A French-Italian tug of war
My food-head is stuck between two great loves. Plus 16 recipes for your apericena or apéro dînatoire.
Happy Friday, tormented cook!
I keep beating myself up because the only subjects I can seem to conjure for you these days involve French or Italian cooking, eating and drinking. Here’s the thing: It’s just where my head is right now.
On one side: I’m pseudo-French (citizenship paperwork sitting on desk, French husband, half-French son, fluent-ish speaker, strong affinity). The thrilling Paris Summer Olympics have captured everyone’s imagination, mine included. I’ve been working on a Cooks Without Borders French cookbook (for eons — getting close!).
On the other side: I’m deeply involved in an Italian restaurant (which I helped create and open) here in Dallas; as a result, I’ve been immersed in Italian food-and-wine culture for the last few years. I’ve just begun an exciting engagement with Eataly Dallas, one in which I’ll be writing weekly Eataly X Leslie newsletters for them and curating activations in the store. Thierry and I are headed to Italy next month, and I’m studying Italian.
The two cultures, geographic neighbors, have so many affinities, particularly culinarily, and especially when it comes to coastal cooking and eating. Think of how much niçoise and provençale cuisine has in common with the cooking of the Italian islands.
That northwest Mediterranean vibe feels very much in the zeitgeist at the moment. It’s playing out in three recent cookbooks, for instance: Katie Parla’s Food of the Italian Islands, Rosa Jackson’s Niçoise and Amber Guinness’ Italian Coastal.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the similarity between French apéro (apéritif) culture and Italian aperitivo culture — both so much in the conversation these days. Even the relatively recent phenomenon of the French apéro dînatoire — a style of entertaining
enthusiastically recommends for Olympics-watching in a recent New York Times story (help yourself to the un-paywalled gift link), has an Italian counterpart: the apericena. Dorie defines the Gallic version as “the French meal that’s part living room picnic, part cocktail party.”