Limoncello from Nicole’s lemons

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It’s time to make Limoncello.

Luca’s recipe.

8 organic unsprayed lemons

1 ltre alcohol (outside of Italy you can use Vodka)

350gr white sugar

1 ltre water

Plastic container with a lid

some small bottles with corks

Take the skin off the lemons being sure to remove as much white pith as possible.Put in your plastic container with the alcohol and leave covered for 7 days, preferably in a cool place. Make a syrup of the water and sugar (10′ on mild heat).Cool and mix with the alcoholic solution. Bottle.

If you would like this to be less alcoholic then make the syrup with 1,1/2ltr water.

Posted by Ren on febbraio 8th, 2010 under Recipes | Comment now »


In Late Winter we ate Pears

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In Late Winter We Ate Pears

A Year of Hunger and Love

Caleb Barber, chef  and writer Deirdre Heekin share their love affair with a culture and way of life in a year spent in Italy. Lovely recipes.

Posted by Ren on febbraio 8th, 2010 under Books in Rome, libraries, reading and all | Comment now »


Carnival in Rome

Sarabanda_appuntamentoSARABANDA-

from Sunday 7 February to Tuesday 16 February
FROM  15.00
Piazza del Popolo-San Lorenzo in Lucina and Piazza Navona
Posted by Ren on febbraio 8th, 2010 under Art in Rome and around, Music & musicians in Rome and around | Comment now »


Suga Jazz Studio-japanese dance

izanai-yosakoi-1-copia

Saturday 13th February from 14.00 hrs in Piazza Navona, celebrating thel Carnevale di Roma, thirty Japanese dancers from Suga Jazz Studio from the city of  Kochi, exhibit their traditionoal dance ‘Izanai”, yosakoi style.

Yoskoi is a dance form from 1954 combining the popular Awa Odori traditional dance celebrating the festivities of  Obon, with modern Japanese music. Yosakoi means ‘Come in the night’ in Kochi dialect.
Organized by

Fondazione Italia Giappone
Via Sallustiana 29
00187 Roma
Tel: 06.6784496 – Fax: 06.69380179
fondazione@italiagiappone.it
www.italiagiappone.it

Posted by Ren on febbraio 4th, 2010 under Films & Film Festivals/theatre | Comment now »


Biscotti

A guest gave me this box of biscuits. Look at the beautiful packaging!

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Posted by Ren on febbraio 3rd, 2010 under Photos & things we like out in the world! | Comment now »


Trionfale market in February

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Posted by Ren on febbraio 3rd, 2010 under Photos & things we like out in the world!, Shopping for food,clothes & fun | Comment now »


Francofilm in Rome-World Music

Thursday  11th at 21.00hrs

Musiche del mondo-World Music-In occasion of Francofilm in Rome

SONGS from Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet, traditional Green and Balcan songs,portugese fado, homage to music from Haiti and Senegal and original songs from Minim’art

Posted by Ren on febbraio 3rd, 2010 under Music & musicians in Rome and around | Comment now »


Te Deum H.146 At the Church San Luigi dei Francesi

Concert on Wednesday 10th February at 21.00 at the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi.
minim'art 1
Beneath the Caravaggio with

Cappella Ludovicea
Orchestra della Trinità dei Monti
directed by M° Ildebrando Mura
FREE ENTRANCE
Arcangelo Corelli
op.6 n.8 and op 6n.4
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Te Deum H. 146
Posted by Ren on febbraio 2nd, 2010 under Music & musicians in Rome and around | Comment now »


women behind the camera-Japanese Institute

Screenings of Female Director’s Works until  March 16th -JAPANESE CULTURAL INSTITUTE ROME

kinuyo_director2_1263225298

AT 19.00HRS

Tuesday 2 February
The Cat Leaves Home (2004, 94’) di Nami Iguchi

Tuesday 9th February
The Far Road (1977, 110’) di Sachiko Hidari

Tuesday 16th February
The Cherry Tree with Gray Blossoms (1976, 42’)
di Sumiko Haneda

Tuesday 23rd February
Embracing (1992, 40’) di Naomi Kawase
Katatsumori (1994, 40’) di Naomi Kawase

Tuesday 9th March
The Glass Rabbit (2005, 84’) di Setsuko Shibuichi

Tuesday  16 th March
Eternal Breasts (1955, 110’) di Kinuyo Tanaka

films in Original version with english or italian subtitles-free admision

Posted by Ren on febbraio 2nd, 2010 under Films & Film Festivals/theatre | Comment now »


