Cha Xiu Bao

Elvis Presley and Parmigiano Reggiano, I remember

He is The King. He inspired me to listen good.

He is also The King. He inspired me to eat good.

A gallery on my visit to a "caseificio" for our King. I was totally thrilled and I swear I heard melodies floating everywhere I turned in the factory that I decided to come up with a score for each and every photo to mark the occasion when I "compose" the album back home.

The theme song for the whole album is of course, "The Wonder Of You" by The King himself!

You can check them out in the "detail" mode here also. Enjoy!

Cheese, what else?

The first stop of my food tour was the Cheese Festival in Bra, Italy. I was like a foodie in a mission. Flying non-stop from Hong Kong to London, arrived five in the morning and then transit to Milan right away. Without any rest after the long-haul flight, I took a train and went straight to Bra, a small and quite town somewhere between Asti and Alba in the Piedmont province of Italy.

The festival was such a mega event. Several hundreds of cheese-makers from around the world swarmed to this small town to parade their dairy crafts during the weekend. There was a whole plaza dedicated to the cheeses from Italy, an atrium packed with those from the British Isles, France, and those from other parts of Europe... What can I say? I love cheese and I must have eaten more cheeses in one day than all I've ever had in my entire life.

But wait, there's way more than just stalls and stands showing cheeses. There's  La Gran Sala del formaggio e l'Enoteca, a giant covered hall of where you can wash down the formaggi with some lovely Italian wine. We're talking about DOCG staff, not those table wine storing in jelly can: wines like Collio Sauvignon '04 of Ruusiz Superiore, Patriglione '97 of Cosimo Taurino, or a dessert from Alto Adige: Moscato Rosa Schweizer '03 of Franz Haas, wines that often tagged with the term 'super' in their anecdotes. The entrance fee is what? A nominal 5 euros! Molto molto bene, ain't it?

Please don't say again the only cheese we Chinese have is the fermented bean curd. That's not true. We do have something called Yak Cheese from the Tibetan Plateau, made by of course, milk of yak.

Yaaaak! Speaking of Yak, what's that furry thing? Well, that's the Darrif Cheese from our friends in Lebanon, an artisan cheese aged inside the goat skin. Taste? You'd tempted to think that something aged in such confinement tends to be rather meaty, right? Yet truth be told, it is very very mild.

What about some Geitost, the sweet caramelized 'brown' cheese from our equally sweet (or even sweeter?) Norwegian sisters? Ha, it is shaped in almost the same way as our moon cakes do. Mmm, now I know what to buy for the next Mid-Autumn Festival.

Finally, there are endless workshops about cheese (what our Italian friends called Laboratori del Gusto) and the art of it. The one I went to was a vertical tasting of 5 vintages of parmigiano reggiano, from Year 2000 all down, costing 30 euros with well-selected wines to pair with each vintage. Yummissimo!

Okay, I've talked too much. If you love cheese as much as I do, there are a whopping 85 number of pictures in my Flickr set for you to get an idea about the festival and more importantly, for your amusement. Hope you enjoy it.

Say cheezzz, baby, say cheezz...

iMac down, iMac down down. My iMac is now resting in the workshops of Apple's repair center pending some major fix up of its internet connection as well as the DVD drive. That's why I haven't updated my blog for this quite long a while.

But, life is still wonderful after all. My tickets for the workshop and dinners of the Cheese Festival in Bra of Italy arrived just in time to cheer me up. Yep, in about ten days I'll be in Italy to take part in this biennial 'cheesy' event organized by the Slow Food Organization. In it, I'll take a class in what I consider the highlight of the whole function: a workshop on Parmigiano Reggiano -- vertical testing of the 5 vintages of the King of Cheese. Man, just the sound of it give me an ecstatic fit!

But of course that won't be all for my gusto! For next I will conquer Barcelona. Then I'll try to pull off my best Drunken Master show to date in the La Rioja Wine Festival in Logrono (lets hope the Riojas can make my kung fu fighting smokin' and stompin'). Pay a visit to Bodegas Marques de Marietta, one of the most estimable bodegas in the region. The aim is utterly fundamental: drink like a fish no matter what. Then Bilbao, then San Sebastian. And finally, to end my gastronomic trip with a bang: London, the so-called "the world's best place to eat."

Da Cesare in Rome

Via Crescenzio 13, Rome

Lunch on Oct 9, 2004

The “degustazione” mission was accomplished at last. I'd visited all the “bib gourmand” eateries listed by the Michelin, all 4 of them in Rome. And with the food I had in Da Cesare, I thought I had the happiest ending possible for my gourmandize crusade.

Just two blocks’ away from the Castello di San Angels, Da Cesare is a discreet and laid-back place to enjoy a good meal. Despite they only have their wore-out leather covered, dog-eared menu printed in Italian, ordering in Da Cesare is really simple. Choose the “degustazione toscano menu” on the front page and you’ll rest in safe hand. With E32, you can have the standard set to savor some of the best produces from Tuscany. If you paid double, you can taste the top-notch “Menu Degustazione i sapori del bosco” with pretty much the same fare plus the godsend white truffle risotto and better choice of wine.

