Owner: Pomiane URL:http://www.pomiane.com Join Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2008 07:37:57 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: After many years' experience in both professional and private kitchens, this blogger divides his time between London and Italy, eating and drinking in both places. The blog contains recipes, comments, ideas, stories, and the occasional rant. Site statistics:Click here
Recipe: Flourless Chocolate & Almond Cake 2008-03-08 06:44:22 A version of this can be found in the pages of Elizabeth David's 'French Provincial Cooking', I discovered when I googled it for provenance - although her version adds coffee and rum, and omits the almond essence and slivered almonds, the crunch and flavour hits from which I rather like. In her version she also says that one of the traditional names for the cake is 'The Queen of Sheba', which is rather charming. Immediately, it conjures up the image of some nineteenth century pastry chef on a flight-of-fancy, probably one rainy afternoon in the back-kitchen of a small bakery, in some provincial town in Brittany, circa 1864!I've also seen a version of it in a book by Linda Collister (she who occasionally gets hauled into Woman's Hour on Radio 4, to demonstrate how to make pancakes and such Read more:Chocolate
, Almond
Italy. The Land of Billy Bunter's Postal Order.... 2008-03-07 01:34:55 I like the food; the wine; the art (for the most part); the weather - in all its manifestations; the people (in general); the architecture; the gardens; the landscape......in fact, in most ways, I'm fairly positive about Italy
in all of its myriad shapes and forms. For all that, though, I have to admit that the place still has its occasional drawbacks. Chief amongst which is probably 'getting things done' . It is.....a Nightmare!An example: Several years ago, inspired by the presence in Pisa of the Saint Gobain glassworks, and thus by the ready availability of mirror and glass cut to any size and shape you could possibly want, the Technical Department decided to create a mirror-lined bathroom. And not just any old mirror-lined bathroom, but a cross between the Amber Room from Tsarskoe S Read more:Billy
, Postal
, Order
Recipe: Flourless Chocolate Cake 2008-03-06 09:12:29 Not so much a cake recipe, as a fantastic construction device for use in chocolate tarts and soufflés. Following on from techniques used by - amongst others - Ducasse, Senderains, and Hermé this is a method for introducing into these sorts of dessert a wonderfully concentrated flavour bomb. The 'cake' is in fact a thin layer of very porous chocolate sponge, which acts as a container for strongly flavoured liquids (generally, but not necessarily alcoholic). The degree to which the sponge sucks up the liquid prevents it from leeching out into the surrounding mixture, and at the same time, the cake itself somehow dissolves, so that as you bite into it there is no obvious sense of a 'cakey' texture - just a very intense flavour hit. At the same time, the chocolate sponge is effectively invi Read more:Chocolate
And two days in Serbia.... 2008-03-05 13:23:40 "Try not to attend any political rallies whilst in the country, and avoid getting into discussions about Kosovo with people you don't know" was the travel advisory for Serbia
on the Foreign Office website, when I checked it last week in light of the mayhem and chaos in Belgrade downhill of Kosovo having declared independence.Not a problem, I thought. Political rallies feature rarely in my diary, and I can't remember the last time I had a discussion with anybody - either known to me or otherwise - on the subject of Kosovo's geopolitical status.How naive could I be! Ok, I've managed to avoid political rallies - but the first, and only, topic of conversation anybody appears to have in Belgrade currently is 'The Political Situation'."What will it do for foreign investment?" is the main questio
A Week in Dusseldorf... 2008-03-01 09:39:25 ...is not a phrase to make the soul sing. And for good reason, too. I've just done it, and really there's very little to recommend the experience. The City Fathers have done their best in light of the mess we left them to deal with in 1944.....but the end result of their endeavours is a vague and unfocused urban sprawl, which veers between Harlow New Town and a muted version of the set for Bladerunner. Having checked the place out on Wikipedia, it appears to have a long and venerable history - including Frederick Barbarossa, Anne of Cleves, and Maria-Luisa de Medici - and an architectural genealogy of about three and a half weeks! The highspot of my time there was the walk back to my hotel from the Conference Centre every evening, along the banks of the Rhine. At that point in their jo
Recipe: Chocolate Crêpes with Chocolate Soufflé 2008-02-22 06:12:14 How times change! I remember first doing this recipe many years ago, and thinking it was terribly complicated and susceptible to all sorts of things going wrong along the way, and in fact being the sort of dish that has one hovering anxiously beside the oven, and feeling really quite surprised when it is finally plated and served without disaster....A couple of evenings ago, I found myself taking refuge in it, instead, as one of those "Oh God - it's seven o'clock and nothing yet sorted for dessert" events. The Crêpes were leftovers that had been stored in the freezer (NB: I discovered recently from reading Craig Claiborne that crêpes freeze fantastically well - just put them in a ziplock bag, with no special packing required; always make many more than you need at the time, and freeze t Read more:Chocolate
