December 2005
There is always bread baking at Falai, a small oasis of whitewashed walls on New York City's battered Lower East Side. A quiet hum emanates from the open kitchen as a small hassle of chefs intently focuses on putting out plates; a waiter circulates with a basket of focaccia just out of the oven, handing small warm discs out like Halloween candy to delighted guests. Guests murmur excitedly-whether over the wine, the food or the day doesn't matter. Falai radiates happiness and warmth, and every time I go there I wonder, can I do this at home? I asked chef Iacopo Falai and his partner, sommelier Alberto Taddei, and this autumn they agreed to help me plan a holiday party.
"To tell you the truth, when I'm entertaining at home, it's pasta, cheese and wine," says Falai. "My girlfriend gets neurotic when I'm in the kitchen." Not surprising for someone who spends most of his waking hours in a kitchen away from home. Before Falai came to the States in January 2001, he was cooking at Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Italy, where he met Taddei. Since he arrived in NYC, he's been cooking nearly nonstop: first in the pastry kitchen at Le Cirque, then at the Ligurian paninoteca-gone-full-scale-restaurant Bread Tribeca; now here, in his own restaurant.
Taddei, for his part, thinks about what he'd serve at a party and says wistfully, "Porchetta, if only we could get it." On his days off from his seven years manning the wine list at Pinchiorri, he and friends would often buy a pile of piadini-flatbread-and make sandwiches with the roasted, herbed pork. In fact, he's just returned from harvest at his new ten-acre vineyard in Pesaro, just south of Venice, where his mom served the harvest crew 15 kilos of porchetta, plus tagliatelle with mushrooms, peas and thyme; lasagna; stuffed rabbit; and roast chicken. What did they drink? "We drank well," Taddei says mischievously. It's not for nothing his wine is called Trimpilin, or "little troublemaker," a nickname he picked up at Pinchiorri, where, in addition to adding to the already extensive collections of Italian and French wines, he managed to assemble what might be the largest California wine selection outside of America.
Taddei's mom's spread is fit for a hungry harvest crew, but how about something fit for a small group of harried urbanites? Something far simpler, faster and festive in presentation rather than size? Taddei and Falai look at each other and shrug. "No problem," Falai says, and begins to point out dishes that fit the bill right off his own menu, while Taddei disappears into the cellar for some festive yet affordable bottles.
Falai's first advice is to play around with the arrangement of the food: Just presenting something in an unexpected way can be impressive. He credits his pastry chef background with giving him the ability to see food differently than most chefs. "When I started to cook savory food at Bread Tribeca, I'd play with it on the plate. Instead of putting a steak in the middle of the plate, I'd arrange it down the side, play with it visually. For his Sfogliatina, instead of layering puff pastry neatly between soft fillings as tradition dictates, he puts the different components-sautéed porcini, roasted squash chunks, little chickpea flour pancakes and a taleggio cream-in a bowl and randomly arrange shards of crisp puff pastry as textural and visual contrast.
Falai's unorthodox tuna carpaccio presentation demonstrates the truth of another tip: "Imperfection is the perfection of today," he says, referring to the paper-thin slice of pink fish scattered with slices of olives, cubes of tomato, mini florets of cauliflower, cracked black pepper, capers and herbs and drizzled with basil oil. Most chefs would have made something more strictly composed in appearance, but Falai's dish looks like modern artwork-and tastes like Italy in its freshness, vibrancy and unashamedly rich, pungent flavors.
For an Italian-style fèsta, pasta is nonnegotiable. "We're Italian; pasta is always there," says Falai, and Alberto nods in agreement. To impress the guests, they suggest a filled pasta. It takes some time to make, but the work can be done long before the guests arrive. When it's time for the pasta, it'll take five minutes to cook and sauce before the guests are holding fragrant, steaming bowls of oxtail ravioli.
Taddei, meanwhile, has gathered an array of wines that are surprisingly affordable, impressively obscure and uniformly delicious with Falai's dishes. (His picks are described in the recipes that follow.) In the end, I leave armed with three pieces of advice:
Play with your food: If building a millefeuille out of puff pastry and vegetables and sauces is too much, just serve it in a bowl; the shapes can make an interesting arrangement.
Make everything possible ahead of time: Not only will it keep the stress level down when guests are at the door, but it gives you time to make fancier things, like ravioli.
Embrace imperfection: Falai meant, of course, that a loose arrangement of food can look more natural and inviting than strictly constructed food, but I'll extend that to mean that if the ravioli turn out misshapen and the puff pastry burns, it'll just add to the charm of the party. Besides, it's nothing a good glass of wine can't fix.
Sfogliatina of Porcini Mushrooms and Roasted Butternut Squash
Serves four as an appetizer
"I'm very particular about little things," Alberto Taddei says as he pours a glass of Col Vetoraz Prosecco. "Like bubbles. I'm really difficult to please, but this Prosecco has amazing perlage." Those little bubbles help cleanse the palate after the richness of the dish, while the wine's fruity, apricot-like tones match the sweetness of the squash and contrast with the tang of the cheese sauce. Taddei also points out that the porcini are from the Alto Adige, where they grow under red currant bushes. "They are more delicate than most, so we want something aromatic. If you could find a dry moscato giallo like the one from Manicor in Alto Adige, it'd be beautiful, too."
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 pound Taleggio cheese, diced
1/4 pound puff pastry
2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
4 porcini mushrooms, cleaned and cut in half lengthwise
Fleur de sel & freshly ground black pepper
4 sprigs fresh oregano
Bring the milk and cream to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the Taleggio until melted. Keep cooking, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by half. Set aside in a warm place.