The starter of the degustazione menu was a selection of salami, beef liver on toast and lardo di Colonnata (lard from Colonnata). All of them were from the local farms in the Lazio region except the lard, which was from the Apuane mountains. The salami selection was sublime with very rich flavors. The beef liver, long stewed in Roman style, shared the spotlight with those I tried in the La Taverna di Jewish Ghetto, too bad the portion was only limited to the tip of a toast. It was the kind of food that made you became too selfish to share. The highlight of this dish, however, was the lardo di Colonnata. Mama Mia! Can you believe I was eating a delicacy made of a thing people usually discards, something made of hog fat? I could sense this thin slice of smoked fat was from the hog of the highest pedigree. You know, this animal had its pride and class. And its pride and class, seasoned and smoked, was well reflected in my mouth now. Santo, santo, santo my pig, you can rest in peace. I am eating your lard, but I could also sense the your dignity when you're chopped. Thank you and you are yummissimo, my lard.

The next thing to come was the minestra di giorni (i.e., soup of the day). This soup of chicken peas was obviously long simmered as I could see clearly the fine residues of the chicken peas. There were some pasta in the soup to light things up a bit too. Just a mild touch, not too heavy to let the lightness of this soup be spoiled.

The main course was the fillets of Chianina beef with rocket leaf. I guessed Chianina to Italian is what Kobe to Japanese or Angus to American as there were a lots of coverage about these listed on the menu. The beef was first marinated lightly with red wine, then gently grilled to make its outside just a little bit crusty, yet the inside was still very raw, tender and extremely meaty. If you were fans of beef, this is the dish you came here for. The beef also paired perfectly with the Chianti Classio house wine I was having. A dream of a match, in fact.

The dessert was also spectacular. House-made cookies on the side of the plate with a glass of dessert wine as centerpiece. The cookies were as crunchy to munch as one could imagine, with generous portion of walnuts. Sadly, I forgot to ask what kind of dessert wine it was (I guess it was the famous “Vin Santo”). But the taste was very velvety, sweet without being too strong. To me, it was a way more hearty choice for dessert than the boring pannacotta or tiramisu from the fridge. A perfect ending note for such this marvelous lunch.

How they eat gelato in Sicily

No one in Italy has a sweeter teeth than the Sicilian. To them, sweets is a way of living. The way they eat their gelati is a good example. Any time in day is a good time to scoff a gelato. They even eat gelato for breakfast. They don't sell you in scone or paper cup but in bread: Brioche al gelato, if you will. Pictured here is the occasion when chaxiubao meet gelato in bread. To be honest, though the fragola e panna (strawberry and cream) flavor tasted real good, I was a bit over-stuffed half way through.

The Truffle Festival in Alba, Italy

It was so last year but I still want to write here about my shrine to the white truffle temple.

Alba is the province in the Piedmont region that produces the most famous fungi in the world: the magical tartufo bianco, the white truffle. Many buongustai di cucina (connoiseur of food) from around the world believe the white truffle is the closest thing to the perfect flavor. Alba holds a Fiera del Tartufo festival every year in October to celebrate the harvest of this intoxicating fungi. Apart from the festivi, as the Italian call it, there's a huge fair showing all the produces from the Piedmont region, which includes the wine such as the Asti & Barolo, the game and of course, the truffle.  The best part of it is that it is also open to the public for a mere E3. Once you got the ticket, you can taste all the wine and foods inside the fair.

It is customary to put the largest truffle found that year in the entrance of the fair. This giant truffle would be symbolically put atop on a throne and crowned. Red carpet would also be placed for admirer to pay their tribute. To me, this truffle is the Pope. Pictured here is a gentleman named chaxiubao on his half knelt to worship the king of truffle and asking his culinary wishes be granted, e.g., to be able to have a bite on the biggest truffle in the world...

Pictured left is a pair of father and daugther selling their Tartufi D'Alba. You see, though Alba is famous for their white truffle, they also have the black ones in the offer.

The heavenly pear cactuses from Sicily, yummissimo!

Came across a coverage in Il Forno about the blogger's trip to Salento in Puglia and the produces over there. I was particularly intrigued by the picture of pear cactuses for I too has tried this heavenly fruit in Sicily. I was visiting the Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples) in Agrigento and there were some hawkers selling this heaven sent fruit pear nearby the bus terminal. For about E.50, you can have a bite on this unique fruit. You have to pare the rind from the pear first or else you'll feel the spiky cactus with your tongue the hard way...

The flesh tastes excellent. Sweet, fresh and tender. A bit like the persimmon of Chinese; with more hint of the citrus flavor. I would say this was my biggest culinary discovery apart from the cannoli and the Marsala.

L’Antico Arco in Rome

Reconnaissance for a well-reviewed restaurant on the afternoon of Oct 11, 2004

This is not a restaurant review. I didn’t eat or drink in the L’Antico Arco during my Roman trip. It is a review on the reviews.

Paid me detour to the L'Antico Arco on the top of the Gianicolo this afternoon. The USA Today says it’s "pretty as a picture" and the Zagat survey's readers say the trip is totally worthy though a bit “out of the way” (they really meant it) – to the extent the place is "why they came to Rome for."

