Valentina

An Italian Sunday | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

27 May 2012 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #CatholicCeremony, #CatholicHolidays, #ItalianCustoms, #ItalianFirstCommunion, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle

In Italy not all Sundays are created equally. People dedicate Sundays to family lunches and the rest of the day is for leisure and social activities.
Meals are women’s best show on Sundays, they get up early in the morning, before everybody else to cook for the family and make sure everyone is treated properly from appetizers to desserts, from the smallest kid to the oldest person.

This past Sunday was a different celebration.
I am in Italy now, participating to my niece’s First Communion event. This is truly a treat, a day to remember and the first important mile stone in a Catholic person’s life. It happens every year in May. Boys and girls in elementary school will go through a couple of years of religious school to learn how to become good Christians and get prepared for the big event of the First Communion. Some churches go as far as organizing spiritual retreats for the kids.
A wide range of businesses related to the First Communion affair are busy for the entire month of May preparing every details from cakes and sweets, to party favors. Restaurants, photographers, hair dressers, tailors and seamstresses work together to assure the event is successful, parents and guests are happy and have something to remember. Jewelry stores are also very happy in the month of May, as the gold gifts for the First Communion are a must.

My niece was prepared as a bride for the altar. The day before, all the women of the house including the First Communion girl got electrified with trying on dresses, shoes and jewelry, hairdresser appointments and making sure all the party favors were ready to go. At night, nobody wanted to go to sleep, we didn’t really know where to put our heads made up so beautifully to keep them preserved until the next day. And the next day was really special for the kids and the adults! Confetti and photographs greeted the little girl coming down from the stairs of her home, my niece, a 10 years old was dressed in white from head to toes. Her father was the only person allowed to accompany her to the church as her escort, the rest of us followed later. The church isle was also made up with white flowers to celebrate all the 10 years old kids entering the Catholic World as faithful Christians while cheerful music filled the air.

What really intrigued me was the elegance of the Italian people dressed to honor their kids first mile stone of life. I am Italian and I should be used to see well-dressed people, but somehow I still manage to get surprised when I see Italians young and old attending some functions. There was nothing out-of-place in their dressing up, not even a hair. Colors and proportions are always well-balanced. Of course, everything was “all’ultimo grido” of the latest fashion.

The manners of Italian people at some formal affair are so affected and polite, but not disgustingly stuffed. I love to observe some youngsters giving up their seats to older people and helping them in getting up and down to follow the religious function. Certain things in my culture are still well-planted and are excellent foundations for generation to come.

The church of Maria Maddalena built in 1969 is an extravagant architecture considered very avant-guard for that era. A cement pagoda style, almost resembling a Japanese house was not well-accepted by the followers and much criticized by the public and the press. That church so many years later has seen a few funerals, weddings, births and joyous events in my family and in my friends’ families. To see Don Filippo again, the priest manager of that church, grey and older and remembering him young, with dark hair and just out of college, made me realize how much time has passed by and how deep my roots are in this land of Italy.

Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an author and a designer, writing about and observing Italian culture and style. Check out her books available on this site in the Books section and on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
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The Power Of An Idea | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

02 May 2012 7 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ArtForInteriors, #ArtSelection, #DecoratingTips, #LucioFontana, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ValentinaCirasolaBookOnColors, #ValentinaCirasolaDesigner, Red-A Voyage Into Colors

(Concept Spatiale 1959 – painting by Lucio Fontana)

Not too long ago, I was 14 years young, and I found myself with a bunch of middle school kids going to visit the Pinacoteca, a large museum of my hometown in Bari, Italy. We were somewhat well-mannered kids, but the yearly school trip in a bus, guided by a couple of teachers was more an excuse to be silly for one day and an escape from everyday routine sitting at a school desk than a time to learn something in the fields of life.

The Pinacoteca is a large neo-classical building with large open spaces and so much art on the walls we had never seen before, of course we were only thirteen and fourteen years of age. Each art piece amused us in some ways or another while teachers were making efforts in keeping us attentive to their explanations and comments on the beautiful art pieces. We arrived in front of Lucio Fontana’s paintings and we were abruptly silenced at the view of sliced up canvases, at least that’s what we thought they were.

