simon says french food blog

NEWS FLASH - HOLLAND’S BEST CHEESE COMES TO AMSTERDAM

By Joe Ray

 

To taste Holland’s best cheese, you used to have to truck out to the tiny town of Santpoort to visit Betty and Martin Koster at L’Amuse. One taste could tell you it was worth the trip, but there was no other reason to head out there.

No more: L’Amuse Amsterdam opened last week and now that city’s got their own version of Randolph Hodgson or Marie Quatrehomme.

If they’ve got ‘em, try the Oude Remeker 18-Month or the Wilde Weide Kaas. They’ll knock your socks (wooden shoes?) off.

Doei!

L’Amuse
Stadionweg 147
Amsterdam
+31-20-6707559
www.lamuse.nl

Click here for a look at my story on Betty and Martin at their Santpoort store.

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting. 

MOVING THE ROCK

GIRONA, Spain

By Joe Ray

 

Living in Ferran Adrià’s shadow is not an enviable position. Or maybe it’s liberating. Or maybe it just is.

Joan Roca of El Celler de Can Roca is one of the greats in a region of greats like Santi Santamaria, Carme Ruscalleda and, of course senyor Adrià - and his style is closest to the latter.

Roca’s also got a ‘James Bond of the Catalan culinary set’ thing going. He’s a bit of a tough guy with some cool gadgets - he’s a big cheese in the world of sous vide cooking, for example, writing the book on the subject long before Thomas Keller did. After the service is finished, you can imagine Roca, standing by the entrance, smoking a cigarette and looking cool.

Every once in a while though, the Adrià comparison’s gotta drive him nuts. Early on in our meal, it seems as though most of the dishes in the ‘snacks’ catetgory (little <i>amuse gueules</i> that come out before the tasting menu really starts) could have been nicked from Adrià’s book - like little ‘caramelized olives’ which arrive dangling from a bonsai olive tree, little Campari ‘bonbon’ balloons served on a bed of crushed ice or Parmesan ‘tulips’ nesting in a rock - but then - poof! - it’s gone; you stop comparing and start enjoying.

This might have been about when the sea urchins arrived. On the menu, the dish is called “crustacean velouté with cauliflower toffee and tangerine,” but my notes read “little, edible sexual organs from the sea.” RRRRRRROW!

Soon after, there’s a plate called ‘artichoke with duck liver, eel and orange’ - that launches ‘brown food’ into the stratosphere, followed immediately by a single grilled sole filet flanked by individual dabs of olive oil, fennel, bergamot, orange, pine nut and green olive emulsions. The whole thing’s got a musical look to it, like a deconstructed music scale - and there’s Roca, standing by himself in the middle of a big field, smiling, waving.

When we try the cod pot-au-feu, which draws a direct line to some perfect chowder of my youth and I come to the realization I needed - I want Roca to teach.

“He does,” says my dining partner - most notably at Girona’s catering and tourism school.

Adrià has so much to teach, but it’s a specialized class - I don’t want 1,000 little Adrià copycats running around out there, but I want as many as possible with a foundation built by Roca.

Desserts, by brother Jordi Roca, are as good, complex and beautiful as the mains. Josep Roca’s wine list has wheels.

Tasting menus run from 90 to 135 euros. Spend as much as you like on wine.

El Celler de Can Roca - MAP
Can Sunyer, 48
Girona, Spain
+34 972 222 157
www.cellercanroca.com

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting. 

BANG THAT DRUM

Paris

By Joe Ray

This is the place I used to go to in Paris to make sure I knew (why) I was here. It connected me to my city with shoulder-to-shoulder seating and decent bistro food, preferably preceded with a drink at the crowded bar.

There are simple rules: go late and avoid anything that swims. I used to make an exception for a smoked herring and potatoes that down with a Meteor draft, but I won’t be doing that anymore.

A bout a year ago, the crotchety old owner left and the new owners have tried to keep much of the same feeling while cutting a few corners and bumping prices slightly northward. Case in point? Six oysters served on the half shell served with a glass of Colombelle white for 14€. Whose bright idea was it to pair oysters with plonk marketed at women?

