I’m not vegetarian but there are days when I don’t mind being one.
In Italy, there are actually a significant variety of items that a vegetarian could pick in a regular supermarket, even in restaurants. And I thought that I’d share this vegetarian meal that I really enjoyed.
Veggie burgers! I first tried a veggie burger at Burger King in Singapore a long time back, and then more recently in Komala’s. They were both really yummy.
Anyway, my eyes were attracted to this frozen burger during our last grocery shopping. So it was sort of an impulsive buy. (By the way, you HAVE TO ask an Italian person to pronounce “burger”. It’s SO CUTE!)
I also chose this burger by Kio Ene, because it was much cheaper than the other brand – that one had 2 patties and sold for 3 euro, while this one has 4 patties and sold for 4 euro.
This burger is mostly made of soy, flour, onion and a mix of spices.
And it looks like this right out of the box. Doesn’t look all that appetizing …
But look how it looks like after being fried in olive oil after a couple of minutes. Oooh! What a bewdy!
We dressed it up with mustard, chilli sauce (forgot to buy ketchup) a slice of onion at the bottom and sottilette cheese.
And it’s so crunchy and surprisingly really really tasty. So good! I wouldn’t mind eating this over a real meat burger sometimes. I guess you can call me, a flexitarian
Anyway, Il gelato is located in the charming area off Via del Corso, but it’s fairly attainable with a bit of a walk from the closest metro (Spagna).
Anyway, inside, there are so many different types of gelati. And if you’ve been living in Italy for a while, you can tell more or less tell by sight if it was handmade (artigianale) or not. Firstly, the gelati doesn’t look overly fluffy.
But it was quite mind boggling to decide at the first visit. There were so many kinds! In fact, it was divided into two segments. Just look at their chocolate ice cream segment. Even a chocolate lover like me was stumped at what to get.
There was the chocolate, the dark chocolate, the extra dark chocolate. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, there is chocolate with cinnamon, chocolate with ginger and lemon, chocolate with chilli … The choices go on.
I was a little overwhelmed so we chose to have the set-apperativo in the end. I was looking around at the other plates and Cart and I were a little worried as we saw something looking like ham, so we asked for those to be omitted and asked for the prosecco to be changed to coca cola.
And then we got this :
Huh? Gelato with nachos and vegetable slices is a strange combination. But there are stranger flavours of ice cream around the world like Horse Meat, Charcoal and Wasabi so I had to keep an open mind, moreover it’s not ice cream-ice cream, it’s an apperativo-ice cream.
So let’s start!
This bright and cheerful orange gelato here is peperoni (not to be mistaken for cured sausages).
Have you ever had bell pepper ice cream before? No? Me neither. Tasting it, you can definitely detect the bell peppers inside, but it was refreshingly creamy. And it went surprisingly well with the vegetable slices.
This is the pistacchio ice cream.
A little bit tainted with the orange peperoni bits. Nevertheless, I quite like at how light it tastes like, and that it was slightly gritty with the little bits of pistacchio inside.
And then this is Cart’s half eaten Gorgonzola ice cream.
I have to admit that this definitely is an acquired taste and probably not for everyone. I’m not a big fan of ripe cheese but I gave it a try anyway. And indeed it was very strong. If you were blindfolded while eating this, you could actually tell from the smell that it was made of blue veined cheese.
The taste is completely unique. And it was really wierd for me to taste it as a gelato. Cart, who adores cheese, liked this though.
I was observing some of the other guests who were there trying out this ice cream, and I was amused to see them had the same curious reaction as I did.
Luckily for me, I was able to change mine to another flavour.
Green tea! I’m crazy about Matcha ice cream and it was love at first taste for me when I first tried it at a Japanese dessert shop. And this was the first time that I’ve ever seen Matcha green tea gelato in Rome.
Cart didn’t like it so much though and thought that it tasted like grass. Nevertheless, this made me so happy! It’s the little things like these that makes life memorable 🙂
There was a bunch of parsley in the fridge. Since I was grilling some chicken breasts, I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to whip up some salsa verde as a condiment.
Salsa verde, literally translated as green sauce is really great on fish and grilled meats. And to make it, is really easy – you dump a bunch of parsley, a bit of mint (optional) and basil (optional) in a food processor, add some extra virgin olive oil, some vinegar, a bit of capers, some garlic, a slice of anchovy (optional) and salt and pepper to taste.
