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Do not fret if you visit and there are no new posts. When I return from my travels and holidays, I will post new entries. In the interim, have a wonderful and safe holiday season!

The Joy that is Mille Folie

As far as wedding cakes tend to go, most are rather bland repeats of the previous wedding you attended. The majority of couples pick “safe” cakes—vanilla, chocolate, carrot—with flavors most guests will eat. Sometimes, to spice things up, they’ll throw in a raspberry, strawberry, or cream filling, but again, nearly everyone likes those flavors combined with the traditional choices of cake. This observation is in no way a criticism of the couples who choose these cakes for their special day, rather it is meant to show the limited possibilities presented to them by bakeries.

Barring a lactose-allergic fiancé, a very tasty, yet not at all trendy choice for a wedding cake would be a mille folie (pronounced mee-lay foe-lee-ay). “Mille folie” essentially means a thousand sheets in Italian. This dessert is a very light Italian cake made with layers of thin, flaky dough (not unlike cooked filo dough), alternating between layers of thick, creamy custard. The custard soaks into the dough, softening the flaky layers. Topping all this is a light, whipped frosting that neither attempts to upstage the cake nor shirk away from its responsibility as the “icing” on top. It’s rich without being heavy and dense without being overwhelming. Mille folie absolutely melts in your mouth.

Mille folie is the cake of choice in my family (on those rare occasions when we decide to purchase dessert rather than make our own). What dessert should we serve at Easter lunch? Someone needs to pick up the mille folie. What kind of cake should one of the cousins order for their wedding? Mille folie, of course! An aunt is visiting from Italy? Let’s order the mille folie for the first dinner she’s here—she’ll love it! Our family goes nuts for this delicious treat. And it’s also beginning to look like the wedding cake of choice for this generation in our family, so don’t be surprised if you attend more than one Monari wedding and find, hopefully to your delight, that you are served the same type of cake.

Where can I find this most amazing Italian cake that La Famiglia thinks so highly of?!?

I’m so glad you asked! There is this delightfully quaint Italian pastry shop called Dianda’s. They have two locations—one in San Francisco and one in San Mateo. If you can, take a trip to visit either one. The treats you will find are well worth the price of gas and the miles on your car. The San Mateo shop—conveniently located near my office—is nestled between a fresh fish market and an Italian delicatessen. The smell of barbecue greets you before being replaced by the sweet aroma of confectioner’s sugar upon entering the bakery. Cases filled with delicious treats welcome as you enter, as do the tiny ladies working behind them.

Take a moment to slowly examine all the possibilities found behind the glass. Showing off their dazzling white frosting adorned with spring-colored flowers, cakes wake patiently in their cool storage space before being claimed by an eager customer. In the next case, there are personal-sized samples of the cakes in the refrigerator. This is where you will find your own gone-in-two-minutes mille folie. Also available, and equally wonderful, is tiramisu cake, rumcake, cannoli, and a wide assortment of more traditional dense cakes made with all the lightness of the Italian bakers’ ancestors. Each of the large slices are about five inches long and maybe two inches wide, with three inches of height. It’s probably healthier (and better for your hips) to split one of these with a friend, but it can easily be consumed by a single eater—trust me on this one! On the shelf behind this counter would be my sister’s weakness—almond torta. A dense cake-like dessert, this is in a class all of its own. It’s sweet almond taste is accented by a thin layer of raspberry filling along the bottom. It’s like eating a slice of Italy—absolutely delicious and absolutely addicting!

The next display proudly offers all kinds of tempting cookies. Amaretti—round cookies with pine nuts nestled on top; alunetti—squared-off, finger-length, flaky cookies decorated with powdered sugar; biscotti—traditional long cookies with almonds, accented with a slight orange flavor; chocolate cookies; big cookies, small cookies; all yummy cookies. And then finally, you get to the candies. These flavor-filled, chocolate-coated bites of sugar rival anything found at See’s Candy.

Order whatever tickles your fancy and enjoy it with a cappuccino or espresso at one of their charming café tables, or take some home to share. And just maybe, people will begin to catch onto the wonder that is Dianda’s cakes, helping wedding guests truly enjoy the cake served at the reception.

