adventures of an omnomnomnivore in NYC

Race Recap: Chicago Marathon ’18

Fri, 12 Oct 2018 09:38:48 -0400

So there I was, flat on the ground screaming in pain in the middle of Grant Park. It was not my best look.

I’d been doing the post-race shuffle towards bag check, when suddenly my calf buckled with the worst cramp of my life. As I began yelping and draped myself onto a lamp post, a bunch of people swooped in. Cramp? I nodded, eyes closed. Get her some salt. A runner quickly put my finger in a tube of salt and shoved it in my mouth, while a race volunteer stretched out my leg. This is gonna hurt. But hey, free massage! After what seemed like an eternity, the cramp finally subsided, everyone cleared out, and I was left holding an open beer. I was having an AWESOME day.

Snapshots from the Sahara

Sat, 26 Nov 2016 11:08:52 -0500

One of the most popular things for tourists to do in Morocco is to see the desert. If you search online, there are dozens of identical-sounding tour companies that more or less follow the same formula of driving you from Marrekesh or Fes out to the desert, putting you on a camel to trek to a Berber camp where you’ll sleep overnight, then waking at dawn to catch the sunrise and do the reverse trek back to town before it gets too hot. (In November, heat was not actually a problem and I actually found the desert to be uncomfortably cold and damp because it had just rained a few hours before.) I emailed a few tour companies and got quotes of 270-300 euros per person, which seemed outlandishly expensive, even by NYC standards. They also required a deposit, which I was a bit wary of.

How to Buy Real Saffron in Morocco

Tue, 22 Nov 2016 08:58:44 -0500

Morocco is known for their abundance of spices, particularly saffron. Unfortunately, saffron is one of the most expensive spices in the world because of the enormous amounts of labor involved. (The purple saffron crocus harvest lasts only 1-2 weeks in the fall, and it requires 150 flowers to yield 1 gram of saffron threads.) I wanted to see if I could score a deal on saffron (compared to prices in the US), but of course, saffron is also one of the most widely faked spices on the market, so the challenge was on.

Morocco, a Land to Dye For

Sun, 20 Nov 2016 12:42:41 -0500

Let me admit, I had a pretty tenuous conception of what Morocco would be like before traveling there. And I don’t think I was alone in my ignorance.

Me: I’m going to Morocco next week, it’s going to be awesome!
Friend: Cool! Is it going to look like Agrabah? (the fictional setting of Disney’s Aladdin)
Me: No, you idiot, that doesn’t even exist!
Friend (invoking another Disney movie): Well then, is it jungles and lions or what?
Me: Um…let me get back to you. (rewatches Aladdin in the meantime)

All Look Same

Sun, 01 May 2016 09:27:45 -0400

I have a small confession to make: I’m face-blind.

It’s basically what it sounds like: I have a lot of difficulty remembering and differentiating people’s faces. I’m sorry I don’t recognize you, but it’s nothing personal, I swear.

I’ve mentioned it to some of my close friends, but only if it comes up in context (usually out of concern that I’ve offended someone by not recognizing them).

On Running, or How To Do Anything in Life

Tue, 12 Jan 2016 18:45:08 -0500

“When you’re running… there’s a little person that talks to you and that little person says, ‘Oh, I’m tired. My lung’s about to pop. Oh, I’m so hurt; I’m so tired. There’s no way I can possibly continue.’ And you want to quit, right? That person… If you learn how to defeat that person when you’re running, you will learn how to not quit when things get hard in your life.”

Tales from a Mexican Line Cook

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 23:20:09 -0400

Like many restaurants, my kitchen was staffed largely by cooks/runners/dishwashers of Latin American origin, particularly Mexicans from the state of Puebla. This made sense, given that we were cooking Latin-influenced food, but you’ll find Mexican cooks everywhere in New York, from diners to Chinese restaurants to fine dining.

There are many great cultural exchanges to be had from hanging out with Latino cooks, from hearing the latest reggaeton to learning the true meaning of Cinco de Mayo. (Turns out it’s not just about cheap margaritas.) But as you while away hours peeling yucca in the slow afternoon, sometimes the conversation takes a turn for the serious. You ponder aloud: what you’re doing with your life, what your dreams are, who you love, where it all went wrong. You share your hopes for your family, your fears that you’re not good enough, your ambitions to go to college. You tell your life story, how you came to the US and found your footing here. You do all this while crammed into a closet-sized space, with tweezers in one hand and a fish fillet in the other. This is the trench.

How to Stage/Intern/Trail at a Restaurant: The Right Way

Sun, 05 Apr 2015 20:24:43 -0400

Turkish Eggplants

Undeterred by how quickly I’d flunked out of my first kitchen, I immediately set about finding a new one. Maybe a pizzeria? Pizza is my all-time favorite comfort food after all. I emailed a neighborhood Neapolitan pizzeria and got no reply. What about a sushi restaurant? I stopped by a sushi restaurant and asked to apprentice myself to the chef; he didn’t even want to talk to me. (Wait, was this a hint that I should come back 300 more times?) I kept walking and strode into a Latin American restaurant, one that I knew was helmed by a chef-owner known to use seasonal and local ingredients. It was busy but not slammed, the kitchen was comfortably large and relatively cool, and the staff was friendly and encouraging when I explained that I’d like to come in as an intern. As I left, the chef’s mother caught my elbow. “I overheard your conversation just now, and he definitely takes students in from time to time, so I think it will work out!” Things were looking much brighter.

What’s It Like to Be a (Temporary) Vegan?

Sun, 01 Feb 2015 22:00:46 -0500

Vinny’s cheeseless veggie pizza

So, what’s it like to go from an oyster slurping, pork braising, cheese grating, cream swilling chef and eater to one that’s not?

It’s incredibly easy and hard at the same time.

For the most part, V-month was FABULOUS. Much better than the time I tried to drink Soylent for a week. Unlike Soylent week, which was mindnumbingly boring, I’ve had tons of room to experiment with new foods and flavors.

The V-Word, or Explorations with a Plant-Based Diet

Sat, 03 Jan 2015 18:23:58 -0500

“I’m sorry, you’re doing what? Who are you and what did you do with my friend?”

“That’s cool…but please come back to us after a month, ok? Because seriously, if you don’t, there will be repercussions.”

“Oh that sounds awesome! You cook so much, it’s going to be really easy for you!”

Anyone who knows me knows that I like to eat heartily and adventurously. Is it spicy, smelly or squishy? Hand over a fork! What’s that, braised donkey? Excellent, we’re eating ass tonight! It also helps that I have the superhuman metabolism and appetite of a pro athlete (thank you daily biking!), so I’m pretty much always hungry and never say no to food. Which is why for the month of January, for the first time ever, I’m excited to be systematically stripping out large swaths of the food pyramid from my diet to go vegan. Wait, what?

Hack the Dish: Fung Tu’s Manila Clam & Black Bean Sauce Noodles

Thu, 20 Nov 2014 15:36:52 -0500

A couple weeks ago, Serious Eats published an article on the clam and black bean sauce noodles at Fung Tu. They interview Chef Jonathan Wu and follow him step by step through a dish that is “a simple one, and easy enough for home cooks to adapt to their kitchens.” There’s enough detail in the article that you can figure out most of the recipe, but there’s no actual recipe published. (Not surprising, I don’t blame Wu at all for not wanting to make it that easy.) Moreover, the steps Wu follows make about 12 servings of noodles. I don’t know about you, but I usually don’t cook for quite that many mouths in one sitting.

Trailing at Gramercy Tavern

Sun, 09 Nov 2014 18:03:43 -0500

Squid ink spaghetti, grilled calamari, sesame, fresh green chickpeas (!), crisp, mussel broth, pepper flakes

“Fire four halibut.”
“Four halibut!”

A warm evening in May, and flowers were blooming inside the wood accented dining room of Gramercy Tavern. It was early for dinner, but students were already gathering with their families, a parade of graduation gowns mingling with power suits and little black dresses.

How to Stage/Intern/Trail at a Restaurant: The Wrong Way

Wed, 17 Sep 2014 23:12:59 -0400

So you want to cook professionally and think you have the mettle to work your way up the line? Or you’re a culinary student who’s looking for an internship to get real world experience? Welcome, young stagiaire!

A stage (rhymes with corsage) is the French term for an unpaid internship or apprenticeship, where a trainee volunteers in a kitchen in order to learn new techniques. This can apply to inexperienced cooks, or to experienced professionals who want to learn new cuisines. Ferran Adria’s El Bulli was flooded with applications from aspiring stagiaires, for instance, all of whom were at the top of their fields in their home countries.

How to Carve a Sharkmelon

Sat, 06 Sep 2014 11:01:13 -0400

I always thought it would be an earthquake that would be the end of Los Angeles. Or a meteor shower. Zombies even. Black plague. Aliens. But sharks? Come on!

If you aren’t familiar with Sharknado, it’s the made-for-TV movie about sharks that get caught in a hurricane and rain down terror on an unsuspecting L.A. I’ll be the first to admit this isn’t Citizen Kane, but if you enjoy so-bad-it’s-good movies along the lines of Snakes on a Plane, then you’ll probably like Sharknado. And if you don’t have a fine appreciation for the kind of movie that you drink to, then clearly you have misplaced priorities. 😉

How to Munch on Munch

Sat, 19 Jul 2014 21:13:57 -0400

(With apologies to Edvard Munch)

At this time of the year, the produce aisle at the Food Coop is just bursting with color. Yellow tomatoes! Magenta beets! Purple broccoli! I’d been considering doing a series of meals using only ingredients of the same color. Then, a friend sent me this NPR article on art-inspired food. Presto! I decided to recreate “The Scream” in edible format. The results were quite palette-able, if I do say so myself.

Soylent Experiment: Cake, Cooking Without Tasting, and How to Fail Forward

Sun, 22 Jun 2014 07:57:17 -0400

I’ve been writing about what a tremendous struggle it is to fight boredom when you eat the same thing every meal, and how desperately I was craving something new (preferably greasy and cheesy). In reality though, all of the temptations I’d encountered in social situations during the week paled in comparison to what I faced yesterday, and in the end, the person who finally broke my Soylent fast had no idea that he’d done it.

Soylent Experiment: What Do I Have in Common with Astronauts, Soldiers and Prisoners?

Thu, 19 Jun 2014 23:42:37 -0400

Photo: Traci Cappiello

It’s day 4 of Soylent week, so I’m over halfway through the experiment. Last time, I posted in a state of relative euphoria over my newfound productivity gains. Let me tell you, the closer you fly to the sun, the harder you crash into the ground.

On day 2, social obligations kicked in again. I went to an event with free food and drinks, and turned everything down. I met with old friends and tried not to stare at their sandwiches. I met with new friends who kept offering beer, and explained that yes, I do drink, just not today, and no, I don’t have a problem with alcoholism, I swear. I met someone for the first time and casually asked if they were familiar with Soylent, and they said that it sounded like a terrible, ridiculous idea.

Soylent Experiment: Day 1

Mon, 16 Jun 2014 23:29:26 -0400

One day and three meals into Soylent week and I have to say it’s been awesome.

Last night, I made a week-long batch of Soylent. For 21 or so meals, my food will come from this container. It’s a little weird for me to eat shelf-stable food (aside from the milk), and probably the first time I’ve “cooked” a meal that’s intentionally not seasonal.

I’m Giving Up Cooking to Drink Soylent This Week, Here’s Why

Sun, 15 Jun 2014 02:45:10 -0400

Last month, the New Yorker published a piece on Soylent, a shelf-stable powder that can be mixed with water to become a meal replacement. “The End of Food,” the headline screamed, “Has a tech entrepreneur come up with a product to replace our meals?” Unlike Slim Fast and similar products, Soylent claims to be nutritionally complete, the only thing you’ll need to eat (er, drink) for the rest of your life (which hopefully will not be shortened due to diet). Also, it was invented by a bunch of young engineers who subsequently launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to manufacture Soylent for the masses. $755,000 later, we are that much closer to a humanity that doesn’t have to think about food ever again. This despite a name that was intentionally chosen for dark humor.

Culinary School Food Porn: What We Cooked

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 23:12:49 -0400

The less photogenic dishes (sauces, knife work) are omitted, but otherwise this gallery gives you a pretty good sense of what you’ll be cooking in the Culinary Techniques class.

Fish Sticks, Waffle Basket, Pepper Remoulade

A Hot Rack

Short Rib Pot au Feu with Horseradish Sauce

Garniture Bouquetière

Onion Tart

Scallops with Sauce Americaine

Assiette des Crudites

Viennese Escalopes

Split Pea Soup

Duck a l’orange

One Fighting Lobster

Rack of Pork with Braised Lettuce

Chicken Fricassee

Macedoine des Legumes

Chimay Stuffed Eggs

Hot Braising Legs

Fish in Parchment Paper

French Fries

Salade Nicoise

Duchess Potatoes

Steak and Bearnaise Sauce

Mussels with Cream and Mushrooms

Grilled Chicken with Devil Sauce

Basque-style Omelette

French Onion Soup

Puff Pastry Fruit Tart

Potatoes Anna, Hash Browns

Eclairs

Potato “Sundae”

Pear Tart with Almond Frangipane

Cream Puffs

Souffles: Cheese, Chocolate, Grand Marnier

Lamb Stew

Scalloped Potatoes

Hunter’s Chicken

What I Learned in Culinary School (and Why I’m Quitting)

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 23:34:50 -0400

After 22 classes and 110 hours in the kitchens, I am sad but proud to have finished the Culinary Techniques course at the International Culinary Center.

We began on day one by struggling to chop some onions and carrots, and trying to memorize the French names of all the new equipment. Some of us cut ourselves simply pulling knives out of our bags. Somehow that lesson took five hours to cover. We were green as the tray of herbs that was passed around for an identification lesson.

Nature as Measure: What’s the future of farming?

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 23:57:01 -0400

Wes Jackson, Wendell Berry and Mark Bittman at Cooper Union

Tonight, some of the biggest names in the sustainable food movement gathered in the Great Hall at Cooper Union. The occasion? “Nature as Measure,” a talk on agriculture and the future of farming presented by the Land Institute and the Berry Center.