Films at the French cultural centre Rome

CENTRO CULTURALE FRANCESE IN ROME

FEBRUARY- and MARCH-2 shows, monday at 21.00 and wednesday at 17.00

most films in original with french subtitles


03 . 02 > I horodia tou Haritona
(La chorale de Chariton)
(Grecia)
di Grigoris Karantinakis
Grecia 2005 – 116min – 35mm – vost-fr – commedia
ore 18 .oo


08 . 02 + 10 . 02
> Wahed-Sefr (Un-zéro) (Egitto)
di Kamla Abu Zekry
Egitto 2009 – 105min – 35mm – vost – commedia drammatica


15 . 02 + 17 . 02
> Où est la main de l’homme sans tête? (Belgio)
di Guillaume e Stéphane Malandrin
Belgio 2009 – 144min – vo – thriller
22 . 02 + 24 . 02 > L’appel des arènes (Senegal)
di Cheikh A. Ndiaye
Senegal 2008 – 105min -  – drammatico

01 . 03 + 03 . 03 > La vraie vie est ailleurs (Svizzera)
di Frédéric Choffat
Svizzera 2009 – 84min – 35mm – - drammatico-ENGLISH SUBTITLES


08 . 03 + 10 . 03 > Wadaan Oummahat
(Adieu Mères)
(Marocco)
di Mohamed Iamaïl
Marocco 2008 – 115min – 35mm -  – storico


15 . 03 + 17 . 03 > C’est pas moi, je le jure (Quebec) (Canada)
di Philippe Falardeau
Quebec 2008 – 110min -  – commedia drammatica-ENGLISH SUBTITLES


22 . 03 + 24 . 03 > Perl oder Pica
(Petits secrets)
(Lussemburgo)
di Pol Cruchten
Lussemburgo 2009 – 86min — drammatico
29 . 03 + 31 . 03 > Welcome (Francia)
di Philippe Lioret
Francia 2009 – 110 min -  drammatico -ITALIAN SUBTITLES

Posted by Ren on febbraio 2nd, 2010 under Films & Film Festivals/theatre | Comment now »


Australia today in Rome-Ab-Origini

Invito_front

Until  7 March 2010. For the first time in Italy an exhibition presents the work of some of the most representative contemporary aboriginal artists in Australia today. Participating artists include Rover Thomas, Clifford Possum, Judy Watson Napangardi, Linda Syddick Napaltjarri and Nancy Nungurrayi.

Palazzo Incontro, Via dei Prefetti ROMA 22,  10.00-19.00. Mon closed.
Posted by Ren on febbraio 1st, 2010 under Art in Rome and around | Comment now »


Micropop in Rome

Until February 13, 2010 winter_garden_cover_b

WINTER GARDEN at the Japanese Cultural Institute in Rome

Since the interest in Japanese pop culture has been growing all over the world, The Japan Foundation has asked Ms. Midori Matsui, an art critic, to curate the exhibition. The subject of this exhibition is the world of “Micropop” as embodied by the generation of young Japanese artists who came onto the scene during the latter half of the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s.

yaagi_vinyl

YAAGI-vinyl

Posted by Ren on febbraio 1st, 2010 under Art in Rome and around | Comment now »


Squid with fennel

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Squid or Totani with stewed fennel.

4 med/large cuttlefish, cleaned and prepared by fishmonger
5 large spoons olive oil
1 sliced onion,bay leaf,white wine
2 crushed garlic cloves,s & p
Can tomatoe
hot water,lemon juice

2 fennel bulbs sliced for stewing,plus some green from top.

Sweat the onion in a pot with some of the olive oil, add the crushed garlic and cook for 2′, add tomatoe and simmer with some water and lemon juice and s & p.

Sweat the fennel in olive oil in a covered pan, adding a little water if necessary for 10′

Cut the cuttlefish into pieces and fry in a frying pan with hot olive oil until slightly browned. Add the tomatoe sauce.bay leaf wine and green tip of fennel bulb. Simmer for about 1 hr, stirring a few times. About 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add fennel and taste for seasoning.

This can be seved on a crostino of toasted country bread

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Posted by Ren on febbraio 1st, 2010 under Recipes | Comment now »


Pasta with Arzilla (ray/skate) and parsley

razza

Razza or Ray/skate is a typical mediterranean fish..

For 3 people. 600gr cleaned and cut into pieces by your fishmonger.

Put some water in a frying pan with a sliced carrot and simmer  the fish, covered  for about 10′. Take all the cooked flesh off the bones and put aside.

