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Faux Pas

What are Faux Pas?  Better still, what are Faux Pas to The Artisan.  Generally speaking, Faux Pas are mistakes, or as   defined in Webster's..."False remark;  A social blunder; error in etiquette: Tactless act or remark..." For us, they are recipes which purport to be Italian,  but are so in name only and not execution.  These recipes are misleading, do not hold true to the origins of the dish in question, and provide a "false step" to those of you who want to make and eat authentic Italian foods and breads.  

We see so many erroneous offerings of foods each week that we are now gathering the most egregious for commentary here.  Two which come readily to mind are the recent spate of "Panzanella" recipes which are not Panzanella ever eaten in Tuscany, and  round Ciabatta...yes round, even though ciabatta in Italian means slipper.  The only round slipper we can envisage is one which might be worn by an elephant!

We shall post descriptions of the Faux Pas and then offer an authentic variation obtained from our library.  We do this not to discourage creativity or the development of new dishes but to emphasize that one must learn to make a dish the way it was meant to be made before one can vary it.  For example, Catherine Cora, the chef of  of Postino in Lafayette California makes a Panzanella like salad which she has named in a whimsical fashion.  She does not call it Panzanella because it is not Panzanella.  It is very good...but not an authentic Tuscan salad.  That is what we want to accomplish in this section, i.e. we want to correct errors or misconceptions, while at the same time encourage creative cooking and baking. 

Please come here regularly as we hope to add to this section on a regular basis.  Future notes will be more detailed than this one as they will provide specific recipes and their sources.   They will be presented in descending order, with the latest appearing at the top of the list. 

In all of them, we will try not to be like our friends at the top of this page...See no evil, Hear no evil and Do no evil....

Faux Pas the Sixth - May 2, 1999

Usually Faux Pas are written as a response to some idiotic interpretation of an Italian dish which seemed, in the mind of the chef/cook who created it, to be calling out to be recreated.   Occasionally however, a classic dish is so maligned and so insulted that we not only see the opportunity for a new "Faux Pas" on The Artisan but also wish that we cold strip the chef/cook of his/her credentials.  Such is the "Good Thing: Healthy Pesto with Mark"  found on the Martha Stewart web site.   The  premise is ridiculous, the concept laughable, and the interpretation of this classic from Liguria insulting at best and criminal at worst.  We quote from the introduction on the Stewart web page

"In many pesto recipes, olive oil is the dominant ingredient.  But according to Mark Bittman, "New York Times" food columnist and best selling author of numerous cookbooks, the flavor of the herb should take precedence over that of the oil in a pesto.   Hence his almost oil-less pesto.........a boon if you are looking to cut down on fat.  Mark replaces the missing oil with water"

Obviously Mr. Bittman must have had a slow news day to dream up this aberration.  First let's clear up the "olive oil is the dominant ingredient" nonsense.  The dominant ingredients are olive oil, basil and garlic.  The olive oil must be a mild oil like that of Liguria or, if one cannot find that, the oils  from Lake Garda, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio or Puglia are excellent for use in Pesto.   The use of olive oil in either pesto or pesto precursors has roots going back about a 1000 years to Virgil, and beyond that to the Persians.  Somehow all of these cultures have managed to make their pesto with oil, and to the best of our knowledge have not expired prematurely because of it.   Additionally, we assume that unlike Mr. Bittman, the ancients understood emulsions...what one gets when oil and water are mixed rapidly.  The formation if an emulsion is perfect for mayonnaise, but seems hardly appropriate for a pesto.

Not content with introdcing water into a recipe which does not call for it, Bittman, leaves out a number of essential ingredients, or suggests ingredients that do not make a pesto in the usual sense of that word.   His recipe ingredient list is as follows:

In the first place pesto, as most understand it,  is made with basil.  Can a similar sauce be made with any other leaf vegetable.  Yes it can.  Arugua, a muxture of arugula and basil, lettuce, chard etc, can be used to make a suce that is used much like pesto, but they are not pesto.  Look up pesto in any Italian cookbook or culinary dictionary  basil will be defined as the leaf  to be used.  In the interests of clarity and disclosure, Mr. Bittman should have noted that he is making a vegetable sauce for pasta or cooked vegetables, not a pesto. 

However, as he insists that this is a healthy pesto, we need point out that he has left out pine nuts, or walnuts, and he had not included any cheese.  We understand that he is trying to develop a healthy sauce, but he should know that the cheeses classically used, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino Romano are part skim and ewes milk cheeses respectively, and are relatively low in fat.    Additionally walnuts have been shown to be amonst the most effective foodsuffs in the fight against coronary disease.

