Posts Tagged language

Popular And General Italian Food

Posted by Food And Wine in Uncategorized on September 29th, 2009

When people think of popular Italian food they most likely think of spaghetti, lasagna, or tortellini. However, the popular Italian food in Italy is actually a little different and much more diverse.

When discussing popular Italian food it is essential to talk about the most popular breads and pastries. Breads serve an important role in Italian food. They can be used as appetizers, sides to a meal, and desserts. The most popular breads are flavored with herbs, cheeses, and sun-dried tomatoes. An excellent dessert bread in Italian food is the biscotti which means “twice baked”. This popular dessert is more like a biscuit or cookie and is often flavored with almonds and spices. Fruit can be added to the biscotti and a popular choice is cherries. Biscotti are very versatile in Italian food, being served for breakfast with coffee or as an after dinner treat.

Regional food

The Italian food that most Americans are familiar with comes from the northern parts of Italy. This is where the rich dishes full of cheese and heavy on the sauce come from. The meats that are most commonly used here are beef and pork. If you love the Italian food that you can find in America, than the northern region of Italy is the place for you. This food will be most familiar, but it will still offer an exciting change from the Italian food found in the United States. Also, don’t let the stereotypical view of Italian food just being spaghetti and meatballs slow you down. In fact, very few people in Italy actually eat spaghetti and meatballs. The Italian food that is actually found in Italy is much more complex and diverse and will rely on more spices than just garlic.

The Risotto and the Veneto region Italian food

The Veneto region is also home to some unique foods. The dishes here are heavier and rely on exotic spices and sauces. One unique dish that originated here and is quickly gaining popularity as an Italian food dish is pasta and beans. Beans are used in many dishes here due to their ready availability. This is also an area of Italy where anchovies and stockfish are used extensively in Italian food. However, fish is not the dish of choice here, being beaten out by meats and sausages. A favorite meat is sopressata which is a dry-cured salami. It gets its name from the fact that while drying it is often pressed with a weight and comes out looking flat. It is most often made with pork, but sometimes beef is used. Another favorite Italian food meat is garlic salami. The Italian food here is also reliant on some of the prized vegetables of the area. Veneto is especially known for their high quality red radicchio and their asparagus. One last dish that is unique to the area is a rice dish with young peas.

Italian food diet

It seems recently that among health circles Italian food has gotten a bad rep. With the advent of Atkins many former Italian food fans have steered clear of the cuisine because of all the pasta that is used. However, this idea that pasta will make you fat is largely unfounded. A diet of Italian food, especially from the Mediterranean is actually very healthy and will keep you looking and feeling great as long as you know what Italian food to eat and how to prepare it.

There are several different light Italian food meals that you can prepare with these simple ingredients. Here is one to start you off, an Italian food classic, pasta with tomato sauce. You can use any type of pasta you want and you might want to try livening it up with variety. Italian food is not just spaghetti noodles. Boil the pasta in water with salt. Make sure not to overcook the pasta. You want it to be firm, yet tender. The most common mistake made in making Italian food is making mushy pasta. For the sauce simply chop up some garlic, an onion, and some tomatoes. Take a tablespoon of your quality olive oil and saut both the garlic and onions until they are soft. Once that is done add the tomatoes and cook until all the ingredients are blended together well. To top it off add your favorite herbs such as parsley, oregano, or basil. Try different combinations of herbs, there is no definitive herbs for Italian food so experiment and give your sauce your own signature flavor.

You want to learn italian? You can learn this language at the comfort of your own home: visit learn italian. There is no need to join an expensive language class when you can maximize your learning potential with an online Italian course: learn italian.

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The Italian Food Culture

Posted by Food And Wine in Uncategorized on September 29th, 2009

The Italian food culture concerns not only what we see at Italian tables or in a rich Italian restaurant menu. It is something much deeper in Italians’ DNA. Italians have some beliefs that go beyond education or tradition.

