Snap, Crackle, Pop it's Burnt Cinnamon Rice Pudding
Bonus! My travel itinerary for London and Italy this fall.
London.
With my last name being Pratt, I have full English blood coursing through my veins. If you’re in the know, Pratt, is a rather unfortunate last name typically dubbed to the village idiot. I know my own worth and despite the misfortune around my surname, I fully embrace my English heritage. During my visits to England, my accent and vocal cadence composes most sentences in the form of cheeky questions. I regain full access to manners. I just love how London makes me feel. I’ve said many times that London is like a “cleaner version of New York.” I am heading to London and Italy with my friend Katri. I do intend to video and capture images of the trip, but I doubt you will be seeing footage of her because I’m respectful of her wishes. The trip may seem like I’m venturing alone, but I in fact am with her.
We arrive on the 26th of October and have an Airbnb in East London. Here are some bookings for restaurants that I’m rather excited about: a return to The River Café in Hammersmith. The iconic Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray restaurant showcasing the brilliance and simplicity of regional Italian cuisine. One of the grandest things you can treat yourself to in London is afternoon tea. The doting nature of five-star hotel staff is rather seductive. Claridges just nails afternoon tea service in my opinion. The teas are spoken about with such fanfare that you respectfully wish to brew tea in the same way they do. We’re also heading to BRAT, the live fire restaurant in East London noted as being a restaurant industry darling. Museum visits include, the Tate Modern, Hayward Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. We plan on rounding out the whole experience with the “hole-in-the-wall” breakfast spot on Bethnal Green Road, E. Pellicci, for a full english with Cumberland sausage, tomato, beans, toast, eggs and a cuppa.
Venice.
I went to Venice when I was a teenager and quite frankly what I remember was the smell of sulfur. Yes, I’m saying Venice smells like a fart. I truly thought at my age it was a plumbing issue. Needless to say, I’m thrilled to be going back. The argument Katri made was that we really should see it as adults before it just sinks completely. I agree. So we are taking a boat from the airport in to see Venice by night, the boat will drop us off with a six minute walk to the hotel. GENIUS! The following day we plan on seeing the Palazzo Ducale (Doges Palace), the Palazzo Fortuny and having the Venetian classic cicchetti. I called Katri up recently and said something like, “are you ready to just wreak of Baccalà Mantecato, or what?” We plan on seeing an opera that had an odd booking style, paying in cash upon arrival, emails, etc. We are however undecided whether or not we want to see something on the island of Murano, please advise if you feel some kind of way.
Florence, Chianti, Siena and Modena.
We arrive in the evening in via train and immediately I’m requesting a Tuscan meal at Osteria Cinghiale Bianco. The following day is loaded with art at Uffizi, Accademia, and Anish Kapor at the Strozzi. We have some more Tuscan meals planned and a visit to the Duomo. Katri informed me of agrotourismo and how nice it can be to stay on farm land property in agricultural areas, so we’re heading to Chianti. We’ll be at Barone Ricasoli. That evening we plan on having dinner in Siena at Antica Trattoria Papei. Next morning we awake to the Tuscan air and drive to Fontodi to get our New Oil fix. We head back up to Florence to catch the train to Modena where we will be dining at Osteria Francescana. We spend the night in Modena and take the train the next day to Bologna where we have a lunch planned. We will have our sights set on Rome at this point.
Rome.
The final leg of the trip. At this point I’m positive we’ll have gout or a troubled liver. We got a place in Trastevere and I’m hoping its relatively gay. Our first meal is at Trattoria da Teo followed by some friendly gay drinking. I should mention that laughs, merriment and gay-ish activities will be taking place the whole time, in case you were wondering. I am excited to return to the Piazza Navona and check out a new location Curia di Pompeo, that's where Julis Cesar was stabbed and now exists as a cat sanctuary. Katri and I are two proud cat owners, so I think this is essential. In doing some research the Terme di Caracalla came up. These old Roman baths now serve as entertainment space and from the photos alone it looks incredible. We have on our list to go to some classic Jewish Roman restaurants. Sadly, its not artichoke season, but I’m open to some other classics for the fall season. Bonci is on the agenda for Roman style pizza. We have been tossing around the idea of heading to Ostea for the beach with a little quick trip. We conclude our Italy moment together at Roscoli and fly out the following day.