Satisfying Appetites.... 2008-02-20 16:57:21 To the Royal Academy, to see the Russian pictures, about which there has been such a kerfuffle in recent months amongst both the diplomatic and the chattering classes. Having read Brian Sewell's diatribe in The Evening Standard against the exhibition, I was tempted to give it a miss - although, I suspect I was actually just tempted to let his seething criticism justify me in avoiding the heaving crowds that are always so grim at these blockbuster events. In the end, it seemed that the packed rooms in Burlington House were probably a less grim option than having to travel to Russia to see the pictures - which is the only likely alternative; and definitely not my favourite place - and therefore one should at least give it a go. So, we did.It's clear that a certain type from the British Middl Read more:Satisfying
Recipe: Lamb Shanks double-roast, in Red Wine Sauce 2008-02-18 13:54:20 Lamb Shanks. Search for them in any traditional British or French recipe book and you'll search in vain - which is surprising, really, as they seem entirely in keeping with French peasant cooking of the Cassoulet-and-Beans type. Full of flavour, and definitely trencherman's fare! I was interested to find recipes other then my one tried-and-trusted, though, and having looked for them without success in all of the places I would have thought to find them - Carrier, Willan, Grigson - I finally resorted to Larousse Gastronomique and Mrs Beeton. And the mystery was solved. In demonstrating the cuts of lamb available in different countries, Larousse Gastronomique showed a baleful looking beast in various formats, with the dotted 'tear-here' lines indicating how things work in different countrie Read more:double
, Red Wine
Delia: Who's Being Cheated? 2008-02-17 05:34:55 You have to laugh! Delia
's gone ahead and done it - launched her new 'Delia Cheats' initiative, the advance publicity for which was what prompted my 'Dishing Delia' post of a couple of weeks ago....and, quite frankly, now I can see it for what it is I can only find it funny.The poor woman was hauled into the studio to do an interview about it all for The Today Programme, this morning, and even though the interviewer treated her gently, she ended up somewhat mauled and took refuge in claiming to be merely a poor, simple cook who couldn't possibly be expected to have opinions about things like organic food or global warming, or complicated stuff like that. It was all rather inarticulate blah, frankly, that left one feeling that she hadn't been briefed very well by her own PR people, and
The Grandfather of all Food-bloggers.... 2008-02-16 03:59:42 Pierre Franey. A name that was certainly well known in the States in the seventies and eighties - and may still be now, for all I know - but which achieved little renown further afield. I first came across his 'Sixty Minute Gourmet..' books in the late eighties, I think, and what a breath of old-school fresh air they were, too! Sensible, practical, knowledgeable, down-to-earth recipes for seriously good food that could be made and consumed as part of a normal daily existence....Franey came from a small town in Burgundy, exposed to the domestic and cultural culinary influences that would have been normal in a french country town in the pre-war years, and went on to work first at the Restaurant Thenint on the Place de la Republique in Paris, and subsequently to train at the Restaurant Drou Read more:Grandfather
, bloggers
Recipe: Potato & Chervil Pie 2008-02-14 17:17:33 Having been so damning about Potato
es in my comments on their International Year, it may be from a sense of guilt that I'm now including this recipe - although it's just as likely that thoughts about potato-based dishes have got the gastric juices flowing, and I've been forcefully reminded of this particular recipe, which has to be the best - bar none - recipe for potatoes that I've ever come across. Served hot, as an accompaniment to roast meat of any kind, the texture is unctuous and luxurious, with the combined subtle flavours of Chervil and Garlic acting as a foil to the crisp buttery quality of the crust.....but eaten cold, the next day, when some mysterious alchemy has knitted the flavours and textures together in an even more complex structure then before, this is quite simply man
The Year of The Potato.... 2008-02-13 17:41:42 Believe it: 2008 is officially The International Year of The Potato
, as I discovered earlier this week. Doubtless, great excitement has been engendered in Potato World by this development - King Edwards throwing their hats in the air as far as the eye can see - but, frankly, I can't myself get too worked up about the subjectPotatoes - let's face it - just do not deserve the attention.In many ways, I've always rather liked them: Gratin Daupinoise, with cream and cheese; Bacon & Potato Hotpot; Potatoes roast in Duck Fat, or sliced very thinly and fried to a crisp in Butter. All. Deeply. Delicious! But, then, why wouldn't they be? Cream and Cheese and Butter and Bacon and Duck Fat are all full of glorious flavours. Take them away, however, and what are you left with, apart from a t
