28 Monday May 2012
Tags
cheese, fresh, fruit, leiden, marekt, photography, produce, vegetables
It’s a weekly thing, going to the market. All kinds of different people, nationalities and varieties of food, flowers and other things.
What we have in the fridge and in our cupboard basically comes from the market: all sorts of fruit and vegetables, nuts, cheese, and flowers, these in a vase on the table, not in the fridge of course.
It’s a feast for the senses. One of my favorite habits.
26 Saturday May 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Floral dresses and sunglasses everywhere today. The windows are wide open and I hear people laughing and singing. All of this was unimaginable until a couple of weeks ago.
While now streets are filled with music, laughter and joy, back in February they were silent; the snow fell and the canals froze. People were hid in coats and jackets, and coming home was always a relief.
Nonetheless, both seasons in this city have been fascinating and pleasant. Although I have been enjoying the sun these past few days and I really don’t want it to stop shining like this, I wonder how autumn will be..
19 Saturday May 2012
On a notebook I keep with me since I moved to Turin, I collected some of the recipes I tried and turned out to be good. Among these recipes, the one for focaccia has a place of honour.
Focaccia is a flat, very soft bread. Italians don’t see it as bread, though. The recipe comes from the region where I lived, Liguria. The original version is plain, without any topping, just seasoned with splashes of olive oil. Other versions include toppings as onion, tomatoes, vegetables and rosemary, as I did in this case. Also the thickness, the crunchiness and the amount of oil can change. I like the soft, thick, but not oily version, other like the thinner, but more oily one. It’s up to you, it’s just a matter of how you spread the dough and how long you keep the focaccia in the oven.
As always, I want to warn you: we don’t have any scales, yet. And also when we had, I am always changing quantities, usually taking away sugar and adding flour, so trust your finger tops. The dough has to be soft, not sticky, but also not too heavy. This is the recipe is the one I have in my notebook, and is for a big tray, not the small one I made;
Ingredients
350 ml lukewarm water
600 gr white flour
25 gr fresh yeast (or one 7 gr pacage of the granular one)
4 TBS olive oil
1 ts sugar (i used honey)
For the topping
olive oil
salt
..and then you can add whatever you want (try cherry tomatoes and oregano!yumm)
Pour a small amount of the lukewarm water (approx. one cup) in a small bowl. Add the yeast and a teaspoon of sugar. Set apart for 10 minutes, until bubbles have formed.
In a big bowl, put the flour and add the yeast mixture, the oil and slowly add the remaining water. Mix and knead until you have a ball of soft dough.
Dust the bottom of the bowl with a bit of flour and leave the dough to rest for two hours, covered by a wet cloth.
After two hours, oil a baking pan, take the dough and spread it all over the tray (it should be approx. 1 cm thick). Make some small pits in the dough with the tips of your fingers. This is not only to give the typical form to the focaccia, but it holds the flavours of the toppings and, of course, of the olive oil.
Allow to rest another 30 minutes.Meanwhile you can get you toppings ready and preheat the oven at 190 °C.
Add the toppings you chose and remember to sprinkle with salt.
Put in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the focaccia is golden.
18 Friday May 2012
Posted in Life
Where will I be next year? I asked myself.
Sitting next to the bonfire we were reading books. I interrupted the precious silence with the recurrent question.
Now I know the answer, but have the same question in my mind. I wonder if the answer will surprise me..
17 Thursday May 2012
Before leaving my parents’, I always told them how I would fill my future home with pastel and earthly colours. R. and I even had a plan: earthly colours for the bedroom, pastel colours for the kitchen (but with very colorful dishes, cups and glasses and wooden cutlery), light colours for the bathroom, and every sort of color in the living room. Of course, that was just a dream: we don’t even have all those rooms.
Nonetheless, if you walk in you will find all sorts of colours, they are just not in the way we “planned”, and maybe it’s better, it would have been a bit of a obsessive thing, right?
Sometimes eating with a colorful fork (orange my polka dots fork rules!), using a purple pen to write the grocery list, or sleeping under some pastel blankets, makes me feel a pinch happier; like that time when I made chai tea and ate cookies. The cup, the little spoon and the napkin, transformed this in an even better treat.
14 Monday May 2012
Posted in Food
Family and friends who came to Italy always returned home filling their suitcases with products from our region, Liguria. Each region has its own products, and sometimes it is even different from valley to valley.
When my parents visited us, they asked us if they could bring something. We made a small list and they came with a box full of things: olive oil, canestrelli and ciappe (typical wheat products, both very easy to make, but both very tasty), coffee and cheese.