The Argentine-Italian artist was well-known in Europe for his series of slashed monochrome paintings. Sometimes he embellished the slashed canvases with costume jewelry and glitters. Lucio Fontana, lived between 1899–1968. His art was seen a mixture of avant-garde art under Italian fascism and kitsch painting of the postwar economic miracle. “Fontana attacked the idealism of twentieth-century art by marrying modernist aesthetics to industrialized mass culture” said art critic Anthony White. His art was a reflection of his time and it was perhaps the beginning of pop art.

Lucio Fontana started developing the idea of space-oriented art, renouncing the usage of traditional materials and painting objects with fluorescent colors in dark rooms illuminated by ultraviolet light.

The perforated canvasses marked the starting of a new “Concetto Spaziale” Spatial Concept and did not come until the beginning of 1950. It was this idea that really left a mark in the art world.
Today Fontana’s works can be found in the permanent collections of more than one hundred museums around the world.

(Right: photography of Lucio Fontana by Ugo Mulas).

Why did I tell this story? I recalled asking one of my teachers on that field trip to the Pinacoteca, if Fontana’s art was really to be considered art. With all my disbelief, I thought anybody could have taken the knife and slash the canvasses. I thought art was supposed to be an extension of what is in our mind, not just an act of a “crazy moment”.
I said to my teacher that I could have done just the same and make a ton of money like him. She responded by saying: “Yes, you could have done the same, but he had the idea first!”

My teacher’s answer was simple, but powerful and stayed with me my entire life. Never underestimate the power of your idea, regardless of how big or small it might be. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian interior designer in business since 1990. She is passionate about colors and all expressive art. She is a “colorist”. To her, selecting art means to bring out the best energy of her clients and nourish their soul. She is the forthcoming author of her book on colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors, which will be released very soon. Check out her books on

Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
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Lambascioni Or Muscari, What Are They? | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

30 Apr 2012 6 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #GardenForTheKitchen, #MediterraneanDiet, #PlantingLambascioni, #PlantingVegetables, #PugliaFood, Lambascioni, Muscari

Some call them wild hyacinth bulbs, some call them wild onions, in Puglia we call them Lambascioni, the dialect form of the Italian word Muscari. Puglia, the southern region of the Italian boot is full of ancient food the rest of Italy doesn’t produce.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Muscari is a bulb that grows to ft. in. tall. The edible part is the bulb, the flowers (hermaphrodite) both masculine and feminine are self-fertile, they fall in the ground a self-reproduce. Insects also pollinate them and transport the seeds elsewhere. Some people might get them through pollination, but not knowing they are edible, they let them go unobserved.

People in the food business discovered Muscari or Lambascioni and now enumerate them among all the food delicacy, but I can assure you, it was the poor of the poorest food our agricultural people in Puglia ate for centuries.
If we think about it, poor people in the past were healthier than the rich, the nobles, the landowners and kings and queens. Poor people ate the produce of the land, raw or cooked in a simple way and enhanced the flavor only with the simple spices they grew in the land.

Muscari bulbs have a pinkish coloration, no smell and a very bitter taste at the raw state. I would not suggest eating them raw. It ‘a perennial plant, which blooms in delicate purple flowers until late May, have no scent, but the bright purple attract plenty of insects for its pollination. I plant them between other flowers, as they look so good in the garden. In my last photo below, I show my Lambascioni growing between a bed of arugula. The Lambascioni plant adapts to any climate and soil but prefers full sun and reproduces abundantly in well-drained clay soils. Fall is the best time to plant them, before the cold arrives.
Muscari have many properties, some of which are refreshing, diuretic and stimulant of the digestive organs; stimulate bile secretion, cleanse the intestines; useful for lowering blood pressure and cholesterol; it is an anti-inflammatory and is especially useful in cases of inflammation of the bladder and bowel. I can say that Lambascioni prevent and protect the intestines by freeing them from harmful substances and making more difficult the passage of bacteria in the blood.

To get the bitterness out, I leave the bulb in milk for about 15-20 minutes after I peel the outer shells and washed the dirt out, then I cook them in a few different ways, for example:

casserole of lambascioni with zucchini, potatoes and Parmigiano cheese;
lambascioni fritters in a tempura batter;
lambascioni roasted on the grill and eat them with fresh tomatoes and a hardy cheese;
lambascioni frittata with eggs and prosciutto;
lambascioni baked with sausages.

