Extra Virgin
Authors: Gabriele Corcos
Copyright © 2014 by Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos
Photographs copyright © 2014 by Eric Wolfinger
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.clarksonpotter.com
CLARKSON POTTER is a trademark and POTTER with colophon is a registered trademark of Random House LLC.
COOKING CHANNEL and associated logos and EXTRA VIRGIN are trademarks of COOKING CHANNEL, LLC, and are used under license.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mazar, Debi.
Extra virgin : recipes & love from our Tuscan kitchen / Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos; photographs by Eric Wolfinger. — First edition.
pages cm
Includes index.
1. Cooking, Italian—Tuscan style. I. Corcos, Gabriele. II. Title.
TX723.2.T86M398 2014
641.59455—dc23 2013032506
ISBN 978-0-385-34605-4
eBook ISBN 978-0-385-34606-1
Book and jacket design by Jan Derevjanik
Jacket photography by Eric Wolfinger
All photographs are by Eric Wolfinger with the exception of:
1.4
,
2.1
,
2.21
,
3.3
,
11.4
by Jeremiah Alley;
col2.1
,
1.8
,
2.10
by Lorenzo Carlomagno; and
1.1
by David Lang.
Photographs courtesy of the authors:
7.5
by Chiara Sinatti and
ded.1
,
11.2
, and
11.9
.
Cooking Channel photographs on
col.1
,
fm1.1
,
1.3
,
1.8
,
2.14
,
7.1
,
9.1
, and
11.1
are provided courtesy of Cooking Channel, LLC. © 2011 Cooking Channel, LLC.
Cooking Channel photographs on
1.5
,
7.6
,
10.1
, and
5.1
are provided courtesy of Cooking Channel, LLC. © 2012 Cooking Channel, LLC.
First Edition
v3.1
We dedicate this book to one another,
to our daughters, Evelina and Giulia,
and to families everywhere.
CONTENTS
THE TUSCAN KITCHEN: ESSENTIALS
INTRODUCTION
DA FIRENZE IN AMERICA
A RECIPE FOR LOVE, LIFE, AND FAMILY
DEBI:
I grew up with a deep love for food, thanks mostly to a grandmother who cooked well and could win over anybody with her braciole. But it was also because of that truly unique food upbringing that a lot of New Yorkers talk about, where your street could be a meeting place not just for people, but for aromas from seemingly all corners of the earth. There would be fried chicken from one window, spicy island dishes from another, and down the block something garlicky and peppery wafting out of the Italians’ houses. And all that might be in the air while I was thinking about the dinner I was about to have in Chinatown!
When I was eight years old, my mother moved us to Saugerties in the Catskills area of upstate New York and essentially became a hippie. She got into gardening—growing corn, zucchini, tomatoes, and basil—and taught herself how to cook, making delicious meals, and baking bread and pies. It was a bit of a culture shock for a young girl with the excitement of city streets in her blood, but it opened my eyes in the best way possible to good, fresh, locally grown food. We had neighbors in Woodstock who were from Northern Italy, and it was at their house that I had my first taste of freshly made pasta, which was always hanging over drying racks and draped over chairs around their
house. Nothing against my grandmother’s heavy, delicious Sicilian-style dishes, but this was something special, and different.
I’d always adored Italian cuisine and its well-honed use of ingredients that have been cultivated and enjoyed for centuries. But meeting and falling for Gabriele, I discovered how much great food also comes from a desire to feed the ones you love. I’d always thought I would have to win over a man with my own cooking. I remember plenty of times I’d go to all this trouble to cook for a guy who’d show up late, if at all, and who’d never appreciate the time and effort I put into a meal. At the very least, I had my dinner parties, which had become popular gatherings for my friends. But here was this handsome Florentine, passionate about life, art, history, and food, who not only wanted to cook FOR me, but loved impressing me with the vegetables, fruits, cheeses, and meats of his country, region, and family. Hot, right? Then he took me to his hometown of Fiesole in the hills above Florence, to the beautiful land where his family had lived for generations, and the sense of history was overwhelming. I have a deep fondness for ancient cultures and strong traditions. Gabriele showed me the fruit trees, the wild herbs, and the rustic sweep of it all, and I fell for him all over again.