Since we have so much left and the fresh products have to finish soon, we decided to host a series of swap-dinners: we are going to introduce our friends to Liguria’s products, and they will next time they will make some of their traditional dishes.
Psst! Focaccia is a soft bread made with olive oil. It’s also a typical product of our region.. wanna know how to make it? I will post the recipe soon!
12 Saturday May 2012
Source: annawolf.com via Juliette + Roberto on Pinterest
Leaving Italy behind I wondered how it would be for R. to live in a country with such different traditions; amongst these, food.
You may know that food is a very important part of the daily life in Italy. It’s gotta be good: fresh, tasty and preferably homemade.
La “nona” cooked twice a day for the family. Would it be a shock to move to the Netherlands, so far away from grandma’s ravioli, her fantastic torta verde and the espresso they always have after dinner?
What we found coming here surprised me. The Italian community is vivid: I encounter Italian people everyday. Therefore there are lots of restaurants, where most of the newcomers work to make a living. R. is one of them.
We made some friends here, some good ones, the ones you know you will be in touch with for a long time. They are the most passionate about food, about traditions, simple living and homemade.
After work we meet, have a beer and then, at 1 am, when most people are drunk or tispy, usually crowling home after a night of fun. We stay another while and then slowly walk to one of our friends home. Getting to know each other’s regions is the favorite pasttime. The regions are so variegated and there are tons of differences.
Arrived at S.’s place we sit on the couch, talk ad talk, until at some point between 2 and 3 am S says “Are you hungry?” and in 10 minutes he makes a good spaghetti con panna e funghi.
My worry of R. maybe not feeling at home in a new country disappeared, making place for new friendships and new passions.
Source: serendipitycornerblog.com.au via Susanna on Pinterest
10 Thursday May 2012
Posted in Food
08 Tuesday May 2012
Posted in Life
He whistled and I knew it was him. Who else whistles like that? I turned around, eager to see him, but I could not find him. I looked around and there he was.
My parents arrived on Friday. I hadn’t seen my dad since January, the longest time without seeing each other. During the weekend we did an long list of things and we had a great time.
You know when you are 16 and you just want to dig a hole and hide there when you walk around with you parents? When they can’t do anything without embarassing you beyond any belief? Well, the feeling you havewhen you finally realize you don’t feel that anymore; at all; when you are actually excited to show them around, be with them, know what they think about your new life, even if your dad whistles to call you and your mum ask for cream in the cold chocolate milk.. That feeling is great.
Now they are back home again, 1250 km from here, where Monster, the cat, was waiting for them to come home and miauw them away.
03 Thursday May 2012
My journey towards vegetarianism:
Small kid refusing to eat meat because it meant “eating animals” and looking disgusted when her family was eating fiorentina (italian steak).
Kid refusing to eat animals, but “oh hey, a sandwich with ham!”.
12 year-old not eating meat, but didn’t want to tell anybody outside the family. So if friends wanted to go eating a Kebab, little girl was going too.
Mum baking delicious bean-cookies for daughter. Mum making cookies every day. Daughter starting the dread dinner and dream cookies.
Becoming a vegetarian for a couple of years. Feeling dizzy and light-headed, having headaches and being pale. Doctor’s prescription: one steak in the morning and one before going to bed. Being “encouraged” to eat meat.
Young girl of about 18 with mixed feelings: neither wanting to kill animals, nor wanting to feel the lack of energy. Taking advantage of the mixed feeling to eat beloved tuna every now and then.
College student deciding not to eat meat ever again. Reaction of friends “haha, you had a kebab two weeks ago!”. Never ate meat again.Started reading more about it.
College student realizing it is possible to substitute meat, it takes time to learn, and money to buy.. option abandoned.
Last year at university: becoming interested in nutrition, curious and passionate about cooking and baking. Wanting to improve my energy levels and wanting to learn. Money still lacking. Eating pre-packed veggie burgers every now and then. Realizing that 80% of the ingredients are things I don’t recognize.
Moving and starting a whole new life in another country with boyfriend. Being surrounded by more vegetarians, more and more, more and more and more. Reading, watching, listening. Realizing it’s my own responsability and it’s up to me.This was the last step, then there was the very last one: R. decided to become a vegetarian as well. I tell you: it’s much more fun being together in this.
This whole story to tell you: I made veggie burgers last weekend!! They look quite pale, but the reason is that I used flour before putting them in the oven. They were very spicy and delicious, not the boring prepacked ones, these were filled with great ingredients: quinoa, beans, carrots, seeds, courgette..yum!