However, my favorite way is much simpler and it seems most people in family likes them the same way:

“take them out of the milk, as I said to get rid of the bitterness (discard the milk, please, it turned bitter by now), place them in a pot with salted boiling water and cook them until fork tender. Drain the water, transfer to a salad dish and mash them with the back of the fork to make a soft creamy mixture. Add extra-virgin olive oil, a few drops of lemon juice, chopped Italian parsley, salt & black pepper or chili pepper, if you like a kick. Spread the delicacy on a fresh baguette warm or at room temperature. The slight bitter taste will not linger in the mouth, actually it is very pleasant and after about one minute or two, it is not noticeable anymore, as it changes into a sweet and pleasant taste”. I assure you a good experience!

I have ordered the seed from Puglia and now living in California I will be the only one having them on my table spring and fall. Ciao.
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as a designer since 1990.  She has helped people realizing their dreams with homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She designs landscape as a complement to the residential design concept as a unity. She loves creating gardens spaces that will serve the kitchen as well, other than beautification of exteriors. Check out her two published books on regional Italian cuisine, available in this site on the Books’ page and on:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
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What’s Under Your Feet? | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

24 Apr 2012 8 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #AlternativeFlooring, #DecoratingTips, #EcoFriendlyFlooring, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #SoftFloorTiles, #SoftTiles, Red-A Voyage Into Colors

I have been incredibly busy creating and preparing new products for the Internet and the launch of my third book on the subject of colors. Yippee!
©RED-A Voyage Into Colors will be released in the next month. In 2009, when I said I will be writing 5 books in the next 5 years was absolutely true. This third book is on time with the realization of my goals. Goals without actions are just daydreams, as we all know. Aside from this I am designing and remodeling a home in France through Skype line without moving an inch from my desk in California. Technology is my second name.

This is in brief what I am doing, but behind the scene, there is a lot more going on, so much so that sometimes things go unobserved. Yesterday, I was exercising in the park and saw the kids’ playground flooring made with soft tiles (photo above). I have seen that area for ages, but I really never paid attention. Designers give it for granted that people know what we know and it is not true. It gave me the idea to write about it.

In Italy, some times ago, I designed a wine cellar in the Renaissance style. My Client went to the island of Murano, near Venice and had the glass master reproducing historic Renaissance wine glasses from a photograph.
I hate to tell you how much he paid for a set of 12 glasses, but that was exactly the reason I used soft tiles on the floor of his wine cellar to protect those absurdly expensive wine glasses from hitting the ground and breaking.

Play Area

Soft tiles are a good application for kids’ room and kids’ playground. They are perfect for study and library rooms, basements, or if you need to make an area in your home silent, even bedrooms. They are relaxing for the knees, inexpensive, come in many colors, even in wood texture and they are “green”.

What are they made of? They are made from a non-toxic EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) foam. There you have it. Soft tiles are wonderful.

Let me know if you have an interest in saving your glasses, you knees, or you kids’ face. I am here at your service and nothing is ever a difficult job for me, not even from here to across the pond.

As I mentioned above I offer design consultations on-line, as a new feature of my business since two years ago. Tell your customers, friends and people in your circle that now they can hire me, see me though a computer screen, they will still receive architectural drawings from me if they need to get the house designed and remodeled, without Valentina being there, resulting in a huge savings for them. The traditional face-to-face consultations are still available. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is a trained Italian Interior Designer in business since 1990. Being Italian born and raised, Valentina’s design work has been influenced by Classicism and stylish, timeless designs. She is a designer well-known to bring originality to people’s homes. As an Italian designer and true to her origins, she provides only the best workmanship and design solutions.
She is the author of three books available on

Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
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Happy Cooking with Jacques Pépin | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

19 Apr 2012 6 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ChefJacquesPépin, #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #CookingwithJacquesPépin, #JacquesPépinEssential, #KQEDJacquesPépin, #ValentinaCirasolaAuthor

Never in a million years, I would have thought of meeting my culinary idol, the legendary French Chef Jacques Pépin at KQED T.V. in person and face-to-face.

