Hungry Travelers - Page 16 of 82 - Bringing the tastes of travel back home

Reviving Istria’s ancient winemaking tradition

Posted on October 15, 2021October 13, 2021 by Pat and David

Greek traders brought wine grapes to Istria roughly 2,900 years ago, yet quality modern winemaking in the area didn't really start until after the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991. Politics always seemed to get in the way of making premium wines in this crossroads region on the northeast coast of the Adriatic. ‶My grandfather was born in Austria,″ pioneer winemaker Ivica Matošević (pronounced ee VEET sa - ma TOE she vitch) told us. ‶My father was born in Italy and I was born in Yugoslavia. My children were born in Croatia.″ He pauses for effect. ‶And the family has never moved.″ Matošević is one of a handful of visionaries who put Istria on the viticultural map in the 1990s, releasing his first imitation of a...Read More

Pandemic or not, the truffle fair must go on

Posted on October 11, 2021October 11, 2021 by Pat and David

New England agricultural fairs are all about livestock, crafts, and local crops. The highlight is often the weigh-in for the giant pumpkin contest. The prized squash generally tops the scales around a thousand pounds. The chief gastronomic fair of Istria is a little different—and the prize edible rarely weighs even a thousand grams. Taking place over nine weekends from mid-September through mid-November, Zigante Truffle Days (trufflefair.com) in Livade celebrates the overlap of seasons of black and white truffles. Despite the absence of three-legged races and tractor pulls, there's plenty of excitement to go around. With the relaxation of border restrictions as Croatia moves toward becoming a member of Europe's passport-free zone, travelers from across Europe flood into little Livade to sniff and buy truffles—and eat...Read More

Miro Tartufi spreads a luscious Istrian truffle feast

Posted on October 5, 2021October 5, 2021 by Pat and David

Miro Kortiga might do the truffle foraging, but his wife Mirjana Kortiga takes charge of the tables at Miro Tartufi (miro-tarufi.com). She began by plying us with drinks before dinner. One choice was a very sweet honey liqueur. The other was a glass of white wine made from Istria's native grape, Malvazija Istriana, known since the ancient Greeks ruled the region. Mirjana and her staff had already prepared truffle hors d'oeuvres boards at each table. They had spread thin slices of bread with a mushroom spread that included some truffles and a soft creamy cheese with flecks of grated white truffle. They did the trick: All of us on the truffle experience found our mouths watering. The two cheeses with flecks of black truffle in...Read More

Truffle season brings gastronomic joy to Istria

Posted on September 28, 2021September 28, 2021 by Pat and David

From a foodie perspective, Istria is a marvelously complicated place. Every conquering nation that's passed through has left culinary traces behind. Long part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, then a corner of Yugoslavia, these days the region largely belongs to Croatia. It's the thumb-like peninsula that juts down into the Adriatic just south of the currently Italian city of Trieste and a tiny strip of Slovenia. Parts of Istria bleed into Slovenia and over the border into the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Out of tradition and perhaps necessity, people speak a whole basket of languages. But American food lovers need to know just one thing about Istria. Lidia Bastianich hails from Istria, which speaks volumes about the food. Just before the pandemic, we spent...Read More

Putting ‘comfort’ to the test with the last of the harvest

Posted on September 22, 2021September 22, 2021 by Pat and David

The authors of One-Hour Comfort (2021, $29.99), one of a slew of new cookbooks from the Boston culinary juggernaut that is America's Test Kitchen (www.americastestkitchen.com), admit that “comfort food” can be highly personal and idiosyncratic. Some people think of pasta, others of fried chicken, and others of a grilled cheese sandwich. Maybe it's what your parents made when you were sick at home from school. But, as the authors point out, almost everyone can agree that comfort food is “uncomplicated, homey, and totally satisfying.” That can mean anything from ham grits and redeye gravy at breakfast to a big bowl of congee topped with stir-fried pork bits. The “meaty” section has Italian sausage with peppers, onions, tomatoes, and polenta—as well as chicken satay with spicy...Read More

