Monthly Archives: November 2010

Focaccia col Formaggio

23 Tuesday Nov 2010

Posted by in Food, Italy, Liguria, Photographs, Uncategorized

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In all of Italy it is the province of Liguria that is most famous for focaccia, the exquisitely delicious flat, oily bread.  In all of Liguria, the town of Recco is most famous for its focaccia.  And in Recco, one of the most famous places to find focaccia col formaggio is Ristorante Vitturin 1860.  Yes, the date at the end of the name is the date the restaurant was established.  As they proudly state on their business cards: ” ‘Il piu antico di Recco’, 150 anni e non sentirli” (the oldest in Recco, 150 years and we don’t feel it).

Before leaving  for the States we met our Genovese cousins at Vitturin to enjoy some seafood and some of the restaurant’s well-known focaccia col formaggio (quite unlike the more usual bready styles of focaccia).  Once inside the restaurant we were amazed to see the enormous paddle-wheel apparatus that delivers meals from the kitchens below to the diners above.

There are about eight of these trays mounted on the wheel; obviously they must stay horizontal as the wheel turns – it is a most ingenious system and must save a million steps a day for the wait staff.

Fish and focaccia are the main events at Vitturin; they give the merest nod in the direction of meat.  This big platter of fish would entice any diner.

Here is a close-up of my partly devoured focaccia col formaggio:

What was the highlight of the evening?  It was a long visit to the kitchens below the restaurant proper.  The Captain asked the Maitre D’ if we could see what the delivery wheel looked like down below, and he immediately escorted us to the nether regions.  There we saw the wheel looking much as it did above – plates of steaming food going up, empty plates coming down.

Over on one side of the kitchen we met Filippo, who makes, he proudly told us, about 120 focaccia col formaggio every evening.  He begins by mixing his dough in the early afternoon and letting it rest.  When he’s ready to make a focaccia he takes a big knob of dough and rolls it out.

When the dough is thin enough he picks it up in his hands and does the stretching maneuver we associate with pizza-makers.

He puts it on the large round focaccia pan and puts dabs of stracchino cheese on top, about 750 grams for a regular focaccia, up to 1500 grams for a large size (that’s more than a pound for the regular, and about 3 pounds for a large). (!)

(It’s pretty hard to see in the photo, but that’s the old wood-fired stove in the background.  The restaurant now uses an electric oven.)

Then Filippo rolls out another sheet of dough, just the way he did for the bottom of the focaccia, and puts it over the cheese.  With a quick, nipping movement he tears some holes in the top layer of dough over some of the cheese knobs.

The final ingredients are put on top – a sprinkling of salt and a nice drizzle of olive oil.

All that remains is to trim the excess dough and pop the whole thing in a very hot oven.

It was such a treat to be able to nose around the kitchen.  Everyone was clearly proud of the operation, and with good reason.  It was all orderly, clean and efficient.

Oh yum – a lobster!

They all move so fast; there were not a great many people down there, and they were putting out well over a hundred dinners.

As we were leaving the kitchen the dish-washer called us over and presented us with a little bowl of appetizers, and gave me a hearty handshake and a Buona Notte.  She was so cheerful, and so happy to see us.  We felt very welcome at Vitturin, both upstairs and down.

Genova, part 2

15 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by in Genova, Liguria, Photographs, Uncategorized

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When we left our first Genova tour we had just eaten our fill of farinata at the Antica Sa Pasto.  Now that we’ve eaten so much we can barely walk, let’s roll down the hill to the port area.  While Genova still has an extremely active port (it’s the place to bring little boys who want to see really big boats), a large section of it, the Porto Antica,  has been refashioned as a cultural and tourist center.  On the city side of the busy street you can see Palazzo San Giorgio, constructed in 1260, and obviously tarted up in the centuries since.  It was the home to one of the world’s first banks.

Photo courtesy of cepolina.com

From about 1900 it served as the Port Authority; it now has several rooms that have been turned into exhibit space.  Cross the busy street and you will come to the Pirate Ship, one of the silliest of Genova’s offerings, maybe even sillier than Elvis.

Yo Yo Ho!  Arrrrrgh, let’s all talk like pirates!  Called Il Galleone Neptune (would you have guessed??), this replica of a 17th century pirate ship was built for the filming of Roman Polanski’s movie Pirates in 1986 (starring Walter Matthau as Cap’n Red).  You can go aboard for a fee, and it turns out to be rather fun.

A little bit farther along the road we come to Genova’s famous Aquarium, built in 1992 and justifiably known as the finest in Europe.  It is immense; you can easily spend a whole day, and you may want to – it’s not cheap to enter.  The displays are imaginative, interesting and clean; the whole thing is a delight.

In addition to all the usual fishy displays you would expect, you will also find a hummingbird house, and a glass biosphere designed by Renzo Piano at the time of the G8 meeting in Genova in 2001 (in fact Piano had a hand in the whole refashioning of the Port area).

