A Lickety-split Lunch

I’m having one of my favorite lunches today: Bean and Tuna Salad. It’s quick and easy to make. The ingredients are always on my pantry shelf. And I really like the taste. What more can you ask of a dish? It also lends itself to some variations, and measurements don’t have to be precise.

When I first learned to make this dish years ago, the recipe called for cooking the beans from scratch. Well, scratch that. With canned beans, I can put it together in little more than ten minutes. On those days when I have a rumbling stomach at high noon and have made no plans for lunch, I make this lickety-split and can feel virtuous that I’m having a healthy lunch instead of a grilled cheese sandwich or other fatty foods.

The standard bean for this salad is cannellini, but you can choose another type if you wish. Italians tend to prefer dark tuna, so I make this dish made that kind, but you could use white tuna if you really like it instead. I use tuna packed in olive oil, but again, you can save some calories by choosing the type packed in water. 

The traditional recipe calls for red onion, which I favor, but you can use fresh spring onions, basic yellow or white as well. I think there’s enough salt on the canned beans, but you may add a bit if you think the salad needs some.

Pour something to drink and eat a piece of fruit. The perfect lunch.

Tuna Bean Salad

1 small red onion, chopped

1 15-ounce can cannellini beans

1 6-ounce can tuna

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 cup cherry or other small tomatoes, quartered

Black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil, to taste

Optional: capers (about 2 tablespoons), balsamic vinegar, black olives, salad greens, chopped basil.

1. Chop the onion first and put in a cup of cold water while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Drain the beans and rinse under cold running water. Drain and place in a bowl.
3. Drain the liquid (either oil or water) from the tuna and add it to the bowl.
4. Drain the onion and add to the salad.
5. Add the tomatoes, parsley and black pepper. Pour over oil to taste and mix.
6. And it’s ready.

Variations: Add some chopped black olives and/or capers. Mix basil with the tomatoes before adding them. Add a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar with the oil. Arrange salad greens on serving plates and spoon on the salad.

Health Care, Italian Style

While America has been embroiled in the great health care debate, I have been settling in as a customer of Italy’s National Health Service. The Italian constitution lists health care as a basic right, so once I had applied for residency, I was eligible to join the service. It’s been an illuminating experience.

I was able to choose a primary care physician, and I based my choice on a friend’s recommendation. I can change physicians at any time. The doctor practices with her sister, also a doctor, and I can see either of them whenever I need to by dropping by during office hours. Yes, I often have to wait for a while, but since I always have a book to read, I don’t mind. I pay nothing for these visits.

The two doctors are the only staff. No receptionist means that patients keep track of who’s next to see the doctor. No nurse means the doctors give injections or take temperatures or bandage wounds. No technicians means the doctor writes an order for lab work. The patient goes to a lab (either one within the NHS or a private one). If the order requires a urine analysis, the patient buys a little sterile cup at the pharmacy and prepares the sample at home.

At my neighborhood lab, we all stand outside waiting for the doors to open early in the morning, most patients carrying a telltale green and white pharmacy bag with our personal liquid. Inside the lab, the receptionist records the doctor’s orders on the computer, accepts urine sample, takes the fee (I usually have to pay about $75 for a general work-up), gives me a number, and tells me when the results will be ready.

When my number comes up, the technician has printed out labels for the various tests I need. She draws blood, applies the appropriate labels to the vials, and bids me good day. When the results are ready, I pick them up and take them to the doctor who analyzes them and makes appropriate recommendations. I take the results home for safe-keeping and to bundle with the results next time.

I am quite healthy, so I’ve needed no serious care, just the usual winter sniffles and summer allergies. I get an annual flu shot (no charge) and get the usual mammogram, PAP smear exam, bone density tests for diagnostic purposes.

Friends who have been here longer than I have and who have more serious health problems or have had babies praise the system, too.  It’s worth noting in Italy life expectancy is higher and infant mortality rate is lower than the U.S.

The Titty Bar

There’s an establishment in my Roman neighborhood called the Titty Bar. It’s not what you think.

Prim grandmothers meet there for morning coffee after hitting the market, dragging their shopping carts along. Workers from nearby offices crowd in at lunchtime for a plate of pasta. Teenagers arrive in groups after school to sip Cokes and text absent friends.

The Titty Bar is named for a cartoon character. Can you guess which one? It helps if you know a bit about Italian pronunciation. Generally, with some precise exceptions, all vowels are pronounced the same way every time: a is “ah,” e is “a,” i is “ee” o is “o,” and u is “oo.” So that means titty is pronounced teety.