Dianda's in San Mateo
117 De Anza Blvd.
San Mateo, 94402
650.570.6260

Dianda's in San Francisco

2883 Mission St.

San Francisco, 94110

415.647.5469

Risotto

Risotto is the ultimate Italian comfort food. It's the perfect dish after a long, hard day (as long as you're willing to take the time to make it!). With its creamy texture and rich flavor, the risotto (pronounced ree-zoe-toe) truly melts in your mouth. Some people complain that risotto doesn't taste like anything, and on its own, it's somewhat true. But add some wine (white or red will do), extra Parmesan cheese, and any assortment of meat or vegetables to your recipe, and the rice immediately takes on that ingredient's essence, creating a new and robust taste your mouth will not soon forget.

Unlike Asian rice that tends to be slightly dry, Italian rice is rich and extremely creamy. Typically risotto is made with Arborio rice which is an Italian medium-grain rice which remains "al dente" (somewhat firm) and becomes creamy when cooked. Risotto dishes originated in northern Italy, which would explain why it's such a large part of my family's cuisine. The great thing about risotto, aside from its taste, is that you can do so many different things with it. You can add wine (red or white, like stated above), seafood, sausage, chicken, prosciutto, asparagus, carrots, peas, zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, the options are only limited by your palate and your imagination.


Risotto (basic recipe)

Serving Size: 4
Time: 5 minutes preparation; 40 minutes cooking

Ingredients:
1 quart chicken/vegetable broth
1 Tablespoon olive oil
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups of rice (arborio or vialone nano)
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
freshly ground pepper (to taste)

Directions:
Bring broth to simmering point. Put the oil, 4 Tablespoons of the butter, and the chopped onion into a heavy-bottomed pot and saute gently until onion is soft and translucent. Add the rice and cook for one minute, stirring constantly so the rice is coated with the oil and butter. Pour 1/2 cup of the broth over the rice and cook, stirring regularly until the liquid is nearly all absorbed.
Continue adding broth to the rice (1/2 cup at a time) until gone.
When the rice is tender, but al dente, take the pot off the heat and mix in the remaining butter and the Parmesan cheese. Add a little pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!

Tips:
To include wine, I usually add white wine before pouring in the first 1/2 cup of broth.
If your vegetables are raw, add them after the rice has been cooking for about 10 minutes.
If you are using roasted peppers or sundried tomatoes (both of which are amazing with risotto), add those prior to adding the last bit of butter and the Parmesan.
If including seafood or meat, make sure it's been cooked prior to adding it before the Parmesan.

The Eternal Quest for Great Gelato, Part 2

Have you ever had a hankering for one of those discontinued sticky treats from your youth? Just down the street from the aforementioned Dolce Spazio sits the ultimate candy store, Powell’s Sweet Shoppe, who specializes in those tantalizing favorites. A soundtrack of old movie songs plays in the background while children young and old scurry from one delicious treat to the next, remembering their favorite candies from a time gone by and discovering new delights along the way. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory takes its place on the back wall, repeatedly playing through the classic children’s story. Usually it’s the parents that stop to watch the movie, rather than their children, who are far more taken with the surprises that they find with each new candy toy from their parents’ generation and older. Even the oldest customer is transformed into “a kid in a candy shop” upon entering. Because of the stunning amount of candy covering the store like a blanket, many customers often overlook the bevy of gelato flavors near the register, which is my primary reason for visiting.

On my most recent visit to Powell’s, I discovered that they serve Ciao Bella Gelato, a brand that originated in New York’s Little Italy from a Torino recipe and oddly enough, is sold pint-sized at Costco. More than Dolce Spazio, Powell’s features flavors found in any gelateria in Italy, including spumoni, tiramisu, pistachio, coppa mista, cappuccino, dark chocolate, and a variety of sorbetto. I’ve tried several flavors, but so far, the only two that immediately transport me to an Italian piazza is their dark chocolate and tiramisu gelato. From the perfect creamy, smooth texture to the dark, intense flavor, every bite teases me into believing that I’m in Rome and not on the streets of Los Gatos. It melts in your mouth (and I don’t just mean literally because it’s gelato); the flavors are richer and more intense than ice cream, bringing greater pleasure to your taste buds than even a pint of Häagen Dazs’s famous dulce de leche. Powell’s also offers three different serving sizes, and encourages all guests to mix flavors.

Verdict: The dark chocolate and the tiramisu are, I believe, even better than Dolce Spazio, mainly due to the fact that they have a creamier texture (which is closer to true Italian gelato). Just don’t try mixing Powell’s candy with their gelato; it will ruin the gelato experience.

