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A Food Obsession, New York, NY (2026)

09/23/2026

TRAVEL FOOD WITH A FOOD OBSESSION PHOTO SERIES....PIC #26

FOOD/DISH: ITALIAN RICOTTA CAKE
PLACE : CAFFE' ROMA, LITTLE ITALY, MANHATTAN NYC

Since this week is the 100th Anniversary of the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy, Manhattan, NYC...I want to showcase this personal favorite TRAVEL FOOD. I can't say exactly how many slices of this cake I've had in 68 years, but this is one of my favorites. At last year's San Gennaro Feast I had a slice that was still warm from the oven. Will never forget that!! CAFFE' ROMA is a relic of what the Mulberry St. corridor aka Little Italy was over 100 years ago. At the corner of Broome and Mulberry Streets it opened in 1891 just at the start of the huge wave of southern Italian immigration to the USA. It's a piece of NYC history as it's been open continuosly except for a stretch during the 2020 Pandemic. The vintage interior brings you back to a different era. And the pastries, cookies, caffe', and drinks are wonderful, but this...the Italian Ricotta Cheese Cake, this cake has many forms in southern Italy and ItalianAmerica. This style is a ricotta cheesecake filling scented with citrus and vanilla baked in a deep Crostata like crust, Pasta Frolla, Southern Italian Sweet Shortcrust pastry. It's dense, but creamy. Aromatic, with the crumbly yet firm sweet crust that is a part of so many of Southern italy's pastries. Paired with a double espresso it's one of must have treats whenever I'm on Mulberry St, during the feast or just hanging out .

09/23/2026

TRAVEL FOOD WITH A FOOD OBSESSION PHOTO SERIES....PIC #25

FOOD/DISH: DAGMARTAERTE/ DANISH BUTTER CAKE
PLACE : NUUK, GREENLAND

Many of the baked goods that are made and eaten in Greenland comes from Denmark and follows Danish traditions. This strip of Danish is known as the DAGMARTAERTE. Translated in to english, this is a Danish Butter Cake, but it's that amazing Danish puff paste dough that's the star here. The paste is rolled out then slathered with a cinnamon or marzipan cream, rolled up, and then the rolls are placed together in a long or round pan touching each other. They are baked to buttery golden perfection, then when they have cooled they are topped alternately with a Vanilla Icing, and a Cocoa Powder Icing. Do you know what the Danish call a Danish (pastry)? It's not Danish...lol...it's WIENERBROD...of Viennese Pastry.. that's right. all those "Danish" use the Viennese puff pastry dough. So the Danes call it VIENNA BREAD. The Dagmar Tart is worth the trip to Greenland to experience. In the 19th Century, there was a strike by Austrian bakers who went to Denmark from Vienna while the strike was going on. The Danes elevated the pastry dough to a world wide audience. and so in Greenland which is part of Denmark. you'll find Viennoiserie...all forms of "Danish". I enjyed this pastry in Nuuk, Greenland in Sept. 2025.

09/23/2026

If you're a fan of chicken braised in a rich tomato sauce, THIS is a dish for you. No, It's not Chicken Cacciatore. It's a dish from GRASSANO, ITALY made on Sept.22 for Sant'Innocenzo Day, the town's patron saint. It's called:

U' PDDASTR CHI L'iNCHIIMINT or U'ADDUCCHIN

There's a lesson in the various dialects and languages of regional Italy for you...it's not all Standard Italian. A dish like this teaches us that Italy is a nation of more than one language and dialect. This dish comes from one of my ancestral hometowns where my maternal grandfather was born and lived in until he immigrated around 1915 to Brooklyn and then to Staten Island in 1917. There's no specific name in English for this dish but it's a Braised Stuffed Old Rooster cooked slowly in tomatoes, Cipollini onions, Peperoncino, Rich local ExtraVirgin Olive Oil, fresh Basil, garlic.The stuffing or RIPIENO is a festive southern italian style made with soaked stale Italian bread (the interior of the bread which hasn't gone hard yet), lots of minced fresh Italian Flat leaf Parsley, garlic to taste, EVOO, generous addition of black pepper, grated Pecorino or Parmigiano, heavy on the grated cheese, and lots of eggs.
So since I am not in possesion of old roosters...I used what was in my fridge. i had chicken parts, so I seared then braised them in the sauce (which I made from Chopped fresh local Jersey Tomatoes, this time of year they are super ripe and fragrant). The stuffing I made separately the served the finished chicken over the stuffing. and the braising sauce over the top. You could make a meal out of the braising sauce and a loaf of bread..it's outstanding. On this day of ancestral pride, A'Salute to my grandparents and parents and the heritage they gave me. Food is much more than just something to keep us alive, it feeds our souls and can tell us where we came from and who we are! Yeah, this was a special meal.

09/23/2026

FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY.....

