Local Flavours: Pizzeria Libretto

Italy is never far from my heart - or my stomach.  I had an amazing Italian mamma with a sleight of hand and no recipe in sight.  Gnocchi, lasagna, cabbage rolls (a nod to her Istrian ancestry), muzzeto, polenta - she made it all effortlessly and we ate it thoughtlessly, thinking that everyone ate the same way.  A favourite was her weekend pizza, the dough slightly thick and chewy, homemade tomato sauce adding a delicious sweetness. 

It wasn't until years later, on my first trip to Italy, that I discovered another kind of pizza - the thin crackly crusted variety a la Napoli.  It wasn't long before wood burning pizza seemed to make an appearance everywhere that a wood-burning oven could be squeezed into a restaurant corner, most famously at Spago in Beverly Hills. 

Like any transplanted dish, the further the distance, the greater the risk of loss of authenticity.  That's why I love Pizzeria Libretto.  Chef Rocco Agostino and proprietor Max Rimaldi are committed to creating a truly genuine pizza of Neapolitan proportions.  That commitment meant an investment in a 5000lb. oven shipped from Italy, and made by a third generation oven maker from Naples.  It's a thing of beauty: the opening quite small to preserve heat, continually fed by wood to maintain the 900 degree heat required to make a beautiful pizza in 90 seconds.  

The real deal

The wood not only feeds the oven; it adds a warm and rustic touch to the restaurant

 
While the menu is primarily focused on pizza, there is a carefully edited selection of antipasti, including amazing warm olives, and a salumi menu offering fare from local chefs. 
 

Pizza is the star of the show at Libretto

 
I can remember the first time I had pizza with fresh greens on top.  It was at a roadside osteria in Italy, where my cousins and our family had stopped after a day in the mountains.  I remember thinking how absolutely fantastic that the mix of fresh and baked was, and Pizzeria Libretto's version does Italy proud.
 

Whipping up one of dozens of pizzas that will consumed by hungry and happy patrons

 The Ontario Prosciutto & Arugula: tomato, garlic, oregano, basil, and shaved Parmigiano Reggiano

Buon Appetito!

Pizzeria Libretto

221 Ossington Avenue

Toronto, Ontario

(416) 532-800

Open daily from 12 noon to 11 pm

No reservations

mailto:info@pizzerialibretto.com

Comfort in a Bowl: Yummy Split Pea and Ham Soup

With all of the delicious spring veggies starting to arrive at the market - fava beans, local asparagus, fiddleheads - there's time for one last bowl of hearty soup before warmer weather arrives.  Richard is the soup maker in the family, and this favourite has been one of his staples for years now.  Be sure to always save the ham bone when you buy a holiday ham (they can be frozen), or used smoked pork hocks, as Richard did for the first time, with equally yummy results.

Split Pea and Ham Soup
adapted from The New Basics by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins
serves six, and guaranteed to solicit second helpings so plan accordingly!

1 pound dried green split peas
5 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 cups water
1 meaty ham bone, or 2 smoked ham hocks
2 ribs celery, leaves included, diced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, divided
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced peeled carrots
1 cup diced onion
1 leek (white part only), rinsed and sliced
1 cup slivered fresh spinach leaves
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Rinse the split peas in a strainer, and then combine them with the stock and water in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil.

2. Add the ham bone or hocks, celery, 1 tablespoon of the parsley, and the tarragon. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes.

3. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the carrots, onion, and leek. Cook until the vegetables are wilted, 10 minutes. Add them to the soup pot, along with the spinach. Simmer, partially covered, 30 minutes. You may need to add more water or stock.

4. Remove the soup from the heat. Remove the ham bone or hocks, and shred the meat from the bone, removing any excess fat. Return the meat to the soup.

5. Add the sherry, pepper, and remaining 2 tablespoons parsley. Heat through, and serve immediately.

Please Pass the Butter - Fennel-Olive Oil Quick Bread

Nothing says thank you quite like a homemade hostess gift - something delicious from the kitchen. When the hostess in question also happens to be a famous cookbook author and teacher, the stakes are pretty high. So when Bonnie Stern invited us to a Friday night dinner, it seemed only fitting to bring a loaf of freshly baked bread, packaged with two pounds of homemade butter. It might seem like carrying coals to Newcastle but who can resist fresh bread and butter?

