Che Bella Buzz: A Taste of Italy

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Welcome to Che Bella Tours and the Bella Buzz, a monthly quick-read
newsletter for those passionate about small group travel and rich cultural
experiences. Not only do we hope you'll enjoy it, we invite you to help us
shape it into a communication that is informative and valuable for you.
FEBRUARY 2016 - THE TASTE OF ITALY
FEATURED TOURS:
THE BUZZ: Speaking the language of your food
Bologna & Tuscany Culinary
WORLDVIEW: Bologna
Tour
TRAVEL TIPS & TRICKS: Pasta
MAKE IT WITH LOVE: Tagliatelle al Ragu
Venice, Florence and Rome
COMING MARCH: The Colors of Spain
Custom Travel Services
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Speaking the language of your food
In Italian, the expression “Parla come mangi” means “Speak the language of your food.” Italians
talk about food … a lot. Sharing family recipes, savoring a meal and enjoying the company of
family and friends brings about a sense of belonging, a sense of region and heritage.
The above picture is from one of my very favorite movies: Big Night. It’s the story of two brothers
from Italy who come to America to open a restaurant. They are purists who bring their authentic
regional recipes to the people of the Jersey Shore, who don't really appreciate the passion they
bring to their menu. The brothers risk everything they own for one “Big Night” that will either
make or break them. The anticipation, preparation, and intense enjoyment of the night’s dinner
are the crux of the film.
It is much the same when we gather around the table as a group: it is a celebration of good food
and wine, culture and friendship. Hosting this celebration is one of the joys of being a Che Bella
Tour Director. On our tours, we find the off the beaten path restaurants, guide you through the
menu, inspire you to choose something you’ve never tried before, choose the perfect wine
pairings and throw in some local delicacies to broaden your palate and surprise you a bit. When
we roll our sleeves up for a cooking lesson, savor a wine tasting or enjoy a local farm or market
tour, be sure to know you’ll go home with a new knowledge that will draw you under Italy’s spell
and increase your hunger for more.
This month, I am calling all gourmets to discover the nuances and mysteries of regional cuisine
and join my culinary journey to Bologna, Florence and Tuscany, Sept 23 - Oct 2, 2016. We will
learn not just about the local cuisine, but dig deep into a region and culture I have spent a
lifetime discovering. I hope you can join me.
Happy Travels.
Sandy Gregory, CITM
Intrepid traveler, Tour Director and owner of Che Bella Tours
www.chebellatours.com
sandy@chebellatours.com
303-596-4563
WORLDVIEW
Bologna
If Italy is food and food is Italy, Bologna in Emilia-Romana is its culinary capitol. This progressive city is
filled with stylish locals, medieval architecture, Europe’s oldest university, photogenic food shops — and
very few tourists.
Bologna has been nicknamed “La Grassa” or “The Fat.” The region is home to the most famous cured pork
meats of Italy: prosciutto, sausage, salami and mortadella are from pigs raised freely grazing on the
chestnuts and acorns of the Apeninnes Mountains. Liquid gold - balsamic vinegar - is from nearby
Modena. And the most renowned aged cheese on the planet - Parmigiano-Reggiano - is also found here.
The Bolognese enjoy every variation of egg noodle: ribbons of gold are served with rich ragu; ravioli and
tortellini are stuffed with cheeses, pumpkin, chestnut, and roasted meats. Gifts of the orchards and
gardens include tomatoes, beans, truffles, asparagus, cherries, and chestnuts.
The cuisine of Bologna is a cuisine of indulgence and tradition ... and the first stop on our Che Bella
Culinary Tour: Sept 23 - Oct 2, 2016. Click here for more information, roll up your sleeves, put on your
apron and join us! Buonissimo!
Cured meats
Balsamico - liquid gold
Parmigiano-Reggiano
TRAVEL TIPS AND TRICKS
Pasta
I always encourage my guests on tour to “do as the Romans do,” and one of those things is honoring the
tradition and passion of pasta. We Italians take pasta very seriously, it's the product that truly defines us.
Here are a few tips and tricks I have learned in my life and travels about cooking and eating pasta.
Cooking Pasta:
1. Pasta should be cooked in at rolling boil in water "as salty as the Mediterranean Sea" and no oil. When
done, it should never be rinsed with water or coated with oil, which prevents the pasta from soaking in
the sauce.
2. Pasta should be cooked until it is "al dente," which means "to the tooth" or firm to the bite. You can tell
if it is al dente if there is a small bit in the cross-section of the noodle that is not cooked.
3. Pasta water retains a salted starch which helps it cling nicely to your sauce. Instead of draining the
pasta in a colander, use a pasta scoop or tongs to pull the al dente pasta out of the water and put it right
into the sauce. The bit of starchy water you bring in with the pasta helps it come together with the sauce.
4. There are over 100 types of pasta and certain pastas are made for certain sauces. Spaghetti, vermicelli
and angel hair are long strands - never cracked in half before boiling - and perfect for thinner, smooth
sauces or pesto which coat each strand. Tube-shaped pasta like ziti, rigatone and penne, stuffed pasta
pillows like ravioli, and thick ribbons of egg pasta such as tagliatelli and papardelle hold up best to the
chunky meat sauces. Tortellini, navel-shaped pasta rounds, are considered Bologna’s number one
gastronomic tradition. They can be stuffed with cheese or meat but are always served "en brodo" or in
broth.
