Lucadea.com - Author: Loris

30 April 202024 July 2024

Octopus sauce, the recipe

Octopus sauce, the recipe.
A few days ago my son prepared a plate of pasta with this sauce and immediately a couple of ideas and memories came to mind.
It's a beautiful dish and very good too. Grandpa Mario used to make it, he cooked fish very well.
Then, with an octopus weighing less than a kilo, he would eat the whole family (seven or eight people).
The great thing is that he knew that octopus is sedentary so, when he needed one, he would go and get it alive and always knew where to find one.
The sauce is very easy to prepare; you need extra virgin olive oil, salt, onion, tomato sauce (or fresh tomatoes depending on your tastes and ability) and octopus (fresh or frozen)
The ideal would be to lightly scald the octopus in a little water, then cut it into small pieces to cook in the tomato sauce.
The important thing is the skin, which is what makes the dish good!
Fry a little with oil and onion, add the tomato and octopus. Add salt and leave to cook for about forty minutes.
If the sauce becomes too thick you can use the water from the first cooking to moisten the sauce.

Have you ever tasted this sauce? Add a comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.

And voilà the sauce is ready photographed by Luca:

Photo taken with Canon EOS M100 and lens Canon EF-M 22.

The octopus sauce with tomato, the simple recipe to prepare it at home – La sauce poulpe à la tomate, la recette simple pour la préparer à la maison – El pulpo en salsa con tomate, la receta sencilla para prepararlo en casa – O molho de polvo com tomate, a receita simples para prepará-lo em casa – Die Tintenfischsauce mit Tomate, das einfache Rezept, um es zu Hause zuzubereiten – Bạch tuộc sốt cà chua, công thức đơn giản để chế biến tại nhà – 番茄章鱼酱，在家准备的简单食谱 – トマト入りタコソース、自宅で作る簡単なレシピ

19 March 202013 January 2025

Liver aggiadda style, the recipe

Fegato all'agiadda, the recipe.
Today I'll explain a nice liver dish that my grandmother used to make and that I believe is called "fegato all'agiadda".
First of all, you should use veal liver, less nervous and more tender than beef liver. The secret is in the sauce that is made with breadcrumbs soaked in vinegar and milk and practically mashed.
Then I put the soaked bread in the glass of the immersion blender and add garlic and salt.
Now I cook the liver in butter leaving the slices whole and finally I add the sauce: now the dish is ready!

Pay attention to this note: the preparation, being very strong in flavor, is subject to subjective taste: I, for example, really like vinegar and garlic and I put a lot of both. Obviously you can reduce or even replace part of the vinegar with white wine.
The important thing is that the preparation dissolves well with the liquid and then covers the liver well, left rare, and that it is served very hot because the sauce is cold and should only be left in the pan for a few seconds.

Do you like this recipe?
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Here are a couple of photos taken by my son Luca:

Photo taken with Canon EOS M100 and lens Canon EF-M 22.

A liver dish cooked with agiadda, the recipe – Un plat de foie cuisiné avec de l’agiadda, la recette – Un plato de hígado cocinado con agiadda, la receta – Prato de fígado cozido com agiadda, a receita – Ein mit Agiadda gekochtes Lebergericht, das Rezept – Công thức món gan nấu với agiadda – 用 agiadda 烹制的肝菜，食谱 – アギアッダで調理したレバー料理、レシピ

12 March 20202 February 2021

Pesce in carpione o scabeccio, la ricetta

Pesce in carpione dell'Osteria da Sergio

Pesce in carpione o scabeccio, la ricetta.
I pescatori non sono mai stati ricchi, specialmente una volta quando non c’erano i frigoriferi e le attrezzature del giorno d’oggi e cercavano di conservare il pesce che non riuscivano a vendere.
Dopo quello di prima qualità e quello di seconda, rimaneva il pesce troppo piccolo, di qualità troppo scadente o magari rotto nella rete.
Per recuperare questo pesce i pescatori avevano inventato diversi sistemi e uno di questi è appunto il carpione che, a seconda delle zone, cambia nome e viene utilizzato in tutto il mediterraneo.

Adesso vi racconto come preparo io questo piatto.
Chiaramente non cerco pesce rovinato o di bassissima qualità e uso principalmente le boghe o pescetti piccoli ma troppo grossi per la frittura e spesso sardine che nel triestino chiamano “sarde in saor”.
Pulisco bene il pesce, tolgo le scaglie, le pinne e le interiora ma lascio la testa. Lo infarino bene e lo faccio friggere. A parte, in un’altra padella, faccio soffriggere abbondante cipolla, aglio e tutti i sapori in olio fresco dove ho aggiunto aceto e vino bianco, finché la cipolla è cotta ma non fritta.
Quando il pesce è ben fritto e freddo lo salo e lo copro completamente con questo preparato e lo lascio a bagno per almeno due giorni.
Adesso si può mangiare ma, se si resiste, più rimane a mollo meglio è perché così le lische e la testa diventano morbide e anch’esse possono essere mangiate.

