Ideas for a winter holiday season (2) : what to do in Bologna

5^th January. Michelle and I went to see Moonrise kingdom by Wes Anderson at a cinema house. Beautiful film: lyrical and melancholic, about the power of commitment and love. With Bill Murray, Bruce Willis and Edward Norton in unexpected grotesques roles. Indeed worth seeing.

Their faces speak for themselves, but the film is not just ironic,
there is a red tragedy thread about feelings and human relationships
in nowadays America.

Then we took two flutes of dessert passito wine in a delightful tavern called Rovescio (inside out) in via Pietralata 75, which I will describe soon since it is one of my favorite taverns!

Stylish, rustic at the same time, elegant wines, and an
exceptional chef Raffaele Fierro:
http://www.rovescio.it/

6^th January: Epiphany in a Joyce’s sense. I cannot describe my emotions about this days, cause I wish to keep them locked inside me, privately in gentle custody so to say, yet I have the chance to offer a short sketch of what happened!

The sense of Epiphany is to find something or someone, partially knowing what
you are going to face, partially abandoning your intelligence to something
irrational as marvel.

Michelle and I went to Cesenatico, a fair sea-town on the Adriatic sea. We desired to walk along the shore with the low-tide. We came across a wonderful and luminous nativity scene on the very canal, built up on a project by Leonardo da Vinci. 

The nativity scene took place on the boats! The water reflexion in darkness
was particularly fascinating.

At a local festivity market, I also bought a tunisian tajine (whose virtues I will soon retell!) and finally we had a nutritious snack, based on piadina crescione or cassone, a typical local dish, which might remind the attentive eater to an Irish potato bread combined to a Greek pita (piadina – pizza – pita indeed share the same semantic root). 

Sectioned crescione: yummy! Below the recipe, offered by the wise-ful
Giallo Zafferano!

7^th January. Michelle and I had a tête-à-tête breakfast in a modern café, called Travel caffé located in via Arcoveggio 74. Having breakfast with Michelle is like picking up again and again the first apple with no fear of a divine chastisement. There the bartender, Luigi, a friend, does one of the best coffees in Bologna. He once was a baker so his croissants as well are really special. Two days after I ate there again six pizzette…the corresponding amount of calories would have probably killed a polar bear and took a macchiato. 

"One pulls another" (una tira l'altra) says an idiomatic italian expression,
meaning that you cannot restrain from scarfing down them all.

I favourably remember that day, since Michelle came back for lunch after work and it is a joy when imagination and Reality merge together.

A true macchiato at Travel caffè, one of those moments during which
you regret the Spanish Armada didn't break through the English lines!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Travel-Caffè-Bologna/130842420303995

8^th January. I had a long and profound conversation with Lord Ricard, blogger of Vox Clamantis in deserto - RQ. Afterwords, Claudette and Fabiao joined me for lunch: two amazing friends brought ashore like bottle messages by a glorious Erasmus in Edinburgh, some years ago. We had a range of antipasti followed by linguine with home made pesto (which came directly from last summer garden-harvest), then a splendid chicken with vegetables in the Tunisian tajine, and finally an angel food cake. We were able to survive only because of the excellent Nero d’Avola from the sun-drenched provinces of Oriental Sicily and a Dolcetto d'Alba from the Langhe Region, in Piemonte, at the borders with sweet France.

This mysterious terracotta object provides a phenomenal alternative to pan-preparation.

During the evening, instead, I attended dinner again at the Rovescio tavern with twelve friends (equally distributed between female and male friends) and luckily enough we were not thirteen. No one actually wishes to be appointed as the Messiah:

The last supper by Valentin de Boulogne, 1625-1626,
Rome, National Art Gallery (Museo Corsini).

9^th January. I had a long phone conversation with Katie, otherwise called the hummingbird. Michelle came back again for lunch! During the afternoon, I went out with Christine for a green tea with wild roses at Il mondo di Eutèpia, a terrible name for a outstanding tea house in via Testoni 5/d. Eutèpia derives from Eu + tòpos (good place), so in itself is a pretty welcoming name, but the oddity of Ancient Greek makes this threshold a bit awkward to decipher. 