Cooking has been my Italian way of life, not a science, not a subject to study. Cooking to me is an essential skill to secure me good health and a happy face. Never had considered it a sophisticated art I had to have in my résumé of life’s achievements. At least up to a certain point. I get up in the morning and think of what I am going to eat for dinner and plan accordingly. However, I had to learn cooking at one point if I wanted to eat food well-made as I was used at home with my parents. My grandmother and my family were great inspirations and silent teachers, they cooked the food and us kids ate it without fussing, or else we starved but watching Jacques Pépin cooking on T.V., my cooking became an art and all of a sudden, even though I knew how to cook, I felt he took my knowledge of food to a higher level. He taught me the chef’s language, which I really needed, taught me how to use and present simple and less expensive food in an elegant way and of course, he expanded my horizons into the history of food and food of other countries. In the meantime, 20 years have passed learning from the master on T.V. and reading all of his books. He was the biggest contributor in my decision to write cookbooks so many years later I had learned he existed.

I find so many similarities between my grandmother’s cooking and Jacques Pépin’s food. In Puglia, the southern Italian region, where I come from, Normans (French people of Normandy) invaded that part of Italy from 999 up to the year 1200, leaving behind a trail of their language and food culture. It is often said the if people from Puglia don’t speak French can easily travel to France with no problem, just speaking Puglia’s dialect will be sufficient to get them understood.
Jacques food is just the same as my Puglia cooking with the exception of butter and creamy sauce, which we do not use. During the brief evening hours with Jacques Pépin at KQED’s reception for donors and supporters of Public T.V. was a delight to learn aspects of his life I did not know.

Jacques Pepin and Valentina on stage-©Valentina Cirasola

Audience asking question – ©Valentina Cirasola

On stage ©Valentina Cirasola

(All photos were taken in PBS Studio by ©Valentina Cirasola)

He is a television personage, but not only that. I learned he refused a position as a chef for the White House and went to work instead for Howard Johnson, an American Hotel chain.
In 1972, he achieved a master degree in French Literature from Columbia University. In 2010, during the christening of Oceania Marina, Pépin was named an honorary commodore of the Oceania Cruises fleet, for which he serves as Executive Culinary Director.
Pépin serves as Dean of Special Programs at the French Culinary Institute, in New York City. He is also an active contributor to the Gastronomy Department at Boston University, where he teaches an online class on the cuisine and culture of France. Jacques Pépin co-starred in the 1999 PBS series Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home with Julia Child. The program was awarded a Daytime Emmy in 2001. The tribute video was created to honor Jacques Pépin and was shown at the 4th Annual New York City Wine & Food Festival Tribute Dinner in October 2011.
The first tribute of its kind ever. http://youtu.be/l6PN6sf0P8Y

There is so much more to Jacques that I can possibly mention. It is hard to describe in all facets a successful and a renaissance person like him. His latest T.V. series “Essential” http://youtu.be/0WQiFRe5Sfg is now showing on PBS.

Well, I was in seventh heaven a couple of nights ago at KQED. Finally, I met the man behind that T.V. screen with an open face I have followed for 20 years. I talked to him as he was an old-time friend, he signed his book Jacques Pépin’s Table I brought along with me, he is witty, very friendly and looks in person no different from as he looks on T.V. I asked him to tell us how it was to work with Julia Child and the episodes he recounted were so hilarious.

Most chefs are nervous and dictatorial people, Jacques Pépin cannot come in a sweeter and more mellow version. If he didn’t exist, we had to invent him. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

She is the author of two regional Italian cookbooks on
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Three Wonder Words | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

14 Apr 2012 2 Comments

by Valentina in Books Blog Tags: #BakedRicotta, #ItalianFood, #MediterraneanDiet, #PugliaFood, #RicottaSalata, #SouthernItalianFood

“Wonderful Cookbook!!! I have three wonder words: Baked Ricotta Cheese. Just amazing. The recipes are simple to understand and the instructions are easy for me a home cook. She takes a hand full of ingredients and turns them into a feast. This cookbook is just as good as the first” ~ says the review from one of my readers Shannon L. Sigman of San Jose, CA – on my book ©Sins Of A Queen.

This is a book on Italian Appetizers and Desserts, but everything in there can also be made into easy meals. Baked Ricotta Cheese on page 51 is such an easy recipe that it’s almost a non-recipe. The only ingredients needed are fresh ricotta any olives, Italian prosciutto, or any ham, olive oil, parsley, salt, and pepper. Drain the water from the ricotta. Beat it to break the molecules, mix in all the ingredients. Butter a baking dish, lay the mixture in the pan, and bake at 400˚ F for about 40-45 minutes. Serve it with a tomato salad, or mixed green salad. Don’t forget a piece of Italian bread and a glass of wine. Dinner cannot be any simpler than this. I kept my promises when I said I was going to write the simplest Italian recipes ever, especially thought for people living a busy life. That was my aim.