If I had to choose a single cookbook for today’s aspiring home chefs, it would be Mark Bittman‘s How to Cook Everything. He first became nationally known through his NYT column “The Minimalist,” which cut through the confusion to teach healthy, painless home cooking. I used to describe Bittman as my generation’s Julia Child, but he has since moved on to bigger and bolder topics: influencing national food policy. I don’t always agree with his pronouncements, but aside from perhaps Michael Pollan, no other American food writer is as well-loved and widely-read as Mark Bittman.

Truffle Lobster Rolls: Because you deserve a treat today

Tue, 01 Apr 2014 16:31:06 -0400

Here in New York, the weather is finally starting to warm up and our thoughts are wandering to sunny beaches and dockside escapades. With that in mind, what better summer treat is there than a hefty lobster roll made with healthy amounts of butter and mayo? (Yes, I realize that lobster rolls are typically made with either mayo (Maine) or butter (Connecticut), but here in Brooklyn, I’ve decided it’s ok to use both.) For an added dash of sophistication, I added some truffle oil to the mayo, but you can leave this out if it’s not on hand. You could also use store-bought mayo, but homemade mayo is SO much better in flavor and not difficult to do, so if you’ve never tried it, here’s your chance.

Un-Business Cards

Sat, 15 Mar 2014 09:06:55 -0400

How do you keep in touch with new contacts in style? Moo has a great “Printfinity” feature where you can print multiple backs to your cards, making it easier to display a photography portfolio or a series of ideas. Inspired by these design-oriented quotes, I decided to create a series of food and marketing-related twists on traditional proverbs for my personal cards. Check it out:

Culinary School: Why I’m making the worst food of my life

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 13:06:33 -0500

Nights in culinary class move in a dance of steel and time pressure. Yank out the wishbone. Quarter the chicken. Sear the skin. Chop the mirepoix. Simmer the stock. Strain the sauce. Pull the chicken from the oven. Plate the food. Run to the front. Hope for the best.

Chef Ray glanced at my plate of poulet sauté chasseur (hunter-style chicken) and gave me a hard look. “I think I’ve told you this before,” he said. “This plate. What’s wrong with it?” I looked down at my chicken. Among the finely shredded flakes, there were some unruly tufts of parsley perched on top, shamelessly advertising their prowess at escaping my knife. “I know, I know,” I apologized, “the parsley isn’t chopped small enough. And there’s some pieces of stems.”

Moving Notice

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 08:03:46 -0500

After four lovely years at WordPress.com, I’ve decided to move my content to a new domain: (Thanks ICANN for releasing those new top-level domains!)

I’ve implemented a 301 site redirect, so visitors from the web will be automatically sent to the new site, but if you follow this blog via RSS or email, please update your subscriptions and bookmarks to the new location.

And remember, pans pulled out of the oven are hotter than they appear.

“Hit It Like a Mal Boyfriend” and Other Lessons from Chef François Payard

Sun, 02 Mar 2014 18:32:23 -0500

François Payard is a top pastry chef, a long-standing innovator in New York’s dessert scene and winner of a James Beard award in 1995. Which is why it’s incredibly jarring when he’s looking at you from 10 feet away, asking what’s in egg whites. “Yes you, I’m looking at YOU in the second row,” he says. “Uh,” you stammer, “it can’t be lecithin because that’s in yolks…so albumin?”

The El Bulli Exhibit: Creativity as Organized Process

Sun, 23 Feb 2014 12:08:30 -0500

The Drawing Center is hosting Ferran Adrià: Notes on Creativity, the first major museum exhibition of Adrià’s notebooks and visualization tools. As you may know, Adrià is widely acknowledged as one of the best chefs of our time, someone who radically impacted the way cooking has evolved in the last decade or so. For over two decades, he helmed the kitchen at El Bulli in Roses, Spain, where his staff rigorously experimented with the play of aromas, textures and flavors. You may never have an opportunity to try Adrià’s spherified olives, pine nut marshmallows or rose-scented mozzarella, especially since El Bulli is now closed. However, if you’ve ever encountered a traditional dish remade in another form (like a sandwich presented as a drink) or a contemporary menu without defined categories (appetizers vs entrees), you’ve probably tasted Adrià’s influence.

Good Thing There’s Sauce: How to Butcher and Cook Whole Fish

Fri, 21 Feb 2014 16:45:40 -0500

Dear readers, I have a confession to make: while I work in the seafood industry and am an avid seafood lover, I have never filleted a fish. It’s not for a lack of opportunity per se. The thing is, I was raised in an Asian family where the policy on fish was, “If you can’t pick out the bones, then you don’t deserve to eat.” So we cleaved our fish into large steaks or steamed it whole, with a splash of soy sauce over a shower of ginger and scallion strips. It was simple and satisfying, no need to get fancy.

Eat Your Veggies…Because They’re Surprisingly Fun to Cook

Mon, 17 Feb 2014 12:21:48 -0500

After several introductory classes of stock and sauce making, we moved into making complete dishes. Namely, salads, vegetable dishes and soups. I tried not to yawn. “Vegetables are important!” insisted my chef-friend Wendy. “It’s difficult to do them well.” I tried to muster some excitement, but the thought of making 6 different types of vinaigrette was already making my whisking arm ache.

Recipe: Swedish Cinnamon Rolls

Fri, 14 Feb 2014 12:32:42 -0500

While I was in Sweden, I fell in love with the cinnamon rolls that are ubiquitous in their bakeries and cafes. Buttery pinwheels laced with cinnamon and crunchy pearl sugar, and a hint of cardamom to add an exotic depth not seen in your monstrous American Cinnabon.

Unfortunately, when I looked at recipes for Swedish-style cinnamon rolls, many of them were for massive batches (30-40 rolls?!) or in uncomfortable European measurements (deciliters). Baking is already fraught with volume vs weight peril as is, and I was hesitant to follow any one recipe. So, as is usually the case in situations like this, I analyzed several recipes and came up with some averages in convenient quantities.

Stockholm: If You Go

Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:14:27 -0500

Here are some logistical tips and tricks if you’d like to travel to Stockholm or elsewhere in Sweden in the near future:

Flight: Norwegian Air is offering low cost fares from New York (JFK) to Stockholm and Oslo, with considerable deals in the winter and early spring. My round trip ticket was just €282 ($384), and if you book through their European site and purchase a ticket in euros using a credit card with no international fees, the ticket will be less expensive than if you purchase through the US site in dollars.

Modern Stockholm: Living with Style, Innovation and Coffee

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 13:57:38 -0500

After learning about Sweden’s medieval and pre-industrialization history, I wanted to feel the pulse of contemporary Sweden. The trendier parts of Stockholm (I stayed in the Sofo neighborhood, a play on NYC’s Soho) are chic and streamlined, like walking around a giant IKEA store, or hipper-than-thou neighborhoods in Brooklyn (cough, Williamsburg). You can get a good read on the city by simply hopping between cafes, which are present in abundance at a density that rivals Italian cities. These cafes often serve espresso and cinnamon rolls, and you can also find hybrids like cafe-thrift stores, cafe-record stores, cafe-office, cafe-hair salon, etc. Swedes take their coffee very seriously it seems, perhaps as a substitute for alcohol. This is, of course, by design, since Sweden has a state-run monopoly on alcohol sales and the prices are inflated to discourage drinking in prodigious quantities. All this means that Swedes go to Denmark or Germany to bring back cheaper booze.

Historic Sweden: Royal Palace, Skansen, Vasa Museum

Sun, 09 Feb 2014 18:37:12 -0500

Sweden’s most well-known exports today are IKEA furniture and H&M clothing, which means my impression of the country is one of sleek modernism. Naturally, Sweden does have a history and is rightfully proud of its past accomplishments, I’ve simply never bothered to learn anything about them. So when I began researching this trip, I was a bit surprised at all the recommendations to see the Royal Palace. To be honest, before this trip, I didn’t even know Sweden still had a royal family. It seems a rather archaic institution to support (the state still funds them partially), though I guess the tourism benefits now outweigh any concerns about the monarchy trying to regain control. (More below.)

Europe for a Weekend: Stockholm

Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:47:15 -0500

Image: designlovefest

Ever since I subscribed to The Flight Deal, there’s been a constant stream of cheap flights that drop in and tantalize me with dreams of kicking off and leaving the country on a whim. Well, I was finally in the right frame of mind when I saw direct flights from New York to Stockholm through Norwegian Air for just €282 (approximately $384). Given that I’ve paid more to get to the West Coast, going to Europe for a long weekend was sounding like a pretty good proposition.

Tournage and Stocks: How to Channel OCD into Acceptable Culinary Pursuits

Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:18:34 -0500

After last week’s lesson on taillage vegetable cuts, we reconvened for the quintessential skill of tournage, or turned vegetables. Essentially, you have to cut pieces of vegetables into blunt footballs. “For tonight, don’t worry too much about the number of sides,” said Chef Ray, “but traditionally there are seven sides to each turned vegetable. And remember, you have to use your wrists to curve around the vegetable.” He demonstrated and in just a few deft moves, he held up a perfectly shaped cocotte out of a shower of carrot trimmings.

Lesson 1: Who Knew Cutting Vegetables Could Be So Complicated?

Sun, 26 Jan 2014 18:11:35 -0500

In the locker room, we carefully unpacked the contents of our tote bags. Crisp white jackets with cloth knot buttons, wide-legged houndstooth pants and a cap to keep stray hairs in place. I carefully slipped the knots on the jacket in and out of the loops; it was a long, laborious process. “Wait a minute,” said the girl down the aisle, “The jackets are big enough that you can put them on without untying the buttons!” At the bottom of my bag, a neatly folded triangle of white cloth remained. “Is this a side towel? Or a napkin?” I asked. “Actually, I think it’s the neckerchief,” another student replied. “But I have no idea how to tie it on.”

So You Think You Can Cook: Signing Up for Culinary School

Tue, 21 Jan 2014 11:11:16 -0500

A Spooky Eyeball Caprese

For a year while attending the University of Gastronomic Sciences, I was constantly asked, “How’s culinary school? Are you going to be a chef?” I would patiently explain that no, that’s not really what gastronomy is about.

Don’t get me wrong, I spent A LOT of time cooking during that year, with some of the freshest, most affordable produce I’ve ever seen in my life. Our class potlucks were lavish, internationally diverse and subtly competitive; everyone worked hard to bring their A-game to the table. Since coming to New York (land of take-out and tiny kitchens), I have yet to be surrounded by cooks in the same intensity and density.

Myself in Notes, 2014

Sun, 05 Jan 2014 18:27:20 -0500

This list was inspired by Lorraine Hansberry’s series of birthday notes, written annually from when she was 23 to 33. You can see these candid, intimate glimpses of her life on display at the Brooklyn Museum until March 16th.

I love:
The Park Slope Food Coop
My office “family”
Learning obscure skills (blacksmithing)
Traveling to foreign countries
Efficiency (though not at the cost of human relationships)
Handwritten letters, and making time to write them
Carbs: bagels, pizza, pasta, rice, beer
Biking year-round
Lucky Peach
Sherlock Holmes (BBC)
Being fit
Being alone
Sleeping on the floor
Brooklyn

Forty North Oyster Farm: Surviving and Thriving Post-Hurricane Sandy

Wed, 06 Nov 2013 10:51:25 -0500

In the fall of 2012, Forty North Oyster Farm had just begun planting their first crop of oysters. Mere days later, Hurricane Sandy hit the Eastern seaboard, destroying coastal towns and remaking the shoreline. “Of the 300 or so houses in Mantoloking, 50 or 60 of them were missing after Sandy,” said founder and farmer Matt Gregg. “We were cleaning up plastic and debris for months, and it was incredible how the contents of people’s lives were scattered all across the bay.”

Recipe: Takoyaki Octopus Balls

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 15:24:09 -0400

When you think of Japanese food, sushi may be the first thing that comes to mind. But the world of Japanese street foods and bar snacks is just as eye-opening and tasty, while eschewing less accessible ingredients like bluefin. One of my favorite dishes is takoyaki, or octopus balls. These are typically cooked in massive hot plates at street stalls and festivals. In Japan, it’s not unusual to see just one chef deftly turning, cooking and serving dozens of takoyaki in a matter of minutes—the speed is truly remarkable! After watching these takoyaki masters at work, I began to wonder how I might replicate the dish at home.

Cork, Rocks and Vinegar: How (Not) to Cook an Octopus

Wed, 07 Aug 2013 12:40:22 -0400

So you can break down a chicken, truss a duck and french a rack of lamb? Have you tried cooking an octopus?

There are some dishes which are so failure-prone that a vibrant mythology is built around how to avoid the usual pitfalls. Tenderizing octopus certainly falls into that camp. A quick Google search on the subject quickly reveals that the best way to cook a tender octopus is to vigorously beat it on some Grecian rocks. Or to cook it with wine corks in the pot. Or to add some vinegar. Or maybe the secret is to rub the octopus with grated daikon radish. Actually, scratch all that, the real key to success is to slowly dip the octopus a few seconds at a time into hot water until it acclimates to the boiling temperatures. All of these methods have their proponents, who will wholeheartedly assure you that it will work because after all, that is how their grandfather did it, and his father and his before that.

Inside Tsukiji: Our Last Wild Urban Market

Tue, 16 Jul 2013 15:53:41 -0400

Turret trucks careening around corners, workers unloading boxes of glistening scales and tentacles, tuna carvers wielding samurai swords. All happening while Tokyo sleeps.

Tsukiji Market holds a storied place among international visitors and chefs in Tokyo. It is the world’s largest wholesale seafood market, sprawling across 23 hectares or about 55 American football fields. Over 2,000 tons of product moves through these stalls every day, ranging from tiny anchovies and smelt to hulking tunas and cuts of whale.

