For foodlovers or just for the best dad ever

The days are passing and are you still thinking about the perfect present for your dad? Or have you just started to think about Father's day now? It's on Sunday! 

Here we are to help you out and give you the possibility to buy a very original present that you can even personalize: Pastificio dei Campi Cube.

These are literally big cubes of great 100% Italian pasta selected between the different shapes and types available from our brand and all sent together directly to your door. 

Is your father a real foodlover or just interested in new and original presents? This Pastificio dei Campi Taste won’t let him down.

If instead your father is in love with Italy, or his big dream is to go and live there, or he just can’t stop to speak about Italian food, why don’t give him the limitated collection of Pastificio dei Campi Selection with all the best from the Italian product: a bottle of extra virgin Olive oil DOP l’arcangelo and  the tomatoes sauce Miracolo di San Gennaro. He won’t resist from cooking stright away.

Finally if you want to give him a very personalized present with just his favourite types of pasta or the ones you think he will enjoy the most, order the Pastificio dei Campi personalized cube.

Buy all these directly online and for any difficulties don’t hesitate to write me here and I will help you out.

And if you really are in rush and you need something quick, go to the amazing Food in the City warehouse and you will able to find our pasta there in all his little cubes.

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The new italian masters!

In June, Olive Magazine has published a full article with beautiful pictures of all the italian artisanal, special, traditional or simply delicious products you can find here in UK.

We are proud to have been selected in this group of high quality products. The magazine says we don't only represent Pasta from Gragnano PGI , but we are also a pasta certified 100% made in Italy following the original traditions: durum wheat, spring water and mountain air meet the bronze extraction and a slow dry process at a low temperature. 

Now you just need to choose your favourite Pastificio dei Campi pasta shape: orecchiette, linguine, spaghetti... e Buon appetito!

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From the art of writing to the art of cooking

 
A friend of mine came in London last weekend and, with my big surprise, I discovered he is one of these people who don't want to try any new recipe or cuisine expect their usual one. So the choice was basically to go out and eat italian food or cook it by myself.

Luckily walking throw Covent Garden it appeared in front on me on Long Acre a new italian place: Machiavelli ! I couldn't believe my eyes: so nice, so new and so inviting. We had to try it... And you will do it too I think!

It opened just  one month ago and, as the name says, it's created by a family from Tuscany who has is own meat and coffee production in Italy! All the rest of the product are truly italian and purely good!
 
The  bread sticks, the ham and cold cuts in the big platter,  was a delicious starter, really fresh and tasty! They even have a good choice of wines too. Then we ordered gnocchetti  alla sorrentina (tomatoes and melted cheese), really gorgeous, and  a dish of some little pasta with grilled squid, olives and broad beans, I never tried before. The size of the pasta with the texture of the rest of the ingredients was awesome.

Finally the dessert: bites of ice cream in dark chocolate,  strawberry and almond crostata and why not try lime and mint semifreddo! Perfect to close the night!
 
The price was around 40 pounds each but I really think is worth for what we ate! I need absolutely to comeback  for a coffee...I'm too curious to taste it!

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Project Ocean and some important information

This is become a really important subject in the latest year, especially in UK: in the 2009, in fact, with the release of the film/documentary “The end of the line” everyone started to speak about the protection of fish and the overfishing problem.

The scariest quote is: "Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048." Imagine! Our sons will never be able to eat seafood or try some amazing fishes we are eating now... And all it’s caused by us and our bad use of fishing practices.

 
This year lots of campaigns have been carried on by chefs (one for all, Thomasina Mier) association, supermarkets.

Even in Italy there will be soon a fair about the argument: "Slow fish 2011" will take place on the 27^th until the 30^th of May in Genova. The event will offer many participative ways to explore all the Slow Fish activities dedicated to the future of small-scale coastal fishing, looking at the difficult balance between safeguarding the income of fishers and protecting the marine resources on which their livelihood depends.  Pastificio dei Campi will be there supporting the cause.
 
Here in London instead it's the time of Selfridges that has dedicated a full space inside the store and on its always outstanding windows to the theme, trying to make people aware about the problem.

And visiting the website I discovered a lots of interesting facts, all the list of fishes you can and can't eat in UK and lots of interesting fish recipes from a good number of chefs. Unfortunately there are no recipes for pasta with fish, that are very common in Italy especially in the south.
 
So, I just feel in charge to give you one of the most classic fish recipes you can prepare even in uk: pasta with sardines but for this you will need to wait next week! Will be the dish I will cook for my friend on the weekend!

In the meantime have a look at the Project Ocean and how you can help with just a click.

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Looking for the best italian restaurant in London...

