Rome-based culinary journalist and travel expert Katie Parla is out with a new cookbook, “Food of the Italian South,” and her U.S. tour will bring her to the Bay Area in late March.
You’ve got two opportunities to sample these “lost, classic and disappearing dishes” from Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise and Puglia. Some of these recipes are centuries old — and rarely seen on these shores — such as “Mulignana c’a’ Ciucculata,” fried eggplant smothered in chocolate, from Maori on the Amalfi coast.
On Wednesday, March 27, Oakland’s A16 restaurant — named for the cross-Italian roadway that runs from Naples to Bari — will host a family-style dinner created by executive chef Nicolette Manescalchi, with optional wine pairings by wine director Shelley Lindgren. Among the menu highlights will be “Insalata di Polpo con le Patate,” octopus-potato salad from Basilicata, and “Involtini alla Piazzetta,” frittata-stuffed beef rolls from Campania. Tickets, $130, include dinner and a signed book; reserve a dinner spot via www.omnivorebooks.com.
The next night, Parla will speak and sign copies ($30) at Omnivore Books in San Francisco from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Then it’s back to the dinner table. On Friday, March 29, Parla will be at Enoteca La Storia in San Jose’s Little Italy, where a five-course dinner will feature such dishes as “Spezzatino all’Uva,” pork with red wine and grapes, from the Molise region, and “Peperoni Imbottit all Beneventana,” stuffed peppers, Campania style. Tickets, $110, include a signed copy of the cookbook; there’s an optional wine pairing by owner/sommelier Mike Guerra. Reservations: www.enotecalastoria.com/sanjose-events.