The stuff in tubes is called conserva in Italian.

I see that I left several sentences unfinished in the first post, about the ragù. Let's blame it on the earthquakes. I meant to say that you need to stir frequently near the end to prevent it from sticking.

Stop press - sauce for pasta doesn't need to have tomato in it at all. One of my favourites is lemon juice, parmesan and olive oil made as a rough paste, with the warm pasta tossed in it. Few fresh basil leaves at the end which start to wilt with the heat of the pasta as you serve it and a sprinkling of extra parmesan on top.

Rm67, I make that sauce too, a small ladle of the pasta water will help the sauce to loosen up.

Rabbit stew is easy, but takes time because of the browning. It also improves if it is done a day in advance:

https://www.ft.com/content/b293331a-...7-00144feab7de

We use the original Elizabeth David recipe which asks for pork with specifying pork belly. We plan to have it Saturday.

having spent a happy couple of hours playing peek-a-boo with an octopuss in the Red sea (an external aquarium) I find the idea of frying such a bright animal a little unpleasant.

Rabbits love-em, dumb as they come, they taste ok

Annhig- I must try the sauce with chicken livers. Does your husband sauté the lovers separately and add them at the end, or cook them in the sauce?>>

sauteed lovers? now there's an idea.

no, marvelousmouse, he simply adds them to the pot about half-way through; they sort of dissolve into the sauce. I think if you sautéed them they would remain whole which is not what we want [it may be what you want though!] as we don't actually like liver but like the depth of flavour that the chicken livers add.

of course there are many pasta sauces that don't require tomato - one of the simplest being sage and butter.

biblo - I know what you mean about octopuses being clever - have you seen the one that can open a jam jar by twisting the lid off the jar?

bvl - so sorry about the earthquakes - I'm sure that it's very scary especially after the last ones. Stay safe!

Of course pasta sauce doesn't need tomato. I would say that I use tomato only about half the time. Today, we had linguini with mussels. The sauce has olive oil, garlic, hot red peppers, white wine and Italian parsley. I make a similar sauce with clams, and don't use tomatoes in either.

Other famous examples are pasta with pesto, or alla carbonara.

There are various other ways to dress pasta. Many of the sauces can be made quickly while the pasta is cooking. But a good ragù needs tomatoes, and long cooking.

I promised to tell you the two secrets of making Sauerbraten. Actually, I found that it's four secrets. But first a little history.

Sauerbraten is one of the few dishes which survived from the ancient Roman times two thousand years ago. The Romans left us a few books with recipes, and from these we know that they used much more spices than we do today. Using spices in great varieties und large amounts continued through medieval times, but in recent times, this tradition eventually got lost for most European dishes.

Originally, Sauerbraten was made from venison. Image the old times when there was no refrigerating. Meat had to be preserved somehow, and using vinegar war one way to do it. Although there is still a Michelin-starred restaurant at the Ahr that serves Sauerbraten from roe deer, today Sauerbraten is mostly with beef (or with horsemeat).

Now, the secrets to make a good Sauerbraten.

First secret, the marinade. Simply take a bottle of red wine (cabernet sauvignon would be perfect) and add a glass of vinegar. Add an onion, a carrot and a piece of celery, all finely chopped, and some spices: pepper, allspice, cloves, cardamom, coriander seeds, cinnamon, bay leaves. The beef should be covered by the marinade completely. Marinate the beef for three to five days and change the position of the beef daily, so that all sides of the beef have contact with the liquid.

On the day of your dinner, take the beef out of the marinade and dry it with paper towels. Sear it in a pan until brown from all sides. Add the vegetables from the marinade and brown them too. When done, pour some of the marinade into the pot and cook beef in the oven or on the stove for about two hours, adding more marinade if necessary.

Now comes the second secret: When almost done, add raisins and cook them for at least 10 minutes until they have soaked up liquid and look like berries again.

