Chef adds flavor to cable access TV Italian cooking show taped from North Bruns. manís home BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer JEFF GRANIT staff Chef Alfredo DeBonis discusses his first dish, Torta di Roma, as cable studio manager Roy Minieri videotapes the first edition of ìA Taste of Italy in North Brunswick,î a six-month cooking series to debut on cable Channel 22. The aroma of garlic fills the air. The oil sizzles, a sound similar to the crackling of a fire on a cold winterís night. The only other sound is the plastic unwrapping from the dish of veal, precut into thin slices. The lights are bright, accentuating the dark green color of the bed of spinach and the glistening of white wine. North Brunswick resident Alfredo DeBonis is preparing veal saltimbocca alla Romana, a traditional Roman entree, for the first installment of a six-part series entitled ìA Taste of Italy in North Brunswick,î to be aired on cable Channel 22. ìThe closer to food, the better off you are,î he said. DeBonisí interest in cooking began in 1966 when he was studying abroad in Rome and Milan. He fooled around in his friendís hotel restaurant and instantly became attracted to the kitchen. JEFF GRANIT staff North Brunswick cable studio manager Roy Minieri instructs chef Alfredo DeBonis during the taping of his new cooking show in his basement on Sunday. He opened restaurants in New Brunswick and began teaching classes in North Brunswick and in Rome. Roy Minieri, the cable station manager, was one of his students, and felt the master chefís expertise was worthwhile to share with the community. ìI have his recipes in a book and I wouldnít give them up,î Minieri said. Líantipasto To stimulate the palate, DeBonis began his show frying up i fiori di zucchini, or zucchini flowers. A specialty dish in Rome, the flowers had to be imported from Israel because of their delicate nature. The flowers were stuffed with mozzarella and homemade anchovy paste, and then a batter of two eggs, white pepper, salt, flour and ìsome good old-fashioned American beerî were used to coat the flowers in a pancake batter-like consistency. ìI usually fry and serve them immediately because they usually donít hold up well,î the chef said. Entree Veal saltimbocca, literally meaning ìjump into your mouth,î was the most aromatic of the dishes. Created with sage, prosciutto, flour, homemade veal stock, clarified butter, white wine and spinach, the dishís most original additive is the garnish of hard boiled eggs. ìI took an egg and cut it in half and put it on top to remind you of Sophia Loren,î DeBonis joked. La bevanda The perfect complement to any Italian dish is a glass of wine. North Brunswick Police Lt. Mike Misurell shared his wine-making expertise for a guest appearance during the show. An employee of Grape Expectations winery in Bridgewater, Misurell brought a sampling of his wines to share with the guest audience. ìItís so much fun to do. Every time you go to a winery to make wine, itís a party,î he said with a smile. Describing the wine-making process, Misurell explained that there are two seasons for grapes: the California season in September/October and the Chilean season in April/May. Wine agents select the grapes and overnight them to Newark Airport. The grapes are then placed into a gigantic crusher and their skin is punched to create the color. In one week the sugar, fermentation, pH and yeast levels are checked, and about one week later they go through a hydraulic press. The wine is filtered into a barrel and allowed to set for two to three months, and then undergo a racking process to remove any sediment that may form. The wine then remains in an oak barrel for nine months. One barrel can store up to 300 bottles, each containing about four glasses of wine. ìAnd then the best part of the wine is drinking it,î Misurell said. ìThey say one glass is good for your heart. Of course, my glass holds a whole bottle.î Il dolce Layers of chiffon cake, strawberry preserve and Nutella mousse combined to create DeBonisí Torta di Roma, an original dessert he created while serving a group of friends at a hotel in Italy. ìThis one particular year I really didnít know what to make. I had a jar of Nutella ... and a jar of preserves and I put them together,î he said. DeBonis baked the cake in advance, used jarred fillings and then combined powdered sugar and homemade vanilla extract, consisting of vanilla beans and vodka, for the whipped cream icing, which was topped off with powdered cocoa. ìFrom what I understand, this cake has been condemned by every diet book ever written,î he joked. La valutazione (or un digestivo, which means after-dinner drink ó used in this sense as an afterthought) Overall, the first rendition of the monthly show was met only with slight technical difficulties, as the lighting and sound had to be corrected a few days before the taping. However, on the day of the show, everything was flawless. ìIt worked the first time,î Minieri said, giving a thumbs up to the guest audience of Mayor Francis ìMacî Womack, mayoral assistant Janice Larkin, Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Services Director Lou Ann Benson, Misurell and DeBonisí mother, while taping the show in DeBonisí basement. ìI shouldíve sent my husband today so he couldíve learned,î Benson said, who assisted with the videotaping. ìFor the first time in doing this, what better place than this? With the ladles hanging and the bottles ... it looks so homey.î ìYouíre not in a restaurant. Viewers are going to see this and say, ëWow, I can do this,íî Misurell said. To prove the easiness of the selected recipes, DeBonis said his only pre-preparation was baking the chiffon cake, cutting the veal slices and organizing all of the necessary utensils and pots before Sundayís taping. But despite the simplicity of the recipes, what about residents who are health-conscious and fearful of words like ìbutterî, ìmeatî and ìwineî? ìI think the body craves for those things by its very nature. I think cutting out one food source is not healthy. The best thing is to keep on eating the way you were but cut back on quantities,î DeBonis said, joking that he has gained weight just by the osmosis of odor. A self-described thinner version of famed Italian chef Mario Batale, DeBonis added, ìThereís so much out there you can eat and so many variations of what you can do. The Mediterranean diet is wonderful, with all of the olive oil. ... [But] you know what it is, you would never trust a thin chef.î The cooking show, set to feature select dishes from Milano, Bologna, Florence and Naples in its upcoming episodes, will debut at a time to be determined in the first week of February. DeBonisí recipes will be available through a personal e-mail account, to be announced at the end of the broadcast. ìWe look forward to this show progressing over the next six months,î Minieri said.