Tag Archives: potatoes

less food waste & more delicious salami

   salumi_4 Today on belly, sister T & sister D spend the first hour with the aptly named Aime Green, who travels the country helping
festivals to manage their waste and focus on sustainability.  And we'll be talking compost, yei! 

Then we are off on a belly safari to Billinudgel, to the Salumi Australia factory, to learn how artisan smallgoods (salumi in Italian) are made, and how they differ from the home made and the big fast factory methods.

 

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To contact Aime Green:

http://greenchief@sustainability.com<mailto:greenchief@sustainability.com>

 

To find out more about Salumi Australia, especially where they will be next

https://www.facebook.com/SalumiAustralia

And the website, which should have lots of recipes after Easter, they promised

http://www.salumi.com.au/

 

Meantime, here are a couple from the bellysisters

 

FROM THE BELLY LAB – PIGGY ROOTS RECIPE – by sister T

 

piggy roots

 

small onions, whole, peeled
medium or small potatoes, whole, peeled or unpeeled
mixed roots such as parsnips, carrots, beetroot, cleaned, left whole or halved or quartered lengthways
(opt) whole chillies and halved and seeded capsicum
fresh rosemary or thyme sprigs
smoky pancetta
good olive oil

This is a way to simply dress up veg to accompany roast meats, or makes a very good meal on its own.  And if you eat the potatoes on the first night you can mix the rest through cooked rice and reheat in the oven the following night.  So you can feel at one with our peasant ancestors, who could make a little bit of 'his majesty the pig' go a very long way.

pre-heat oven to 180-200 degrees C
oil base of a wide oven dish, add veg and herbs, salt, pepper, light drizzle of olive oil
cut pancetta into 1 cm thick slices, then 1cm wide strips (similar to French lardons)
add to veg – the only slight trick to this dish is to have the pancetta on top and not stir the veg until the strips have rendered their fat into the veg and gone crispy, so the roots absorb (and cook in) the fat and smokyness.  You don't need a lot of pancetta to make a big difference to the flavour.  I used about 3kg of veg to 2 thick slices of pancetta.
The capsicum adds a moist element, but it's not essential, and the chillies are good left whole so they don't burn and can be left to the chilli lovers only.

 

ITALIAN CLASSIC – BUCATINI ALL'AMATRICIANA RECIPE

translated by sister T from Slow Food Ed 2001 – "Ricette di Osterie d'Italia" – Italian tavern/bistro dishes
recipe from ristorante La Conca, right in the town of Amatrice

 

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This recipe from the  mountains of central Italy  is as famous within Italy as Ligurian pesto is around the world.  Even by Italian standards it gives rise to more growling about "the one and only proper recipe" than most – often because guanciale, cured pig jowl, is supposed to be the one and only piggy bit to use.  But if you can't find guanciale, use a good pancetta.

For 4 people

500 g bucatini pasta
1 kg peeled tomatoes
400 g guanciale
1/2 glass (say 100/150 mL) dry white wine
aged pecorino cheese (not Parmesan)
extra virgin olive oil
chilli powder, salt

Cut any hard bits off the guanciale and cut into small dice.  Brown in a cast iron pan with a little olive oil and chilli powder.  Add the wine, then squashed peeled tomatoes, salt, cook 15 minutes.
Meantime cook bucatini in plenty of salted water.  Drain well.
Add to tomato sauce pan and stir with pecorino until well combined.
Serve on hot plates.

Obviously a pretty simple recipe that relies on good ingredients – but you are allowed to use tinned tomatoes I think.  Absolutely no garlic or onions according to Mrs Perilli from La Conca.

 

SALUMI SAFARI

 

If you would like to listen to the audio of Sister T's belly safari at the Salumi Australia HQ in Billinudgel, please just click on the audio files below, or check out the great pics by the belly photographer, Madam Zaza.  You can almost smell the salami!  Actually one of the most interesting things is that the aging room, which was simply loaded with all sorts of good things (roughly 10 tons of cured meat), smelled more of pleasant moulds, like a cheese room.  I was constantly reminded of the similarity of techniques and natural processes between cured meats and cheeses and winemaking – the magic of fermentation, and the temperature and hygiene control that skilled producers can use to work with nature, rather than bombing our food with chemicals designed to counteract hurried and potentially harmful industrial processes.  Though I still have strong doubts about pig fat actually being mostly unsaturated (as Michael says in our interview), I love his idea that animals don't make bad fats, factories make bad fats.  If you know who first came up with that one, please let the bellysisters know.