And finally the third secret: Crumble some gingerbread into the sauce. This trick serves three purposes: It thickens the sauce, it gives sweetness and it gives spices. Season to taste.

And maybe the very last secret: Let a piece of dark chocolate melt into the sauce.

<i>(or with horsemeat). </i>

I am surprised. From anecdotal stories in my parents' circle of friends (mostly Germans who lived in France and then the U.S.) the French eat horsemeat, the idea itself revulses Germans.

I'm not sure that there really are any European Secrets about cooking other than using fresh, local ingredients ALWAYS.

Of course there are "secret" European recipes - that's different.

In terms of pasta sauces, we grow about 10 kinds of tomatoes all summer long - purple ones, green ones, orange ones, yellow ones, red ones, cherry tomatoes, medium-size tomatoes...you name it. All summer long I gather those tomatoes and chop them up and put them in pots with good olive oil, some sea
salt, some pepper, often some fresh herbs from the garden like basil and thyme and oregano and marjoram and rosemary and tarragon, and then we freeze them. All winter long we have the basis for great pasta sauces and soups.

The "secret" about dissolving chicken livers reminds me of how many wonderful pasta and other recipes there are in Italy that involve melting anchovies into a sauce. People tend to think that anchovies are icky, salty, fishy thiings - in fact, they are one of the most subtle touches one can add to cooking, without the diners really even knowing what's gone on.

I remember that trick about gingerbread for Sauerbraten, Traveller59. I'd forgotten it, though. Danke for that.

In Germany, horsemeat is not eaten regularly. But we have two butchers in town who specialize in horsemeat and who have stands on our markets. Many fast food places serve horsemeat and in the supermarkets you can buy canned horsemeat, often sauerbraten which is ready to use.

>> using fresh, local ingredients ALWAYS <<

Spot on, StCirq.

Therefore, we don't use recipes. We simply look what we find on the market, in our garden, in the store - and cook it. That's all. Okay, we use ingredients like oil, butter, cream, herbs and spices.

Another pasta sauce without tomatoes and an example how we cook (needs five minutes cooking time):

Sear chopped onions until brown, add garlic. Add bacon cubes, if you like (optional). Then add mushrooms (any kind, whatever is in season), add salt, pepper, nutmeg, some cream and a healthy shot of cognac or brandy. Stir. That's all. No secret involved.

St. Cirq >>The "secret" about dissolving chicken livers reminds me of how many wonderful pasta and other recipes there are in Italy that involve melting anchovies into a sauce. People tend to think that anchovies are icky, salty, fishy things - in fact, they are one of the most subtle touches one can add to cooking, without the diners really even knowing what's gone on.>>

I love anchovies any recipes you have that you or anyone can share with anchovies would be welcomed.

For those of us on the Islands, some of the secrets to cooking are

Marmite
Lea & Perrins

Anchovies are another survival from ancient Roman times. The Romans used to prepare a fermented fish-sauce, called "garum" or "liquamen", which they used to season meat dishes (like in the Asian cuisine). Also, ketchup was originally a fish sauce until the fish was omitted in the 19th century, tomatoes were added and, most lately, huge amounts of sugar.

I will provide a traditional German recipe which combines meat with anchovies: Königsberger Klopse - meatballs Königsberg style. The oldest known recipe is from 1787, but the dish is much older. Here it goes (in a version that will please the British Fodorites, since it uses a British ingredient, however not Marmite, but similar):

Ingredients

500grams minced meat (best is veal, otherwise mix pork and beef)
3 slices of white toastbread
butter
200 ml milk
2 eggs, one separated
1 cup cream
1 glass capers
1 glas anchovies
4 shallots
parsley
1 tblsp mustard
1 teasp mild paprika
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
1 lemon
1 glass white wine Weißwein
1 splash Worcestersauce
salt, pepper, nutmeg

Method

Mince 2 shallots and brown them in a little butter. Soak the bread in milk. Mince anchovies, parsley and half of the capers and mix with minced meat, spices, mustard, one whole egg and the white of the other egg, the browned shallots and the bread (after squeezing out excess milk). Form meatballs.