Concerning pasta

An easy example could be the pasta shapes and their seasonings. Considering that among dry pasta (the ones you usually buy inside paper or plastic bags that last for long) the difference is only the shape of it, nothing else, the shape itself is something very important for Italians.

There’s a traditional pasta sauce recipe from Roma region called Pasta all’amatriciana (it’s a tasty sauce made with tomatoes and bacon). Usually it’s served using the bucatini pasta (kind of huge spaghetti with a hole in its middle). An Italian woman was disgusted hearing her hairdress telling her colleague that preferred it with short pasta. She said: “Don’t ask me why. It is just as it is. Amatriciana must go with long pasta. How can one imagine cooking it with short pasta?” The same goes for pasta with oil and garlic (aglio e olio), you probably will never see it served using any other pasta that isn’t spaghetti.

Cappuccino

A lot of people around the world drink coffee and milk. In Italy, people use to drink cappuccino – a coffee and milk with addition of milk foam.

All around the world people drink coffee and milk whenever feels like doing it. Italians will never ask for a cappuccino in the evening! Why? It is just as it is. It’s not time to have a cappuccino. Cappuccino is for breakfast!

Italians do not accept someone who asks a cappuccino after, or even worse, together with dinner. They really twist their nose when they see someone doing it.

Drinking

In Italy there are bars everywhere. There are many small cities, having about 1,500 inhabitants that have about 20 bars. It happens because drinking in Italy is associated with greetings. When an Italian meet a friend, it’s natural to “drink something together”. If it happens to serve a drink to someone seat besides you, never turn the jar or the bottle against the natural way of your hand. For example, if you have the jar in your right hand, the glass must be on the left side, never behind, on the right side of your right hand. Otherwise it may not bring good luck.

Meals

In many countries it’s common to eat a salad as entrance.

Not in Italy.

Italians eat salad as a side plate for the second dish. Now you can find some tourist restaurants in main cities that propose rich salads for the tourists…but Italians never ask for them! Italians respects lunch time. If you come to visit Italy and want to have lunch, pay attention to restaurants’ closing times. Usually after 2:30pm the kitchens are all closed and you’ll have to eat a sandwich. If an Italian is travelling outside Italy, he will probably look for a restaurant during lunch time. If he doesn’t or cannot find one, and finds one at 3:00pm, he’ll probably say that is not hungry anymore, that he uses to eat at that time otherwise he loses his hunger.

Italians trust their food. While most of the tourists look for local food, considering it part of the vacation, it’s very common to see Italians looking for Italian restaurants while abroad. They seem to be afraid of new and different food.

They begin to open themselves to new food when go outside Italy more often and learn to appreciate and trust foreign cuisines.

Other than trusting and loving their own food, Italians hate when people try to mix other food cultures with Italian ones. An example? Never add ketchup to a pasta dish! You cannot imagine how your Italian friend will stare at you if you try to do so.

The interesting in all these is that they don’t do it for being presumptuous, but they really believe you’re wasting your taste. Italian culture still has a lot of “musts” that go with generations that just follow it without knowing why it is done in this or that way.

You want to learn italian? You can learn this language at the comfort of your own home: visit learn italian. There is no need to join an expensive language class when you can maximize your learning potential with an online Italian course: learn italian.

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Tasty And Healthy Italian Food

Posted by Food And Wine in Uncategorized on September 28th, 2009

Nowadays Italian food is getting popular day by day all over the world. People of every country have started liking this food. If you are one of them who like pasta very much then you must love this cooking because this is one of the main ingredients of most recipes. As with all ethnic foods, this eating uses its own group of spices. These are a number of most popular spices which are used in this cooking; these spices are garlic, oregano, basil and thyme. If you will use fresh spices in your cooking then it will really add a special touch to any dish, but if you are unable to find fresh and then you can use the dried spice. You can buy these spices in small quantities and you need not keep them stored in a cool, dark place, not over your stove on a rack.

