Osso Buco, Desiree, and stepping out in an Alfa

["C.M. Smith" <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

Hi again,

After a much needed break, I'm wading through a couple of weeks worth of
digests and see that my favourite topics are surfacing again.... ah...
ossobuco....sublime...con risotto...the real thing with arborio sauteed
from raw...don't put the rice in the water man, put the water in the
rice...al dente..magnifico. BTW, no tools are required to enjoy the piece
de resistance (my rudimentary Italian fails me) beyond the normal knife and
fork...if the last of the marrow cannot be extracted using the "point" of
the knife or a tine of the fork, it should be removed as delicately as the
circumstances seem to indicate...by kissing the bone and applying a little
suction, Italian food is supposed to be sensual and if you have any hang
ups about that, use whatever mechanical aid suits your fancy, just don't
distract me when I'm seeking the nirvana from the center of ossobuco. A
short while ago i enjoyed a second rate ossobuco (second rate only as in a
repro of a carravaggio or a michelangelo may be second rate, some second
rates are infinitely preferable to the alternatives, as in no ossobuco) at
a buffet, done by an obviously talented chef, and everybody was leaving the
bones!!!!! Madness. No coincidence I think that ossobuco is characteristic
of Milanese cooking, as is polenta e funghi, and the great wines of Barolo
and Dolcetto d'Alba, home and inspiration for the great designers of
Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Pininfarina, Zagato, Alfa Romeo...

Personalized licence plate for an ALFA?  Bella...as in bella
macchina..or.... forza ...  not really translatable but en Inglese:    GO .

Why I bought and kept my ALFAs? I don't know. Why do I love ossobuco?
Dolcetto d'Alba?  Roses?  18th century sailing ships?  Sometimes there are
no reasons...clearly there are those of us who just understand... and then
there are many in the world reduced to .... Huh?  A friend of mine (who was
responsible for me getting involved with ALFAs in the first place come to
think of it) speculated that ALFA had developed a special, highly addictive
drug which was dusted upon the rim of the steering wheel and possibly on
the shift knob of every ALFA as it left the factory gate, one touch
especially while driving caused a lifelong addiction... seems like as
realistic an explanation as any to me. Certainly logic plays no part.

To the troubled spider driver who felt his ALFA stepping out in the bumps,
be reassured you are simply enjoying your ALFA to the limit and a bit
beyond. Seems to me the Spider/GTV chassis was designed to oversteer at the
limit, so naturally a bump in mid corner will provoke oversteer if already
pushing the limit. Live axles have their limitations but generally geometry
is not one of these for street cars anyway. Even Ferrari tried a De Dion
setup (a "live" axle with the drive "independent", just as found on the
Alfetta, GTV6, Milano series) for a Formula one car which was very good in
testing but the settings could not be adjusted readily for different track
conditions so it never raced. It is important not to confuse geometry
issues with spring and roll rate issues. Bouncing through the bumps is a
reflection of spring/roll rates and unsprung to sprung weight ratios, not
geometry. Any vehicle will step sideways at one end or the other when
driven at the limit through a bumpy corner. Just watch for bumps and
anticipate with the steering... even Formula one cars will dance through
the bumps at tracks like Monaco or Hungary, even Silverstone and Spa
Francorchamps will cause a bit of dancing because of the high speeds, bumps
get "bigger" the faster you try to go. The solution to this for bumpy roads
is to soften the spring rates at the twitchy end of the car, stiffen up the
shocks at that end, and maybe increase the roll stiffness at the other end
to balance the car for bumps. Smooth roads require more even set ups than
bumpy roads.  I just get to know the car's particular idiosyncrasies and
drive accordingly...but then I drive front drivers so it's always the front
end that washes out first..easy as pie...or easy as getting the last of the
marrow out of the ossobuco...ciao Alfisti everywhere.

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