Still can’t guess? An additional hint: there are some letter combinations in English that are impossible for Italian speakers. The “th” sound wreaks the most havoc. This particular sound is difficult for Italians because the “h” doesn’t exist as a sound in their language. It exists as a letter solely to indicate the correct pronunciation of the vowel that follows it or to underscore meaning. For example, the word ci in Italian is pronounced like beginning of the English word “cheese” while the word chi is pronounced like the English word “key.” In both cases, the “h” tells us how to pronounce the vowel. When Italians see and “h” in English, they ignore it.

Birthday becomes beertday. Notice that the “i” becomes “ee” and the “h” disappears. Third becomes teard. I spend lots of my time as an English teacher sticking out my tongue at my students to get them to practice the “th” sound.

But that doesn’t help you identify the Titty Bar. Another combination causing grief to Italian students of English is the “tw” sound.  Italians ignore the “w,” so Titty is the Italian pronunciation of Tweety.  And Tweety is surprisingly popular here. His image, and name, appear on children’s pencil cases and on t-shirts and even on kitchen appliances. Yes, there’s a Titty cappuccino maker!

Sometimes Titty is spelled Titti. My last cat was named Nefertiti, and I called her Titi. I always do a double take when I see this alternative spelling. It’s not as provocative, but it evokes a warm reaction from me every time.

An Award!

My pals at Novel Adventurers, a blog featuring four fearless travelers whose characters roam the globe solving mysteries, have presented me with The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award. All I have to do to accept is write five random facts about myself and pass the award on to five other blogs. http://noveladventurers.blogspot.com/


FIVE RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME

• I have always hated petunias. REASON: My third grade teacher told my mother that I read too much, and they devised a plan to make me water petunias every day to keep me out of the house. I retaliated by moving covers from book to book to hide the number I actually read. 
• I don’t have a sweet tooth, except for chocolate. BUT: I can eat a can of Pringles or a bag of cashews in one sitting. When my sister introduced me to eating potato chips with Hershey bars, I found true joy.
• I held a White House press pass for a day. REASON: I wrote for a national publication interested in a particular press conference given by President Carter, so I asked for credentials.
• I love anchovies and often cook with them. CHALLENGE: You probably eat them more often than you know. Check the ingredients list of Worchestershire Sauce.
• I’m afraid of heights and bridges. BUT: I once walked across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge with my heart beating my eardrums for all four and one-half miles.

FIVE BLOGS YOU MIGHT LIKE

• Letters from Earth http://kath-lettersfromearth.blogspot.com/ Kathleen Marsh records random thoughts about life in general and marriage in particular. Her husband, the Prince Consort, is a frequent participant. 
• Fiori di Zucca (Squash Blossoms) http://fiordizucca.blogspot.com/ This blog is in Italian, but it is full of authentic recipes for Italian food--all translated into English. To find the English version, click on any recipe under “Menu” then scroll down. The English version follows the Italian. 
• Mystery Lovers Kitchen http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com Eight mystery authors, who all write books about food, blog about it, too. Every day there’s a new recipe plus news about the books from these award-winning writers. 
• 2Friends4Cooking http://www.2friends4cooking.com/wordpress/ Ren Finch writes this small blog which offers information about unique events in Italy and great recipes. In the past, Ren has held cooking classes in her home near St. Peter’s. She has recently moved to Tuscany and will be offering cooking classes there very soon. This blog will tell when. 
• Diane Vallere http://dianevallere.blogspot.com/ Diane writes about shoes, clues, and clothes and other random thoughts.

If I have mentioned your blog, you can accept the award by passing it forward. Write five random facts about yourself and five short reviews of other blogs.

Celebrating the Saints

Today is a holiday in Rome to commemorate the city’s two patron saints, Peter and Paul. Every city and town in Italy has a patron saint. Rome is the only one with two. And every city and town has a holiday on its patron saint’s day, but Rome has only one holiday because June 29 the saint’s day for both.

All the shops and offices are closed. Municipal services like garbage collection and public transport are following a holiday schedule. When I went out for my early morning walk, I encountered not only other walkers, bicyclists and dogs on leashes, but also people packing up cars. It’s a good day to go to the beach because other towns don’t have the holiday, so the beaches aren’t crowded. Bars serving steaming cups of cappuccino opened their doors early, and tantalizing pastry shops are offering their wares until 1 p.m.

There are major religious services at St. Peter’s basilica and at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls today, but most of Rome’s other 1,000 churches will have services as well. Tradition has it that the two saints met for the last time on a spot near St. Paul’s shortly before both were killed by the ancient Romans for their Christian activities. The spot, which is actually identified by a street address, will see it’s own ceremony, as it does every year. The celebrations end with fireworks at midnight.

