Think On It

Lampascioni

From this 

To this

Here they are.  I cleaned them as directed on Tuesday and then they soaked in cold water, changed everyday, until this morning.  Today I cooked them.

They look like onions, but they are not.  The resemble ramps, those mountain wild leeks in the United States, but they aren’t.

They are a highly prized specialty of the Pugliese kitchen.

So what do I think?  To quote my travel companion, Alison, “They’re bitter little buggers!”

I will instantly pickle them in hopes that vinegar and brine may improve them.

Meanwhile, look at that plate!  It is something new that looks old.  It’s the work of a local artist, Maria Cristina Leandri, who hand paints ceramics that look like they were pulled out of Pompeii.  She also showed an enormous bowl that was so beautiful that if I had a place to keep it, it would be mine.

Leandri M. Cristina
06017 Selci-San Giustino (PG)

Leave an email address if you’d like her phone number.

4 comments April 7th, 2007

Kitchen accidents

I made and ate a pasta yesterday based on an internet recipe for a side dish.  It was so good I wanted to patent it!  The original recipe just happened to include things I already had around, all but one ingredient, tomato paste, which I never have.

The bad thing is that I didn’t expect it to be anything special, so I didn’t keep any records or photograph it.  The good thing is that it was so easy I’m confident I can do it again and write it down.

Another good thing is that it was really cheap, like pennies per serving.  Free, actually, if the stuff is lying around, as it was here.  Over and over, I discover that with genuinely Italian food the best stuff is cheap.  It means there’s more money for wine and seafood!  But I haven’t yet saved enough for real lobsters, boh!

9 comments April 7th, 2007