I've made this many times from memory of how my mom made it. It's a Southern Italian type of Stuffing/Filling. This Stuffing would go into stuffed Breast of Veal or Pork..or Chicken or Rooster. I called it Panzetta Stuffing, and so did mom. It's made of soaked stale ripped apart Italian Bread, milk, generous amount of black pepper, generous amount of minced Italian parsley, lots of grated Pecorino or Parmigiano, some garlic...sometimes bits of salami...salt if needed and eggs. It's eggy, black peppery, so so so cheesy and for lack of a better word, fluffy. The texture is fluffy, moist not wet...the egg and cheese are the dominant flavors. Tonight I made a Chicken dish from my maternal grandfather's town that's eaten on Sept. 22, the patronal feast of Sant'Innocenzo. An old rooster is stuffed with this filling and braised in tomato, cipollini, peperoncino, olive oil, garlic, basil. I'll show the finished dish, but I only had chicken parts (no old roosters around lol) and made the chicken in the sauce, and the filling separately, then served the chicken and sauce over the filling. It tasted it, and on this day that is full of memories for me, it's My grandfather's name Day, he too was named Innocenzo and was born and lived in the town where this dish comes from, Grassano, Provincia di Matera, Basilicata, in Southern Italy. The fluffy cheesy filling tasted EXACTLY as I remembered my mom's did. The secret is in the bread...don't use breadcrumbs, don't use fresh Italian bread...use stale (5 days old) Italian bread soaked in Milk. The "RIPIENO" has a custardy texture, a kick from the black pepper, aromatics from the parsley and garlic. What a memory,like having my maternal grandparents and my parents here with me tonight!!!

09/22/2026

In the town of Grassano, near Matera, in Basilicata today is the feast of Sant'Innocenzo, their patron saint. Many in the town made this Lucanian dish for the holiday, UADDUCC'CHIN, which is a Grassano term for GALLETTO RIPIENO. Stuffed Rooster. Well, we made a few changes. The bird is stuffed with a bread, egg, parsley and pecorino stuffing, then braised in olive oil and passata. Cook slowly until the bird is tender. so my version is NOT exact to the traditional because a. no roosters in the kitchen. lol. b. no whole chickens in the kitchen. c. decided to cook it on the grill. I had a split chicken, as you can see in the pic. So I made the stuffing in the usualy way except, another change. It's supposed to have chopped gizzards...No one here eats gizzards, so instead i used Sweet fennel Sausage, eggs, Pecorino, Parsley, Garlic, Olive oil, salt, peperoncino. The rooster is braised in tomato and olive oil because rooster is old and tough..needs long braising to be tender and edible. Our young chickens though are tender and cook faster SO, i added olive oil and tomato passata to a baking pan, some water to loosen it up and help create almost a braising effect. Then placed the seasoned chicken halves over two mounds of the stuffing. Olive Oil over the top, salt, pepper, then into a hot oven. About at the 25 minute mark, brushed the chicken with the tomato in the pan and let it continue on a reduced heat until the skin was a little crispy and the chicken was complete. It was awesome. One day I will try it with a whole chicken. BUON APPETITO AND HAPPY COOKING!!

09/22/2026

WELCOME TO FALL!! It officially begins at around 8 pm tonight but to open the season today’s brunch in my kitchen is Fallish.
Blueberry 🫐 Pancakes with Bacon and Maple Syrup.
And a double espresso. ☕️
How are you ushering in AUTUMN 🍂 2026 in your kitchen??

09/22/2026

TRAVEL FOOD WITH A FOOD OBSESSION PHOTO SERIES .....PIC #24

FOODS: KASEKROKETTEN,LOCAL BELGIAN CHEESE CROQUETTE
GARNAALKROKETTEN NORTHSEA SHRIMP CROQUETTE

Belgian travel food.....CROQUETTES or KROKETTEN...the first is KAASKROKETTEN, a local Belgian cheese croquette that uses a gouda type cheese produced nearby called BRUGE OUD. The interior is rich and creamy, with a gouda like taste to it...Might have been one of the best Croquettes I've ever had....and the one in the back is a GARNAALKROKETTEN, which is a Shrimp Croquette using the local North Sea tiny shrimp. Those tiny shrimp from the North Sea are often too fishy tasting for me..but these were quite sweet. Interesting to note, and I found this out after I went...Those small North Sea Shrimp are so labor intestive to peel and clean, the shrimp are sent all the way down to Morocco and other countries where the labor is cheap,then sent back to the North European countries. Hmmm...however, it was a croquette that I will probably never see again...the Bechamel is blended with these tiny shrimp and formed into the croquette, the breaded and fried. Really good. The plates usually come with some loose NorthSea Shrimp as a garnish...and the Shredded Bruge Oud cheese garnishing the Kasekroketten. I love those words don't you? Croquettes are a favorite food "genre" for me. Enjoyed these at a restaurant on the Market Square in Bruges (Brugge) in Belgium at De Carre' Restaurant. This place fell somewhere between authentic and touristy.

09/21/2026

Monday night. Dinner!! CHICKEN STROGANOFF over rice with diced yellow zucchini and peas. Roasted Fresh Jersey white corn on the cob. Pan roasted in the oven with olive oil. Garlic. A little butter. Sea salt and black pepper. All dinner guests loved it (my wife and I).

09/21/2026

As we quickly approach Fall on Saturday I’m doing my civic duty by posting this PSA. Lol. Candy Corn is ass. However it’s a necessary evil to celebrate Halloween. Lol.

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