How to Build a Restaurant Empire

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:26:19 -0500

So you’ve created a wildly successful restaurant, and you’re just beginning to have some semblance of stability and free time again. Is it time to expand and build another location? At last night’s Culintro panel on restaurant expansion, three prominent chefs tackled that question and more. Danny Bowien (Mission Chinese), Andy Ricker (Pok Pok) and Michael White (Marea, Ai Fiori, Osteria Morini, Nicoletta) collectively shared their insights and mused on why anyone would decide to “go do the hardest thing in the world—open a restaurant in New York.”

Return to Ithaca: 5-Year Nonreunion Edition

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 20:20:36 -0400

About five years ago, I graduated from Cornell. I picked up my diploma from the economics department, took another walk around the Arts Quad, and drove 4.5 hours back to MA with stinging eyes. My undergrad days were over, I was cast out into the cruel Real World, and nothing would ever be the same.

But you know what they forgot to tell you in college? Life is even more awesome AFTER college. After spending Labor Day weekend at Cornell, I can confidently say I have no desire to go back to my college days.

The NYC Food Film Festival, or How I Legally Yanked Food from a Truck

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:48:55 -0400

Gastrocinephiles! So you’ve watched and rewound the opening scene of Eat Drink Man Woman multiple times? Your dreams involve recreating the timpano from Big Night? Then the NYC Food Film Festival is the place to be, celebrating the year’s accomplishments in food film, food documentary, and of course, food porn. In its fifth year of running, the Food Film Fest is attracting all sorts of attention from food media, filmmakers, and even Mayor Bloomberg, who kicked off the opening ceremony by declaring “Food Film Fest Day” in New York.

An Employment Epistle

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:02:57 -0400

Dear R.,

It has only been six weeks since that napkin-crumpling, tear-stained breakfast with you at the Z-7 Diner, but it feels like years have passed. My job was on tenterhooks; I needed to find a new one or soon join the swelling ranks of the unemployed. Murmurs of a double dip recession were getting louder. I had so many questions and too little time. What do you do with a gastronomy degree anyway? Why is it that the sustainable, “socially responsible” organizations are the ones offering only unpaid internships? How do I land a new apartment lease in the highly competitive NYC real estate market if I can’t demonstrate an income? I am a fighter, yes, but this city is one who fights back. And I was determined to go down in a Viking pyre of glory.

The Sixth Sense of Dining: Inside the StarChefs Conference

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:28:47 -0400

Want to rub elbows with the nation’s brightest culinary stars? The 6th annual StarChefs conference opened yesterday at the Park Place Armory with a star-studded roster of speakers.

The event is open only to industry professionals, however for culinary students and restaurant workers, this is a dazzling opportunity to ask questions and get your hands dirty with a workshop from your favorite kitchen god (or goddess). There is also opportunity to walk away with a dash of fame; 20 rising pastry chefs are in fierce competition to win the International Pastry Competition.

On Fast Food, Money and Child Labor: I Grew Up as a Restaurant Brat

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 11:51:00 -0400

The roach skittered towards a cardboard box, and Cheryl raised her hand to smash it before the customers could see. The kitchen was in the weeds—we were short-staffed because the fry cook had been jailed last night for a DUI. Dad would stop by later to bail him out and give him another futile lecture. Meanwhile, the insistent beep of the drive-through sensor rang out. I scurried back to my post atop an overturned milk crate and pressed the speaker button. “Welcome to Lucky Phoenix, can I help you?” Just another June afternoon working at the family restaurant.

Rats

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:58:05 -0400

If you rub a mouse on the nose,
It will pee in your palm.
I poke the moist, fuzzy snout
Then set it on Marian’s backpack.
She hated me, deserved the dark
Droplet trickling down the monogrammed leather
Maybe her bag would discolor, orange to purple
Maybe it’d waft a sour smell, everyone thinking
Marian doesn’t shower, Marian has B.O.!
All the mice liked me
If I were the Pied Piper,
They’d prance faithfully after my panpipe
I put a satiny one in my pencil box
It was April Fool’s Day
Mrs. Chanda taught math next period
I waited until the class settled, and winked
My best friend giggled when
The mouse darted under the tables
Blurred toward Marion’s foot
She stood up and screamed
Perched atop her chair like
Dumbo balancing on a tight rope
I snickered and pointed
I hated Mrs. Chanda, too
We called her Fungus Fingers
Her nails were grimy, concrete gray
Like sticks of string cheese
Left to mold in the vegetable drawer
A chalk allergy, she claimed
Of course we knew better, whispers circled
Hooted at her daughter’s photograph
Fat and ugly, it chimed, greasy hair and glasses
Happy, I was having fun
In the grocery store, Kroger’s
My cousin Kevin, we ogled
Rainbow bins of gummi bears, bubble gum
Foil-wrapped hearts and stars
Let’s get some, he insisted,
Grandma will let us buy it
And shoveled a wad of chocolate into his pocket
Of course. nodding, the same I
Plunged my hand into the Hershey Kisses,
Tucked my reward inside my jacket and
Kept walking away, chin high.
Soon after, Grandma found out,
I don’t remember how she knew,
Just that we emptied our pockets out
Sneaky, sliding the sticky wrappers into
A trash can, before anyone could see.
My cheeks flushed red, I knew
Stealing was wrong.
Grandma dropped me home that day,
Mentioned nothing about the shopping trip
My mom hugged me, sent me inside
Maybe she thought I was too young
To tell between right and wrong,
I didn’t know the difference, really
Only knew the churning of a stomach choking vomit.

An Old New World: Arthur Avenue’s Little Italy

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:25:42 -0400

When I left Italy in March, I’ll confess it wasn’t so much a graceful departure as a beeline to escape. I was tired of fighting bureaucracy in the Living Museum, missed the bustle of a proper city, and had eaten so much cured meat that my sweat stank with lactic fermentation. Italophiles may weep, but I’ll say it anyway—I was totally over Italy and ready to abandon la dolce vita forever.

Pride Parade: One Small Step for Humans, One Giant Leap for Human Rights

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:40:28 -0400

So you may have heard that the state of New York legalized gay marriage last Friday. Thirty days after the bill’s signing, homosexual couples will able to marry in NY, MA, VT, CT, NH, IA and DC.

The city’s annual Pride Parade was scheduled for Sunday, just two days after the historic passage. Cue thousands of signs being printed with the proclamation, “Thank you Governor Cuomo – promise kept!” A few marchers made not-so-subtle jabs at California’s repealed Proposition 8.

Living in the Greatest Clusterfuck in the World

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:56:05 -0400

Just another rental sign in NYC

Living in New York is like spoonful of Chinese medicine—intense, acerbic, unmasked. At the end of the day, you feel like you’ve gotten better, or at least tell yourself that you’re doing better, because otherwise the rent is too damn high to justify being here.

I’ve been away from Italy for about three months now, and get asked now and then on whether I miss it. The short answer is, no. The long answer is, I can get all the burrata and olives I want at the Food Coop, along with kombu, almond butter and sunflower sprouts. So no, I don’t find that I miss Italy at all.

Constant Donations, 2011

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:38:12 -0400

In 2008, I decided that I would donate $25 every year to the Cornell Chimes Fund, in 2008 inflation-adjusted dollars.

In 2009, thanks to deflation, I actually donated only $24.68, but last year in 2010, the economy had recovered slightly, and I donated $25.18. Huzzah jobless recovery!

Anyway, it is that time of the year again, so without further ado, here is my 2011 Cornell contribution:

$25.18 in 2010 dollars * 225.964 (May ’11 CPI-U, all items) / 218.178 (May ’10 CPI-U) = $26.01 in 2011 dollars

Real Life Adventures: The Lost Photos in a Blizzard Guy

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:58:09 -0400

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmop7EAY1Zg]

Last Friday, I met Todd Bieber, a dude who found a canister of film while skiing in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. In a male Amelie sort of twist, he developed the photos and set out to find the photographer by making a Youtube video about the contents. The video was witty, honest, poignant in its recognition that this adventure was much too fantastic to continue. Suddenly, it had racked up a million hits and Bieber was swamped with emails postulating on who the photographer could be. After a few months of fruitless leads, a breakthrough: he received an email from the photographer and immediately booked a ticket to Paris to return the film to the girl who had lost it.

What Do I Bring to UNISG

Fri, 20 May 2011 15:00:54 -0400

Photo: NYT

So, my last post didn’t dissuade you and you’re packing your bags anyway to attend the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Congratulations! Here is some advice on what to lug in your two suitcases, each under 23 kgs.

It’s obvious but must be said: when you pack, don’t forget you will have to bring it all back! Or consider bringing items that you would be comfortable donating to charity at the end of the year.

A Brutally Honest Review of the University of Gastronomic Sciences

Mon, 16 May 2011 12:05:03 -0400

PLEASE READ: My original assessment of the UNISG masters program in 2011 is below, but I am thrilled to hear from current students/staff that UNISG has made significant progress in the years since I was a student there!

Sept. 2017: Michele Fino, a professor of law at UNISG, reached out to me to send an update on the UNISG masters program. It has been appended below.

What the Hell is Gastronomy, Anyway?

Fri, 13 May 2011 12:24:32 -0400

May 2010

It’s the million-dollar question that everyone in my program has faced, yet no one seems to have a definitive answer. I have certainly given my 30-second elevator rendition of what gastronomy is (“Well er, it’s not cooking school, it’s sort of about the analysis of food’s role in the world…”), but I still have niggling doubts over whether I am simply talking out of my ass. Which is why I was secretly relieved when we had a seminar on gastronomy and its meaning.

The Slow Evolution of Fast Money

Sun, 08 May 2011 14:01:34 -0400

[gigya src=”http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowscriptaccess=”always” width=”550″ height=”400″ bgcolor=”#ffffff” flashvars=”prezi_id=lyqatakeqlkv&lock_to_path=0&color=ffffff&autoplay=no&autohide_ctrls=0″]

Shamefully, it has been a month since I last posted, but at least the thesis brouhaha is over. I spent much of this weekend preparing slides for the presentation next week, and graduation for our class of gastronomes is set for Friday the 13th. Apparently, 13 is not an inauspicious number in Italian culture, however 17 is.

If you are interested in seeing the slides and some dizzying spatial effects, you can check out the presentation in Prezi.

Thesis, or Reasons to Stay Late at the Office on Friday Night

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:25:28 -0400

Lately, all my writing energy has been devoted to working on this damn thesis, due on May 6th. I just want to get the thing written and turned in, so that I can move on with other projects.

Already, I’ve had to trim lots of interesting material that isn’t entirely relevant out of fear that this will turn into a book. Only a select few of you will find this topic totally absorbing, but I’ll post a tentative abstract here to ward off the inevitable questions.

Signs That You Are in Italy

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:45:44 -0400

“These paintings are from the 17th century, so they are very modern.”
You have seen two straight men wearing purple pants in the last four hours. One had a matching lilac shirt and purple moccasins.
Voice acting is a serious study; the dubbing is spot on for American TV programs.
Coach buses come with coffee makers.
McDonald’s is placed next to Roman ruins.
You pull to open a door, push to close.
Wine is cheaper than petrol.

Gridlock: Battling Wits at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 12:20:51 -0400

“For this puzzle, each answer will be a 7-letter word. I’m going to give you the first and last letters, and the middle 5 letters will be an anagram of the word ‘inset.’ If you think you know the answer, yell it out. Ready? F, S.”

“Fitness!”

“D, T.”

“Dentist!”

“J, G.”

“Jesting!”

“Ok, this next combination has two possible answers. D, Y.”

“Destiny—and density!”

I scribbled furiously. All around me, the best puzzle solving minds in America were gleefully shouting out answers. Meanwhile, I could barely keep up recording the answers on paper. Clearly, my brain was missing some wiring in the verbal juggling department.

Park Slope Food Coop: Will Work for Food

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 21:05:46 -0400

Photo: Michael Nagle/NYT

“The co-op is worse than socialism. Because at least in a socialist country, if you know the right people, you can get out of it.”

“For a long time, the co-op member who lived furthest away was from—can anyone guess?—Ithaca, NY. Once a month, he would drive all the way to Park Slope, do his work shift, and then load up his car with groceries. There’s a food co-op in Ithaca too, but apparently it was still worth it to come all the way here.”

In the City that Never Sleeps: I Think I Have an Overemployment Problem

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:33:06 -0400

The sort of sidewalk message I pass on the way to work. I love Brooklyn.

Someone once asked me if I am like a shark—if I stop moving, will I die? Which is to say, I have never been one for being idle. But this time, I may have outdone myself. Right now, I am simultaneously a full-time student and a full-time employee. Score, I have created a monstrosity that will truly screw with BLS unemployment statistics.

Why I’m Never Going to Make It as a Writer

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 06:15:30 -0500

Corby Kummer, august senior editor for the Atlantic and one of my all-time idols, thinks my writing is shit.

Fine, he didn’t say it exactly like that.

Kummer was teaching a weeklong writing workshop, and everyone had submitted second drafts of essays on food. One by one, he whisked us into the hallway for individual conferences, then periodically returned to give comments to the entire group. All day, I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. Why wasn’t my piece being read out loud to the class? Why was it at the bottom of the pile?

Cork Forests: Actually, Money Does Grow on Trees

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:02:26 -0500

Think about the last bottle of wine you drank. Was it sealed with a natural cork? A synthetic plastic closure? A screw top cap? Where does cork come from, and what’s with all the buzz about cork trees being endangered? To investigate, we ventured off to Alentejo, a rural region in south-central Portugal, and one of the world’s largest sources of cork oaks. All told, Portugal produces about 75% of the world’s cork, and about 75% of this goes into wine bottle stoppers. About 33% of all cork trees grow in Portugal, and 95% of these are in the Alentejo region.

Lisbon’s Pastéis de Belém: Religiously Good?

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:13:43 -0500

Lisbon, seaside port and the commercial heart of Portugal. For centuries, Portugal wielded outsize influence beyond its borders through a vigorous policy of mercantilism and colonial exploration. From these waters, Vasco da Gama captained the first ships to set sail directly from Europe for India. Other explorers would reach the shores of South Africa, China and Japan. “Look, we have Spain on one side, water on the other. So everyone either has to fight, to conquer, or face the ocean and see what’s beyond,” said our guide, Victor Lamberto, head of Slow Food’s Alentejo chapter.

