HUFF POST PICKS BEST CITIES FOR LOCAL FOOD

The Huffington Post picked the top ten U.S. cities for local food--a decidedly green look at great restaurants. Foodies won't be surprised that Portland, Oregon ranked number one.

According to the article, "It is no surprise that Portland, the first city to adopt legislation to combat climate change, is serving up some of the greenest and tastiest food in the United States." They singled out Three Square Grill and Higgens for their use of fresh and sustainable local produce. Good job, PDX!



I prefer small, imaginative restaurants far more than the standard warhorses with white tablecloths that frequently get mentioned in the "best of" lists. One of my favorite places in Portland is Pok Pok and Whiskey Soda Lounge (at 3226 se division, pdx). I've mentioned it before (and so has the New York Times, GQ, Food and Wine, and a slew of others) so it's not exactly undiscovered, but it may be new to you. Pok Pok offers a brilliant take on Southeast Asian street food. Order Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. Sticky and sweet, and tossed in caramelized Phu Quoc fish sauce and garlic, this is amazing. Or try the Kaeng Hung Leh--"Classic Northern Thai sweet pork belly and pork shoulder curry with ginger, palm sugar, tamarind, turmeric, Burmese curry powder and pickled garlic."



Jumping to city number two on the list, San Francisco, here's another favorite--an unassuming spot in a city of great places to eat, Cafe Claude is a perfect little bistro in an alley (off Union Square, at 7 Claude Lane) that serves the best french onion soup in town and features jazz at night. By day, sit under an outside umbrella.



My town, Seattle, is a great place to eat and scored a number 5 on the green list. They singled out Cafe Flora, "an eco-conscious vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free restaurant that serves local produce and herbs from Washington farms." Blah. I'm sure it's quite good, but we skipped the vegan food for la Medusa, a big favorite of ours. This hip Sicilian restaurant is a lively creative spot with a knowledgeable and friendly staff, and a chef that is a tattooed wizard of the culinary arts. A ten minute drive from downtown, this out of the way place is worth the trip (it's in the Columbia City neighborhood at the south end, at 4857 Rainier Avenue South) to taste their "Sicilian inspired food for the soul."


My parents are excellent Italian cooks and they vouch for the place. Mom is Calabrese, and Dad is Sicilian from New York City (also quite a food town) and he said the Perciatelli con le Sarde (the signature dish of Sicily: perciatelli pasta and sardines in caramelized fennel & onions, saffron, pine nuts, olives, raisins) is better than the same dish he'd eaten in Sicily. A recommendation doesn't get any better than that! The apps are great, too, so try the homemade eggplant caponata and the bacala--fried cod fritters. By the way, you may know that Sicilian food is different than Italian food--Italy is highly regional and wasn't even a united country until the 19th century. Try la Medusa.

There is an old Sicilian saying: Cui va 'n Seattle e 'un vidi la Medusa, si nni parti sceccu e torna armali. (English translation: Whoever goes to Seattle and doesn't see la Medusa, goes there a jackass and returns a fool.)

The Huff Post Top Ten Cities for Local Food

1. Portland
2. San Francisco/Berkeley
3. New Orleans
4. Albuquerque
5. Seattle
6. Chapel Hil, NC
7. New York
8. Minneapolis
9. Denver
10. Washington, DC

Hungry? Check out these amazing out of the way places:

Pok Pok is located at 3226 se division, pdx. Check out their website here.
Cafe Claude is located at 7 Claude Lane, in SF. Website is here.
La Medusa is located at 4857 Rainer Avenue South in Columbia City. Their website is here.

