Today I actually wanted to post about the current shambolic state of Italian football, however I thought best of it as I may upset a few people. Therefore instead I’ll praise the Italian national rugby team who fought like lions today in Rome and valiantly attempted to beat the undoubtedly technically superior English team. The game ended 12-17 to England however the Italians (uncharacteristically) had the game by the scruff of the neck for long stretches and even kept up the pressure when they were reduced to 14 men. As the team improves year after year we can only hope for our first victory against England in the six nations, until that time Forza Azzurri!
Hi everyone, today I have a cheeky non culinary recommendation for you. I watched this film a while ago and it instantly became one of my all time favourites. It tells the story of two boys born in Northern Italy on the same down but follow very different paths. One is the son of a landowner while the other is born illiterately to one of the workers on the estate.
The story is set in the period 1900-45, a period of great political, social and cultural unrest within Italy, after all the country had only just been united. As the landed gentry abuse the antiquated feudal system they begin to make Communists and Socialists from the peasants. The gentry/Church react with Fascism and the films central concept is born. Robert De Niro and Barlon Brando also star in this classic and if that’s not enough to convince you to go out and buy it then take a peak at the snippet I posted below.
Just something to bear in mind, the film runs for around 5 hours. However when you bear in mind that it attempts to tell the story of Italy for ½ a century it doesn’t seem that long…does it?
Hi everyone, today I have a cheeky non culinary recommendation for you. I watched this film a while ago and it instantly became one of my all time favourites. It tells the story of two boys born in Northern Italy on the same down but follow very different paths. One is the son of a landowner while the other is born illiterately to one of the workers on the estate.
The story is set in the period 1900-45, a period of great political, social and cultural unrest within Italy, after all the country had only just been united. As the landed gentry abuse the antiquated feudal system they begin to make Communists and Socialists from the peasants. The gentry/Church react with Fascism and the films central concept is born. Robert De Niro and Barlon Brando also star in this classic and if that’s not enough to convince you to go out and buy it then take a peak at the snippet I posted below.
Just something to bear in mind, the film runs for around 5 hours. However when you bear in mind that it attempts to tell the story of Italy for ½ a century it doesn’t seem that long…does it?
So as promised this is my favorite Tiramisu’ recipe. I recommend to make this desert well in advance so that while it sits in the fridge the flavors can mingle and blend beautifully. Also don’t take the quantities here as a rule, use them as a guideline, if you prefer a Tiramisu’ that tastes strongly of Marsala don’t be afraid to add a little extra!
Warning: This recipe is to be served in glass desert bowls as I think it looks a little more classy!
Ingredients (8 Serving):
350ml cold espresso
6 tbls Marsala wine
3 eggs, separated
3 tbls caster sugar
300g mascarpone cheese
250ml whipped double cream
Around 30 savoiardi biscuits
Good quality Cocoa powder to dusting
Preparation:
Add the coffee to a bowl and then mix in 3 tbls of Marsala
In another bowl beat the egg yolks and the sugar until thick. Now add the mascarpone and mix very well. After this use a spoon to mix in the 250ml of whipped cream.
Now comes the hardest bit ( it’s still fairly simple mind you ). In another bowl beat the egg whites until peaks form, quickly fold this into the cream mixture. Before the volume and air content decreases add the rest of the marsala.
Now for the savoiardi, dip each biscuit in the coffee/marsala mixture for only around 2 seconds to ensure that they remain crunchy and don’t go too soggy. Do this with all the savoiardi and layer the bottom of the dishes. On top of the biscuits add the cream mixture. Repeat until you read the top of the dishes and then neaten the surface, clingfilm and chill.
To prevent the cocoa powder going bitter make sure you add it just before you serve.
The origins of Tiramisu’ are pretty uncertain because many regions claim to have invented this national dish. The general consensus seems to be that it was invented in either Tuscany, Piedmont or Veneto.
The official version is that Tiramisu’ was invented in the seventeenth century in Siena by the city’s pasticcieri to celebrate the arrival of the Granduke Cosimo de Medici, a man known for his sweet tooth. At the time the desert was called “zuppa del duca” which translates to “The Dukes” pudding. It seems that it was popular with the Duke because he ended up taking it to Florence and from there the recipe spread to the rest of Italy. It was a favorite of Italian courtesans who appreciated its stimulating and aphrodisiac properties and the name Tiramisu’ or pick me up in Italian stems from these very qualities.
The non official version is that the desert was invented by a pasticcere in Turin in honor of the Count of Cavour ( Camillo Benso ) to keep him awake in his difficult task of unifying Italy.
So there you go, 2 of the many theories of how the Tiramisu’ was invented. Stay tuned because tomorrow I will be posting my best Tiramisu’ recipe!
My cooking mantra is that simple food cooked with the best ingredients is much better than overcomplicated fancy dishes. So today’s recipe is a fish dish that is very easy to get to grips with, and will hopefully impress your guests!