In a pot, bring water to boil with bay leaves, cloves and a pinch of salt. Let the meatballs simmer for 15 minutes until done.

For the sauce, mince the other 2 shallots and brown in butter. Add salt and pepper. Add about half a liter of the cooking broth and reduce liquid. And wine and the rest of the capers. Season to taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg, Worcestersauce and lemon juice.

Mix the egg yolk with cream and stir into the sauce. The sauce must not boil during and after that. The sauce will not be thick, that is the traditional way. If you prefer a thicker sauce, add some breadcrumbs to the shallots before pouring the water.

Serve with rice or boiled potatoes.

The fluffyness of the meatballs depends on the amount of bread you mix in.

Next post:

The secrets of making a real authentic Mousse au Chocolat.

This thread has great promise!

At some point, I would like to discuss how to prepare whole fish, which is something I always shy away from at home, preferring the ease of cooking filleted fish.

I am traveling now in Spain, so if anyone has questions about Spanish dishes, I can ask a local restaurant person and post the answer here.

Great recipe, traveller1959!

nanabee, we're not really in anchovy territory here, but they do figure into thousands of Mediterranean recipes, and our supermarkets are full of boquerones, which I have come to love! But you can use them in just about anything. I suppose you know that they figure into the classic dressing for a Caesar salad. Apart from that, whenever I make a pasta sauce of pretty much any kind, I melt a handful of them into the sauce.

For example:

Penne aux anchois: Sautée a shallot or small yellow onion and two cloves of chopped garlic until translucent. Boil penne until al dente. In a saucepan, mix the penne with the garlic/shallot/onion and a 1/2 cup of cream (light or heavy), a handful of capers, a half-bottle of tuna (preferably Al Norte in Spanish olive oil), four anchovies (let them heat up and gently crush them with the backside of a fork until they dissolve - stir them into the sauce. You can add peas or artichoke hearts, too. Add salt and pepper and whatever fresh herbs please you. For a bit of a kick, throw in some cayenne or piment d'espelette. You can also toss in a half cup of vodka or cognac or wine of your choosing - just do it at least 10 minutes before you finish cooking so the alcohol burns off.

Anchovies also do well melted on pizzas, firitattas, and all salad dressings.

My favourite pasta sauce from my Italian in laws. Broccoli, anchovy and garlic.
Cook broccoli in the same water you will use for the pasta, remove when slightly undercooked and refresh under cold water. Start your pasta of choice, I like spirali.
Saute finely chopped garlic and anchovies in olive oil, don't let the garlic burn. Chop the broccoli and add to the pan. Simmer a few minutes.
Add pasta, serve with lots of parmesan and fresh pepper.

Cooking whole fish? - Very easy.

It is best to cook them in the oven, so the skin keeps intact and becomes golden brown (at least from the upper side).

This is a recipe for medium-sized fish (like trout, seabass, gilthead seabream etc.):

Before cooking, sprinkle the fish from the outside and inside with salt and your favourite seasoning (e.g. pepper, paprika, herbs, garlic). You may also brush the skin with a little bit of olive oil or lemon-scented olive oil. Cut a few diagonal slits into the skin.

Then put it in the preheated oven (conventional heat) and bake at 200 to 220°C (390 to 430 F) for about 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the fish (for a bigger fish lower heat and longer time to prevent the skin from burning). The fish is done when you can pull out the back fin easily. To prevent the skin from burning, you may cover it with a piece of aluminium foil.

You can also wrap a whole fish in aluminium foil and bake it. In this case the skin stays soft and sticks to the foil. I use this method for cooking whole salmon. After 35 to 40 minutes, the salmon should be medium rare (the way I prefer to eat it).