For those  who have never tasted authentic pesto, the taste should be of basil and olive oil combined with the pungency of garlic.  There are many pesto recipes, and the most authentic use the same list of ingredients.  But as Fred Plotkin has amply emphasized in his book "Recipes from Paradise;  Life and Food on the Italian Riviera", Little Brown & Co., 1997:  given exactly the same ingredients, no two cooks will come up with pesto that tastes exactly the same.  The difference is due to differences in the "hand' of the prepared, much like the difference in brush strokes on a painting of the same subject by two talented, but different artists. 

Mr. Bittman claims that his techniques are "particularly geared toward increasing the repertoire and the versatility of the home cook".  Frankly that is a pretty disparaging remark.  Obviously , Mr. Bittman considers home cooks a collection of high grade dull normals who find mastering such techniques as either grinding the ingredients in a mortar and pestle or, using a   food processor something beyond their intellectual, and physical talent.  What he fails to understand is that when he "teaches" people these techniques he is robbing them of the opportunity to taste pesto as it has been prepared for a thousand years.  This precise would suggest that expediency is the only factor to consider in recipe development or presentation.  Given this premise, we suppose that next he will suggest simply mashing the walnuts (used in some pesto recipes)  with a sledge hammer as this is far easier than using a lowly nut cracker.

His contention that this is a "healthy" version of pesto is silly.  Olive oil is healthy.   Perhaps the  staff of The New York Times has not had an opportunity to review the literature in the health aspects of olive oil.  Note that an entire batch (one cup) of pesto, when made correctly, i.e. as in Liguria,  contains 3-4 Tablespoons of olive oil.  Thus, making one cup of  a basic pesto [Fred Plotkin's Classic Pesto recipe is given below], and serving 2 tablespoons to each diner affords each diner about 0.70 tablespoons of olive oil --- hardly a health hazard!  The cheeses used are not high in butterfat, and represent only a fraction of the total weight or volume of the recipe. 

The Bittman recipe uses an electric blender to mix the ingredients in his recipe.  (This recipe may be found in Mr. Bittman's book,  "How to Cook Everything" Macmillan Publishing Co. 1998. or on the Marsha stewart site - see below)  Both Plotkin and Anna del Conte in her book, "Gastronomy of Italy", Prentice Hall, 1987 make it amply clear that making this sauce in a food processor or blender, although now done even by inhabitants of Liguria, is not the way to make the best pesto.   It seems that the blades of the blender rip and tear the basil  leaves, but do not allow  the juices of the basil to be released in the same manner as when pesto is make with a mortar and pesto. Additionally, the ingredients are mixed but not thouroughly amalgamated in the blender or processor.  We have made classic pesto in The Artisan kitchen both ways, and agree that the pesto made in a mortar and pesto is better, but we also find that that pesto made properly in a processor is also quite good.  

Plotkin offers 15 pesto recipes in "Recipes from Paradise".  One is a recipe specifically developed for a processor or blender.   Both this and his Classic Pesto recipe are given below.   Mr. Bittman's recipe may be found on Martha Stewart's web page.  The URL of this page is www.marthastewart.com/nav/index.asp.   We are not sure how long a particular recipe remains on this site, and cannot assure visitors to The artisan that you will find it on the Stewart web site should you decide to visit there.

Classic Pesto -  from Recipes from Paradise, by Fred Plotkin.

Add the sea salt and a few of the basil leaves to your marble mortar.  Using a wooden pestlecrush the leaves an dslat gently but with a firm rhythm against the bottom and sides of the mortar so that the leaves gradually come apart.  Keep adding leaves a few at a time until they are all used.   While the leaves are still partly intact, add the garlic and then pount it too, just until it is mashed and has released its juice.  Then add the pinoli and pound them until they are reduced to paste.  Stir the pestle in the mortar so that the ingredients combine.  Then add the Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano and stir again to combine the ingredients.  Now add the olive oil a little at a tim, stirring with the pestle to make a sauce of a creamy consistency.  Some people like more oil, some less so th eamount I recommend id a guideline.  your goal is to have a thick creamy sauce.  If you choose not to use all of the oil, tha tis fine.   The result should be gfully amalgamated and of a medium bright green color.

The preparatio time is about 20 minutes.   The amounts above maded approximately 1 cup/22l ml.

Pesto al Frullatore - Blender Pesto -  from Recipes from Paradise, by Fred Plotkin.

Use the same amounts of ingredients as   in the classic pesto 

Plotkin: "Just in case, readers did not fully appreciate the intensity of my message as indicated elsewhere: Blender pesto is inferior to that made in a mortar and pestle, and there is not much extra work involved in using a mortar."

