Barbuzzo

I have been wanting to go to Barbuzzo since last fall and with the return of  V from Taiwan, I figured it was a good occasion to finally try it out. You could tell a lot of thought went into the ingredients for each dish which I really appreciated. Perhaps it was just because everything we ordered was more on the carby side I left feeling like I had just eaten a lot of bread, but the food was nonetheless delicious.

Sheep's Milk Ricotta: extra virgin olive oil, vin cotto, herbs, salt, & grilled bread.
The balsamic drizzle made this dish since the ricotta is more like a whipped cream - very light in texture and flavor.

Red Wine Sangria: Good balance of fruit and sweetness and perfect for a hot day like today.

Asparago Pizza: shaved asparagus, guanciale, white sauce, fior di latte, & truffled farm egg.
The truffled egg: gahh so good. The pizza was surprisingly light for having so much heavy creamy ingredients. The red chili oil drizzled on top added a nice extra punch.

Salted Caramel Budino: dark chocolate crust, vanilla bean caramel, & seat salt.
I was told this dish was a must try. It was indeed very tasty but a little too sweet for my liking.

NaschMarkt

So much fresh produce and so much color!

The Naschmarkt has put every other market I have ever been in to shame. 1.5km of produce, meat, spices, candy, cheese, wine, coffee and prop-up eateries. Sit-down restaurants serving sushi, sausages, pizza and everything in between. Fruit stands selling the most exotic fruits I have seen since coming to Europe. Asian stores stocked with every variation of soy sauce imaginable. Gyro stands paired with fried noodles and a whole bunch of olives and feta counters. 

And lots of dried fruits and sweets.
We dried some dried kumquats from a stand which had a very intense citrus flavor. 

Handmade pasta freshly made in this makeshift dining room/kitchen. SUCH GOOD PASTA. 

We passed by this pasta stand and just had to stop. The pastas were all freshly made and next it to them were an assortment of sauces including wonderfully aromatic pesto and the classic marinara. We opted for some tagliatelle and prosciutto ravioli. The owner took our selection and immediately bustled off to the kitchen. Behind the pasta counter was a dining room kept warm by heating lamps. 

And the pasta. WOW. I think this was the first time I had pasta cooked truly al dente. The marinara sauce was light but surprisingly flavor. It was an epic moment. 

Stand upon stand, and deli upon deli of cheese, wine, and cured meats 

We also knew that we had to sample some of the plethora of meats and cheeses...with wine, even though we really know nothing about wine. We settled on a great spicy chorizo that and truffle cheese paired with honey. The wine shop was quite accommodating and paired our snackies with a lovely red and white. Best part is, we got to eat it all on a barrel. :D

A sampling of
+ Chorizo
+ Truffled Cheese with honey
+ Red & White wine
...all on a barrel. SCORE. 

Apart from my absolute adoration for European cafes, I think the Nachmarkt was definitely my favorite foodie experience of the city hence why I saved it for last! Now I'm on to a whole bunch of Czech adventures and then some brief posts on Italy (why they are brief, I will explain later). But for now, auf wiedersehen Vienna!

Late Night Series: Pasta Carbonara

Do you ever think about food late at night?

I do.
All the time.
In the 11pm-12am time range.

To satisfy this craving, I usually peruse my favorite food blogs/food websites until I find something very, very appetizing. Something that I want to eat at that very moment and promise to make for dinner the following day. Then I'll watch a lot of youtube videos or videos by Ina/Giada until the only thing on my mind is to make that dish.

Two nights ago, I stumbled upon Pasta Carbonara. After feasting on a decadently creamy PC at Pietro's two weeks agao, I was shocked to discover that Carbonara sauce is not a cream-based sauce but in fact an egg-based sauce. Determined to try the real thing this time around, I set out to make this classic Italian dish.

Browsing through several recipes, I discovered that the recipe is actually very simple and decided to just wing it. With the help of a mystery Italian man on YouTube who's video played in the background as I cooked; I diced, mixed and crackled my way to dinner.

For sides, I made Crushed Peas with Smoky Sesame Dressing from Smitten Kitchen and whipped up a quick Bruschetta using the grape tomatoes and basil from our garden as well as some salt, pepper and balsalmic vinegrette. Finally, I grilled some french bread topped with Pecorino Romano to finish everything off.

Traditional Carbonara asks for Pancetta (or bacon) but since I had neither, I went with a cooked sausage which wound up fooling my parents because they thought it was bacon (ha!).

Here is the recipe (give or take):

1/4 cup cooked sausage diced into small cubes

1 cup grated pecorino romano

1/2 box spaghetti (about 6.5oz, I used Nature's Promise Whole Wheat)

2 eggs

black pepper
salt
red pepper flakes (my addition)

Basically you cook the "bacon" until it gets nice and crispy, whisk up the Carbonara sauce which includes the eggs, cheese and black pepper and cook the pasta till al dente.

Now here's the weird part. Mr. Italian Man on YouTube (who appeared very legit because he was speaking in Italian) said you needed to retain some pasta water in the drained pasta to help "amalgamate" all the ingredients. Then he proceeded to combine the pasta with the bacon and carbonara sauce over a low flame.

This is the route I took but my sauce wound up getting a little to "eggy" as opposed to "saucy".

The other videos/recipes I saw directed you to mix all of the ingredients in a bowl off of the stove and did not mention anything about pasta water.

So much for Mr. Italian Man on YouTube.

Overall,  it was a pleasantly satisfying meal which produced no leftovers. I think I'm going to trying the Carbonara recipe again next week but using the alternative method.

Anyone have tips or suggesetions on how to make my sauce more saucey?