The Flavors of Campania
For visitors to New York, no trip would be complete without sampling the fantastic pizza. Regional cuisine makes visiting other parts of the country exciting, but imagine how much more of a cultural event a meal can be when that regional cuisine has developed for thousands of years. Although you’ll find delicacies from all over Italy on the menu, Carlino’s draws from the regional tradition of the Campania region of southern Italy.
San Marzano Tomato
- San Marzano Tomatoes
Campania’s signature flavors start with the rich soil of the region. A mild, humid climate and fertile volcanic soil contribute to some of Italy’s finest produce. The most famous is probably the San Marzano tomato, a deep red version of the familiar fruit that thrives in Neapolitan fields. San Marzano tomatoes have few seeds and a pronounced flavor that perfectly balances sweetness and tartness to produce the perfect tomato sauce. Tomatoes of all varieties grow beautifully throughout Campania, but it’s the San Marzano tomato that serves as the inspiration for Campania’s tangy tomato-based sauces.
If tomato sauce has a soulmate, it might be mozzarella cheese. Campania is almost as famous for its fresh mozzarella as for its produce, and for similar reasons. Cattle feed on grasses from the same rich soil that produces those famous tomatoes; their milk makes smooth mozzarella cheese with just enough tang to let it stand up to a bold tomato sauce.
Insalata Caprese
- Insalata Caprese
The techniques of dairy farmers in Campania have made their way to American shores so that you can enjoy the taste of fresh mozzarella in classics from Campania like the insalata Caprese and mozzarella with peppers. It’s no wonder that pizza’s ancestral home is in Campania, given the wealth of mozzarella and tomato sauce in the region.
The Bay of Naples embraces the sea, and the people of Campania embrace seafood dishes. Large, meaty clams fill the waters off the Campania coast, and Italian fishers have been making the most of them for centuries. Steamed clams with garlic, tomatoes and herbs from the surrounding fields make a simple, rustic dish that brings together the best of land and sea in one delicious plate. You’ll recognize this Campani delicacy on our menu at Carlino’s as clams Posillipo.
The next time you bite into a slice of pizza or spoon a clam from its shell, think about the generations of Campani chefs who elevated their regional cuisine into an art form. Your meal will taste even better when you understand its roots.
Sincerely,
Carlo, Wali and all your friends at Carlino’s
Italian Food and Wine Pairings
If any country’s cuisine is a natural for wine pairings, it’s Italian cuisine. Italian food and fine wines evolved together. Thanks to the Roman love of wine, Italians had centuries-old vineyards when French winemakers were just discovering the beauties of the grape. Whether you’re a neophyte to wine pairings or a longtime oenophile, whetting your palate on Italian flavor combinations lets you return to the roots of wine culture.
Chianti is the king of Italian wines. This rich red Tuscan wine has enough acidity and tannins to stand up to a hearty red sauce without disappearing or overwhelming it. Pair a robust Chianti Classico with a marinara or rich bolognese sauce. Chianti has a spicy component that also complements lighter game dishes like rabbit and wild boar.
Pinot Noir wines are also red wines, but they have a light fruity character that makes them the perfect companions for earthy dishes like spaghetti with mushroom sauce or a pizza topped with spinach and mushrooms. These wines also go beautifully with cheese-based dishes; our mozzarella and pepper panini plays nicely with a Pinot Noir.
Deep, complex and mellow, a Merlot makes a great marriage with red meats. A lasagna with meat sauce or our homemade sausage with peppers flatters a Merlot. It’s also a popular pairing with venison, something to keep in mind for our monthly game nights.
White wines have plenty to say when sharing a table with an Italian meal. With its overtones of butter and citrus, Chardonnay goes well with any seafood or chicken dish that has a creamy or buttery sauce. Shrimp scampi and chicken scarpariello are favorites with a Chardonnay.
Sauvignon Blanc’s bracing crispness makes it a great foil for tart or spicy foods. A salad with a vinaigrette dressing or shrimp fra diavolo matches up with a Sauvignon Blanc without overwhelming the wine. You might also enjoy it with spinach-based dishes; something about its light fruitiness complements a plate of chicken Fiorentino perfectly.
Wine pairings are ultimately a matter of personal taste, but having an idea of where to start can lead you to some exciting discoveries as you explore your palate. Our servers are happy to make recommendations too. Sample our wines and add another dimension to your dinner.
Sincerely,
Carlo, Wali and all your friends at Carlino’s
Ancient Rome on Modern Tables
New York’s the Empire State, but no one did empires like the Romans. At its peak, the Roman empire encompassed 40 percent of the people on Earth. With such a vast empire came a lively cosmopolitan culture that drew from a host of influences. You’ll see it in Roman art, but you can experience it even more directly in modern Italian food.
The Romans gave the world its first cookbook: the Apicius. The book is a collection of recipes that gives a glimpse into a Roman kitchen from about 1,700 years ago. Like a modern cookbook or menu, it’s divided into sections for appetizers, soups, vegetable dishes, seafood, poultry entrees and meats. Some of the delicacies in the book are not to modern tastes – whole roasted flamingo isn’t likely to be a big hit anytime soon – but others are startlingly modern.
One parallel between ancient Roman tastes and modern palates is a shared love of great Italian sausage. Apicius features multiple recipes for minced, spiced meats that are very much like the house-made sausage we produce at Carlino’s. The fennel, garlic, pepper and hint of anise that make Italian sausage so special were familiar to the ancient Romans too. Pizza wasn’t invented until later, but the Romans would have recognized and loved a sandwich piled high with homemade sausage and thinly sliced onions.
Although they didn’t yet have spaghetti to put under them, the Romans also ate meatballs. Modern meatball lovers have a broader variety of herbs and spices to enjoy in their meatballs, but the fundamental ingredients have stayed the same for at least two thousand years. Apicius calls for ground meat, bread crumbs and an egg to hold it all together just as a modern recipe might.
If Apicius is any indication, the Romans loved cooking in wine. They would have appreciated modern veal Marsala in its mushroom-infused wine sauce laced with pepper and a hint of rosemary. Paired with a fruit-laden salad in balsamic vinegar, it’s a feast fit for a Roman noble.
Sincerely,
Carlo, Wali and all your friends at Carlino’s