SUNDAY GRAVY

Meet the Bellinos. They're cooking up a batch of Sunday Sauce, aka Gravy in certain Italian-American enclaves. This is real "down home cooking," and nobody is putting on airs. This scene cracks me up. This sort of homemade ethnic food is discovered by foodies and tarted up in expensive restaurants, but there is no comparison with the real family recipe perfected over generations. Foodies will tell you all about osso bucco, say, or risotto, or polenta, as if it's something new--and in all fairness, maybe it's new to them. Bite your tongue. Smile, don't wince, when they mangle words like "gnocchi," "biscotti," "ricotta," and even "marinara." (Not to mention "bruschetta," which is pronounced "brew-Sketta" by the way, not "brew-SHETTA.") Oh, and by all means avoid correcting their mispronunciations; they'll only think you're a snob or a know-it-all--even if you first heard these words pronounced in Italian. That is, correctly. "But everyone says biz-SCOTTY," they'll say, feeling bruised. Or my favorite, "I've heard it pronounced both ways."

I know, I know. Enough talk. Now let's sit down and eat.

UMBRIA BELLA

Just over the Tuscan border lies Umbria, a region of hilly countryside settled by the Etruscans long before Romulus and Remus suckled at the teats of the she-wolf. The region is bordered by Tuscany to the west and la Marche to the east, and locals hunt the hills for wild boars and delicious mushrooms. They also grow grapes, which are made into world famous wines.


Asissi is an Umbrian town famous for St. Francis, a monk who challenged the materialism of the all powerful church and founded an order of monks known for their vow of poverty. The 12th century mystic is perhaps the most beloved of the Catholic saints and visitors come from around the world to pay their respects.

We stayed in at an Umbrian agriturismo. "Agriturismo" is an Italian term for "agricultural tourism," or what we might call a farm holiday, where rooms are provided for travelers as a way to help family farms survive. We stayed in a cabin on the farm overlooking the vineyards. It wasn't as rustic as you might think--we didn't exactly work on the farm. In fact, there was a swimming pool and a bocce court. Playing bocce in this setting made up for losing. Wendy's all-women team defeated every men's team that dared challenge it.

This is wine country. The grapes growing outside our door were used to produce six different wines, three whites and three reds, and we tried them all. We ate hearty Umbrian food and had a wine tasting one evening. We were near the border of Tuscany, and a local noted that the hill we facing a hill we faced was Montepulciano. Montepulciano, home of the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, one of Italy's best wines (for a cheaper, but excellent wine, try the Rosso di Montepulciano). Another nearby hilltown is Montalcino, famous for it's remarkable Brunello. Wine snobs could go ape here, but the Italians seem to appreciate wine as part of the meal, which is part of la dolce vita. To them, it's excellent, but it's the local wine. Of course it's good!

Orvieto is a beautiful Etruscan town that rests like a crown on a mountain of volcanic Tufa rock. The high position helped it defend itself against marauders. Orvieto is famous for its beautiful church, covered with frightening apocalyptic visions, and its gorgeous fortress-like town. We walked through the town and soaked up the local beauty, touring the church and thanking God we weren't suffering the eternal torment of the damned.

We had lunch at a remarkable little spot, Trattoria dell'Orso, where we ate homemade tagliatelle served with wild mushrooms--and with cherry tomatoes, basil, and scamorza. The secondo was roasted chicken stuffed with truffles. Ciro Cristiano, the kindly co-owner (with Chef Gabriele di Giandomenico), recited delicious details of the food they were preparing (as opposed to breaking out a menu) and was an extremely gracious host.

We chatted about our travels. He asked if I was Italian, and I told him about my ancestry (Southern Italian, and Sicilian) and he told us about his trips to those areas further south (he is originally from Napoli) and insisted I visit them. After each course, he asked if we were full or if we'd like to hear what else was cooking. Afterward, we exchanged business cards, and he laughed at my cartoon self-portrait. The food, by the way, was extraordinary, and I had no better in Italy. It's not surprising this little out of the way trattoria was written up in the New York Times.

Tuscany and Umbria are absolutely beautiful, but Umbria is more remote and untouched. Umbria is probably what Tuscany looked like before it was "discovered" by Frances Mayes and "Under the Tuscan Sun" brought people in droves. Now the world has caught on, so it's not surprising to find "Tuscan-style" pizza advertised at Pizza Hut, or "Tuscan Tacos" at Taco Bell. As terrible as that may sound, this area will endure. It has survived countless invaders and it will survive the latest wave of tourists and tacky Americanized imitations. Still, you should get there as soon as you can because it would be a shame to miss this for too long.

