Food: Cooking With... By Zofia Ciechowska. Image by Carlijn Potma
Naive Set Every month we ask an artist to share a recipe for their favourite dish Naive Set’s Mikey Casalaina grew up in a bustling American Italian kitchen where the ragù bubbled to the tune of The Beatles. Now Casalaina lives in Amsterdam where he’s discovered the delights of vegetarian fake meat and plays bittersweet pop in a band with three other bandmates. Their debut record, Reclining Nude, is out now on Subroutine Records, and it’s lovely. 'I grew up in New Jersey with a lot of Italian American food. We ate a lot of lasagne, ragù, bean soups. Food-wise it was like The Sopranos. I even had an Uncle Vito. I try to cook like my parents and finally I’m getting their recipes right, like this Cuban bean soup my dad makes. My family would stop in Hoboken on the way to the city and became familiar with the local Cuban community’s cooking. My dad’s
perfected this recipe over the years; my contribution is the addition of amazing vegetarian speck.' How to make Mikey Casalaina’s Italian dad’s Cuban black bean soup • Heat olive oil in a pan, sauté garlic, add onions with some salt before the garlic starts to brown. Once the onions soften, add the speck and let it brown. • Add beans, water and bouillon cube. Simmer, then add all the ingredients. • Once it’s simmering, you can add a shot of rum, but make sure you let the alcohol cook off, otherwise it’s the world’s shittiest drink. • Serve with a good squeeze of lime and a dollop of crème fraîche, add fresh coriander and pepper to taste. Stir in your favourite hot sauce. Naive Set play Bright Lights Big City on 02 April at Melkweg in Amsterdam. The
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