Food fight!
 
Not a food fight at all really, I just like the sound of the call to a food fight. Why? I haven’t got a clue. If I really think about it, it sounds totally disgusting, and a huge waste, but they are fun to watch in movies. I think I’ll go to sleep - I’m sounding a little crazy. Tomorrow I will play the game Melissa of The Traveler’s Lunchbox has started, and write my list of five foods to eat before you die. Hopefully you will have time to eat them many times over during your long and healthy life, with friends and family, or with your animal companions, who are family anyway. September 4, 2006 update - finally! I’m finally back to post my list of five favorite foods. Maybe some of you will be disappointed that these are not recipes or cooked foods, but this is how I often like to eat, particularly if I am in Italy and it’s summer. 1. Figs - ripe, luscious, sticky figs. I was lucky enough to actually find some of these, organic and at a reasonable price no less, on my first visit just last night to a natural food store called Other Avenues Food Store on Judah St. here in San Francisco. I ate them as a late-night snack, and this morning with breakfast. Sweet, ripe figs, falling off the trees in our yard in southern Italy, are one of the reasons I miss Italy. Another reason is item n.2. 2. Caciocavallo cheese from the region of Puglia (where the above mentioned sweet, ripe figs grow and where our home is). This is a strong, firm cheese, generally ripened for 2 years. 3. Bread from the town of San Giovanni Rotondo , which is also in Puglia, and is famous as the home of Padre Pio. I can’t find any suitable photos of this rustic bread to show you, but the loaf is round and HUGE, up to 24 inches in diameter. The crust is thick and chewy and(now I am going to get very untechnical because I have everything to learn about food writing) the “inside” is the opposite of dense and crumbly. Got it? 4. Pane e pomodoro Since I was a child, this has been one of my favorite foods for breakfast, lunch or dinner. My relatives in Puglia know this, and whenever I visit them I am sure to find a big plate of pane e pomodoro waiting for me on the kitchen table when I get up in the morning. It is best, of course, when made with the bread mentioned above, or another similar bread from Puglia, and sweet, ripe cherry tomatoes. Here’s how to make it: Thick slices of day old (or more) rustic bread (the kind with “holes” in the body of the bread); Very ripe small tomatoes, cut in half and rubbed all over both sides of the bread; Dried oregano sprinkled on top; Salt; Extra virgin Italian olive oil abundantly drizzled all over. Everything organic, if possible. You can turn it into a meal with a few slices of the Caciocavallo cheese above or with another tangy cheese, such as Feta, and a few olives. Maybe a glass of cold white wine. If you want to finish off with something sweet, you could pop my fifth choice into your mouth... 5. Candied chestnuts or Marrons glaces I doubt if I would ever attempt making these myself, but I like to eat them at least once a year (too much sugar to eat them more often!). This made me hungry - must go put something together immediately!http://http://www.travelerslunchbox.com/journal/http://foodbay.blogspot.com/http://lucullian.blogspot.com/2006/07/focaccia-dolce-con-fichi-e-semi-di.htmlhttp://www.yelp.com/biz/KfLlygYtiiJ8IINsF9O6Cwhttp://www.agraria.org/prodottitipici/caciocavallocanestrato.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Giovanni_Rotondohttp://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=159366shapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3shapeimage_1_link_4shapeimage_1_link_5shapeimage_1_link_6
 PIA & CO.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Look!
Copyright 2006
Please do not use my original photos or my writing without my consent. Thank you!