The lunch I made today was a result of re-watching Bernardo Bertolucci's stunning 1964 film Before the Revolution, completed when he was 22. It is set in Parma, so I got an almost unnatural craving for prosciutto di Parma. I got my butt to the market to buy a half-pound at $17.99 a pound. Got a real juicy canteloupe too. Back home I made ( Read more... )

Polenta. Or Italian corn meal mush, to put it bluntly. It's hard to wax eloquent or get philosophical, but I'll try. For the uninitiated, I should point out that polenta is made from either the coarse or the fine corn meal. I prefer the coarse. Quaker Oats markets an excellent version, but the ethnic Italian variety is, of course, ideal ( Read more... )