The evening instead was embellished by an experiment: three couples and the Beermisù, a version of Tiramisù made with beer... We shall come back on this! By now, enjoy my art-attack in tracing a beer mug on the wet cocoa powder:

Beer-me-su!

10^th January. I met father Laurence, a cherished teacher, and now a friend, who educated me to the sense of humbleness, not through teaching but through concrete example. We went to Matusel a distinct restaurant in the University area, precisely in via Bertoloni 2. Michelle joined us and took a vast plate of grilled vegetables. 

A welcoming combination between art and food,
wood and soft lights: the staff is very kind and zealous,
vegetarians are never left on their own:
http://www.matusel.it/

Then I went book hunting: despite I would have liked to keep calm and spend nothing, I ended up with five books. Then I took a tea again at Eutèpia with my best friend Martina and Frederick, the most knowledgeable man about atomic bombs and China I know. Finally, I went to Hannah a true friend, who’s always a wonderful conversationalist: despite we are very different, our dialogues do not suffer of any sort of rigidness, yet we feel free to express ourselves with dignity and openness.

Green tea with magnolia blossoms: ravishing.
http://www.mondodieutepia.com/ [unfortunately in Italian only]

Last nights are often sad. Personally I felt miserable. I would have liked to let Time flow slower: hearts need to knit that subtle knot which makes us lovers, paraphrasing John Donne’s Ecstasy. No net, hook or string could trap my wish and fulfil it: instead my desire of departure-procrastination fell somewhere in tall grass, forgotten and out of reach: the following morning came out quickly and the suitcase was still on its way to be done.

Emigrants bring sorrow and hope in their suitcases,
dandys often travel escorted by manageable palate dreams.

11^th January. With Death in my heart, I had to say goodbye to Michelle, took again two flights and two BA meals and landed safely in Edinburgh: an Urban Eat wrap with mozzarella and pesto, and a snack made of sparkling water and crisps or sparkling crisps and salty water?

...to be continued...

Ideas for a winter holiday season (1): emergency landing

Perhaps I kept myself out of the blog for too long, but I have a series of good alibis. In fact, I received countless inputs from my last stay in Italy, so now it is knotty to recollect them all. It would have been wise to mention them only through a list, I thought: a sort of skeleton-memento then came out and it describes both the pleasing commitments and the fortnight’s food gratifications. Later, from this rough top-hat-list, it is going to be easier to bring out some magic!

BA is one of the best ways to fly: comfortable airports and reasonable prices
are the major two virtues of this flag company.

28^th December. Flying back to Bologna with British Airways. I ordered a Twinings Green tea (on request), apple juice and a cookie, followed, on the second flight, by an Urban Eat Hoisin duck wraps and a glass of still water. I discovered Heathrow Terminal 5. I found thinking when you are detached from the ground highly productive: height makes you high with no chemistry involved. You are sitting on an armchair in the skies: what a therapy. This day has been the most difficult of my life. In fact, I decided to cast some light on my deepest shadows, I was able to confess them to the person I love: usually we wish to highlight our merits to convey an image of success! On the contrary, confession is a sort of rudimental form of (psycho)analysis, but it works, since it forces you to acknowledge our flaws.

Decent: one would perhaps expect something more, they could actually switch to organic stuff, with a shorter chain of ingredients.

Entertaining: but the presence of palm oil in the ingredient list is a turn off.

29^th December. My father explained me how the new Fiat Panda Natural Power he bought was working because of the new methane engine employed. Fascinating and environmental friendly! 

Panda Natural Power: handy, innovative,
intelligently middle class, and park-able.

With the brand new car, still smelling of dealer warehouse, we went to Natura Sì (Nature yes) an organic supermarket that magnified my perception of quality food: conceptually it is very close to Real Food in Edinburgh.

