Singapore

After a long flight of 13 hours from London then I arrived on a land full of green and orchids where people cannot chew gums: welcome to Singapore.

View from LeVel 33

 

 

The first impressions as the last one was not so so good but it depends on the fact that I grow up in Naples, a messy and a very lively place where people shout in the streets, make a lot of noise and invite you to share a coffee to share the beauty of their city…yes, I need this to feel home and comfortable.

 

 

 

Singapore is the perfect place for 24/48 hours more less as a visit to Disneyland (I lived in Paris 2 years and I never been there). Yes, Singapore is a permanent playground. You can enjoy wonderful hotels with their bars or infinity pools, Marina Bay Sand with its hundreds rooms is a city into the city where everything works to perfection. The environment is really multicultural since Singapore is full of expats…yes, it is also a tax heaven. Personally what I most enjoyed there was food. I had a great food experience at Tippling Club, delicious food in a wonderful well decorated restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I could experienced the most famous Singapore food hall: Maxwell Food Court. Here I had the best Hainanese chicken with rice. I suggest you to pass and stop here to have this simple but full of flavours dish. I would suggest you a visit at Little India and Chinatown that are pretty authentic more than Arab street. Botanic gardens and Gardens by the Bay are a nice half-day excursion. If you wanna enjoy Singapore nightlife, I can suggest more than one rooftop, such as LeVel 33( a brewery with a wonderful view. Yes, beer can be chic. They have a very good list of champagne and wine as well…but food is not so delicious) and Altitude, where I found great music to enjoy with a singer live performance. If you are looking for something less poshy and more “authentic” (if Singapore can be authentic ) go to Clarke Quay! Stop for an aperitivo at Waffles Hotel, their Gazebo bar is very nice.

 

 

 

 

Do not forget to buy tiger balm!!!! And to have your manicure at the Spa in Changi airport.

 

 

 

A special thank you to Claudio and Veronika who hosted me.

Yes, I run at 7 am

You re crazy?! You put your alarm clock at 6h30 am -even if you are 5 minutes walking far from your office-, to run outside? Indeed, You are crazy! You are insane!

I heard these words many times. I will try to explain in 3 points why I run so early in the morning:
1. I run so early in the morning, yes even in the wintertime –when leaving the duvet for the Park is very extreme-, because the colours and the smells of the Park are special. I have not to share it with many people  pick-nicking, squalling, etc, so the Park is mine!!!!
2. I run so early in the morning, because if I have a meeting out of the blue late in the afternoon, I have not lost my run moment.
3. I run so early in the morning, because the wellness feeling that follows me all day long, is extraordinary.

For many of you, my motivations are not enough. It does not matter. Please continue to name me insane that I will always have a thought for you when I’ll spread my raspberry and rhubarb jam after having run my 7 km.

Vellutata di zucca e pistacchi

Yes, I believe in simplicity. Cooking is for me a way to enjoy good food, keeping it more natural I can. Even if I don’t like orange -I could never wear something orange- I do love having it in my plate, especially if it is made with pumpkin. 

350 gr Kabocha pumpkin (serving 2 as main dish or 4 as appetizer) 
120 gr Fresh ricotta or feta cheese 
Salted pistachios 
Fresh ginger 
Red chili 
Evo oil 

Grind some salted pistachios and set aside. 

Steam or boil the pumpkin with the rind. Once cooled down, peel it and put into a food processor with some fresh ginger and a bit of red chili.Pour some water to have the desired texture. 

Warm it up and serve in a bowl with some fresh ricotta quenelle or feta cheese and garnish with the ground pistachios and evo oil. 

Summertime sadness

There are magic places timeless and spaceless! They are not so far away but not for this less interesting! For this reason I would like to tell you about an island, very close to my hometown, in which I need to spend at least some days every year: Sant’Angelo, a little area on the Island of Ischia.

 

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View of Sant’Angelo from Serrara Fontana

 

Fishermen village, popular for a beach tongue between white houses and lots of bougainvillea. The main square, Piazzetta Sant’Angelo, is full of bars, restaurants and nice shops. The reference here is Dal Pescatore. A bar and a restaurant that serves a very good coffee. Paolo welcomes you, telling more about the cakes (around 50), that his mother, Signora Lucia, prepares every day. I love going there for my second breakfast (bad Milanese habit), coffee and croissant, both delicious or in the late afternoon, where the sunset colours reflect into the blue sea and I love drinking their homemade tea with some granita.