Thanks to all the gods they were worshipping in the Pantheon, I didn't come to the Gianicolo solely for this eatery’s seek. C'mon, seeing the beauty of this little restaurant was as difficult as getting any meaningful message out of those abstract paintings. At first I was tempted to think the restaurant must have a panorama view of Rome to die for from the top of the hill, as I cruised along my way via the Passeggiata del Gianicolo and took picture after picture of the Eternal City. But for Gesu seek! The restaurant is indeed positioned on the top of one of the most famous hill of Rome, yet it is located right in the corner of a crossroad and has no view at all; unless you consider the view of chaotic Roman alleys breath-taking. What good is that? If what they meant was that the décor of L’Antico Arco is “pretty as a picture,” I disagree too. At any given afternoon, I can show you a dozen dining rooms in Rome that are doing a way better job to their interiors. I am totally disappointed by the exaggeration of the reviews.

Il Maraggio in Rome

Angolo Via del Corso

Dinner on Oct 10, 2004

I tend not to write restaurant I dislike since I don't feel like bother to. I just want to write restaurant that I like very much so that my reader can share the joy I’ve had from the meal. But I write this one because it is on my List of Shame.

I went by this eatery right after I finished the free concerto in Museo Coseo. It was not featured in any of my dining guides so I was a bit hesitated to sit down. What I did noticed, however, were 2 Frommer’s stickers. On seeing that, I decided to give it a try because I was really hungry.

The only thing I ordered was the spaghetti bottagra, you know, the pasta with a frost of mullet roe on top of it. The dish should be a no-brainer one to chose with because the scent of this mullet roe can be really flavorsome. In fact, with this kind and grade of ingredient, a heavenly dish can be easily made. Nonetheless, it was not so. The dish by Il Maraggio, was not as nearly one half the standard as those I tried in Sicily. Was it because the poor quality of the bottagra or was it because the dish was wrongly cooked? I really have had no glue. All I have was the saltiness of the bottagra but none the breezing freshness of it.

What was the worst, however, was that they overcharged me. They put up some service charge on top of the “coperto,” cover charge in English. In short, they charged cover charge on top of the cover charge. With that, I was charged with E1.5 more. I didn't mind to be generous on tips about the E1.5 but I did mind to be a stupid. What a shame. I'd never go back to this outlet again, for both the food and the service.

Al Marmi in Rome

Viale Trastevere, 53-56

Dinner on Oct 7, 2004

Gastronomic wise, today is not a blessing day for me. I caught cold and am having a serious running nose so that my eating ability was hampered. My appetite is not as ravenous as it should be. To worsen the situation, the dishes I ordered were somehow off the note. My experience in Al Marmi was a good example.

The USA Today says it is one of the best pizzeria in Rome and it was nicknamed the “Morque” by the Roman, not a flattery name for eatery considering it means a place where you put dead bodies in before they are sent to the cemetery. But why is it so named? Because this place has a morbid decor, so plain and minimal that it resembles a morque. Of course everyone want to dine in eateries with fancy décor. But most likely the cost spent on décor is shift back to the clientele so that we end up paid more for the food. It is evident that is not the case for Al Marmi. You could tell without any question that the owner have had hardly spent a dime on the décor. Instead, all the costs are spent inside the kitchen. For gourmets, we always take that as good news.

The starter I ordered was the carpaccio di provola affumicata con aceto balsamico (quite a mouthful, isn’t it?), which literally means thin slices of provolone cheese with balsamic vinegar. However, the lack of attention to details that was so commonly seen in Rome eateries shown up again: it was presented after the pizza. Mama mia, that was the sure-fire way to manslaughter the two good food by presenting in a wrong order. I mean, how can you flip-flop with presenting order of the starter and the main course? It always feels bizarre for the palate to eat a cold starter after a steaming hot main course. I didn't say I was in hurry or something, did I? So why not you people just wait a bit.

In this way, I had no option but to go with the colzone, pizza bag filled with cheese, ham and eggs, first. This was really a hard-to-eat pizza. I didn't mean it tasted bad or something. Just that it was very hard to handle with. Once you slice the colzone with the knife, the eggs and cheese would spill all out and hence making the colzone soaked. The sad fact is, once its fillings are spilled out, the colzone get cold very fast and the flavors, the textures of it would turn insipid, which was exactly what happened to mine. I must ask some real Roman some day is there any trick for them to eat this kinds of pizza.

Next came my starter. The thinly sliced provolone cheese with balsamic vinegar. Apart from the vinegar, it was also sprinkled with some cubed tomatoes too. However, I didn't think I was rewarded for the adventure I endeavored in ordering this lesser-seen cuisine. The dish didn't taste too brilliant. The cheese tasted somehow like mozzarella. Yet, it was too light and didn't deliver any sizzle as I bite it. All I could remember was the acid note of the vinegar.

For dessert, the dolce I ordered was the panna cotta. Disappointment again. It was good but not great. It gave me the impression that this dessert was not house-made but was package food.

Today is simply elegiac for me as a gourmet…