VIGNAROLA ROMANA - ROMAN SPRING VEGETABLE STEW

Vignarola Romana, a Roman spring vegetable dish. Spring... the moment it was officially announced it immediately snowed 15 cm here in Brussels. Nevertheless, we keep finding the most beautiful artichokes, both baby artichokes and recently even Roman artichokes in the shops and markets.

I was never an artichoke-kind-of-girl, did not know how to cook them or what to make of them, until I met 'My Roman' and his family who effortlessly converted me to them and even taught me how to cook them properly. And just to remember those suitcases full of Roman artichokes (= carciofi, pronounced 'carjoffee') they would bring when visiting us in Brussels... see pictures of the 'real things'... they were so beautiful that I used them as flower-decoration on the table while we were having the others for dinner.

At this point we are artichoke-crazy. We have them almost every week, stuffed with mint and garlic (= 'Carciofi alla Romana') - just the thought of the perfume of these three ingredients makes me want more - artichoke frittata, and of course, Vignarola Romana. Chatelaine market has a pasta stand with fantastic artichoke ravioli. What I haven't tried yet is artichoke lasagna, and my own home-made artichoke ravioli... but now I know the art of undressing and de-choking them, nothing can stop me  :-)

AUSTRIAN 'APFELSTRUDEL' (APPLE STRUDEL)

Layers of crispy thin pastry, wrapped around soft and tangy-sweet cinnamon-scented apple slices... 'Apfelstrudel'. Another traditional Austrian dish, with, according to Wikipedia, its oldest known recipe, hand-written and dating back to 1696, housed at the 'Wiener Stadtbibliothek', the Vienna City Library. Due to its popularity and the centuries it has been around, there are many versions of it worldwide, but this recipe is my favourite.  It's the one from home, like my mum makes it, so no surprises there I guess  :-)  And on top of that, to make my Strudels, I actually use one of her very old tablecloths that we used for our every day dinner table when I was a child - oh the childhood memories... sigh! :-)