The traditional way is to chop everything by hand with a mezzaluna, but nevertheless, doesn’t my sauce look lovely and bright and cheerful? Don’t be deceived at how simple it looks, this sauce packs a punch with it’s flavour notes! I had a very lovely lunch indeed.
There was only one thing that I forgot to keep in mind and I only realised my folly till way later when Cart came back home.
Me : Ohai abang! Welcome back! *smooch!*
Cart : Ehm … I can smell garlic …
Me : * Recoils in horror *
You see, when cooking with ingredients like garlic, the flavours get absorbed by the main bulk components. But when working with raw ingredients, it is much more potent. And I took for granted at how mild garlic tastes like when fried in olive oil that I happily threw in three cloves in the food processor when only one would do.
And then I thought about my session with my driving instructor and then having coffee with Cart and a couple of his colleagues who were working near the driving school and how they have been exposed to my unintentional dragon-breath. And I felt so very embarrassed …
This is a way overdue post that I’ve been meaning to blog about earlier but I didn’t get a chance till now.
I won a cooking DVD from Putri Berendam, one of Singapore’s top food blogger which I respect. (coincidentally, we were supposed to meet this year, but unfortunately didn’t have the chance) Anyway, she hosted a contest on her blog in mid-2010 and just for fun, I decided to participate.
To my happy surprise, I received an email by her saying that I won a “Tanya Mami Asmah Laili” Cooking DVD! (I was amused when Cart asked, “Who’s Tanya Mami?” As if Tanya was a first name) Asmah Laili is a well recognized TV personality and celebrity chef in Singapore and Malaysia and has vast experience in cooking.
Here she teaches you how to choose fresh fish
But because I have little faith in the Italian delivery system, I asked my parents to hold it for me till I return back to Singapore. And because Cart and I were busy meeting friends and relatives during our stay there, it was only when we returned back to Rome when I had time to watch the DVD properly.
Anyway, I really love this DVD. Watching the videos is like watching a hybrid of my mum and aunt teaching me about food. You can tell that she’s really dedicated to her craft by the way she handles her food. And it’s really cute when I spot out some of the slang that she uses, “Masin Kebabai!” or “keras kojol!” or “en den” which is something that Malay aunties tend to say.
Speaking of Malay aunties, even though this DVD is in Malay, there are subtitles and also dubbings in English, Mandarin and Japanese so everyone can enjoy them.
I think the spelling should be “Penyet”, but that’s my opinion
Opening the case, there is included, a little cookbook filled with colourful illustration of each of the recipe in the videos, both in English and Malay for a quick reference.
But one thing which I think could have been improved about the content page though is that the content page should be grouped and arranged accordingly to the chapter list on the DVD.
For example, opening the recipe book for the very first time, (which is very beautiful by the way) I was very excited as I saw one of my favourite food, Ayam Penyet in the list. And I thought wow! I want to know how it’s made! I want to watch this part first! And thus, that was the first thing that I wanted to watch first. But where do I find on the DVD?
And fiddling with the DVD chapters itself was a little cumbersome for me, trying to figure out which specific episode contained what I wanted to watch. I had to click on episode 1 and then episode 2 and then episode 3 and then finally it was episode 4 (of course) which contained the video that I wanted to watch initially.
For simplicity’s sake, I’ll list of food here :
Part 1 : Pasta
Pasta Fiesta
Kasirol Mami – Mami’s Casserole
Spaghetti Sos Pekat – Spaghetti with Thick Sauce
Salada Buah dan Sayur – Vegetables and Fruit Salad
Slurpy Joe
Part 2 : Seafood
Ikan Bakar Kampung – Grilled Fish Village Style
Ketam Goreng Lada Hitam – Black Pepper Crab
Sayur Campur Goreng dengan Ayam – Stir Fried Veggies with Chicken Chunks
Ketam Berlada Mentega Kacang – Black Pepper Crabs with Peanut Butter
Part 3 : Festive foods
Ayam Tandoori – Tandoori Chicken
Udang Mak Besar – Mami’s Prawn Delight
Nasi Kunyit Tomato – Yellow Rice with Tomato
Salada Mangga – Mango Salad
Teh Serai – Lemongrass Tea
Part 4 : Mami’s favourites
Ayam Panggang Oren – Orange Roast Chicken
Ayam Penyet – Smashed Crispy Chicken
Sup Asam Labu Siam – Sour Siamese-Pumpkin Soup
Sambal Kicap Lada Padi – Birds Eye Chili and Soy Sauce
Laksa Nenas Kasturi – Pineapple Laksa
Going through the entire DVD, there are a couple of items that looks so good, that I would love to give it a try one day like the Ikan Bakar Kampung (Grilled Fish village-style) which looks absolutely mouthwatering and Ayam Tandoori (Tandoori Chicken) which looks wonderfully spicy and of course not to mention my beloved Ayam Penyet (Smashed Chicken)
However, unless you’re living in Asia, some of the ingredients could be a little hard to find like abalone sauce, fresh pandan (aka pinescrew) leaves and candlenuts. So I guess for people living overseas, we’d just have to be clever and substitute or omit them.