I digress. The aim here is to revel in the conversation, getting down to the nitty-gritty with old friends under what used to be a thick cloud of smoke that descends like a heavy carpet. (This is one of the few places that seems less enjoyable with the laws that have pushed smokers outside.)

Here, you eat a steak, have a few glasses/bottles of wine and realize with a start that it’s 5 a.m. and you’ve spent eight hours connecting.

Lucky us.

Count on 30-50 euros, depending on how much connecting you want to do.

Le Tambour - MAP
41 Rue Montmartre‬
75002 Paris, France‬
+33 ‪1 42 33 06 90‬‎

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting.

ORACLE’S INSTINCT

 

I imagine people like Wylie Dufresne or Ferran Adrià sitting around conceiving dishes - thinking of flavor combinations, what goes with what and how to make it work. Three-star chefs also tend to try to dazzle – they work hard to blow your mind.

Jean-Marie Amat is like The Oracle – the little old lady from “The Matrix” who bakes cookies and knows the future – his conception process comes naturally. He just knows.

How else do you come up with a forkful of roasted squab coated with cinnamon, soy, cumin and powdered sugar? And how do you know that if you put a little bit of raw fennel tips from the garden on that same fork, your feet start doing the uncontrollable happy dance? He doesn’t need to set out to wow, it just happens.

It’s the last step in cooking - to know and execute as a matter of instinct and reflex. What else do you need after that?

There’s a customer who eats at Amat’s restaurant in the Chateau de la Prince Noir (love that name) once a month, all by himself. If Amat makes the rounds, they have a conversation that lasts about 30 seconds, max.

Eating by yourself is a skill that makes you call on your inner M.F.K. and half the time, you’re either self-conscious or bored out of your mind, plowing through a book and shoveling your food, alternately praying that the host will keep you company or leave you alone.

Here, by myself, I just wanted to learn by eating.

Lunch prix fixe 30€

Dinner prix fixe 50€

A la carte, count on 100€ without wine

Restaurant Jean-Marie Amat - MAP

Château du Prince Noir

26 bis, rue Raymond Lis

Lormont, France

+33 5 56 06 12 52

http://www.jm-amat.com/


Full disclosure: I ate at Amat’s while working on a story for The Boston Globe and spent the first half of the dinner service in the kitchen shooting some of the photos. I paid my bill. I saw versions of what I ate go out to other customers and the only difference between my experience and theirs was that I knew what my meal would look like when I ordered it.

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting.

A NEW FAVE: NON SOLO CUCINA!

By François Simon

PARIS

 

By George! A good Sicilian address in the 16th arrondissement of Paris – something so unbelievable that I went back two days later. It's called Non Solo Cucina, and Guiseppe Messina is in the kitchen (135, rue du Ranelagh, 75016 - (+33) 1.45.27.99.93; count on 30 euros). Very precise cooking, like these pistachio and pancetta farfalle or this zucchini and goat cheese-based desert…if I remember correctly. High-spirited service and one of my new favorites. If you can, sit at table 100 in front of the kitchen – it’s like looking at a plasma screen!

 

Facing the kitchen – it's like looking at a plasma screen – table 100…

Non Solo Cucina : 135, rue du Ranelagh, 75016 - (+33) 1.45.27.99.93; count on 30 euros Map

DEATH BY PIERRE

PARIS

By Joe Ray

I’m a bit of a pho fanatic. Years ago, I worked in chef Didi Emmons’ restaurant Pho Republique in Cambridge, MA. As a birthday present to my sister, I made up a gift certificate for the place before it opened. Once we went, I liked Didi’s version of Vietnam’s signature soup so much, I got a part-time job in the kitchen. I had to know.

Knowing in Paris may require a compass. Or a Pierre with Vietnamese heritage.  This place - a pagoda-lined pedestrian street lined with residential high-rises - looks more like Mars than Paris. Just before you open the door, however, you can smell that you’re in the right place.

It’s all in the broth. Good pho broth bubbles away all night, pulling flavor from a giant pot of goodness that usually includes beef, bones, ginger, charred onion, star anise and lemongrass. There are scores of variations including vegetarian, chicken and seafood versions. I could have imagined a version of this one - clear, clean and complex as any wine - as part of a recent meal at El Bulli. (!)