The heart of this cooking or eating is the use of ingredients. These ingredients are available in all the seasons. These ingredients are used to change ordinary items into works of art in the form of pastas, side dishes, breads, sauces, main dishes, deserts and soups. The possibilities are rally endless and very exciting. If you are really Italian food lover then you must buy cookbooks so that you can easily increase the taste of your food. These are a number of recipe books that have pictures of the completed dish so that you will able to know what it should look like. These books can help you a lot if you have never seen the dish anywhere. It is really best to follow a recipe when you first start to learn a new recipe but don’t be panic to start experimenting once you have the basics down.

Following are some ingredients that you need to have in your grocery list.

1) Tomato Sauce:
Tomato Sauce is one of the important ingredients. You need not have to buy the expensive tomato sauce. The national brand or house brand at your nearby local grocery store will be fine in your Italian dish. Try not to buy from the “pre-seasoned” blends, as you will be adding your own spices and herbs.

2) Pasta:
It is highly recommended that you should not buy a huge quantity of any specific pasta. It is preferable to keep a little amount of the most regular types such as wide egg noodle, large and small shells, elbow macaroni, linguine and spaghetti. It will be good if you have storage so that you can keep the long noodles in a long container. Moreover, you can find many Tupperware makers that are specially design to keep the pasta in to maintain freshness.

3) Parmesan Cheese:
Freshly ground Parmesan cheese is always a welcome addition to the top of any Italian dish even though it may not always be needed in the ingredients of the recipe you are cooking. The famous cheese brand, Kraft, has a new product with a block of cheese in its container along with its grater.

4) Olive oil:
Olive oil is also one of the integral parts of ingredients. One of the mistakes that many Italian food amateurs make is using pricey olive oil for things like pan-frying. Using the standard olive oil, which is yellow in color, is just fine for this.

You want to learn italian? You can learn this language at the comfort of your own home: visit learn italian. There is no need to join an expensive language class when you can maximize your learning potential with an online Italian course: learn italian.

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I Love Italian Wine And Food – Vino Novello (New Wine).

Posted by Food And Wine in Uncategorized on September 27th, 2009

We interrupt our series on the wines of ItalyÂ’s twenty regions to present a very timely subject, Vino Novello, ItalyÂ’s version of New Wine. Once a year, starting in early November, Italy releases Vino Novello, to the delight of many, and to the eternal disappointment of many others. We describe New Wine, in particular the Italian version, and then taste locally available samples. Will you be delighted or disappointed with the 2006 offering? After reading this article, rush to your favorite wine store and sample the wines. Whether you are delighted or not, you probably will have fun.

What is exactly is new wine (vino novello in Italy; vin nouveau, often Beaujolais nouveau in France)? New wine is the first of the crop, released in early November. The exact date depends on the country. In 2006, Italy permitted the sale of Vino Novello on November 6th, beating France, the major player in the new wine market, by a full 10 days.

New wines are produced by a special method, carbonic maceration, in which whole grapes ferment in stainless steel tanks, often reaching a temperature of 25 to 30 degrees Centigrade (77 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit). This process lasts for about 5 to 20 days, and may be followed by crushing the grapes, which then undergo traditional fermentation for a few days. The exact procedure varies from one winemaker to another, but the ensuing wine is virtually tannin free. The lack of tannins implies a short shelf life. While you donÂ’t have to drink the wine immediately, most people finish the season by Easter.

New wines are usually colored bright red or violet. They tend to be fruity, tasting of cherry, strawberry, raspberry, banana, and freshly squeezed grapes, depending on the grape variety used, the production method, and the area in which the grapes are grown. Detractors talk about bubble gum, lollipops, nail polish, and jello. Many feel that new wine tastes of grape juice with alcohol. One thing is certain, if you donÂ’t like a given new wine, donÂ’t store it away to try it again in two years. It wonÂ’t improve with time.

