The traditional method of baking in Greece was to use a beehive-shaped oven called an avli built on the side of a house. Those who couldn’t afford an oven would send their food to the local baker’s fourno (oven) for cooking. Pastitsio, baked macaroni with meat sauce and white sauce, with its Italian-derived name but […]
Rib-sticking Whole Wheat Pasta for Winter
February 12, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Winters were much colder when I lived in New England and rib-sticking meals like this pasta dish were meals often made. In southern California it never really gets cold enough to want something rib-sticking, but I love this preparation anyway even for nostalgia’s sake. This preparation was originally inspired by the rib-sticking cooking of the […]
Lasagna for the Financiers?
November 24, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Lasagne alla Finanziera–Lasagna in the Financier’s Style–is a particular preparation in the Piedmont region of Italy. This preparation—and any with the name finanziera—is a nineteenth-century or perhaps eighteenth-century invention. One finds this kind of preparation in the province of Turin, but also in Lombardy and Liguria as well in French cuisine. So-named dishes are probably […]
Sicilian Eggplants Are Pearls Over Pasta
September 25, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Eggplants were first introduced to Europe by Arab farmers in Spain and Sicily. The anonymous Cordoban Calender of 961 mentions eggplants. In Sicily the word for eggplant, milinciana derives from the Arabic word for the plant bādhinjān. It was not at all popular at first. As for the combination of pasta and eggplants which is […]
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