Icelandic sea salt explodes flavors of summer favorites

Posted on August 29, 2021August 29, 2021 by Pat and David

We had planned to be in Iceland about now—until the late summer flareup of the novel coronavirus. We had hoped to go to Reykjanesi way up in the northwest quarter of Iceland called Westfjords. The plan was to visit the Saltverk (saltverk.com) facility there, founded in 2011 by Björn Jónsson and Gísli Grímsson. (If you caught the Iceland segment in season three of Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, it's Gísli who shows the Scottish chef around.) Sea salt harvesting has a long history in the Westfjords, where the king of Denmark established a saltworks in the late 18th century. It used geothermal energy, since Iceland is basically one craggy cap on a rift in the earth that leaks hot water, steam, and sometimes lava. The Danes needed...Read More

Artifact Cider hits Central Square with delicious splash

Posted on July 24, 2021July 25, 2021 by Pat and David

In hindsight, Artifact Cider was inevitable. Hard cider, after all, has been a New England thing since the first Brits invaded the region in 1620. Combine the boom in craft brewing with the availability of great historic cider apples in western New England and it leaves us wondering, Why didn't it happen sooner? Rachel Bennett, Head Storyteller for Artifact, presents a cider tasting board The folks at Artifact aim to update the tradition of New England cider-making for modern tastes. They approach that mission with the verve of winemakers seeking to create a range of different beverages to appeal to different palates and to pair with different foods. They treat apples in much the same way winemakers treat different grapes. Thanks to preservationists and enthusiasts,...Read More

Newagen Inn in Southport, Maine, inspires asparagus soup

Posted on July 13, 2021July 13, 2021 by Pat and David

When we spent the better part of a week in Maine recently, we spent a day exploring some of the touchstone haunts of the modern-day patron saint of the environmental movement, Rachel Carson. She was the epitome of scientific and literary rigor—the long-time chief editor of U.S. Bureau of Fish and Wildlife publications and the impassioned popular science writer whom some credit for saving whole swathes of the avian world from extinction. Between tidepools and typewriter, though, she knew how to relax and enjoy herself. She often treated herself to the restaurant at the Newagen Inn (60 Newagen Colony Road, Southport, Maine; 207-633-5242, newagenseasideinn.com). So we did the same. The photo at the top of this post shows the view from the restaurant's outdoor porch...Read More

Perfect BLT substitutes lobster for lettuce

Posted on June 28, 2021June 28, 2021 by Pat and David

We just returned from a Maine sojourn, where we observed first-hand two of the most-talked-about phenomena of this summer. National park mania was on full display at Acadia National Park. The massive parking lot at Hulls Cove Visitors Center was jammed. Island Explorer buses whisked in and out of the lot every few minutes, carrying tourists to spots throughout the park and into downtown Bar Harbor. It was a model of efficient crowd management. It was also good to see the National Park system collecting much-needed fees. Wherever we went in Maine, we also observed rampant lobster roll fever. We're finally into the season when freshly caught lobster is abundant. Most Gulf of Maine lobsters haven't molted yet, so the meat remains firm and sweet....Read More

Imagining a legendary dinner with Monet at Giverny

Posted on June 19, 2021June 18, 2021 by Pat and David

Long before there was Instagram, there was Claude Monet. His 1883 painting of peaches could make any art lover's mouth water. The only things Monet loved as much as painting were his family and his meals. Once he tasted Yorkshire pudding at the Savoy Hotel in London, he badgered his cook Marguerite until she could replicate the version. But mostly he indulged in fresh vegetables, many of which he grew in the gardens of Giverny. (‶I am good for nothing but painting or gardening,″ he reportedly quipped.) Monet is just one of the celebrities featured in Legendary Dinners: From Grace Kelly to Jackson Pollock edited by Anne Peterson (Prestel 2021, $40). Dinner guests ranged from painter Paul Cezanne to novelist Guy de Maupassant to the...Read More