CARAVAGGIO

The Cardsharps, c. 1594, oil on canvas

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, (29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610) was a brilliant, violent, rebellious artist who strode through the piazzas of Rome, Naples and Sicily dressed in black and carrying a sword. And he used it. In 1606 he killed a man in a brawl and had to flee Rome with a price on his head. Caravaggio got into another swordfight in Malta, and yet another in Naples, and not surprisingly he died a violent death. At the same time, he was the first great painter of the Baroque period, and received commissions from the Pope, among others. Despite being a badass, he was the most popular painter in Rome.

Shocking at the time, Caravaggio's art was peopled with lowlives and criminals--not your standard religious fare. When he took on religious subjects, he often painted them with grotesque violence, such as the decapitation of Goliath shown below. Look at the severed head, which is a self-portrait. Click on "The Cardsharps" above, and examine it in detail. The con game is beautifully rendered, a fine art masterpiece depicting the low art of card cheats.

David with Head of Goliath; a self-portrait

We're heading for Italy in a couple weeks, and in preparation we've been soaking up Italian art and history like bread soaks up olive oil. As an artist, I've always been inspired by the Italians even if they seem out of fashion in this era of timid conceptual art--much too sanguine for this pale anemic age. Caravaggio would run a sword through First Thursday artspeak like so much paper-thin prosciutto. You can hardly blame him. He was a ruffian, and while I don't exactly condone swordplay I find it kind of refreshing as I survey the contemporary scene. Don't worry, I won't be brandishing a sword on this trip to Italy--not even a Swiss army knife, thanks to post 9-11 airline rules-- but I'm bringing a little watercolor kit and a brush and look forward to retracing some of the same time-worn steps as Michelangelo Marisi da Caravaggio.

The following episode of Simon Schama's excellent series, "The Power of Art," focuses on the fascinating artist Caravaggio.

HAPPY ST. JOSEPH'S DAY

You know about St. Patrick's Day, but do you know about St. Joseph's Day?

This feast day is as important to Italians as St. Paddy's is to the Irish. In Italy, and in neighborhoods with a population of Italian Americans, people celebrate the patron saint of Sicily. There won't be any green beer, but there are special pastas, fish, sweets, baked breads, and fava beans. Some Italian Catholics will prepare a St. Joseph's table, or Tavole di San Giuseppe, and provide a feast spread that is open to all. Special groups such as orphans, the elderly and the homeless are invited to attend. This is a day to remember the poor, so there will be no meat, and instead of cheese breadcrumbs are sprinkled over pasta. These traditions go back to the middle ages, when much of Sicily was wiped out by a famine. It is said that the humble fava bean helped them survive, and to this day favas will be included in the feast of St. Joseph.

zeppole

And of course zeppole. Don't forget the zeppole. A zeppola (plural zeppole, in southern dialects zeppoli) or St. Joseph's Day cake, also called sfinge and in Rome Bigne di San Giuseppe, is a delicious little fried pastry. They sell them on the streets of Rome, Naples, and Sicily. Sometimes they're filled with crema or custard. (Read about them here)

Italians in New Orleans celebrate St. Joseph's Day:


Like the Irish and St. Patrick's Day, this is a day for Italians to take pride in their culture and heritage. Even if you're not Italian, have something Italian today. Have a slice of pizza (invented in Naples) or some pasta (invented by the Romans) with a nice glass of chianti, or have a caffe latte (you guessed it) or maybe an ice cream (gelato was first created by the Sicilian-born Procopio dei Coltelli back to the 16th century). Won't you join me?

The Holy Trinity: Italian bread, Italian wine, and some extra virgin olive oil.

Oh, and use a fork. Knives go back to prehistoric times, but Catherine di Medici brought the first fork to France in 1533 when she married the future King Henry II. The French were slow to warm to the idea. She also influenced their cooking to a great degree by bringing a sophisticated palate and cuisine from Italy.

An Englishman named Thomas Coryate brought the first forks back to England after seeing them in Italy during his travels in 1608. The English ridiculed the forks as effeminate and unnecessary, and explained that they had two good hands to eat with. Gradually, they came around.