Stuart Franklin’s Political Ecology

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:23:05 -0500

Photography: Stuart Franklin

The entry on our school calendar was unassuming and inconspicuous—”Franklin, Journalism.” The description in our student guidebook was even more humble, simply a thin line that read “Stuart Franklin, English photographer.” I glanced at it and the night before, on a lark, I decided to google the name to see Franklin’s previous work. Much to my shock, I soon realized that Franklin was a world-renowned Magnum photographer, the man who had taken the photo of Tank Man in Tiananmen Square. Yes, That photo.

A Chat with Slow Food Founder Carlin Petrini

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:00:00 -0500

In 1986, the first branch of McDonald’s in Italy opened in the heart of Rome, at the Piazza di Spagna. As in many other countries, protesters howled and demonstrated. One man took decisive action.

Carlo Petrini, or Carlin as he is known to Italians, has quietly grown from being a little-known left-wing journalist, to becoming the leader of one of the world’s largest food activism organizations. Concerned about the encroachment of multinational influence on traditional food culture, he built a resistance movement to defend and protect local food ecosystems, a counterpoint to the unrelenting onslaught of corporate hegemony.

Recipe: Potstickers, Politics and Pork

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:04:21 -0500

Photo: Valeria Necchio

Last week marked a new lunar year, so in conjunction with my UNISG classmates, we held a Chinese New Year celebration, with all the Asian-style dishes you can possibly concoct (using the limited supplies found in Italy). There were all the classic, prosperity-bringing foods, like fish and tangerines, along with Thai-style noodles, pork with black bean sauce, and a heaping bowl of deep-fried squid. Yum, bring out the Sriracha!

Travel Note: Portugal and Extremadura, Spain

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 14:05:04 -0500

Not sure how this managed to happen, but I’ve only got three more weeks left on the continent. (But wait, I haven’t even gone to Rome yet!) Of course, the UNISG masters students will be going out with a bang—for our last stage, we’ll be taking a 2-week long excursion to Portugal and Spain. We start off in Lisbon, then gradually move toward the Spanish border region of Extremadura, traveling east to Évora, Cáceres, Mérida and finally, Seville. The foodstuffs look quite similar to Italian cuisine, with a lot of olive oil, wine, cheese and cured meats, but we are also making stops to investigate the production of pastéis de Belém (sweet pastries), herb liquors, paprika, and eating lunch at a zero-kilometer restaurant (with locally-sourced products).

Mutato-Archive: Celebrating the Beauty of Heterogeneous Fruit

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:34:02 -0500

SwissMiss pointed me to this gorgeous poster from the Mutato-Archive, a collection of misshapen and irregular fruits, vegetables and roots. With an eye for color and careful selection, Uli Westphal took dozens of photos of gnarly tubers, trident-shaped carrots and Siamese mushrooms. In other words, the set is a stunning display of natural diversity.

Too often, produce is bred to be perfectly uniform, symmetric and well, monotonous. Anything that shows a little too much character is often thrown out at the supermarket. What a shame! At least the EU has finally abandoned a law that bans the sale of irregularly-shaped but still nutritious produce. Maybe it’s not always about looks after all.

The Story of Stuff

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 08:34:45 -0500

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM]

This is the Story of Stuff. It is a project from Annie Leonard centered on telling how you got the stuff in your hands, who paid for it (hint: it wasn’t you) and what happens when you throw it away. It is the story of how we’re destroying our planet (but mostly just ourselves), while becoming less and less happy all the time.

Yes, it’s 20 minutes and most of you will just think “tl;dw” (too long; didn’t watch), but I hit play and couldn’t stop watching. It’s a chunk of time well-spent for anyone interested in connecting the dots between many of our environmental, economic and social problems. Certainly, some of the information was played up for dramatic effect, but overall, I found the film to be clear, concise and informative for the intelligent layperson.

Escape from Heathrow Hell

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:46:50 -0500

This tale is getting published about a month later than I had anticipated, but I figure everyone likes listening to a good yarn of travel woe, so here it is.

Like most disasters, this one started out with a quiet whimper buried amidst the lull of complacency. True, I had checked the BBC the day before, and the headline story was about “severe weather disruptions” and cancelled flights at London’s airports due to snowfall. However, the amount of snow that had fallen (4-5″) was piddling by North American standards, and the article seemed to indicate that everything would be functioning normally by the next day. And so, I happily hopped on a flight out of Turin to London, where I would transfer to a connecting flight to New York. I was returning “home,” whatever that word meant after seven months of expat life in Italy. In Turin, British Airways staff boarded the flight with nary a hint of distress. Naturally, while we were in the air, my connecting flight out of London was cancelled.

A Grating Topic: Parmesan Cheese

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:23:25 -0500

Toward the end of 2008, there was an unpopular multi-million dollar bailout by the government for the benefit of a single industry. No, I’m not talking about Wall Street, or the auto manufacturing industry, or insurance on obscure structured finance products. I’m talking about the Italian cheese market.

Back when the rest of the world’s politicians were stumbling over how to manage the global financial crisis, Italy enacted measures to help its cheesemakers. The government bought up 100,000 wheels of the highly touted parmesan cheese, along with 100,000 wheels of another popular cheese, grano padano. The reason? The wholesale price of these cheeses had fallen to €7-7,50/kg, below the production cost of €8-8,50/kg needed to make traditional parmigiano-reggiano cheese. And if the country’s signature cheese industry went under, what else would Italy have to offer? Mio dio! Thus, much parmesan was bought to help prop up the price and rescue Italy’s 430 or so parmesan cheesemakers. The food was subsequently donated to charity.

The Barilla Gorilla: A Day Inside Academia Barilla

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:59:47 -0500

Do you know what Italian company was single-handedly responsible for changing the texture of America’s pasta?

Barilla was founded in 1877 by Pietro Barillo Sr., who began the business as a simple pasta shop in Parma. The company is now on its fourth generation of family owners, and has been almost continuously privately owned, save for a gap in the ‘70s when Barilla was bought out by U.S. multinational W.R. Grace. In 1990, Barilla began aggressively expanding into international markets, through the acquisition of local pasta companies and the development of manufacturing plants abroad. This included the creation of the first American plant in Ames, Iowa in 1999, with a second plant following in upstate New York.

Internships & Books: Putting My Pen Where My Mouth Is

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:21:11 -0500

Photo: E. Bennett

It’s internship season here at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, and everyone is abuzz with plans for the near-future and exit strategies post-graduation. Our last classes will take place on March 4th, at which point we will each set off on two-month long internships of our own design. These can take place anywhere in the world (though you have to fund your own food and housing), and can take a variety of forms, from independent research to a structured corporate program. At the end of the two months, we must turn in a thesis, which is usually (but not always) related to your experiences on internship. Graduation is set for May 13th, and then we officially become UNISG alumni.

Sausage Party, or the Stuff FDA Nightmares Are Made Of

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:09:53 -0500

Still foggy with sleep, we tumbled off the bus to see two wood-fired cauldrons, belching out clouds of smoke and steam in a medieval fashion. The air was filled with the finest perfume any gastronome could wear: the scent of pig lard.

I found myself on yet another of northern Italy’s ubiquitous small-scale farms, surrounded by idle farm machinery, deadened remnants of the fall harvest, and the sharp smell of pig shit. This trip had been touted on the syllabus as a visit to an “artisanal butcher,” but we were about to see that this butcher was one of the more minimalistic variety.

Politics in Italy: Electing the Doge

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 09:28:38 -0500

After football, one of the greatest past-times in Italy is bemoaning the state of Italian politics. After all, there is nothing quite like the mixture of sheepish chagrin and amusement one feels when hearing that class-act Prime Minster Berlusconi has been caught with yet another outrageous quip, like “I am a man who works hard all day long and if I sometimes look at some good-looking girl, it’s better to be fond of pretty girls than to be gay.” (You can see the news conference here…and hear the resulting applause from the audience.)

Travel Note: Emilia-Romagna Stage

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:02:11 -0500

I’ve been back in Italy for only a week, which means it’s time for another stage! For our last intranational trip, the Food Culture masters students are traveling to Emilia-Romagna, a region in northern Italy that is credited with having the country’s highest quality of life (and cost of living). Here you will find the grand Renaissance city of Bologna, home of the oldest university in the world, and the cities of Modena and Parma. These latter two are the namesakes of the world-renowned products Modena balsamic vinegar and Parma prosciutto. In addition, we will be exploring and tasting our way through culatello (ham aged in a bladder), salami, cotechino (boiled sausage) and pasta. Good thing there are no vegetarians among us.

A Foodie State of Mind, Or Damn They’re Strange in Flyover Country

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 08:36:14 -0500

Serious Eats links to the above map of food-by-state produced by the hard working folks at I Can Haz Cheezburger, which is actually a lot more interesting than I had anticipated. Sure, lots of the chosen foods are obvious regional specialties or major crops associated with the state (MA clam chowder, Idaho potatoes, Georgia peaches), and then there are the lesser-known items coming from the (let’s be honest) lesser-known states. Michigan and pasties, is there a large population descended from Yorkshire miners in Michigan? Arkansas and jelly pie, an item invented out of the necessities of poverty, like Indiana’s sugar cream pie? And Colorado’s Denver omelette looks an awful lot like a burger to me, rather than fried eggs folded around diced ham, onions and bell peppers.

Finding Sticky Gold: The Greatest Grocery Store in Bra

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 18:25:38 -0500

Publication forthcoming in the January 2011 edition of the UNISG newsletter

The discontent arrived in fits and starts. Mere days after arriving in Italy, I stood crestfallen at the market, valiantly searching for a bunch of cilantro. Piles of parsley surrounded me, a taunting, isomorphic reminder that I was far from home. The bulk bins were swollen with cannellini beans and lentils, but there was nary a sign of black beans. In the baking aisle, I combed the shelves for baking powder. Instead, thin packages with florid photos of cakes touted the ammonia-based leavening agent inside. Skeptical, I stifled my frustration and went home to yet another meal with pasta.

Italian for People Who Can’t Legge Bene

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 12:57:13 -0500

In the months between my acceptance and moving to Italy, I spent a good chunk of time learning Italian through as many venues as possible. I went through three levels of Rosetta Stone. I read Italian blogs and newspapers. I discovered some great Italian films (and some pretty terrible melodramatic, sad-violin ones). Then, I stepped onto my first train in Italy, promptly missed the transfer and ended up in Cuneo. It was about 8 pm on a Mon night, and the trains stop running shortly thereafter. Panicked, I tried to ask the guy across the aisle for help, but all the Italian I’d learned had flown out the window. Luckily, he knew enough English to tell me I had 5 minutes left to catch the last train of the night. Clearly, my Italian still had a ways to go.

Winter in Italy

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 16:12:35 -0500

Today I woke to find that everything was covered in a pristine blanket of fluffy, white snow. It was the first snowfall of the season in Bra.

Townspeople gather to read town notices on the bulletin board outside the church.

In Italy, umbrellas are commonly used by pedestrians to shield themselves from falling snow.

Playgrounds were hushed, save for the padding of dogs walking their masters.

Badass Sage and Sausage Stuffing, or a UNISG Thanksgiving

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 14:06:05 -0500

No cranberries. No pecans. And forget the canned pumpkin. Celebrating America’s most foodie of holidays while abroad certainly poses its challenges. But by jove, we were going to try our darndest. The email was sent out to the class: “The 4th Thursday of November is a national holiday in the USA, a day originally to remember and celebrate the hospitality that the Native Americans showed the pilgrims during their first winter. Without the Native Americans sharing their knowledge of native crops, of squash, corn etc, the pilgrims may not have survived. (Whether the Native Americans may have later regreted this generousity is another story.)” A list of suggested dishes was provided, with the invitation to choose one and bring it to the Thanksgiving potluck. Without giving it too much thought, I volunteered to make the stuffing. After all, the StoveTop version takes six minutes to make; how difficult can this possibly be?

Gone Fishing on Lake Trasimeno

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:08:38 -0500

A bone-chilling wind whistled across the water, as I huddled on a boat with fingers tucked into my armpits. We were sailing across Lake Trasimeno, the second largest body of freshwater in Italy. Aurelio, our captain and president of the local Trasimeno fishermen’s cooperative, explained that the maximum depth of the lake was about 5 m, and the area we were currently in was only 1,8-2 m deep. Moreover, this is an endorheic body of water, a lake with no natural outlets that is entirely rain-fed. Essentially, we were rocking our way across a giant puddle.

Cash, Lies and Truffles at Urbani Tartufi

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 09:34:17 -0500

The stillness was broken only by the sound of breathing. All around us, rolling foothills and oak-covered peaks stretched into the distance, a gently shimmering tapestry of fall foliage. But the outward peace of this halcyon setting masked a burning secret. Beneath the roots of these forests, there was buried treasure–truffles, worth millions of euros and sitting in the cross-hairs of Italy’s legions of truffle hunters.

Recipe: Red Bean Mochi

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:23:06 -0500

Inspired by the plethora of kakanin rice cake sweets at Dia de los Difuntos, I decided to make some glutinous rice flour treats of my own. Enter the red bean mochi.

Mochi is a Japanese sweet with dough made from sticky (glutinous) rice flour, filled with red bean paste, strawberries, ice cream or other fillings. Traditionally, mochi is made in a ceremony called mochitsuki, where glutinous rice is soaked overnight, then pounded with a large wooden mallet. While one person wields the mallet, another person turns the mass of rice. They must keep a steady rhythm to avoid injury! You can check out a high-speed demonstration of mochi pounding in this video.

The Bottled Poetry of Arnaldo Caprai

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:59:22 -0500

“This is one of the most important products in the panorama of Italian wines. Are you familiar with it?” I was haplessly ignorant as Eleonara Marzi began her presentation on sagrantino wines. Over the next week though, we would drink the hometown favorite of Umbria more times than I could remember.

