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rustica RETRO

on the slow trail in Italy

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contacts and links

email me: alicekiandra.adams@gmail.com

click and follow the links to find out more about:

my food styling work on alice adams food stylist

latteria studio and events like market to table

lubriano and renting our house on airbnb

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daily grams

La credenza, the kitchen dresser. Iconic corner of the Italian kitchen, indispensable home to assorted crockery, glasses for every occasion, jars of hazelnuts, various preserves, unknown keys, screwdrivers and other bits. Most of what lives in this one came from second hand mercatini around the provincia di Viterbo, apart from the green Woods Ware from my Aunt Lizzie's attic. I have a couple of posts on my blog about hunting for old stuff - treasure hunting in the Tuscia & a Rome list of mercatini - scroll down from the link in my profile. #mercatinidellusato #huntingandgathering #trashandtreasure #upcycling #rusticaretro
Last lesson before the summer shutdown. #latteriastudio #midsummerinrome #yesitshot #privatecookerylesson
Only at the second stop in our ‘round the lake restaurant review’ and we might already have a winner. @la_rimessa_dei_pescatori serves ONLY fish from the lake, plays with local herbs and vegetables from the Orto behind the kitchen and has very cool wine list; mainly local and lots of naturals from around the lake. And they make ‘la sbroscia’; the only traditional Tuscia fish soup using lake fish (coregone, persico, latteriau), that Leo has been searching for years around these parts. I ordered four courses but just a bowl of this saporito fish soup would have satisfied. We’ll be back! #thebestofbolsena #trattoriedellago #localisbest #lakefishheroes
Bread. When I was a child, and this was long before the tribe of great Melbourne bakers arrived, my mum started making bread. Too soft were the 1970’s offerings, she lamented, as she started mixing and proofing and looking for the warmest spot in our perennially cold house, and travelling all over the city for flour. Mum never graduated to sourdough, but her beautiful salad filled rolls were the envy of my school mates, and slices of her still warm loaves were pure after-school bliss. But when you can buy good bread, making it seems beside the point, except during the summer, when there is little more than Umbro-Toscano unsalted bread - wonderful for some things, dismal for others - at the shops. These are the weeks I am grateful for my jar of ‘lievito madre’ that has lived in my fridge for a year and a half. And that the little loaf on the left was baked in one of mum’s old tins. #bakingstories #sourdoughforbeginners #stilllearning #panevero #realbread #weeklybread
The best gift. Some hundred or so zucchini blossoms, or #fioridizucca, from our Lubriano friend who built our outdoor table. Some to be fried alla @rachelaliceroddy , others to be oven crisped on Ivano’s advice. More in stories. #giftedveg #lifeinasmalltown #thejoysofsummer
Last week @carla_tomasi brought a basket of just picked zucchini to the studio for her #gardentotable class. We kneaded and rolled a batch of simple flour and water #lombrichellii from Alto-Lazio to toss into a ‘sautéed till it melts’ zucchini sauce. Thank you @shebets for sharing this gorgeous photo, and to Carla for always picking her zucchini small and tender. The full recipe in how to make lombrichelli is on my blog rusticaretro.com, and the sauce, which also goes super well with various dried shapes like cassarecce or mezzo maniche is as simple as: Take 1-2 small zucchini per person. Grate on the large setting of a box grater. Gently heat a good couple of tablespoons of extra virgin oil oil in a light high sided pan with a clove of whole squashed garlic and a small broken dried chilli (only half if cooking for 2). Add the grated zucchini, pinch of salt and sauté for a few minutes, mixing well so that the zucchini takes on a bright glossy sheen. Add some cooking water as the pasta cooks and allow the zucchini to break down into a soft velvety sauce. Handful of pecorino at end just before the cooked pasta gets tossed in if you like. Always add extra pasta water (starchy from the cooking process) to keep the sauce liquid. #cooktheseason #zucchinipasta #lombrichelliconzucchine #altolazio #gardentotable
Save the date! Thursday 26 September Vanessa @thehungrychook Miles will be back in Rome, and teaching the tricks to Potsticker Dumplings at the studio with me. This photo was taken at our first workshop together four years ago, and I’m happy that the tradition continues . Vanessa is a fantastic teacher and our Dumpling nights are always fun, informative and downright tasty. Go to the latteriastudio.com/events page for more. #dumplingsandco #visitingcooks #dumplingsoftgeworld
This must be the place. #sardegna #onset #placestocomebackto
Saturday fish. Filleted by my guys at the market@and quickly cooked in a tomato, garlic and caper sauce. Hint of chilli, finished with robust terrace parsley. Served with boiled potatoes and fresh borlotti salad. #mackerel #sgombro #sustainablefish #quicknutriciouscheap #knowyourfishmonger #pesceazzuro
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