WHAT IS RADIATORI? If there is an engineer in the house, this is the pasta for you. These cuts look like old-school radiators from either the early 1900’s or most New York City rental apartments. Popular since World War II radiatori, like their heating namesakes, maximize surface area. This allows for the efficient transfer of […]
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ARCHAEOLOGY OF PASTA – Spaghetti & Spaghettini
WHAT IS SPAGHETTI? The name of this pasta is from the word “spago” or string. If any food can be said to be the symbol of an entire people, spaghetti would be it. From fishing villages in Mexico to the heart of Africa, you can find this food anywhere as Italy’s most ubiquitous ambassador (usually […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF PASTA – Bucatini
WHAT IS BUCATINI? This cut is like spaghetti on the outside but hollow on the inside. Bucatini’s name is derived from “Buco”, the Italian word for “hole”. This tubed pasta was invented in an attempt to allow boiling water to cook the pasta from the inside out. Also known as perciatelli, these fragile sticks of […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Roquefort
WHAT IS ROQUEFORT? It’s a French sheep’s milk blue cheese named after the Combalou caverns in which they’re aged. Roquefort is a foil wrapped, rindless raw milk cheese. Long ago, blue mold was introduced by throwing a loaf of bread infused with penicillium roqueforti into a cave next to the cheese. TO BUY THIS CHEESE […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Époisses
WHAT IS ÉPOISSES ? Originally made by monks, Époisses de Bourgogne is a washed rind, cow’s milk cheese. It is often just called “Époisses”. A local pomace (grape leftovers from winemaking) brandy called marc de Bourgogne is used to repeatedly “wash” the cheese. This gives it a distinctive appearance and stinky smell. TO BUY THIS […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Comte
WHAT IS COMTE? Do you know the remake of that Culture Club song “Comte Chameleon?” No, nor does anyone else, I just made it up (sigh, only 158 more words to write!) Comte had a huge influence on 19th century thought and seduced famous social activists like Karl Marx, Falco and John Stuart Mill. No […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Gorgonzola
WHAT IS GORGONZOLA? It is a cow’s milk cheese with the blue-green marbling inherent to blue cheese. Dating back to the 9th century, this traditional P.D.O. comes in two types – Dolce (younger) and Piccante (older). The latter is also known as “Mountain Gorgonzola” though I personally think farmers were just trying to make the […]
