Feltre e Pedavena

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Baby zucchini, zucchini flower and basil leaf beer tempura

This was so yum!!!! My zucchini plants now make only little zucchini, they must be tired. But baby zucchini are so delicious and special, and the flowers too, that I decided to make something scrumptious, like tempura. And also to add some big basil leaves: I love leaves in tempura, but I never tried Italian basil, it was amazing!!

For the batter I used a tempura flour mix and, instead of water, a chilled Peroni Leggera beer. Using cold beer produce a crispy tempura, plus you can drink beer while you are cooking :-).

Don't overtax the batter, make sure the oil is really hot, and cook the baby zucchini first, then the flowers and the basil leaves. sprinkle with salt and serve, with more beer!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

The Kingdom of Tonga

The Royal Palace, Nuku'alofa, Tongatapu

Standing at the gates of the Royal Palace, Nuku'alofa, Tongatapu

 We are in Tonga, I have internet today, not sure about tomorrow, we'll be on a boat probably. Anyway, I needed a holiday, so I'll leave you with some images of the Royal Palace (yes, Tonga is a Kingdom) and the local beer (I guess that they make it in New Zealand though... does someone knows?).

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Something for the boys: a beer gadget!

This time my husband supplied me with a blog post, a first one! He showed me these photos from his latest trip to Japan, a self-service beer dispenser that apparently pours the perfect beer, if I understood well it even tip the glass lightly while doing it (for a perfect beer head, I guess).

I don't know much about beer, and I know even less about gadgets, but I like them both and...  I feel quite thirsty now,  and possibly like another beer post coming along... :-).

Happy Friday!!

Photos Peter Dowling ©

My favourite cheese at the Monteith's CheeseFest 2012

This year the Monteith's CheeseFest was even better than last year, I got a Monteith beer on arrival, but I was pleased to see that you could also have wine, and my friend Valentina got a white one, plus we were offered a small plate, fork and napkin (we didn't have those last year!). Then in we went for some serious tastings! Being both Italians I guess that we were a bit fussy (or at least I was, and Valentina obediently followed me to the cheese stalls that I wanted to visit). 

Remembering the previous year, and my inability to eat cheese without bread, I had a box of crackers in my bag (sounds cheesy eehh!) but I was also happy to see that there was also some bread available this year from one of the sponsors (and we even got a couple of loaves in the goodie bag). 

I didn't take many photos, in fact I only took these published below: it was hard to balance a bottle of beer, a small plate of cheese and fork, and get my iPhone out. So the photos this year are of my favourite cheese: Massimiliano's mozzarella!

I like to point out that his was the only cheese of which I had two tastings of (Valentina had three), maybe because we are Italian and mozzarella is what we like, or maybe because the cheese makers are Italians and it was great to see Massimiliano again (he even won a prize for his mozzarella so we were all happy), or a mixture of everything... anyway, the mozzarella I made at home and posted yesterday was quickly forgotten after tasting this one!

And Massimiliano gave Valentina and me a burrata each to take home! Yum, I saved mine for Arantxa, it is her favourite cheese and she was so happy when I told her!

We also bought lots of other yummy cheeses (really cheap on the night), and today I made a focaccia with some feta and some fresh goat cheese, a real luxury to have good cheese to cook with, instead of saving it only for after dinner treats!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Monteith's Cheesefest

Last night I went to the Monteith' Cheesefest with Sue, and we ate our way through an indecent amount of cheese! Wow!

It was nice to meet new cheese makers and to
catch up with the ones I knew: Massimiliano!!! Finally and Italian making mozzarella and scamorza in New Zealand! Still setting up,
but promising, and now every week-end at the La Cigale market in Auckland.

Lovely to meet Curd Nerd

And my first cheese teacher, Katherine!

Of course we had to say hallo to Jan and John, they love their goats, and we love their cheese!

Thank you to the lovely people of Monteith, we enjoyed having beer with cheese, and learn about matching (Usually for me is wine and cheese, but I love beer, and I really wanted to know more about beer and cheese pairing!). And you know what? You can match apple cider with feta: it works!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Eating and drinking in the North of Veneto, part 1!

Yes I know that the Veneti from the north may seem a bit ... stiff? Austrian? Cold? Whatever!
I am half Veneta so I can handle it, starting with POLENTA!

My cousins Giovanna and Saverio asked me what I wanted to eat and I wanted the most traditional staple I could think of: Polenta and Schiz. Schiz is a kind of fresh white cheese, similar to Holloumi. It can not be eaten 'raw' but it needs to be cooked in a frying pan (with no oil) until soft and lightly golden. Butter and cream are usually added once all the water from the cheese has dried up.

A few calories here, I know...but we are in the mountains!

Taa Daa! Polenta e Schiz!

The second pilgrimage is to the Pedavena Brewery, where they make Pedavena and Dolomiti beers.

Here is the brewery....

...and attached to the brewery the birreria (bar/restaurant) where you can get unpastorised Pedavena beer on tap.

Yesssssssssssssss!

For more info about this local gem click here

And after the zucchini flowers, back to Aunt Alice veggie garden for a balanced diet.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©