Powell’s Sweet Shoppe

35 N. Santa Cruz Ave.

Los Gatos

408.395.5200

www.powellssweetshoppe.com

The Eternal Quest for Great Gelato, Part 1

No quest for the closest thing to Italian gelato would be complete without starting where I typically go for gelato, Dolce Spazio (pronounced dōl-che spŏtz-ee-ō) in Los Gatos. Long considered the hotspot for Bay Area gelato, Dolce Spazio has won numerous awards for their version of the classic Italian treat. A quaint little shop on the main strip of downtown, Dolce Spazio caters to the elite of Los Gatos. Saturday mornings blur into a rush of joggers, bikers, families with strollers, and visitors who line up for their treat of choice—coffee, Italian soda, tea, giant cookies, muffins, smoothies, and for those brave early-morning souls, gelato and sorbetto.

With a variety of flavors that run from the seemingly health conscious—strawberries & cream, pistachio—to the deliciously scandalous—oreogasmic—to the mouthwatering divine—chocolate liqueur, snickelicious, cappuccino chip—to the traditional classic—vanilla bean, menta chip—Dolce offers temptation to everyone. Sizes take their cue from the Italian numerical system of scoops, including uno (for one scoop), due (for two), and tre (for three). You may be tempted to choose the tre, but tre is not for the faint of heart, or for the tiny bellied. Dolce’s gelato is rich and dense—heavy even, causing even an uno to be overwhelming if consumed after any semblance of a meal. The gelato is creamy (although, depending on the flavor you order—those with chocolate chips or cookie crumbles—it can sometimes be slightly granular). Every serving of gelato comes with a perfect pie-slice-shaped wafer cookie that crumbles under the weight of the gelato. Enjoy your gelato out behind the shop in their hide-away courtyard at one of the dainty café tables.

Verdict: Dolce Spazio’s gelato tastes fantastic (seriously, it’s one of my favorite place to splurge on dessert), but it’s more the love-child from the marriage of ice cream and gelato than authentic Italian gelato.

Dolce Spazio

221 North Santa Cruz Ave.

Los Gatos

408.395.1335

www.dolcespazio.com

Gelato vs. Ice Cream

In a recent issue of Bon Appetit, I was shocked at the claim of one writer that after much researching and taste testing on her part, she discovered there is no difference between ice cream and gelato. No difference?! I don’t think so! There is a major difference between ice cream and gelato (pronounced gel-a-toe).

Americans tend to be copycats. We like to take other cultures’ fashions, traditions, and cuisines and make them our own. The same is true with gelato. Many manufacturers will make their version of Italian gelato and slap a label on the box claiming its authenticity. However, there is no way that it can be true gelato, because while they may be using the same process, they are not using the exact same ingredients—such as the milk from Italian cows. California cheese companies are constantly bragging about their cows, but in order to make authentic Italian gelato, Italian cows eating Italian hillside grass and drinking Italian river water, I am convinced, must be used.

What exactly is the difference between gelato and ice cream? I’m glad you asked!

Gelato typically has 35 percent less air than ice cream, creating a denser and creamier texture. By adding air to their product, American ice cream producers get nearly double their quantity, but at the cost of quality. Gelato is made with whole cow’s milk, containing only 4 to 8 percent butterfat (significantly lower than American ice creams’ 18 to 26 percent). Since gelato ingredients are not homogenized together and it uses less butterfat, it melts quicker than ice cream. Also different than American ice cream, gelato uses a forced air freezer, holding the temperature a constant 0-6°F (a good 10-15°F warmer than American ice cream), which keeps it at a semi-frozen consistency as opposed to being too frozen.

Other fun facts:

Gelato made with water instead of dairy products is called sorbetto (pronounced sore-bet-toe). Sorbetto is usually found in fruit flavors, as they mix best with water. Gelato is believed to have originated in northern Italy, while the fruit-flavored sorbetto claims its origins in southern Italy.

Aside from the above evidence spouting the production differences between American ice cream and Italian gelato, and in spite of the fact that only true gelato comes from Italy, it is possible to tell the difference between ice cream and gelato made in America. For example, if you were to visit Baskin Robbins and order a scoop of their chocolate ice cream, then visit Powell’s in Los Gatos and order a scoop of their dark chocolate gelato, you would immediately be able to see, taste, and smell the difference. And that’s just between American ice cream and American gelato! Come with me as I look for the best American Gelato in the Bay Area!

