Florence And The Birth Of The Modern Gelato

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By Stefano Becheroni


The good season is getting closer. Time for sun, cold drinks, light clothes and, of course, gelati! Any tourist wondering through the Florentine beauties will soon discover that the Tuscan summer can be hot, really hot. This is how he will probably start looking -pretty desperately- for something refreshing, and this is how he'll reach the closest gelateria. If he is staying in an apartment, he will buy the biggest gelato cup available and will run to chuck it straight into the freezer. You wouldn't want to run out of gelato on a hot, Florentine summer night, would you?

Top 5 cookery courses in italy

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Author: Kristel van Winkel

PIZZA, PASTA & HOLIDAYS- the 5 best cookery courses in Italy
You love Italian food, than this is the perfect activity for your next journey to Italy.
Learn to make the perfect pasta, a delicious tiramisu and lots of other traditional Italian dishes whereas enjoying great Italian wines and the beautiful country. It will be a truly memorable event.

What You'll Learn at Cooking Classes in Sicily

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By James Iozia


If you want to take cooking classes in Sicily during your vacation, you might be interested in something called "culinary travel". Culinary travel combines informal cooking classes with a tour of the island. You might call it a "tour of Sicilian food". But, you'll also get to see the craftsmen and the famous archaeological sites.


The group tours start in the market place, where tourists learn how the fresh ingredients are selected. Freshness accounts for some of the virtues of Sicilian food. The primary ingredients are grown locally, purchased at a farmer's market and usually cooked the same day.
Once the ingredients are selected, you can participate in hands-on cooking classes in Sicily restaurants or private homes, depending on the group that you tour with. You can also sample traditional Sicilian food by participating in "Agritourism".

Sicilian Food - A Guide to Food in Sicily

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By Orson Johnson


Sicily's varied climate produces crops that are intrinsically flavorful, particularly those grown in the rich soil fertilized by Mount Etna's eruptions. Due to the quality and natural flavor of Sicilian-grown vegetables, the local cuisine is usually simple so as not to overpower the taste buds with a combination of too many strong flavors.
Sicilian cooking generally centers around rich red tomatoes, lentils, meatballs, plenty of fish, olive oil, capers, tuna couscous dishes, and sweet pastries. Flavorful Sicilian cheeses are also used in many dishes. Ricotta is a local favorite for quite a few recipes. Marsala wine is also used in many dishes to enhance the flavor of the ingredients and a glass of Sicilian wine makes a terrific accompaniment to many Sicilian dishes.

Pasta - In Any Shape Still the Same

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By Constance Grayson

One can hardly think of Italy without thinking of pasta. The two just go hand-in-hand like peanut butter and jelly or Lucy and Ethel. For years, I had heard the legend that the recipe and technique for making pasta had come back to Italy with Marco Polo after he had traveled to China.
Later research seems to disprove that. Evidence of pasta in Italy has been found in the Etruscan and Roman times. Nonetheless, pasta is truly the quintessential Italian food dish.
Pasta is essentially made from the same recipe regardless of shape-just flour and water, sometimes a pinch of salt or egg-easily mixed together and rolled out. The different shapes do, however, have a function. The shape of the pasta will control how much sauce will be retained with each bite. This affects the ultimate taste to the eater.

Two Cultures - One Experience

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By Constance Grayson
I sit in the piazza after my lunch, dopo il pranzo, and ask myself one question. Is there any food on earth as sensual as a cone of gelato? I have just sat on the low brick wall in the piazza, feeling the daily warmer sun of this spring on my back, and savored a cone of half coffee, half chocolate chip gellato. An old man in a cooper colored suede jacket and faded blue trousers makes his bent-over way beside me. He must have heard my moan of sheer pleasure as I ran my tongue around my ice cream cone for he caught my eye and smiled-that ageless smile that acknowledged between his time and mine, his culture and mine, that sometimes the purely physical is simply exquisite.

Learn Catalan Cuisine at These Cooking Classes in Barcelona

Image by Jen SFO-BCN via FlickrBy M Ottersen
Madrid has recently become one of the most exciting culinary destinations in Europe. But we love the cuisine of Catalonia. Just as Barcelona has unique language, art, and architecture, the food there is also fresh and original.
The sunny climate means there's wonderful produce in abundance, and plenty of Mediterranean seafood and shellfish. And, of course, plenty of good wine to accompany your meal.
One of our favorite beverages in Barcelona was sangria made with Cava, the Spanish version of Champagne. Lighter and cleaner than the traditional red wine sangria, Cava sangria is made with lemons, limes, oranges, and occasionally strawberries. It's delightfully refreshing on a hot, summer day.
Cooking is an integral part of Catalonion culture and many of their traditions are based around food and enjoying good meals. Taking cooking classes in Barcelona will acquaint you with not only the cuisine, but also the culture, which the Catalonians fiercely try to preserve.
Romans, Jews, and Arabs have all been the dominant culture at one time or another, and each has left a mark on the local cuisine. Delicious and healthy, it makes the most of local ingredients, especially seafood.