Natura Sì in via della Repubblica, Bologna: unfortunately no shopping online is yet available.

Real Food on Broughton Street, Edinburgh. There is another shop in the Tollcross area, in Brougham St, 10 paces after the Meadows. And they deliver food at home.

30^th December. Aperitivo at Antica Bologna in via Marconi 71, Bologna: have a look to the patisserie http://www.areamarconi71.com/gallery/ Two dear friends joined Michelle and I from Modena, Harriett and Fabrizio, a wonderful and well assorted couple: I spent a day with them in London (and this is definitely another story) and I always regret our meetings are too quick! Campari Spritz was Michelle’s choice http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/cocktail-aperol-spritz-6-jan-2012.html, along with my refreshing Mimosa or Buck’s fizz: prosecco + freshly squeezed orange juice:

The spritz ingredients:
4/10 prosecco;
3/10 sparkling water;
3/10 Campari (or Aperol) [less alcolic]

31^st December. New Year’s Eve: a splendid hogmanay party in an Apennine hut, a friend’s family house, where the dinner lasted for two days in a row. The party came out after an elaborated brainstorming it is my intention to describe soon, since too many dishes need a proper description:

The ritual burning of the old year (Vecchione/old man)
in Bologna, Piazza Maggiore

1^st January. Some people left the hut, some other stayed over for the night. The stars were so bright that you felt the crispy air of the night less cold. We had breakfast at noon and eat cotechino (cooked pork sausage) with lentils: I usually eat it once a year, but it is worth trying, although it is a bit anachronistic. Before leaving, we tasted some just milked cow nectar: an experience of farm-life.

A clay pot bubbling with lentils came out really nicely, unfortunately
it was more difficult to measure the saltiness.

2^nd January. A carefree promenade took place in the wintery park next to my house: the plants were naked, but several types of birds accepted less reluctantly than other days the grains given to them by petulant children.

Called Parco dei Giardini that is to say Gardens Park,
a bit redundant, but it is incredibly relaxing and
located next to Via dell'Arcoveggio, Bologna.

3^rd January. I encountered my neighbor's hens, of which I shall speak! Cooking at Michelle: while she was out, I managed to prepare different vegetables in the oven (peppers, courgettes and Jerusalem artichokes), served with brie cheese and some under-oil asparagus. Honey roasted cherry tomatoes completed the meal: how much brie I happened to eat!!!

I know it might be politically incorrect,
but the contamination of languages is brilliant!

4^th January. Lucy, an artist, a friend, a great chef and bright flamenco dancer, hosted a dinner, where we listened to a Bach’s cello concert, eating a chickpeas soup with egg pasta and honey fungi, bresaola wraps and two desserts (a chocolate pie and a pear crumble). I must admit, although the desserts were fine, I was not satisfied by the result of my attempts: in the pear crumble the biggest variation was given by the employment of some nuts in the pastry! Lucy, Simone, Michael, Fabriz, and, of course, Michelle provided not just entertainment, but the warmth of friendship and some incredible gifts: a Valverbe infusion scented by licorice and fennel, a Leone milk chocolate tablet with whole pistachio nuts, and some hand made biscuits.

Bach proved an incredible entertainment, the cello notes did not interrupt the conversation and ennobled our spirits.

Leone is the only milk chocolate brand I am able to eat.

to be continued...

The perfect Christmas

The book

Chapter 22 of Moby Dick by Herman Melville is titled Merry Christmas and is one of the most touching ones, because drenched into a deep sadness, sarcasm and true sense of belonging to the ship community. Captain Ahab does not show up on the deck. Captain Bildad and Captain Peleg are licensed at the end of the chapter and they take a boat to move ashore, while tears twinkle in their eyes and voices. Ismaele, the narrating voice, remembers:

“At last the anchor was up, the sails were set, and off we glided. It was a short, cold Christmas; and as the short northern day merged into night, we found ourselves almost broad upon the wintry ocean, whose freezing spray cased us in ice, as in polished armor. The long rows of teeth on the bulwarks glistened in the moonlight; and like the white ivory tusks of some huge elephant, vast curving icicles depended from the bows”.