Blender Method: Place all of the ingredients in a blender, except that you should all only one tablespoon of olive oil instead of th ewhole amount indicated.   Blend at high speed for one minute.  Then lift the lid carefully and crape the sides of the blender cup using a rubber spatula.  chakc the consistency of the ingredients which should be thick and somewhat creamy. Blend for a few more seconds if you think th epesto should be thinner, but don't overdo it.  Remove the contents to a bowl and then spoon in the rest of the olive oil a little at a time until you reach the desired consistency.  a few seconds after making blender pesto add a touch of heavy creal, but this is optional.

The Artisan Note: Some may wonder why we are so adamant about this topic.  The reasons are simple.  We believe in helping our visitors understand that there is a correct way to make Italain food and an incorrect way.  This Faux Pas is a perfect example of an incorrect way make a very simlple dish.  additioally, we hope to inspire visitors to at least try the classic ways to make the dishes presented here, as well as the "improvements", we personally find onerous, and judge for yourselves what is best. 

To sum up our approach to authenticity and quality food, we cite a bumper sticker we recently saw" Friends don't let friends eat fast food", and we paraphrase this "Friends don't let friends eat imitations of really food foods."

 

 

 

Faux Pas the Fifth - April 17, 1999

Simplifying Pasta Primavera

Hardly  a month does not go by without someone or some publication declaring that they have either "simplified" or "improved" upon something which needed neither simplification nor improvement.   The May & June issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine offers an article claiming to simplify Pasta Primavera, and is a case in point.

This issue of Cook's  Illustrated actually includes a number of Faux Pas, and does so almost immediately.  In the first paragraph, they state " Unlike most dishes, pasta primavera, has a clear pedigree:  it was created at Le Cirque, New York's famed restaurant, in the 1970's.....Sirio Maccioni....created a pasta dish loaded with fresh vegetables....He dubbed it Pasta Primavera" The Artisan's response is: Really, it seems odd that no one in all of Italy had ever thought of cooking Spring vegetables with spaghetti before the 1970's

The Artisan, like the author of this article, searched the literature for this recipe in order to see if it was ever made in Italy and if so, when.  He claimed that those he found were substantially different from "...the original version"   We wondered whose original version he meant.

Unlike the author who claims that he could only find dishes quite dissimilar to the one "created" in New York, we easily found five recipes in our cookbook collection.  Were they the exact same dish as Le Cirque's?  No, but  this is not the issue.  The issue is that Mr. Maccioni did not invent this dish from whole cloth.  He  modified a recipe to suite his and his patron's tastes.  There is indeed a difference, and Cook's Illustrated should know that.  Before getting into that, let's see about   some of these non-existent recipes form the past.

In his book "Bugialli on Pasta", Giuliano Bugialli describes Pasta alle Erbe (Spaghetti with Spring Vegetables) on page 68.  We quote: "Spaghetti with Spring vegetables comes from a Renaissance Florentine cookbook, and it combines many seasonal vegetables: small peas, thin asparagus and spring onions  or scallions, all flavored with the pancetta so popular in Michelangelo's Florence.  This really was a pasta primavera which remains very valid among its modern counterparts......" Thus we see that while not necessarily the same as Le Cirque's version, Pasta  Primavera predated Mr. Maccioni by a mere 450-500 years.  Pasta Primavera is also mentioned in "See Rome and Eat" by Beverly Pepper (1960) and "The Complete Book of Pasta" by Maria Luisa and Jack Denton Scott. (1968), although these recipes use only tomatoes, garlic, parsley and basil as vegetables to sauce spaghetti.

Next the author of the Cook's Illustrated article, Jack Bishop,  goes on to state that Pasta Primavera as prepared by Mr. Maccioni is too much work because of the six pots needed to blanch the vegetables, and preparing those he did find in the literature gave rise to poor imitations.  He stated that some recipes gave rise to sauces tasting like overcooked minestrone; a result of overcooking, and a covered pot.  While that could indeed be the case, would not a reasonable chef simply reduce the cooking time and try it uncovered as well rather than continue on for two pages? 

Mr. Bishop's reluctance to use 6 pots to blanch the vegetables is understandable.  However had he simply looked in "Italian Cooking" published by The California Culinary Academy in 1987, and Edited by Sally W. Smith, he would have found a recipe containing no fewer than 6 vegetables, 4 blanched separately and successively using a single pot and two sautéed in a skillet.   While we might have questioned the use of sauteed yellow and red peppers in a spring dish,  the "too much work" argument seems to disappear with two pot recipe.