 

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Salumi safari Part 2 – drying room

 

Salumi safari – Part 3 – aging room

 

Salumi safari Part 4

 

 

 

BELLY BULLETIN

Research out of Duke-NUS Graduate Medical school in Singapore published in the Journal of Hepatology has discovered a link between consumption of coffee and prolonging the lives of those with cirrhosis of the liver.‭   ‬The study found that people living with cirrhosis of the liver caused by non-viral hepatitis were less likely to die if they consumed at least one cup of coffee daily.‭  ‬The research also indicated that the more coffee the patients drank,‭ ‬the better their chances for survival were.‭  ‬The results are not connected solely to caffeine,‭ ‬and tea and caffeinated soft drinks did not have the same benefit.‭  ‬The researchers believe the results are due to coffee lowering the level of enzymes in the blood that cause cell breakdown and inflammation of the liver.‭  ‬It is believed that coffee reduces oxidative stress‭ (‬stress on the body caused by cumulative damage of free radicals over time‭)‬.


Local company  Madura Tea Estates is the official sponsor of Cancer Council’s Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea .  Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea is a national fundraising event, mostly help in the month of May, that invites Australians to host or attend a morning tea and raise funds for cancer research, prevention, early detection and patient support programs. Over the last two decades, $110 million has been raised for the Cancer Council.   Stephen Bright of Madura Tea Estates says : ‘We have made it simple for the host by creating special host kits on our website.’  The company is also going for the Worlds Biggest Tea Bag title.  The record currently is 150kg. As host kits and specialty marked packs in store are purchased more tea is added to the tea bag. The Worlds Biggest Tea Bag will be on show at the next public event  at the Byron Lighthouse on May 20th.  ‘We currently have 79kg in the tea bag’ We hope to have well over 100kg at our Byron Bay event’ said Mr Bright.  Host packs are available online at www.maduratea.com.au

 

The international Union for Conservation of Nature‭ (‬IUCN‭) ‬reported in‭ ‬2010‭ ‬that sturgeon had become the most critically endangered group of animals in the world due to humans desire for caviar.‭  ‬When this report was released,‭ ‬85%‭ ‬of the species was at risk of extinction.‭  ‬It is the usual practice that pregnant sturgeon are killed before their eggs are harvested.‭  ‬As the fish do not reproduce annually,‭ ‬it can take many years for the population to recover from a decline.‭  ‬To continue to fulfil the worlds demand and yet preserve the life of sturgeon,‭ ‬some sturgeon farmers have been using alternative‭ “‬no kill‭” ‬methods of roe collection.‭  ‬Vivace a small farm in Loxstedt Germany has perfected the technique of‭ “‬massage‭” ‬to extract the eggs.‭ ‬The massage method involves first observing a sturgeons eggs by ultrasound,‭ ‬and if ready a signalling protein Is given to the fish several days before the egg harvest,‭ ‬to induce labour,‭ ‬and the roe can then be pumped out of the fish with a gentle massage.‭ ‬There are many benefits to this process,‭ ‬including sustainability and financial viability as the same sturgeon can be‭ “‬massaged‭” ‬several times throughout their lifetime,‭ ‬not just live for‭ ‬7‭ ‬or‭ ‬8‭ ‬years to mature and be killed.


Cheeses Loves You Cheesemaking Classes
Debra Allard from Cheeses Loves You has announced her latest cheese making classes at Burringbar Hall.
Friday, 2^nd May – Drunken Goat, Washed Rind Reblochon, Persian Feta.
Saturday, 3^rd May – Colby, Camembert, Goat Chevre, Cow Cream Cheese/Quark.
email Debra for more information – cheeseslovesyou@bigpond.com


Popular local caterers Open Table are running cooking workshops through May

Middle Eastern Workshop  Sunday May 25th.   Raw Food- Sunday 4th May
Moroccan Cooking- Sunday 11th May
 Gourmet Wholefood- Saturday 17th May: look for Open Table on facebook for more details


And finally, an interesting new publication to check out if you like to think about food issues.
The Graduate Journal of Food Studies is a US based online publication, that publishes food research stories from graduate students of food issues around the world.  The first issue includes the social history of the "trophy kitchen", food and agriculture propaganda in North Korea, a Detroit food justice group, and lots of great photos and drawings for those of us who like to look at the pictures – www.graduatefoodjournal.com

 

MUSIC – For info and videos of tracks we played today go to – http://bayfm.org/programs/belly-/

or at least check out the gorgeous Fabio KoRyu Calabro' on Youtube, singing about everything from veg to salami to managing to fool his cat – all in Italian, just helped out by his uke

 

SALUMI AUSTRALIA VISUAL TOUR – All images on this post copyright Isabelle Delmotte – id(at)idbytes(dot)net

Thank you very much Michael for a very interesting experience, I only wish internet scratch and sniff technology was available.