In Paris, I’m a regular at Belleville’s Dong Huong, where they make a very respectable bowl, but until today, I’d forgotten the magic that made me fall in love with pho in the first place.
While the star is the soup, the whole meal is fantastic. Consistently good plates like a Vietnamese crepe with mushrooms and marinated pork, fresh nem, pork ribs and marinated, grilled pork strips, all play with flavor and texture - even at dessert. Nothing misses the mark.

At less than 20€ for a royal feast and a drink, this is one of the best-priced meals in Paris.

Restaurant Quan Ngon MAP
63 rue Javelot
75013 Paris
+33 1 44 24 35 59

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting.

MORE FOR THE CARNIVORES

PARIS

By Joe Ray

As our cote de boeuf is set down in the center of the table, Pierre makes a general announcement, putting his hands up to his mouth, megaphone-style.

“Vegetarians are now invited to clear the area!” he bellows.

My word, yes they are.

I made a sort of promise to check out the ‘bicycle built for two of the steak world’ at L’Escargot after checking out the offerings at Le Bastringue and was far from disappointed.

There’s a price difference - 32 euros at Bastringue and 40 at L’Escargot (remembering each diner is paying half of that) and you can taste the difference: L’Escargot has better and more flavorful meat (likely linked to chef Fred Valade’s triperie down the road), but each one is a great value for the price.  One nitpick: L’Escargot would also do well to get some real steak knives.

There were nice vegetable side courses with my meal tonight, complete with Valade’s signature flaming thyme garnish ... and, no fault of their own, after a few bites, I completely forgot about them. Desserts were fabulous. I’d get the homemade chantilly (served on top of the ‘choco ivoire & son biscuit caribbeanesque’ which I once launched onto my lap) over and over again as a solo dish.

L’Escargot MAP
50, rue de La Villette
75019 Paris
+33 1 42 06 03 96

Full disclosure: I am known (though not notorious) at L’Escargot as it’s about a block away from my flat. They didn’t know we were coming, but they knew I was there. That said, even in Paris, you can’t conjure different beef at 9 p.m. on a Wednesday night.

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting.

CATALAN CHRISTMAS WISHES, BY WAY OF SICILY

By Joe Ray

BARCELONA

As a holiday card, I had this odd idea of setting the camera on the tripod and hefting the lit Christmas tree so all you'd see would be my arms and jeans, with Guido's painting in the background. Luckily, I remembered the Catalan Christmas connection with La Boqueria Market, which regularly graces the front page of many newspapers here on the 25th.

It also makes a much nicer photo.

Time for a Turkey.

(No, not me, the one in the oven.)

Ho, Ho!

Joe

P.S. - For a Christmas-esque message of peace from Guido, click here.

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting.

Thoumieux: all for the best

By François Simon

PARIS

Jean-François Piège left the Crillon to settle in at Thoumieux armed with an iron will and, more importantly, a palpable desire to do battle with gastronomy. Of course, some of you will once again deplore the Costes style, but what can you do? I find it delightful: pretty girls, and waiters who ply their trade with pride…

The dishes and prices fend for themselves: 10 euros for a warm endive salad with cheese and lightly smoked ham. Right up my alley! Barely "snacked" brill filets and a jardinière from "Joël's" (21 euros). Perfect. Churros and baba au rhum from Millet's, along with cheeses from Bordier's at 8 euros. Banana and lime vacherin that leaves you swinging from the chandeliers…which are attached to a lovely, freshly remodeled 1940's ceiling.

A wine menu worthy of the name, crunchy-crusted quality bread, real napkins… It shouldn't be long before the profession shows up to steal ideas and I'll be only too pleased! Maybe Parisian brasseries will finally be revived, start bubbling over with mirth and attracting the throngs and pretty girls again. Thoumieux's soul had slipped away, but it's back! Surely, this is among the best news of the season.

Hôtel Thoumieux, Jean-François Piège/Thierry Costes.
79, rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris. Phone : +33 1 47 05 49 75.
Open everyday from 12 pm to 2:30 pm and from 7 pm to 10:30 pm, soon to be noon to midnight non-stop. Map

CEBAS, C'EST BON – THE GREAT RIOJA TAPAS CRAWL PART II

By Joe Ray

LOGRONO, Spain

 
 

"At bar Cebas, get everything," says Artadi.

