Wine tasting at VinoRoma

VinoRoma, or the sommeliers you'll love (and understand).

There's always a feeling of being underqualified when attending a wine tasting. I personally always fear I'll say the wrong thing, suggest the wrong pairing... I'm uncomfortable my instinctive approach towards wine will clash with the wine knowledge of sommeliers teaching and certified experts attending.

But on the other hand, I love wine. And I do try to learn things about it, and mostly how some wines can exalt the flavor of certain foods.

The best way to do this in Rome, in the care of knowledgeable wine stewards, is to head over to Vino Roma, a fabulous wine studio in the Monti neighborhood where you can learn everything about Italian wines at various types of guided tastings and seminars.

In the comfortable setting of a large communal space, under a vaulted brick ceiling, with the benefits of the on-site thousand year old cellar, and seated at a table laden with goodies and bottles, you can follow one of many interesting wine events held in English (German, Japanese, Italian and Turkish are available upon special request).

Tastings at Vino Roma are designed to inform and entertain everyone, guests will learn something new no matter what their level of wine knowledge is. The folks at Vino Roma don't believe in wine-snobbery, so any wine tasting panic is not an issue here, since no question is ever laughed at.

There are very popular wine tasting events going on at Vino Roma, my favorite ones are the ones that involve lots of food too! I recently attended a Wine & Cheese Lunch, and it turned out to be so much more than I expected. It was a wonderful chance to chat comfortably at the table with interesting fellow guests, sipping wine, nibbling great bread, cheese and salumi, and learning about wine regions, grapes and winemaking with the great team of wine lovers that work there.

If you're traveling to Rome, I suggest you absolutely book a tasting with Hande, Maurizio, Irene or Theo. They will be happy to pour a little happiness in your glass. It will be one of the highlights of your stay in the Eternal City.

Vino Roma

Via in Selci 84/G (minutes away from the Colosseum or the Termini central station; right by the Cavour Metro stop on blue line B)

It's that time of year again...

Aglio Olio e Peperoncino is back.

It's like a tradition, it's become a yearly custom.
Come the end of May the domain name "aglioolioepeperoncino.com" expires without forewarning and I have to spend a ridiculous number of hours on the phone with evanescent Google representatives, and aggravated hosting company technicians, trying to reactivate it.

~ the dreaded screenshot - year 2 ~

This blog holds over 3 years of my life, along with several thousand photos of my city, my child, my kitchen; laced with successful recipes and epic intervals between posts; personal accounts relating to my culinary triumphs and romantic failures; it contains the loving and warm comments left by unknown followers and old friends, even friends who are no longer with us. I hold the contents of this blog very dear.

I don't know what will happen this time next year. You may find yourself here again, reading my post-reactivation rant. To avoid that, and break the annual tradition, I could switch to a new web hosting and publishing platform. Who knows, I may even change the damn domain name. I promise to warn you, whatever my decision will be.

One thing is sure, I won't ever take this site down. I care about this blog and its readers.

I hope you do too.

Buona notte,
Eleonora

Expat Writers Book and App Fair

It's happening in Rome, Saturday May 12 at 3pm! Hosting this great event are the delightful The Beehive Hotel and Michelle Fabio.

The program will be featuring expat writers in Italy of books, e-books and iPhone apps. This is a great opportunity to meet and chat with expat writers in the heart of Rome on what we hope will be a gorgeous spring day!

Drinks and snacks will be available for purchase.

The event will take place in the garden of The Beehive Hotel conveniently located near Rome's Termini train station, closest Metro stops Termini or Castro Pretorio.

The current list of writers is as follows:

Terry Bhola (Searching for Wild Asparagus in Umbria)
Flaminia Chapman (Rome Insider's Guide app)
Mary Jane Cryan (Etruria: Travel, History & Itineraries in Central Italy)
Erica Firpo (Rome Select)
Arlene Gibbs (The Rebirth of Mrs. Tracey Higgins; Jumping the Broom)
Linda Lappin (The Etruscan)
Mark Leslie (in absentia) (Beyond the Pasta)
Francesca Maggi (Burnt by the Tuscan Sun)
Gillian McGuire (Rome for Expats app)
Katie Parla (Rome for Foodies app and National Geographic Walking Rome)
Sara Rosso (How to Order an Italian Coffee in Italy; The Unofficial Guide to Nutella)
Pamela Sheldon Johns (Cucina Povera: Tuscan Peasant Cooking)
Barbara Zaragoza (in absentia) (The Espresso Break)
Eleonora Baldwin (Frommer's Rome Day by Day, 3rd Edition; Holiday Goddess Handbag Guide)

During the event we'll be raffling copies of books, promo codes to Apps, and the chance to win a lunch on May 19th with a creative writing instructor at a private home in Vetralla (a lovely town about an hour north of Rome). This is an exclusive chance for anyone interested in writing to enjoy local food specialties, and meet & exchange ideas with Teresa Cutler-Broyles, a published author and instructor of Creative Writing at the University of New Mexico.