Finally, on a lighter note, everyone's favorite Italian American, Paulie Walnuts, comments on the Italian contribution to world cuisine. Ethnic pride? Fuggedaboudit.

SICILIAN SOUL FOOD

One of my favorite places to eat is La Medusa, a Sicilian restaurant in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle. This weekend, we ate there with my parents and had a wonderful meal. My father is Sicilian and my mother is Calabrese (from the toe of the boot) and they're both excellent cooks. Not your typical rubes, they won't have the wool pulled over their eyes by a merely trendy eatery, and they will happily let you know if the meal isn't up to par.



For starters, we had bacala--salt cod fritters--and "grandmas's greens" in warm garlic anchovy broth, pine nuts, olives, raisins. Then we ate perciatelli con le sarde, a signature dish of Sicily, pasta with caramelized fennel & onions, sardines, saffron, pine nuts, olives, and raisins. We also had orecchiette ("ears") pasta with brussels sprouts, taleggio fonduta, spicy Italian sausage, and truffle oil. Everything was cooked to perfection and made with fresh, seasonal foods from local markets--just as it would be in Sicily.


Sicilian Street Food

We drank Montepulciano d’ Abruzzo between bites and talked about our trip to Italy in the spring, and my folks gave us plenty of great recommendations of must-eat-at-spots scattered throughout the boot. Do you detect a theme here? In Italy, they take food very seriously. You can eat in ristorantes, osterias, trattorias, caffes, enotecas, paninotecas, pizzerie, bars, and Autogrills. If you don't get good food, you only have yourself to blame. Of course, it's not just food--there is a world of history and art and architecture to attend to--the underpinnings of western civilization--but food and drink is part of that, and more than just fuel.

At La Medusa, the food was excellent. Dad said the pasta con le sarde was better than he had in Sicily. That's high praise indeed. La Medusa is a lively neighborhood spot run by foodies, but if you're looking for a typical checkered tablecloth, spaghetti and meatballs Italian eatery look elsewhere--this is Sicilian soul food. Go there.

La Medusa, 4857 Rainier Avenue South, 206.723. 2192
Check the menu here.

MIRACLE PIZZA LOOKS LIKE MICKEY MOUSE!

Like Christ in a tortilla, this miraculous pizza pie resembling Mickey Mouse has inspired droves of people to drop whatever they were doing and make a pizza pilgrimage.

"It's weird," says Plucky Frenesi, of Beaverton, Oregon, "I mean, it can't be a coincidence...with a shape like that. It's a sign."

"Lookit," says Mary Margaret Day, of Shreveport, LA. "This is real. He's sweating cheese. This is no random accident. God doesn't roll dice. This is intelligent designer pizza."

"I've got irritable bowel syndrome," says Owen Evora, of Hoboken, NJ. "I drove all night in an uncomfortable car wearing astronaut pants and I'm desperate. I need a miracle. I want a slice of that pie."

Sorry, believers. This pizza is real -- but it's not a sign, although it probably tastes like one. The pizza was baked in the test labs of the Disney Corporation, always busy finding new ways to spend your money. It will soon be available in your finer food shops. So next time you want some real Eyetalian pizza, Disney style, just grab a box! Tell 'em Walt sent you!

EIGHT ARMS TO HOLD YOU

This grilled octopus with fennel, green sauce and chickpea puree may look strange to you, but it tastes fantastic. I ate it last night for my birthday, at a wonderful Northern Italian restaurant, Cafe Juanita. The grilled octopus began a perfect meal (actually, the Grey Goose martini kicked things off nicely) and joined the other antipasti from the sea, bacala -- salt cod fritti -- with a caper maionese. Delicate, lightly done. The prima piatta was goat cheese gnocchi with Lamb Sugo. Amazing. For the main course, my girlfriend Wendy ordered the Roasted Duck with Peccorino Romano and pomegranate seeds, which was perfect. I had the cinghiale - Wild Boar braised in organic local milk -- with a "Ligurian Silk Handkerchief" - a delicate sheet of homemade pasta. This was food elevated to the high level of art. Everything was perfect.


