My local farmer Benedetto
Saturday’s market in Certaldo is where I now gather new recipes.
What better place than from who grows the food I eat!
Along with recipes, come tales.
Today I was asking for recipes for making rennet for cheese making from the choke from artichokes, a lost art.
Benedetto knows how to make it from the ” milk” from the fig tree!
This led to finding out he had 350 sheep when he lived in Sicily.
I was recently a guest chef at Jasper’s restaurant in Kansas City, owned by the Mirabile family, Jasper, his brother Leonardo and son Jasper III.
The Mirabile Dynasty, comes from Gibellina in Sicily, a small town near Trapani. The old city was destroyed during a huge earthquake in the last 60’s and the city has been rebuilt nearby.
Today while buying some fabulous tomatoes from my local farmer, we were exchanging recipes and found out that Dad, Benedetto , is from Gibellina!!!
I will be touring with Jasper to Sicily in 2008 with the Kansas City Slow Food Convivium and Gibellina is one of our stops.
Welcome back to Europe, Judy! Gorgeous tomatoes – and I love peach crumble too.
Hi Judy,
I would be much obliged if you would post the rennet recipe you found. Several of my friends and I have been inching toward making our own cheese, but rennet is not easy to come by in our part of the world.
Thanks!