Endive and beet salad with coronation grapes and gorgonzola

September 2, 2015 Published by Dina

The bitter endives and sweet roasted beets go together nicely in a salad, balanced by the sweet and pungent gorgonzola and candied nuts. I make shredded salads like this quite often, combining whatever vegetables I have with the contrast of crunchy, sweet nuts. My system is to keep a couple of bags with candied nuts in the freezer so I can take a few when I need them and add to the salad without the extra work. You can either buy them or make your own.

Other than cooking a little I have been busy researching for our upcoming trip to Italy in October. I have the accommodation organized until mid-December, when we arrive in Rome. I am now looking for an apartment in Rome for about a month but it’s not as easy as it may sound. There are many apartments to look at but it seems that Rome is a Christmas destination for many and it is not easy to find 4 consecutive weeks that include the Christmas period. I am also trying to make sure that the place has most things on my checklist: good kitchen (a rare find in rome), outdoor space, view, large and airy, elevator, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, washing machine, central location, interesting neighbourhood. What area shall I choose? the Spanish Steps? Piazza di Popolo? Trevi? Navona? Campo di fiori? the Jewish ghetto? Or go across the Tiber and stay in Trastrevere? the Vatican? Prati? So many choices make my head spin and before you know it I have spent hours online searching with no concrete results. And what annoys me most is getting an email back from an apartment manager telling me that “someone else is looking for just my dates” and if I don’t commit they have to give it to them. Well, be my guest and give it to “them”. I resent this pressure tactic. Well, I have to just choose something and hope for the best, but it’s not exactly my style.

I am also reading about Italy but not the Frommer Guide books if you know what I mean. I am reading some interesting books about Italian culture, about women who moved to Italy and are telling their story, about Italian opera history and of course about food, food and more food. One interesting thing I found is that in Italy, you can pay to eat in someone’s home. How fun is that? The Italians treasure home food cooked by their mammas and that is to most the best food they have ever eaten. Ever. Since restaurant food today has become more commercialized in many places, there is a movement to preserve the home cooking tradition. The home food movement was created so guests can dine in a private home and experience traditional Italian food the way mamma used to make it. These home cooks are known as cesarenes, or emperors of the kitchen. This experience is high on my list and I will post specifics in due course.