Nevertheless, I tried one of her recipe which looked pretty easy to make with easily acessible ingredients – Nasi Kunyit Tomato – Yellow Rice with Tomato.
One thing that you’d have to remember is that the recipes that she demonstrates are adjusted to her own taste and thus, her techniques might not be conventional. Her pasta segment for example, will probably make an Italian mama blush because she adds spices and chili way more than any Italian would.
But I can understand why she cooks it that way – because Asians like it like that. So the dishes are adjusted for the local palette. It’s kind of like the humble pancake. Americans like it stacked and thick while French like it thin and crepe-y. It’s not wrong, it’s just how the local people prefer it. It’s not like she claims that it’s the 100% original, trusted, generation passed down recipe.
By the way, did you notice one odd thing about the DVD? Did you notice that the video is a 4:3 resolution? Which is strange because, at that resolution, it would be more apt for VCDs instead. But nevertheless, it’s not such a big deal when you start to watch Mami working her magic in the kitchen as well as as the beautiful Labrador Park.
I’m not paid to endorse this but I highly recommend this DVD not only for people living in Singapore and Malaysia, but also others living overseas as it really bring a bit of home where-ever you are. I might sound biased, but there’s a point when it’s comforting and nice to hear a familiar language once in a while.
Moreover because at this point of time, the price of each DVD is reduced to $15 SGD ($12.4 USD) which is a really good price for all these knowledge, no? Also each $10 sold from each DVD will be donated directly to the Japan Quake and Tsunami relief efforts.
Anyway, here is a 1 minute preview of the begining of her video
And to end this post, I’m going to put up an absolutely non related picture.
This is Nasi Lemak. Another thing that I like to eat and I made it yesterday and I’m very proud of it and so I’m showing off 🙂
Gnocchi (nyee-oh-key) is one of my favourite things to eat. For such a yummy dish, it’s surprisingly basic, consisting of basically potatoes, egg and flour.
In Rome, there is a saying, “Giovedi Gnocchi” – or Gnocchi Thursdays. There are also Venerdi Baccalà and Sabato Trippa and I’ve no idea how it started, but I find it an adorable and delicious tradition.
Gnocchi is actually much more straightforward to do compared to making fresh egg pasta and here is now to make them. You will need :
A kilogram of potatoes
Flour
Eggs (Optional)
First drop the potatoes in water and boil them. It’s best to use older potatoes as there are more starch content and thus holds better in gnocchi. A kilogram of potato yields enough for about 4 people to eat.
After about 20 minutes, when the potatoes are soft and easily pierced with a fork, it’s ready. Drain and then peel the skin off.
Now mash the peeled potatoes with a potato masher. Hopefully they are still warm by this time as it’s easier to mash them then.
You should have something that looks like this.
Now add two eggs, salt and pepper and about half a cup of flour. You can add more if you feel that the texture is too sticky.
In Italy, there is a type of flour called the “00” flour which indicates that it is very finely milled. But regular flour works fine too.
Now mix them altogether till it becomes a soft dough. Divide the dough into two and roll it till it becomes long and thin. Cover the strand with flour so that it doesn’t stick. And then cut it up with a knife.
You could cook them as it is, but if you like, you can roll it up into little balls and then passing it with a fork to create some lines, but that’s purely aesthetic.
And then boil some water, and when the water starts to bubble, add some salt. I added a bit of olive oil so that the gnocchi doesn’t stick. And put the gnocchi in. After a couple of minutes, when the gnocchi floats up, it’s ready!
