SUNDAY BREAKFAST

 Did you know that KEFIR is very good for you? It has many nutrients and it's a powerful PROBIOTIC.

Instead of the classic pancakes I made KEFIR PANCAKES, with banana and honey on top, as well as Maple Syrup. 

"JUST SUD" IN THE SOUTH OF ITALY

 JUST SUD is a shop in Policoro, a city in the province of Matera in the Basilicata region of Italy. Just Sud specializes in characteristic products of the South of Italy. By the way, Matera is famous for its Città dei Sassi .... city of rocks, it's a UNESCO world heritage place.

Here are some of the products I got recently.

These are handmade FRESELLE, bread toasts 

White flour Freselle 

Wholewheat Freselle

Senatore Cappelli a characteristic flour 

Apricot jam and Apricot juice

Artichoke spread

Apricots in syrup

INTERNATONAL SPICES

There was a time when I couldn't find hard-to-find spices here in Sicily. Now however things have changed. We can get practically everything on Amazon or online. I had been looking for ALLSPICE for several years and finally here it is, on Amazon. The Indian spice ASAFOETIDA was also not available, but now it is. This spice is mostly used in South Indian recipes, such as Sambhar, a delicious lentil stew. Chinese 5 spice powder is now also easily available, as is the 4 Spices, Quatre Epices, What to make with this French combination I have no clue, but I will definitely find recipes...online.

The original Sicilian ANISETTE biscuits ----Biscotti all'anice

 My American friends probably know what I'm talking about when I say Anisette ....the delicious anice cookies made famous by STELLA D'ORO.  In New York I used to eat them every morning. My mom would make me tea and I would dip the Stella D'Oro cookies in the tea. The most delicious breakfast ever! After which I would hop on the bus and go to school.

Well, here in Sicily these are very popular cookies. Whenever I used to come to Sicily to visit my father he would take me to Castellammare del Golfo where at the time they made the best Anisette cookies, and buy me one kilogram for me to take back to Rome, where I lived in the 80s. 

Nowadays the best anice cookies are made by MEETCAFFE, a coffee shop where they make a great coffee and delicious sweets (cannolis etc). Here are the ANISETTE they made just for me. Don't they look inviting?

Food from the East

 If you haven't tried KIMCHI, a delicious dish from Korea, it's about time you did.  It is a fermented food, which as we all know is very healthy. It is rich in antioxidants and probiotics. It's good for the immune system, it helps inflammation and it is an anti-aging food. It's also a good source of Vit. A and Vit. C.

Here is how to make it. Get one Chinese Cabbage and wash each leaf carefully. Place the leaves in a bowl in layers, adding rock salt on each layer, let it stay for 2  days. Now wash off the salt, rinse the leaves and squeeze all the liquid from them. Chop the leaves, then add 3 Tablespoons red chili  pepper and 1 Tablespoon Cayenne pepper, Add 1 teaspoon salt (I use pink Himalayan salt), 1 Tablespoon sugar, 2 garlic cloves chopped, 1 piece of ginger also chopped. Mix everything together and put  the cabbage mixture in a glass container, add 1 cup water, close and keep for 5 days before eating.

Put a cover and weigh down with heavy cans.

Serve with rice. 

The Berry Benefits

 Did you know that blueberries are packed with anti-oxidants and phytoflavinoids? They also have a high amount of potassium and Vit. C and are anti-inflammatory, anti-aging and ..... great for the eyes! 

Blackberries are also full of vitamins, anti-oxidants are powerful anti-inflammatory, and have  anti-aging  properties. 

So start eating berries!