Sagrantino is a native grape variety that has been cultivated in Montefalco for over 400 years, and sagrantino secco is recognized as a DOCG wine indigenous to Umbria. However, until the 1970s, most Umbrian wineries focused on producing merlot and cabernet sauvignon. Sagrantino was mostly relegated to the production of passito, or sweet dessert wines. This was due in part to the intensity of sagrantino grapes, which are higher in tannins and polyphenols than any other grape. To combat the persistence of the tannins, farmers generally added sugar to increase the softness of the wine and make it more drinkable.

An Introduction to Wine Journalism

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 22:39:41 -0500

Wine journalism. Is it a public service, or simply pretentious nonsense? What forms does it come in? Does anyone pay attention to this stuff anyway? Who is the target audience?

On this gray November day, we were greeted by the warm presence of Richard Baudains, a wine writer for Decanter who has also contributed to the Arcigolo Gambero Rosso guides Vini d’Italia (Wines of Italy) and Vini del Mondo (Wines of the World). He hails from the Channel Islands (an archipelago between England and France), but has spent the last two decades living and drinking in Italy.

Travel Note: Umbria Stage

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 06:59:31 -0500

It’s that time of the month again; the UNISG masters students are heading out this week for another round of travel. The destination for this stage is Umbria, a region in central Italy, bordering Tuscany and Lazio, where Rome is located. It is the only region of Italy that has no borders with other countries and no coastal access. Over the next few days, we will be exploring Umbria’s famed olive oils, truffles, wines and cured meat products. Best of all, if the weather cooperates, we will be fishing on Lake Trasimeno with a bunch of local fishermen! I am mildly embarrassed to admit that I have never gone fishing before, so this is pretty exciting.

An Un-American Halloween: Dia de los Difuntos

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 15:25:55 -0400

While all my stateside friends were partying for Halloween in scandalous, ironic and/or terrifying costumes, a couple of my classmates organized an event with a decidedly more serious tone. Dia de los Difuntos (Day of the Dead) is commonly celebrated on November 1 in former Spanish colonies, coinciding with All Saints Day in the Catholic church. For the occasion, Caro and Rae organized a gathering that combined traditions from their respective countries of Ecuador and the Philippines. Most interesting, you could see how Spanish missionaries were able to integrate elements of Catholicism with indigenous practices of ancestor worship.

The Terra Madre Formula: Farmer = Revolutionary

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 08:40:38 -0400

Delegate from the Philippines demonstrates her prowess at balancing objects on her head; Japanese beekeepers gather at the Honey Bar

At the registration for Terra Madre, small pins were passed out depicting the silhouettes of a farmer and a soldier, with an equals sign between them. In many ways, this icon summarizes what Terra Madre is about. It is a gathering of food communities and food producers, and a strategy session on how best to battle the onslaught of industrialized food, environmental degradation and social injustice. (Update: I’ve learned that the pins are from Slow Food Nation, and actually depict farmer = Statue of Liberty. Apparently I glanced at it too quickly.)

Inside Salone del Gusto, Italy’s Artisanal Foodie Mecca

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:00:30 -0400

Clockwise: whole prosciutto from San Daniele on display; a band of two accordions, a guitar and a hurdy-gurdy (the bearded man on the right was making animal puppets out of a hankerchief to entertain the kids); a self-service milk truck parked outside Salone del Gusto; Puglian women stringing cherry tomatoes by hand

After a long morning of seminars, I was sipping a glass of Left Hand beer, when the sound of drums and horn began thundering down the hall. It was Macedonian folk ensemble Akud Mirce Acev, beating a lively rhythm and whipping a crowd of Asians into a frenzied dance. Heads bobbed, cameras flashed, women in hanbok dresses waved their arms in the air. Just another day at Salone del Gusto.

Recipe: Banana and Chestnut Bread, or a Celebration of Baking Powder in Italy

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:59:28 -0400

One of the (many) ironies of living in Italy is that I barely twitch my eyebrows at the products that gourmets fantasize about (white truffles, Barolo wine) because they are here in abundance, while my pulse races at certain items that would be staples in every American supermarket, yet are nearly impossible to find in Italy. This phenomenon is not limited to only me; one of the highlights of our class trip to France was the discovery of a vendor stocked with cilantro at the Dijon market. The ensuing stampede of students who each snapped up two or four bunches must have left that vendor shaking his head in confusion as to what was causing the run on cilantro. When in Bra, we covertly swap info on where to find cilantro as if we are Soviet spies. (Tip: you must ask for it to be brought out, but there is a particular butcher who sells cilantro on Fridays and Saturdays. Who knew.)

Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:43:23 -0400

Tomorrow marks the opening of one of the sustainable food world’s most prestigious events, Terra Madre (or “mother earth”). This is a biennial conference sponsored by Slow Food since 2004, a meeting of farmers, chefs, producers, researchers, students, and other people who want to revolutionize the way we feed ourselves. Over the next five days, 8.000 people from 150 nations will gather in my backyard (Turin) to share ideas, make new friends and revel in the solidarity that we may be few but strong.

Bruges: In Flanders Fields, the Chocolates Grow

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 09:51:02 -0400

Clockwise: ducks and swans swim through the canals of Bruges; a hot air balloon rises above the city; the Grote Markt belfry dominates the skyline; old advertisement for Trappist-made beef chocolate using raw meat, designed to fight fatigue

Bruges is a quaint little town located in West Flanders, in a Flemish-speaking section of Belgium. The Gothic architecture of the old city center is recognized as a UNESCO Heritage site, and the town is often nicknamed the “Venice of the North,” due to the network of canals traversing the city. Like the center of Brussels, Bruges features a stunning central public square named Grote Markt, which includes the Belfort tower housing a 47-bell carillon. You can climb the 366 steps to reach the top of the 83 m tower for an aerial view of the city. It seems that the carilloneur’s repertoire is as diverse as that of Cornell chimesmasters; all afternoon, the air was filled with the tinkling of baroque and Billy Joel.

Mussels in Brussels and Other Carbtastic Adventures

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 14:55:54 -0400

You can get a classic moules-frites dinner with mussels, fries and a beer for about €13 in Brussels; Grand Place/Grote Markt is the central square of Brussels and recognized by UNESCO

Several weeks ago, Professor Peter Scholliers of Vrije Universiteit in Brussels stopped by to give our class some lectures on Belgian and European food history of the 19th and 20th centuries. Soon afterwards, one of my roommates noticed that Ryanair flights from Torino to Brussels were quite inexpensive, and there was a four-day weekend coming up, so we made a spontaneous decision to treat ourselves to a weekend in Belgium. After all, isn’t the point of living in Europe that you can fly off at a moment’s notice to another country? I’d like to think we were inspired by class, so this was really a didactic experience anyway.

A Flight of Fancy: France’s Poulet de Bresse

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:08:11 -0400

A month has passed since I was last in France (my how time flies!), but I’m still milking those experiences for class projects. Our trip to a Bresse chicken farm was particularly memorable, so I converted that into a magazine-style piece that I will submit for evaluation.

A Flight of Fancy: France’s Poulet de Bresse (727 kb)

Bad Ass Racing: Alba’s Palio degli Asini

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 11:02:11 -0400

What’s furry, recalcitrant, and represents a medieval middle-finger? The Alba Palio degli Asini donkey race, of course!

You see, in 1275, the Piedmont towns of Asti and Alba were at war. On August 10, the feast day for Alba’s patron saint San Lorenzo, Asti attacked Alba and laid waste to the fields outside the city walls. To further cement their victory and humiliate the people of Alba, Asti’s army held a horse race around the Alba city walls. According to legend, the residents of Alba simultaneously held a donkey race inside the city walls, as a thumb to the noses of their aggressors.

Barrels of Fun: François Frères Tonnellerie

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 18:35:26 -0400

Update Dec. 9: I’ve made a couple corrections per request by François Frères.

Vinoscenti spend a lot of time debating the minutiae of varietals, vintages and vineyards, but what about the scrutinizing the whole package? I am of course referring to the barrels that wines are typically aged in, handcrafted vessels used by France’s prolific wine industry to add and mellow flavors as a wine matures.

Chasing the Forbidden Dragon: Lyon’s Quartier Chinois

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 22:18:04 -0400

We were in France, and by god, I was going to get some Asian food.

Before your jaw drops off in horror (sacre bleu!), let me back up for a minute and explain my mad logic. The UNISG masters students had arrived in Lyon, a land of fine haute gastronomie…and the third largest Chinatown in France (after two enclaves in Paris). At lunch, we had just gorged on a stunning French meal, accoutered with boisterous grand chefs, wine, and healthy doses of cream and butter. The University was allotting us a stipend of €15 for dinner, which does not go a long way in Lyon. Besides, I was itching for something chili and umami-laden. According to Wikipedia, Lyon’s Quartier Chinois could be found in the city’s 7e arrondisement. Our hotel clerk had marked “Le Guillotière” on the map, and armed with that knowledge, we set out to search for the best bowl of pho in Lyon. It might not have been French food, but it was at least French colonial food?

French Cuisine Triptych: Terrible, Traditional and Avant-Garde

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 08:22:59 -0400

The other day, my aunt asked me, “So you keep raving about how delicious everything is, but are there any bad meals?” Yes, of course there are. Though I generally travel with boatloads of research and a good sense of intuition, I do get stuck with bland, uninspired meals like everyone else. While in France, the quality of the food was (unsurprisingly) very good, but no country is fail-proof. Here is a glimpse into how our class of well-traveled and knowledgeable students critiques meals:

Ferme des Levées: the Happiest Pigs in France

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 08:41:33 -0400

Anyone who has even briefly investigated livestock production at industrial farms knows that the process is wholly unnatural, with animals reduced to meat-generating machines, forced to live in dirty, cramped conditions.

At Ferme des Levées, owners Anne and Jacques Volatier firmly believe in treating their pigs with respect and raising them with traditional, organic farming methods. Jacques began raising pigs in 2000, and prior to purchasing this farm, he had no farming experience and worked as a civil engineer in town planning. “I don’t know how exactly to describe it, but I had an intuitive sense that I wanted to find a way to help grow the planet and start a project that would benefit the local economy. The intuition has now become certainty and a way of life in the countryside.” He attended an agricultural training program for a year, acquired the necessary capital and decided to launch a pig breeding operation because it was a product that could be raised and transformed entirely on the farm.

Époisses: Durian of Cheeses?

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:06:04 -0400

Le Renard s’en saisit, et dit : « Mon bon Monsieur, / Apprenez que tout flatteur / Vit aux dépens de celui qui l’écoute : / Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage, sans doute. » -Jean de La Fontaine

“Have you ever tried Époisses cheese?” I shook my head no. “Well, you know how they ban carrying the durian onto trains in Singapore because the fruit is so smelly? Époisses is sort of like the durian of cheeses.” With that in mind, I walked into the Fromagerie Gaugry cheese factory and my nose curled from the sharp olfactory assault of ripened cheese. The Époisses smell was pungent and earthy, somewhere between unwashed socks and West Coast hippies. As this NYT article highlights, its reputation and odor precede it. On the plus side, within a few minutes, my nostrils adjusted to the odor and I was breathing regularly again.

Travel Note: Burgundy, France Stage

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 06:59:39 -0400

Just when I feel like I’ve settled in after summer travels, it is time for the UNISG masters students to take off again! This time we are heading to France for a week, to the region of Burgundy, most famous for wines of the same name. We’ll be staying in Lyon for a couple days, then moving to Dijon for the rest of the week. As you can imagine, this week will involve a lot of wine tastings, but there are a lot of breaks for products like cheese and Bresse chicken. Lest you think gastronomy school is all fun and games, I inform you that for this stage I am mandated to write a journalistic producer profile. Then, I need to write a synthetic supplementary document to explain my methods and discursive decisions. Adobe InDesign and infographics await!

Beer Tasting 101

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:08:13 -0400

Hops flowers, a cornerstone ingredient for beer

“I have to start off with a joke, to properly set the tone for this class,” said Mirco Marconi, our lecturer for beer tasting. With a grin, he announced that he would be lecturing on the production process of beer, and that we would be tasting 9 beers today and another 10 beers tomorrow. We were advised to eat a hearty breakfast in the morning.

Venice: Don’t Hate Me ‘Cause I’m Beautiful

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 08:11:24 -0400

Venice. The name inspires wonder and envy from those who have never seen it, but if you start asking about the city with your seasoned traveler friends, they tend to give a dismissive sniff and say with upturned noses, “Oh Venice, it’s totally overrated. Such a tourist trap. And so overpriced. You’re better off spending your time in Florence.”

While there may be some legitimacy to some of the complaints (there are a hella lot of English-speaking tourists, the mosquitoes are wicked), I found Venice to be delightful and full of hidden charms. If you play your cards right, you can escape the heaving masses to areas blessedly free of foot traffic, with only the slow slap of waves to break the silence. It probably helped that I had a few Veneto locals to steer me around. (Valeria, we love you.)

Arqua Petrarca: Love, Wine and Petrarch

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:15:31 -0400

Clockwise: the entrance to Petrarch’s home; 13th century Venetian school fresco inside the Santa Maria church; Petrarch’s tomb; pomegranates growing on a roadside tree

Se ti agita sacro amore di Patria, t’inchina a queste mura ove spirò la grande anima il cantor dei Scipioni e di Laura. If you are moved by the sacred love of country, bow down before this wall where a great soul, the singer of Scipio and of Laura passed away.
-Inscription at the house of Petrarch

Cruising the Mediterranean: Fortifications & Volcanoes

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:57:01 -0400

The Placa, Dubrovnik’s main pedestrian promenade

Through a series of fortunate events, I ended up sailing on a Royal Caribbean cruise a couple weeks ago, departing from Venice with stops in the port cities of Dubrovnik, Croatia; Kusadasi, Turkey; Santorini and Corfu, Greece. It was the first cruise I’d ever been on, and thus, it was the worst (and best) cruise of my life. The sunsets were beautiful, the lox & bagels delicious (my first since leaving the US), and the ship rocked at a frequency of 1/10 hz for only one night (the frequency most prone to causing seasickness). The week was so fabulous, I almost stopped pining for internet access.