Interestingly, the Cook's Illustrated recipe discards the use of artichokes as too much work.  A rather cavalier way to eliminate one of the only true Spring vegetables in the bunch! They settle for a combination of Spring/Summer vegetables: asparagus, peas (frozen), zucchini and green beans.  The cook wanted to eliminate even some of these but  "....my tasters thought that the namee "primavera" connotes a variety of vegetables and not just two of these."  For those who would like to know what "Primavera' really connotes, the Cook's tasters notwithstanding, we refer visitors to Jeffrey Sadowski's little book, "Italian Cuisine - The Gourmet's Companion." in which Primavera is defined thusly: "Spring: refers to dishes prepared with fresh spring vegetables".

One comment in the article worth noting is that  "Despite its name....this dish contains many non-spring vegetables, including broccoli, green beans, and zucchini...Only the peas, snow peas and asparagus are truly Spring vegetables".  With all due respect to the editor of Cooks' Illustrated,  The Artisan suggests that even a cursory knowledge of geography would require that this statement be modified.  For example, at the Farmers market here in California yesterday (4/17/99) there was abundant broccoli and green beans as well as snow and sugar snap peas.  Obviously Spring is different in each region, and Pasta Primavera would consequently differ accordingly.

Finally, The Cook's Illustrated article offered a "Finding the Right Pasta" sidebar.  They concluded that spaghetti   just was not the correct pasta for this dish, and that fettuccine was better.   They then went on to conduct a "test" of four national brands  of fettucine to see which was best.  Dried egg pasta from DeCecco and Delverde were chosen as the best.  Frankly, we think that the editors needed filler to complete the page, and testing pasta was irrelevant and unnecessary.  Additionally, the change from spaghetti, the traditional pasta both in Le Cirque's and older recipes,  seems to have been one for the sake of change rather than to "Simplifying Pasta Primavera." as stated in the title of this article.

Why have we chosen this article as a Faux Pas?  Because it is misleading, arrogant, includes misguided opinion and presents its conclusions as if they came down from the mount along with the ten commandments.   Changing dishes is fine. Recreating them with different or more modern techniques is a way to maintain a dish in the mainstream, but presenting these efforts as unique, and as a response to a paucity of information in the literature when this is untrue does no one any good.   Presenting information that is wrong does a disservice to all.   This is especially the case when the work is presented in both text and drawings.  

A Faux Pas within a Faux Pas is the illustration presenting the technique for peeling plum tomatoes.  It is wrong.   A plum tomato peels much easier if the peeler is inserted under the skin at either end of the tomato, either with or without removing the core, and cutting with a "sawing" motion (moving side to side) as the peeler is moved down the tomato.

The Artisan suggests trying the recipe inprimavera.jpg (8969 bytes) Bugialli's book for an authentic and classical approach to this dish.  Alternatively if you want to try a version similar to Le Cirque's try  the one in "The Joy of Pasta" by Joe Famulario and Louise Imperiale, Barron's Educational Series, Hauppauge, NY, 1983. ISBN# 0-8120-5510-1.  This recipe is given below.  The photo to the right is from the Joy of Pasta.

This preparation lists many ingredients and, on the surface, seems complicated. Actually it is quite simple, if done in 3 steps: prepare and cook the vegetables; prepare a tomato sauce; toast the pine-nuts, cook the pasta, and assemble all the ingredients.  This recipe serves 6.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 very small zucchini, trimmed and sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • 6 asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
  • 1 cup sliced green beans, approximately 1 inch long
  • 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
  • I bunch broccoli, washed, trimmed and cut into 1-inch florets
  • 3/4 cup fresh snow peas, ends removed and cut on bias into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound thin pasta (vermicelli, spaghettini, spaghetti)
  • 3 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream, heated
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock, heated
  • l cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup toasted pinenuts
  • Tomato Sauce
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup freshly chopped basil, or 1 teaspoon dried
  • 3 cups canned Italian plum tomatoes, including some juice, put through a food mill

 

1. Cook the zucchini, asparagus, beans, peas, broccoli, and snow peas separately. Keep them al dente--do not overcook them as you will cook them again later when you sauté them. Drain each green vegetable and dry in kitchen toweling. Combine all green vegetables in a large bowl and set aside.

2. In a large skillet, or sauce-pan, heat the olive oil and butter and sauté the garlic until it just begins to turn color. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 2 or 3 minutes, then add the parsley and red pepper flakes. Cook another minute. Add all the green vegetables and sauté for about 5 minutes stirring frequently, but gently.

3. Meanwhile, in another large skillet, heat the oil and butter for the tomato sauce and cook the garlic until it just turns color. Add the basil and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Set aside.

4. Cook the pasta until al dente, drain, and return it to the pot in which it cooked. Add the butter and toss lightly.

5. Add the cream and chicken stock. Toss the pasta some more. Add half the vegetable mixture, then the cheese, and toss again.

