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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

Definitely more fun in the flesh, but, what a happy trip down memory lane our 4 year #markettotablerome party has been. Thanks to everyone for messages, posts and pictures, each of which has been heart warming, just when need as much of that as possible. Here is my cherry crostata, Bella bronzata after close to an hour in oven, in a hastily tidied kitchen. For more tips on baking crostata follow my stories, or see my blog post crostata, crostata.
Wanted to post ninety nine photos on this mini album, celebrating (let’s be positive) 4 years since @carla_tomasi , @rachelaliceroddy and I started #markettotablerome. The three of us brewed up the idea in early 2016 around Carla’s kitchen table in Ostia Antica, and our first class was on May 20 of that year. Every single one of the monthly appointments that followed was special, mainly because of the fine souls that joined us, and we promise you there will be more to come (staying positive). So, tomorrow the three of us are doing a virtual kind of Market to Table gathering, you can follow along and cook with us - Carla is making ravioli, Rachel, queen of Fritti & Fizz will fry something, and I will roll out a seasonal fruit tart that you can adapt to whetever is in season where you are. We’d love to see people’s pics from their day at Market to Table, especially the infamous blue produce table laden with good things. #cooktheseason #adifferentkindofmarkettotable
Cool cucumbers for the new normal. Beaches, are open as of today in some parts of Italy, under a whole raft of well intentioned but quite possibly impractical guidelines. I am wriggling to dip my toes in the Mediterranean, preferably without plexiglass, but most definitely with a mask in my beach bag. Until then, cool salads are back on the menu at the via delle fornaci canteen, with thin slices of the round cucumbers from Puglia called Caroselli which I buy from the couple from Bari with a little shop on the piazza. Paired with ribbons of raw zucchini, and shards of cacioricotta, also from Puglia, perhaps the closest Italian cheese to feta, shredded mint, good olive oil and dash of red wine vinegar. #summersalads #theviadellefornacicanteen #laprovacostume
Not pictured: a very sweaty me, cuts all over arms and foliage in hair after 12 hour jungle-to-garden marathon. You do a lot of thinking while gardening, and these are the conclusions I came to yesterday. We travel too much, some of us. And too many don’t travel at all. But days away are uplifting, energizing, and healthy, and every human should enjoy at least one vacation a year. Because so many people’s livelihoods are based in and around tourism, we need to work out better ways of traveling, and holidays closer to home will need to be part of this. Imagine if we could also develop ways to share our holiday resources better. So many holiday houses (including mine) sit idle for months of a year, and there must be better ways to share them, and thereby boost visitor numbers in little towns, while helping more people enjoy time away. I feel determined for this Coronavirus experience make us change for the better. Watch this space for more on this, and message me if you would like to do something similar with your holiday shack (or villa). #letscomeoutbetter #thenewworld
Gifts that give twice - for Mother’s Day (which I am certain my family have forgotten), or any day really. My list of cool ways to spend lockdown savings in my stories. Pictured, the mega brunch spread at @marigold_roma - who are doing special treat packages tomorrow for mums. #can’teatoutbutcanordeein #ournewworld #rome’sbest
Farro alla Nizzarda. La Nissarda in the Niçard dialect, la Nizzarda in modern day Italian, la Niçoise to the rest of the world. In the south of France they serve fresh rolls stuffed with the classic line up of tuna, tomatoes, green beans and other friends called Pan Bagnat, but you need to be sitting on a pebbly beach for that. Because we love farro for lunch I deduct the potatoes from the traditional salad lineup and pile the rest in top of a bowl of farro. Quantities for 2-3 people: 200 g pearled or semi pearled farro, cooked with a little salt for circa 20 mins (bite to test), 100 gm fine green beans, handful of nice pomodorini, half a red onion very finely sliced, 4-20 anchovies according to personal preference, small pitted olives and / or capers, flakey sea salt sprinkled on cut tomatoes, generous pour of olive oil and slug of red wine vinegar. Couple of soft boiled eggs and roughly chopped parsley to finish. #farrosalad #familyfood #shiftingborders
Yesterday my mates @rachelaliceroddy and @carla_tomasi posted some snaps and cooking advice festeggiando the Vignarola season where artichokes, broad beans, peas and spring onions come together in one happy pan of spring goodness (with various other optional friends like asparagus and lettuce, yes lettuce). La Vignarola is one of our most loved #markettotablerome dishes, and it’s one that we will be making again next year when life is better for everyone, and the daily drain of home schooling is but a hazy memory. Have a look at my stories for step by steps and dodgy video making on making a Vignarola, which takes its name from the plants that often grow spontaneously around the vines, and which inject vital nutrients into the soil as the vines reawaken after their winter slumber. #veryroman #lavignarola #aspringbraise
Emma and I were looking through packets of photos this morning when it hit me. It is the 2nd of May, 15 YEARS IN iTALY. Slide ⬅️ for a few snippets from the photo drawer, lots of shots missing (us as waitresses @rachelaliceroddy, the fountain shot @jamiekdc, in kitchen with you @carlatomasi ) #rummageintheohotodrawer
When lockdown is over and we can return to Rome’s rambling public parks, I will bake (another) crostata and pack it into this cute cake tote and we will skip out into the sunshine. Until then - May 4 is the provisional date - we can eat strawberry crostata for breakfast and sun our legs on the terrace, fully conscious of how lucky we are to have had an outdoor space and a comfortable house in which to pass our ‘quarantena’. If you love the cake, or quiche, or ‘bring a plate’ tote then you should hop over to @aplatsf - they are also making beautiful masks out of fabric remnants at the moment too. If you want a crostata recipe, I have one on my blog ‘crostata, crostata’. This time I added 1 tsp of baking powder to the pastry, as many Italian crostata makers like to, for a fatter, ‘cakier’ pastry. Nice, but I still prefer the biscuitier strait shortcrust. #strawberrycrostata #longingforapicnic #bringaplate
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