|
|
By ABBY WEINGARTEN CORRESPONDENT
You don't have to be in Brooklyn or Manhattan to fix your street food craving. In Sarasota, you just have to get up early on a Saturday morning and visit the downtown farmer's?market.
It bustles from 7 a.m. to noon at Lemon Avenue and Main Street, a congregating place for hungry patrons looking for good, sometimes ethnic, out-of-the-ordinary stuff. Here's a?sampling.
Pasta?fresca
How about some handmade pasta? Marina and Adrian Fochi, Italian immigrants from Argentina, moved to Sarasota to produce and peddle fresh noodles with their venture, Peperonata Pasta. Their pasta is a longtime family tradition, and the Fochis apply their skills to 27 varieties. They specialize in stuffed ravioli with 20 possible fillings, calzones, pizza crusts and cannoli. The couple not only sell concoctions at the farmers market, but also to area restaurants, including Bologna Café, Ophelia's, Fred's in Lakewood Ranch, La Toscana and?Broccolini's.
Peperonata Pasta, 4463-F Ashton Road, Sarasota;?870-2729.
2007 Sarasota Florida
SARASOTA MAGAZINE
10 Best
Homegrown heaven from artisanal foodmakers.
Su Byron
Making handmade pasta is a longstanding family tradition for Marina and Adrian Fochi. As owners of Peperonata Pasta, they turn out 27 different types of pasta, stuffed ravioli (20 different fillings!), calzones, cannoli and pizza crusts. Happily, the Fochis sell their pasta creations to area restaurants, including Broccolini's, Bologna Cafe, Fred's at Lakewood Ranch, La Toscana, and Ophelia's. They also hold court at Sarasota’s downtown Saturday Farmer’s Market. 4463-F Ashton Road, Sarasota (941) 870-2729.
Fresh Pasta in USA
Wednesday, October 22, 2003; Page F07
Marina and Adrian Fochi at their Kentlands pasta shop with several varieties of homemade pasta that they produce on site. (Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)
Suppose you had a recipe that called for authentic Italian bucatini -- or tagliatelle or pappardelle, and you wanted to use fresh pasta. Where would you find it?
that's where Adrian and Marina Fochi have set up Peperonata Pasta, a pasta shop so authentic it would look at home in just about any part of Italy.
For that matter, it would look just right in Buenos Aires too -- that's where the Fochis used to live, in the large Italian community that settled there around the time of World War II. "If you go to Argentina, you'll see many shops like mine," says Adrian Fochi, the self-described pasta technician. (His wife, Marina, makes the sauces and stuffings.)
Although the varieties of pasta shapes at Peperonata could confuse the novice, the Fochis are there to help you make the right match with one of their 14 sauces. The pappardelle are designed for Bolognese sauce, he explains. The fusilli are perfect with pesto, the ridged penne for marinara sauce or creamy alfredo -- one of their most popular. (The range also includes less familiar sauces like a sweet pea and bacon cream, a spinach and onion, and, of course, a peperonata with peppers, tomatoes and onion.)
The couple will make stuffed tortellini, agnoloti and cannelloni too, and lasagna just about any way you like it -- even fresh gnocchi, if ordered in advance. . Otherwise the Fochis do everything else, including handing out excellent instruction sheets on how to adjust cooking times for different shapes of fresh pasta.
And if you just can't wait to sample their food until you get home, you can dig into the Fochis' daily specials at a few small tables at the front of the shop.
-- Judith Weinraub
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
|
The restaurant business is just that, a business. Most people in the restaurant business are in it for the money.
Unfortunately for all of us Fresh Pasta is not a part of this culture the way it is in most parts of Italy. It is true America has many Italians living here for many generations. These people have a wonderful culture and very good eating habits, which have become very popular recently.They have been proven to be the healthiest, very similar to Greek and northern Africa diets, and also very different to the Italian states from Rome and further north. This is where pasta is well appreciated fresh, when the pizza wears a thin crust, where the sauces have a creamy flavor instead a red tomato color. Why don't restaurants in America use Fresh Pasta? This answer is a complicated one. Every Chef has a different story, but the truth is most people don't know the enormous difference between fresh and dry pasta. When customers give their choices to the waiter, they don't ask if the pasta is fresh or not. Most restaurants listen to customers and what they like; we live in a culture with constant evolution. Within a few years Fresh Pasta will be a common part of everyone's lives. Fresh Pasta being served at the best and most expensive restaurants will no longer be the complete truth, everyone will be able to buy fresh pasta. Another important factor is that they don't know how fresh pasta works in their kitchens. Not only that, but they are also very afraid to learn how to cook fresh pasta. Of course it needs adjustustments when cooking it on the line but in the end its nothing crazy. In other hands, cooking fresh pasta by the order is easier and more cost efficient even in rush hours. I don't like to go into detail about how most restaurants “cook the pasta” but I will never eat pasta in a restaurant where the pasta is not fresh; meaning made by the same place or by a local business. The most important part is to be sure that the pasta will be cooked by the order and is not precooked. Most food restaurant suppliers sell their version of Fresh Pasta. It has very poor quality and is loaded with a long list of ingredients, not to mention the ravioli with mystery fillings and unknown flavors. This is not exactly a good concept when it comes to food. We all know that local home-made food is superior than food that has traveled thousands of miles. A very simple key question can make a difference when eating out: Is the pasta in the menu “Fresh Pasta”? Is the “Fresh Pasta” cooked by the order? Is the "Fresh Pasta" made in the house or from a local manufacturer? Would You consider adding Fresh Pasta, cooked by the order in your menu? If so, I'm willing pay the extra dollar and wait a bit longer if necessary. If they don't know where to buy it you may have a few ideas to share with them. So, why are most restaurants here still not using a good Fresh Pasta?
|
Peperonata Pasta add their own booth a the Sarasota Downtown Farmer Market at Lemon ave & Main Street all Saturday's morning from 7 am to noon |