Dry the pan and add olive oil. Grate half a potatoe and crushed garlic and sauté in the oil. Add a little water and add the fish, sauté. Add salt and pepper and abundent roughly chopped parsley. The potatoe gives a creamy effect to the sauce.

Cook your spaghetti in boiling salted water, drain and add to the frying pan. Stir around and serve.

Posted by Ren on febbraio 1st, 2010 under Recipes | Comment now »


light for Haiti

candle

Posted by Ren on gennaio 28th, 2010 under Recipes | Comment now »


Italy Bed & Breakfasts by Nicole Franchini

NICOLENicole Franchini, a long-term resident of Italy, who has personally travelled far afield all over Italy to search and find out all the treasures in this book, upholding the Karen Brown standards of quality, welcome, and charm in her choices of places to stay.

Posted by Ren on gennaio 28th, 2010 under Books in Rome, libraries, reading and all | Comment now »


Vini Naturali a Roma

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Posted by Ren on gennaio 28th, 2010 under Eat & drink in Rome and around, Find a food & wine event in Rome and around | Comment now »


Gruyere cheese and baked potatoes

The lovely pinkish potatoes are in season in Italy and a good cheese to eat with oven cooked potatoes is Gruyere cheese. Find a ’salumeria’ that specializes in unpasturized cheeses (like Gianni, in Via Tacito). It is of course more expensive than the regular cheese because few producers make it. The cows go to pasture over 1.800 mtres at the time of the herbs and flowers in the fields. Just wash and dry  your potatoes. Prick with a fork and cook in the oven at 200°. Make some toasted bruschetta with country bread. Cut the gruyere in think strips and enjoy with a nice glass of Rosso di Montepulciano from Poderi Sanguineto 2007food 035

Posted by Ren on gennaio 28th, 2010 under Recipes | Comment now »


Pasta e ceci in minestrone

250gr chick peas soaked overnight

6 peeled baby tomatoes,2 cloves crushed garlic

250 gr short pasta

s & p, olive oil

Water

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You can also crush the pasta in a paper bag or break up spaghetti if that is all you have.

Cook your chickpeas in abundent salty water for about 40′ or until soft. Drain and keep the water.Take half of the chickpeas and pulse with some of the water. Keep aside. Put 2 tbspns olive oil in a deep pan and cut the tomatoes in quarters, add the garlic, sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the water (and more if necessary) and when boiling, add the crushed pasta. This should cook, covered for about 12′. Check that the minestrone is not too liquid, and if so, take some out and reserve for another soup. Add the purée and serve with sprinkled parmesan if you like.

Posted by Ren on gennaio 28th, 2010 under Recipes | Comment now »


Roasted pear tart

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Roll of thin pastry (I buy mine frozen at the Organic food shops)

8 quite hard pears

brown sugar

red wine

cinnemon dust/or sticks

6 cloves

Peel all the pears and place in a large oven proof dish with all the ingredients and cook at 170°, turning all the time until the pears are ready and a nice syrupy sauce remains.

Cool, cut and core the pears.Roll out the pastry very thin and line a pastry tin with oven paper.Put your pastry on the paper and remove the overlapping pastry. Put in your pears right to the top and add the juice. Bake in a hot oven 180° for about 25′.Check and see that the pastry is ready when brown and crisp.

Posted by Ren on gennaio 28th, 2010 under Recipes | Comment now »


Artichokes romane with herbs

CARCIOFFI ALLE ERBE

These Roman artichokes are typical of Italy and can be found at the markets allready prepared or you can buy them and prepare them yourself. If so, you take out about two layers of outer leaves, cut through about 2centimetres of the top tips.Cut the stalks at 5cms and you will see that there is a round ‘heart’ in the stalk.Cut all the dark green around the stalk as the rest is edible. If you have longer pieces of the stalk, do the same and add to the stew.

Cut up a bunch of long leaved parsley. Crush 2 garlic cloves under a flat knife or with your hand to let out the juice,and leave whole. Put 3tbspn olive oil and enough water to cover 1/3rd of the artichokes. Salt and cover. Stew for about 20/30′, and turn occasionally

Posted by Ren on gennaio 28th, 2010 under Recipes | Comment now »


In defence of Food by Michael Pollan

in-defence-of-food

1-Eat food: food defined
don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food
avoid food products containing ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than five in number or that include high-fructose corn syrup
avoid food products that make health claims
shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle
get out of the supermarket whenever possible

