Credit Where Credit Is Due

15 Oct 2013 2 Comments

by scolgin in Observations, Pork Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I appreciate it when people tell me they’ve made something I featured on the blog and enjoyed it. (Likewise, I’m mortified when people making something and it doesn’t turn out well … which I think has only happened once when a friend tried to make my bagna cauda.)

The food blog world is a unique universe. I subscribe to a variety of food blogs which I enjoy reading, and every so often read a recipe that I know I will have to try myself. And I thought it only fair to share a few of my favorites.

Erica's crab dip

Erica’s crab dip

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The Treasures of the Lagoon — a Guest Post

07 Dec 2012 26 Comments

by scolgin in Food, On the Road Tags: , , , , , ,

When my neighbors, Chris and Glennis, told me they were renting a flat in Venice next to the Rialto bridge — and more importantly, the famous Rialto fish market — it was all I could do to contain my envy and jealousy joy for them. I’ve always wanted to have a kitchen in Venice so I could cook the wonderful and exotic things at the Rialto market. Glennis has one of my favorite blogs, Doves Today. So I made her promise to take lots of photos and do a guest post on my blog. Without further ado, here is her richly documented contribution. Enjoy!

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The Treasures of the Lagoon

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“In Venice even ordinary sole and ugly great skate are striped with delicate lilac lights, the sardines shine like newly-minted silver coins, pink Venetian scampi are fat and fresh, infinitely enticing in the early dawn.” – Elizabeth David

In Venice, our flat faced the Grand Canal at the Calle di Boteri, just down from the Rialto Mercado. Here, the great mercantile center of Venice has operated since the 16th century, with the Erberia, the produce market, and the Pescheria, the Fish Market next to one another beside the canal. More

Venice Envy

26 Jun 2012 6 Comments

by scolgin in Observations, On the Road Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

People may complain that it stinks, others that it is sinking, and still more that it is too expensive. Those who are there in the winter lament the floods that render every street and alleyway a canal. But nothing anyone will ever say can sour my love for the most romantic city of them all — Venice.

Your host on Piazza San Marco with Venetian carnival mask, a foggy morning in March, circa 199?

So it was with some degree of green that I accepted the news that our neighbors and friends, Chris and Glennis, had rented an apartment in Venice this summer. Chris added insult to injury by sending me the website for the place they were staying, complete with perfectly framed view onto the Grand Canal. In response, I did what any affronted friend would — I invited them over for a “bon voyage” Venetian dinner. More

Yeast of Eden

13 Jan 2012 14 Comments

by scolgin in Recipes Tags: , , , , , , , ,

A frequently heard lament around my house is our inability to locate a good and authentic Parisian baguette anywhere in the city.

Fresh baked bread, Parma butter and speck

I’ve driven hours, all over the city, in search of the elusive loaf. Any time I see a French bakery, I stop and purchase a baguette. Some are decent, most are bad… but none are great. All of which led me to the conclusion that perhaps if I wanted a good baguette, I should be making it myself. But after researching the equipment and time required, and guessing that the result would likely be no better than anything I’d encountered in my Ulyssean travels about town, I realized I would not be adding the baguette to my baking repertoire. More