There are a few differences in the ricotta products you might want to know. Don’t get confused with Ricotta Salata, salty ricotta aged for a few months and covered with a natural hard skin formed during the aging process. Ricotta Salata comes in a wheel and cuts in slices like any hard cheese. It goes well with salami, Italian cured prosciutto, and grilled sausages, accompanied by a rustic salad. It’s a good rustic item to have among other appetizers.

The ricotta to use in my recipe must be the fresh type found in plastic tubs and sold in specialized cheese shops, where sometimes I am lucky enough to find it in straw baskets as it sells in Italy. The region of Puglia, in Italy, produces the best fresh ricotta and related products. http://www.abbasciano.it/en. Fresh ricotta is a spoon type cheese, creamy and spreadable and contains a bit of water, thus is lighter. It is very good to eat when following a low calories diet.

The difference in taste from the ricotta sold in supermarkets and the type sold in specialty cheese shops is like night and day. Fresh ricotta is made from cow’s milk or sheep’s milk, the latter is a bit more fattening, but it has more body and a slightly salty taste. Both are good to use for savory cooking as lasagna, stuffed pasta with spinach and mushrooms, tarts, Savarins, canapés and so much more. For sweets and cakes, fresh ricotta is the best.

(Photo ricotta canestrata found on: https://www.italieonline.eu/da/italienske-oste-119.htm)

The day I plan to make fresh bread, I make also a trip to the cheese shop to get the fresh ricotta ready to go on that crunchy and hot bread from the oven.
It looks and feels like a hot volcano with a mound of fluffy snow on top and that’s the best way I can describe it in words.

The baked ricotta recipe is in my book ©Sins Of A Queen.

Being very conscious of what I eat, cow’s milk ricotta is lighter and fluffy, it suits better my need and my taste. Yes, it is true, Italian people in Puglia eat as simple as this. Ciao,
Valentina

www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking. She operates in the USA and Europe.
She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms, and entertainment rooms.
She is the author of two published books on regional Italian cuisine, available on this site on the Books sections and on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Her book on colors ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors is in the printing at this time and will be available soon.

Easter Breads | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

06 Apr 2012 2 Comments

by Valentina in Books Blog Tags: #EasterBread, #EasterCake, #EasterFood, #ItalianCustoms, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle, #Scarcella, #SinsOfAQueen, #SouthOfItalyTraditions, #ValentinaCirasolaAuthor

Two more days to Easter Sunday and in Puglia, my land in Southern Italy everyone will eat “Scarcella”, typical Easter bread. Scarcella is a slightly sweet bread type, just enough to give a sweet taste but not enough to make anybody fat. Usually in Puglia, we make it in a round shape, as we all know the round shape is the most harmonious of all the shapes and in most cultures is regarded as the shape of fortune. Many shapes and designs also characterize the Scarcella to please the eyes of the receiver. If it is made for kids, the shape might be a small doll, a purse, a car, or an animal shape, just to be playful.

Scarcella goes back to a very remote past, in fact, it originated in the Roman Empire, enclosing in itself all the pagan and Christian symbols of Easter.

The raw eggs on top of the bread dough symbolize rebirth and the return to life. The eggs might fill the dough up to 21. Odd numbers are considered propitiatory, thus it’s important to place the eggs in an odd number. Bake the bread full of colorful confetti on top and lemon zest mixed in with the dough to aromatize it. Powdered sugar will cover the Scarcella after the baking to give it a veil of sweetness.