The Aquarium is just a part of the so-called AquarioVillage which also includes the gigantic (5 floors) and fascinating Galata Museo del Mare (Museum of the Sea).  This museum is particularly appropriate to Genova, which was one of the four Maritime Republics in the Middle Ages (the others were Venezia, Amalfi and Pisa – yes! Pisa, which was once on the sea). Here you can see a full size model of a galley, numerous models of all kinds of ships,

reproductions of early globes,

and a letter written by Christopher Columbus.

There are tools of the sea-faring life, life-size models of shipwrights at work, a studio where model-builders work their magic, a part size model of a Vessel and of a much later Steam ship, and a reproduction of a submarine.  Attached nearby is a submarine, the Nazario Sauro, which is part of the museum and which guests can visit.  At present the Museum has an exhibit called “La Merica” about Italian emigration to the U.S.  I found it particularly interesting as the Captain’s father made the trip from Sicily to America in the early years of the 20th century, the period covered in the exhibit.  In addition to being informative it’s just plain fun.  Visitors are issued reproduction Italian passports, circa 1920, as well as an entry document.

Leaving the Port complex we’ll take a not-very-long walk to the Palazzo Principe, built by Andrea Doria around 1530 and now a museum.  iPods with tons of information about the exhibits are issued when you buy your ticket. Picture-taking is not allowed inside, but you can snap away to your heart’s content in the gardens.

See the cruise ship in the background?  No doubt Doria liked to keep an eye on his own ships at anchor beyond his Palazzo.

Well, that ends my extremely superficial tour of part of the beautiful city of Genova.  From here it’s a short walk to the other main rail station, Principe, where you can catch a train to wherever you’re going.

There are huge portions of the city that I haven’t mentioned (because I’ve never seen them), and many sites worth visiting (which are still on my own to-do list), including The Palazzo Bianco, The Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Reale and the fabulous Staglieno Cemetery among many others.  There’s even a cog railway from Principe to Granarolo – sadly not operating the day I was there.  I can’t wait to go back!

The Balmy Riviera…

11 Thursday Nov 2010

Posted by in gardening, olives, Weather

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Yesterday and today’s main topic of conversation: the hail storm of yesterday morning.

Fortunately the ‘grandine’ weren’t large enough to do serious damage, but we lost our entire pomegranate crop – both fruits. A grave disappointment. As well a struggling patch of late season lettuce was flattened.

It’s olive picking time again, and our neighbors have put up their nets. As you can see from the photo above, though, so far they have collected only hail, and plenty of it. Though it arrived yesterday morning, it is still in the nets this evening.

I was able to do our olive ‘harvest’ in about two hours today; this is the second year post-pruning that we have not had a crop. However, if you’re interested in reading about and seeing photos of our 2008 harvest, click here and here…  We didn’t have a hail storm that year.

Genova the Unsung

11 Thursday Nov 2010

Posted by in Genova, Italian Churches, Italy, Liguria, Photographs, Uncategorized

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Here’s what you never hear prospective visitors to Italy say: “We’re going first to Florence, then Rome and Venice, and then Genova.”  Genova?  Doesn’t seem to be on too many tourist’s maps, and it’s a pity, because it’s a terrific city, well worth a visit.

Genova, long and narrow, is spread out on the strip of land between the mountains and the sea around her generous harbor.  She is the capital of  Liguria and boasts a metropolitan area population of some 1.4 million.  Known as ‘La Superba’ for her ancient and glorious history, she is now an important economic center of Italy and was, in 2004, the European Union’s Capital of Culture.  The Bank of St. George, one of the oldest known banks, was founded in Genova in 1407.

Ancient remains suggest that the city was inhabited (by Greeks?) as early as the 6th or 5th century BC, perhaps even earlier.  It was destroyed by Carthaginians in 209 BC, later rebuilt and later still invaded by Ostrogoths  and Lombards.  Wikipedia has a very brief history of Genova here if you’d like a quick study.

If Americans think of Genova at all, it may be as the purported home of Christopher Columbus.  The wee little house where he may have lived, just outside the city walls, is a must-see.

I have an idea:  let me take you on ‘The Tour’ of Genova that I give guests when I can lure them away from the delights of Rapallo for a day.  It is a train ride of about 40 minutes to the more eastern of Genova’s two train stations, Brignole.  From there it is easy to find Via XX Settembre, the broad and well-traveled street with many famous shops.

At the top of Via XX Settembre is Piazza de Ferrari, newly reconstructed after being torn up for years to accommodate construction of the new metro subway.

If you had taken this photo the Carlo Felice opera house would be on your left, the Palazzo Ducale behind you, and behind that the tumble jumble of medieval Genova’s streets.