6. Transfer all the pasta to a large serving platter, add the remaining vegetables, pour tomato sauce overall, but let some of the green vegetables show through. Dot with toasted pinenuts and serve immediately.

Note: If the pasta is too dry, add a little more chicken stock and cream, but the pasta should not be in a liquidy sauce.

The Artisan Note:Frankly we would leave the pine nuts, heavy cream, mushrooms and dried red pepper flakes out of the above recipe.

Faux Pas the Fourth....March 21, 1999

Pasta e Fagioli

Why do American cooks feel that it is necessary to "interpret" each dish that they prepare?  Why do we constantly continue to embellish upon things that are fine as is?  Why do we always try to prove that more is better?  the May 1999 Issue of Fine Cooking includes an article entitled "Using Pastas in Soups".   The article in and of itself is not a bad article.  However the recipe given for "Minestra di Pasta e Fagioli"  is nothing like the original, and includes ingredients that no Italian would probably consider using unless perhaps they had made this soup so many times that they were completely bored with the wonderful flavors of the original.

Pasta e Fagioli or "Pasta Fazool" in dialect is a hearty soup of the poor.  It is made with the humblest of ingredients and over the years has evolved to the point where the tastes are pretty much as perfect as a simple dish can be. Why then introduce ingredients that are most often never included in either Italy or in any restaurant of Italian origin where adherence to authenticity is the goal?  Probably because the authors either never had authentic Pasta e Fagioli, or because they felt that for the article they had  better come up with something snazzy.  Well, in our opinion, they blew it!

Their recipe is given below.   Additionally, two authentic recipes are provided below  the one presented in Fine Cooking. On is from "La Scuola di Cucina", a cook book in Italian used to teach cooking and the other is from Giuliano Bugialli's "The Fine Art of Italian Cooking".  for those who want to make a serious study of many of the various ways that pasta and bean have bee melded in Italian cookery, another Bugialli book may be just the ticket: "Bugialli on Pasta". Simon & Schuster, 1988, ISBN # 0-671-62024-X.   Finally, there is the recipe in my late father's little cookbook "Pat's Pride".  I must admit, I like that one best.

Admittedly, there are probably as many Pasta e Fagioli recipes in Italy as there are regions.  However the underlying theme of all that we have found is their frugality.  Lest we forget as we try to improve upon the dishes we have either inherited or have come to want to emulate:   The objective is to taste the ingredients as the ingredients, not to hide them with a farrago of other tastes.

Fine Cooking Recipe - May 1999, #32

Ingredients

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium- high heat and cook the pork, pancetta and prosciutto until they turn color, about 5 minutes.  Add the onion, garlic, fennel and celery and cook until softened. Add the chicken stock, white beans, chickpeas, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and rosemary.   Season with salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, about 10 minutes, and then reduce the heat to medium low and cook until the beans are soft, about 1 1/2 hours.   Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 10 - 15 minutes, stirring.  Discard the cinnamon stick, bay leaf and rosemary sprig.  Both the prosciutto skin and Parmigiano rinds can be eaten if you like.  Serve immediately with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Comment:  Cinnamon? Prosciutto? Pancetta? Pork Stew Meat? Pasta e Fagioli is a dish developed and eaten by the poor.   Any meats, except in some regions for pork skin or prosciutto rind,  were usually not used here. We have found one recipe from Venice that calls for prosciutto.   That is the only one.   In Sicily where a sweeter dish is preferred, Fennel is often substituted for celery.  For a  Sicilian recipe , see "Sicilian & American Pasta" by John Penza & Tony Corsa. Ten Speed Press 1994  ISBN # 0-89815-621-1. 

La Scuola di Cucina - Translated by The Artisan Staff

Ingredients:

Dice the carrot, the onion, the celery and the parsley.  Put them into a fire resistant clay casserole (or a heavy bottomed pot) and add the butter and 2 Tbl. of olive oil.  Sauté at moderate heat until the vegetables are somewhat soft.  Add the tomato sauce and the beans.  Add enough water to cover everything, add salt and bring to a boil over moderate heat.

When the beans are soft, pass half of them through a food mill (or whip in a food processor) and return them to the pot.  simmer gently unto you obtain a thick broth.  [Cooking times are not given, but usually when the beans are soft the soup is ready]

Add the pasta, continue cooking while stirring frequently so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.  When cooked, serve with abundant grated Parmesan cheese and pepper.  Finish with a drizzle of olive oil in each bowl.

Bugialli's Recipe for Pasta e Fagioli

Ingredients

Soak the beans overnight in cold water.

the next day, cook the prosciutto rind in boiling water for 2 minutes, then rinse well under cold running water, and cut into small pieces.  Peel the potato and cut into small dice.