The tradition says that any daughter-in-law will give one Scarcella as a gift to the mother-in-law. The more eggs the Scarcella has on it, the more are the things the daughter-in-law is asking to be forgiven for. Well, that was in the old days, I am not even sure the new generations of Italians even know what Scarcella is, or if they care to ask for forgiveness through food symbolism. If anybody out there wants to try it here is the recipe, and it is also in my second published book:
©Sins Of A Queen – Italian Appetizers and Desserts

Scarcella
Mix with 10.5 oz. 00 flour (super-soft flour used for pizza dough) 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 3.5 oz. of sugar, a little milk (use a little at a time to make the dough pliable).
Add a pinch of salt and grated lemon peel while working on the dough.
Spread the dough thus prepared to ½ inch in height.
Cut out the shapes you want, keeping the scraps of dough.
On one end of the Scarcella place 1 egg raw with the shell on, or you can spread an odd number of eggs around on the dough.
Cut the scraps of dough into strips and place them in a cross fashion over each egg to help them staying on the dough during baking.
Sprinkle the colored confetti and bake on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake it until golden brown.
If you like, add powder sugar after the bread has cooled down.

This Easter specialty is in my book Sins Of A Queen, on Amazon: http://goo.gl/JA4WMO
Another fun Easter bread and typical in the South of Italy made for this occasion is the “Casatiello”. The procedure of making this bread is the same as any other bread, the only difference is the stuffing.
Mixed in the raw dough there are chopped hard-boiled eggs, various chopped cold cuts meats and cheeses of many types. The quantities for the stuffing are up to your taste.
The taste will improve accordingly, I make mine very happy.

A Pink Moon will characterize this Easter. I just learned about it this morning when I read this article.

http://news.yahoo.com/moon-affects-date-easter-131202555.html

I am here to help you with your kitchen design and all the challenges that come with it, but I am here also to design your palate.
Remember that designing a table with colorful food is necessary for the soul and for the eyes just as much as a beautifully designed kitchen.
My next book on the subject of colors: RED-A Voyage Into Colors is in the printing and will be out on the market very soon. Stay tuned for the launch.

If you celebrate it, have fun and rejuvenating Easter. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking.
She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms, and entertainment rooms.
Check out her books on this site on the BOOKS page and on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Evolving Taste | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

27 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #AnchoviesAndCheese, #BreadedAnchovies, #FriedAnchovies, #HowToPrepareAnchiovies, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle, #MediterraneanDiet

I thought I would have never said this but Italian taste for food is changing.

It has been over a decade that new emigrants are flocking to Italy as if it was the new land of opportunities bringing with them their culinary background and their culture.
Italians are now eating pizza with pineapple and cheese, or fried rice in place of risotto. Well, not everyone, fortunately food is one thing Italians are keeping away from corruption, but younger people, traveling to foreign countries more than the past generations are willing to try new food ideas.

I just could not help noticing the change in some of the original and traditional recipes. Cheese and fish cooked together was an absurd combination, it was viewed with skepticism and those people who attempted to do it were always criticized as not having a refined palate.

This is exactly what I observed in a restaurant on the Amalfi coast in Italy, a plate of fried anchovies sandwiched together stuffed with cheese and prosciutto in the middle. The waiter disregarding my dislike of anchovies paired with cheese went on and on trying to convince me that it was a good food and I had to try. I was up for the challenge. The food arrived piping hot and smelled really appetizing.

I must admit fried anchovies stuffed with mozzarella and prosciutto was good and new.

However, I still believe if you want the taste the sea in the seafood, keep it simple and do not mix it with other food. Dairy products have a strong taste, no matter how light the product is, milk is milk. To me, milk fights with the delicate fish taste and leaves an after taste. The recipe of fried anchovies stuffed with mozzarella and prosciutto is really easy, it’s up to you to try it and decide to like it or not.

Long live the blue fish, which is affordable and low in price, rich in calcium and omega 3 fatty acids.

To make stuffed fried anchovies all you need is:
10.5 oz of flour seasoned with thyme
10.5 breadcrumbs seasoned with thyme
3 whole eggs beaten
1 mozzarella chopped small
a few slices of Italian prosciutto
salt, black pepper to your liking
lemon juice
vegetable oil to fry

Keep each ingredients separate in various bowls. Add fresh thyme in the flour and breadcrumbs for an extra flavor.
Remove the interiors from the anchovies, wash and clean thoroughly.
Once the anchovies are butterflies (see my photo) place on the belly of each anchovy one thin piece of mozzarella and prosciutto and then close it with another anchovy belly down. Repeat until all the anchovies are paired up.
Pass the anchovy sandwiches in flour, than in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs.
Fry in the hot vegetable oil. Season the anchovies with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Otherwise, the simplest way to fry anchovies is to butterfly them, pass in the flour, then in the beaten eggs and finally in the breadcrumbs. I eat fried food every 4-5 months and I use a good vegetable oil that I discard afterwards.
Once in a blue moon is good, the metabolism needs a good slap every so often.

