Farina, Auriana's San Francisco Ligurian restaurant, was famous for its mandilli, delicate handkerchief pasta, served as sheets crumpled over a pesto thickened with almonds instead of pine nuts. Mandilli is also probably the best pasta at Factory Kitchen, fragrant and thin as fine silk, almost too fragile to pick up with a fork. There are casonzei, the specialty of Auriana's hometown of Bergamo, thin pasta stuffed with pork, cured pork and veal, served simply with browned butter and sage; and quadretti, tiny ravioli filled with smoked ricotta and tossed with braised octopus.The menu changes daily, but you will usually find a porchetta, one of the best versions in town, of crunchy rolled pork belly flavored sharply with fennel pollen; and a dish of duck served two ways, the breast pan-grilled rare,Turning your kitchen into a home gym
the leg and thigh stewed into softness.
You will want to try the seared gallinella di mare, sea robin, pan-roasted with olives and cherry tomatoes, or the sea scallops with capers, raisins, and caramelized cauliflower florets.For the past few weeks I've been seeing a lot of white. Not that I'm complaining; I truly enjoy this beautiful winter color. The clean white snow and icicles set the mood for the holiday season, and there's nothing more exciting than waking up in the morning to a white winter wonderland glistening in the sunshine.In the food world, however, the color white has gotten a lot of criticism over the past few years. When we think white as a consumer, we tend to think about all the negative attention given to the white processed foods that have taken over our selves and our diets.
White bread, quick-cook white rice and basic white or russet-style potatoes have taken quite a beating in the media for their role in causing obesity and diabetes. Their lack of nutrients, flavor and color is enough to turn anyone but a small child away, and slowly they are being replaced with more nutritious alternatives.When talking about color in food, though, we should certainly not avert the color white. There are many white vegetables and fruits that are full of delicious flavor and amazing health benefits. Not only does the color white represent purity, goodness, cleanliness, serenity and perfection, but in the veggie spectrum it also equates to balancing hormones and reducing the risk of specific types of cancer cells in the colon, breast and thymus gland. White fruits and veggies come packed with flavor and are very versatile and easy to prepare.