And now it’s just a matter of adding in the sauces that you like. Here are just a few variations of the gnocchi that we made so far :
1. Gnocchi alla Sorrentina.
2. Gnocchi with basic tomato sauce. So good that Jerrick could attest to that.
4. Gnocchi con burro parmiggiano e salvia. Not my favourite though, cause it feels cloying after a few bites.
5. Gnocchi with funghi.
5. And ehm … this isn’t gnocchi but lets just pretend this is gnocchi with pesto as I forgot to take a picture of it.
And many many other variations! And since I’ve put up this post on a wednesday, you’ve got ample time to run out to buy potatoes, eggs and flour to make your own gnocchi for Giovedi Gnocchi!
For tourists visiting Rome, I’d adamantly advice them to eat Italian food at Italian restaurants. What’s the point after all, if you travel all the way to another country but you don’t try their local food and specialities?
But as an Asian living in Rome, as much as I love Italian food, sometimes I miss a piece of home every now and then.
Anyway, I’ve noticed this Little Indian restaurant for a while, each time I walk near the Termini station, but it was only while walking with my friend Claire last month, was when we decided to give this little place a try.
I think it’s quite new as when I double checked with google maps, it looked way different to how it looks like now.
One thing which was kind of strange though, was that when you approach it, you’ll see two other little restaurants beside it serving exactly the same food at the same prices! I imagine that all three are managed by the same person or the owners are friends.
Anyway, as you can see, the food served are prominently displayed with pictures as well as prices. There isn’t that much variety – no desserts, no appetizers, focusing more on the main meals but it was enough for casual dining.
Asking for food is pretty much fast food restaurant style. You queue up, choose the food you want, pay the amount and then wait for the server to be done heating up your food. It might be a little of a hassle trying to order food here because a couple of the servers don’t seem to speak Italian nor English very well. But no big issue, just gesture 🙂
I asked the server if they served halal food, and they said that they do. While there was no certification, it’s easy to believe this as the owner is Pakistani and also halal meat is easily attainable from Mercato Esquilino which sells international foodstuff, is just a few minutes walking distance away.
And when you have your food, just pick a free spot to sit. It’s free seating. While the restaurant isn’t a large or classy place, it’s cosy and clean and inviting to me. It reminds me so much of a mamak stall, be it in Singapore or Malaysia
I ordered Chicken Briyani and asked them to pour a little bit of curry gravy on top. And tasting it, it was really good! While I’ve already eaten in another Indian restaurant, I really liked the rustic taste of this one. The rice was soft, moist and flavourful in the spices, the chicken juicy, it tasted just like the regular Briyani that I grew up with.
Of course, being in Italy, the food had to be catered to the masses and it was definitely mild. Not hot at all for the chilli monster. Talking to the owner, I was amused when he told us that he wouldn’t eat himself this type of food, and instead add more chilli and spices when cooking for himself.
Nevertheless, I thought that this was the best Briyani that I ever had in Rome. It was so yummy!
Claire had a plate of Prawn Briyani which I could see that she enjoyed eating.
Later in the week, a couple of days before the fasting month, I dragged Cart to give this restaurant a try too. As a vegetarian, there were a couple of items that he could choose. And he ordered Vegetable Curry.
I wish that it didn’t taste so bland. If the dish was spicer, it would have tasted much more satisfying.
Cart also had a plate of Daal, which he ate with Naan bread. Lentils are not my favourite thing to eat, nevertheless, this tastes pretty good, because the dish was not originally hot anyway.
And this time round I thought that I’d try their Tandoori chicken. Tandoor is a method of cooking in a deep wood or charcoal oven and food cooked in it tends to have the most amazing smoky, rustic taste. But while I’d normally love this dish, the chicken that I had was dry for me. What a shame.
The roasted potatoes in rosemary were nice enough though.
With my set meal, I also got a plate of salad which was unremarkable, nevertheless, the red sauce that I had with my salad, I liked very much. It tasted sweet and sourish of lime but at the same time was spicy hot.
I’m not sure if it really goes with the salad, but I ate it as a dipping sauce with the chicken. Next time I’ll just ask them to hold the mayonaise and just give me pure red sauce 🙂
Despite some of the misses in this restaurant, I am quite enamoured with this place and I’m looking forward to going there again the next time I have a craving for Indian food.