Recipe: Chicken Liver Kebabs with Juniper 2008-02-12 16:20:03 This is a canapé recipe. I'm not sure how canapés are considered, these days - and I suspect (and fear) from their increasingly rare appearance as a pre-prandial offering at dinner parties that they're in danger of being written off as too mannered for today's informal dining style. This would be a shame, I think. Partly because canapés occupy a place in my heart, and I recall with fondness the days - and nights - professionally spent churning out regiments of the things, serried ranks of them, for corporate events, and wedding receptions and birthday parties ........it might sound like madness, but in fact it was a deeply satisfying process.More importantly, though, canapés, if they're good, are very good! They have to be, given how hard they have to work. Only one mouthful ea Read more:Chicken
, Liver
, Kebabs
Les Mutilés de la Cuisine....... 2008-02-11 17:33:04 Cooking is a dangerous business!Today, I'm reminded of this fact every time I wince as I press inadvertently against the blister on the end of my left index finger - and wonder what breakdown in synapse activity precluded the brain from recognising yesterday afternoon that liquid caramel is a very hot substance, and that to wipe it with my finger from the edge of the ramekin into which it was being poured was a deeply stupid thing to do. Brain caught up reasonably quickly, but only as the direct result of the pain registering in a different part of the frontal cortex. Fortunately, the wound had no significant effect on my enjoyment later in the day of the cointreau-infused Panna Cotta, served with blackberries macerated in Amaretto, which had been the reason for the caramel in the first Read more:Cuisine
Recipe: Apple & Blackberry Pies 2008-02-11 13:27:38 A contemporary take on a true classic. In practice, I suppose it's a hybrid between the base of a tarte aux pommes and an english apple pie - but the use of phyllo pastry and of Splenda (as an option) rather than sugar combine to make it a very low-carb version of the old recipe, as well as introducing a few more flavours into the mix.For two.Ingredients: 3 sheets of phyllo pastry, each 6" x 12"; 3 oz Butter; 1/4 cup Slivered Almonds; 3 Apple
s (Pink Lady is best, or Braeburn or Gala - something that will keep its shape and not entirely collapse when cooked); 10 good-sized Blackberries; 1 tablespoon Cognac or Rum; 1/3 cup of Sugar (or Splenda); juice and grated rind of 1 Lemon; 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon.Method:1. Melt 1 oz of the Butter and use it to brush two of the sheets of Phyllo. Ma
Recipe: Risotto with Spinach, Asparagus & Polpette 2008-02-07 07:20:59 Well, the sun may be shining gloriously in a clear blue sky, and things in the garden impatiently pushing their heads above ground, but the fact remains that it is still a long time until spring - and when the sun has gone down, it's time to close the shutters and draw the curtains against the outside world.....and hearty winter's fare for dinner is still very much in order.It doesn't come a lot heartier then this, a recipe from Ticino, in the north of Italy - at the point geographically where slabs of Polenta and haunches of meat appear, and you can tell that the cuisine has evolved in response to an unforgiving winter climate. The local name for the dish, rather unhelpfully, is merely Risotto
alla Rustica - which conveys nothing of the many flavours and textures that you encounter within Read more:Spinach
The French Paradox - more..... 2008-02-06 08:06:38 In a timely and fortuitous follow-up to the recent post on butter as an innocent victim of over-eager nutritionists, I was delighted yesterday to discover a new and splendid-sounding volume called 'In Defence of Food: The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasures of Eating'. Even before assessing the contents, it gets points - potentially anyway - merely for a title that suggests that food should be about enjoyment, and not about nit-picking and soulless scientific analysis.The author - somebody called Michael Pollan - has a simple fundamental thesis, which boils down essentially to the idea that a good dietary regime means eating good things , in moderation, and in sensible balance with each other. Not exactly a radical proposition, you might think. What he clearly shoots down - and this Read more:French
, Paradox
Recipe: Limoncello Panna Cotta 2008-02-05 03:44:27 It's the time of year when Limoncello has a tendency to creep into many dishes in this household - Massimo's mother-in-law makes industrial quantities of it annually to be given away at Christmas, and although I like the flavour when used in cooking, I'm really not that fond of it as a drink. Although I do recall having some once at a small trattoria in Enna, in central Sicily, which was truly memorable: served at table in large glass jugs, it was a vivid green, industrial-strength, and with a kick like a mule. I was subsequently told that the colour suggested it was probably made from Citron rather than from Lemons, which might explain it's singular character!Panna