Italy is a major producer of new wine, bringing to market about 18 million bottles a year. About one third of its output is exported to Germany. The most important Italian new wine regions are Veneto and Tuscany, followed by Piedmont and Trentino-Alto Adige. LetÂ’s take a closer look at two new wines.

Wines Reviewed Nosio Spa Novio Mezzacorona 2006 Vigneti Delle Dolomiti IGT 12% about $8.50 and

Cantina di Negrar Novello del Veneto IGT 12% about $8

I went to a small wine store and bought these two bottles on the day that the 2006 Beaujolais Nouveau was released (November 16, 2006). The following day I went to a major wine store, expecting additional offerings from Italy, but there were none. I did buy one bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau, which I will review in another article.

The Novio Mezzacorona is produced from Teroldego and Lagrein grapes native to the Trentino-Alto Adige region in northeastern Italy. Interestingly enough, the Teroldego grape is quite tannic. Furthermore, the Lagrein grape is known for meaty wines. Neither of these characteristics showed up in the final products.

The Novello del Veneto wine, with a designer label, is made from Corvina and Rondinella grapes native to the Veneto region in northeastern Italy. Interestingly enough, the Corvina grape is quite tannic, but you would never guess from tasting the final product. You may be familiar with these two grape varieties; they are the major components of Valpolicella and other well-known Veneto wines. IÂ’ll spare you the gushing marketing materials that purported to describe these two wines.

I first tasted these wines with braised, slow-cooked beef ribs and potatoes. The Novio Mezzacorona was fruity, a nice complement to the foodÂ’s grease. It lingered in my mouth. In contrast, the Veneto tasted of bubble gum, both with the meal and on its own.

The next tasting involved bagels and smoked salmon, accompanied by a dainty grilled artichoke dip and caponata, a savory Italian-style salad composed of eggplants (including their skin), tomatoes, and onions. The Novio Mezzacorona was weak when paired with the smoked salmon but handled itself better with the caponata. The wine showed its strength with the artichoke dip, without overpowering it. The Veneto was a bit fruitier with the smoked salmon, the bubble gum flavor no longer dominated.

Then I moved on to the cheeses. Asiago is a semi-sharp cheese produced in both the Trentino Alto-Adige and Veneto regions. The Novio Mezzacorona was almost pleasant with this cheese. The Veneto did better, it came close to being a winner. Montasio Veneto is a sharper cheese, produced in the Veneto region. This cheese overpowered the Novio Mezzacorona and rendered the Veneto wine flat.

The final tasting involved an omelette containing non-imported Provolone cheese, and once again a side of caponata. The Novio Mezzacorona was round and tasted of dark fruits but was quite short. It was more complex when imbibed with the caponata. The Veneto wine still tasted of bubble gum. It also tasted of dark fruits and was short.

Final verdict. For many years I have not been a fan of new wines. I taste them every year, and am always willing to change my mind. These two bottles gave me no reason to budge an inch. Having said this, there still is the Beaujolais Nouveau to taste and review. I cheated a bit; I bought the most expensive bottle available. LetÂ’s hope that it works out better than these two wines.

You want to learn italian? You can learn this language at the comfort of your own home: visit learn italian. There is no need to join an expensive language class when you can maximize your learning potential with an online Italian course: learn italian.

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A Broad Definition Of Italian Wine.

Posted by Food And Wine in Uncategorized on September 27th, 2009

There are many people who love everything about Italy, the food, the people, the country itself and of course the wines. Italy is considered as a romantic country and their excellent wines only add to that idea. Italian wines are made with passion and sun and that is what you taste. This is a country that produces more wine than any other country in the world and the export is enormous. There are hundreds of types of different Italian wines and that is because each wine area produces a specific kind of grapes and this gives every win a different taste. That is why getting to know the world of Italian wines can be quite complex.

There was a rumor that run for many years and was about a story that Italy kept there best wines for themselves and just exported the more generic ones to other countries. These wines were in fact fine and great wines, they were just not the absolute top. But this was a rumor and Italy is just getting rid of it in the last couple of years. Maybe that is because the times in wine making have changed because of practices and technology and a more global demand for the more exclusive Italian wines.

