Acquired Tastes?

I don’t know if my children read this blog. If they do, I will soon be in trouble. But sometimes I’m just a kid and I like to see what I can get away with. As a mother in the food business, it can be fun to expand the offerings at home.

Now these are children who at age one ate spicy salsa in Southern California, at age 8 ate rabbit and boar in Tuscany, and at age 10 at mussels in Galway, Ireland. Sometimes, if they haven’t been told what they are eating, they are more….adventurous.

The foods of Southern Italy seem to be perfect matched to hot summer nights. Just recently we had an easy dinner of pasta with Villa Cappelli Spaghettata (from Puglia) to spice things up. If I had offered them anchovies, I’m sure the answer would have been far from affirmative. So, when I was alone in the kitchen, I tossed a teaspoonful of Colatura di Alici (from Campania) into the sauce. The Vicidomini Spaghetti Chitarra (also Campania) was the pasta of the night. All were combined and the dish was rapidly consumed.

There was something more….interesting….about the dish when served with Colatura di Alici. It brought out food magic with umami. Highly recommended.