Sanctuary from The Mad World
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch. - Orson Welles

For our trip to Cinque Terre in northern Italy, we follow loosely the itinerary set by NYT’s 36 hours in Cinque Terre.  That includes trying out the recommended restaurants.  We’ve picked a few NYT’s restaurants recommendations from the series but results were spotty.  A recommendation for Seville that was particularly bad as the restaurant was overpriced and unpopular.  I conclude that the recommendations really depend on the writer and this particular writer knows his stuffs around Cinque Terre and here’s our take on the paper’s recommendation.

Trattoria dal Billy (Manarola):
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Serving:  for two

For my Tagliatelle with White Asparagus of the season, I tried another version of pasta. I realize from reading numerous recipes that pasta is basically flour with some liquid added. That liquid can be eggs, oil, water, even chopped vegetables. For egg pasta, the ratio is roughly 100 g of flour for 1 egg.

Two cups of flour weighs approx. 236g so I need slightly more than two eggs. I hate using only yolk as the white will just languish in my fridge until it spoils. I remember olive oil. 

It was actually very good as the olive oil burst back into the mouth when bitten. The pasta, in turn, is not so eggy and has more bite to it.

I also realize that some kneading is necessary for good texture. So this time, I did not leave the whole work to my food processor. Drying also improves the ease of cooking.

As the whole thing was very quick (I did other things while waiting, like preparing ingredients), I seriously don’t think I’ll ever go back to factory-made flat pasta anymore. Besides, snobbish hubby balks at the notion.  Sorry, Barilla. It was fun.

Ingredients: (continue…)

This is interesting:  a pictorial essay of people’s fridge clued in to me by Bittman.  I didn’t realize that fridge is very intimate.  Its content really reveals who you are.  While reading, I note how I form judgment and expectation after knowing a person’s occupation.  Some are met and some are not.  I even feel embarrassed for some of the participants but I decide to let others judge me before I judge others.  

This is me.  Financial Analyst | Switzerland | 2-Person Household | A food maniac and an Asian implant | 24 May 2009.  (continue…)

For me, crispy pork is a holy grail. Unlike other western cities, the city we live in has no little dingy chinese shops where pork slabs and whole birds hang on meat hooks in window display. We normally go to New King in Amsterdam for such treat.

Now, no more. Thanks to Charmaine of Tasty Treats. Her accurate recipe brought a smile to our faces.

The crispy pork tastes sophisticated and restaurant-made due to the use of fermented beancurd which is apparently the key and not found in any other recipes. Her roasting method, save for the step-up in temperature at the second stage probably specific to my oven, is right-on. The vinegar worked well to puff up the skin.

For truly good result, use the best pork belly you can find. It should be fresh and firm. It should not be too thick or too fatty (one layer of fat is ideal). Then, the flavours are displayed in their full glory through the tender meat and crispy skin.

Ingredients: (continue…)

It’s Spargelzeit or Asparagus time here in Europe, particularly in the German-speaking Europe.  Restaurants frenziedly put the signs Spargelkarte offering menus based on the vegetable.  Soldiers of them, bunched with a thick piece of rubber band, stand in attention in farmers’ markets.  Some are spread in green plastic baskets marked with their origin - the ones from Baden is the most favoured here- and different grades - grade I being the largest, the longest, and most expensive .  It’s a sign of spring.  

The white asparagus is the same as its green twin just grown differently.  The emerging shoots are constantly covered with earth, depriving the plant of light which is responsible for creating chlorophyll, the green matter in plants and leaves.  Taste-wise, white asparagus is more delicate, sweeter, and milder.