We can make many nuances in Italian wine but we can also roughly divide them in two different types the table wines and the more exclusive and expensive ones.

Lets start with the table wines

When we think of Italian family life, we think about large families who eat and drink together at long tables in the garden, grandmothers, fathers mothers, little children all together. Big bowls of pasta, and salads and wine lots of wine. These table wines are perfect with a robust meal and you can taste them also in most Italian restaurants. They are not expensive and are perfect for casual gatherings with friends and family. There are red and with table wines and you can serve them in a large glass jug. Most of these wines are fruity and slightly sweet, some are even sparkling and most are light bodied. Chianti is for example a very popular type of table wine, it is very affordable and many people like the taste of it.

And end with the more expensive wines

Italy has an enormous wine selection and a big part of this selection are the more exclusive and expensive wines, the price is a bit higher than the normal prices and that is justified. It all depends on the type of native grapes and the wine region where the exclusivity is based on. For example Tuscan wines are just from the province of Tuscan and no were else in the country, it can also be more specific and be pinpointed to a specific region in Tuscan and the type of grapes used. And because there are over 2,000 types of grapes that are grown all over Italy you can imagine the enormous variety of exclusive wines that are brought to the market. The possibilities are endless and this is the reason why exclusive Italian wines are complex to buy.

You want to learn italian? You can learn this language at the comfort of your own home: visit learn italian. There is no need to join an expensive language class when you can maximize your learning potential with an online Italian course: learn italian.

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I Love Italian Wine And Food – Reviewing The Reds

Posted by Food And Wine in Uncategorized on September 27th, 2009

I recently finished a wine tour of ItalyÂ’s twenty administrative regions, briefly describing each region prior to tasting a representative wine with food, and at least one imported Italian cheese. I enjoyed this experience so much that I plan to repeat it, but only after doing something similar for France and perhaps a few other countries. I am happy enough with Italian wine to continue to drink it for the rest of my days, but there are other wine-producing countries out there, and other wines to drink. I am going to give you a bit of a report on the red wines I encountered on this wine tour, but only after a quick summary of Italian red wines, as if such an endeavor was possible. Look for a similar article on Italian white wines.

You wouldnÂ’t be alone if you immediately think red when the subject of Italian wine is raised. In spite of extreme variations in climate, soil, elevation, and other geographical conditions, every single one of ItalyÂ’s twenty regions produces red wine. The percentage varies widely from 91 % in the southern region of Calabria to 16% in the central region of Latium.

The reality of Italy wine is more complex than first meets the eye. Who would have thought that Sicily, a southern Italian region if ever there was one, produces almost as much white wine as red wine? Considering that Sicily holds first place for Italian wine production thatÂ’s a lot of white wine. In fact, SicilyÂ’s annual white wine production is greater than the total wine production of all but five Italian regions. But this article is about Italian red wines, not Italian white wines.

In chronological order we tasted a red wine from the southern region of Calabria, the central region of Latium, the northern region of Piedmont, the southern region of Sardinia, the central region of Abbruzzi, the northern region of Lombardy, our only rosé wine from the southern region of Apulia, the northern region of Trentino-Alto Adige, the central region of Tuscany, two Vino Novellos (new wines) one from the northern region of Trentino-Alto Adige and the other from the northern region of Veneto, the southern region of Sicily, the central region of The Marche, the southern region of Bascilicata, and finally the northern region of Piedmont while describing its neighboring region of the Aosta Valley. I was unable to find a wine from the Aosta Valley. I am in the process of tasting a Riserva (longer-aged) version of this last wine, and will write an article when I have finished it.

These sixteen wines varied in classification from basically unclassified table wines to IGT, DOC, and DOCG. In short, all Italian wine classifications were represented. IGT stands for Indicazione Geografica Tipica, which may be translated as Typical Geographic Indication, in other words a wine that typifies its specific location. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin. DOCG stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Guarantita, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin.