Scenes from the Palio di Siena

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:47:11 -0400

Liberamente nel Campo di Siena / Ogni vergogna deposta, s’affisse.
(Freely upon the Campo of Siena / All shame being laid aside, he placed himself.)
-Dante, Purgatory, XI 134-135

Having been born in Louisville, home of the celebrated Kentucky Derby, I was pretty keen to hear about another famed horse race in Italy, the Palio di Siena. This race is generally held twice annually, on July 2 and August 16, and takes place in the town’s main square, the Piazza del Campo. A dirt track is laid out on the ground, bleachers are thrown up and the town takes a day off to carouse and carry on a centuries-old tradition.

Lessons from a Small Farmer

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 13:38:11 -0400

Clockwise: aubergine growing in the garden; Barbialla Nuova’s lake; a spider makes its home amidst the blackberry brambles; drawing on the car’s dusty rear window for kids by kids

Over the last couple weeks while WWOOFing, I weeded a pumpkin patch, staked tomatoes, cleaned and revitalized a garden bed, created and turned compost piles, sanded and painted wood beams, and helped measure and construct a pergola. All these were activities I’d never done before. They were only the tip of the iceberg in what I learned while in Tuscany.

Freshly Pressed: One Night Stand or the Gift That Keeps Giving?

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:29:33 -0400

Two Fridays ago around 5 pm (11 am EST), I noticed a slew of comments on my latest blog post on hiking the Männlichen summit. Not that I haven’t been getting occasional comments all along, but the majority are from people I know personally, and the spike in external commentators was unusual. I scratched my head over what could be inspiring the bump in traffic, then scrutinized my blog stats to find that WordPress.com was sending referrals my way faster than a time-strapped doctor. Sure enough, when I checked the WordPress landing page, there I was, featured in the top-right corner under “Freshly Pressed” blogs.

Anatomy of a Well-Constructed Pergola

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:14:51 -0400

My dad has quite a lot of handyman experience (he has built swimming pools, renovated houses, fixes cars) but with the recalcitrance and aversion of children to anything their parents do, I never really bothered paying much attention, and so my brother was the one who learned the ins ands outs of fixing a washing machine. Just as I was ruing my inability to solder stuff though, Ken announced that I’d be helping him build a pergola, a porch-like extension to the Vallibonci house without the floor. Brilliant, now we’re cooking with power tools!

Turning Back Time in Florence

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:39:10 -0400

The clock inside the Florence Duomo runs counterclockwise and starts its days at sunset (it is 4-6 hours fast). This is because when the clock was designed in the 1400s, sunset was the point at which the city gates were closed and all residents had to be inside the city walls.

It was the worst of times possible to visit Florence.

August 15 is the height of ferragosto, or summer holiday season in Italy. It also marks the Feast of the Assumption, and is a public holiday in most Catholic countries. The word comes from Latin for feriae Augusti (August vacations), and any proper Italian worth their salt jets to a beach (or possibly mountain) resort and spends the month surrounded by sand and surf. The cities are vacated and left for the hordes of tourists who descend upon Rome, Florence and Venice, wondering why the storefronts are dark and empty. To be fair, things are a lot better now than they were a few decades ago, when Italian news channels would televise shots of hapless tourists wandering outside closed museums, and elderly residents struggling to find an open pharmacy or bakery to buy a loaf of bread. These days, local authorities have mandated that a certain number of businesses need to stay open, so that basic needs can be supplied. Still, my 36 hours in Florence were one disappointment after another, as almost all the independent retailers not geared towards tourists displayed the ubiquitous “chiuso per ferie” (closed for holiday) sign. Did I mention that it also rained all day?

Blood at Dawn: Meeting Your Meat

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:57:59 -0400

The bucket of hot water burbled gently above a gas burner, just behind a weathered wood chopping block. Jutting out from the edge, the ax rose with elegant, curved lines, primeval and practical in function. The preparations were set; today, a living being was going to die.

There had originally been two turkeys at Barbialla Nuova, but the first one had fallen victim to a fox the night before it was slated for slaughter. The second turkey had been given a temporary reprieve because she had just laid a bunch of eggs. Though there was no male turkey in the vicinity and the eggs were unfertilized, Ken kindly snuck a few fertilized chicken eggs into the nest so that the turkey could see a brood of chicks come to fruition. Alas, just as the eggs were about to hatch, the turkey inadvertently crushed the emerging chicks and killed them. And so, the sole remaining turkey on the farm was getting a bit “clucky,” restless and lonely without her friend, and was now due to be given “the chop.”

Soaring Through Centuries: Falcons and Farms in Tuscany

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 19:35:30 -0400

A falcon catches a lure mid-air.

After a 7 hour battle for seating on a hot, overbooked train, I stepped off the platform in San Miniato and took a good look around. This was Italy’s famed Tuscany, the stuff that Hollywood movies and expat marriage dreams are made of. All was quiet, and I paused uncertainly as I looked at the empty train station waiting room. If I were a WWOOF host, where would I be, I thought to myself. My worries were allayed however, when I spotted a woman waiting around the corner. She approached me with a smile and said, “Hi, are you Crystal? I’m Amy, nice to meet you, I’m glad that you made it!”

WWOOFing with Double Rainbows

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 07:08:07 -0400

In case you’ve been living inside a subway tunnel, the internet has been abuzz this summer with the Double Rainbow guy, who rose to fame after his YouTube video freak-out at seeing a double rainbow went viral. You can cringe, laugh and cry with him as he goes to crazy town, shouting “OH MY GOD,” “WHOAAAA” and “What does it MEAN?!?” on camera.

In this interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Double Rainbow Dude “Bear” Vasquez claims not to have been on any drugs or other mind altering substances in this video (but not others). As it turns out, he runs a farm in Yosemite, and when Kimmel asks “And how do you get women to come up there?” Vasquez replies, “Um, a lot of them come through WWOOF, that’s Worldwide Organization of Organic Farms…actually today there’s seven European girls that are staying at my house right now.”

Bern: Clocks, Relativity & Bears, Oh My

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 08:20:24 -0400

Clockwise: the Aare River meanders through Bern; the flag of the Bern canton features a bear; chess players pondering in the park; the intricate astronomical dial of Bern’s largest clocktower displays the day of the week, day of the month, sunrise, sunset and zodiac signs

Bern is a city of about 350,000 people, and as the capital of Switzerland, is both the physical and legislative center of the nation. A train transfer is required here to get from Zurich to Interlaken, so we stopped and spent the day wandering Bern’s historic district, which happens to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Hiking the Männlichen Summit

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:42:31 -0400

View from Männlichen into the Grindelwald valley

In German, the word for hiking is wandern, and can be expanded to mean anything from migrating, journeying and wandering. And indeed, you can do quite a lot of hiking in Switzerland simply by wandering from signpost to signpost on the country’s 50,000 km of marked trails. Even the smallest mountain outposts are easily found via an intricate system of wanderwege routes (marked by yellow signs) found between lakes, valleys and towns, higher altitude bergwege mountain paths (marked by white-red-white blazes), and rugged alpine routen trails (marked by white & blue blazes) that can include steep drop-offs and sections with cables or handholds.

Swiss Eats: Cheese, Chocolate and…Pasta?

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:57:51 -0400

Clockwise: Beef carpaccio and Swiss cheese rolls with olive oil and rösti from the Cafe de Paris (Interlaken); luxemburgerli from Confiserie Sprüngli; raclette with potatoes, pickles and pickled onions; confections to celebrate Swiss National Day (Aug 1)

“I might be done with cheese after this week in Switzerland,” I joked to the waitress. She looked at me with consternation. “Oh no, I could never be done with cheese!”

Questionable Life Choices: Canyoning the Grimsel Pass

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:12:28 -0400

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC9VPAcIskU&hl=en_US&fs=1] YouTube

Frothy water churned beneath me as I teetered at the edge of a rain-slicked ravine, inspecting the rocky canyon walls below. “I can do this. I can do this.” I mumbled to myself. “Wait, why am I jumping off of a perfectly good ledge?” The guide gave me a look and gently said, “Why don’t you take your hand off the rope first? All right, 3…2…1…JUMP!” I closed my eyes, tucked in my knees and threw myself into the water. It was just a bit after 9 am.

Mountain Biking the Lauterbrunnen Valley

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:07:53 -0400

View of the Lauterbrunnen valley on the way to Stechelberg

For CHF 35, you can rent mountain bikes from Balmer’s hostel, which is a decent deal for a full day of biking. (Hint: we were later informed by other travelers that you can go around the corner to rent bikes for just CHF 20.) Armed with a map of the Jungfrau region, the activities guide at Balmer’s suggested biking to Wildersil, through Zweilutschinen to Lauterbrunnen, where we could stop for lunch. From Lauterbrunnen, you can bike to Stechelberg, take the gondola up to Murren, then bike down the mountain back to Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken. The route is mostly gravel, with some short sections of dirt and pavement.

Interlaken: Jungfrau’s Cosmopolitan Hotspot

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:22:12 -0400

Interlaken is an unusual confluence of college-age backpackers, international tourists, avid nature lovers and extreme sports enthusiasts. Strolling around the town’s grassy quadrangle, it is not unusual to see American frat boys, veiled Muslim women and Korean photographers, all gathered to take in the beauty of the Jungfrau peak of the Berner-Oberlander region, while sipping a beer at Hooters. Due to the town’s central location and diverse amenities, Interlaken is well-known globally as a tourist hotspot. English-speaking travelers should have no trouble navigating the town, given that there is signage and menus written in languages from French to Korean. On the downside, the town does have quite a few tourist trap restaurants and probably more souvenir shops per capita than any other town I have seen. The best meal I had in Interlaken was at the Cafe de Paris, just a block north of the main drag, with reasonably priced entrees (~20 CHF) and excellent food. The beer of choice here is Rugenbräu, which unfortunately reminds me a lot of Bud Light. For better alternatives, I recommend Buddy’s Pub, which also has Feldschlösschen Hopfenperle and Dunkle Perle on tap.

Zurich: Financial Centre with an Edge

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:56:41 -0400

Limmat River cuts through Zurich and is crisscrossed by many bridges. You can see the twin towers of the Grossmünster church on the right, and the tower of St. Peterskirche on the left, which boasts the largest church clock face in Europe.

Let’s throw this out there first: Zurich is expensive. And not in the same way as other purportedly expensive cities I have traveled in (Tokyo, NYC), where there is a large range in prices, and some goods are nosebleeding pricey but you can find deals if you look in the right places. Instead, Zurich seems to have uniformly leveled all of its prices about $10-20 up from what you might expect. Strolling through downtown Zurich, it is usual to see coffee for CHF 7 and Chinese take-out for CHF 16. (Right now, CHF 1 = $0.96.) Even the “dollar” menu at McDonald’s has been replaced with burgers for CHF 2.50 and a side salad for CHF 3. A small size meal with an “NYC Crispy” burger costs CHF 12.30. An 800 meter cab ride from the main train station sets you back CHF 26 and dinner at an average restaurant runs about CHF 35. Even Swiss products that I have bought in the US (Victorinox knives, Sigg water bottles) cost more in Switzerland. I am scratching my head as to why there isn’t more cross-border arbitrage.

Hiking and Ruminating the Italian Alps

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:27:53 -0400

Clockwise: Mural of a mountain goat and cow outside Fratelli Lussiana creamery, fresh wheels of cevrin in warm room, foothills of Piedmont, aging wheels of cevrin in cold room

A couple weeks ago while on the Piedmont stage, our class visited Fratelli Lussiana creamery, a cheese producer in Giaveno, about 35 km west of Turin. The primary cheese they produce is cevrin di Coazze, made with half goat and half cow’s milk and aged for 3 months. At the time, I was tired, hot and not in the mood to see yet another farm, but we all fell headlong in love with this cheese producer. After showing us an overview of the cheesemaking process and aging rooms, the lovely Lussiana siblings piled us into a hay-filled tractor and trundled us up a narrow, rocky mountain path, while we tried to keep our balance, yodeled and ducked under overhanging tree branches. Once we reached the mountaintop farm, we were greeted by a herd of seriously dexterous goats, placidly ruminating cows, and the friendliest donkey in the world (who kept sneaking into photos and nuzzling for attention). The farm caretakers welcomed us with fresh wheels of cevrin, salame, bread and red wine, and we ate cheese next to the animals who produced the milk for it, as the sun went down over the Italian Alps. It was one of the best days of my life.

The Italian Work Ethic

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:37:45 -0400

Me: “I’m sure Italians are very hardworking people!”

Italian: “Don’t be silly, all the hardworking Italians are already in the U.S.”

After I announced my move to Italy and the initial excitement had subsided, the jokes started rolling in about the work ethic of Italians and southern Europeans in general. I reassured myself that I’d be living in northern, rather than southern Italy, and surely it would be nice to take a break from the frenetic pace of American work habits? I mean, who needs to run errands between the hours of 12:30 and 3:30 pm anyway? (Most Italian businesses are closed closed in the afternoons, on Sundays, and often on Saturdays and Mondays as well.)

WWOOF Italy: Will Work For Food

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 00:53:18 -0400

Barbialla Nuova farm

Have you ever been curious about what it’d be like to live on a farm? Want to travel to new places? Learn about healthy, sustainable agriculture? Interested in communing with nature and taking a break from the hectic pace of urban life? Does the idea of manual labor in exchange for food and shelter sound appealing? Then you might want to check out the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF).

Food in Pop Culture Through the Lens of Marshmallow Peeps

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:40:43 -0400

“You might be too distracted to notice the first time through, but there is actually a lot of food imagery used in the Telephone music video.” And so, for the first time, I scrutinized a Lady Gaga video not for the outrageously skimpy outfits, but for the usage of food items. At the end of the ten minutes, our class was taken aback at the number of product placements in the film short. “It’s just a big ad for Virgin, Honey Buns and Polaroid, isn’t it?” The video makes frequent use of ersatz, convenience products like WonderBread and Miracle Whip. “Lady Gaga is well aware of her status as a highly commercial icon, and makes no pretense of acting otherwise. In a sense, she has tricked you into watching a 10-minute long ad masquerading as music video, one that you will now send to all your friends.” And what’s with the Diet Coke can hair rollers? In modern society, the panopticon of body image compels women to diet and lose weight, even without explicit pressure. She is trapped by both an interior and exterior prison.