Pressed, he mentions a tortilla and the anchovies and the chroizo I immediately burn my mouth on when we get there.

"It's hot!" I warn my friend before burning myself again.

The tortilla is fantastic, I even had a lamb's ear sandwich (!), but the sublime star is a toothpick with a pair of olives and a pair of anchovies sandwiching a guindilla – a pickled green pepper folks in the Midwest would call a sport pepper.

There's vinegar, spicy heat, salt and texture, all at once – it's mind-blowing goodness, especially when coupled with any of the wines on their wonderful list (just scan the wall – it's somewhere near Artadi's picture with the owners).

Count on a few well-spent euros for snacks.

Bar Sebas - MAP
Caille del Albornoz, 3
Logroño, Spain
+34 94 122 0196

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting.

Supernature: a disdained delight!

By François Simon

PARIS

Here we sit not far from the Grands Boulevards of Paris, at an address worshipped by its regulars: Supernature. Know that giving you this address is like giving you a little piece of my hearts

It's a neighborly hole in the wall crammed with Formica tables. There are a few nature pics on the walls, including one of a woman with an admirable physique, which explains why so many patrons make a point of eating opposite from her.

Each dish is generously served and colorful. I ordered the plat du jour, a sort of veggie sampler with petulantly delicious vegetables, a small pancake served warm, enhanced with lentil sprouts and various mysterious jack-in-the-boxy spirals. Washed down with a carrot-ginger juice (then another), let me tell you that within 15 minutes, I felt like I was at Cape Canaveral, the rocket was warming up on its launching pad, and the fuses were blowing one after the other: look out here I come! Personally, that's all it takes to make me happy but you can also dive into the daily menu: tofu and vegetables, chocolate fondant cake, carrot cake… Gusto galore!

As for the prices? Frankly, 11 € for a dish that puts you back on the right track, 4,40 € for a magic potion and 2,10 € the espresso is reasonable, wouldn't you say?

Supernature, 12, rue de Trévise

Phone: +33 1 47 70 21 03. Menu 25€.  Map

Other restaurants in the 9th

Taking a Breather at Rose Bakery (My Life, Users Manual)

By François Simon

PARIS

You must be asking yourself how I manage with everything I put away. Excellent question to which I apply myself daily. First of all, never two gastronomic meals in the same day. If there's a big meal ahead, I clearly mark out the path with a kindly lunch, like here at Rose Bakery, rue des Martyrs in Montmartre (46 is the street number).

I seek indulgent nourishment and when my appetite is satisfied, I stop. Nothing between meals (an apple if I'm feeling a bit drained), no wine at lunch, no bread (or almost no bread), no dessert in average restaurants (unless they're extravagant) and no spirits (don't like the stuff). And when it's really good, I drink, mop up sauce with bread and eat heartily. By riding my bicycle daily, I can still wear the same suits I wore twenty years ago.

Does that sound ok? No diets. I'm just constantly vigilant so I can feel free to cut loose without any restraint at any moment.

Rose Bakery : 46, rue des Martyrs Tel : 01 42 82 12 80 Map

Rose bakery 2 : 30, rue Debelleyme. Tel :01 49 96 54 01 Map

Tartar so chic at 1 Vendôme

By François Simon

PARIS

Have you seen the beef tartar (22 euros) at 1 Vendôme?! Over-chic, a bit on the kooky side I must say, palatable and all that in a setting that's been brought up to date. I was dreading that this hideout might be outed by untimely advertising, but so far… it's still calm. In a month, FOR THE CHRISTMAS BREAK, FOR CHRISTMAS SHOPPING? it'll be as calm as the glassy sea. I bumped into an old friend there, Nicolas Rey, who was in great form. Just what I needed to brighten my day.

1 Vendôme 1, place Vendôme +33 1 55 04 55 55 A la carte: 70-80 € Map

LOWELL THOMAS TRAVEL JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

 

PARIS

By Joe Ray

Holy cow.

I won the Society of American Travel Writers’ “Grand Award” – The Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year.

