SHOW & REVIEW FOR MAY 12

HOME IS WHERE THE PASTA IS
After a generation of chefs devoted to making Italian cooking in the United States as fancy and expensive as possible, there has been a welcome sea change. Italian chefs everywhere are recognizing that the best cooks they ever knew were not their professional mentors but their mothers and grandmothers. Of the books coming out of this epiphany, I was lucky enough to co-author one – “My Home Is Your Home,” written with Chef Andrea Apuzzo, of Capri by way of New Orleans. We sit down with Andrea to talk about the book and this return to the rustic.

SAN FELICE MAKES US HAPPY
By now, most folks know that the Italian region of Tuscany is where Chianti comes from. And we hope most folks now that Chianti is no longer – and in fact, never was – only that cheap red wine that gave us straw-covered bottles to put candles in. No, Chianti has always been one of Italy’s most respected wine regions, the kingdom ruled by the glorious sangiovese grape. We taste wines today with our new friends from San Felice – and hear about their efforts to save a grape that almost got away.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR NOWFE
It’s no secret that the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience created the model now used by many wine and food festivals around the country, including at least a couple successful ones in the greater Houston area. This year, as New Orleans continues it long climb back into the world of tourism, NOWFE promises to be bigger and better than ever. We prepare for the VERY long weekend later this month chatting with the president and the executive director about what there will be to eat and drink.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
PERE AL VINO BIANCO

6 large, ripe pears, peeled and cored but left whole
1 cup sugar
2 cups dry Italian wine
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 cloves
1 stick cinnamon
3 tablespoons toasted and chopped pistachios
1 dozen Italian almond macaroons

Place the pears in an enamel fireproof baking pan small enough so that they can stand upright. In a separate saucepan, bring the wine, cloves, cinnamon and sugar to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes. Strain over the pears, seal the dish with foil and poach over moderate heat until the pears are pierced easily with a fork. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in a glass-serving bowl. Raise the heat and reduce the liquid to about ¾ cup. Pour though a fine sieve over the pears, and refrigerate until well chilled. Just before serving, sprinkle them with the toasted pistachios and serve almond macaroons on the side. Serves 6.