Attenzione a queste note: le percentuali di olio e aceto possono variare a seconda del gusto, così come i sapori ed il vino bianco.

Eccovi un paio di foto, che ha scattato mio figlio Luca, del piatto servito nell’Osteria da Sergio di Sestri Levante:

Photo taken with Canon EOS M100 and lens Canon EF-M 22.

10 June 201925 July 2024

The genoese meat sauce of my home, the recipe

The genoese meat sauce of my home, the recipe
Today I will briefly explain the recipe for Genoese meat ragù as I know how to prepare it.

In plenty of olive oil, fry chopped onion with a clove of garlic.
Add a nice piece of beef and a medium sausage and brown everything well.
Moisten with red wine and, once dried, add a few pieces of dried mushrooms and some pureed tomatoes.
Cook slowly for an hour.
Remove the meat, chop it, and put it back in the sauce to cook for another hour.

At this point the sauce is ready!

How do you prepare it at home? Add a comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.

I leave you with an image of a nice plate of ravioli seasoned with meat sauce (not the tocco though):

The typical Ligurian meat ragu prepared at my home, the recipe – Le ragoût de viande typique de la Ligurie préparé chez moi, la recette – El ragú de carne típico de Liguria preparado en mi casa, la receta – O típico ragu de carne da Ligúria preparado em minha casa, a receita – Das typisch ligurische Fleischragout, bei mir zu Hause zubereitet, das Rezept – Món ragu thịt đặc trưng của vùng Liguria được chế biến tại nhà tôi, công thức

6 April 20193 March 2023

Pasta con le cicale di mare, la ricetta

Pasta con le cicale di mare, la ricetta.
Questa mattina avrei voluto comprare una fetta di tonno ma sul banco c’era una cassetta di cicale (canocchie) vive e che muovevano ancora. Così ho pensato di preparare un piatto di spaghettoni con il loro sugo.
Ho fatto imbiondire uno spicchio d’aglio ed un peperoncino intero in olio d’oliva e alcuni pomodorini tagliati a metà e privati dei semi. Poi ho aggiunto le cicale, le ho fatte insaporire e poi bagnate con poco vino bianco di qualità.
Inizialmente, ho pulito le cicale privandole delle zampine, delle teste e code che ho messo a bollire per quasi un’ora e poi filtrato il brodo.
Bene, una volta evaporato il vino, ho aggiunto nella padella il brodo delle teste e ho lasciato riposare.
Ho messo finalmente a cuocere 80 grammi dei miei spaghettoni integrali che poi ho saltato in padella con le cicale. Alla fine, per non farmi mancare nulla, ho grattugiato sul piatto un po’ di bottarga e ho completato con prezzemolo tritato.

Purtroppo la foto del piatto non e’ venuta molto bene, ma ve la posto ugualmente per avere un’idea del piatto finito:

La cannocchia o canocchia, detta anche pannocchia o pacchero o cicala di mare (Squilla mantis) è un crostaceo della famiglia degli Squillidae che può raggiungere una lunghezza massima di 20 cm.
Continua, anche se c’e’ scritto poco, su Wikipedia

La immagine in evidenza e’ del sito di immagini gratuite pixabay.com.

Pasta with sea cicadas, the recipe – Pâtes aux cigales de la mer, la recette – Pasta con cigarras de mar, la receta. – Macarrão com cigarras do mar, a receita – Pasta mit Seezikaden, das Rezept – Pasta với ve sầu biển, công thức – 海蝉意面，食谱 – 海蝉のパスタレシピ・作り方