The wines varied in price from $8 to $38 but only three bottles cost more than $21. Their alcohol content varied from 11.5% to 15% but only one bottle exceeded 13.5%. The vintages varied from 1999 to 2006, with slightly more than half in the range 2002 to 2004. The grapes used varied widely, including both international and strictly Italian varieties. Some wines included multiple grape varieties, while others did not. And now for the question that youÂ’ve been waiting for, what about the quality, and in particular the quality as a function of price? That too varied widely, there were both positive and negative surprises. We overpaid and there were definitely some bargains. Which was which? Read the articles.

You want to learn italian? You can learn this language at the comfort of your own home: visit learn italian. There is no need to join an expensive language class when you can maximize your learning potential with an online Italian course: learn italian.

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There Is A Reason Why People Love Italian Wines.

Posted by Food And Wine in Uncategorized on September 26th, 2009

Making wine is probably as old as humankind itself, and one of the oldest winemaking regions in the world is Italy. Italian wines traces their roots as far back as the Roman Empire, and probably even before that. Rome is the city that began bottling wines for ease of transportation, storage and use. Today, wines from Italy account for about one-fifth of all the wines produced in the world.

There are thousands of vineyards in Italy, and while many wines are produced in modern distilleries, some rustic villages still produce wine in the old fashion way by stomping the grapes under their bare feet, claiming this makes the wine taste the best. Commercially available wines are of course prepared under much more hygienic conditions, so don’t worry about the bottles you’re considering purchasing from your local wine shop.

The favorable weather of the Mediterranean area makes for very favorable growing conditions for Italian wines, and true wine connoisseurs know that weather has a great affect on the quality of the wines. There are also many different elevations along the coast of Italy, allowing the country to produce many different types of grapes and therefore types of wines.

Italian wines are typically much less sweet and a bit more dry and acidic than most other wines produced around the world. This makes them a typically better accompaniment for food than other wines, whose strong or fruity flavors may interfere with the taste of your meal. Most restaurants therefore are known to carry a wide variety of Italian wines, most especially those that specialize in Italian food! Real wine lovers know that it’s almost perverse to have a French wine with Italian food.

Italy has certified some 350 grapes for use in their wines, and there are some 500 other varieties and hybrid varieties that are used for Italian wines. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are two of the most commonly used for red wine, and chardonnay and reisling for white wines.

The country of course prides itself on its wine varieties, and so laws are somewhat stringent when it comes to how they can be labeled and referred. However, some winemakers took it upon themselves to step away from common blends and grapes used in order to produce richer and more flavorful wines. The term “Super Tuscan” refers to Italian wines that do not have the traditional blending of grapes that one would typically find in the different regions. Some of these blending varieties were initially labeled as “table wines” by the Italian appellation system, but that term is seen as somewhat derogatory, and so makers of these Italian wines began to use the term Super Tuscan.

If you’re looking to expand your list of favorites, then you must consider Italian wines. There is such a wide variety, and the winemakers take such pride in their product, that you are sure to find many that are just to your liking. So the next time you are at an Italian restaurant be sure to try one of the fine wines available, you will be pleasantly surprised.

You want to learn italian? You can learn this language at the comfort of your own home: visit learn italian. There is no need to join an expensive language class when you can maximize your learning potential with an online Italian course: learn italian.

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How to Throw a Wine Dinner: A Chic Style of Dining for Father's …

Posted by Food And Wine in Wine Musings on June 4th, 2009

In the early 70’s, people use to plan the food menu first—meat with red wine and fish with white wine were applied. However, the wine lifestyle has changed all that around. Today, the wine makes the statement—only food that the wines …

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How to Throw a Wine Dinner: A Chic Style of Dining for Father's …

Tags: dinner-party, wine, wine-selection, technology, dining, language
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