Yes, an extravagant meal -- a birthday feast -- and it might puzzle the meat-and-potaoes types, or offend those thoughtful vegetarians and vegans who sneer as I pass by. With all due respect, to hell with them. This is life!

To finish, we had a Pralus Chocolate Souflee with Crema Inglese, and a couple liqueur glasses of Limoncello. Ahhhhh.

Gourmet Magazine ranked Cafe Juanita among the fifty best restaurants in the country, and I can see why. It was definitely worth the drive to the Eastside.

PUBBLICITA PARMIGIANO REGGIANO

You know how I love Italian food. This is a wonderful Italian ad campaign promoting the joy of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. This classic grating cheese -- also called Parmesan -- has been produced in Italy since the Middle Ages. In the twelfth century, Boccaccio praised it in the Decameron, writing about a mountain of Parmigiano to accompany his macaroni and ravioli.

I found this ad campaign on a great food site run by Bob del Grosso, A Hunger Artist. Any site that combines good food with Franz Kafka (the name comes from a short story by the Czech writer) can't be all bad. In fact, it's quite good. Check it out.

A Hunger Artist, website:
http://ahungerartist.bobdelgrosso.com/

A Hunger Artist, the Kafka short story:
http://www.lundwood.u-net.com/ahunga.htm

ASK THE SOPRANOS

Let's flirt with stereotypes and ask America's favorite EYE-talian family about their favorite food.

* * * * * *
A related scene from the Sopranos; Paulie Walnuts and Big Pussy at a Starbucks.

Paulie Walnuts: How did we miss out on this?
Big Pussy: What?
Paulie Walnuts: F****n' expresso, cappuccino. We invented this s**t and all these other c*********s are gettin' rich off it.
Big Pussy: Yeah, isn't it amazing?
Paulie Walnuts: And it's not just the money. It's a pride thing. All our food: pizza, calzone, buffalo moozarell', olive oil. These f***s had nothin'. They ate pootsie before we gave them the gift of our cuisine. But this, this is the worst. This espresso s**t.
Big Pussy: Take it easy.

COMFORT FOOD: GNOCCHI

You are a sophisticated eater, and you know Italian food is more than just spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, and the occasional lasagna, but you're stymied by a real Italian menu and brutally mispronounce everything past the chicken parmigiana. Sorry, but you make my ears hurt.

Here's something to try. These sublime little potato dumplings are gnocchi, and most well-intentioned Anglo Americans mispronounce them badly. I've heard so-called "foodies" call them everything from "Noshy" to "Ganokey," and even "Gah-NOSH." The correct pronunciation is "NYO-key."
(For audio, click button below*)

People talk about "Comfort Food" and reel off a litany of bland Americana, covered dishes and the like, but for me gnocchi is comfort food. The best I've had, in Italy or America, are made by my mom, who is Calabrese and a first-rate chef. On birthdays, when given a choice of any food for dinner, these were a hands-down winner. The perfect accompaniment would be homemade Italian sausages made by my dad, who is Sicilian. Comfort food? You can have your jello molds and tuna casseroles!

I've made them myself with Mom's guidance, and they're not easy to master. For the basic idea, here's a recipe from Anna Maria Volpe. http://www.annamariavolpi.com/page80.html

Gnocchi come in a wide variety, but these are my favorite, gnocchi di patate -- potato gnocchi. There are also Gnocchi di Semolina, made from Durham wheat, and in Tuscany, there is a beautifully named gnocchi made from spinach and ricotta called Strozzapreti -- or "priest-stranglers." Ricotta, by the way, is NOT pronounced "ree-COTT-uh," but more like "ree-COAT-uh."

While I'm at it, those delicious dipping cookies? They are NOT pronounced "bih-SCOTTIES." Oh, and I'm not an EYE-talian.

Ciao!

*For audio, click the button, and hear a native Italian speaker say: "Gnocco [singular], Gnocchi [plural], Gnocchi di Ricotta."