I am sorry for the inconvenience this site might have caused those of you who have tried to get on Citron et Vanille over the weekend, you might wonder what had happened to this blog.

Thanks to Brianne from Brie Le Grand Fromage (Thanks so much Brie!), who emailed me on Sunday night (after a great wedding celebration), to inform me she could not access any of my posts, due to a redirection to some weird and scary computer files screen, I realized that someone put a virus/malware in my files therefore corrupted the whole blog and site. I am wondering who could be that evil and sick enough to do such a thing? most of all, what is the purpose of doing such a thing other than destroying someone’s work for no reason?

I had absolutely no idea that this was going on, because this particular virus was not detectable by my Mac, but only through a PC…so I had to test it on the old PC never used, to actually realize that this was just a crazy and scary virus, redirecting me to some strange site and forcing me to shut down my computer.

Basically, we had to delete E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G and restart from scratch, good thing I backed up all the site, otherwise it would have been, bye bye Citron Et Vanille!

I was working on a brand new look and feel for my site and blog which would have been a lot more polished and sophisticated than this one with cool features but unfortunately due to this incident, this was such an emergency situation, that I had no other choice than move everything in a quick manner, so here we are. It’s different, it’s orange, it’s simple, but it will get better within the next weeks.

I will not mention either that the graphic designer or so called I originally hired to redesign my site, turned out to be another scam, he was paid half to start the project but since he was no graphic designer, he was incapable of even understanding the basics of web design.

It seems like I have not been that lucky with this whole thing…but c’est la vie, and even if I spend a few nights without sleep, I will be back on my feet with more recipes, even if someone out there wanted to get rid of me. On ne se débarasse pas de moi comme ca! I really do appreciate Brie’s help, sometimes, if you see something strange happening to a blog, it’s worth spending a few minutes telling the author, it can really make a difference!

I just wanted to take the opportunity (hmm sounds like the Oscars) to thank Lazaro from the Lazaro Cooks blog for writing such a wonderful article about Citron et Vanille on Blogcritics and entitled “Inspiration: The Creative Wind Beneath our Culinary Wings“…and especially to include me in an article where he talks about The French Laundry! I feel incredibly flattered. You can read it here and you’ll see why I love Lazaro sensibility and approach to food and life.

I met Lazaro a few months ago while he just started his blog and through our exchanges we discovered we had many common points (points en commun as we say in French or atomes crochus), we had the same food reference as far as chefs and cuisine are concerned, even though he has a Puerto Rican descent, being completely different from mine, we speak the same “food” language. I do believe cooking is a way of expressing oneself such as the clothes we wear, or language we speak.

Lazaro is a fine writer with an elegant “plume” (feather), his words flow like silk, his vocabulary is full of nuances and subtleties and I love to read his blog, not only because of his descriptions but because of the beautiful recipes he presents focusing on aesthetic presentation, fine composition and creative ingredient combination. Check out his blog, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.

Last but not least, Lazaro is environmentally conscious and supports sustainable farming which is to my eyes one of the most important thing we all need to be aware of, as a foodie, chef, home-cooks, or as a matter anyone who “eats”, let’s say a simple “eater”. As humans we have come to a point of polluting our planet to an extent and now everyone suffers the consequences. I am proud that many French famous chefs have stopped serving ahi tuna and other endangered species in their restaurants as a way of fighting the problem and encouraging the public to stop its consumption.

As foodies (whatever that word means), we should all take one step to move into that direction and help Mother Earth.

Sure, wild fish tastes better than the farm raised one, but at what cost?

Merci, Merci et encore Merci!

When it comes to espresso, needless to say that Italy is the place for espresso lovers. The love Italians have for coffee is similar to the culture French have for wine. Probably because they import the best coffees, the best mixtures and most of all, it’s the country where most coffee makers and espresso machine have been invented.

I love coffee, but it needs to be strong, hot and powerful…and living in the US, you just cannot have it from outside cafes, you have to make it at home with the right machine and right coffee mixture. The problem with coffees in the US, is that they’re inconsistent, it seems that every “barista” is doing its own thing. Barista is a serious profession in Italy and they take pride in mastering the art of espresso making.

The thing is that I recently understood that I will never be able to reproduce at home with a home espresso machine the same espresso that I get in Italy in a bar. It is just impossible, most domestic espresso machines have low water pressure, so the coffee is not as hot, and not as flavorful. I don’t know know but I don’t like it.

So I decided to stick to my traditional Moka machine until Brikka from Bialetti arrived on the market. Renato Bialetti invented the first moka machine in 1933 and he revolutionized the consumption of domestic coffee and became a symbol of Italian history. Still nowadays, 73% of Italian households use moka vs. 27% use espresso makers.

(moka is the name of the traditional coffee maker that most of Italian households use to drink their coffee, and not the mixture of coffee/chocolate drink we have in the US).

The features of Brikka is that it has a pressure-controlled valve (it’s that piece you see on the picture), it looks like a traditional moka  but it operates differently makes the best espresso ever. It’s hot, strong, powerful and you can watch the foam coming out. The coffee comes out very quickly due to its high pressure valve.

Yes, you get the foam on your espresso, you get it hot, strong and The coffee comes out at more than 100C. So far, I have never found a good domestic espresso machine less than $1,000 that makes good espresso. Call me crazy, maybe……and the good news is that it’s available in the US now!!! I found it online at various stores or at the Bialetti store itself.

