eat great food. meet great people.
For my inaugural SpagWednesday pop-up on February 23rd I lured Francesco Mazzei out of his comfort zone in the state-of-the-art kitchen at L’Anima, his posh Italian restaurant in the City of London, to prepare spaghetti alle vongole (with clams) at Andrews, a 1950s greasy spoon. [Read more...]
What’s for dinner tonight?
If it’s Wednesday and you’ve just watched the classic American TV ad above, for the first time or thousandth time, you know it’s spaghetti day. And if your heart beats for pasta, like Anthony Martignetti, its 12-year-old hero, I would expect you to run, not walk, to the inaugural SpagWednesday pop-up on February 23th. Francesco Mazzei of London’s L’Anima will be preparing his definitive version of spaghetti alle vongole. [Read more...]
In part 6 of linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta, Francesco Mazzei prepares a creamy emulsion by tossing the linguine with its starchy cooking water and the clam sauce. [Read more...]
In part 5 of linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta, Francesco Mazzei of London’s L’Anima says you should open the white wine BEFORE you open the clams. But should you pour 1 glass of wine into the pan and another, more slowly, into your mouth as you cook the vongole? Francesco does not say, but I think he would approve. [Read more...]
In part 4 of linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta, Francesco Mazzei stresses the importance of cooking with an understated extra virgin olive oil that won’t overpower the vongole. [Read more...]
In part 3 of linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta, Francesco Mazzei explains why he and his vongole sauce cling to a bronze-cut pasta that’s been pushed through a bronze die. [Read more...]
In part 2 of linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta, Francesco Mazzei explains why it is essential to use a pasta that’s long, slender and dry.
“linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta” is a series of eight short videos starring Francesco Mazzei, the chef at London’s L’Anima. In part 1 of the series – spurgare le vongole – Francesco explains the ritual of cleaning the clams. In Italian, spurgare means “to clean, purge” and can apply to forms of purging other than the removal of sand from clams.