Here’s what I’m thinking about this trip.
As I embrace a newer way of traveling for me, I want to creatively take advantage of the ways I’ve been living recently. I’m taking my morning pages on the road. I’ll be photographing and taking video clips as I go along. What interests me is editing videos or reels and releasing them during the trip. A quick little video edit before bed or in the afternoon when I am experiencing “art fatigue.” I enjoy releasing videos and showcasing some version of my life. I’m careful to not label myself in the category of “influencer.” I don’t think I could ever exude those qualities or take on that kind of responsibility. The type of vacation video I’m looking to make is how I see the world when I travel. As you see my videos, you should get a pretty good idea of what I’m like when I’m abroad. I’m looking forward to it and I will be absent from publishing around that time. I’m absolutely positive you will see some inspired recipes from me when I return. Fingers crossed on entertaining stories too.
Burnt Cinnamon Rice Pudding
To unlock cinnamon’s deepest, darkest secrets is to burn them. The recipe starts by burning cinnamon in a 500ºF oven. An interesting personality is unveiled in cinnamon. There’s a layered depth that burning the cinnamon adds to this rice pudding. I believe that a small dose of fresh cinnamon powder pushes the agenda and complexity of cinnamon’s untapped potential. Don’t go burning all your spices now, cinnamon is just one of a few that has another story to tell.
Ingredients:
100g cinnamon sticks
600ml whole milk
120g jasmine rice
120g creme fraiche
120g sugar
1/2tsp cinnamon, ground
1/2tsp kosher salt (diamond crystal)
250ml heavy cream, cold
Method:
Burn Cinnamon, steep and chill. Preheat an oven to 500ºF. On a small baking tray, add cinnamon sticks and burn in the oven for 10-15 minutes. You will hear snapping, cracking and some pops. This is natural and once all the cinnamon sticks are black with no visible brown spots, they can be removed from the oven. In a quart sized container filled with whole milk, add the cinnamon sticks and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
Toast the rice and make the pudding. First, strain the burnt cinnamon sticks from the milk. In a large pot or skillet, add jasmine rice. Toast the rice in a dry pan over medium heat for 5-10 minutes. The rice should start to smell nutty but bear in mind that some light browning is okay. Add to the pan 120ml of water. It will be bubbly at first, stir the rice during this process as if you were making risotto. Once most of the water has evaporated, add half of your burnt cinnamon milk. Cook over medium low heat for 5-10 minutes. Once the rice has absorbed most of the liquid, add the remaining milk and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes.
Finish the first stage of the rice pudding. In a small mixing bowl, add creme fraiche, sugar, ground cinnamon and salt. Mix to combine until the sugar starts to dissolve. When the rice pudding looks milky, glossy, thickened and most of the milk looks absorbed remove from the heat and add the creme fraiche mixture with rice pudding in a large bowl, stirring to combine. Allow the rice pudding to chill for a minimum of four hours or overnight. Yes, your patience will be rewarded.
Whip the cream, fold and finish. Whip the heavy cream somewhere between soft and firm peeks. Too soft and the cream will not be able to hold the integrity of the pudding and too firm and it won’t be ethereal. Take one third of the whipped cream and sacrifice it to lightening the overall pudding mixture. Taking the remaining two thirds of whipped cream, intentionally with as few folding motions as possible, work the whipped cream into the rice pudding. It’s better to be under folded rather than over risking the hard work you’ve put in. I love garnishing the rice pudding with a whisper of cinnamon or even some fruit, you decide.
great! travel safe so happy for you!
from g so far :
London -
If you have time and can swing a ticket, I would highly recommend spending an evening at The Bridge Theatre to see Guys and Dolls. We weren’t in London during its run but everything we’ve seen there has been terrific and this production is supposed to be doubly so. The Ivy Restaurant next to the theatre is a nice spot for a pre-theatre nosh.