Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

A Voce

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Primavera on a plate. The spring green ortica (nettle) colors hand-made noodles.

I arrived at a Theatre District hotel a day early for the recent International Association of Culinary Professionals conference in NYC but the anticipated tour of the Italian stores on Arthur Avenue was cancelled. My Inner Italian was primed for action, however. Since I wasn’t up for navigating public trans to the Bronx, I consulted The Platt 101 in New York magazine, a list of the top eateries in town. [Read more…]

The Inner Italian Q & A: Linda Dini Jenkins

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One in an occasional series of conversations with those who try to “live Italian” wherever they are.

"La Principessa" in Perugia

Linda Dini Jenkins is a freelance travel writer and photographer and the author of Up at the Villa: Travels with my Husband (more later on how to win a free copy!). She also blogs regularly about travel and travel writing at Travel the Write Way and teaches creative writing and journaling. She enjoys taking small groups of friends, to explore what Italy has to offer beyond the Florence-Venice-Rome triumvirate, and she can pack her suitcase in 15 minutes.

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Q: Living “Italian”. . . Is it a great way to live or the greatest way to live?
A: Well, I think it’s the greatest way to live. When you take into account the slower pace of life (outside the big cities!), the immersion in history and art, the fantastic cuisine, the love of design and music, the respect for taking time out to enjoy the simple things . . . whether it’s Italian or Mediterranean or European, it’s how I want to live.

Q: Why?
A: Are you kidding? Start with the food, the design sensibilities, the language, the arts, the vino, the pausa, the passeggiata . . . need I go on?

Q: When did you discover your Inner Italian? What is your Inner Italian named?
A: I always knew about my Inner Italian but, like other children of first-generation Italian-Americans who desperately wanted to assimilate, “being Italian” was something that just happened and was never really encouraged. In fact, I’d heard stories growing up of how hard it was for my father to be Italian in a New York suburb in the 1930s and ‘40s; even being Italian in my first job in New York in the 1970s was something of a liability. And I was always a little ashamed after that of being part Italian (my mother’s side of the family was English/Irish/German) until I met my husband and he took me to Italy in 2000. Since then, I have been a proud and vocal Italian-American. If my Inner Italian has a name and it needs to be something other than Linda, I suppose it’s Principessa . . .

Q: What does “living Italian” mean to you?
A: My grandparents came over from Italy in the late 1890s and they were anything but rich. So for me, living Italian has to do with cooking and eating together, always having crusty bread and wrinkled olives and green olive oil on the flowered oilcloth-covered table. It means not being afraid to be emotional—even if that involves fists and things flying when you’re angry. It means loving music and feeling the arts very deeply. It means trying to have a sense of style—of la bella figura—even if the clothes or table settings come from Target. And it means being a storyteller and a traveler and something of an adventurer.

[Read more…]

Winner of SimpleItaly Loves Chicken

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Auguri to Mary Ann Holm, who won the random drawing for a digital copy of SimpleItaly Loves Chicken.

Grazie to all who commented on the post to enter the sweepstakes. To thank you, here’s a recipe from the e-book.

Chicken Rigatoni all'Amatriciana is slightly spicy and totally satisfying. You'll find the recipe in "SimpleItaly Loves Chicken."

Rigatoni and Chicken all’Amatriciana

Serves 4 to 6

2          tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2          ounces thinly sliced pancetta or bacon, cut in slivers

1          onion, halved and thinly sliced

3/4       pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced

1          can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes

1/2       teaspoon crushed red pepper + extra for garnish

Salt

1          pound dried rigatoni

Grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Set a covered large pot of water over high heat.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta. Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until the pancetta starts to crisp. Add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until golden.

Scrape the pancetta and onion to one side. Add the chicken in a single layer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 4 minutes, or until no longer pink.

Add the tomatoes, pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and more pepper if needed.

When the water boils, add 1 tablespoon salt and the rigatoni. Stir. Cover and return to the boil. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Drain the rigatoni.

Add the rigatoni to the skillet. Toss to coat. Add a bit of cooking water, if needed, to

loosen the sauce. Garnish with cheese and more crushed red pepper at the table.

