Charter of uk.food+drink.misc 61

1620

100 years is a long time in a kitchen. We must agree to that. The Italian Bible of cookery by Artusi (1870s) does not ever use a cooking range or stove, but all directions are for cooking in a fireplace. In 1620 began the first permanent Euro culture in the US. The Pilgrims arrived with not much to start with from the old country. They had to learn about local foods and incorporate them. toasted sandwiches here, when I thought they could be any filled roll type

Apparently so! My daughter before she came last Autumn declared she wasn't going to eat any disgusting panini and she had to acquaint me with what that meant to her. I took her to my local cafe bar and introduced her to the simple Italian panino, which she of course loved. The great thing is the wide variety of breads-- probably more than 50 types commonly used, not all at once-- with extremely simple filling. The barrista will offer to warm it for you to be sure the crust is crusty, but never enough to heat the filling. That would make it a "tost." My cafe (the one where we had coffee) goes to three different bakeries for breads because each has its strong points. How different for someone to take so much trouble for something that normally costs between Euro 1.20 and 2.85. Those served up at Autogrills are not like that, so don't eat a panino on the highway and say "I don't think they are so great." Those aren't. And they are expensive, too. My favorite is a flat bread, salt-crusted by brushing with a strong brine before baking, split and filled with a single layer of mozzarella with a couple of slices of tomato. Basta. Another good one is filled with some tuna with artichoke hearts. The taste is wholly unexpected.