Yes, in Italy, they eat pasta, but Venice and the neighboring Veneto region are relative newcomers to both pasta and Italy. Venice and the Veneto, which the Venetian Republic dominated for centuries, only became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1866 to escape the rule of the Austrian Empire, imposed after the Napoleonic Wars. Before that, the people of the Veneto didn’t speak much Italian; they primarily spoke Venetian. The Italian language and customs? They’ve adopted those, including pasta, relatively recently.
Abandoned agricultural storage building in a rice field in northern Italy
I’ve come home. No, I should state that differently. I’ve had to redefine home.
We have decided to spend winters in Venice and summers in France and Switzerland. I have been absent from The Rambling Epicure over the last year and a half only in body, not in spirit. I continue living like a nomad, often not taking time to unpack my suitcase, hopping from Venice to Chartres and occasionally landing in Switzerland, which is still officially my home.
I am alive and I even kick from time to time just to make sure I still can. During this long absence, I fought an unnamed virus. Italian, French and Swiss doctors agreed that it would pass and it finally has. It was, in principle, an entirely physical ailment, yet became trying to the spirit.
Kentucky is far from Chartres, but not so far as one might think. Biscuits and cornbread were the bond that held us together in Kentucky; wheatfields and bread do the same in Chartres. We like white gravy; the Chartrains, as they’re called, like sauce. Isn’t white gravy a sauce, after all?
Growing up in Kentucky, I embraced the Slow Food concepts without ever knowing it. Wendell Berry was my breakfast, lunch and supper, after all. The French have never fully embraced the official Slow Food concept of Good, Clean and Fair, since they consider that French cuisine and agriculture already embrace these values and do not need an organization – especially an Italian association with an English name – to teach them about their own time-honored traditions. One might say that the French are arrogant and chauvinist, which I would never totally deny, but it is this very pride that has maintained a high level of quality in the world of artisanal food and agriculture.
I have lived in the Beauce region, the bread basket of France, for over 15 years. The hill of Chartres is surrounded by wheat and grain fields and when you go to the bakers, they actually mark the name of the millers who provided the grain for particular breads. It’s all rather magical for those who have a holistic view of the world. The Beauce is all about farming, in particular, wheat, grain and sugar beets, but also goat cheese, pork products, rabbits, beer, apples and apple cider products, pears, chickens, rapeseed, etc. My goal has been to find all the best producers and growers and support them in every way possible.
Quinoa is a health food addict’s best friend. I have a love affair with it.
If I were to tell you that it could be used in 101 ways, yes there would be. I’ll keep it simple to start, however, by listing 5 easy, quick-fix ways to incorporate this magic grain in your everyday meals.
Do you want to know what so “magical” about quinoa? Its glory is that it is high in protein and fiber, yet provides you with lots of long-lasting, balanced energy.
But I don’t only like quinoa because of its nutritional values. I also like it because it is easy to combine it with other ingredients when cooking.
I often come home after a long day and the just the thought of thirty minutes in the kitchen making a big homemade meal overwhelms me. And can my digestive system really handle a big heavy meal?
The quinoa is sitting there, set, ready to go in just 10 minutes (and sometimes even less).
Here are my 5 easy, healthy quick-fix dishes:
Mix cooked quinoa with salad greens, small green peas, corn, steamed zucchini and cherry tomatoes. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil and lemon juice. Add some salt and pepper, and you have a wonderful salad that can serve as a well-balanced meal
Substitute it for rice as a side for grilled vegetables and chicken.
Growing up in the Middle East, we regularly had tabbouleh. Tabbouleh is made with bulgur. I now cook my traditional homemade tabbouleh with quinoa. The replacement of bulgur with quinoa is much healthier and lower in carbohydrates.
Eat quinoa as a breakfast cereal. Simply mix the cooked quinoa with non-dairy milk and let it simmer. Add some slivered almonds and cranberries. Add cinnamon if you want to spice it up.
Substitute your burger patties with a mixture quinoa and chickpea patties. Add herbs and spices, such as paprika, cumin, garlic, coriander, and thyme.
Quinoa is revolutionary in the world of cereals and grains. It is chock-full of nutrition and fiber.