Chop the onion and garlic coarsely and place then in a stockpot, preferably terra-cotta, along with the olive oil. Sauté very gently until golden, then add the drained beans, the potato pieces. cold water, tomatoes, and pieces of prosciutto rind.  cover and simmer very slowly for at least 2 hours. Taste for salt and pepper, then add the pasta to the pork and cook until al dente.   allow to cool for 10 minutes, then serve sprinkling Parmigiano and freshly ground black pepper over each serving.

Faux Pas the Third.....January 7, 1999

CUGINI'S  (Cousins) - An Italian Eatery(?)

We have never considered a restaurant as a Faux Pas.   However, after  a trip to a new Italian Pizzeria -Trattoria in our home town, we decided that a restaurant as bad as this qualified as a Global Faux Pas.  It is, in our opinion, a restaurant that should not have opened, because it is a mistake.  Generally speaking, Faux Pas are mistakes, or as   defined in Webster's..."False remark;  A social blunder; error in etiquette: Tactless act or remark..."  We enlarge upon this definition to include a tactless food preparation act as a social blunder in that it effects that part of society interested in authentic Italian foods.

While we are describing our impressions of Cugini's, a restaurant local to our area of California, we feel certain that there are, unfortunately, many restaurants in the United States  which are "cugini" to the one described here.  As you read this, think of that restaurant, and the kind of food it delivers to customers. 

What made this particular experience so disappointing is that we had hoped that the proprietor, an Italian American, who has operated a successful restaurant in our area  for 11 years, would open a much needed authentic restaurant.   He and his cousin didn't.

Cugini's advertises itself as an authentic Italian eatery specializing in healthy foods: Foods made from the finest ingredients obtained from the local farmers and merchants.  The pizze (plural of  the Italian word 'pizza') would be made in a wood burning oven and the restaurant would feature breads and focacce (plural of the Italian word 'focaccia')  as well. 

Actually there is a wood burning pizza oven, a high quality one in fact,  for the thin crusted pizze. There is also a large deck oven where the thick Roman style pan pizze   are made.  A variety of other dishes are also made in one oven or the other.

Like a wanderer who manages to get to the next sand dune, and then fantasizes that just over the hill water would be found, we entered the restaurant with high hopes.  Maybe, just maybe, a good new restaurant had arrived. Heading directly to the pizza display area resulted in an immediate bursting of our hopeful bubble.  There was, as our wanderer probably also found, no respite over the hill.   There were only thick, oily pizze in large pans.   Each pizza was smothered in American style mozzarella cheese and other toppings.  It was clear that the credo here is "if a little of something is good, a lot more is  better".

The olive combination  pizza included hundreds, maybe even thousands,  of sliced black olives direct from a can delivered by a  restaurant supply house.    At least that is what they looked like to us.    Perhaps the science of genetic engineering has developed a fresh olive that is sliced on the tree and has been developed to look just like those canned olives sold in most markets.  So much for the advertised fresh foods and local produce jargon  printed on the menu. 

From this display we moved to the counter where the thin crusted pizze, which were to be baked in the wood fired oven,  were being prepared.  Alas, they were formed with a raised crust.  We had not the heart to ask the proprietor why the raised crust was added given the propensity for a properly made  dough to rise at the edges while in the oven.  Perhaps the built up dough crust was insurance against a dough not properly made, or a pizzaiola who hadn't the faintest idea of just how one forms a pizza.   At this point, we really did not want to stay much longer as we could both feel a  deep depression and pall clutching at our collective  psyches.  Disappointment combined with anger at yet another pseudo Italian eatery made the vinegar laden air even more difficult to breath.

On the way out, we looked  at the prepared dishes in the cases.  We momentarily considered  ordering something, but decided that after almost 30 years of eating and making pizza and Italian food,  we were no longer young enough to try to digest the lackluster and fairly unappetizing  food  we saw. 

We went next door for a coffee to see what, if anything, could rationalize the existence of this restaurant.  We ultimately decided that there was nothing we could tell the owners to explain our frustration and disappointment.    Most likely neither the proprietors nor many of their  clientele  had  ever tasted authentic pizza or Trattoria food as served either in Italy or in fine Italian-American restaurants.  How were they to know that what they were participating in was no more than another nail on the proverbial coffin of high quality, nourishing Italian food?  How were they to know that it is just as easy to make food properly as it is to totally screw it up?  From a budgetary perspective alone,   cheese costs could be reduced dramatically without effecting  income.  Ditto for the amount of tomato sauce and other toppings used.  