“At least you did something,” quipped my Republican-leaning father referring to a certain recent Nobel Peace Prize winner.

I took it as a compliment.

In any case, it’s fantastic news and a huge honor. There is an incredible list of winners that reads like a Who’s Who of travel writing – including several for the Boston Globe’s Travel section. There’s also a video of the awards that includes a photo of me in a cheche and another where I’m slurping an oyster with my buddy Ethan - start at around 17:40.

Here are links to the stories in my entry – most with a serious food bent – broken down by where they were published.

BOSTON GLOBE - TRAVEL

Heart of The Hills - Valparaiso

Sampling the Motherland – Sicily

Loving Lisbon

Desert Rules – The Algerian Sahara

Some Tips to Help Make Your Dollars Stretch in Europe

CENTURION & PLATIUM MAGAZINES – Asia & Australia Editions

The Road goes Ever On – Patagonia’s Route 40

The Centurion Menu – Santi Santamaria & Carme Ruscalleda

THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION - TRAVEL

In Lyon, old food styles and new exist happily side by side - Photo gallery

Finally, my ‘simulcasted’ blogging trio rounded out my entry.

Eating The Motherland - My Food Writing & Photography blog

The Boston Globe’s Travel Blog, Globe-trotting

…and, of course, right here with Francois Simon on Simon Says!

 

More to come! Stay tuned…

Photo courtesy Joel Scheitler in Luxembourg.

New York: L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon - a manicured cuisine

By François Simon

NEW YORK CITY

Dinner at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, just off the Four Seasons Hotel's main lobby, has become one of the city's finest dining experiences. Sitting at the Japanese-style bar - there are also tables in the dining room for those who prefer them - one discovers Joël Robuchon's new generation of dishes. We've moved from clockwork formalism (punctuation of the points all around the plate like the minutes of time he wanted to master) to a refined, aesthetically pleasing cuisine, almost a sublimation of the products. Expensive ($120), but memorable. The food lovers sitting at the bar rejoice, clearly won over.

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, 57 East 57th St. (212) 350-6658. Map  

Chez l'Ami Jean, calm seas…

By François Simon

PARIS,

Going to Stephane Jego’s l’Ami Jean is always a wild experience.
 
You’ve got to be in Olympic form, full of energy, and prepared to be a real man. Otherwise, believe me, you’ll leave with your head in your hands muttering, “Oh la la.” In other words, generous helpings of damn good food that hits all the high notes.
 
For cowards, however, there is a lighter option.  Lunch is perfect.  You can breathe, stretch out, and the food is just as good.  You start to realize that the dishes need a little space and calm to be appreciated.  Sure, I love the boisterous atmosphere of the evenings, and the mountain of calories you’ve got to climb before you’re finished, but sometimes a little peace and quiet is nice, too. 

L'ami Jean : 27, rue Malar, 75007 Paris . 01.47.05.86.90. Map

Chez Georges, rue du Mail, my guilty pleasure

By François Simon

PARIS,
 

I’ve been coming to Georges rue du Mail, near the Place des Victoires, for 20 years.  And I’ll admit it – I always get the same thing.  When I say always, I mean always, without exception.  Everyone has their little rituals that they won’t give up.  This is one of mine.  Rain, snow, or sunny weather like this evening in June: I’m there!  I love the place, especially the table in the entry near the window. 

It’s this kind of meal you think about when you’re out of the country.  As soon as I’m off the plane, I stop by to get myself back in the groove and give my stomach a treat.  A cheerful welcome, a high-flying clientele, upwardly mobile and hip…In the kitchen is Alain, from Bretagne, who I’ve gotten to know.  He’s going to retire soon, so get moving!

