Xmas dinner @CasaJasmina

A couple of months ago, we were contacted by world-renowned Sci-Fi author Bruce Sterling who is currently living in Turin. He's a fan of Turin Epicurean Capital and had a question about wine for his guests at Casa Jasmina. This is how we found out about this amazing project in collaboration with Fab Lab Torino and Officine Arduino.

Bruce Sterling and Miss Bee

Casa Jasmina is an incubator of innovative ideas and lifestyle; it is the home space where Italian design meets the Italian emergent open-source electronics. As an industry-boosting center, many minds converge to Casa Jasmina in Turin from different parts of the world, and some are actually hosted right there, since after all, it is a real casa.

It just isn't a regular apartment because, besides the regular living spaces, it is also a lab and a public space to exhibit excellent artifacts and best practices.

Andrea Graziano and Mirko Daneluzzo

As it is that time of the year when Santa is getting his reindeers ready, Bruce and his multi-skilled wife Jasmina Tesanovic called us over for our opinion about their high tech cucina and to stock the pantry with some local delicacies, so that the artists in residence and the temporary guests could munch on something while creating.

Miss Bee designed a menu, made a shopping list and on the Sunday before Christmas, she personally tested the Casa Jasmina kitchen with Sous-Chef  Alberto Bonis, the designer of our stylish logo.

Casa Jasmina is conveniently located near a subway stop and a well ranged grocery store where, besides the average Italian food basics, we also found balsamic vinegar glazes, small production wines, local sauces and patés to ease the brainstorming and mind elaboration of the Casa Jasmina guests.

As originally there would only be 6 people, Miss Bee had planned more of a Sunday dinner; however, in the end, some unexpected guests joined us and this Turin Epicurean Capital dinner featuring Miss Bee literally turned into a Holiday feast - and so it was received!

To create a real homey atmosphere, Miss Bee kneaded her staple no rising beer bread. Just one word can define it: delicious!!

She marinated some pork loin before taking care of the chocolate mousse that needs to settle in the fridge for some time.

Alberto Bonis and Miss Bee dealing with chocolate

Like kids, we literally stared at her breaking 85% chocolate squares and then melting them into the warm heavy cream. You just can't imagine how hard it was to keeping our hands off her whisk as she vigorously incorporated these two vital ingredients!! Finally, she folded in the cream she had just whipped and only after all the serving jars were safe in the fridge to settle, she allowed us to lick clean the trade tools.

Ho boy, such a velvety texture and wonderful flavor!

After toasting the hazelnuts, she chopped them and prepared the caramel for her glorious croccante to top the chocolate mousse.

As the croccante was cooling off on parchment paper, the pork roast entered the Casa Jasmina high tech oven to slowly cook and retain its natural moisture.

In the meantime, the guests arrived and were welcomed with some Arneis aka white Barolo to introduce them to our Piedmontese flavors.

Time quickly ticked by and after peeling and cutting the hasselback potatoes, they joined the pork roast at a lower level in the oven, not without being carefully massaged with EVOO and decorated with butter.

With the mushrooms sizzling on the induction range, the polenta was prepped for the antipasto. This was actually Miss Bee's real culinary introduction to the Casa Jasmina table: polenta flans filled with joyous mushrooms, covered in a scrumptious cheese sauce.

Let us tell you that everybody got seconds and cleaned their dishes with her homemade beer bread!

The beginning of the meal was paired by Cascina Gilli Le More hued Barbera, the perfect combination to savor all the wine aromas and the flan flavors.

Seeing Miss Bee at work in the kitchen reminds a lot of Babette's feast the movie from the Karen Blixen's short story: all her care, passion and hand dexterity always hits the hearts and stomachs of the lucky  people who can enjoy her cuisine.

After the polenta flans, some glorious radicchio risotto with Val di Susa toma cheese was served paired with a more delicate Verduno Pelaverga, a small production red wine.
Not even one grain of this light pink, cheese based risotto was left; the vegetarian guest took advantage of a double portion, while the rest of the table started feeling quite full, and yet still too enticed by Miss Bee's delicacies to stop.

Then the nicely lean pork roast in orange sauce and rosemary landed in front of us with its fresh aroma and the hasselback potatoes. Once again, the dishes were fully licked clean after the second serving! Yes, we all were happy to agree that the Casa Jasmina oven works really well.

This is how, after two hours, we got happily stuffed like turkeys and yet were ready for the chocolate mousse and caramel hazelnut croccante paired with Cascina Gilli Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco, the 2015 celebration wine!

Everybody at the table was amazed by the menu, the unexepcted guests even inquired about the ingredients and the preparation processes; they allowed their noses to introduce them to the scents and aromas of what they were served to fully live the Turin epicurean experience they didn't have the chance to know yet.

Some extra croccante travelled around the table to accompany Jasmina's Turkish coffee and (future) reading.

Bruce Sterling, Jasmina Tesanovic and Maurizio Montalti

Bruce quietly tidied up the kitchen, then we loaded the high tech yet user friendly dishwasher and let the guests go to bed on their full stomachs!

Now we all know: Casa Jasmina is a real house with a properly working kitchen, tested and approved by the Turin Epicurean Capital team. Future guests won't find Miss Bee's delicacies but will still enjoy the local sauces and wines we stocked the pantry with so their brains will get the right nutrients to envision the most innovative concepts and products.

As for Miss Bee, her roasted turkey and specialties from different world cuisines are getting more and more popular in Turin which is why you'll need to book her or you'll miss out on her feasts!
Casa Jasmina is already on her book...