Infrequently Asked Questions on Cinque Terre

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:12:41 -0400

Overhead view of Vernazzo, on the trail towards Monterosso

What is Cinque Terre?

Cinque Terre, or “five lands,” is a series of small seaside towns in the Italian Riviera, in the Liguria region. It is widely known for being one of the most beautiful places on earth, and is recognized as a UNESCO Heritage Site. Visitors can hike the trails between the five towns and be rewarded with gorgeous cliffside views of the sea. Unfortunately, the booming popularity of the region has turned Cinque Terre into something more akin to Disneyland, particularly during the high summer season. The influx of American tourists toting Rick Steve’s guidebooks, kitschy souvenir shops and high prices has warped the towns into a bit of a tourist trap, where more English is spoken than Italian.

I Went To Jail For Beer

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 08:14:29 -0400

A cackling rooster call pierced the silence, followed by the sound of quiet laughter. We stood in a courtyard ringed by oppressively institutional gray buildings, and I swiveled my head nervously as a stiff breeze blew through Saluzzo. The giggly presence of two dozen young students had attracted some attention from the residents of this casa di reclusione. In less euphemistic, non-Italian terms, that would be a prison.

Historical Wine Cellars in Piedmont

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:41:04 -0400

At the Wine Bank: a map of Italy’s most important varietals and their regions

The Piemonte region is an area in northwestern Italy, bordering France and Switzerland, with distinct seasons and mountainous terrain (literally: “foot of the mountain”). It is considered one of the greatest winemaking regions in Italy, renowned for its Barolo and Barbaresco red wines made from Nebbiolo grapes.

For the first day of the Piedmont stage, we stopped by the Banca del Vino (wine bank) housed inside the Agenzia di Pollenzo, which is also home to (you guessed it) the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Ah, familiar stomping grounds. Inspired by a vision from Carlo Petrini, the Banca del Vino is an effort to build a historical record of Italian wines, to select, stock and maintain the best of the Italian peninsula. Thus, the vault is part storage cellar, part museum, and holds a collection of wines from over 300 producers across Italy while providing tastings for visitors. They also offer themed workshops if you are interested in researching one region or varietal in particular. Outside of the vault, a large number of wines line the shelves and are available for sale. I was amused to see one labeled “Cornell,” although additional research suggests that the wine has nothing to do with my alma mater or Ezra Cornell’s descendants.

Travel Note: Piedmont Stage

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 00:40:36 -0400

Fresh off the heels of a trip to Puglia, we will be away on stage again this week, this time to our home region of Piemonte! Unlike last time though, we will be returning home every night to sleep in our own beds (yay!) and use our own computers (double yay!). So, I expect to not be continuously whining about the lack of internet access.

Piedmont is well known for its rolling mountains, wines (Barolo) and chocolate (in Turin). A sample itinerary (for Thursday July 8th):

Recipe: Potato Salad with Prosciutto, Peas & Fava Beans

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:34:32 -0400

Grad school being what it is, I haven’t had as much free time as I would like for inspired cooking, resorting instead to a weekly routine of nourishing (albeit slightly boring) pastas, salads and sandwiches. Compounding the problem is our apartment’s lack of oven, and my perennial struggle to find ingredients that are not readily available in Italian markets. (This afternoon, I searched high and low to find fresh dill. I miss the herb stand at Green City Market.) It would also be highly helpful to have a blender. As Danielle put it, never before in my life have I talked about food so much without really making it. O.o

Food Anthropology: Chitalian Cuisine

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:38:18 -0400

Last week, as part of a class on food anthropology, we all had to conduct an ethnographic study of a food production place in town using participant-observation methods (read: hanging out and discreetly taking notes). Rather than choosing one of the town’s many pizzerias or gelato shops, I decided to investigate the one place that has elicited a sort of morbid fascination for me for the last month: The Chinese restaurant in Bra. That’s right, there’s only one, and there isn’t too much other ethnic food in town to speak of, aside from a couple small kebab shops.

Italian Fashion: Then and Now

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 10:56:37 -0400

Gentleman on the right was our tour guide at an olive oil mill in Puglia. I am impressed that even in the midst of farmland and olive tree orchards, Italians are impeccably color-coordinated with purple shirt, lilac trousers and amethyst moccasins. Just a few hours later that night, we saw another man wearing purple pants. Clearly, purple is the new black.

Puglia Food Products: Olive Oil, Capocollo, Wine, Cheese and Seafood

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:30:29 -0400

Grindstone for a 17th century olive oil mill, a thousand-year old olive tree

Though some time was alloted in Puglia for activities not requiring mastication, the bulk of the trip was spent at food production sites, restaurants and agricultural lands. I realize that this must sound like the best foodie vacation ever, but eating rich foods nonstop for a week is not as pleasant as it may seem. Some of us had the added stress of documenting the trip in detail because there is a paper and presentation required after the stage. By the end, we were all thoroughly sick of cured meats, cheeses and each other. A few people actually became ill, though I cannot say whether this was due to food poisoning, general infection, or the stress of traveling and eating from 9 am to 1 am every day. My advice for anyone who goes on these trips is to ingest plenty of fiber and choose your roommate carefully.

Confession: I Hate Italian Milk

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:35:25 -0400

Here in Bra, the heart (and physical headquarters) of Slow Food-landia, people are raised from birth to eat locally, cook with raw, unprocessed ingredients, and buy from small, independent producers. Great, these are philosophies that I have tried to uphold all along, so it’s not like I have suddenly been told to wear a burka.

Well, today I am going to go rogue and fess up about something that has been irritating the hell out of me: Italian milk. It sucks.

Constant Donations

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:15:59 -0400

In 2008, I decided that I would donate $25 every year to the Cornell Chimes Fund. After all, they paid for an awful lot of meals/trips to high places (belltowers) for me over my 3-year stint as a chimesmaster, so the least I can do is help fund a current chimesmaster’s dinner at Banfi’s. Further, I decided to donate $25 in 2008 inflation-adjusted dollars, so that the real value of my donation would remain constant.

Scenes from Puglia

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:55:04 -0400

Clockwise: Gargoyles on a cathedral in Lecce, the 16th century watchtower of Torre Guaceto, a driver awaits outside a wedding ceremony, the cliffs of Pogliano a Mare

Located in the southeastern part of Italy (the heel of the boot), Puglia is a peninsula of a peninsula, surrounded by sea and just a 12-hour ferry ride across the Adriatic to Greece. Ah, the sea. Having lived in the midwest for several years, it’s been a while since I’ve heard the crash and smelled the sting of saltwater. And as you can imagine, the sea plays a major role in shaping Puglian history. Being first point of entry by sea, Puglia has been conquered by pretty much every major civilization and conquering marauder that has attacked Italy in the past few thousand years. Ergo, it has a rich history of influences from a variety of cultures. As such, the region’s people, places and activities are heavily influenced by the bountiful amounts of sunlight, seafood and historical exchange.

The Best Pizzeria Sign in Italy

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:50:12 -0400

Wifi access in Puglia has been sporadic and/or slow, but hopefully I will be able to upload bits and pieces of the last week’s adventures when I get home this weekend. In the meantime, I shall leave you with what is certainly the Best Named Pizzeria in Italy.

2 thoughts on “The Best Pizzeria Sign in Italy”

Aintaer says:

June 20, 2010 at 1:32 am

Aren’t you glad for proper internet?

Travel Note: Puglia Stage

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:51:05 -0400

An administrative note from the powers that be: we are traveling to Apulia for a stage (the Italian word for field trip) and will be staying there for the rest of the week. The UNISG program includes about a week’s worth of travel every month or so, where we go to another region of Italy or another country, and spend time learning about local products, meeting producers and sampling the specialties of the region. Puglia is well known for its olive oil, beaches and aggressive men. Ah, my first stint in southern Italy.

Turin: Piazza San Carlo Panorama

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 14:27:24 -0400

A panorama of Turin’s Piazza San Carlo, one of the most important town squares in the city. The Americans in the group lamented the lack of town squares in the US when we saw this one. Much of the architecture dates back to the 17th century, with an equestrian monument dedicated to Emanuele Filiberto (Duke of Savoy) in the center, flanked on both sides by the rococo Palazzo Solaro del Borgo, with twin baroque churches dedicated to San Carlo and Santa Cristina on the other end. In the Palazzo Solaro, you can see echos of admiration for the Louvre in Paris. In modern times, the plaza has been the site of many public gatherings, from victory celebrations for Juventus (soccer) fans to mass with the Pope to commemorate the public display of the Holy Shroud of Turin (believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus).

Wine Snobbery 101

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:51:17 -0400

“Everyone has the ability to taste and analyze wine, you just need to have the vocabulary and focus to do it,” said Ann Noble, a retired UC Davis professor of Viticulture and Enology. With that, we launched into two days of Sensory Analysis classes, an overview of the sensory properties of wine (appearance, aroma, mouthfeel, flavor, aftertaste) and some of the psychological factors that influence the perception of wine. And though her appearance was unassuming, Noble turned out to be a colorful, crusty character full of dry, sarcastic comments such as “You just have a pinot fetish” and “You’re a prostitute when you’re a researcher because you need money!”

On Food Writing

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:49:29 -0400

Before you ask, no this isn’t a photo of me, it’s the daughter of a family friend, picking Asian pears in the orchard.

“People ask me: Why do you write about food, and eating and drinking? Why don’t you write about the struggle for power and security, and about love, the way others do?

They ask it accusingly, as if I were somehow gross, unfaithful to the honor of my craft.

Temptation in the Garden of Italy

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:09:02 -0400

My eyes alighted on it as soon as I stepped into the Coop grocery store, akin to spotting the love of your life from across the room. It stared openly back at me. Green, smooth, palpable. An avocado, delicately ripe, full of rich promise and culinary inspiration.

Danielle looked at me with chagrin. “Didn’t we just discuss the merits of eating locally grown food in class? How many air miles has that flown? Where is it from anyway?” I grimaced. “Italy? They grow avocados in the foothills of Piedmont, right?” We inspected the sign. Origin: Israel. Damn. I tried to rationalize. At least we’re not so far from the Middle East, compared to the United States?

Lunch, UNISG Edition

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 11:29:38 -0400

In a previous post, I discussed what it was like to have lunch at the Fed, but there was no mention of the food, mostly because the Sodexo-run cafeteria, while competent and better than your average corporate cafeteria, mostly catered to the greatest common denominator and offered nothing of blogworthy interest.

Here at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, you can avail yourself of the midday meal service plan for €1000, and be assured a hot lunch every day that you are at school. For the first week of classes, everyone can dine at the canteen, which gives you a chance to try the food and determine whether or not you want to bring your own lunch instead. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but figured that this would be a nicer, more intimate version of Cornell’s dining halls (which were actually pretty good compared to the institutional slop served at most other universities). I definitely did not expect a 3 or 4 course meal, complete with full table service.

Back Roads of the Italian Countryside, or My Daily Commute

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:04:22 -0400

Note: This post is mostly geared towards UNISG students, so it will be fairly useless to you unless you need to get from Bra to Pollenzo.

Living in Italy, you start to realize that there are always two ways of doing everything, the official system and the back door in-the-know route. Take the process of acquiring a permesso di soggiorno residency permit, required for all non-EU citizens staying in Italy for over 90 days. In Bra, you can either go to the Post Office, pick up an application kit and struggle to figure out what to put down so as to not have your application rejected, or you can go to the Al Elka-L’incontro center for foreign citizens, which provides consulting services and staff who fill out the application for you. Granted, the center is only open for 7 hours a week, on Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings, but that is different gripe. Ah, Europe.

Gastronomy School is Serious Business

Sat, 29 May 2010 09:48:51 -0400

The view out the window from Aula 2, where we spend 6 hours a day in class

Classes at UNISG are held from 9 am to 4 pm, with an hour long lunch break at noon. Without too much self-incrimination, I will simply say that it has been a long time since I have had to focus so intensely, without the distraction of of the internets, on one subject for that length of time. This will require some adjustment.

First Day of School!

Wed, 26 May 2010 23:53:42 -0400

In an effort to uphold my reputation as a crazy cyclist, the first thing I did upon arriving in Bra was to beeline to a second-hand bike shop and pick up a used bike. I am now the proud owner of an old school Atala, decked out with fenders, a bell and a basket. Fast she is not, but for 60 quid I could probably do worse.

The University of Gastronomic Sciences campus is about 6 km away from Bra, which is about the length of my old commute to the Fed. However, biking to class is considerably more difficult/hair-raising than going to the Fed because the route involves riding down a two-lane highway with a very, very steep, winding hill. Unless you are comfortable with biking downhill with lorries whizzing past you on a road with no shoulder, I don’t really recommend biking. As I flew down the hill this morning, I was traveling so quickly that my eyes were watering. To be fair, vehicles are courteous and do try to move to give you enough space, but there’s really not much room for error. Going back is even more hilarious because you now have to tackle going up the hill. Despite my best efforts, the bike slowly ground to a halt about halfway up the hill and I settled with walking the rest of the way up the hill. Perhaps I should have bought a bike with more than one speed.

First Pizza

Wed, 26 May 2010 00:23:04 -0400

For an informal pre-start of class get-together, the UNISG May 2010 cohort gathered for beers/aperitivo at the bar on the premises of the Slow Food headquarters. In the courtyard, there is a small restaurant named Baladin, with a small bar outdoors that serves wine and a couple beers on tap. On this particular night, the Isaac and Nora beers were available, the former being similar to a Belgian white beer and the latter an “Egyptian” style lager.