My two books are filled with easy fish recipes along with other Mediterranean diet recipes.
They are a super source if you want to stay off the mortal diets and want to eat healthy while you are enjoying food.
Please check them out in this site on my Books section.
They are also available on

Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Yes, I do design kitchens, wine cellars and other rooms, but I also design your palate. Love to hear from you. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking. She operates in the USA and Europe.
She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms.
She is a speaker and a book author. Her new book on the subject of colors: ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is in production at this time and will be released very soon.
Stay tuned for the launch.

Excited in Grey | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

25 Mar 2012 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BedroomDesign, #BedroomStyle, #ColorCoordination, #DesigninWithGrey, #GreenandGreyCombination, #RedVoyageIntoColors

This weekend, in this part of the world, we are having a spring grey day, but that did not stop me from thinking colors, excitement or positive vibrations. Outside is raining and the sky is cerulean grey, the type of grey that encourages curling up near a fireplace with a book and a cup of hot cacao.
Cerulean grey, I like how it describes itself and the message that communicates. It has a bit of light blue and faint aqua blue mixed in with grey. Cerulean grey is playful and warm, not like the heavy, depressing battle ship grey.
A person with cerulean eyes and dark hair has a high contrast face, which lends itself to beautiful combinations. First of all, grey alone is a very elegant color, together with black and white makes a classic combination. I love to wear grey pearls over a white shirt, jeans, black gloves and black shoes. Cerulean or not, I thought of a few very exciting things I can do with the color grey.

On eBay, I found this new 4 pieces bed set and duvet filled with sunflowers over pearl grey for only $98.00. A snip! http://tinyurl.com/84hbe7d

Another beautiful choice, again on eBay, is the green base cotton 4 pieces bed set and duvet with large yellow tulips. The soft grey in the leaves is gentle and very pleasant, together with grey flooring and some few grey lampshades in the room, the environment is inviting. Try these colors, they will slap the grey out of a rainy day!
http://tinyurl.com/7x3e378

A Canadian company presents the eco-green collection in the tones of aqua green and stone. As you can see the accent in this room display is the red lampshade (I imagine there is more than one lamp) that warms up the cool grey tone palette.

The set from the same company called Floral is so chic and elegant. I love the chocolate satin piping against the light grey and golden tone floral design.
With this combination, the walls in the room can pick up a golden cream color and much more chocolate-brown accents to echo the piping.
http://www.highlandfeather.com/linen/Floral.htm

Frette, the famous Italian linen company presents Tundra, a stunning mixing of gray into beige.
The grey slate flooring under the bed gives the right shabby chic attitude to the setting. I love natural materials!
Bed below source: Frette.

For a long time the color grey has been regarded as a boring color fit for seniors, but in this decade grey has assumed a younger attitude. More fashion companies are using grey paired with raspberry, yellow, pink, orange. Gray and yellow have been a new inspiration for weddings themes too.

Since I cannot cook anything grey, oh, that would look so unappetizing if it did exist, I am going to make may usual colorful orange muffins, the house will smell sweet and colorful. Take advantage of these new color solutions, but if you get stuck in your color selection for home or for the color you wear, I am here to help. I am one call or email away. Look out for the launch of ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors, my new book on the subject of colors. Ciao.
Valentina

http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer and former Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe since 1990. She blends well fashion with interior and colors the world of her clients. She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual.

Check out her books on

Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

I Am In The Mood For Raw Fish |Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

13 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #CulinaryTrip, #CurledOctopi, #ItalianEatingHabits, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ItalianRawFish, #RawFish, #RawOctopi, #SeaUrchin

I was thinking of all the raw fish I ate in one night alone in Japan at a restaurant and cherishing that nice memory in the company of good long time friends. (Click on each photo to view it larger).
http://www.ginpei.com/html/shop/do_tonbori.html

A question came to my mind. Who first adopted the practice of eating raw fish, the Japanese or the Italians from Puglia?
Yes, not the entire Italy is accustomed to eat raw fish, but in the Southern region of Puglia, where my roots are, the ritual of eating raw fish happens once a week at least every Sunday and it is not called sushi.
No family Sunday meal will be left without it, raw fish is the king of every tables, always served before dinner allowing the palate to taste the sea and the freshness of its fruits.
A variety of raw octopus, mussels, hairy mussels (cozze pelose), other shellfish, sea truffles, sea urchins and allievi (cattle fish) is served in symbiosis with a few glasses of bubbles, then the real dinner can start.