 

 

Signora Lucia and her morning sweeties

 

 

On the small port of Sant’Angelo, there are taxi boats to bring you to a wonderful and long beach, Fumarole  and Maronti, with a great view on the island of Capri.

 

View on Capri from Via Sant'Angelo

 

 

There are several beach properties. There is Ferdinando, who cooks a lot of dishes with the Volcanos comingout gas. You can have octopus, squid, rice and even some amazing stuffed figs. There is also Da Emanuela that serves anchovies stuffed with mozzarella. From le Fumarole to i Maronti, at Cavascura, there is a very popular small restaurant, Stalino, a very simple and traditional place. It is very small so you need to book in advance. They offer the most famous and typical dish, coniglio (rabbit)all’ischitana. The recipe is secret but it is not so difficult.The rabbit is marinated, seared and then cooked with tomatoes and spices in a large clay pot for long time.

If you wanna to relax with a massage or some hot springs, stop at Giardini Aphrodite-Apollon.

 

Taverna Pietro Paolo, better known as Stalino

 

 

Around 19 this part of the island gives its best. The sunset, orange, yellow red and the sea, deep blue, light blue, green:this is pure poetry! During this part of the day I love running, feeling completely part of the amazing nature around me.

 

 

 

You might be asking why Sant’Angelo is so special?Sant’Angelo is special because it gives the pleasure that only small things give…Note that cars are forbidden so be ready to look at the most magnificent sky you’ve ever seen.

 

 

Orecchiette improvvisate

Flight booked the day before the departure, luggage prepared few hours before landing…here we are, off to Villasimus. 

This is a magic place in which nature rocks: white beaches, light blue sea, blue sky, flamingos, fluo spider and good food in good company. 

Even in Paradise I can’t not cooking so I prepared this fragrant and quick recipe. 

100 gr broccoli (serving 4)
 70 gr Anchovies fillets preserved in evo oil 

150 gr goat ricotta

A clove of garlic

Fresh red chili

Wash the broccoli and cut them into big pieces. Put a saucepan over high heat with water. When It starts to boil, add the broccoli for 10 min then drain the broccoli and save the water to cook the pasta. 

In the meanwhile in a pan, heat up the oil with a clove of garlic, add the broccoli smashed into small pieces and the anchovies and some raisins you had rinsed before in warm water.

Pour 2,3 spoons of the pasta and broccoli water into ricotta to get a cream.

Once the pasta is cooked, mix with the ricotta cream and then toss with the broccoli sauce into the pan. 

Serve with some fresh red chili flakes.

Paccheri al coccio

Gurnard is a very popular fish in Italy since its firm flesh is well suited to soup and stew.  I wanted to prepare something more springy so I decided for this simple pasta recipe.

300 gr paccheri Gentile (serving 3)
800 gr gurnard (fillets 350/400 gr)
Cherry tomatoes
Fresh parsley
Evo oil
Salt
Red chili flakes


Put some evo oil over medium heat with the fish head after 10 min cover with water and some celery, cooking for 30 min. Then filter water and save it. Fillet the gurnard and set aside.

In a pan put some evo oil and a clove of garlic, add the tomatoes and cook for 8/10 min with some spoon of fishy water afterwards add the gurnard fillets (350/400 gr) and cook for 20/30 min .

Cook the pasta in boiling water adding the fishy water too and when the pasta is very al dente, finish for one minute the cooking into the pan with sauce.



Serve with some fresh parsley and red chili flakes.

Rhubarb jam

If you had asked me 7 years ago, what rhubarb is, I wouldn’t have had an answer.

I discovered rhubarb when I lived in Paris. I was in a bakery shop and  I saw some delicious pinky cakes: the rhubarbe tarte…I could not resist to taste them: fruity tang, sweet, hot, sour…a real explosion in  my mouth.
 
In Italy especially in the South rhubarb is little known and in the North is not so easy to find it and the price…oh my gosh…very high around 10-15 Euros per kilo. When I find it, I prefer to prepare jam rather than cakes so here’s below my special and natural rhubarb jam.

500 gr rhubarb
120 gr brown sugar
80 gr sugar
Lemon zest
Grated ginger

The night before cut into slices the rhubarb and mix with sugar, lemon zest and let it covered.

The morning you will find in your bowl a  lot of water. It is very very good because this liquid will be our jelling agent. Grate the ginger and put on the stove over medium high heat for 10 minutes afterwards cook for 30-40 over low heat. Your jam can need extra time to be ready if it is not so dense as it should be (or as you prefer it is).