The Italian quest for authentic, fresh and traditional ingredients

February 15, 12:52 PMItalian Living ExaminerSerenella Leoni

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Being from a Tuscan family, it never amazes me how far Italians will go to maintain traditions or procure the right ingredients for family recipes.

There is a long history of food appreciation and gourmet cooking on both sides of my family. When I was a child growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1950s, the only espresso coffee house was Caffe Trieste on Grant Avenue in North Beach (where I experienced my first heavenly cappuccino). We did not see espresso shops on every corner (like Starbucks) or trendy Italian restaurants that featured the regional foods of Italy. In an effort to maintain traditions and have authentic ingredients, my parents roasted their own coffee beans in a small, round tin roaster with a handle turned by hand over an alcohol-fueled can. The dark-roasted coffee beans were ground in an old, hand-cranked coffee grinder (I was responsible for this task). When we went on vacation, the first thing to be packed was an old (manual) espresso coffee maker and a small electric burner.
In the pre-Alice Waters California, Italian-American families grew their own produce in their back yards (or on window sills and terraces if they lived in apartments).

On many occasions, I accompanied my Babbo (father) to the Civic Center plaza in front of City Hall in San Francisco where, much to my embarrassment, he lovingly picked the precious fruit from the old olive trees in the square. He would then take these home to cure for a variety of delicious recipes.

I always smile when olives are involved in recipe (as in the recipe for Cornish Hen Skewers over Polenta). Recently, I was speaking to a woman who immigrated to California as a child. She said to me: “You will never believe where my father and mother went to pick olives!” We immediately bonded over this shared history.

The Italian quest for authentic and fresh ingredients and the maintaining of cooking traditions is legendary. You may have heard stories of Italians picking wild mushrooms wherever they can, even near dangerous freeways. Without authentic and essential ingredients (not always found in grocery stores), the recipes just would not be the same!

http://toscanamia.biz/blog/recipes/cornish-hens-skewers-over-polenta