Zucchini

Second only to basil, zucchini is my favorite green vegetable (although, recently I learned that it’s really considered to be more of a fruit than a vegetable—but I still think of it as a veggie, so that’s what I’m going to call it for the sake of this post). Zucchini, like the tomato, is one of the most frequently grown home-garden vegetables, but this is a fairly recent development in home-gardening.

Thought to have originated near Milan, Italy in the late 1800s, the zucchini was a product of experimental mutation between squash-melon-like varieties. Since that time, it’s been dubbed the quintessential Italian summer vegetable (some could argue that the tomato might come out on top of that throwdown, should it happen). The zucchini didn't make it's Unites States' debut until the 1920s, when it is believed Italian immigrants brought the seeds with them.

Americans were already familiar with squash (don’t we hear stories about the Pilgrims and Indians eating turkey and squash on that first Thanksgiving?), so zucchini wouldn’t have been vastly foreign to them. Zucchini is a sort of squash, not too unlike cucumbers, although zucchini are typically cooked rather than eaten raw. One hint when buying or picking your own zucchini: it’s better to get the small ones, since the larger ones tend to be less flavorful (and can have a slightly bitter undertone). Often considered to be more of a complimentary addition, zucchini are delicious with just about any item in the Italian diet—tomatoes, prosciutto, pasta, Parmesan cheese, even cooked with just a little butter or olive oil.

For the longest time, the only way I would eat zucchini is if my mother had slightly cooked them (so they were barely tender, but still held onto a little bit of their crunch) in butter or oil and then grated a good helping of Parmesan cheese on top. The combination of the saltiness of the cheese paired with the hint of sweetness from the zucchini is divine! I am happy that my taste buds have since matured and are now able to appreciate some finer zucchini offerings, such as Saltimbocca Zucchini (pronounced salt-eem-boe-ka zoo-kee-nee), which essentially means “jump in your mouth zucchini” (please refer below for the recipe).

Another zucchini delicacy is not the zucchini itself but rather its flower. My Nonna loves eating the flowers. I remember watching her pick the flowers from the zucchini plants in their garden when the flowers were perfectly yellow, with a hint of green ribs along the underside edges (brown or wilting flowers simply won’t do). I thought it strange that she would eat the flower, but I’ve since come to realize that she had the right idea! The flowers are extremely delicate, which is why they must be picked and eaten almost immediately. You might be able to find the flower in the supermarket, but be warned, it is very expensive due to the difficulty in storing and transporting the flower. The best way to eat the flower is to fry it. Once fried, you can stuff it with anything you like (ricotta and Parmesan cheese are always good), however, it will taste just as good without stuffing as it will with.

Saltimbocca Zucchini (a slight deviation from the Michael Chiarello version)

Serving size: 4-6
Time: 15 minutes preparation; 8 minutes cooking

Ingredients:
2 lbs. zucchini (try to get each 1 ½ inches in diameter)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 thin slices prosciutto
20 leaves of fresh sage

1/3 lb. fontina cheese, thinly sliced
3 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup pure olive oil
2 Tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:
Cut each zucchini lengthwise into thin slices (about 1/4-inch thick). You will need 16 slices total. Lay them out in pairs and lightly season with salt and pepper.

Arrange prosciutto slices on half the zucchini slices, ensuring no prosciutto hangs over the edges of the zucchini. Place 2 sage leaves on top of the prosciutto. Set the fontina slices on top, again making sure no cheese hangs over the side. Then, lay the remaining zucchini slices on top of each stack. Using paper towels, press down firmly on each stack to extract moisture and firm the zucchini.

Pour the lightly beaten eggs into a deep dish. Season the flour with salt and pepper on another plate. Pick up each zucchini stack by both ends and hold it securely, dipping it first in the egg and then dredging it in the flour until evenly coated.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Cook the zucchini, turning once, until golden brown (about 2 minutes on each side). Once cooked, place on a plate and keep warm until ready to serve. Add more oil to skillet if needed.

Add the remaining sage leaves to the hot pan and cook briefly until crisp. Arrange several crisped leaves on top of each saltimbocca. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Serve and enjoy!