21 March 20191 October 2024

Braised veal milanese style, the recipe

Ossobuchi alla milanese, the recipe.
This morning I stopped by Alfredo, my trusted butcher. Alfredo is an old-fashioned butcher: he has a counter that seems rather poor but everything is stored in the refrigerator to maintain the right humidity and temperature; just ask and Alfredo brings out the most beautiful cuts from the cell…
This morning, unusually, he had a beautiful piece of veal shank* on display, from which I had three splendid ossobuco cut, with which I prepared my dish: ossobuchi with saffron risotto and gremolada**
As a procedure, I floured the ossobuchi and fried them over a high heat to close all the pores and prevent the meat juices from coming out.
In a terracotta saucepan I fried an onion and a clove of garlic, added the ossobuchi and let it heat up. I then added a few pieces of carrot, potatoes and courgettes, moistened with red wine and started cooking over a low heat.
In the meantime, separately, I calmly prepared the base for the risotto, chopping a little onion, heating a small pan of good meat broth and melting the saffron in water. I added a little tomato paste to the ossobuco and cooked them slowly, always checking that the meat was tender and the vegetables were well cooked. When cooking was almost finished, I added a little coarse salt (I always try to be careful with the salt).
Then I started cooking the rice, frying the onion in a little olive oil, adding the rice which, once toasted, I moistened with a little white wine. Once the wine had evaporated, I added the hot broth (by now I know the quantities and I manage, after a little light stirring, not to continue moving the rice which cooks slowly, moving on its own thanks to the boiling liquids). When cooking was almost finished, I added the saffron and, when cooking was finished, I stirred it with a piece of butter but I didn't add cheese, which for me, alters the flavor of the saffron.
Then I prepared the dish with the risotto, the ossobuco which I moistened with its sauce and I added the gremolata. All done…

Enjoy your meal!!!
Add your own comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.

Photo taken with Canon EOS M100 and lens Canon EF-M 22.

* veal is the meat usually used for this dish because it is more tender but the important thing is that it comes from the rear because it is less fibrous and larger in diameter. I used veal: I knew where it came from and the choice proved me right.
** gremolada is a very simple sauce made by chopping lemon peel without the white part, garlic and parsley and is used to flavor the ossobuco

Note: As always, the quality of the raw materials is essential: first of all, you need to choose the quality of the meat well, if necessary, ordering it from your trusted butcher, asking specifically that it be from behind. Also important is the quality of the wines to soak the meat and rice.

Ossobuco alla milanese, the recipe – Ossobuco à la milanaise, la recette – Ossobuco a la milanesa, la receta – Ossobuco panado, a receita – Ossobuco Mailänder Art, das Rezept – Công thức theo phong cách Ossobuco Milanese

5 March 201919 October 2024

Blood sausage or berodo, the recipe

Blood sausage or berodo.
Blood sausage, which is called in many ways (here in Liguria it is called berodo) and prepared in many ways, is a preparation that, as far as I know, is made throughout the non-Muslim world: it is nothing more than a way to recover pig's blood, a precious source of proteins, fats and other ingredients...
I have always tasted this product when I found it, and I have found excellent ones both when made with dark chocolate and when put in small casings and mixed with chilli pepper in Mexico.
However, when you buy a blood sausage, it has actually already been prepared by the butcher and then subjected to an initial boil.
The fresh blood must immediately be mixed with milk and you must continue stirring to prevent it from coagulating. At this point the further preparation process depends on the habits, cultures and traditions of the places and countries.
Years ago, I saw the blood sausages prepared by Lindo, a local pork butcher who was called by the families who, often with sacrifice, raised and then slaughtered a pig. For me, however, the absolute master of the preparation of salami and blood sausages was Mr. Lino Marcenaro and his two assistants: Franco and Carlo who later became a great traveler of exotic countries and who is one of my oldest and dearest friends.
The blood, still fresh, is mixed with fresh milk, continuing to mix with spices, salt and pine nuts, which must be abundant even if expensive; naturally I do not know the doses which must be secret. The blood sausages, just closed with the same technique used for sausages, must be put to boil to have the first cooking. This is how we find them at the butcher's.
At home we cook them simply boiled for a few minutes but decorated by mixing some side dishes from Swiss cuisine: sandy potatoes (cut into wedges, blanched in water and then sautéed in butter and breadcrumbs), slices of Rennet apples (peeled, cut into wedges and then slowly cooked in water slightly acidulated with lemon and sprinkled with cinnamon) and finally with sautéed cabbage (cut not too finely and cooked with a little oil, salt and sprinkled with white wine and, at the end, with a drop of vinegar).
Enjoy your meal!

Do you like them? Add a comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.

Photo taken with Honor 10.

The black pudding or berodo, the recipe – Boudin noir ou berodo, la recette – Morcilla o berodo, la receta – Morcela ou berodo, a receita – Der Blutwurst oder Berodo, das Rezept – Bánh pudding đen hoặc berodo, công thức – 黑布丁或 berodo，食谱 – ブラックプディングまたはベロド、レシピ

13 February 201916 October 2024

Kebab: Not my ideal food

Kebab: not my ideal food.
My son asked me to write him something about a dish he recently ate in Malaysia: kebab.
As far as I know, it's a bit of a piece of junk... it's a bit like a hamburger, you can put anything in it.
The real kebab (kebab means skewer) originated in Turkey and other neighboring Muslim countries; consists of layers of mutton meat overlapping and alternating with mutton fat.
To cut it, you use a long, wide knife that cuts by trimming the meat closest to the fire and which is collected with a special spatula.
The cooked meat is wrapped in unleavened bread and served with the addition of spicy sauce.
From Turkey, this dish passed to Greece, which made it a dish for tourists or sailors like my son…
In Greece, however, instead of mutton, they use pork or chicken because they are less expensive, wrapped in this bread together with fried potatoes, salad and tomatoes mixed with a very low quality sauce… In Greece the dish is called Ghyros.
From Greece, the dish then passed to us… and there are people who buy it…

Not long ago there were several articles here about a kind of mafia that owns these small establishments where they said very low quality meat was served and there were health problems and other things…
That's all I know.
A piece of advice I give to my son: don't eat this food if you can!

