Best Restaurant in London according to TripAdvisor...

This post follows an article published on Sat 22nd Nov edition of The Guardian by Joe Warwick.

It would be lovely to agree with a good review of a restaurant in London only because a choice of Italian dishes on the Menu like Lasagne, Frittata, Affogato and Tiramisu among others.

The restaurant is Eritrean, an African country on the Red Sea and since Italy occupied Eritrea in the 40's, around 70.000 were living there during the IIWW.

That's why this Eritrean Menu is influenced by Italian cuisine.

That is not the point, though.

I love TripAdvisor, I upload reviews every now and then. It is a useful tool for tourists and gourmets, but there is something wrong in the ranking.

How could a restaurant with only 40 reviews be ranked at n.4 of 17,445 restaurants in London? This is something I have noticed since working in a 4-star hotel in Firenze

#7 has over 400 reviews and Le Gavroche has over 1700.

Even Gordon Ramsey, with over 1300 reviews is at #9!! what the..!!

In closing,  what is the point of an article on The Guardian about an average restaurant in London with 40-some reviews on TripAdvisor?

Is is perhaps a new subtle way of advertising?

Luckily, even Mr Warwick states that "such listings are nonsense". 


bye for now

Creamy risotto with butternut squash, butter and sage

hello dears,
have a look at this lovely Autumn recipe by Angela Frenda @angelafrenda
you find pumpkins, butter squash and mellows everywhere. They throw them at you at the market!!
In this lovely video here Angela Frenda shows you in an easy way how to make it.

yummy

by for now

Ego is on his way: dinner at Carluccio's......

last time I had a meal in Carluccio's the experience was a bit disappointing.
It is true, though,  that your expectations and your mood affect the way you judge the service and food.

the only difference, probably the glasses...

Not an easy night for the restaurant, business-wise, as the customers rushed in around 5pm to avoid rush hour for the fireworks. That was the night, the night of Guy Fawkes.

By 7.25 pm the restaurant  was empty.

We got in at 6.45pm, yes we, while we were refused to be seated 40 minutes earlier, as was fully booked.

A young guy at the entrance invited us to come back later.

the display of Italian style mouthwatering starters

We did and the smiley manager took us to our table by the window.

What a view! I could see everything from there.

Less than one minute later, our waitress, lovely and smiley student, who confessed later she gets all the tips from her tables if they are cash, and 60% if  by card, asked us our drinks.

Less than 5 minutes later she took our order.

Garlic bread and Homemade Fettucce (Tagliatelle) with truffle. 
Grissini and Pasta with butter for my daughter.

Garlic Bread
As you can see in the picture below, it looks like toast. Tasty and generously buttery but I expected a slice of bread instead. Then, what is the point of the parsley? 5/10

garlic on toast

Fettucce with (smell of) truffle
I wanted this time to check on the egg Pasta. It is not homemade, of course, as they state for the Ravioli, but that was expected.

Add caption

They are not homemade and you'll soon realize it, though they actually can't be.

I guess that there must have been a shortage of truffle in the kitchen. Sometimes in Italy, when you have dinner in some posh restaurants and you order Pasta with truffle, they bring over your Pasta with some kind of sauce, more likely with olive oil. Then, at some point, the waiter comes in and shows you a truffle and you finally enjoy the intoxicating smell of this famous fungus. Then, the waiter goes back to the kitchen.

Here you had your Egg pasta with truffle. Just the smell, actually.....

Since this fungus is so expensive, the only way to let the people appreciate, it is to dust the pasta with some or provide a low quality truffle. In Carluccio's  happened the latter. 5/10

The tiny waitress did checkbacks, which means she came back a few times to ask whether we needed anything or not. Smiley and professional 7/10

Interestengly, in the Children Menu there is a lot of scribbling stuff

lovely way to learn about Italy

another lovely way to learn about Pasta shapes

This is 8/10 to me.


