food for peace

I read yesterday about the food festival in Turin, Italy, The Salone del Gusto which means the Exhibition of Taste. This festival is the showcase of the Slow Food movement, which was founded to counter the spread of fast food. Over the next five days Italy will celebrate fine food, biodiversity and good farming practice. But the really cool thing about this festival is that it will see talented chefs from Palestine and Israel creating a great feast together.

Although I have always felt that making a meal for a group of people to share was fun, I've not considered food featuring as an instrument of peace. However, this festival will feature chefs creating a fine meal using the best of both communities' culinary traditions. They are part of a group called Chefs for Peace which for five years has been trying to promote peaceful dialog between Israelis and Palestinians through their shared love of good food. Other events at the Turin festival include talks on the immediate impact of war on agricultural communities and the longer term devastation caused by the destruction of crops and livestock. It also aims to promote biodiversity and environmental responsibility on the part of consumers.

I think this a great idea and it started me thinking about my own cooking and entertaining. I usually end up preparing an eclectic mix of food and recipes which I have picked up from growing up in England, traveling in Europe and living in southern California. Below is one my favorite Italian recipes for Lobster Fra Diavolo from the book The Italian Cuisine I Love by Bond. Living in California it is easy to get local lobsters at certain times of year like the one shown in the photograph, or Maine lobster which unlike the California lobster has claws, or sometimes I just use frozen Australian lobster tails. This dish is usually served with pasta, but I often serve it with saffron rice for added flavor and color.

Ingredients (this serves 3 using 1 lobster per person, but often half a lobster per person is sufficient)
3 lobsters
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
3 tbsp. onion minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups tinned Italian tomatoes
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dry)
1/4 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
1 small bottle clam juice

1. Prepare the lobster: Have the lobsters split, the tails cut into two or three pieces and the carcass in half again, and the claws cracked. Remove the sack near the eyes and reserve the liver and coral if any. Often the fish store where you buy the lobster will prepare the lobster for you.

2. Heat olive oil in a saucepan, add lobster pieces, season with salt and pepper and saute, stirring frequently until all pieces are bright red.

3. Sprinkle with onion and garlic, add wine, stir and cook until most of the wine has evaporated.

4. Add all the other ingredients, stir well, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add more clam juice if lobster looks dry.


To make the saffron rice
Ingredients

A good pinch of dried saffron threads
Cup boiling water
1 tbsp. olive oil
Approx. 2 oz long grain rice per person (I prefer long grain) - do not use quick cook rice
Bay Leaf
Cup of dry white wine
Small bottle clam juice


1. Steep a good pinch of saffron in a cup boiling water for about 10 - 15 minutes. This ensures that the fullest flavor and color of the saffron is distributed in the rice.

2. Heat the olive oil in a pan and when hot add the dried rice. Allow the oil to coat the rice completely and stir for about 1 minute.

3. Add the saffron liquid to the rice, followed by the white wine and half the clam juice and bring to the boil.

4. Add the bay leaf, cover with lid and lower temperature to a simmer.

5. Cook for approx. 20 minutes until rice is tender, checking regularly to make sure liquid has not dried out. If it has, add more clam juice.

Serve lobster sauce over rice with a green side salad and glass of white wine ...mmmm.