Sidenote : I haven’t been to that many Indian restaurants in Rome but to me, the taste really hits close to the ones that I had in Little India in Singapore and I dare say that it’s the best that I had in Rome.
You know how in Singapore, when you go to for Nasi Padang (like at Hajah Maimunah) and you can pick and choose the food behind the glass display, that you want to eat.
There is something similar here in Italy too. And it is called Tavola Calda which literally means Hot Table. Typically only opened during lunch, these eating establishments are meant for working people (but they are also open to all) who do not have the time to reach home to eat lunch, hence they head here for a cheap and quick meal – you spend about 5 – 10 euro in all.
This is one of my favourite Tavola Calda – La Molisana which is right across Cipro metro station.
Here, all the food will be displayed behind a glass display for you to have a look before you choose which yummy food you’d like for lunch. And generally, like a pizza al taglio, you’ll be charged according to the weight of the food.
There are a lot of variety of food here from pasta, to meats to vegetables.
Although some tavola calda also do it “buffet style” with the food all spread on the table, and you pick as much as you’d like to eat, as long as it fits in one plate.
This is what Cart and I had the last time we were at La Molisana – Parmigiana di melanzane (kind of like lasagna but with eggplants instead of pasta – yummy but troublesome to make), pomodoro ripieni di riso (baked tomato with flavoured rice inside) and a couple of mixed grilled vegetables.
And this what we had when we went there last November. More or less the same thing, except Cart had a meatless lasagna.
I love tavola calda. It might not have such a fine dining ambience, but the food is wonderfully family style and most importantly yummy.
So if you are in Rome and looking for a more wallet friendly alternative for lunch, this could be something to try 🙂
When Cart and I arrived back home, we couldn’t move at all. We were stuffed from easter lunch with the combined food that my in laws and I have prepared.
Here are some of the food that we had. First off for antipasti (appetizer) :
We had Carciofi sott’olio which is basically artichokes preserved in oil. This might take a bit of getting used to because it tends to be very sour.
And then we had zucchini with tomatoes. This is pretty easy to make but very tasty – basically you stir fry some chopped onions, then add in sliced zucchini and then some cut tomatoes. You might want to add some vinegar towards the end if you like.
I made Nasi Tomato using the recipe from “Tanya Mami Asmah Laili” which I won from Putri Berendam (which sidetracking, I think is really good considering that it is only $15SGD. There is also AYAM PENYET!!!! If anyone want, I can do a review of the DVD)
The rice was delicious by the way. All the adults liked it. Just too bad that the kids were afraid to eat something that they didn’t recognize
By this time, I was already feeling full. But then we still had first course to go which is pasta! Cart and I had Cannelloni ricotta e spinaci.
This is a sort of lasagna, but instead of rectangular pasta pieces, these are long tubes instead and stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach. Kind of like the lasagna I video blogged a while ago.
The rest had Cappelletti in brodo di pollo.
These are dumplings stuffed with 4 cheeses in chicken broth and this is a special Emilia-Romagna recipe from my in-laws. They would usually have it during main holidays like Christmas and these dumplings are actually hand made!
And finally for the secondo piatto, roasted lamb. Kind of like ketupat for us in Asia during hari raya, roasted lamb with potatoes are a speciality for pasqua because lamb has a religious symbolism.
There was still Carciofi alla Romana to eat after this. And then strawberries for dessert. But at this point of time, as big as my eyes were, I just couldn’t stuff myself with more food and I just sat there on the chair for a full 5 minutes. Oh! And we still had to open our chocolate eggs!
Burp!
Even the turtles had a treat with a banana each. My niece and nephew had two turtles which are actually fun to play with (they move amazingly fast too)
Cart and I were in Ladispoli during the weekend for their annual artichoke festival (I’ll update more about that later in the week) and we stumbled upon this stall with loads of Ubuntu cola for sale! Tadah!
I’m so geeked out by this.
I’ve been using the Ubuntu linux distro for over a year now, and was very excited to give it a try. I doubt that it had anything to do with linux though, and instead has a sort of “open source” recipe (all the ingredients are listed at the back of the can) unlike Coca Cola where the recipe is highly secret.
We found out later that the cola is fairtrade and the makers give at least 15% of sales to the Ubuntu Africa Programme. But most importantly, how does Ubunto Cola taste like?