Then obviously it’s all a question of tastes, you like it ristretto, lungo, in a cup or in a glass, with or without sugar…just enjoy it the way you like it.

But don’t forget to use good quality coffee such as Illy, Lavazza, Segafredo or any mixture made for espresso and if you have time, grind the beans.., it makes a difference.

Pasta and pizza are considered the two Italian national dishes, and Italians consume pasta about once a day which adds up to something like 30 kg per year. There has been discussions and disagreements about the origin of pasta, some say Marco Polo brought pasta when he came back from his trip to China. Some say it started in Italy way before the Roman times.

Well, if we look at history and going back to antiquity about 3000 bc, there are some clear proofs that pasta was already consumed then. We can find that a mixture of flour and water was made, then boiled  in water and consumed.  It seems that the Etruscans already consumed something that looked like the ancestor of our modern pasta as well. Some thumbstones were discovered with paintings picturing a Mattarello, which is the Italian rolling pin and a spianatoia, a wooden board used to roll the pasta sheet.  During the roman times, we found a similar food that Cicero and Horace, 100 bc were already very fond of, we believe that is where our modern lasagna comes from, it was called then “lagana”, a word that derives from the Greek word laganoz or in latin laganum which was a type of mixture made of flour without yeast and boiled in water.

Trabia near Palermo (Sicily) was considered the capital of spaghetti around the year 1100 which got exported all over in Muslim countries through ships. Pasta during that time was consumed with fruits and nuts. China and the Arab world consumed pasta at that time also, every country developed their own pasta with their own savoir-faire according to the local crops and grains their were growing at the time in a particular part of the world.

There are two categories of pasta, dry pasta and fresh pasta, the dry one is made out of durum flour (triticum durum) while fresh pasta is made with soft wheat flour (triticum vulgare) and eggs.  The difference in those two grains is minimal, the grain of the durum wheat is a little longer and almost translucent whereas the grain of the soft wheat is opaque and rounder. The durum wheat is more cultivated in the Southern part of Italy where the climate is dry and hot, the other type of grain is grown in the Northern part mainly in plains where the climate is more humid and less rough. All this explains the high consumption of dry pasta in the Southern part whereas fresh pasta is most commonly consumed in the Northern part.

Even with an important evolution in the pasta making and eating throughout the centuries, there are still some fundamental rules that are still respected by true pasta connoisseurs and need to be respected when preparing some pasta dishes. Then obviously there are no written laws about how you cook your pasta, but some definite common sense rules have to be respected if you want to truly enjoy a non “denatured” pasta dish.

The round, long and soft shapes such as spaghetti are mainly accompanied with well defined and strong flavorful sauces with an oil base. The short types of pasta or egg pasta are mainly perfect for creamy sauces with a delicate consistency. For example if you prepare a spaghetti dish with a creamy and thick sauce, you would “kill” the natural slippery texture of the spaghetti. Traditions have matched pasta with its own perfect accompaniment.

Now the nouvelle cuisine has somehow substitute long and heavy sauces with the freshest and top quality vegetables and ingredients, less fat, decreased the cooking time to keep the benefits and colors of vegetables, and producing a lighter cuisine. I am a true believer that the solution for the art of preparing pasta resides in the middle ground and within the use of the fundamental rules “cum grano salis” in the respect of the common sense.

I found a huge mattarello at Lucca’s on Valencia. It was hanging from the ceiling with the salami. So for $13.99 I decided to buy it, the beast is 70 cm long and has a diameter of 6 cm. I thought if it’s too long for my hands I can always use it as a defense tool – Anyway, it works fine and thins pasta sheet like no other mattarello.

Home made pasta with a mattarello tastes much better. The pasta turns out more grainy and that enables to absorb the sauce much better than when made with a machine. I remember my grandpa who would not even touch pasta if it was made with a machine, he only ate pasta rolled with a mattarello. I think that is a little extreme but that generation of men were that way. The technique takes a while to master, because the sheet needs to be thinned equally from the center to the edges, so it takes some practice before making great pasta with a perfect texture and thickness.

I am a little surprised that no one ever mentions Berkeley Bowl. It seems that San Franciscans stay local and do not drive to Berkeley for grocery shopping maybe they think they have it all in San Francisco. I can drive hours to get what I want. Even though the city has many great places to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, nothing is comparable to Berkeley Bowl besides it contributes to sustainable produces and local farming.

I have to admit that even in France I have never seen such a wonderful place to buy this large variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Yes open markets in France are amazing but do not have exotic produces like Berkeley Bowl has such as fresh turmeric. You can check any food blogs and newspapers articles and nothing on Berkeley Bowl, so I thought to give a little Homage to my favorite store of all times…and still privately owned.

Trying to Find parking at Berkeley Bowl is more like trying to find a seat in the Parisian Metro during rush hours so you get a real good glimpse of the outside building since you have to go around a few times before you find a parking spot. The store is a square cement warehouse (actually an old Safeway location), is all grey, square and gloomy, needless to say the first time you get there you have no idea of what is waiting for you inside.

As soon as you get inside, from the main entrance, you arrive right in the middle of the fruit and vegetable section which is amazingly huge. You are overwhelmed by the festival of colors, I think you get all the shades from an art wheel of colors. It goes from pale yellow, to dark reds, deep oranges, forest green. It’s overwhelming to see, you don’t know where to start looking, in a couple of seconds your eyes-brain connections are going crazy and you arrive straight to heaven with no stop in purgatory.