Finally, thanks to the #italianclub, randomly born on Twitter  from @miss_jordy ( also a real pasta fan!), last week I went to Zucca, another quite known italian restaurant in London.
 
Zucca, that means “pampkin” in italian, is situated near London Bridge station, in the Bermondsey area, full of little nice places to eat and drink and with even a gorgeous market on saturday.

The restaurant perfectly embrace the vibe of the area, also in its decoration: a basic white environment with some funny splashes of orange and yellow here and there.
 
We were in 8 so we decided to give a try to all the starters and pasta dishes to have a proper idea of the menu and then to order a main each.
Also if the starter weren't exactly as traditionally italian as I may have expected, everything was very good! From the crostini, to the fried pumpking, from the fresh fish to the bruschetta with rosted onion and Taleggio.

They serve only fresh pasta and i have to admit it was really good: the pork and fennel ragu was really light and tasty while the tagliolini with ricotta, lemon and mint where a real surprise. Fresh, tasty and well cooked! I could have been really curious to taste them on dry pasta :)

The main I ordered was veal chop with spinach and I swear it was massive. It was a really big chunk of meat and cooked perfectly.

Of course we also had to try some desserts so... Panna cotta with roasted plums, hazelnut cake, caprese (a classic chocolate and almond cake) or amaretto ice cream? I went for this one and it was amazing. There are pieces of amaretto too in it and it was gorgeous! The rest of the dishes were good too, but maybe this was even better.

The service was just fine with some little misunderstanding but polite. The real great thing is the list of wine, that they also sell to take away and that is enormous and really covering all Italy from north to south.
So finally the dinner went well : the dishes, the prizes and the general feeling were good but it’s still not my favorite italian restaurant.

It will be hard to beat Tinello...but the adventure will continue.

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Some  new recipes books from some passionate bloggers

After speaking about the “Modernist cuisine”, it's time to speak about some other cooking books  announced lately and that are creating a good buzz online.

I'm speaking in fact about some books born directly from the twitter and especially blogging landscape and here we have in order of appearance online:

Scandilicious

Supper Club

And soon… Confort and Spice too! 

Signe Johansen (@Scadilicious) a food antropologist, chef, blogger and big presence in twitter too, has created a marvelous book, just published today, to share with us some of her most famous nordic recipes: the pictures are stunning, and the dishes involve seasonal food and  good quality local ingredients… and not just herrings and meatballs. And the nordic food (especially after the discovery of Noma) I think will be, if it is not already, the next big thing.

What about Ms Marmite Lover instead? She is famous for her supper club and the website she run, an hub for all the supper clubs available in London. She is into politic, social causes but she of course also loves cooking. So here is her underground restaurant recipe book, with lots of recipes and tips from her personal experience. Another way to write about food from again another background, culture and point of view.

Finally also Niham (@eatlikeagirl) will be added to the bloggers-recipes book writers list with her Confort and spice: recipes from her irish tradition, from the stand in the market where she used to work in London, but especially recipes born by her curiosity and love for food. We can't wait to know more.

It's amazing to see how some strong passions can give birth to a real project and something so serious and remarkable as a book. Well done to all of you ladies!

I think is just missing a book of pasta recipes written by an italian food passionate blogger in London. Any idea? Maybe I need to wait some more years :)

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In Gragnano to discover the great “Poor Man’s food”

A new TV show started last week on BBC 2 and his protagonists are two of the most recognized Italian chefs in England: Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo.

The program, Two Greedy Italians is about cooking,  some new recipes and tips from them, but there is something more: the mission of the two men in this occasion is also to going back to Italy after they left more than 40 years ago to see what has changed in the Italian culture and how the way Italians eat now.

The first episode took place in Bologna, one of the best places in Italy for the good food, traditional recipes and great ingredients. Here between comic scenes, traditional stories, some old secrets but also some new discovery, the chefs have had a great time.

What’s next?

Tomorrow night  at 8pm on BBC 2 the couple will end up in Amalfi, in the Campania region, looking at “how poverty in the area created Italy's best-loved cuisine and how 'poor-man's food' ended up making the same region rich.”

And Gragnano, near Neaples, the pasta making town,  it’s a place they could not miss. They choose Gragnano and Pastificio dei Campi, to speak and discover more about pasta, its past and especially its present.

And if you still don’t know this city, this pasta (PGI) and the history and tradition behind it, maybe you should watch the Two Greedy Italians with Giuseppe Di Martino who will explain everything about his Pastificio.

If you would like to try this pasta there is a company based in London were you can buy it online with same day delivery for London and next day delivery all over UK: Food in the city. Enjoy!

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