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Ruminations on food, cooking in and eating out in our area.


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Nicci King is an unabashed foodie and the Lifestyle/Food editor in The Enquirer's features department. She loves to discover new food faves, and she's on a daily quest to answer one burning question: What's for dinner? E-mail her at nking@enquirer.com.


Enquirer Weekend editor Julie Gaw tends to order the same dish every time she eats at a restaurant, but periodically ventures out to discover something new and fabulous. After living in China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Thailand for more than 8 years, she craves tasty Asian food. E-mail her at jgaw@enquirer.com.


Food/dining writer Polly Campbell loves every quirk and secret of Cincinnati's food personality, and is on a constant lookout for something good to eat. Keep an eye out for her restaurant picks, or see how she's progressing toward becoming famous for her apple pie. E-mail her at pcampbell@enquirer.com.


Communities reporter Rachel Richardson is on a mission to prove vegetarians eat more than lettuce. She shares both her graduate work on American food culture and food-related news.. E-mail her at rrichardson@enquirer.com.

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Monday, July 16, 2007

Mediterranean birthday feast



I just finished reading this great book, Mediterranean Summer, by David Shalleck and Erol Munoz. David, a chef living in Italy, takes a summer job on a private yacht owned by a wealthy Italian power couple. He can't repeat any menu item, and he must only serve Italian food. (Il Dottore is outraged when David serves an Israeli avocado with prosciutto.)
More than just a travel and food memoir (my two favorite genres of books), it's David's personal voyage to find his culinary future and confidence. You must read this book! I couldn't put it down.
The book's final chapters are full of recipes for the mouth-watering dishes David serves along the Cote d'Azur and Costa Bella. Panzanella, halibut in crazy water, spuma di tonno, oh, the list goes on and on.
My boyfriend and his family lived in Naples for a few years, and he was weaned on classic Southern, coastal Italian dishes. I've spent a bit of time on Capri, Ischia and in Salerno with a good friend and his family. We're both crazy about Italian cuisine.
Tonight is his mother's birthday, and we're planning a dinner. In the Italian spirit, dinner won't start until quite late, but we'll still be rushing to get ready. We bought two baguettes yesterday with no hope of eating both before they went stale, so I'll definitely make panzanella. Fred's going to make his mom's classic red sauce, handed down -- I believe -- from his godmother, who lives on Ischia. From there, we're not sure. Perhaps a bit of limoncello with dessert. Any suggestions? We're much more fans of simple, light Italian fare. Any favorite Italian food memories?


4 Comments:

at 5:34 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I loved that book too--all the elements I like --travel and food and cooking and travel and food:)

 
at 12:47 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for your kind words about my book! It is very rewarding to see readers have been entertained.
Just curious, how did you find out about it?
And check out my companion website,
mediterraneansummer.com

Best, David S.

 
at 11:46 AM Blogger Stepfanie said...

David:
We received a copy of the book here, and I bought a copy. I have good friends in Salerno, so I've spent a bit of time along the southern Italian coast. I try to go to Europe every year, and I'm crazy about anything French or Italian.
Your panzanella recipe worked wonderfully, and I look forward to trying the halibut in crazy water and the spuma di tonno.
Best, Stepfanie

 
at 10:48 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Funny you should mention acqua pazza and the spuma di tonno recipes... they're both signatures!... and hugely in season now. Buon appetito!

DS

 
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