Tat

I do not consider dessert, Patrick )))

cigalechanta

Rex, only Fresh basil for caprese and sprinkle with fleur de sel...heaven.

Jocelyn_P

Rex, I love tomatoes and cottage cheese--never thought of "capresing" it with the basil and olive oil. Why not? I'll try anything.

Speaking of cottage cheese, anyone ever put maple syrup on it? My Dad always has (he's of Russian and German heritage). I wonder if that's a European thing, or if he just likes weird food combinations...it's not bad, really.

Byrd

Well, of course, there's no way we can match the mozzarella, but my husband's garden tomatoes straight from the vine will hold their own with any pomodoro on the planet!
Actually, we can turn out a pretty darn good caprese with basil from the garden, those tomatoes, and good olive oil from Lucca.

If I can't find any slightly decent mozzarella here in the country, sometimes I just sprinkle on a little grated peccorino romano. 'Taint caprese, but it's good.
Byrd

grantop

For me it's the French desserts (sorry, I DO consider them "food&quot and the macaroons that I like to make at home. Also, the simple pasta dishes we had in Italy are wonderful alternatives to the unappetizing American versions that are usually slopped with gallons of sauce.

Tat, are you familiar with the expression "diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of ideas?" I do believe you are suffering from it.

Tat

So you wanna help me ?

kismetchimera

When I travel to Rome I always have a Roman Specialty: SALTIMBOCCA ALLA ROMANA....
If you have watched the movie : 3 Coins in the Fountain" it was the Prince favourite's dish also..

Is veal scaloppini rolls with prosciutto and a leave of fresh sage in the middle. Use a toothpick to hold each roll.
Sautee in olive oil and serve.
Because I love fresh mushrooms I now make it my way...After i sautee the scaloppini, I remove them and add to the pan the mushrooms and a little of white wine,...After few minutes I pour over the scaloppini...Molto Gustoso...
Also i love" Suppli al Telefono".They are rice croquettes stuffed with Mozzarella in the middle and fried..

subcon

while probably not the fancy of many, pulpos ala gallega (baby octopus galacian style) is a spanish tapas bar standard.

it is served over spiced potatoes with coarse salt and when prepared properly (octopus lightly cooked and still tender) is outstanding.

subcon

i also don't have any real problem with tripe as long as it is thoroughly clean and marinated/pickled tastefully.

a lot of food that europeans take for granted that americans freak out over is less about the item per se (sweetbreads, eg.) than the methode de preparation. often it is a question of texture vis a vis a given sauce or other treatment.

that's one great thing about tapas, you can try it in small quantities and increase or delete at your own taste.

Randy

Choucroute Alsacienne in Strasbourg (I have the recipe for this if anyone is interested--it's in French).

The real french fries (not the frozen) in europe.

Moules frites

I would also like to know what the secret is for the roast chicken in Paris.

Mathieu

If I may hazard a guess about that parisienne chicken, I believe the answer may lie in the chicken itself. Grain-fed, free range, with the proper balance of fat and exercised muscle (and quite tasty fat at that) birds from Bresse may be the secret, and the taste of free range is way beyond that of the mass produced 'factory' poultry we find in abundance in NA. Rub with sea salt (be generous), pepper, fresh thyme and lemon juice (throw the squeezed lemon halves and whole garlic into the cavity before cooking) and roast in a blistering oven for 1/2 hour before halving the heat and cooking for another hour should turn out something very tasty.

grandmere

Salad of belgian endive, toasted walnuts,and roquefort, drizzled with emulsion of olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Underhill

Mushroom pâté at the now-gone Jackson's of Piccadilly. I found a recipe in a food-processor cookbook, and it's one of my standard hors d'oeuvre.

Chicago_Heather

Randy, I would love a copy of recipie for Choucroute. Thank you so much for offering! It's cold and snowy today ... boy, does that sound delicious. Along with the warm macaroons I scarfed up in Ribeauville.

Janda, another vote here for trying to replicate Caprese. Also tried to make those wonderful Greek salads I got addicted to, but have to agree on the tomato quality here. Plus, dishes just never taste the same without the views and settings from vacations.

dln

I like making a steak and kidney pie for my husband on his birthday. I have an old English cookbook and I use the recipe from it and it tastes wonderful. Luckily my DH's b-day is in December because it's a hearty dish. It tastes good w/o the kidneys, for the squeemish among you.

SalB

In Brittany we had a wonderful chicken with sautéed apples and onions in a pastry shell with a perfect chicken gravy. I fussed at home until I came close to matching it and it's our favorite company dinner.

Yum . . . now I'm hungry!

Jean_Valjean

In Istanbul we tried this thing everyone described as "Eggplant Salad", but it looked like mashed potatoes of a different color. You take an eggplant, you roast it over a grill until fully cooked, peel it, mash it and mix it with a slightly cooked roux (flour and butter)... add a little yogurt, a little milk, salt and pepper and voila... beautiful.

Caprese, of course. Besides good tomatoes and mozzarella, fresh basil and good olive oil are also VERY important.

Madras chicken curry... mhmmm with basmati rice (I buy no other kind of rice anymore)

dovima

Grandmere, I second the endive! It was always a "luxury" item to me until I lived in Catalunya for a while - where it was about a dollar a kilo in season. We'd make salads of it with that great Catalan olive oil, little anchovy fillets and a sprinkling of chives....day after day. It was tough to withdraw from the habit after moving back to the U.S.

jsmith

I feel embarassed that I don't have an exotic dish to recommend but two staples in this house are cream of cabbage as a vegetable and cream of broccoli soup with pine nuts both from restaurants in Amsterdam. Another favorite from Britanny is cream of cauliflower soup with shrimp.

jody

Mm.. the chestnut soup with seared scallops we had in France...I have no problems with the soup, but it is hard to get "dry scallops" that sear so beautifully. Most of the scallops in the US have been soaked in some chemical to keep them white or something!

And the spiced lamb shanks we had in Paris! I have that one down pretty darn well!