L’Appartamento

Tue, 25 May 2010 11:00:10 -0400

Home is where the heart is, so your real home’s in your chest! -Captain Hammer

Unlike Cornell, which barrages you with information every other day about freshman orientation, the University of Gastronomic Sciences is a bit more laidback. To get information, you really have to be proactive and seek it out, which is fine because the administration staff is very responsive. In an email I exchanged before arriving in Italy, I was told that the flat would come furnished with desks, beds, blankets, a TV and a kitchen with pots and pans. Oh boy, a cable TV? I don’t even have one of those at home!

Odyssey to Italy: Results

Mon, 24 May 2010 17:59:03 -0400

My first Italian sunset, right before I realized I was hilariously lost.

It was going perfectly, until it wasn’t. I managed to navigate through London, catch my connecting flight in another airport, and got through Turin before making a mistake. At the Turin Porta Nuova train station, I asked for a ticket to Bra, and it was printed with the destination as “Bra.” Thus, I assumed that the train led directly to Bra, especially since the clerk didn’t mention any sort of transfer. An hour too late, and after some fitful dozing on the train, I panicked when I realized that this line didn’t directly go to Bra, and I should have transferred trains at Carmagnola. Luckily, the first person I asked for help was ludicrously well-prepared and whipped out a complete book of train timetables, and helped me figure out a new itinerary to get “home.” With palpable relief, I stepped off the bus at 22.37, about two hours later than planned. My flatmates came to pick me up in a car, and were overjoyed that I hadn’t inadvertently ended up in France or something. All in all, I have taken 10 planes/trains/buses to trek from New York to Bra, Italy in the last 24 hours, while lugging about 3/4 of my weight in luggage, up and down stairs, through traffic, across bumpy cobblestones. Heathrow might be my new favorite airport now because they offer the free usage of luggage carts. This has been one of the most draining days of my life.

Leavin’ on a Jet Plane

Sun, 23 May 2010 21:20:12 -0400

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xJWVHIWOoI&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Plan for the next 24 hours:

9:35 pm flight from JFK to Heathrow

Bus fro Heathrow to Gatwick

Fly from Gatwick to Turin

Bus from Turin airport to train station

Train from Turin to Bra

Get picked up by new flatmate Valeria at the train station at ~20:30 on Monday 5/24.

I am currently lugging about 80% of my body mass in luggage. NOTHING CAN GO WRONG. See ya’ll six hours in the future.

Recipe: Matcha Green Tea Mochi Cupcakes with White Chocolate Ganache

Thu, 13 May 2010 17:49:09 -0400

A couple months ago, I embarked on a mission to clear out my freezer and cupboards before moving. I stopped buying pantry items, and only allowed myself purchases of produce, dairy products and occasionally starches, like rice or pasta. Within weeks, I had finished all the random cuts of meat in the freezer, and had baked through all my bread and all purpose flours. This Iron Chef-esque exercise also forced me to come up with new ways to use esoteric ingredients like harissa (a North African chili and red pepper paste), chickpea flour (for Indian pakoras) and pomegranate molasses (a byproduct of my one-time obsession with tagines). Some of my experiments were successful (horseradish-sharp cheddar bread was a win), and others were not as good (horseradish cream and pomegranate molasses sauce was pretty fail). But hey, I was the only one around to witness my mistakes, and I never botched a dish so badly that I was unwilling to eat it myself.

Lunch

Tue, 11 May 2010 19:55:15 -0400

Excerpt from the consistently excellent webcomic Pictures for Sad Children

One of the best parts about my job is that the people I work with tend to be smart, funny and generally likable (when they’re not purposely being assholes). In particular, it’s nice that there is a large contingent of other AEs, who each have a broad array of quirky interests and backgrounds. This translates into fairly entertaining lunchtime discussions, which leap from Hegel to how to escape from a locked trunk in a matter of seconds. I’m not sure what everyone else talks about at lunch, but we jokingly call ourselves the “Witty Banter Table,” and I’m pretty sure we’re the most hilarious lunch table EVER.

Lunch

Tue, 11 May 2010 19:55:15 -0400

Excerpt from the consistently excellent webcomic Pictures for Sad Children

One of the best parts about my job is that the people I work with tend to be smart, funny and generally likable (when they’re not purposely being assholes). In particular, it’s nice that there is a large contingent of other AEs, who each have a broad array of quirky interests and backgrounds. This translates into fairly entertaining lunchtime discussions, which leap from Hegel to how to escape from a locked trunk in a matter of seconds. I’m not sure what everyone else talks about at lunch, but we jokingly call ourselves the “Witty Banter Table,” and I’m pretty sure we’re the most hilarious lunch table EVER.
Italian-Style Cultural Immersion

Mon, 10 May 2010 21:56:45 -0400

For good measure, I tried to find other sources of Italian media and incorporated them into my daily life. The following is a list of resources for anyone who wants to learn more about Italian culture:
1. Blogs: The Transparent Language Italian blog is an invaluable resource in learning the intricacies of Italian grammar, and includes insider details on holidays and volcanic dust in Italy. I particularly love this post on commonly used gestures in Italy. Since I am gearing up to study food, I also follow some Italian food blogs written partially in English, including Dulcis in Furno and Briciole.
2. Newspaper: La Repubblica, based in Rome and the second most circulated newspaper in Italy. Scan the news and see if you can figure out what’s happening in the US. If all else fails, resort to Google Translate.
3. Movies: I sat through a number of pretty terrible Italian movies until I wised up and began asking for recommendations instead of choosing randomly. Oscar-winners Life is Beautiful and Nuovo Cinema Paradiso are obvious choices. For a change of pace from sad-violin dramas, La Sconosciuta (The Unknown Woman) is a fast-paced (by Italian standards) psychological thriller. And in the canon of classic Italian film, you cannot ignore the contributions of Vittorio De Sica and Frederico Fellini. I watched De Sica’s Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) and Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (The Garden of the Finzi-Continis), which are both set in periods around World War 2. Fellini’s work is interesting because it moves over time from neorealism to somewhat uh quirkier art films over time. While I enjoyed La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2, I found his later work to be a a bit more…eccentric. Amacord follows the life and ongoings of a small town in Fascist Italy (I found the lack of centralized plot off-putting), and E la Nave Va (And the Ship Sails On) portrays a luxury cruise ship carrying a love-sick rhinoceros and the friends of a deceased opera singer, as they travel to bury her at sea. Yeah. Watch at your own risk.
4. Books: For a glimpse into contemporary Italian living, I recommend Tim Parks’ Italian Neighbors. It does for small town Italian living what Adam Gopnik’s Paris to the Moon did for the City of Light. The novel follows a British expat who moves to Italy and gradually acquaints himself to the intricacies of wine-making, combative neighbors, and the proper techniques for bribing bureaucrats. I laughed out loud on many occasions.
5. Music: There is a lot of Europop out there, and they also listen to a lot of American tunes, but I was much more interested in quality music, preferably spoken at a comprehensible rate (not so much rap). Jovanotti is an Italian singer-songwriter who blends the Italian Cantautore tradition with funk, rap and other world influences. I was floored by the beauty of “Fango” (Mud). The chorus includes the line “Io lo so che non sono solo/ anche quando sono solo,” or “I know that I am not alone / even when I am alone.”
0 thoughts on “Italian-Style Cultural Immersion”
1. Alex says:
  
  May 11, 2010 at 11:54 am
  
  I went to the Olive Garden once, does that help?
  Italian-Style Cultural Immersion
  
  Mon, 10 May 2010 21:56:45 -0400
  
  For good measure, I tried to find other sources of Italian media and incorporated them into my daily life. The following is a list of resources for anyone who wants to learn more about Italian culture:
  
  Blogs: The Transparent Language Italian blog is an invaluable resource in learning the intricacies of Italian grammar, and includes insider details on holidays and volcanic dust in Italy. I particularly love this post on commonly used gestures in Italy. Since I am gearing up to study food, I also follow some Italian food blogs written partially in English, including Dulcis in Furno and Briciole.
  
  Newspaper: La Repubblica, based in Rome and the second most circulated newspaper in Italy. Scan the news and see if you can figure out what’s happening in the US. If all else fails, resort to Google Translate.
  
  Movies: I sat through a number of pretty terrible Italian movies until I wised up and began asking for recommendations instead of choosing randomly. Oscar-winners Life is Beautiful and Nuovo Cinema Paradiso are obvious choices. For a change of pace from sad-violin dramas, La Sconosciuta (The Unknown Woman) is a fast-paced (by Italian standards) psychological thriller. And in the canon of classic Italian film, you cannot ignore the contributions of Vittorio De Sica and Frederico Fellini. I watched De Sica’s Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) and Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (The Garden of the Finzi-Continis), which are both set in periods around World War 2. Fellini’s work is interesting because it moves over time from neorealism to somewhat uh quirkier art films over time. While I enjoyed La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2, I found his later work to be a a bit more…eccentric. Amacord follows the life and ongoings of a small town in Fascist Italy (I found the lack of centralized plot off-putting), and E la Nave Va (And the Ship Sails On) portrays a luxury cruise ship carrying a love-sick rhinoceros and the friends of a deceased opera singer, as they travel to bury her at sea. Yeah. Watch at your own risk.
  
  Books: For a glimpse into contemporary Italian living, I recommend Tim Parks’ Italian Neighbors. It does for small town Italian living what Adam Gopnik’s Paris to the Moon did for the City of Light. The novel follows a British expat who moves to Italy and gradually acquaints himself to the intricacies of wine-making, combative neighbors, and the proper techniques for bribing bureaucrats. I laughed out loud on many occasions.
  
  Music: There is a lot of Europop out there, and they also listen to a lot of American tunes, but I was much more interested in quality music, preferably spoken at a comprehensible rate (not so much rap). Jovanotti is an Italian singer-songwriter who blends the Italian Cantautore tradition with funk, rap and other world influences. I was floored by the beauty of “Fango” (Mud). The chorus includes the line “Io lo so che non sono solo/ anche quando sono solo,” or “I know that I am not alone / even when I am alone.”
  
  2 thoughts on “Italian-Style Cultural Immersion”
  
  Alex says:
  
  May 11, 2010 at 11:54 am
  
  I went to the Olive Garden once, does that help?
  
  Learning Italian Without Memorization
  
  Sun, 09 May 2010 22:19:19 -0400
  
  Though I have extensive experience at charades and my classes will all be in English, I thought it might be expedient to learn some Italian before moving across the pond. I mean, my other alternative would be to follow Peter’s example in this clip from Family Guy. Side note: I had an elderly family friend who was convinced that if she spoke Cantonese in a high-pitched voice, she was speaking English. This tended to inspire much confusion and head-scratching.
  
  Learning Italian Without Memorization
  
  Sun, 09 May 2010 22:19:19 -0400
  
  Though I have extensive experience at charades and my classes will all be in English, I thought it might be expedient to learn some Italian before moving across the pond. I mean, my other alternative would be to follow Peter’s example in this clip from Family Guy. Side note: I had an elderly family friend who was convinced that if she spoke Cantonese in a high-pitched voice, she was speaking English. This tended to inspire much confusion and head-scratching.
  
  Introduzione
  
  Sun, 09 May 2010 19:46:21 -0400
  
  Many of you reading this blog are already familiar with my plans for the next year, but for the newcomers, here is the spiel on why I’m packing my bags and moving to Europe:
  
  I’ve been accepted to the master’s program in Food Culture and Communications at the University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG). This entails moving to Pollenzo, about 60 km south of Turin in northern Italy. The program lasts for one year, and the language of instruction is English. (Phew!)
  
  A Marathon for Justice
  
  Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000
  
  $4876/$3500 (139%)
  
  All right, here goes. On Nov. 5th, I am running the NYC Marathon for Legal Services NYC. A spot opened up last minute, and I decided to seize the opportunity to be the change I want to see in the world. That means I’m fundraising at least $3500 to fund legal defenses and advocacy for immigrants, tenants, women, students, workers, veterans, the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses.
  
  About
  
  Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000
  
  Crystal Cun ate and earned her way through a master’s in Food Culture and Communications from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy. For one year, through March 2011, she was awash in a sea of olive oil, photojournalism and sustainable food production. Prior to this peripatetic European adventure, she worked in research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and studied economics at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. After her travels in Italy, she moved to New York, where she was the oyster communications voice at Element Seafood, then the marketing guru at Bruce Cost Ginger Ale. In her free time, she also turned vegetables and whipped cream like a boss as a student in the Culinary Techniques program at the International Culinary Center. Today, Crystal is the brand manager at Fleishers Craft Butchery, a neighborhood butcher shop for people who want meat raised right. Sometimes this requires abundant amounts of research with “Rockin’ Moroccan” sausage and grass-fed steak. She also works as a consultant for FRESH, an indie documentary about the farmers, activists and entrepreneurs who are reinventing our food system. If you haven’t seen it, check out the trailer. She is a fan of orange juice with lots of pulp, carves adorable sharkmelons, and has pondered how they make the middle bun on a Big Mac. Questions, comments and sandwich offers can be directed to crystalbells at gmail.
  
  France
  
  Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000
  
  Italy
  
  Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000
  
  Japan
  
  Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000
  
  Métier
  
  Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000
  
  Pint-Sized Prep Cook
  
  1992
  
  As soon as I could perch on a stool, my parents put me to work cracking eggs, peeling carrots and ringing up orders at the family restaurant.
  
  New York
  
  Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000
  
  Sweden
  
  Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000
  
  Writing
  
  Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000
  
  Food
  Forty North Oyster Farm: Surviving and Thriving Post-Hurricane Sandy (Element Seafood)
  Inside Tsukiji: Our Last Wild Urban Market (Huffington Post)
  How to Build a Restaurant Empire (Huffington Post)
  The Baum Forum Investigates Fracking, Farmland and the Halliburton Loophole (Edible Brooklyn)
  If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Eat ‘Em Like Junk Food (case study)
  
  Economics
  Rescuing Asset-Backed Securities Markets (Research Gate)
  
  Music for the Cornell Chimes
  Giacomo Puccini, Turandot, “Nessun Dorma” (pdf)
  Kanye West, “Gold Digger” /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kanye-Gold-Digger.mp3