Bildad, while at the wheel, intonates what sounds like a Psalm, but is a ballad by Isaac Watts, A prospect of Heaven makes Death easy. The winds bring his words to the crew: the first line quoted by Melville says “sweet fields beyond the swelling floods”, which portraits the stated on peril the ship is going to undergo now that Bildad and Peleg won’t tame anymore Captain Ahab.

http://www.classicreader.com/book/309/22/

How different my yesterday Christmas was? Let's have a glance:

Moby Brie-k: I could not restrain myself, but I apologise.

The people

Not many people stayed in Edinburgh for Christmas. So, I decided to create a Doodle to see if those here, were interested in a Christmas’ lunch. What happened was pure magic: only a person, a dear good friend of mine, Andrew, responded to the invitation. He involved and brought along two exceptionally nice friends, who I didn’t have the pleasure to met. Stephanie and Emily proved to be fascinating guests: elegant, nice and talkative. My brilliant office-mate Mara came just after the opening with her brother and her sister-in-law and that was it. Everything would have been magnificent if only Michelle was there with us! Alas, the sun blessed us casting a bunch of rays onto the Leopard Lily (I still have a to find a name for it):

Leopard Lily in the gentle December sun

This has been the first Christmas away from my family: a strange feeling to process. Yet I must tell the novelty was not just surprising, but indeed a revelation. Perhaps because everyone was new to each other, the conversation was lubricated, alive and fizzy. The reduced number of guests made everything easier (also in terms of dish cleaning). We were three Italians, three Germans and one Australian: this milieu favoured the use of English as conversational language and we were occasionally switching to German or Italian when needed. This “natural” selection of outstanding guests was the first step in order achieve the perfect event.

Moreover, we were from different university backgrounds, law, tourism, linguistics, literature and architecture. This fueled the conversation, making the reciprocal exchange of informations even more interesting. Different reasoning brought us together to the same place: in a way we are all finding distinct patterns in the same maze. I happen to realize that sharing a city shapes your way of thinking and approaching problems: you are "forced" to meet new people, adapt yourself, cede something you had for something new and unknown. Those how keep being stuck to their past end up creating a city in the city, a fake reproduction of what they feel they lost: and that is the moment in which it is lost forever. I like intensely the image of people abroad as these Green and Blacks chocolate into a Martini glass:

These are "conversational" chocolate, because each label has a question,
and these questions contribute ease in small and big talks!
Green and Blaks is organic and fairtrade chocolate...both ethic and taste.

The place

Perhaps, the purple tents, perhaps a serious Christmas three, perhaps the red dishes with the white rime – after which this blog is named – made of my flat the perfect location to appoint. We discovered that in Australia every fancy meal might be called dinner. Recently, I attended a tea in Edinburgh, yet the tea, in reality, was a full-scale dinner. I am particularly amused by this regional acceptation given to meals in the English-speaking-world!

Our synthetic Christmas tree makes a lot of atmosphere,
the spirit of all the possible Christmas dwells here.

The food

As soon as the crew was elected, it was necessary to establish a menu. Everyone was asked to contribute to the meal according to her/his culinary skills. This is why Andrew opted for two platters of mixed salami and one international cheese, so to prevent himself from poisoning us. Stephanie brought with her a splendidly revised recipe of Tiramisu and Emily an extraordinary Lamington cake, introducing us to the sweet delicacies of the Austral hemisphere. I basically made a broth. I also discovered that the stock is derived from bones, broth instead from meat:

Select carefully the ingredients:
Gressingham duck poussin (promotion 2 x 5£);
9 chutney carrots;
3 small potatoes;
2 cherry tomatoes;
1 onion;
1 coast of celery.
ALL THESE VEGETABLES THEN WERE RE-UESED
TO MAKE VEGETABLE BALLS IN THE OVEN ON
ST. STEPHEN'S DAY

The early stage, when the water was dusted in white pepper.
On the bottom of the casserole one tea-spoon of Maldon salt
was already dissolving.
At the beginning I thought duck toxins might have been
poisonous, but then I discovered it is even better than chicken.