Cotta is an intriguing and rather wonderful thing. Intriguing because the name literally means 'cooked cream' - although in f
The Monday Rant: Dishing Delia... 2008-02-04 07:16:25 I think I'd better declare from the outset: I've never got Delia
Smith. As a phenomenon, the point of Delia has always escaped me. When she first appeared in the firmament, or at least within my consciousness, sometime in the early eighties, I was merely slightly baffled by the whole 'Delia' thing. On occasion, at a dinner party, when some unremarkable dish would be served (hey....not everybody's been taught properly....it's allowed!) accompanied by the modestly proud acknowledgment that "..it's one of Delia's", I'd keep schtum, amongst the flurry of enthusiastic praise from my fellow diners. Oh, I'd find something else to praise instead, like the wine, or the flowers - I'm not entirely socially inept - but I could never bring myself to gush about the nondescript offering on the plate Read more:Monday
Recipe: Green Beans with Cinnamon & Breadcrumbs 2008-02-03 03:24:40 Simple and quick, this method of dealing with Beans
gives them an extra dimension and sufficient heft to punch in the same weight as a strongly-flavoured beef stew, say, or roast venison. And I defy anybody to be able to identify that the spice in play is Cinnamon
- far removed from any dessert connotation, used this way it has a rather muscular, four-square quality that is as much a shape in the mouth as a flavour on the tongue.For Four, as a side serving.Ingredients: 300g Green
Beans; 50g Butter; 2 tablespoons fine Breadcrumbs (I use Leimer brand, but home-made would be ok, too - as long as they aren't too large); half a teaspoon ground Cinnamon; Salt.Method:1. Cook the Beans in the normal way, in boiling salted water for 7-10 minutes, until they are al dente. (Don't let them cook t Read more:Green Beans
Recipe: Apple Tart from the Aosta Valley 2008-02-02 08:55:37 A typical example of the sort of dish where the origins probably date far back - this one includes both honey and bitter orange, which to me suggests a recipe of venerable age. The preferred apples in this instance are Renette Franche, one of the oldest and grandest of apples, which can still be found in quantity in the Aosta Valley
; small and intensely flavoured, these are traditionally the sort of apples that would be picked before being entirely ripe and then stored in an apple loft for consumption through the winter months. A Cox's pippin is a good substitute, and if you can't find those, then opt for something like 'Gala' or 'Pink Lady' instead - you want an apple that will cook through but still retain its shape, rather than going to mush. Above all, avoid anything like Golden Del Read more:Apple
Food Archaeology.... 2008-02-02 04:04:22 .......is quite a different thing from Food History. Although interesting in its own right, the latter lacks the dimension of discovery that gives to Food Archaeology
its particular frisson. Food History is about facts: terrines and smoked meats and sausages having developed as methods of preserving food for consumption during long, barren winter months, for example - or the fact that the ancient Greeks used sylphium (now disappeared, I think) to flavour food that was probably past its best. Or the small detail that the arrival in Europe of tomatoes from South America shortly after 1492 radically altered the profiles of half a dozen national european cuisines within a lifetime or so......All of these things are interesting, valid, and factually correct - but , when all's said and done,
Recipe: Salmon & Tarragon Pie 2008-02-02 04:00:12 Although this might sound like a complicated dish, it is actually quite straightforward, and probably the prep time needed from scratch until baking is no more than thirty minutes, if you're organised. The recipe is not unlike a quick-and-dirty version of Coulibiac, and - as with Coulibiac - benefits significantly from the fact that all of the different flavours are layered separately rather than mixed in together - with the result that you end up with a series of distinct flavour hits on the palate, all working with and against each other at the same time......Salmon, and Lemon, and Tarragon, and Mushrooms......delicious!Being greedy, I would serve this as a starter - but it is substantial enough that it could also work as a main course, with the addition of an appropriate green vegetable
Cooking with Butter.... 2008-01-30 09:44:35 I know, even before I begin, that this is going to stimulate an 'enthusiastic' response in certain quarters. But the fact remains: I like Butter
. I like eating it, I like cooking with it, I love the smell of things being fried in it.....and, frankly, I think it's had a rather a bum rap over the years....Whenever it was that the demon Cholesterol first swam into view, I think it has much to answer for, in terms of the blight it generally casts - in many instances, perfectly unnecessarily - over the lives of the many. And despite the existence of the French, Cholesterol seems to have achieved a stranglehold over the minds of large swathes of the population.......not least the denizens of the medical profession (in certain parts of the western World, at any rate). And what, pray, have th