I will be there talking about my experience in writing for major corporate editorial proprietors, focusing on the differences with smaller, independent publishing companies.

I look forward to seeing everyone there, finally meeting in person authors and friends I've only interacted with via web!

For details and RSVP - go HERE.

Favorite spring vegetables

Getting a taste of beloved deep-fried carciofi alla giudìa notoriously means taking advantage of the pesky February-to-May window in which the quintessential Roman artichokes are in season.

But with all the focus on supermodel artichokes, other versatile vegetables, also in season, tend to get short shrift.

Take agretti for example...

Continue Reading ➔

Book Cafe – Il Talismano della Felicità

I've decided to start a monthly series inspired by one of Rachel's latest posts. I love reading cookbooks as literature, and not merely to follow instructions when preparing someone else's recipe.
So every month, or so (I'm not good with deadlines and calendars, see my defunct newsletter) I promise to write about a favorite cookbook, and the inspiration it provided beyond the kitchen stove.

I'll be kicking off this series talking about a dear volume, one I treasure on a par with dearest family heirlooms.

"The Talisman of Happiness" is a well-known Italian cookbook originally published in 1929, written by magazine editor Ada Boni, updated with a gazillion editions, and commonly found in most Italian households. It is believed to be the first Italian cookbook specifically targeted to housewives. And despite women's emancipation since then, the classic manual's sales still surge mostly in springtime, in wedding season. This characteristic seasonality in purchases, according to Italian food network and magazine Gambero Rosso, is a clear sign that Il Talismano della Felicità is still very much a gift frequently bestowed upon newlywed brides.

The monumental tome presents more than 1100 recipes, and under 100 color plates. Ada begins each recipe listing ingredients, followed by a brief and concise method. Dianne Jacob, writing coach, cookbook editor, talented blogger and personal guru of mine would probably object to Ada's hiccuping use of exact quantities in her recipes, but Italians, who are used to seeing q.b. (quanto basta, meaning 'just enough') for an ingredient in modern day recipes, don't blink at her approximations.

I love that the recipes are simple and results unfailing. Her ossobuco recipe covers half a page, and the one I make following her instructions has always been a success. I love leafing through the yellowed pages of the old edition (I have two, one published in 1968) and finding old, forgotten recipes my Nonna used to make on a daily basis. And that retro 60's vintage photography, isn't it lovely?

I love that sometimes Ada contradicts herself (don't we all?) in her beliefs and directions, and I appreciate how she informally addresses her readers, yet maintaining a stately prose.

Il Talismano is my go-to resource when I have no idea what to make for dinner, my problem solver if I only have 3 ingredients in the fridge, and a reliable place for a last minute recipe accuracy check.

I have many favorites in this book, so it was a difficult choice to single out just one. This particular recipe I'll be sharing today sits in a narrow column, among stains and food splotches, in the rich pastry "dictionary," that prologues the dessert chapter.

In Italian, the name of the recipe is Mandorle Diablées, whose suitable translation could be, "Deviled Almonds."

Here it is, in an amateur translation by yours truly, with the cheek of trying to mirror Ada Boni's writing style.

DEVILED ALMONDS

For 100 g (1/2 cup) of shelled almonds

100 g (1/2 cup) egg whites

Salt

Cayenne pepper


Soak the almonds in cold water, which you'll then bring to a gentle boil. As the water trembles just before boiling, remove the small pot from the stove, let cool and then peel the husk off the almonds.

After drying them, heat almonds lightly in a mild oven, stirring and turning to brown evenly on both sides.

Transfer to a plate to cool. Break the egg whites with the tines of a fork and wet the almonds, mixing with your fingertips. Dust with a decent amount of salt mixed with Cayenne pepper, and mix to coat the almonds completely.

Spread them again on the oven sheet and allow them to dry at barely perceivable heat.

I use these as aperitivo nibbles, thrown in a salad or in bold mushroom and seafood pastas, or to spice up a boring soccer game. Chilled craft beer and freedom to belch aloud, mandatory.

Want to learn more about Il Talismano della Felicità? There's a thorough article on Ada Boni and her 'Happiness Talisman' written by friend and fellow blogger Frank, at delightful 'Memorie di Angelina.'


"There can be no true happiness if in such an essential part of our daily lives as eating is neglected." 

–– Ada Boni