2 Mostly plants: what to eat
eat mostly plants, especially leaves
you are what you eat eats too
If you have space, buy a freezer
eat like an omnivore
eat well-grown food from healthy soils
eat wild foods when you can
be the kind of person who takes supplements
eat more like the French. Or the Italians. Or the Japanese, Or the Indians, Or the Greeks.
regard non-traditional food with scepticism
don’t look for the magic bullet in the traditional diet
have a glass of wine with dinner

3 Not too much: hot to eat
pay more, eat less
eat meals
do all your eating at a table
don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does
try not to eat alone
consult your gut
eat slowly
cook and, if you can, plant a garden

Posted by Ren on gennaio 28th, 2010 under Books in Rome, libraries, reading and all | Comment now »


The voice of Istanbul in photos

istanbul

Turkey will be the capital of European culture during  2010, so we can start to get prepared and go see this show in Rome

Turkey- TURCHIA – UFFICIO CULTURA E INFORMAZIONI
Piazza della Repubblica, 55/56 – 00185 ROMA

PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBIT – LA VOCE DI ISTANBUL

From 26th January to 12th February
FROM  9.00 – 17.00 (  monday to friiday

free entrance

Posted by Ren on gennaio 27th, 2010 under Art in Rome and around, Photos & things we like out in the world! | Comment now »


Hazelnut chocolate cake for Marinella

mercato sotto i portici january 003Every first third Sunday of the month Sotto i Portici in Piazza Agusto Imperiale, ‘Collezionando’ my favourite market come rain or shine is bustling with wonderful treasures to hunt. My friend Marinella restores beautiful frames and sells  paintings and objects that she hunts out in France. Another Capricorn birthday this month and we celebrated her there!

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I kind of made up the recipe but I will try to remember it:

3 eggs,200gr brown sugar

125 gr ricotta cheese

75gr melted butter/or olive oil

185gr mixed corn flour and white flour

40 gr dark cocoa powder,pckt baking powder

warm water

Whist the eggs and sugar until fluffy. The ricotta should be pressed through a sieve to avoid lumbs and beten in with the melted butter and stirred well. Mix the flour and baking powder and add, sift the cocoa and stir. Add enough warm water to make a cake batter nice and smooth. Heat the oven 175° and bake for 35′ (or according to your oven), cool.

Icing: 2 cups icing sugar,2tspn milk,2 tbspn dark cocoa powder,crushed walnuts (or hazelnuts or almonds).

Mix well until quite dense and add more milk if necessary.Pour over the cake, sides as well, and press the nuts all around and on top.

“La soffitta sotto i portici”, piazza Augusto Imperatore, free entrance, the 1st and third Sunday of the month from 9 until sundown.

Posted by Ren on gennaio 22nd, 2010 under Art in Rome and around, Shopping for food,clothes & fun | Comment now »


Beef straccetti with rucola and baby tomatoes

new year 063For three

400gr very thin cut beef flank, cut with the knife

10 baby tomatoes cut in half

bunch of rucola, olive oil

s & p,2 crushed garlic cloves, chilli pepper

Have your butcher cut the straccetti (literally, little rags) with a knife, very thin. Crush the garlic with a flat hand or under the blade of a wide knife to release the juices. Sauté the garlic and chili in olive oil and add the meat all bunched up together and then turn and cook on both sides. Keep warm. In the same pan, (or at the same time as the meat, in a pan alongside),add the tomatoes and rucola and cover so that the rucola wilts and the tomatoes release their juices. Mix alltogether with the meat and serve hot.If you like more juice, add a half glass white wine to the end of the meat cooking.This means you will have some nice sauce to pour over potatoes or rice to make this a more substantial meal.

Posted by Ren on gennaio 18th, 2010 under Recipes | Comment now »


Colline Romane gastronomy

Take a trip to one of the many towns outside of Rome to taste the real authentic dishes of Lazio.

The Colline Romane District represents the first territorial district of excellence in Lazio .One doesn’t invent good cuisine, one inherits it. In the Roman Hills (38 townships east and south of Rome), gastronomy has ancient roots. For centuries, and still today, popes, queens and princes, men of letters and travelers have chosen to visit this beautiful area and enjoy its food. Situated in the Province of Rome in the south-eastern area that surrounds the capital.

Delicious foods and traditional local products that conserve the tastes of the past, accompanied by excellent wines, whose production has it roots in the black volcanic earth of the territorial district. These are the essential components of a unique culinary traditional, that communicate the simplicity and genuinity of the local people.

The porchetta of Ariccia: a product with a mysterious and unique recipe which can only be tasted in the characteristic fraschette (inns) in the area of the Colline Romane.

The cheeses: known above all are those made from sheep’s milk, often produced using artesian techniques that have a genuine taste.