Fennel-Olive Oil Quick Bread
from Olive Oil: From Tree to Table

It`s likely you have all the ingredients on hands for this easy three-step quick bread, and if not, it`s worth making sure you do. Simple, and simply scrumpcious, the bread can be made and baking in the oven while your guests are nibbling on appetizers.

Makes one loaf (can easily be doubled)

3 c self-rising flour
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp crushed fennel seeds
2 tbsp chopped fresh fennel tops, (or fresh dill tops); use 1 tbsp dried dill if fresh herbs are unavailable
1 can (12 oz) light beer
2 to 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1.  Preheat an oven to 375°F.  Oil a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan with olive oil.

2. Combine flour, sugar, fennel seeds and fennel (or dill) tops in a medium bowl.  Add the beer and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until well mixed. 

3.  Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan and pour the olive oil evenly over the top.  Bake until the top is golden, 50 to 55 minutes.  Slip loaf carefully out of pan and tap it on the bottom; if it sounds hollow and is also a nice golden colour, the bread is ready.  Cool on a wire rack until barely warm and break out the homemade butter.

Don't be alarmed at what seems like a lot of oil; it will get absorbed by the dough and won't result in oily bread

Whenever I bring a hostess gift to someone's house, especially something homemade, I like to think of creative ways to package everything up.  The homemade butter was easy: natural parchment paper and twine gave it the right rustic feeling.

I took advantage of Easter to stock up on cute bags and colourful grass that, taken out of context, would not be construed as particularly Easter-like, and could be used year-round.  This adorable bag was actually from Pottery Barn Kids, re-purposed here into a nifty "butter basket".  I wrapped the bread in a pretty napkin, easy to be reused by the hostess as a bread basket liner.

I added a bottle of Bottlegreen Elderflower Cordial for Ray, who creates the fabulous cocktails in the house

Yummy!

Asian Flavours Part Three: Bali - Island of the Gods

          The beautiful sights, sounds, smells and people of Bali

If Italy is my cultural and emotional homeland, the island of Bali is my spiritual one. On my fourth visit to the island, I am once again reminded of that. Statues of the gods everywhere – Shiva the Destroyer, Vishnu the Preserver, Ganesh, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and seemingly the most popular. Offerings wherever one looks – in the middle of the road; at the temples, big and small, that grace every village, building and home; atop a statue. Each one is a tiny random poem of love – a bit of fragrant rice, flowers, incense, perhaps a cracker – nestled in a miniature woven basket no bigger than a salad plate. All these elements blend to create an almost palpable air of holiness.

Offerings all around

A more elaborate gift.  Balinese women can spend up to one third of their time in devotional work, including preparing daily offerings to the gods

Balinese food reflects that complex blend. Combining Indonesian, Dutch, Indian, even Arab influences, the best of it has subtle but intense flavour at every bite – galangal, lemongrass, wild ginger, layered with kaffir leaves, fresh coconut and chili. Of course rice, served throughout the day, in dishes such as nasi goreng or for dessert as tape ketan.  And fruit - always fruit.

Ah, that fruit. Although not unique to Bali, the overflowing bowl of tropical fruit in my resort room still holds freshness that I rarely sample at home. My favourites are pulpy passionfruit and sweet cool mangosteen, the segments strangely resembling garlic cloves, in looks only. The fruit itself has a unique taste all its own, one that is hard to describe but impossible to forget.

Unappealing but utterly delicious passionfruit

The restaurant scene is international, reflecting the importance that tourism plays in Bali’s culture and economy. Italian, Thai and continental dishes mingle on the menu with chicken satays, spicy fried noodles and fresh grilled local fish. The common element for many restaurants is clearly in the design – the vibe is casual, the restaurants open wide to the balmy air, each with a cool urban decor.

We dine one night at Terazo, and the menu reflects the diverse tastes and sensibilities of the customers.  Me? I have an ice-cold Bintang beer, a refreshing gazpatcho soup and pork belly with cannellini beans. While roast suckling pig is a mainstay in Bali - babi guling - this pork has more of an Italian feel, scented with rosemary and garlic.  I don’t know if it’s typically Balinese but I do know that it’s delicious.

Icy cold local Bintang beer

Chilled gatzpatcho with lemongrass

Slow roasted pork belly with braised cabbage, cannellini beans, in a rosemary roasted garlic jus

A Taste of Bali

Several years ago we took cooking classes at the Four Seasons resort in Jimbaran Bay. This recipe has since become a standard appetiser at our house, especially at our holiday Open House, where a little taste of Bali makes even the coldest December day brighter.