Recipe: Steamed Asparagus Mousse 2008-01-29 04:36:45 Deceptively simple to make - it takes twenty minutes from start to finish - this starter is light and sophisticated, but with a beguiling flavour that definitely leaves you wanting more!If you don't have a steamer and you're unimpressed by the thought of constructing a version of one from bits and pieces in the kitchen, then I imagine this would work just as well if you bake it for ten minutes in a hot oven in a bain marie that you've covered with foil (as in the Scallop Mousse
line recipe). I haven't tried doing it this way, but common sense suggests it should work.For Four.Ingredients: 1 lb Asparagus; 1 oz Butter; Salt; 1 Egg + 1 Egg Yolk; 200 ml Cream; finely chopped Parsley (for garnish).Method:1. Cut the Asparagus into 1" lengths. Place in a small pan along with the Butter; add 2-3 tab
Vegetarians - Don'tcha Love 'em?!? 2008-03-11 12:16:01 Well, actually........no.I have to choose my words carefully here, since for some inexplicable reason, I can number one or two of the breed amongst my nearest and dearest - a fact I can only ascribe to some kind of defect from the other side of their genetic inheritance. The fact is, for the most part, I don't have a lot of time for the concept, or indeed for its practitioners (for as long as they're practicing it, at any rate).Oscar Wilde once said something along the lines that "Good People are responsible for an awful lot of bad things in this World - chief amongst which is the degree of importance they impart to Bad People". In saying which, Wilde was placing himself firmly amongst the fun-loving Bad People - where most us of would prefer to be, keeping him company, than breathing the
Recipe: Lampacioni in Agrodolce 2008-03-10 11:20:55 And so.....the taste test!Lampacioni have a unique taste: assertive, earthy, and intensely bitter. The flavour is somehow broad and flat on the palate, and reminded me strongly of both Belgian Endive and - surprisingly - Brussels Sprouts. I'd never before realised quite how alike in flavour those two things are ..Like all vegetables, Lampacioni can be cooked pretty much anyway you like - however there are several tradional recipes which reflect both their history and their regionality. Molinari lists a few options from Puglia. In most of these, the peeled and soaked Lampacioni are first cooked in water and thereafter finished with either vinaigrette, or in a sweet and sour dressing, or in a little tomato sauce, or else dipped in flour and beaten-egg and then fried. There's a famous fri
Time Travel...... 2008-03-09 07:54:56 Much of the history of Food is one of change. Sometimes this has been merely the result of fashion - but often it is a function of the way markets work and of the sustainability of the supply. For example, some ingredients which are expensive today were dirt-cheap a hundred years ago. An American turn of the (last) century recipe for ketchup comes to mind, for example, which blithely called for the addition of a couple of lobsters as seasoning! Or Carème nonchalantly specified in one recipe Dover sole two feet in length ...'or thereabouts' (I can't remember when I last even saw a sole this size in the fishmongers, let alone decided the budget would stand the cost). Molinari, in his 'Grande Libro della Cucina Italiana' suggests using a couple of black truffles, just to add a bit of Read more:Travel
, Time Travel
Recipe: Fried Pasta 2008-03-13 12:34:21 Leftovers. There's much to be said for them. In part, it's associational, I'm sure - childhood memories of treasure trove to be discovered in the fridge the morning after parental dinner parties - and in part, I won't deny, there's a sense of satisfaction in having no wastage and in making sure that every last scrap gets used up somehow (I don't have Scots blood for nothing!)Many leftovers are just that and no more, and they tend merely to be boxed up and disappear into the freezer to be unearthed and consumed at some future date, exactly as they were the first time around. Other ways of dealing with recycled food, though, are so good in their own right that it's worth making double the amount to start with, solely in order to be able to make the 'leftovers' dish in the subsequent days. Read more:Fried
, Pasta
Recipe: Pork Belly slow-roast with Garlic & Star Anise 2008-03-17 12:53:48 Not the most fashionable cut of meat, I find Pork Belly absolutely delicious, as well as being pretty economical. This long and slow method of cooking reduces it to a consistency where you can practically eat it with a spoon.This recipe was derived - distantly - from Heston Blumenthal's way of slow-cooking beef over a period of 24 hours or more. His version was the subject of some debate on the Today Programme, a year or so ago - and although I didn't consider for a second clogging up the stove with something for that length of time, the cooking method and the way he talked about the process gave pause for thought.....and this recipe was the end result. Not only is it splendid once it reaches the plate, but the smell which permeates the house as it cooks is pretty special, as well!Necessi Read more:Garlic
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