It’s not only cities and towns that have patron saints. Each church has a patron saint as well. And while these saints’ days do not warrant a holiday, they do have celebrations. With its 1,000 plus churches, Rome has a patron saint celebration almost daily, complete with fireworks.

On the secular side, it’s a day for sleeping late and enjoying a good meal. Because the weather is fine, Romans will be out enjoying a stroll in the afternoon, eating a gelato, seeing friends, and at the end of the evening, seeking a good place to watch those fireworks.

Bringing Home the Bacon

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare.

I’d like to paraphrase that to say that pancetta by any other name would taste as delectable. That other name is “bacon.” My sixteen-volume Encyclopedia of Italian Cuisine describes pancetta as a “cut of meat, principally pork, but it can be beef or veal.” Usually it’s pork. The curing process, according to the encyclopedia, depends on the cuisine of the region where the curing is done.

Here in Rome, pancetta is sold in various guises. The round roll of pancetta, recognized most often in the U.S., is available at the salumeria (delicatessen) counters. It costs about nine dollars for a pound. You can also find slabs of pancetta ready to be sliced to order. Or you can just ask for a chunk. In my neighborhood supermarket, the delicatessen counter carries two varieties, one roll and one slab. You can have it cut to order or you can pick up pre-cut packages.

In the meat counter, you can find thick slices of pancetta packaged like steak or pork chops. These are intended for eating as a main course, or for cutting into squares for kebabs.

But the bulk of the bacon sold here comes in plastic tubs sold in the cold cut case. This pancetta is cut into small cubes, and it is either smoked or not. The cubed pancetta is the basis for two Italian pasta favorites: spaghetti alla carbonara (smoked) and bucatini all’amatriciana (sweet).

My advice to any American cook who wants to make these dishes: buy thick-sliced bacon and cut it into cubes. It’s easy, it’s inexpensive, and it’s good.

Carbarnara is well-known in America, but Amatriciana, not so well. It’s easy to make, and while bucatini is the traditional pasta, you can serve the sauce on other types.

Bucatini all’Amatriciana

1 pound bucatini (or spaghetti)
4-5 slices of thick-sliced bacon (not smoked)
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/4 to 1/3 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more is desired)
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano (you can use parmesan, but it’s too delicate for the red pepper)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the bacon into 1/4-inch squares.
2. Place the bacon in a large frying pan and cook stirring to render out the fat and to brown lightly. Drain excess oil.
3. Add the tomatoes, red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cook for about 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, fill a large kettle with water and bring it to the boil. Cook the bucatini to the al dente stage. [NOTE: Al dente is reached when the pasta is completely cooked through. Test by biting into a piece. When there is no white, uncooked part in the center, the pasta is cooked. It should be chewy.]
6. Drain the pasta and place it in the frying pan with the sauce. Toss and cook for about two minutes.
7. Serve with the pecorino, and additional red pepper flakes, if desired.

Serves 4-6

A Writer's Horror Story

I’ve felt so smug for the past six months. When my not-so-old laptop blew it mother board at the beginning of NaMo last year, I lost a great deal of my work in progress. I went through the painful process of buying a new desktop and worried through all the problems fraught with setting it up.

Getting all the programs installed in English instead of Italian took a lot of time. I can use the Italian, but it’s easier in English, and I want easy. I’m a touch typist so configuring Italian keyboard, which has symbols in different places, became the next order of business. What you see on my keyboard now is NOT what you get. Oh, sometimes I have to remind myself where a certain key is because, if I think about it, my brain shuts down. If I trust my fingers, they will find it.

I worried most about all the data I had lost. So I contracted with SOS Online Backup. It has been comforting to see that little backup icon churning away every morning. During the few weeks that I was offline, I agonized over the possibility that I might have a breakdown and lose data. I put stuff on a thumb drive every day, and the moment I got connected I logged in to SOS Backup and ran a full recovery.

This morning, disaster struck. My smug heart fell when I opened the file for today's blog in preparation for posting it and found the snippet for a future post in its place. I’m not sure how it happened, but I had overwritten this week’s blog post. Aghhh!

Not to worry. I have SOS Online Backup. But I couldn’t find any saved files. I fiddled with the account. I contacted online support. Still no files. Finally, the techie called me. It seems that my account had been set up to backup my C drive, something that I thought strange at the time, so only program files have been backed up for the past six months. No documents!! So the lovely blog that I had planned to post today has been lost. I’ll rewrite it another day.

This day will be devoted to trying to get things backed up properly. No writing for me today. If you have any lost document horror stories, I hope you will share them in the comments section.