In the end, what do I think about Carluccio's in Norwich.
Being a chain is difficult. Carluccio had the lovely idea of this bumper Children Menu. PASS
The service was lovely, even if the rush hour had already passed, when we got in. PASS
Food quality was below the expectations, like my previous visit. It could be high expectations. RESUBMIT



Bye for now

This was another visit to a chain of Italian style restaurant.
Being a chain affects everything, from food quality to staff approach to customers.
Next time I will probably have a meal in some restaurant managed by Italian people.
Will it be better or worse? We just need to wait

Focaccia with sourdough

a bit longer proving than with fresh yeast but my (15%) sourdough focaccia it's worth the waiting. lots of bubbles as you can see!!!

Next time will come out even better...

Ladies and Gentlemen...Il Pandoro

Probably this post comes out a bit early for Christmas time, but considering all the department stores ready with their cards and decorations, and as shop windows are getting ready for the festive occasions, business is about thinking and acting before competitors. Probably, 2 months in advance are a bit too much, but probably enough time to practice before Christmas Day!

Well, I could not believe my eyes and my nose last Monday, when quietly, from my kitchen a delicate buttery smell was coming out.

I knew something was going to happen when I added up a lovely amount of good quality unsalted butter on top of the rolled out pastry but this is awesome.

A true vanilla pod is among the secrets of this classic Italian treat.

Lastly, but not at all least, brace yourself with a lot of patience because the last proving could take hours.

It is really worth the work and waiting time this "easy peasy" classic dated at the earliest in the eighteenth century in Venice.

As this was the first time, I felt like King Midas with his golden touch.

Soon the recipe

2 weeks of sourdough...still alive and kicking

The starter of this sourdough has been a teaspoon of honey (from Italy), 100gr of strong flour ( I use +allisons flour) and 100gr of water. That's what it takes.

This sourdough is very liquid and I think it's better to manage and less sour.
Every 48 hours, we need to feed the "baby" with flour and water:
- flour, same quantity of the weight of the previous dough
- water, 50% of the quantity of the previous dough

in other words, if the first dough is 200gr,
we will add 200gr flour and 100gr water.
After that, we will discard half of the new dough or it is not going to fit in the container very soon.
So, everytime we have to weigh to dough before feeding it.

The dough will start to rise after a few sessions of refreshment.
After one week I can say, it is working and I leave the baby in the fridge to avoid feeding it too often.
Let's say we refresh the dough in the evening and we will use some of it the day after.
The sourdough will be very powerful and fit, ready to activate the proving process.

I have tried twice and the result is lovely.
The first one, flat and bubbly, because it proved longer than necessary; in fact, it developed lots of bubbles (carbon dioxide), but the dough collapsed in the end.

The second came out as it is meant to be.
Crunchy the outside, soft and delicately sour the inside.
Enough bubbles.

In general the sourdough bread lasts longer because the sour environment is not friendly with the bacteria.

Every person develops a sourdough very different from the others. There are a few reasons:

- quality of flour

- hardness of water

- temperature in the kitchen, or place where it is kept

- different sugary starter (it could be a piece of fruit, honey, even sugar!)

like the one below...

Very soon I'll pin some sourdough bread up 

Ciao!

Pane Toscano: first of a new series of recipes from Tuscany

This is the first recipe of a series about dishes from Tuscany, my own land in Italy.
Coming from the Middle Ages, this is an unsalted bread for disputed reasons.
On those days the salt was expensive, mainly because of imposts of some kind,  and in the countryside the poor families could not afford such price.
Some others say that the salt was not easy to be found. I guess they might have both happened.

As in every country, you could find hundreds, thousands of different recipes about the same dish.
Personally I have 4 recipes coming from 4 different books, but I find the following satisfying my family.
As you will see at the end, being unsalted makes this bread very versatile and a perfect mach for savory or sweet matching. Surely this bread loves strong flavors.

I'm afraid, if you are not patient, you won't love this version.
It takes longer than 48 hours before getting into the oven.
Of course, you don't need to watching the dough proving every time.
This is an interesting part of the bread making. You don't need to attend the chemical reaction, even if, I have to say honestly, I peek every now and then so see what happens.

