When thinking of food that represents spring, fresh new vegetables come to mind immediately. In Rome one of the most frequently seen spring vegetables are fresh fava beans, often eaten raw with pecorino cheese. A favorite springtime dish – almost a symbol of the beginning of spring – is vignarola. It consists of a mix of fave, fresh peas and artichokes that are sautéed in olive oil with spring onions. The name is said to come from the word vigna (grapevine) because the vegetables used were typically grown in the spaces between the grapevines. As in most Italian dishes, there is no one recipe written in stone: the vegetables are generally in equal proportion with the artichokes prepared Italian-style, outer leaves and fuzzy choke discarded until only the tender parts remain so that they can be sliced. The most traditional recipe also uses shredded lettuce. Some people add mentuccia (a wild mint similar to pennyroyal) and some versions contain guanciale or pancetta. It’s a simple, bright-green, fresh and delicious medley that can be a starter, main course or a side dish.
Category: News (page 4 of 24)
There are still a few weeks left to see the Met Breuer’s retrospective of Marisa Merz. Merz, who was born in 1926, is the only female member of the Turin-based Arte Povera movement and spent much of her career in the shadows of well-known men, including that of Mario Merz, her husband. This exhibit brings her into the forefront and her works are revelatory, both intimate and grand. Arte Povera’s distinctive trait was the use of cheap or discarded materials to create works of art that are often on a monumental scale. Marisa Merz arranged her works in her house, rather than in a gallery, and they seem to have arisen from her home life and base regardless of their size. There are about 100 pieces in this show and it is strange, moving and beautiful, worthy of its name: “The Sky Is A Great Space.”
Carnegie Hall has organized a festival dedicated to the music and arts of the Venetian Republic – La Serenissima, or “Most Serene Republic.” The Republic grew from Byzantine settlements in a lagoon to a great maritime power and commercial center that was essentially a crossroads between East and West. It flourished for over one thousand years until it fell to Napoleon in 1797. The festival traces the cultural evolution of the Republic with a series of Venetian-themed events of concerts, opera, theater, art and lectures that are taking place at Carnegie Hall but also in other venues.
Ribollita is a Tuscan semi-solid soup, typically served in the winter months. Although there are as many recipes as there are cooks, its essential ingredients are cavolo nero (Tuscan or lacinato kale), cannellini beans and Tuscan (saltless) bread. It is an example of rustic cucina povera that has become popular and is now among the best known Tuscan dishes. The soup’s origins go back to the Middle Ages when nobles would eat meat that had been placed on pieces of unleavened bread. This bread was then given to the servants who would eat it with whatever ingredients they could find – usually vegetables like carrots, cabbage and celery to which liquid was added for volume. This mixture was then reheated and eaten over several days, hence today’s ribollita – boiled again. As the centuries went by, this dish was refined and adjusted. Often peasant women would prepare it on a Friday when religion dictated no meat be eaten, so the ingredients used were bread, vegetables and legumes. It’s delicious, nutritious and great for cold winter days. This is a good version.
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