Cooking Lessons in Varenna–The Deal of the Century...

Oct 31, 2010 by The Tasty Buzz

Pumpkin and Amaretti Tortellini--Oh. My. God. My love affair with Chef Moreno's cooking classes began in April of this year, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. I had barely squeezed into Italy after a canceled flight due to the Iceland volcano, and so the whole trip had a slightly "I am one of the chosen ones" miraculous feel anyway. But something seemed unbelievably miraculous about this cooking class, which I found online: I learned how to make three different dishes and their sauces: asparagus risotto, handmade tagliatelle with a tomato zucchini sauce, and gnocchi drenched in Gorgonzola cream. Then I got to eat them all. I also ate parmigiano and salami during the break (see photo on right), and had an unlimited amount of wine. Plus he gave us all the recipes...

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When delicious food meets delicious writing…...

Oct 25, 2010 by The Tasty Buzz

My talented friend and fellow M.F.A. graduate Rashaan Meneses recently wrote "Like Fish to Ginger" a lovely and haunting story about a Thai immigrant and the complex chemistry of food and romance. Read the first few paragraphs here, then click on the link for more. It's a beautiful read. The only downside is that now I'm dying for a bowl of curry... Like Fish to Ginger By Rashaan Meneses Before I set out to make my mark in Los Angeles, I chased Sunee. We met in a steamy noodle house in the Dusit District of Bangkok where I elbowed my way from dishwasher to sous chef. Sunee worked as hostess. Both seventeen, she knew exactly what she wanted, and it wasn’t me. Like with a delicate soup, I had to know when to stir...

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Smoked Herring (Kipper) with Capers and Onions...

Oct 7, 2010 by The Tasty Buzz

You know the ol' "if you were stranded on an island" game, where you have to choose what you'd eat or what you'd read, which CD you'd listen to, or who you'd take with you? The one where you're forced to think deeply, and perhaps a bit pointlessly about the that you'd want with you forever and ever? Okay, I admit it, I love to play it, especially when hiking long stretches of trail, or waiting for delayed trains, planes, and automobiles. I am usually quite horrible at it though, because when asked, I suddenly forget the name of every musician I love and every book I've ever read. Food though--food I don't forget. I remember thinking long and hard about that one when asked a few years back. I thought about squash soup,...

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Red Currant Spelt Muffini

Oct 3, 2010 by The Tasty Buzz

No, that's not a typo in the title. Allow me to explain. There are no such things as muffins in Italy. I keep asking around: "Hey--do you guys know what muffins are?" And they do, but only as some distant creation formed in strange tins in the United States. "What do you call them?" I asked my boyfriend one Sunday, as I prepared a batch of muffins for his virgin experience. "We call them muffin," Guido replied. "But what do you call them in plural? When there's more than one?" "Muffin," he said, laughing. "But that's ridiculous," I said. "If you're going to use the American word, then you should have a plural form." I thought for a moment about Italian grammar. Since most foreign words like "film" and "computer" are masculine by default,...

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