http://www.saltshaker.net/20060704/opening-night-of-the-palio Casting a little flavor (and a few aspersions) on the world of food, drink, and life Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:57:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://www.saltshaker.net/20060704/opening-night-of-the-palio#comment-851 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Pici Redux Thu, 20 Jul 2006 12:40:21 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20060704/opening-night-of-the-palio#comment-851 [...] Buenos Aires - A couple of weeks ago I posted about our dinner celebrating the opening of the Paliio. The pasta dish, a classic of Sienese cooking, was pici all’aglione, a very simple preparation in the final analysis - the pasta simply tossed with freshly sauteed breadcrumbs, garlic, hot peppers, and parsley. I had mentioned that my local pasta guy would only make me die-cut versions of pici, which, in reality, were just fat spaghetti - or bucatini. I wanted to get back to the pasta itself (the preparation is now something I’m making regularly, even with other pastas - it’s so simple and so good!) - and a couple of nights ago I decided to spend the evening making handrolled pici. It’s definitely an activity to plan when you have lots of time. [...] [...] Buenos Aires - A couple of weeks ago I posted about our dinner celebrating the opening of the Paliio. The pasta dish, a classic of Sienese cooking, was pici all’aglione, a very simple preparation in the final analysis - the pasta simply tossed with freshly sauteed breadcrumbs, garlic, hot peppers, and parsley. I had mentioned that my local pasta guy would only make me die-cut versions of pici, which, in reality, were just fat spaghetti - or bucatini. I wanted to get back to the pasta itself (the preparation is now something I’m making regularly, even with other pastas - it’s so simple and so good!) - and a couple of nights ago I decided to spend the evening making handrolled pici. It’s definitely an activity to plan when you have lots of time. [...]

]]> http://www.saltshaker.net/20060704/opening-night-of-the-palio#comment-533 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Running of the Bulls Sat, 08 Jul 2006 15:17:59 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20060704/opening-night-of-the-palio#comment-533 [...] Buenos Aires - Much as the Palio kicked off last week, a chance for much Italian regional pride and competition, the encierro kicked off yesterday, a chance for much idiocy and injury, as folks attempt to chase, be chased, and hopefully outrun, a bunch of stampeding cattle. My job isn’t to critique those folks who seem to get a thrill out of danger seeking and potential injury and/or death, but to somehow capture the moment on a dinner plate. Which basically means I do nothing but come up with some sort of inspiration and turn it into a menu. Then cook it. The encierro is set in Pamplona, a town in the Navarra region of Spain, so the food of that region became the basis for my plan. A half dozen folk came to last night’s Casa dinner, a shame for the half dozen who didn’t fill the empty seats, at least in my view! [...] [...] Buenos Aires - Much as the Palio kicked off last week, a chance for much Italian regional pride and competition, the encierro kicked off yesterday, a chance for much idiocy and injury, as folks attempt to chase, be chased, and hopefully outrun, a bunch of stampeding cattle. My job isn’t to critique those folks who seem to get a thrill out of danger seeking and potential injury and/or death, but to somehow capture the moment on a dinner plate. Which basically means I do nothing but come up with some sort of inspiration and turn it into a menu. Then cook it. The encierro is set in Pamplona, a town in the Navarra region of Spain, so the food of that region became the basis for my plan. A half dozen folk came to last night’s Casa dinner, a shame for the half dozen who didn’t fill the empty seats, at least in my view! [...]

]]>