Hand kneading recipe
It gives 1kg loaf, more or less

First day

Melt 5gr of fresh yeast in 180gr tap water, then add up 300gr of strong white flour, trying to combine everything, but working out as least as possible, or you will activate too much the gluten, avoiding to burst the typical rich and sour smell. Cover with a wet cloth and keep it in a cupboard.
After 20-24 hours or so, this is what you will find, hopefully:

Second day

Mix up 50gr of water with the proven dough, then, when it is all well combined, like here below, add up 100gr of strong white flour, and knead briefly. Cover the bowl and wait up 20-24 more hours.

During this process we have been feeding up the yeast, fungi, small microorganisms that convert the carbohydrates in the flour to carbon dioxide (which is way the dough grows in size) and alcohols (that is way we smell ethanol which, btw, evaporates in the oven). 

Third day

Melt 2gr of fresh yeast ( just a small amount to keep the dough going for a short time), in 150gr water.

Then mix up 250gr of strong white flour. Try to work out at least as possible.

If the dough is sticky, dust your hands with flour, then make a long loaf and fold it ( this move gives the dough some more strength). Dust generously the dough with flour and wrap it up in a kitchen towel.

Wait for, at least 90 minutes. You will see the dough growing and full of cracks and stretch marks on the top.

Dust a baking tray and turn on the oven 220 C.

After 15 minutes, more or less the time for the oven to reach the temperature, move the dough from the towel to the tray, making sure it does not loose the shape.

15 minutes at 220C

25 minutes at 185C

15 minutes at 185C on a rack in the oven, so the bottom will cook up properly.

This is the masterpiece result 

It goes well with this, perfect for a wholesome breakfast

and this

and this, Crostini neri toscani, made of chicken liver

and anything else with strong flavor, such as Parma Ham and pickles.

Buon appetito!!

Bolognese Sauce - slowcooking by Gennaro Cataldo

Jamie Oliver's mentor, Gennaro Cataldo here recalls memories of his childhood, while living on the Amalfi coast, telling stories about his mother wholesome slow cooking. 

50/50 Wholegrain/Strong flour Focaccia with Prosciutto

It only takes less than three hours to have this focaccia warm ready on your table.
From ingredients mixing to halving and filling the focaccia with fresh cut Prosciutto.
It does not really take a lot. Just proving, proving and wholesome ingredients

90 minutes 1st proving in a bowl
30 minutes 2nd proving on a tray

30 minutes in the oven


Same ingredients as the Focaccia
with the only difference in the flour:
350gr strong white flour and
150gr wholegrain flour

abundant olive oil, sea salt and rosemary on top and prosciutto between the two layers.

Have it warm!!

Class of 21st September 2014 - a big thank you to all of you

It is said that pictures are better than words...

Sea salt is the final touch for the Focaccia

Nan is stretching the Focaccia dough

now it is Mike's turn

and Caroline

having fun is the second objective of the class

that dough needs some fixing...

firm, thin and crispy Pizza with your favorite toppings

time for lunch...at last

Sarah finishing off my pickles...

oh what a great lunch!!!

good chat over lunch

Thanks to all of you

See you on the 19th October for another class

Ciao

Conviviality

"..at the (very) heart of all cooking, whether you are rich or poor, is the spirit of conviviality, the pleasure that comes from sharing a meal with others. and there is no enjoyment of food without quality..."
from MADE IN ITALY, by Giorgio Locatelli, 2008

Pane Toscano on the way

Rise baby, rise

This unsalted bread, typical from Tuscany, comes from very far.

It was used to be made in the Middle Ages in Italy, when for several reasons people could not afford to salt or could not get access to it.

The simplicity of this rustic bread gives way to more savory toppings of fillings.

Think about salami, prosciutto, garlic and November new olive oil, ripe tomatoes and flaky sea salt, or even rich flavor like Nutella....

Soon the recipe...

Pickles for my Sunday class

+

Budino di Riso translated Rice Pudding...but it is not the same. at all!!

This is a treat you find in Cafès in Italy as an alternative to croissants and other wonders you may have for breakfast.
This recipe is in two stages. In the first part we prep the pastry (Pasta Frolla) and in the second part we make the filling (made of Crema and Riso).