 

 

Prosciutto di Parma

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The hams are cured in the small prosciuttifici that dot the countryside around Parma.

As the gossamer slice of prosciutto di Parma melted on my tongue, my senses of taste and smell transported me. I was no longer in a crush of gabbing food folks in the uber-hip Santos Party House in lower Manhattan. I was soaring above the fertile gentle landscape of the Italian province of Parma.

Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto—Tuscan-born chef Cesare Casella’s recreation of a genuine salumeria on the upper West Side of Manhattan—was offering the sampling of Parma ham and other cured meats. The occasion was last night’s kick-off for the International Association of Culinary Professionals’ upcoming annual conference scheduled for the end of March in the Big Apple.

Observing the chef carving the prosciutto was a joy. With practiced rhythm, he used the foot-long knife to slice the Parma ham in one fluid motion parallel with the bone. Rotating the knife so that the flat side of the blade turned up, he gently lifted the slice onto a plate letting it fall in folds like a ribbon. Between slices, he ran his free hand over the surface presumably to smooth out any unevenness.

Parma Products Among Italy’s Finest

My encounter between tongue and brain reminded me of the loving labor that goes into producing the magnificent prosciutto di Parma which carries the PDO certification (Protected Designation of Origin) of the European Community.

The production is monitored from inception to inspection. Italian pigs are bred specifically for Parma ham production and fed a special diet that includes the whey left over from making Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. After nine months, they are butchered, the hind quarters are trimmed, salted, cured, and then air-dried. No sugar, nitrites, smoke, water, spices or additives are allowed. The entire process can take as long as two-and-one-half years and the finished ham will have lost one-quarter of its weight.

To learn more about this unique food product visit the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma web site.

Villa del Balbianello

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Just knowing that a place like Villa del Balbianello exists makes me happy.

But visiting Villa del Balbianello makes me even happier.

Courtesy of Province of Como Tourism

Perched on a cliff on the western shore of the southwest leg of Lake Como, Villa del Balbianello can be accessed by boat—an approach that sets the mood of romance right from the start.

Villa del Balbianello's private marina.

My group of travel agents and journalists, on a fam trip sponsored by New Jersey-based Central Holidays, disembarked at the private marina and entered the gates to paradise. Climbing up the steep gravel path, my memory flashed back to the exquisite Villa Cimbrone in Ravello. (Note to Como Tourist Board: Don’t be offended by the comparison. If I had been to Balbianello first, the evaluation could easily be reversed.)

The chapel facade marked by two distinctive bell towers is all that remains of the convent of an order of Capuchin monks.

Twin Capuchin Towers.

The present Villa and Loggia were constructed in the late 1700s by Cardinal Durini who wanted a quiet summer place to read books. After the Cardinal died, the property passed through several owners and was abandoned for nearly 40 years around the late 19th and early  20th Century.

Enter American soldier and statesman Butler Ames of Massachusetts who purchased and restored the property. The next owner Guido Monzino was a prominent Milanese businessman and avid explorer (he climbed Mount Everest in 1973.) He converted part of the Villa into a private museum filled with his collection of rare art pieces and souvenirs.

Hydrangeas and Cypress.

Fortunately for all of us, Monzino willed Villa del Balbianello to FAI, Fondo Ambiente Italiano, a private not-for-profit organization devoted to preserving Italy’s artistic and natural treasures. That’s how a lucky person like me—or you—can tour the grounds for 6€  (there’s an additional fee to enter the museum). There’s even a convenient public ferry from the town of Como up to the Villa stop (the town of Lenno).

For those with bigger bucks, the Villa is available for booking. Private weddings take place here and movies are made: the Bond film Casino Royale and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones to name two.

The Villa's hilltop loggia.

 

If you can’t get to Villa del Balbianello right away, don’t fret. You can visit via this delightful video that was taped in early spring. The plants are bare, just coming out of dormancy, but you get a wonderful perspective on the majesty of the Villa and grounds.

What spot would you nominate for one of the most beautiful in Italy?

 

View looking south from Villa del Balbianello's terrace.