5. Sauces should not drown the dish, but simply dress the pasta.
Eating pasta:
1. Pasta is to be eaten with a fork only. Spoons are for children learning how to twirl ... and amateurs. Put
the fork into a few strands of spaghetti and let the tines of the fork rest against the curve of the bowl or
the curved indentation of the plate; twirl the fork around to create a small bundle. Too big? Too long?
Drop it back into the dish and start again.
2. Never cut pasta ... ever. With the side of the fork, with a knife, never ever ever. The one thing that
could bring my boisterous family to silence at the dinner table was a guest who cut their spaghetti.
Awkward.
3. Bread is not eaten together with pasta. Visitors to Tuscany often question the bland flavor of Tuscan
bread, as it's made without salt. The reason is, in Italy, table bread is more of a utensil than an eat-alone
food. "Fa la scarpetta" means "do the little shoe," to use the bread to mop up the last of the sauce. No
butter is served on an Italian table and no Italian would ever dip their bread into plates of olive oil drizzled
with balsamic. That is an American creation.
4. Cheese on seafood pasta? No. Fish from the seas and rivers of Italy are mild and delicate, and the milky
saltiness of cheese overwhelms the flavor of the fish. Cheese is usually made in the land-locked areas of
the country where fish is not widely served, so location as well as tradition makes fishy cheese hard to
swallow.
Be that as it may, Italians are famous rule-breakers. To an Italian, any rule is merely a suggestion. So
take the above information and use it as you will. They are merely suggestions. Except for the part about
cutting your spaghetti. Don't do that. Ever.
Make it with love
Tagliatelle al Ragù alla Bolognese
Spaghetti Bolognaise is an American adaption of tomato meat sauce. You will not find it in Italy. You will,
however, find a dish created in Bologna called Tagliatelle al Ragu. The word comes from the French
‘ragôut’, which refers to waking up or stimulating the appetite. Ragu is a hearty stew cooked very slowly
over low heat. Bologna has always been one of Europe’s wealthiest regions, a center of trade with a
heavy agricultural presence. Few things say wealth as loudly as a sauce comprised of various cuts of
meat, two kinds of fat, wine, milk, and a dusting of one of the world’s most treasured cheeses,
Parmigiano-Reggiano, all served on golden fresh ribbons of egg yolk pasta wide enough to handle the rich
sauce. Beyond a dash of nutmeg, there are no herbs in this dish. Nor is there garlic, in fact, there is very
little garlic used in the cuisine of Emilia Romagna. Here is the recipe for authentic Tagliatelle al Ragu, one
of the culinary treasures we will be enjoying on our Che Bella Culinary Tour to Bologna, Florence and
Tuscany:
4 servings
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
Soffrito: 1 cup onion, 1 1/3 cups celery, 1 1/3 cups carrot all chopped into small even chunks
1/2 pound lean ground chuck
1/2 pound lean ground pork
1/2 pound lean ground veal
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups whole milk
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or ground if you’re bereft of fresh
2 cups dry white wine
3 cups reduced homemade tomato purée or canned imported Italian San Marzano tomatoes,
crushed by hand, with their juice. I also like the Cento brand.
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, at the table
1 lb. Tagliatelle, made from an egg-and-flour dough. You can buy fresh tagliatelle in the refrigerator
section of your grocery, or make it homemade. We'll be learning how to make tagliatelle on Che Bella's
Culinary tour to Bologna, Florence and Tuscany.
Ragus take time, as there are many layers of flavor that cannot be rushed. Take your time and enjoy
making this sauce. In a large Dutch oven or heavy saucepan, melt the olive oil and butter. Add the onions,
celery and carrots and, using a wooden spoon, cook until very soft and beginning to caramelize. Add the
pancetta. When the vegetable and pancetta have carmelized, add the meats to the pan and brown. When
the meat begins changing color and releasing its own liquids, drain off the fat. Add the wine and cook
down while scraping all of the brown bits stuck to the pan.
Heat the milk in a separate pan, add to the pot, and cook until it is totally evaporated, which could take
about an hour. You need to give yourself time to let the milk cook down, as it should just be moist around
the edges of the meat. Add the tomatoes and stir well. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, add the
grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste and cook uncovered for at least 3 hours on a low heat either on
the stove top or in the oven, stirring occasionally. Add a bit of water or beef broth if the ragu thickens too
much.
Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt to the water and return to a boil. Add the tagliatelle and cook
until al dente (watch carefully, fresh pasta can take as little as 3 minutes to cook). Pull the pasta from the
boiling water with tongs or a pasta scoop and add directly to the hot ragu. The bit of cooking water that
comes with the pasta will help the pasta meld with the ragu.
Once the pasta and sauce come together, the final step is heating the serving bowl: scoop some hot pasta
water into the bowl, then swirl and dump it out right before adding the pasta mixture. Sprinkle some
Parmigiano-Reggiano and a dash of parsley. Enjoy!
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have a lot of fun as we visit the
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