Yet here is the complete and exhaustive (and exhausting) menu:

      Starters

·      Tesco Finest* platter of ham, salami and three cheeses (Brie, Mancego, Wanslaydale with cranberries);

·      Duck titbits with dates, rolled in pancetta and served with steamed asparagus' tips. 

Main course

·     Tortellini in duck broth.

Second course & side dishes

·      Duck salad with Modena balsamic vinegar gravy reduction

·      Roasted potatoes with mustard seeds and rosemary

·      Salad (apple, lettuce gems, rocket salad, celery, sweet pointed peppers)

Desserts

·      Tiramisu and Lamington cake

·      Green and Blacks chocolate assorment

·      Twinings nettle and sweet fennel infusion

Deli platter

The cheeses

Steamed asparagus and sprouts
with morsels of duck thighs' meat, dates and pancetta

Tortellini in duck broth: because of the size it would be wiser to call them
cappelletti, and you can find them in Waitrose for 1,99£ (250gr pack).
Mine were bought in Paris, but his is a different story!

Clockwise: from the left, the duck breast with the balsamic gravy,
mustard seeds and rosemary roasted potatoes,
and the extravagant salad, dressed in lemon and extra-virgin olive oil.

Lamington cake (pic taken from Google images):
admittedly they were irresistible! 

Stephanie's tiramisu was looking different, but the taste was an A.

The wine

Wines have been a genuine crescendo of tannins and joy: a French Tesco Finest* Muscadet for the appetizers, an Ogio’s Primitivo from Puglia and The chocolate lover’s wine, aromatised with chocolate notes, a symphony: this wine is sold in Sainsbury’s and Co-operative.  

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie, Tesco Finest* 7,27£.
Produced and bottled by Vignerons du Pallet in Brétagne, France.

http://www.chocolateshopwineuk.co.uk/

The games

When all the food was gone, Mara had to leave, and Stephanie proposed us to play Pictionary. Not the table version, but the online generator of words and categories. This was hilarious, challenging and cheerful. 

Pictionary word generator: 

 http://www.wordgenerator.net/pictionary-word-generator.php

Temple of British tables (3): what to by in Waitrose

"What’s in a name?", asked Juliet. A name, in fact, is not the object itself, is a tag. I left my last post asking me what's behind Waitrose's philosophy: the name of Waitrose alone evokes a high standard. Waitrose's motto - Quality food, honestly priced - establishes a parallel between quality and fair prices. This is obvious. In comparison to M&S, they do not state that their prices may sound too high, why? This is because their customers are upper middle class, wealthy people for one or two generations.

Juliet: What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
      Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
      Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
      What's in a name? that which we call a rose
      By any other name would smell as sweet.
(W. Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet, II, 2)

Claire Catherine Danes (NY, 1979), here aged 17,  in one of her most breath taking
close-ups in Romeo + Juliet (by Baz Lurhmann, 1996) with Leonardo di Caprio.

Sri Frank Bernard Dicksee, Romeo and Juliet (1884)
[Southampton City Art Gallery]:
one of my favourite paintings of this magnificent
late victorian painter, almost a Pre-Raphaelite. 

 Despite this consideration, Waitrose is part of a multinational group. Why is this calmly accepted? The first argument is that Waitrose policies benefit of its multinational status, but aim to a promote Fairtrade and Organic merchandise. The second answer might be that Waitrose does not challenge its customers. Its (hidden) approach, in fact, is that of the exclusivity. Here a consistent part of the Orwellian proles won’t have cultural access, because they cannot understand the logic beneath the chain. A person who buys, for instance, some Asda Spaghetti at 30p per pack would feel robbed to pay 95p (more than the triple) for the same amount of food. On the contrary, who goes into how food is produced accepts as a sort of compromise the co-habitation between Capitalism and a greener ethic.