From here let’s take a stroll through the atrium of the magnificent Palazzo Ducale, turn left, and walk down the timeworn steps to  Piazza Matteoti, home of the Chiesa del Gesu e Sant’Ambrogio.

We’ll nip in to take a peek at the The Circumcision (link is to a probable study  from the Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna) painted by Peter Paul Rubens in 1605, one of two paintings he made for the church during his stay in the city.  After we leave the church we’ll turn left and walk up to and through the tall city gate.

Hey!  Who’s that?

Who knew that The King hung out at the Cafe Barbarossa to serenade unsuspecting tourists?  Enough of this nonsense.  On to Columbus’s house:

Very teeny indeed. For €4 you can go in and look, but perhaps we don’t need to do that today.  Of more interest, to me anyway, are the beautiful remains of the Chiostro di Sant’Andrea, moved to its present location just next door  to the house in 1922.  The cloister dates from the XII century and is a little island of calm amidst the bustle of the city that has grown around it.

In the background you can see an X-Files rendition of the Porto Soprano, one of the gates in the city walls which were constructed in the XII century.  Here are a couple of details from the top of the cloister columns.


I love this angel’s calm demeanor.

Why is there a rabbit on top of that donkey?

From this peaceful corner we will go back through the Porto Soprano,


walk by the Palazzo Ducale again,

Phot courtesy of Pidge Cash

and continue down to the magnificent  Cattedrale di San Lorenzo, which was consecrated in 1118.  The black and white stripes are a medieval symbol of nobility.


You can stare at the facade of this church for hours, and you will continue to find new details.

As well as many beautiful paintings and some 13th century frescoes, the church contains a most unusual artifact,  a grenade that struck the church on February 9, 1941, during a bombardment by the British.  The grenade went through the roof of the cathedral without exploding and can still be seen in the right aisle.

Now it’s time to launch ourselves into the warren of narrow streets in the medieval part of the city.  How narrow, you ask?  Well, narrow enough that a small truck has to make a complicated back and turn maneuver to make a simple 90 degree turn.

And it’s not even a big truck!

Many of the streets are too narrow to accommodate even a car, never mind a small truck.


Time for lunch!  We’ll stop at one of the many restaurants and trattorie in the old section and partake of a bit of Genova’s signature dish: farinata, a very flat pancake made from chickpea flour.

Note the wood-burning oven in the background; that is the only way to cook farinata correctly.  This photo was taken through the window of Antica Sa Pesta, a restaurant on an old salt-trading site.

Maybe we’ve done enough for one day.  Let’s take our full bellies home and have a nap before tucking into whatever the Captain has cooked up for us in our absence.  We’ll come back very soon to finish the tour of beautiful Genova.

Anita’s Amazing Smorgastortas

05 Friday Nov 2010

Posted by in Swedish food, Swedish recipes, Uncategorized

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Some foods are beautiful but don’t taste like much.  Some foods aren’t so pretty to look at but send you to heaven when you eat them.  Then there are those special foods that are treats for both the eye and the palate.

Earlier in the summer our friend Anita  invited a bunch of us over for a luncheon of Smorgastortas, a specialty of her native Sweden.  Smorgastortas, as the name suggests, are a happy marriage of the Swedish notion of smorgasbord (from smorgas meaning bread and butter, and bord, meaning table = a buffet meal featuring a variety of dishes) and the universal impulse to layer foods, as in a torta (any of various layered savory dishes, often containing a creamy cheese, herbs, etc., according to Yourdictionary.com).  Smorgastortas are both gorgeous and tasty, and now that the days are cooler it’s time to consider making one.

In terms of cooking they are easy to make, because you don’t have to actually cook anything.  But in terms of preparation I imagine they require time-consuming and fussy work.  Anita served us two.  One was fish based:

She cut and layered bread with fillings of shrimp salad and salmon salad, forming a large rectangle.  Then she ‘frosted’ the whole with cream cheese and decorated with smoked salmon slices, cucumbers, small pink shrimp, tomato and lemon slices.

The other was meat based:

Constructed in the same manner this one was filled with an olive salad and a meat salad, and then decorated with rolled braesola, cheese curls, sun-dried tomatoes, cukes, olives and arugula.

Either of these dishes alone would be impressive, but the two together on the table took our breath away – especially since there were only eight of us present.

You can make your own smorgastortas from whatever you have on hand.  They are dense and quite filling, so try to use a bread that is not too heavy to begin with, but yet is strong enough not to smush down into a gummy layer.  Then let your imagination run wild; the more the better in terms of toppings – as long as they’re beautifully arranged.  Here’s a recipe from Epicurious using egg salad, smoked salmon salad and a cream cheese filling.  They don’t cover the torta with cream cheese, though, and their decorations (chopped herbs only) seem very pedestrian to me after seeing what Anita did with hers.  I recommend the Anita approach – let your inner food artist run amok!