Il Forno

WBW5: Szeksardi Bikaver

Although I have only occasionally taken part to Wine Blogging Wednesdays, as soon as Pim announced the theme of the 5th WBW edition I knew I had to join in: how can you say no to Wacky-name wines? I've always enjoyed wine makers who can break away from the usual nomenclature, which, while clearly useful, can be a bit boring. Seen from my viewpoint, US winemakers seem to be more open to this. Europe is rather immune except for the involuntary comicality of some names. I would have loved to taste Bartolo Mascarello's political statement wine, his "No barrique, no Berlusconi" Barolo, Berlusconi being Italy's center right prime minister (and media mogul on top of that). Not wacky may, be but an unusual and brave name. I always appreciate strong statements as this one. Lacking that I would have settled for another wine from the noble Nebbiolo grapes, Inferno from Valtellina in Lombardy. Again, not a wine name, rather a denomination: wonder if is the drink of choice of satanists. How could they resist drinking Hell?

2005 Bloggies award

The finalists for the 2005 bloggies have been announced yesterday. I was thrilled to find out Is My Blog Burning? has been nominated as finalist in the Best Meme category. Did I say thrilled? I actually started to dance and whistle. . . at work. Good for me that my coworkers already think I'm a bit peculiar at times. I never would have thought my little original idea would have gotten that far. Thanks to all those who suggested IMBB? and an even bigger thank you to all those who have hosted or taken part to one of these events: this nomination is your nomination too.

But there's more: this year the bloggies have been rocked by the food blogging community. For the first time a food blog category features in the awards. Congratulations to TastingMenu, Simply Recipes, Cooking for Engineers, The Food Section and 101 Cookbooks for their nominations. And if that wasn't enough we have three food blogs as candidates in their respective regional categories: Chocolate and Zucchini for best European, Spiceblog for best Australian and New Zelander and Noodlepie as best Asian. Kudos to all of you.

And now, what are you waiting for? Go and vote for your favourites. Voting closes at 10 PM EST on January 31st.

Blog triff Gastro: German food bloggers meet

Food needs company, so what better than a meeting of food bloggers and food blogger readers? A few days ago I received a friendly mail from Thorsten, who writes Speisekarten-Blog, inviting me to join other fellow food bloggers in Wolfsburg on the 26th of February for this Blog trifft Gastro event, taking place during a relaxed lunch in the restaurant of the local Ritz Carlton Hotel.

I really hope to be there, it would be my first real-life meeting with other bloggers. I must admit that I know almost no other German food Bloggers apart Petra who won't be able to make it, so no better chance to make new friends. The only thing that could keep me from going there is a date shift for a trip to Italy I had planned in March. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

IMBB 11: pasta e fagioli in bianco e nero con tria.

(Black and white pasta e fagili with fried tria noodles)

Twelve months have passed the first IMBB? and eleven edition of the event have taken place in that time. Every month a new themes is picked, always a new stimulus to try something new, prepare a forgotten favorite or get wildly creative. Bust most of all to have fun  in the kitchen.

For this edition Cathy, of My little kitchen, picked beans: a lowly ingredient for some yet an incredibly nourishing and fascinating one. Beans, as other pulses, have often become the meat of the poor; rich in protein and filling -and I'm not talking about gas ;-)- they have been used in simple yet original ways in those countries where they count as a staple.

Having taken care of my bean-creative impulses a little time ago, I decided to have a go at a simple Italian classic: Pasta e Fagioli. There must almost be as many recipes for pasta e fagioli as there are Italians. There are versions from the North and from the South, with fresh egg pasta or with durum wheat one, with or without cheese, plain or with extra additons, like mussels... the list could go on. The most important thing for a good pasta e fagioli is the beans: ideally one would use fresh beans out of the pod. These do not need soaking cook quicker, break less and have a nicer subtler taste. Yet because of location and season that was plain impossible. So dried beans it had to be. Having no luck in finding the most common varieties of Italian beans, borlotti and cannelini, if not canned (a good choice elsewhere but not for pasta e fagioli) I picked something new to me: black eyed beans. Or peas? The package carried both names. I checked on the Larousse Gastronomique to make sure these are indeed beans, actually one of two strains original from either China or Africa, I started putting down my recipe.

Elephantenkeller, Weimar

When the "little" welcoming greeting from the kitchen landing on your table is a crock full of griebenschmalz (goose drippings) to smear on several kinds of rye breads, you just know what you're in for. Hearty, calorie-unconscious, traditional German fare. Exactly what Elephantenkeller, one of the two restaurants of the Hotel Elephant in Weimar, does and does well. If you've read about the more classy upstairs Anna Amalia restaurant before, you might want to get those dishes and atmosphere out of your head. Elephantenkeller is situated in the rustic, yet absolutely fascinating cellar (-keller in German) of the Hotel. The service on the other hand, while not as formal as the one in Anna Amalia, shares the same friendliness and professional savoir-faire.

