Contraband Shopping

Today I bought a yogurt maker. All the sugar this month has gottento me. In my experience after a sugar overload those active live cultures from yogurt help a lot.

At first I thought I would try to recreate the sheep's milk yogurt I have in Paris. F. has a "connection" with the dairy farmer who brings the fresh ricotta to the butcher shop every day. He forgot, and I am stuck facing Parmelat's UHT milk or the sweetened yogurt I can get at the Supermarket. Those are my only options.

So I thought.

Earlier today we visited the Villa Giulia, the first public park in Palermo. No villa per se, but loads of oranges on trees. Just as the rain started up for the 4th time today we were ready to leave. I've been curious about the "Super Stores" everyone talks about with awe and tonight we went to one.

It was F.'s first time and I was interested to hear what he had to say about the meat. The prices were good and the quality looked good, but there was no way of knowing where they came from.

In the European Union it is legal to import meat from any country in the Union to another. In some cases Cattle is shipped over thousands of miles, from Sweden, for example, to Greece. A trip like this can take weeks and often the animals arrive in debilitated condition. And, well, sad too I imagine. I just can't picture a Cow backpacking it like a college junior on a year abroad.

I am told that in Sicily these animals arrive to supply meat, but they must be on Terra Madre di Sicilia for 3 months before slaughter.

Aha! Yogurt! We found plain yogurt with live cultures. The yogurt project is back!

We got a risotto with seafood jones while there and filled our basket with the basics. We did not find saffron.

In the pouring rain we drove from Palermo to Bagheria. Franco knew we still needed saffron, ricotta (not for the risotto) and milk.

F. knew where to go. But first a stop at a panetteria for ciabatta with olives. Whew. A bite filled my mouth with olives. The ciabatta's sturdy airiness creates holes that these olives fill, yet retains it's chewiness and flat shape. Making a sandwich with Ciabatta is challenging, the network of craters is tempting to fill with a spread or a flavoring. You want the holes to be filled, it seems efficient, but the strength of the gluten walls that surround these air pockets don't collapse. Sandwich filling never really comes in contact with the fillings without force, unless the filling is liquid.

Not so with the olives and ciabatta. Pitted and sliced up, they snuggle in nicely to those airy pockets. Delicious. The wooshing soundtrack of the wipers, the darkness setting in on the twilight through gray clouds, and hot fresh ciabatta rolls in crisp white paper bags.

Almost worth spoiling my appetite for dinner.



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