Saté Lilit Bali (Balinese Chicken Sate)
courtesy of Four Seasons Resort at Jimbaran Bay

We are very lucky to live in a city where the exotic ingredients needed here are readily available. I have cited a list of mail order sources for the more obscure ingredients.

1 kg boneless, skinless chicken meat, minced (can use just breast or thighs or a combination of both)
3½ ounces shallots, finely chopped
1½ ounces garlic, finely chopped
4 pieces fresh small red chili, thinly sliced
4 tsp ginger, finely chopped
4 tsp galangal, finely chopped
2 tsp Chinese ginger (grachai), finely chopped


Chinese ginger, photo courtesy of Aromatics International

2 tsp fresh turmeric, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon ground turmeric)
1 tsp white pepper, ground
2 cloves clove, finely minced
1 tsp nutmeg, ground
1 tsp coriander, ground
1 tsp white sesame seed, ground
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp canola oil
36 pieces lemongrass, cut into 6 inch skewer lengths
2 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
2 oz grated coconut, unsweetened

1. Heat oil in a frying pan on low heat and sauté all the spices, except the lime leaf and coconut, until aromatic and cooked through. Remove from heat, cool and blend to a paste.

2. Mix the spice paste with the minced chicken; add lime leaf and coconut. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Take 20 grams of the chicken mixture and work around the lemongrass skewer; repeat with remaining chicken.

4. Grill the satays until cooked through. Serve with peanut sauce.

Makes 40 satay skewers.

Make ahead: The paste can be made ahead and frozen. The skewers can also be made ahead, grilled and frozen. Or the paste and chicken can be prepared the day before; do not add coconut to raw meat until just before assembly.

I'm also angling to get the recipe for krupuk.  These delicious and highly addictive crackers are served alongside drinks at the Four Seasons resort in Sayan. Watch this space!

The Jati Bar at Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan

The Sights of Bali

Bali is a sensory assault.  Everything is colorful - the amazing terraced rice paddies, the women with their elegant, feminine clothing, the food.  Best of all is the gentle and hospitable nature of the Hindu-practicing Balinese, who prize children, harmony and the earth around them in a way that is spell-binding.

The terraced rice paddies in Bali

Balinese children are considered sacred.  When a baby is born, its feet do not touch the ground for the first three months of life, to preserve the purity of the new soul that has been born to this base earth

Motor scooters are the most popular form of transport. It is common to see a family of three or even four astride a scooter - no helmets of course!

Balinese "dance-drama" features well-known characters from the deities and elaboarte costumes.  These masks are a readily available - and dramatic - souvenir of the island

Beautiful Balinese women gracefully carrying trays full of offerings

Temples everywhere

Cutting coconuts for the fresh coconut water

Even the "Do Not Disturb" sign is beautiful

After a brief and blissful sojourn in Hong Kong to reconnect with Richard before heading home (nothing like a long distance date to keep the marriage fresh!), I wind up my Asian travels, settle back at home and dream of vsisting Bali again some day soon.

Asian Flavours Part Two: Singaporean Chilli Crab

If you've ever been to Singapore, surely you have encountered Chilli Crab.  Served family style in restaurants all over the city, the crabs are swimming in a tomato-based sauce, and always come with deep fried sweet Chinese rolls called mantou that you eat by the dozen to capture the sauce.  There are variations on the theme, the most popular being black pepper crab.  The best places for Chilli Crab are the seafood hawker stalls or the waterside restaurants at and around the East Coast Seafood Centre, although the subject is one that causes heated debate amongst the locals. 

My favourite places are the cheap and cheerful places: very bright lights; plastic tablecloths; skimpy paper napkins; no atmosphere.  But amazing crab.  On this trip, though, we're being treated in style, so the restaurant is a step or two up from the ordinary: Jumbo Seafood.

At Jumbo, the open kitchen and floor to ceiling tanks of all manner of live crustaceans - including a particularly ugly geoduck - make for a different kind of Chilli Crab experience.  Still, the stacks of paper napkins, big water bowls and disposable bibs remind us that this is a place where messy fingers are expected.