Ingredients (1 Person)
160 g Fresh Sardines ( It is important to get this part right )
20g breadcrumbs
Extra virgin olive oil
White wine vinegar
Rosemary
Lemon Juice
Method:
First de-scale and gut the sardines, make sure you wash them afterward.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Marinate the sardines in the white wine vinegar for around 60 minutes.
Rinse them and cover with the breadcrumbs, now place them in an oven dish (one with a lid will help keep the moisture in). Depending on the size of the sardines they need to be baked in a pre-heated oven for around 10-15 mins.
In a bowl add some extra virgin olive oil, rosemary and lemon juice. When the fish is ready drizzle some of this dressing on the top and serve immediately.
The first time I ever tried pasta all’ortolana was in Bolzano in the extreme north of Italy. This is pretty strange considering that it is a popular dish around Campania ( where I’m originally from ), I’d just never stumbled across it. It is a historical dish that can trace it’s conception back to farmers who would try to use up whatever they had left in their vegetable gardens from summer. It is a very simple dish to make, you just need to have the patience to ensure the vegetables are cooked in the right sequence starting from those that need the longest.
Anyway it is one of my favorite pasta dishes and hopefully when you try it it will become one of yours too!
Ingredients for 4 people:
350gr pasta (I prefer gnocchi)
1 large onion
1 stick of celery
2 aubergines
2 carrots
1 yellow pepper
3 courgettes
10 baby tomatos
basil
salt, chili
20gr Parmesan
Method:
Slice the onion in largish pieces and fry in a large frying pan with plenty of extra virgin olive oil, the celery and chilli.
Once the onion is blonde add the aubergine (cut into chunks), leave the skin on.
After about 2 minutes add the carrot (cut into chunks ).
After around 5 minutes add the pepper (make sure it is cleaned properly and cut into strips).
After 2 minutes add the courgettes ( you guessed it..cut into similar chunks ) and straight after that cut the tomatoes in quarters and add those too.
If the vegetable mix looks very dry add a glass of water. Finish cooking on a gentle heat until all the vegetables are cooked. Add the basil and parsley when you have finished cooking.
Now cook the gnocchi in plenty of salted water. Drain and add to the sauce. Plate up and add the Parmesan cheese, if you’re lucky enough to live near an Italian delicatessen add some Scarmorza too, this will melt beautifully and compliment the dish.
This dish needs around 40/60 mins cooking time and make sure the sauce is always cooked on a gentle heat!
On Monday the Italian agriculture minister Luca Zaia kick started McDonald’s new attempt to find success in the Italian market by launching a new “McItaly” burger in Rome. Basically McItaly is an attempt to produce a product more suited to the Italian palate and will only use ingredients from Italian farmers. Now from some of my earlier posts you have have gotten the idea that I’m quite against standardization of food in Italy, thus my support for the slow food movement. However…no you’re right, I think this is another stupid step in devaluing our regional heritage and an attempt to stamp out our differences in favour of a more homogeneous Italy ( something that anyone who has any experience of Italy will know is near impossible) .
Of course someone will also be profiting and despite Zaia’s claim that McItaly will “bring to the Italian farmers €3,448,000 of additional income a month” the cynic in me seems to disagree and past experiences should point to the fact that the farmers that benefit will be cherry picked by the administration ( or will in fact be part of it).
I read a quote on the internet yesterday that kind of sums up my thoughts about this situation, the quote went like this, “the trouble for you foreigners is that Italians speak in dialect and eat in dialect.”. This diversity is the reason why our cuisine is revered around the world and pushing McItaly’s standardization on our future generations will only serve to erode our culinary heritage.
Unsurprisingly Carlo Petrini ( the founder of the slow movement ) has already voiced his concerns in an article published on La Repubblica and I hope more Italians stand up and are willing to oppose this erosion of our patrimony. McDonald’s never really had a place in Italy and in my opinion neither should McItaly.
I have to say that one of my favourite things to eat when I go to Italy is traditional Gelato. The fact that I helped run a Gelateria in the UK for 2 years may make me somewhat of a Gelato fascist but understanding the mechanics of why Gelato is so good ( and in my opinion so superior to other types of ice cream) is a natural progression from enjoying the desert when on holiday in Italy.
So why is Gelato so good? Well first of all Gelato is served at a higher temperature, this means that we are able to taste more of the flavours, ice cream served in America and the UK is served colder so that you are not able to taste anything (as there is simply very little to taste). Gelato is also much better for you, It’s fat content is a meagre 3-4% compared to the 10-12% of other ice cream’s.
Furthermore Gelato contains much less air, around 24-30% whereas American ice cream contains around 50%. So you get much more bang for your buck as well as a more intense,dense flavour. Finally the sheer number of flavours that Gelato comes in is mind boggling, because Gelato is almost always made with traditional small scale production methods creativity is unbridled. An example of some of the wacky flavours I used to come up with are, Guinness, Ferrero Rocher and Tiramisu’. Thanks for reading….I hope I’ve not made you as hungry as I’ve made myself!
