In The Kitchen With Gianna

Gianna is not a Michelin Star cook. She is not the proud chef of her own restaurant. Gianna is simply an “ordinary” Italian Mamma, who loves cooking and is extremely good at it. Everybody who has had the pleasure of trying one of her dishes is raving about her skills: Her pizze, for example, are a mouth-watering combination of a perfect base, genuine mozzarella, homemade tomato sauce and fresh toppings, and reveal their wonderful flavour after their passage in a wood fired oven.

This shy woman lives in Le Marche, a beautiful a beautiful region in the centre of Italy, perhaps less known as her Tuscany or Umbria neighbours but with a strong food culture. Gianna prefers to prepare dishes for guests in the comfort of her own home, surrounded by her beloved utensils, but will on occasions cook in the kitchen of another house should the menu require perfect timing. Other signature dishes of hers include the very simple but heavenly combination of melon and prosciutto (cured ham), pork or beef stews served with grilled vegetables or scrumptious fruit tarts to give the meal a final sweet note.

It goes without saying that she excels at preparing many pasta variations. Her ravioli di ricotta are a must, but even more so is a specialty of the Marches: Lasagna Vincisgrassi. Instead of being prepared with a Bolognese and therefore beef mincemeat, veal is used for the fragrant, non-tomato based sauce. Other ingredients include fresh vegetables in the form of porcini mushrooms, celery, onions and carrots, as well as cream, Marsala wine and a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. The recipe originated from the pretty town of Macerata and the story surrounding its name is interesting: Lasagna Vincesgrassi was allegedly invented by a local chef for an Austrian general, Prince Windischgratz, who was leading a branch of the Austrian army stationed in Le Marche at the end of the eighteenth century. His name was given an Italian twist and has remained ever since.

With the importance of the Slow Food movement, which incidentally was started in Italy by Carlo Petrini in the mid-eighties, authentic dishes prepared with local, preferably organic ingredients and traditional farming and cooking methods are getting more popular every day. People’s concern for what appears on their plates is growing, and easily found information is helping them with their food choices.

Given this prominent trend, Gianna’s cooking style and the succulent lasagna Vincisgrassi are here to stay for many, many more years.



Article Source: Articlesbase/Travel/Destinations 
Author: K J S

Lentils, Sausages & Red Underwear – Italian New Year Traditions

Article first published as Lentils, Sausages & Red Underwear: Italian New Year Traditions on Technorati.

Christmas has come and gone already. The last remains of the panettone and croccante have been eaten on Boxing Day, and these few days between the celebrations of the birth of Jesus and the arrival of the New Year are a bit subdued. People lucky enough to be on holiday sleep in and go for walks, or take advantage of the sales in their favourite shops. The ones who had to go into work find that not much is going on. It is as if time is standing still.

On December 31^st, this all changes. The preparations for New Year's Eve start and there is a feeling of excitement in the air again. Leaving the current year behind and looking forward to the new one always bring a fresh burst of optimism and happiness. If you are celebrating at home with family and friends, you will most probably be cooking “cotechino e lenticchie”. This is a traditional dish featuring fresh pork sausages and lentils. Both ingredients are important: eating pork and lentils means that the coming year will be a prosperous one for you. As you prepare this recipe for the big night, its fragrant aroma filling your kitchen, and when later on you enjoy the delicious taste of it, you cannot help but believe that this belief is indeed true.

The best way to buy cotechino is raw, as opposed to pre-cooked, as it will give even more flavour to the casserole. As for the lentils, the best one are said to come form Castelluccio di Norcia, a lovely village located in stunning Umbria. This dish is so popular that should you decide to go out you will find it on the menu in many restaurants, either in its usual form or revamped for the occasion.

Another interesting tradition is to wear read underwear for good luck. But beware: not any old or simply already worn red underwear will do. No, it has to be new, and to have been given as a gift to you. One may wonder how much of the shops turnover sales of red underwear account for at the end of the year!

In some regions, people will also eat pomegranate, another symbol of prosperity and abundance, or chuck old objects out of the window (the latter mostly in the south).

As for the following traditions, they are shared with many other countries: to kiss under the mistletoe, fireworks at midnight and to welcome the New Year with a glass sparkling wine. The most popular choices are a bottle coming from the Franciacorta wine region (Lombardy), Prosecco (Veneto) or simply the local "spumante" or "frizzante".

Happy New Year!

A Traditional Italian Family Christmas

Article first published as A Traditional Italian Family Christmas on Technorati.

When I was a child, Christmas was without a doubt the biggest event of the year. Even though I come from Switzerland and spent a good part of my life in this country, the influence of my Italian Grandmother, a Piedmont native, won over. Our Christmas celebrations, year after year, had a definite Italian shine to them.

First of all, there was none of this splitting the family at Christmas or gathering in different houses. The whole family met in my Grandmother's home for three days in a row. Extra tables and chairs were brought from our neighbouring houses, allowing everybody to sit and eat comfortably. The white table clothes and napkins came out of their cupboard, and the three long tables were prettily decorated. Numerous presents were carefully piled under the colourful Christmas tree so that the crib would not be disturbed. Us children had real trouble going to sleep the night before when our favourite day was so close.

On Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, serious action happened in the kitchen under my Grandma's orders. New recipes were tried every year on Christmas Eve, and I cannot recall one time when we thought one of the dishes was only average. The food was always delicious. We would start the festivities by some of the adults going to the early Christmas mass with the children, then come home and unwrap the presents while enjoying the aperitif. There was many a scream of delight as we discovered one of the toys we had so wished for. Once the excitement had died down a bit, it was time to eat and enjoy the warm family atmosphere. After the feast, the adults who had stayed home earlier would then go to the midnight mass, while the children collapsed into bed, exhausted.

Christmas Day saw the slow roasting of a massive turkey. The bird would be stuffed with a filling featuring chestnuts and the aroma made you feel hungry well before it was time for lunch. Sometimes black truffles would also be used, and I have this distinct image of incredibly thin mushroom slices being inserted in cuts in the turkey. Once out of the oven, the delicate truffle taste had perfumed the meat exquisitely.

Of course there was always far too much food prepared over these two days, which is why it became the tradition to all meet again on Boxing Day. Leftovers would then be eaten in a convivial manner. When there was not that much turkey left, the meat would be used to make a Bolognese sauce and homemade gnocchi then featured on the menu.

It has been a while since these childhood Christmases, but still today I cannot eat gnocchi without thinking about the lovely times we had.

A Trip to Italy with Jamie

Article first published as A Trip To Italy With Jamie on Technorati.

 

Is it still necessary to present Jamie Oliver? The talented chef, who started his career at Neal’s Yard and The River Café before setting up on his own, has become a star. Restaurants, TV shows, a foundation, campaigns to promote healthy eating, kitchen accessories and food range, the list is endless. Of course, there are the cookbooks. Almost twenty of them.

One of my favourites is “Jamie’s Italy”. It starts with the book cover. Jamie may be English, but it looks like his heart belongs to Italy. The chef is obviously very relaxed, sitting outside on a red stool against a wall whose paint has seen better days, his foot propped up against an old Fiat Cinquecento. He is eating spaghetti coated in a tomato sauce, and the expression on his face says it all. It gives you the urge to open the book and start cooking straight away.

To gather the recipes, Jamie embarked on a tour of the country in a VW bus with a kitchen built in a trailer, allowing him to easily cook wherever he stopped. Tuscany, the Marches, Sicily, etc, Jamie clearly had a genuine and deep connection to the people he met during his peregrinations, as the photos attest. A lot of smiles and hand gestures going on, and touching moments such as Jamie observing an old man repairing his fishnet, pouring a glass of wine for a shepherd or making pasta with four generations of women. When I browse through this publication and take the time to look at the pictures, it makes me want to visit the night markets of Palermo to taste these chickpea fritters or to enter a pasta competition in Le Marche!

The book delivers more than 120 of classic and new recipes, classified under:
Antipasti (Starters)
Street Food and Pizze
First Dishes (featuring soups, pasta and risotto)
Salads
Second Dishes (featuring fish and meat)
Side Dishes
Desserts

“Jamie’s Italy” focuses on authentic, mouthwatering food, best eaten with family and friends. Italians “Mamas” revealed their pasta making secrets to Jamie and owners of “agroturismo” inns welcomed him into their way of life. The warmth of the exchanges Jamie had with locals also transpires in the writing and the way the recipes are introduced. Yes, this love of food and sharing makes its way into your home too. I have yet to try all the recipes, but the ones my family and I already prepared received high praise, from us as well as from our guests. Needless to say, only empty plates and dishes were returned to the kitchen.

Pasta, Pasta

One of the many aspects of Italian culture that is famous worldwide is its impressive food offering. Who has never tried a fragrant pizza coming out of a wood-fired oven, or a steaming pasta dish featuring a delicious, flavoursome sauce? Exactly, so here are a few pasta facts for you.

It is said that Marco Polo was the person who introduced pasta in Italy when he came back from his adventures in China. The Venetian explorer may well have brought back pasta with him, but the fact is that it was present already in his home country. There are tales of the ancestor of the pasta, called "lagane", also made out of wheat and reminiscent of lasagne, as early as the Etruscans. Noodle certainly showed up again during the invasion of Italy by the Arabs, a few centuries later. Since then, the production of fresh and dried pasta has been thriving, becoming more and more popular.

Dried pasta is ideal to store due to its keeping for a long time, and it is simple and quick to prepare. The next big step in the history of the pasta happened in the nineteenth century, when it found its ideal match, the tomato. Today, at least three hundred and fifty different shapes have been accounted for in Italy. And if you add to this count the various regional versions, who knows how big the number is going to be? Conchiglie, linguine, farfalle, orecchiette, to name but a few, their exotic-sounding names add to the enjoyment of eating them. There is also a reason why pasta is shaped differently: it is to marvelously marry with the sauce accompanying it. The long sort, spaghetti for instance, is best eaten with light and airy sauces, using a tomato or olive oil base. The flat sort, think tagliatelle, is perfect for thick, creamy sauces. As for the tubular version such as penne, they will go best with a chunky topping. And finally, there is also a wide variety of stuffed pasta – spinach and ricotta filled ravioli, anyone? – and soup pasta, beloved by children when alphabet- or star-shaped!

If you are feeling adventurous, why not try some unusual recipes? For vegetarian options, go for sun-dried tomatoes and tofu, pesto with a twist as you add avocado to that classic dish, or pumpkin, sage and walnuts. With fish, try scallops in an orange sauce or tuna, artichokes and peppers. And for meat lovers, hot chicken and tomato sauce or, as a winter dish, cabbage and spare ribs!

So, are you hungry yet? Then you might want to go and hunt in your cupboards, it would be surprising if they do not hold at least one packet of pasta…