We had previously met one of the owners of this place, and considered going back to tell him what we are describing in this Faux Pas.  We realized that this would not be very fruitful because the place was busy.  He was obviously making money.  People were filling a need to eat "Italian" food at a reasonable price, and nothing we could say  would most likely change anything.  If we can find his e-mail address on his restaurant's web site, we will forward this article to him.   Otherwise, we simply have to accept the fact that  we were witnessing an almost perfect example of "the greater fool theory", i.e. I may be a fool for opening this travesty, but there are a lot more, even greater fools who will eat here!

This Faux Pas is, as stated above,  a collective one.  What makes it more problematic than others in this series is that each dish is prepared   in a manner unknown to any Italian restaurateur, or any one who actually believes in authenticity.  In many ways it far surpasses any previous  Faux Pas,   because each day the same pizze and dishes are prepared  using the same terrible ingredients, in the same lackluster way.  The process continuously repeats itself.  It is a joke, and the joke is on us.

Faux Pas the Second.....November 15, 1998

Fettuccine Carbonara with Asparagus

Fettuccine Carbonara with Asparagus as described by "Pasta Press - The Magazine for Pasta Lovers....with a healthy twist!" in their Autumn 1998 issue is a  Faux Pas well worth describing here.  Especially since the claim here is that this preparation  "...lowers the fat contact without sacrificing flavor". 

To quote: "Pasta alla Carbonara is a traditional Italian dish high is cholesterol-raising foods like Pancetta (Italian style bacon), eggs, cheese and cream. This lightened, but equally tasty version features lean Canadian Bacon in place of Pancetta, egg whites for most of the eggs, a reduced amount of cheese and a flavorful stock and moistened without using cream."  Even more indicative of the lack of commitment to authenticity is the fact that the author (chef) has no particular pasta in mind in spite of the name of the dish.  The first line of the Ingredient  list calls for..."3/4 of a pound of Fettuccine or a pasta of your choice" . Huh?

What's wrong with a low fat pasta dish?   Nothing as long as one realizes that the Roman (where this dish probably originated) versions contain NO garlic,shallots, wine, parsley or stock as does the Pasta Press version.  Why are we upset with this recipe?  Same reason as we have stated many times before on this site:  This is not Fettuccine or Pasta Carbonara, and should not be honored with that name.Spaghetti alla Carbonara is a dish which has its roots in Italy, and is made in a specific manner.  Lowering fat content , adding ingredients, and  completely changing the recipe does not result in a "modified' Carbonara.  It results in a new dish.  It may be good, but it's not Pasta Carbonara.  Besides what is wrong with an occasional helping of Pancetta, eggs and cream?  Comments in the last section of this Faux Pas make arguments to the effect that the answer is... nothing!

Spaghetti alla Carbonara became popular in the United States after the end of the Second World War.  Returning veterans who had been to Rome ate it there and loved the dish,  especially since it contained   ingredients American enjoyed - Bacon and Eggs.  The dish is probably quite a bit older than that however.  Carbonari were coal vendors in Italy, and   often used charcoal burners to fix a quick batch of this dish....one possible reason for the name.  The other possible origin of the name derives from the liberal amounts of black pepper sprinkled on the dish which look like coal or charcoal dust particles...carboni.  Whatever is true, this dish is easily prepared.   

We found recipes in 9 of our pasta cookbooks....actually we stopped looking after nine!  Two use cream in the dish and 7 do not.  The recipes below  are taken from Enrica and Vernon Jarratt's book , "The Complete Book of Pasta"  Dover Publications, 1969, English Translation , 1975.  ISBN # 0-48623561-0.  The Jarratts were owners and operators of a well known restaurant in Rome, Italy called George.  A recipe with cream and one without are given below.  Please note that when cream is used (Recipe No. 2) no butter is used.

GLI INGREDIENTI (INGREDIENTS)

Spaghetti alla Carbonara No. 1 (Serves 6)

LA PREPARAZIONE (PREPARATION)

Make the sauce while the spaghetti are cooking.

Put the oil and Pancetta (bacon), cut into cubes, in a pan big enough to eventually hold the cooked spaghetti. Fry the bacon gently until the fat is transparent. 

Drain the spaghetti when they are very much al dente, and add them to the pan with the oil and pancetta. (In another pan)  melt the butter until it becomes brown (a little short of becoming black butter) and mix it with the eggs, the grated Parmesan, salt to taste and lots of freshly ground black pepper.   This must be done immediately the spaghetti have been added to the pan.

Pour the mixture over the spaghetti, mix well for a moment or so, and send immediately to the table.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara No. 2 (Serves 6)

GLI INGREDIENTI (INGREDIENTS)

LA PREPARAZIONE (PREPARATION)

Make the sauce while the spaghetti are cooking.

Put the oil and strips of Pancetta (bacon),   into  a large pan and cook gently until the fat of the bacon is completely transparent. 

