Cookbook serves recipes from the ancient city
JULIAN ARMSTRONG
If you don’t know how to cook Italian, you could start with Tasting Rome, a new cookbook that provides a short cooking course along with a soup-todessert collection of tempting, well-written recipes from the ancient city.
Author Katie Parla and photographer Kristina Gill are American journalists who have lived and worked in Italy for decades.
Introducing the book (Clarkson Potter/Penguin Random House, $39), celebrated ItalianAmerican chef Mario Batali calls it an indispensable explanation of Rome’s culture, which extends to two Jewish cuisines — one Roman, the other Libyan, the latter including today’s fish dish.
New techniques and insider knowledge about eating in Rome are part of the story that includes classic chefs’ recipes and traditional family dishes, street food, thin-crust pizza and lively mixed drinks.
Hraimi, today’s recipe, is a Shabbat dish best prepared, refrigerated overnight and reheated. Salt fish on all sides and let stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes while you make the sauce. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. When it begins to shimmer, add onions, sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring until translucent and very soft, about 20 minutes. Add paprika, peperoncino, caraway and cumin and continue cooking until fragrant, about one minute. Add tomato paste and cook until it turns a deep, brick red, about two minutes.
Add lemon juice and one cup (250 mL) water, stirring to blend in. Simmer over low heat, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Carefully lower fish into the hot sauce and cook over medium heat until it is opaque and cooked through, about 15 minutes, or 10