Bakery products: first among all breads is that of Genzano, the first in Europe to have attained I.G.T. recognition; excellent are the biscuits, crusts and ring shaped wine biscuits (ciambelline) and the famous “pupazza” of Frascati.

The oil: the area is rich with olive groves that produce D.O.P. marked oil, a guaranty of its genuinity and local origins.

The wines: certainly the wines of this area are the most famous amongst the various traditional food products typical to the district. There are 11 D.O.C. wines: Zagarolo Doc, Montecompatri-Colonna Doc, Frascati Doc, Marino Doc, Colli Albani Doc, Colli Lanuvini doc, Velletri Doc, Cesanese di Olevano Romano Doc, Genazzano Doc, Castelli Romani D.O.C., Cori D.O.C.. not to be forgotten are the numerous production of table wines and IGT.

The agricultural and organic products: famous is the cultivation of strawberries from Nemi, the peaches from Castel Gandolfo, the numerous eating grapes, the Bellegra figs, the kiwis and artichokes from Velletri. The structure of the territory and the presence of numerous forest areas, render the production of chestnuts and porcini mushrooms rich and sumptuous. What more can one say…?

Posted by Ren on gennaio 18th, 2010 under Eat & drink in Rome and around | Comment now »


International day of Italian cuisines

An irresistible worldwide ola of tagliatelle al ragù bolognese will be the protagonist of the 2010 International Day of Italian Cuisines (IDIC) scheduled for the next 17th January.mapa

Pasta alla Carbonara

Recipe serves one

60 to 80 gm spaghetti freshly cooked al dente
1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
30gm pancetta or guanciale
1 or 2 eggs
25 gm freshly grated Pecorino Romano and/or aged Italian Grana Cheese. (Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano)
freshly ground black pepper

Remarks

1. You cannot make a Carbonara with pre-cooked pasta
2. Cream is not an option but a gimmick, avoid it
3. If you like, you can mix the two cheeses
4. Timing is important when you serve this dish
5. Make sure the plate or bowl is hot
6. Do not overcook the egg, otherwise you will make spaghetti with scrambled egg.

Posted by Ren on gennaio 17th, 2010 under Recipes | Comment now »


Sofia’s flowers

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Posted by Ren on gennaio 13th, 2010 under Photos & things we like out in the world! | Comment now »


Alex’s chicken in Nero d’Avola wine

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new year 059For four.

6 large pieces chicken,thigh and breast

10 small whole peeled onions

3 chopped onions,bay leaf,thyme,parsley,2cloves garlic

12 champignon sliced, bottle Nero d’Avola red wine

flour,100gr butter,s & p

Basmati rice

Melt some butter in a large pan,brown the chicken pieces in batches and keep warm. lightly fry onions until brown, add garlic, herbs, stir a bit and add wine. Add all ingredients except the mushrooms and cook covered simmering for about 50′ Adding mushrooms the last 15′. Drain the wine sauce, keep the chicken and vegetables warm, discard bay leaf and thyme. Bring the lilquid to a boil and reduce by 1/3rd.  While doing this, mix a butter and flour mixture with your hands and when a paste is formed add to the liquid, whisk and stir all the time until the sauce has thickened. Cook your basmati rice in salted boiling water. Serve the sauce over the chicken and the rice alongside.

Posted by Ren on gennaio 11th, 2010 under Recipes | 1 Comment »


The best pizza in Rome at Pizzarium

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pizzarium-texte1

Organic flours and natural leavening (pasta madre). Gabriele searched among the housewives of the south of Italy to make the success and digestibility of these pizza’s.   All coked in a bread oven, crispy and topped with squash flowers, parma ham, cod fish, mushrooms, home made tomatoe sauce, fresh mozzarella and anything that comes to his creative mind!  All the ingredients are sought out for their quality.

Try the arancini made with the best rice with duck ragù, Tuscan chianina beef. Also if you are lucky you might find the potatoe croquettes with baccalà, even with truffles when in season.He has his own vegetable garden and if you get the chance to see him, you will see a vibrant exuberant Italian! His breads, also made from natural leavening are all made from organic flours, some even ancient flours and difficult to find. Tucked away near Piazza Clodio and behind the Vatican, this is worth a visit to taste the best!Gabriele has also been called the ‘ Michelangelo dei pizzaioli romani”
Pizzarium Via della Meloria 43 – 00136 Rome Tel: 00 39 06 39 74 54 16 Cipro underground station-

Closed Sunday

Posted by Ren on gennaio 10th, 2010 under Recipes | Comment now »


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