 

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Italian regional food

On air on Byron Bay’s Bayfm 99.9 community radio on 21 November 2011

A Sicilian, a Roman and a Piemontese walked into a studio…and started talking about food – it could become the edible version of occupy Wall street, but lucky for the presenters who are on after us we will probably be quickly driven out by hunger.  Well actually the Roman kind of got lost on the way to the forum…Hopefully I will get to talk to Valentina soon, she has done a course at one of my favourite Italian food mags, sites and now school, Gambero Rosso.  But the capo degli amorevoli, wonderful Italian presenter Sergio from the Bayfm program ‘That’s Amore“, that has just returned to the summer broadcast, was on belly today.  Sergio is from Sicily, but has lived in Rome, Pisa and also in Merano, at the border with Austria, while doing his duty as a sweet young conscript in the Italian army.   I am from Piemonte, in the North near the Swiss/French border, but my parents have lived for years in Tuscany and Sicily, so between us we pretty much cover Italy, and many of its wonderful and very distinctive regional cuisines.

We are both keen to talk about some wonderful dishes from our bits of Italy , which are much less known than the standard pizzas and pastas.  We went straight off into singing the praises of caponata, a gorgeous Sicilian summer dish, done in many different ways across the island.  I have seen some very vibrant discussions among Sicilians about the best way to do this dish!

 

CAPONATA CATANESE – adapted from a recipe by Mimmetta Lo Monte in “Italy a Culinary Journey”

One 500 g eggplant

500g red and yellow capsicums

1 onion

60 g celery stalks and leaves

1 tbs capers, squeezed if in vinegar, rinsed and drained if in salt

6 large green olives, pitted and cut into pieces

2 tbs red wine vinegar

3/4 tsp sugar

6 canned tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped (or 6 very ripe tasty tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped)

salt

Peel a 2 cm strip of skin from the eggplant, stem end to bottom and back to the stem. Cut it into 2 cm cubes. Cover with water and 1 tsp salt. Weigh them so they stay underwater. Leave 30 minutes, drain, dry with paper or tea towels. Deep fry in 2 cm of oil on high heat, until dark gold. You may need to do this in batches. Set aside.

Cut capsicum and 3/4 of the onion into 2 cm cubes. Heat 3 tbs of the eggplant cooking oil, add capsicum, onion and celery. Stir over moderate heat for 2 minutes. Reduce to low, cover and cook 8 more minutes. Uncover, raise heat to high, stir until veg start browning. Add capers, olives, vinegar, sugar.

Turn off heat, add eggplant, mix very gently.

Finely chop the last 1/4 onion. Heat 2 more tbs of the eggplant oil in a small pan.

Saute’ the onion, add tomatoes, cook on high heat until they sizzle. If you are using fresh tomatoes, start a little slower and cook them a little longer. Stir in salt to taste and add to the other veg.

Serve at room temperature. This gets better the next day, and will keep well for a few days.

As we said on the show, this is basically the primary layer of caponata, which you can adapt and add to to your heart’s delight.  I have usually had it with pine nuts added.   You can add a lot of seafood, mainly little octopus (octopussies?), but also firm fleshed fish, bottarga (dried mullet roe), prawns, even lobster.  Or artichokes or asparagus.  There is even apparently a chocolate and almond sauce you can add, called Saint Bernard’s sauce, salsa di San Bernardo.  Play around, but try the basic version first.

 

SERGIO’S GNOCCHI WITH PESTO

This is a dish associated more with the North, and of course pesto is from Liguria, the region of Genova, but Sergio likes to make it as it is a low gluten dish, especially with spelt.  Spelt is called farro in Italian and has made quite a comeback in recent years.  Sergio said he likes to play around with Italian dishes, adding things like miso and tofu to Italian classics.

Gnocchi di Patate (4 people)

Ingredients

1kg Dutch (cream?) Potatoes, 200gr spelt Farina, 1 egg,

 

Steam the whole washed potatoes with their skin, in abundant water and a pinch of salt.

Let them cool down completely and then peel them, mash them till they are smooth.

Pour them on a floured wooden board, make a dimple in the middle and add the egg to it. Add the sieved flour little by little and mix it manually until it is hard and doesn’t stick to your hands. (Probably you will have to use only 3/5 of the flour)

Work it in long rolls of 1.5cm and cut it in 2cm pieces.

Use a fork to give them the right shape. (With a movement swift but firm). Put them on a well floured plate to keep them separated.