Do you like this dish?
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Here's the photo he sent me:

Photo taken with Canon EOS M100 and lens Canon EF-M 22.

Shawarma (Arabic: شاورما‎, in turn from the Turkish çevirme), is a Middle Eastern meat dish. Although the word derives from the Turkish çevirme, meaning "turning", in Turkey this preparation is called döner kebabı; in Greece it is called γύρος gyros, and in the latter case it is mainly made from pork, an animal excluded from food consumption by populations of the Islamic religion.
Continue and learn more on Wikipedia

Kebab: Not my ideal food – Kebab : pas mon plat idéal – Kebab: no es mi comida ideal – Kebab: não é a minha comida ideal – Kebab: nicht mein ideales Essen – Kebab: không phải món ăn lý tưởng của tôi

16 May 201828 August 2024

Ligurian tripe from my house, the recipe

Ligurian-style tripe from my house, the recipe.
Tripe is one of the most used offal. It is cooked in all the Italian regions and is one of the tastiest poor dishes consumed all over the world: I will never forget an extraordinary Chinese soup from Hong Kong with rice noodles and caramelized tripe…

In Genoa and the Riviera you could often find tripe shops, where tripe and its broth were sold: a cup of hot tripe broth with a little grated cheese and plenty of soaked bread was an excellent and rich breakfast. This too, however, is a tradition that has now almost completely disappeared.

What we find in the butcher's shop is tripe that has already undergone many and very long processes: it has been scraped, cleaned and then boiled for a long time. At this point it is put on sale and then cooked.

In our house, like many other dishes, it is made in the Ligurian style but, as I have already said on other occasions, my Ligurian cuisine has been contaminated by the wisdom and advice of the many chefs I have worked with around the world. I will therefore describe to you how my wife Emmi prepares it, who has become a very good cook of regional dishes.

First, choose the mixed tripe of as many types as possible and cut it into thin strips.
Then make a base with onion, celery and prepare a good hot meat broth, white wine, Taggiasca olives, pine nuts, a few soaked dried mushrooms, a little tomato paste and potatoes cut into cubes.
Fry the flavours in good olive oil, not too much (tripe is fatty), and add the tripe, which is left to flavour and heat; add a good glass of white wine and let it evaporate. At this point add the dried mushrooms, pine nuts, olives and then the potatoes. Heat everything up, stirring slowly, add salt and add the tomato paste and then moisten everything with the broth.
Close the pot (better if terracotta) and let it cook slowly.
When the potatoes are cooked, the tripe is ready and should be served piping hot, sprinkled with fresh parsley and a little grated cheese.

Do you like tripe? Add your own comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.

Here are pictures of this finished dish:

Photo taken with Canon 600D and lens Tamron 16-300.

And here's a video too:

October 24th is Trippa Day.

Ligurian tripe from my house, the recipe – Tripes liguriennes de chez moi, la recette – Callos de Liguria de mi casa, la receta – Tripa da Ligúria da minha casa, a receita – Ligurischer Kutteln aus meinem Haus, das Rezept – Món tripe Ligurian từ nhà tôi, công thức – 我家的利古里亚牛肚，食谱 – 私の家のリグリアントリペ、レシピ

22 September 201723 November 2024

Octopus salad with potatoes, the recipe

Boiled octopus salad with Ligurian potatoes, the recipe.
It's a simple boiled octopus salad.
This morning I found a couple of local octopuses and prepared them for my son Luca.
I boiled plenty of water to which I added salt and vinegar. Then I curled up the octopuses by holding them by the head and dipping them up and down in the boiling water. I left them to cook for half an hour and then left them to cool in their water.
Separately I boiled some excellent mountain potatoes from my friend Enrico Segarini and added them to the sliced octopus.
I then seasoned it with some excellent local oil from my friend Paolino Muzio of San Bernardo (a town in the municipality of Sestri Levante known for the quality of its olives), lemon juice from my garden and a sprinkling of parsley.

Photo taken with Samsung Galaxi.

This is the boiled octopus before being seasoned: