PANZANELLA
This is a simple, delicious salad that can also be served as an antipasto. One or two-day old bread coarse white country bread (unsalted) to which very fresh vegetable are added along with excellent olive oil and good vinegar. To select only best quality is the secret of this dish! This is the basic version but there are many local versions of Panzanella (depending on the vegetables to your disposal) Better if prepared ahead of time and refrigerated for several hours. Remove from refrigerator about half an hour before serving at room temperature

INGREDIENTS
1 lb Italian unsalted country style bread, 2 days old, in slices
2/3 cup best quality extra virgin olive oil
3 T good quality red wine vinegar (to taste)
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 lb fresh, firm, ripe tomatoes, cubed, about 5 cups
1 small onion, thinly sliced
15 fresh basil leaves, washed, drained on paper towels and shredded, a few extra for garnish
salt and freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
Soak the bread in cold water to cover for about twenty minutes
Meanwhile, prepare the dressing of oil, the 2 vinegars, salt and pepper: whip with a fork to combine thoroughly.
Remove bread from water, squeezing out as much moisture as you can (help yourself with a clean white cotton dishcloth). Coarsely crumble the bread into a large serving bowl.
Add the tomatoes, the onion and the basil. Add a little dressing at a time till all ingredients are well coated. Test for seasoning. Garnish with a few whole basil leaves. Buon appetito!

For more information on Walking & Cooking in Italy

Blogging your way to profits?

I recently was offered two free bottles of Country Bob's all purpose sauce both to try and to blog about. I'm one of those people who are true to their word so here I am blogging.

About the sauce: well it's like a Heinz 57 but a little more intense. We tried it as a dipping sauce for grilled chicken. Not bad, but as I said a little bit strong. I think it would make a good ingredient in recipes rather than a stand alone sauce.

What intrigues me most about this product is not the actual taste but the marketing. If you google Country Bob's you'll find several blogs on the product. These were presumably all people who were offered free product and asked to blog about it. I wonder what the success rate on that? How many people take the product and blog about it compared to those who just say yes to a freebie without the write-up? Don't know but it seems to be an effective way to get the search engines to find your name.

So here I am blogging about Country Bob's. Not raving about the sauce...but I'm sure this blog will show up in the search engines.

Pisco Sour...the new Mojito?

Seems like everywhere you went over the past couple of summers the drink of the moment was the Mojito. From the traditional recipe to variations made with 7-up (horror!) and other ingredients Mojitos seemed to be the "in" cocktail. (Remember Cosmopolitans?) Well move over Mojito...there's a new cocktail in town and it comes from one of the hottest culinary destinations in the world. It's the Pisco Sour.
Originally from the town of Pisco, pisco is a distilled liquor is made from a range of eight different grapes. Often times it is mixed with fruits and spices to create delicious cocktails. The most famous drink is the Pisco Sour. Epiculinary's tour to Peru includes a Pisco Night in which you enjoy a Pisco tasting and learn to make delicious pisco drinks.

INGREDIENTS
3 parts Quebranta pisco
2 parts sugar syrup
1 part lime juice
1/8 of an egg white

Ice
3 drops of Angostura bitters

DIRECTIONS
Place all the ingredients, except fo the bitters, in the order listed in a cocktail shaker. Shake for 15 seconds. Strain and serve in a chilled glass. Add 3 drops of Angostura bitters.

The Accidental Activist

It was my first time in Cusco, or Peru for that matter, and I found myself knee deep in a political matter of local concern. Funny thing was, it happened to be a “matter” which affects my business…that is, travel.

We had just arrived in Cusco and after a nap and some cocoa tea the first order of business was to take a city tour with a stop at the cathedral. Our guide, in addition to explaining about the city’s history, also informed us that there was a fight going on in congress regarding the certification of Peruvian guides. According to our guide, one congress person had proposed doing away with any sort of education for licensed guides. Currently guides must undergo 4-6 years of higher education to become certified of licensed.
As he’s explaining the situation our driver arrives at the plaza in front of the cathedral and we emerge from the van to the shots and whistles of a huge crowd of a hundred or more people. I quickly glean that these are tour guides and their catcalls told me that we were going to cross the picket line with our guide. I’m thinking this is not good, so I just sort of hide behind my sunglasses.

As we walk to the entrance of the cathedral our guide speaks with one of the leaders of the movement. I do not know what he said as I do not speak Spanish. But he then hands me the bull horn and tells me “They want you to talk Catherine.” My reaction was not to say no. Not to say I can’t do it. No, my reaction was to ask again for him to summarize the issues. I repeat them silently in my head, grab the bull horn and turn to the crowd. My fellow travelers are looking at me with dumfounded, altitude induced wonder. (In other words they had no idea what was going on). For a minute I am nervous but tell myself, ‘You are good at public speaking.’ (Yea, right.) Then the words spill forth…” HELLO! WE ARE FROM THE UNITED STATES. (pause…silence…the catcalls and whistles stop) WE HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE PROPOSAL BEFORE CONGRESS AND WE DO NOT AGREE WITH IT.” The crowd erupts in cheers, waving their signs. Then, seizing the moment and maybe feeling a bit of the rush that some other South American female political leaders have felt before a crowd, “WE…ARE WITH….THE …TOUR GUIDES!” The crowd cheers, applauds, waves their signs. I, feeling even more empowered, raise my fist in triumph. And with that, I return the bull horn and we go into the cathedral.
Needless to say both I and my travel mates were shocked and humored by what had happened.

We went into the cathedral, saw the silver, gold and art, and started to wonder if maybe I might become a political target! (JK) We also figured that by offering me to speak we successfully crossed that picket line. Meantime, I found it difficult to concentrate on the guide’s words because in my head, I was silently composing my next political speech. I mean, you never know when you might be asked to lead a crowd…

The next day, my people (the tour guides) were camping in the square, ready for their next protest. We meet our guide for the visit to the Sacred Valley. Apparently I made the local news. He told us that part of my speech was used as a sound bite in a report on the protest. The reporter indicated that my views were what American tourists think. Oh really? Well I guess that as the owner of a tour company I believe that educated, licensed guides, are extremely important. I just wasn’t ready for my new role as leader (albeit for five minutes) of an organized political protest. Hmmm…it was fun. I wonder if they want me to come back. I’ve got my second speech ready.

"Voluntourism" Popular New Way to Travel

President Obama recently called Americans to action, saying that we as Americans have a duty to serve our communities and fellow citizens. That call to service has reached all the way to the travel industry as we see more and more travelers wanting to combine vacations and volunteer work.

The newly coined word for this travel niche is "voluntourism" and I recently had a chance to participate on a trip to New Orleans. While there at the Education Travel Conference, I and a few dozen other participants paid a nominal fee to volunteer in the 9th ward for the day. The neighborhood was devastated by hurricane Katrina and three and a half years later continues to struggle to return to normalcy.

Our day started with an introduction to the volunteers of a non profit organization called OnSite Relief whose mission is to provide relief to families devastated by natural disasters. They also aim to provide not only a fulfilling volunteer experience, but an exposure to the culture and allure of the cities that the organization aids.

A bus took us to the 9th ward where we met James Brown, a homeowner who was in the process of making his home habitable again. Most of the group stayed at Mr. Brown's house either painting the exterior or cleaning up the rubble in the yard. Several others were sent to another work site to help dry wall. Within six hours the yard was clean and the entire outside painted with at least one coat. Mr. Brown was so appreciative and we all truly enjoyed the cultural exchange. His stories about the hurricane and the friends he lost brought the catastrophe up close and personal.

Later we met a family who had been bilked of their relief money by an unscrupulous contractor and left with their home unfinished and uninhabitable. Onsite helped the family and we were able to hear both their gratitude and their stories of the volunteer crews that helped them.

The conference was great but the experience I had volunteering really resonated and in fact, friends and family asked about that the most as opposed to Mardi Gras or the cooking class that I took.

As more and more Americans answer the call to service volunteering is becoming a wonderful way to give back but also to interact with local cultures and people on a very personal level, especially when travelling. In fact if you are interested Epiculinary will arrange volunteer experiences for our participants wherever possible. By the way, we were told that it will take 10 more years for New Orleans to really recover. At this time, Galveston is in serious need of help.

Here's a link to Onsite Relief, one of the many volunteer agencies working in New Orleans:

http://onsiterelief.com/

Saving the Cala

cala[kah-LAH]

The word "cala" comes from an African word for "rice," and refers to a deep-fried pastry made with rice, yeast, sugar and spices. Calas resemble small, round doughnuts without a hole and are usually sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. © Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.

Well that's the official definition, but what I learned recently in New Orleans is that the humble cala can be any type of fritter that is composed of rice and other ingredients. They can even be of the savory sort and do not have to include yeast.

At a recent cooking class with Chef Frank Brigsten in New Orleans our first course was crawfish calas, made with baking powder instead of yeast and accompanied by a delicious homemade Russian dressing. They sort of reminded me of hush puppies made with rice.

It seems that the dish was almost extinct but Chef Brigsten and others are trying to resurrect it. I heard that it has been nominated or else is already on the Slow Food Ark . Anyone know the status of that?

While not a hit at Brigsten's restaurant, the recipe was a definite delight at the cooking class. I wolfed mine down and would have eaten more but needed to save room for the etoufee and jambalaya. I will definitely make it at home! (Recipe to follow...sorry folks but I left it in New Orleans in the hub bub of Mardi Gras)