Boil them in an abundant (repeat abundant) salted water. When they rise scoop them with a holed ladle.

Mix the gnocchi with their sauce while still warm.

 

Recommended sauces: Burro e Salvia (Butter and Sage), Fresh tomato sauce and Basil, but you can try also with Pesto and grated Parmesan.

 

PESTO GENOVESE

(for 600 gr of pasta)

 

Ingredients

50 Gr of Fresh Basil leaves

½ glass of Extra-virgin olive oil

6 Tablespoons of Parmigiano Reggiano and 2 of Pecorino

2 garlic cloves

1 Tablespoon of pine nuts

A pinch of salt

 

For the traditional Pesto you should use a marble mortar and a wooden pestle.

Wash the basil leaves in cold water and place them to dry on a tea towel.

Pound the basil leaves and the garlic (a clove for thirty leaves) in the mortar with a slow circular movement.

When the basil releases its juice, add the pine nuts and then the grated cheeses. Finally add (slowly) the oil.

 

CORNMEAL BISCUITS – PASTE DI MELIGA By Sister T’s mum Franca Corino

A recipe from close to the mountains in Piemonte, where corn goes not only into polenta but into delicious light crunchy biscuits.  I remember we always used to buy particularly good ones in a little town where we made regular pilgrimages to a big discount shoe shop.  Half price Italian shoes and good biscuits : can a day be any more perfect?  This recipe is my mother Franca’s, from a book we did together, along with other authors from the regions of Italy, called “Italy a culinary journey” (Angus and Robertson 1991, ed A. Luciano) – 20 years old now, which is a bit scary.  [I just checked and you can get it on the internet for a massive $1 and 36 cents, + postage, but that is the American edition so I’m not sure if it would have the metric measurements as well]. The quantities are a little odd because the main market for the book was the US, you can play around a bit with the flour percentages.  Also if you are making this in midsummer in Byron and room temperature is 30 degrees, use your butter straight from the fridge.

315 g plain flour
90 g polenta flour
315 g butter, at room temperature
185 g sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tbs grated lemon rind

Preheat oven to 180 C.
Mix all ingredients lightly until the dough is similar to short crust pastry.  Be careful not to overwork it or the biscuits will be tough rather than crumbly and light.
Roll out to a 1.5 cm sheet, cut into circles with a biscuit cutter.
Bake on a buttered oven tray for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden.
Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

 

BELLY BULLETIN

 

Where our food comes from, how it is produced and by whom, its impact on our lives and environment, the impact on our culture and on food security, will be some of the themes discussed at the Australasian Regional Food Cultures and Networks Conference. It will be held

At Peppers Resort, Kingscliff, on November 29 and 30, and is organised by Southern Cross University’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management. The conference brings academics and industry together across a number of areas including food production, distribution, marketing, tourism and hospitality to explore key issues and opportunities for regional food.

Southern Cross University Professor Philip Hayward said the conference would specifically address local networking issues.

“Local food and low food miles are desirable. But to make local food industries sustainable we have to thoroughly rethink distribution systems, branding and appellation and how producers network with other members of the local supply chain,” he said.

School of Tourism and Hospitality Management Associate Professor Kevin Markwell said he believed regional food could become an engine for tourism.

” Food styles and products help create distinctiveness between regions which then has flow on effects in terms of attracting tourists

to regions to sample distinctive cuisine,” he said.

More info on the conference website, www.regionalfoodconference.com.au

 

AND BRIEFLY : 2013 has been declared the European Year against Food Waste, and Sikh immigrants are helping to save one of the most traditional of Italian food industries, Parmigiano Reggiano, as they are very skilled with cows, and willing to work the long hours required to bring us this wonderful cheese.

 

EDIBLE QUOTESDETTI GUSTOSI

A few of the many many Italian sayings that involve food.  There is a huge list here, although some of the translations are a bit off the mark.

A tavola non s’invecchia – you never get old sitting at the dinner table (not sure if this is because of the good food or the good company)

Non puoi avere la botte piena e la moglie ubriaca – you can’t have a full wine barrell and a drunk wife (both very desirable things)

i.e. – you can’t have your cake and eat it too

 

MUSIC

A big grazie to Sergio who always picks really interesting and varied music for That’s Amore, and brought all the tracks we played today.

Vacanze Romane – I Matia Bazar

Pronto – Zucchero

Rap Lamento – Frankie Hi-Nrg MC

Pasta al Pesto e Papadan – La banda di piazza Caricamento

Curre Curre Guaglio – 99 Posse

 

Love and caponata with chocolate sauce, sorella Mariateresa (aka sister T)