George : 1, Rue Mail, 75002 Paris‎ - 01 42 60 07 11‎ Figure 40 euros.  Map

Hotel Arraya, the highlight

By François Simon

 

Without doubt the highlight of this little trip.  The village has a disarming charm : "le Fronton" a wall use for playing basque pelota, the terraces, the geraniums.  It’s true that in the summer it’s gets rather crowded.  But once the night rolls around, it’s idyllic. 
The hotel is ideally situated and offers beautiful terraces.  As for the food, it won’t have you doing somersaults, but you’ll find that will win you over immediately: the spirit of a beautiful 16th century Basque residence that’s passed from generation to generation. 
It’s the son of Jean Baptiste Fagoaga who welcomes you and presents you with a wine list that’s rather surprising, with bargain prices (a Sociando Mallet 2001 for 50 euros).  Nice dishes like the salad with lima beans and duck gizzards, then rabbit with honey sauce, and to finish off a curdled sheep’s milk crème brûlée, all in a menu at an unbeatable 23 euros.
Lovely rooms from 80 euros (ask for those that face the rear of the building, where it’s calm).  Exquisite breakfast, this is Basque country at its finest.

Bourg, 64310 Sare (05.59.54.20.46). www.arraya.com Map

THE DEATH OF PIZZA OTTO

By Joe Ray

Ragusa, Sicily

Whenever I’m in the Motherland, Francesco, my good pal and stalwart guide, humors my quest to find the best pizza in Sicily.

There’s some good stuff in the south where he’s from, strong examples in Palermo and more unique, thicker pies in Trapani. We ignore the question of ‘what is real Sicilian pizza?’ and just go with our taste buds.

In the end, we got to the point where, instead of calling places by their names, we’d just call them by their score on a ten-point scale. The place in the hotel down the hill with Speedy Gonzales on the takeout box? Pizza Sette. The seaside place? Sette Punto Cinque. Reigning southern champion? La Contea in Modica, where a pie with rocket, cured wild boar and parmesan (a combination that tends to send me over the moon with glee no mater in which state I find it) which earned it the Pizza Otto title.

Before I came back to the Motherland, Francesco started hinting at a new find: a place he was calling ‘Pizza Nove Plus.’ The ‘plus’ being for the food at Ristorante - Pizzeria Caravanserraglio (which we’ll get to in another post) hidden in the outskirts of Ragusa.

As a group appetizer, we order a tomato, mozzarella and basil pie. The sauce is sweet and acidic, the crust crisp and soft with wood-fired flavor. Plus, there’s milky sensuality from the mozzarella and a crisp, fresh bite from the basil.

Pizza Otto was dethroned in one bite.

Later, after a full non-pizza meal, I get edgy, thinking that I might not be back here for a while.

After the cheese course, I find chef Francesco Caravanserraglio wandering the floor and ask for another pizza.

Full to the gills, everyone at the table stares at me funny until it shows up, but Francesco dutifully has a slice.

The pie has a sort of flight path: “This won’t change my life,” I think over my first bites, but then the Parmesan and cured meat sweeten and begin working together.

I look over and Francesco has broken his fork-and-knife protocol and eats his pie with his hands. He pops the last bite of crust into his mouth with an ‘I-told-you-so’ smile.

Then he asks for another slice.

Ristorante - Pizzeria Caravanserraglio MAP
via P.Nenni 78
Ragusa
http://www.caravanserraglioragusa.com/

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting.

A BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER

ISPICA, Sicily

By Joe Ray

To prepare for the cookout, Dad sits with the English-Italian dictionary to figure out the first thing he’d like to say upon meeting our gregarious host, Guido: ‘Your are my brother from another mother.’

Guido, my pal Francesco’s uncle, was born with the gift of making whoever he’s with feel like they’re two peas in a pod and this day was no different. He lent me his daughter’s scooter the first time I lived here and though I only have what the French would call notions of Italian, language never seems to be a barrier when talking with him.

My parents came to Sicily on vacation to learn about the Motherland and our family history here – Dad’s maternal grandparents emigrated from the tiny town of Altavilla Milicia in the early 1900s – and being together in the place where our ancestors were from is a potent emotional experience connecting us with the past and each other.

Guido’s wife Pina and Francesco’s mother make a feast that includes roasted peppers, sautéed mushrooms and grilled meat a go-go and I’ve smuggled an entire jamón Ibérico – black hoof and all – through customs as a gift from our family to theirs.

Today, however, food (very tasty food at that) was simply a way to bring us together and I’d trade every amazing Sicilian restaurant meal for this one feast.

Being made to feel like family can be as important as finding the real one.

Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting.