Brisée con zucchine/Pate Brisée with courgettes

Brisèe con zucchine/Pate brisèe with courgettes

 I'm so sick of this weather! Rain, rain, rain and rain again... my bones are wet and they're dreaming of the sun. C'mon it's almost May and I'm still wearing my winter coat!

And how about winter food?! It's amazing and tasting but my body knows it's spring time and it's demanding fresh salads, mozzarella, basil, mint, fresh juices, strawberry, ice cream....

Than yesterday, as soon as I saw a ray of sun, I decided to give my body a gift!

Sono stufa di questo tempo! Pioggia, pioggia e ancora pioggia.... le mie ossa sono umide e sognano il sole. Eddai, è quasi maggio e ancora indosso la giacca invernale!

E che dire del cibo invernale?! E' fantastico e saporito, ma il mio corpo sa che è primavera e insiste per avere insalate fresche, mozzarella, basilico, menta, succhi, fragole, gelato...

Così ieri, non appena ho visto un raggio di sole, ho deciso di fare un regalo al mio corpo!

La maga delle spezie/The Mistress of Spices

Pollo al Garam Masala/Garam Masala Chicken

I am a Mistress of Spices.

I can work the others too. Mineral, metal, earth and sand and stone. The gems with their cold clear light. The liquids that burn their hues into your eyes till you see nothing else. I learned them all on the island.

But the spices are my love.

I know their origins, and what their colors signify, and their smells. I can call each by the true-name it was given at the first, when earth split like skin and offered it up to the sky. Their heat runs in my blood. From amchur to zafran, they bow to my command. At a whisper they yield up to me their hidden properties, their magic powers.

Yes, they all hold magic...

(The Mistress of Spices, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni)

Io sono una Maga delle Spezie.

So usare anche il resto. Minerali, metallo, terra e sabbia, e pietra. Le gemme splendenti di luce fredda e limpida. I liquidi che ti accendono gli occhi di bagliori variopinti finché non riesci più a vedere altro. Ho imparato tutto sull'isola.

Ma la mia passione sono le spezie.

Risotto al salmone/Italian risotto with salmon

Risotto al salmone/Italian risotto with salmon

I think rice has extraordinary powers! It has a double connection with the word Earth: it not only derives directly from this element, but for the past 8,000 years its history has been associated with the history of Mother Earth. So it must have super powers!

Its many varieties are cooked all over the world, with different procedures and ingredients.

That's why this question came up to my mind. In our collective consciousness, if I say: "Think about a recipe with rice", each one of us will think about a different recipe according to personal taste, background, country or region of origin, religion, the season...

There's just one thing I'm pretty sure about.

The majority of us Italians would think about Risotto! Am I wrong?!

Per me il riso è un alimento che ha poteri straordinari. E' doppiamente legato alla parola Terra: non solo arriva direttamente da questo elemento, ma da circa 8000 anni la sua storia accompagna quella della Madre Terra. Per forza deve avere dei poteri straordinari!

Tomini con peperoni grigliati/Tomino Cheese with Grilled Pepper

Tomini con peperoni grigliati/tomino cheese with grilled pepper

We've been very lucky last week: in Milan the weather was like in summer and my jasmine started to blossom very fast. My mood followed the weather dreaming of beaches and sea and my body felt happy laying down on the grass in the park.

My appetite was totally agree with all that and asked for something fresh and coloured.

Do you believe the color of the food we eat can affect our mood? I'm thinking a lot about that on those days...