talking with Faith Willinger about her book, The Adventures of an Italian Food Lover. We’re going to take a short break now.

[break]

LG: We’ve been taking a culinary trip through

Italy. Faith Willinger has been giving us tips on creating authentic Italian food at home. Now it’s dinner in minutes time. We’re going back to

America because what’s more American than Super Bowl Sunday? We’re doing Southwestern Chili here. This is one of my favorites because it only takes 20 minutes. You can make it today and then freeze it for Sunday. Find the recipe on my website.

JC: I like the

Tabasco in it. I would let people put it in themselves though to control the heat.

LG: Yes, and at the end I add lime juice which really brings out the flavor. Serve it with whatever you like.

JC: Use paper bowls.

LG: (Laughing) Yes. You can see a photo of the recipe on my website. Fred, what are we drinking?

FT: Today I’m happy to say we’re drinking Brunello di Montalcino. It has great tannins and good acids so it goes well with bold foods like wild game and steak. First I want to put it in perspective. When we think about

Tuscany we think about Chianti. They’re both made with Sangiovese grapes.  But nothing is added to Brunello, unlike Chianti. It is made of Sangiovese Grosso, which I like to call Chianti on steroids. It doesn’t need any grapes added to it. Normally it’s 100%, but Faith says sometimes they add something else.

FW: Yes, some people feel they want a more internationally styled wine. Brunello is such a fabulous wine. The younger brother, Rosso di Montalcino, is sold young and it’s a lot more economical.

LG: We haven’t had it yet because Fred hasn’t shared.

FT: Let’s taste it. This is the Brunello di Montalcino. [tasting] I get mulberries, cherries and really nice ripe tannin, good acid…it’s a powerful wine.

FW: This is a wine that goes nicely with food. Anything you’re buying from 2003 up until now will be a fabulous year. It’s a good wine to buy and a good wine to put in your cellar.

LG: How long would you keep it?

FW: 10 or 15 years. This is a four star vintage. Next year is going to be a 5 star vintage.

FT: Now I’m going to open Rosso di Montalcino.

FW: The color on this is different. It’s a younger, lustier wine that is more affordable. I find in restaurants that it’s the best buy for reds.

FT: This is a $15-$25 wine. This is one you might be able to afford even with the mark-up in restaurants in

Miami.

LG: This is quite drinkable; it’s quite nice.

FW: It’s delicious; it’s not too big and it would go great with the chili you serve during the Super Bowl.

LG: Yes, and you don’t have to have it with a big meal.

FW: Right, you could hold onto it but why would you? Just buy a case of it and drink it right now. Good wine and bad wine have the same number of calories - why waste them!?

 

Miami Herald Wine Columist Fred Tasker’s Wine Suggestions:

Today I’m happy to say we’re tasting the fabled italian, tuscan wine called Brunello di Montalcino.  This is one of the truly great wines of italy - big and bold, with ripe tannins and powerful acids that mean it goes very well with robust foods - from those rosemary-scented grilled tuscan steaks to wild game to rich Christmas goose.
 We have to put it in perspective. When we Americans think of Tuscany and wine, we think of Chianti. Chianti is made around Siena, to the north of Montalcino. Both cities are southwest of Florence, in the beautiful Tuscan hills.
 Chianti uses the well-known grape called sangiovese. But sangiovese can need some help sometimes - so in 1852 the Barton Ricasoli decreed that Chianti should be made of sangiovese plus malvasia near, canailo, colorino and mammolo grapes, mostly for added color and structure. Modern Chiantis are sometimes made only of sangiovese, because they’re growing better sangiovese these days.
 Brunello di Montalcino is also made of sangiovese - but of a bigger, more powerful close of it called brunello. I like to call it Chianti on steroids. Brunello doesn’t need any other grapes added to it. So it’s 100% brunello grapes, and must be aged in oak barrels for at least two years - and often longer — before being released. And brunellos are usually best about 7 or 8 years after being made. We’re tasting one of the best brunellos today, the col d’orcia, made by Count Francesco Marone Cinzano, the president of the consorzio that’s holding the big brunello tasting at the Biltmore hotel in coral gables at this very minute.
 The other wine we’re tasting today is Rosso di Montalcino. It’s called brunello’s little brother. It’s lighter, and doesn’t have any particular aging requirements, so you can drink it sooner, with lighter dishes like meat or cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, meat loaf and other comfort foods or especially super bowl foods. Or Linda’s Mexican pork and bean chili.
 In all, it’s a treat. Thanks for bringing it.
 

LG: Well we’ve had a very tasty and interesting week. Thank you for joining us Faith Willinger. Her book is Adventures of an Italian Food Lover. It has great pictures and great recipes. Join us next time.