  

 Appetisers include Fried Prawns with Cereal; Donut with Seafood Paste (essentially deep fried dough stuffed with cuttlefish paste); Deep Fried Bean Curd; Marinated Jellyfish

The delicious Chilli Crab

With nutcrackers, we take turns tackling the slippery obstinate shells, extracting the scant meat like so many rare pearls from oysters. Just one more mantou.  Let me try to crack that last crab claw.  Sated and happy, we pile into the waiting cars, fingers still sticky and fragrant.

Although I haven't tried this recipe from Tyler Florence, the ingredients look like they'd make a mighty fine mess 'o chilli crab.  Let me know if you try it!

Asian Flavours Part One: Spicy Grandma meets Indochine

For the past two weeks I've been on the road in Asia. Starting in Beijing, my travels have taken me to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and finally Singapore. Travelling on business is never easy; and airplane food is hardly gourmet. But still I’ve managed to see some amazing sights, and have some amazing meals, complete with wacky menu descriptions, unusual tastes, and the hilarity of ordering by “sign and point” (not to mention trying to navigate room service orders).  The way that food manages to connect us to one another - across very different cultures and languages - is one of my favourite things about travel.

Spicy Grandma Restaurant
Beijing Dongcheng District, xin Dongon
Market Quniou North Six-storey 609

If your vision of an authethic Chinese restaurant is one where all things weird and wonderful are on the menu, Spicy Grandma is your stop. Want whole baby turtle? Check.  What about goose tongue? Got it. Hmm - even a bit of snake on offer. Spicy Grandma has it all.  The staff's English is spotty, so we're (very) thankful for the large photo album-style menu, replete with succinct and slightly "off" English captions.

"Gluttonous" frog, courtesy of Spicy Grandma website

Beijing is famous for its roast Peking duck, so that's the first order of business.  This version is Camphorwood and Tea Smoked Duck, and yup - it's clearly recognizable as duck.

Deep-fried baby pork ribs somehow seem appealing too (why not, after a 13 hour flight?), and we round off our meal with sauteed pea shoots and eggplant.  And not just any eggplant - this dish is called Burns the Eggplant in Tile. I mean - really - how could you NOT order that dish just to see what it was? 

Well, actually, we can see what it might look like - an interesting presentation on utilitarian tin foil.  When it arrives, the dish lives up to its advance billing, looking exactly the same as the photo.  It is deeply delicious, the sauce fragrant and garlicky.  We use our steamed rice to soak it up. 

The next day affords us very little time to see much of Beijing, but we manage a quick trip to Tiananmen Square.  The day is beautiful and sunny and the square is full of Chinese tourists, taking photos of the stern very young military guards on duty, the massive monuments and each other.

Multi-generations are travelling together, grandma shepherding young children, grandpa holding grandma's purse as he strolls slowly behind.  The rest of the week is a blur, on a plane or train every day, the rain and bitter northern China weather dampening our spirits and making the jet lag linger longer than usual.  Arriving in Singapore to 35°C from frigid Guangzhou feels like a benediction.  We can't wait to put on lighter clothing and eat outside. 

If Spicy Grandma was China unplugged, Indochine is sleek and sexy Singapore glamour.  Reflecting the unique diversity of Singapore, everything tastes fresh, looks wonderful and is enhanced by the perfect little breeze, the glittering skyline and the wonderful company of my colleagues.

The view from Indochine

From bottom up and counter-clockwise: Vit Quay Gion Ton Kin (Fresh Duck Breast à la Ton Kin): Duck breast fillets grilled with herbs and spices, served with crispy basil leaves, crispy rice noodles and aromatic sweet sauce; Rau Xao Thap Cam (Stir-fried vegetables with basil and chilli): Fresh mixed vegetables seared with herbs and chilli; Cambodian Style Chilli and Basil Chicken: Tender chicken prepared in red chilli, holy basil and garlic sauce.

I especially like the way the menu describes the chicken dish: The aroma of this dish is a true indication of its flavour. After eating this, you may find your mind wandering into the world of the ancient ones who had the ability to create temples and structures that to this day remain unchallenged as great monuments.

I don't know that I am inspired to build temples, though...

Ca Chem Hap Chahn (Steamed Sea Bass with Lemon Juice): Whole sea bass steamed in lemon juice, garlic, coriander, and red chilli

Empty dishes; full stomachs; happy people

 Sebastien - our wonderful server, who chose all the dishes and served them with gracious hospitality

Stay tuned for Asian Flavours Part Two: Chili Crab!