Corrado Cucina

Corrado Cucina
“Corrado Cucina” è uno zibaldone di ricette e riflessioni sulla cucina italiana. Corrado è nato a Roma e lì ha imparato ad amare la gastronomia mentre da piccolo osservava la sua Nonna Albina che cucinava. Dividete con lui l’ amore per la cucina italiana leggendo queste pagine, che sono pebblicate in italiano e in inglese. Buon appetito!

About Me

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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
I was born on Sunday November 28th 1954 at 5.30 am. It was a fine, mild autumnal day. The fallen leaves of plane and horse chestnut trees carpeted the streets of Rome with shades of ochre, yellow and reddish-brown, making them look like a tapestry from old Flemish masters. Not that my mother would have noticed the scene. She was lying in a private room at the “Fatebenefratelli” Hospital recovering from 12 hours of hard labour. Yes, I was a big baby, so they told me: a staggering 4.6 kilograms! The hospital is situated in the pulsing centre of the Eternal City, on the Tiber Island, surrounded by the historical Rioni (districts) of Regola, Sant’Angelo and Ripa to the East, and Trastevere to the West. Here, in the ancient heart of the greatest Empire the world has ever seen, is where my culinary expedition began. And if I have whet your appetite, read Blog number 1 and get to know Nonna Albina and her old recipe book!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Postil to A genuine delight

When she was very young my second daughter, Alessia, used to say: “Sowwy daddy. I figgot”.  So now I am saying to you: “Sowwy  guys, I figgot to tell you something.”
Mixing cheese and fish, especially seafood, was an anathema for the Italian cuisine and for me.  Then,  five years ago, in a delightful restaurant in Bracciano, the pleasant town near Rome where we own a studio apartment with partners, I came across a version of the Spaghetti alle vongole which included (vade retro Satana) grated pecorino cheese! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read the “Ristorantino” menu.  I must have looked truly terrified, because Simona, the part owner and maitre d’, immediately reassured me that it was a fantastic dish and persuaded me to try it.  I am glad I let Simona convince me: it was a sure delight and I have never looked back since.  The moral of the story is: grate some genuine pecorino cheese on this pasta - the Romano variety, if you can, otherwise Pecorino Sardo will do.
Apropos food anathemas, do you know that, according to the Bible, Spaghetti alle vongole would be an abomination in God’s eyes?  In Leviticus 11:9-12, Jehovah gives orders not to eat any water animals which do not have fins or scales.  So, by divine decree, clams are off! And so are oysters, crayfish, and mussels.  Uhmm!  There's something fishy here!
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