Although a little timeworn, this book represents
the cornerstone of the modern sociological interpretation
of some mass phenomena. Worth reading:
Max Weber, The protestant ethic and the spirit of Capitalism.

What I have just explained is not a sterile critique, nor do I wish it to be taken as a lunge against these companies or the people loyal to one name or another: I am personally (and emotionally) attracted by Tesco as I showed in the previous posts. Moreover, every chain wishes to be trusted for its philosophy: if you are more relaxed you spend more and reason less. Each of these brands employs a multitude of psychologists to study human behaviours and to orientate their policies toward distinct directions. Let's take the Organic tendency. Organic produces are more respectful of the soil, in terms of pesticides and fertilizers. Each chain now has its own "hook" for environmental attentive people:

Ravishing organic hummus

Not bad brown spaghetti

Freshly baked baguette, although I fear is a demi-worked produce

Broccoli and red onions from Egypt

Waitrose is perhaps the British pioneer for organic products and the company encourages British organic farms too. The acquisition of the brand Duchy, which raised several perplexities, according to the management of HRH Prince Charles' rural portfolio, brought into Waitrose a vital range of goods, coming from a sustainable estate. 

Here is the link to the Duchy of Cornwall website:

http://www.duchyofcornwall.org/accessible/index_a.asp

British apples, kiwi, quail eggs, and pork meat.
Tomatoes and broccoli are likely to be imported from Southern Europe.

What I actually fancy the most is a Waitrose side effect, so to say. The more you are part of the dynamic part of a nation, the more you have a wider and more open vision of Reality: because you travel more, you read more, you always wish to expand what may be defined an insular vision of the world, you spend more and goods talk to you. This is why Waitrose customers are experimenting something new in comparison to their fellow citizens, who shop elsewhere. They are welcoming a the world to their cupboards:

• Yeo Valley yogurt and Waitrose red chicory are two British produce;
• Heritage Shetland black potatoes are from Scotland (violet and delicious when fried);
• Waitrose peeled cherry tomatoes are produced in Italy;
• Crosta & Mollica bread is from Puglia, the heel of Italy;
• Green & Blacks chocolate developed from Canada, but now is made in the EU as well;
• Herta Frankfurters are from Germany (gorgeous when boiled);
• Charles Basset white tuna tin is from France (once a month the perfect salad ingredient).

On the other side, Waitrose provides its own characteristic trademark! What comes after the label "essential", often does not mean that is of poor quality, but only that it is an essential ingredient for your diet and preparation:

Pasta, curly lettuce, paella rice, oranges, vegetables, minced meat and the pear, were meeting the highest standards.

A package of Waitrose Aberdeen Angus Beef:
I appreciate the lightness of it, without polystyrene container.

Whereas in all the other supermarkets the chain is prone to the customers oddities, Waitrose operates as a global and multicultural bazaar: the best choice from every country, at least of Europe. If you are not able to orient within this assortment, you can be tricked and spend fortunes on tastes difficult to combine. This is the only serious inconvenience, because you are bombarded by clusters of goodness: the quality of fruit and vegetables is sensational, less appealing is the fresh meat, impressive is the amount of Continental goods, mouth watering the quality of wines. Moreover, also the non-food selling is appealing, for instance I bought this lovely mug, inspired by a decoration related to Enea Silvio Piccolomini's figure - pope in the XVcentury with the name of Pio II. I guess it is linked to a tapestry owned now by the Victoria and Albert museum foundation.

There also is another phantasy available (5£)

Time for an organic Teapigs green tea and some Patisserie Valerie bon-bons.
If I am not mistaken I found this teabag in the Waitrose kitchen magazine of May 2012.

Here is the Teapigs web-site:
http://www.teapigs.co.uk/