The Name...

Thought it might be a good idea (and hopefully a little interesting) to give the rationale behind the name of my blog.

Zucca means "pumpkin" and con means "with" in Italian (for those who didn't look this up on AltaVista Babel Fish). So...ya end up with "Soave with Pumpkin."

Pumpkin, or pumpkinhead, was a nickname that my Dad gave me when I was a little girl for obvious reasons...well, one obvious reason.

And basically if something has pumpkin as an ingredient, I will eat it, love it and probably ask for the recipe - little hint to anyone planning on cooking me up a meal in the near future.

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to try the pumpkin gnocchi at Enoteca Drago, the winebar I work at in the center of Soave. Hoping to get the recipe from Carlo, the owner and chef, and try to re-create this dish sometime in the near future. I'll let ya know how this little experiment goes. I am naively optimistic!

The pumpkin gnocchi was topped with trombette (a particular type of mushroom) and grated parmigiano...Perfect combination of salty and sweet.

Wine pairing recommendation - should have this dish with an oaky wine, but not too oaky (ideally a wine with a subtle oaky quality)...Lucky for me (since I live with the wine producer), Alzari from the Coffele vineyards would be perfect. It is a Soave Classico, made with 100% garganega grapes and aged in large oak barrels for 14 months.

Little lesson on Soave wines and the garganega grape (indigenous grape to Soave) to come...

Off to play some cards the Coffele family...Name of the game is "Burraco."

Ciao!

- Zucca