Pastry
200gr plain flour
100gr rice flour
150gr granulated white sugar
150gr butter
1 large egg
2tsp baking powder
1tsp salt

Get a large bowl and mix rice and plain flower along with sugar, baking powder, salt and butter (previously cut up in cubes) with your thumbs. Beat the egg and pour it in to the bowl. Mix up everything and make a dough, wrap it up with clingfilm and leave it in the fridge for about 1 hour.

Custard
1lt milk
300gr (risotto) rice
1 vanilla pod
1 lemon skin grated
6tbsp granulated sugar
2tsp baking powder
2 large eggs

Milk absorbed

Pour the milk in a boiling pan and wait until it boils, add vanilla and lemon skin (make sure it is organic or wash it thoroughly). Add the rice and keep stirring with a wooden stick until the rice has absorbed almost all the milk. Add the 3tbsp sugar a leave it to cool down.

Mix the eggs white until fluffy and put them in the fridge.
Beat the yolks with the other 3tbsp sugar and the baking powder until pale and fluffy.
Mix up now the whites and yolks and add them delicately to the rice.
The filling is ready now.

Whites and yolks

Turn on the oven 170 C and take the pastry out of the fridge.

Lay the pastry on a surface dusted with flour and roll a 1 cm thick pastry base.

Use a 9cm round pastry cutter and push any disc into every hole of a non stick muffin baking tray.
Push with delicacy around the sides so the pastry stick to them.
Now pour the filling using a icing pastry bag or if you are not very confident with those, use a spoon.

Ready to bake

Put the tray in to the oven and bake the risotti for 40 minutes.

When done, leave them to cool down for half an hour, than pull them out of the tray.

Just out of the oven

Don't forget the icing sugar, it gives them a delicate touch.

Ready to eat

a.

Norwich Restaurant Week

Shame there is no Italian restaurant in the listings...

Lunch at Jamie's Italian: a feedback

A Monday afternoon in August.
smiles at the entrance and 12 tables present
background music, not Italian

been given the menu but no signs of a smile, hardly an eye contact

quick service, order in 5 minutes
Artisan Italian Breads and Tagliatelle Bolognese.
Breads meant to be a starter (it's among the nibbles on the menu) but been given after the Tagliatelle.
I don't know why

food brought over before the drinks ?!?

Food
The Tagliatelle have the lovely idea of tiny bread crumbs instead of Parmesan cheese,
which is actually compulsory, but I have been amazed by the crumbs, so I'll accept it
The Egg pasta is cooked properly but the sauce tastes too much of bay leaves, which is good in itself,
but it is not in the original recipe of Bolognese sauce.
A friend of mine, Giuseppe from Sardinia, during University time, he would do Bolognese sauce with bay leaves. The name Bolognese comes from Bologna, a town in the north of Italy, where this sauce comes from. There is no sight of bay leaves.
Actually, it could be a good idea if was delicate and the taste should remain in the background, not the first thing it pops in your mind.
Also, it urged to me drink a lot while having the Tagliatelle, to wash out the bay leaves taste.

Back to Jamie's, too much bay leave in the sauce, but 7 out of 10 from the plate.

Italian Breads. Not an astonishing presentation, but essential

Selection of white and brown sourdough (from the day before), Grissini, Focaccia and music bread.
Some of the breads come from Jamie's bakery in London and you can tell...
I should not really say anything about the Focaccia....
The olive tapenade was excellent, spicy and lovely
Olive oil was a bit pungent, but this is the commercial olive oil we find in the groceries.
There is really nothing you can do. 6 out of 10


Staff
chefs shouting "Service!", desperate to find a waiter
beards for 3 waiters and 3 overweight (plus me, makes 4, ah ah!)
a waiter, used to be a supervisor for a chain restaurant in the city center, leaning onto tables while taking orders...
a bit disappointed, miles away from Jamie's appearance


This is the lovely Deli...

I was wondering who is going to have all those Prosciutto and Salami, but most of all, when?

In the end

Food 6/10 and 7/10
Service 5/10

It is worth a visit but nothing exceptional from the experience.
hope it helps