As many other places in Weimar, Elephantenkeller cannot avoid reminding everyone of their little part in Wolfgang Goethe's life. A few informative panels on the history of the building describe how the great man used to come here for a drink. If stories are to believed, he indulged in a Sherry every now and then in this hall. I always thought he only drank Schwarzbier! I understand that Goethe is THE German writer, author of Faust and Faust part II the revenge, and that everybody loves or at least respects him. I agree he deserves to be celebrated and honored in a number of ways. Still, does he really have to come up everywhere? Sorry, everywhere except toilets: never found a "Goethe used this bathroom for his. . . needs", as hard as I looked. I haven't given up though, the search goes on. There has to be one; if Sherry goes in, something HAS to come out.

Busy. . .

Pictures and ideas are stapling themselves, but no time to write up.

No, I've not been ignoring this blog  because of writer's block, lack of inspiration or  boredom. I've been busy organizing  a little something: a chat with chef Igles Corelli on the eGullet Society Forums. It's been more work than I would have imagined, but it has been a lot of fun. I wonder, is there a payed ;-) job to organize such events?

If you're interested in Italian modern cuisine I wouldn't miss having at least a quick look at the chat. Igles Corelli, chef-owner of La Locanda della Tamerice in Ostellato, is one of the chefs that has left a mark on the evolution of Italian cuisine in the last 20 years and a really wise voice in the Italian culinary community. If you think Italian cuisine is only trattorie food or imitations of French haute cuisine, follow the discussion in the next few days, this might be the chance to change your mind.

Music In My Kitchen*

1. What is the total amount of music files on your computer? Hm. . . I think I have just two files, pretty lame uh? I don't really use mp3 files.

2. The CD you last bought is: Tom Wait's Blood Money for myself, The Very Best of Marvin Gaye as a present for a friend. Can you believe that there really are people with no Marvin Gaye CDs in their collection!??  Do I sound like the guy from High Fidelity?  

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message? Lambchop's The New Cobweb Summer on a compilation CD from Uncut magazine.

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you:

A. New England by Billy Bragg, in the version sung by Kirsty McCall. Although the song is about love gone bad and regrets, for me it will always be connected to a special moment in my life when one love story was over, though the pain was still pretty much there , and a new one was about to begin, with all its hopes, thrills and expectations. A bittersweet memory for a bittersweet song.

B. Creuza de Ma from Fabrizio de Andrè, a song in Genovese dialect. With just a few lines and a mesmerizing harmony, it manages to transport me to the shores of the Mediterranean every time I listen to it. Plus it's a song that touches everything that's important in life: home, job, sex and clearly food and wine too.

C. Lullaby 6000 by the Czars, a modern sweet lullaby me and Daniela used to play to Saami (well, to ourselves too) in the first months of his life, when regular sleep was a hard to get commodity. It will always remain as a memory tied to the realization of how hard yet beautiful being a parent can be. 

D. Kalasnjikov by Goran Bregovic. I discovered Bregovic's magic Gypsy music through Kusturica's films and had the chance to listen to him live a few times since. I love most of his songs but Kalasnijkov just makes me feel like dancing around like a maniac. And I don't really like dancing.

E. Something Else, Julian Cannonball Adderly with Miles Davis. Not a song but a whole CD: is that cheating? Even if I start listening to one single song I have to go through the whole CD every time. Simply great Jazz.

5. Who are you going to pass this stick to? (3 persons) and why?

Katia and Ronald because I'm curious to know what an Italian-Cypriot couple listens to at home.

Pieman  because I bet he has some great music stories to tell.

Renee because I haven't heard from her in a long while and it gives me a chance to say hallo!

What about you?

*Deb, baker extraordinaire, of In My Kitchen was nosy enough ;-) to ask me these questions.

Local news: guides, points and restaurants

All the major German restaurant guides are out, so I took the chance and checked out how local establishments fared in the 2005 editions of Gault Millau (from now on GM), Michelin and Feinschmecker. I only scanned the last two since I’ve experienced that the GM guide fits my tastes more; furthermore I didn’t notice any big differences since last year.

2005 Bloggies nominations

Food bloggers just can't stop. First Kate, aka the Accidental Hedonist, came up with the fantastic idea of the Food Blog awards. And now. . .

. . . the 2005 Bloggies have a single category just for food blogs. Nominations submissions are open so be sure to visit the page and  suggest your favourite blogs. If you enjoyed hosting or taking part to an IMBB event, then don't forget the "Best meme" category.

(thanks to Pim for announcing the news first)

Pirogi

The old Soviet block, today's Eastern European countries are not be the first (probably not even the tenth) place to come up in most people's list of countries known for their great food. Still, for many East Germans I know who have spent their childhood in what still was the GDR, Eastern European food, especially Russian, retains the same fascination of exotic food mixed with the nostalgic longing for childhood. I have to grin every time Daniela talks of Russian candy. She hates desserts that are too sweet, but buys these candies whenever she finds them, ignoring their cloying sugar content. I suspect she eats them because they brings back special memories, and not for the taste, so I've stopped making jokes about the contradiction in personal food tastes.

Daniela is not the only one with a sweet tooth for  Russian goods. Some local grocery stores carry a section with Russian goods, canned and frozen mainly, and we even had a little Russian store for a while in Jena selling a nice selection of Vodkas. After they closed the candy supply dried out. Until a few months ago, when I came home to find Daniela munching on a Russian sweet smiling. A new Russian shop had opened. It took me month's before I managed to get there: being out of my usual way I never managed to make it before the early closing time. Once I did manage though, I found something much more interesting than candy to me: pirogi.