Preheat the oven to 450º F. Take 1 thin sheet of puff pastry, brush the surface with salted butter, and bake for about 12 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the squash and cook for six minutes. Drain. Heat the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the squash and the sugar and sauté until brown. Remove from heat and keep warm.
In another sauté pan over medium-high heat, heat the grapeseed oil. When hot, add the porcini and cook until browned but still firm. Season with salt, remove from heat and keep warm.
When ready to serve, place half a porcini and a few cubes of butternut squash in each dish; drizzle with Taleggio fondue. Break the puff pastry sheet into pieces and stick a few pieces onto each plate. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and black pepper, garnish with a sprig of oregano and serve.
Taddei's Wine Suggestions
Col Vetoraz Prosecco (North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA)
Manicor Alto Adige Moscato Giallo (Vinifera Imports, Ronkonkoma, NY)
Braised Oxtail Ravioli
Serves four as an appetizer
These ravioli are lighter than you might expect, since there is relatively little meat in the dish, and the sauce is simply a light coasting of olive oil. Taddei suggests a sangiovese to match, the 2002 Rosso di Montalcino from Stella di Campalto. "Vintage 2002 was nearly a disaster, but this is great. It really tastes like sangiovese." Taddei likes the challenge of finding good wines from "off" vintages, as well as finding producers who are nearly unknown. "Di Campalto only started making wine a few years ago; she makes only about five thousand bottles," Taddei explains. If you can't find it, he suggests sticking with sangiovese: The wine's vibrant acidity helps it both cut through the richness of the braised oxtail and lift the spicy cherry flavors so they don't overwhelm the delicacy of the pasta itself.
1 oxtail
1 carrot, minced
1 Spanish onion, minced
1 tablespoon dried juniper berries
1 bottle red wine
1 quart beef stock
1/2 pound prepared egg-pasta dough
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/4 pound baby spinach leaves
Salt and pepper
1/4 pound parmigiano Reggiano
A day ahead of serving, place the oxtail in a container with the vegetables, juniper berries and wine. Cover and let marinate overnight.
The next day, preheat the oven to 350º F. Drain the meat, reserving the wine. Put the wine in a pot and bring to a boil; put the beef stock in another pot and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, in a sauté pan over high heat, sear the meat. Transfer the meat to a roasting pan. Pour the wine and beef stock over the oxtail, cover and put in the oven. Cook until the meat falls off the bones, then remove from the oven and let cool. When cool, shred the meat with a fork and season it with salt and pepper.
To form the ravioli, roll the dough out into large, thin sheets. Cut each sheet into 3-inch-wide strips. Place teaspoons of meat in the center of the strip about every 11/2 inches, then fold over lengthwise and press the edges together. (If necessary moisten the edge with water to seal.) Trim off any excess dough: The border should be no more than 1/4-inch wide. Pinch the pasta together between the meat mounds, then slice with a knife to separate each raviolo. Just before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Boil the ravioli for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and garlic. As soon as the garlic begins to turn golden, add the spinach. Toss until well mixed and just wilted. Remove from heat. Drain the ravioli and add to the spinach mixture. Season with salt and pepper, toss to combine and spoon into bowls. Grate some parmigiano over the ravioli and serve.
Taddei's Wine Suggestions
Stella di Campalto Rosso di Montalcino (Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA)
Montevertine Tuscany Le Pergole Torte (Vitis Imports, Santa Monica, CA)
Podere Poggio Scaletta Alta Valle delle Greve Il Carbonaione (Winebow, NY)
Yellowfin Tuna Carpaccio with Shallot Compote
Serves four as an appetizer
Taddei pulls out a white wine from Gulfi in Sicily for this dish. "I like to try wines from different places, different microclimates," he says, "And I like to try to match wines from certain places with food from the same place. They often show best with food from that same region." Falai's tuna for the carpaccio could have come out of Japanese waters, but when finessed with olive oil, sea salt, diced tomato and capers, it says Mediterranean loud and clear. "The tuna is a strong dish; it could even take a red, like a frappato from Sicily," Taddei says, though he prefers this white, made from carjcante, also traditional to Sicily. "It's very mineral, with this caper finish." He adds, "This is probably one of the best white wines in Italy-it can age ten or fifteen years."
1/2 pound yellowfin tuna loin, skin removed
12 Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
4 cauliflower florets, steamed until tender
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon capers
1 sprig tarragon, leaves only
Salt
5 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced chives
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Shallot compote (recipe follows)
Slice the tuna as thinly as possible into 12 slices. Lay 3 slices on each plate. Garnish with the olives, cauliflower, tomato, capers and tarragon leaves. Season with a sprinkle of salt, lemon juice, chives and olive oil. Grind some black pepper over top. Add a spoonful of shallot compote on the side and serve.
Shallot Compote
1 tablespoon butter
4 peeled, sliced shallots
2 tablespoons sugar
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook slowly until they turn golden. Add the sugar and cook at very low heat for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. This can be prepared up to a week ahead and refrigerated.
Taddei's Wine Suggestions
Gulfi Sicily Carjcanti (Selected Estates of Europe, Mamaroneck, NY)
Jermann Were Dreams or Vintage Tunina (Empson USA, Alexandria, VA)
Bibi Graetz Isle del Giglio Bugia Bianco (Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY)
|