Remove and drain the spaghetti when they are very much al dente, and add them to the pan with the oil and pancetta.  Leave them here until they are completely cooked.

In the meantime beat up the eggs with the cream. Add a little salt and a great deal of pepper. At the last moment, pour the mixture over the spaghetti, mix rapidly, and transfer to a serving dish.  Send to table accompanied by Parmesan or Pecorino cheese.

NOTE: Purists use Pecorino for this dish.   If a sheep's cheese Pecorino is not available try to use a strong
Parmesan.

Commentary

Are we against watching fat and cholesterol content is the foods we eat?  No.  Like many we believe in moderation in all the food we eat and recommend.  Perusal of the recipes on The Artisan affords a mix of meat, poultry, fish and vegetable recipes.  to us, moderation does not mean that all meals must be low fat.  Nor does healthy eating mean developing a case of food anxiety over what we do eat.  If we have a good dish of Spaghetti alla Carbonara one evening, why not a vegetable pasta or a fish dish the next few?  Moderation means...in our opinion...balance.

With all of the (often strident) concerns for a "fat free" existence in the United States,  we at The Artisan often  wonder why our life expectancy ranks 17th out of  33 developed nations?  More "health foods" are sold now in the USA than ever before, and we live no longer than people in Japan, Iceland, Andorra, Hong Kong, Costa Rica, Spain, Greece, Canada or Italy to name a few.  Maybe the really healthy food is right in front of us: all of it.  Maybe exchanging margarine for small amounts of butter isn't so good for us after all.  Maybe the data and the methodology that led the conclusions  to banish eggs from many meals was not too well designed. 

We need not be afraid of food that simply tastes good because it is rich and indulgent.  We need to eat these foods in combination with less rich, less fatty foods and, we suppose,  foods that the 16 countries ahead of us eat. 

Maybe we live shorter lives because we die from worrying about what we eat. 

Faux Pas the First.....November  3, 1998

Panzanella

Panzanella is a salad made with bread and tomatoes and number of other ingredients.  It is made all over Tuscany and is made in a particular way....otherwise it is not Panzanella.

This month's contribution to Faux Pas is from the November-December 1998  issue of CUISINE.  What's  wrong with their salad.  Everything!  The ingredients are not what is, or ever have been, used in a classical Panzanella, nor is the technique used to make the salad correct.  A person eating this tomato based salad, who had never had the original Tuscan version, would be ill treated and ill informed.

The biggest gaff Cuisine makes is toasting the bread after it has been cut into cubes.  Two misleading statements in one instruction (Photo 1 in the article, Page 21)  The bread should neither be toasted nor cubed. The addition of toasted pine nuts is incorrect as is the addition of capers, garlic, anchovy, chicken broth, red and yellow peppers, mozzarella cheese and Kalamata olives.  The only  ingredients Cuisine uses in this salad which are supposed to be there are tomatoes, onions, olive oil, vinegar and bread.

Is this salad any good?  Since we have chosen not to make it, we cannot say that it might not be a good salad.  The ingredients, per se, are tasty.  We probably would not have used any chicken broth, but the rest sound plausible in a salad.  Regardless,  it is not Panzanella.  It might be called Insalata Panzanella Americana.

What is authentic Panzanella and how is it made?  Here are the proper ingredients and a preparation taken from "La Toscana in Cucina, le fondamentali gesto per gesto", by Arnoldo Mondatori, Ed. Verona Italy, 1993 ISBN # 88-04-36-928-0.  The translation below is by The Artisan staff.

GLI INGREDIENTI (INGREDIENTS)

LA PREPARAZIONE (PREPARATION)

Slice the bread and put it into a shallow dish.  cover it with water and leave for 10 minutes.  At the end of this time, squeeze the water from the bread and crumble it by rolling it between the palms of you hands.  Pluck the bread into pieces to fluff it a bit.   Put it in to a salad bowl large enough to hold all of the ingredients. 

Cut the cucumber and the onions into thin slices.  Cut the tomatoes into wedges.  Add the cucumbers, onions and 3/4 of the tomatoes to the bread.

Season all of this with most of the basil, salt and pepper, and olive oil.  Mix the salad gently, preferably by hand,  so as not to bread up the vegetables, or to pack them too tightly.   Cover and place in the refrigerator until just before the time to serve the Panzanella. 

At the last moment,  add the vinegar and a bit more olive oil.  Mix gently again, then garnish with the remaining basil leaves and tomato wedges.  Serve.

Commentary

How do we know that this Italian recipe is authentic?  Our oldest and best  friends in Italy live in Siena.  Their family has been there for about 350 years.  We watched Maria Grazia as she prepared Panzanella for us.  It was delicious!

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Last updated on: 06/03/99 12:50:56 AM