The difference between the Japanese raw fish (sushi) and the Puglia style raw fish is that in Japan raw fish is served almost always on white rice and it is dry only wet with soy sauce.
In the Puglia style, raw fish is served wet with the sea water dripping, occasionally wet with a few drops of lemons, especially on mussels, otherwise there is no other condiment, just the sea flavor.
Fish over there does not need added condiment in that the Adriatic Sea is shallow and concentrated with salt. Nature does it all for us.

This old Puglia gastronomy tradition goes back to the 1500’s, when selling raw octopus was regulated by the local government and had to be sold in rolls of 890 gr. each (31.4 oz.). Imagine how important it was to eat raw fish that the government had to regulate it.

It is a common appetizer to find in restaurants, served every day of the week if the weather has been good and the catch of the day comes in regularly.
The restaurant owners usually are the only one responsible to guarantee 100% freshness of the fish.
Often black mussels will be paired with the sharp caciocavallo cheese, similar in taste to the aged Southern Italian Provolone cheese, with a hard edible rind.
The octopi must be properly curled, the allievi (cattle fish) thoroughly cleaned of the interiors and the mouth, tuna, mullets and cod finely sliced for carpaccio and the fresh delicate anchovies carefully cleaned of any bones ready for a marinade of oil, lemon juice salt, pepper and parsley finely chopped.

Bear in mind that in Italy we believe the months with the R are not good to eat mussels (Jan-Feb-Mar-Apr-Sept-Oct-Nov-Dec) and the months without the R are not good to eat oysters because they are full of eggs and fattier (May-June-July-Aug).
Here in the Unites States we eat them all the time, this rule is really not observed and I am always wondering if I am doing the right thing.

Sea Urchin

Another scene worth filming is the eating of the raw fish in the streets near the port area of any city in Puglia, where the fisherman bring the catch of the day and where they also mend the fish nets when they are not out at sea. The scene is colorful, playful and joyous. Some fisherman scream to get the customers’ attention and some sing. They show off a large display of fresh fish inside of baskets made of olive wood and set on rough tabletops. There, they propose a taste of sea urchins, at time accompanied with a piece of fresh bread and ice-cold beer and other times just as the offering of the sea is, fresh and natural.

Skilled fishermen never poke their hands while opening the sea urchins in half. They make a perfect cut to expose the reddish-orange meat inside; a small piece of bread will scoop out all the goodness from inside of the black shell.
Restaurateurs who have lived abroad for a while brought back to Puglia the knowledge they have acquired in foreign countries. Many sushi bars have sprung up in Puglia, as all over Italy, but when the Puglia people want to do a serious eating, they will always go to what is familiar.
They will always prefer the traditional specialties of their land and sea to the fashionable or trendy food of other parts of the world. They will stay faithful to what has been familiar to them for centuries.

It takes no ability to eat raw fish, just clean, wash and eat it, but it takes ability to prepare the simplest food, poor of ingredients and make it taste like royal food.
(above: Alici Arraganate)

One of the many simple fish dish in Puglia is Baked Anchovies or Alici Arraganate as we call it.
Take the center bone from inside of the anchovies, wash and pat dry. Align anchovies in a crock-pot.
Add breadcrumbs, chopped garlic, mint, capers, oregano.
Drizzle oil and sprinkle a few drops of plain vinegar. Bake in the oven for only 12-15 minutes uncovered.
It’s so simple that is almost a non-recipe.

Another simple dish is Octopus Casserole or Casseruola Di Polipetti as we call it in Italian.
Place the octopus in a casserole with chopped onion, dry white wine, fresh tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley.
Bake until the octopi are fork tender. The sauce is good to eat with bread or to top a plate of pasta.
Bon appétit.

Find many of these simple recipes in my two published books on Italian regional cuisine from Puglia available on:

Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
and in this site on the Books’ page.

Now, my friends from Japan need to go over to Puglia with me to experience raw fish my way.
Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Her third book ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors on the subject of colors is in production and will be released by end of April 2012.