Barcelona is blessed with one of the best food markets in Europe - La Boqueria - and many of the cooking classes in Barcelona start with a visit there. It's a great place to gather ingredients for a feast or simple picnic lunch. And it's a fun spot to grab a churro and hot chocolate for breakfast.
One of the most popular cooking classes is taught by Cook & Taste, which has taught more than 4,000 students. They offer 3-1/2 hour classes at 11AM and 5PM every day of the week. Following a trip to the market, students learn to make traditional dishes like paella, gazpacho, tortilla Espanol, and assorted tapas. Students with more time can take a three-day advanced class.
Another good choice is Catacurian, which has general classes, as well as classes that focus on tapas, paellas, or other specific dishes. Meals are served with wine from Priorat, cava, coffee, and brandy. The cost depends on how many people sign up.
GotoLearn offers both half and full-day classes from their school near the Placa San Jaume. Because classes are limited to a dozen participants, students receive personal attention.
Travelers staying in an apartment with a kitchen in Barcelona can call CatalanCooking. They'll come to your apartment and give you a cooking class there. Classes can be taught in English, German, or French, and you can choose from several three-course menus.
Find cooking classes in Florence, or Rome.

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Florence, Italy Cooking Classes

Image via WikipediaBy M Ottersen
Some of the best food in Italy comes from Tuscany. And as the region's most visited city, Florence is the center of Tuscan cuisine. Unlike the food from Southern Italy, the cooking here doesn't rely on tomatoes, cheese, and other ingredients that Americans link to Italian food.
Here, the emphasis is on seasonal local ingredients like wild boar, asparagus, truffles, and rabbit. And, of course, many dishes are prepared with the excellent wines from the region. Most of the dishes are easy to make, full of flavor, and designed to stick to the ribs.

If you'll be in Florence for a few days, and you'd like to learn more about Tuscan cuisine and how to prepare it, half- or full-day cooking classes are a fun way to meet others, have a good meal, and acquire some new skills. Several classes are taught in English most days of the week.
One of the best-known cooking schools is the Culinary Institute of Florence, which falls under the Apicius International School of Hospitality. Students can take everything from a one-day course to a masters degree program here. If you have the time, the one-week program includes individual and group lessons, wine tastings, markets visits, and more.
Silvia Maccari is a well-known Italian cookbook author and food expert who teaches classes in her lovely apartment. The day starts with a tour of the San Lorenzo market, where student pick up what they'll use to prepare their meal. Back at the apartment, the class makes four courses, and then enjoys them together with wines that Silvia has selected to go best with the dishes.
The Scuola de Arte Caulinaria Cordon Bleu has been in the center of Florence since opening in 1985. Travelers who want to learn something specific, like making chocolates, pastas, or appetizers will find a wide variety of courses at this cooking school, ranging in length from one day to three months.
Well-known chef Giuliano Bugialli has been teaching classes at his Cooking in Florence since 1973. The school is located in Bugialli's 15th-century farmhouse in the Tuscan countryside. At the week-long course, students learn to make about 35 dishes, and enjoy dinners at local restaurants, wine tastings, and visits to area food producers.
Claudio Piantini teaches at the luxurious Relais Torres Guelfa in Figline Valdarno. One of the best parts of taking a class here is touring the beautiful cook's gardens that Piantini keeps and using the fresh herbs, vegetables, and fruits for the meal. When the weather is nice, dinner is served on the pool-side terrace.
Californian Judy Francini started Divina Cucina after moving to Italy in the 1980s. She offers one-day and one-week classes to a mostly American clientele. On Mondays, classes include a tour of the market and lunch at a charming Florence trattoria. On Wednesdays, classes are held at a friend's villa in the country.
 
Find more cooking classes in Florence, or classes in Rome

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Bassano del Grappa and Italy's White Asparagus Season - WSJ.com

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Bassano del Grappa and Italy's White Asparagus Season - WSJ.com

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Italian Mortadella Bologna, An IGT Product

Italian Mortadella Bologna, An IGT Product: "

Mortadella Bologna is a close relative to what many American’s think of as Bologna. An Oscar Mayer commercial from the 1970s made Bologna famous but that product, despite this adorable commercial, has little to do with Mortadella from Italy.

Mortadella is made from a mix of finely ground pork, pork fat, salt and pepper. It is somewhat spicy and very compact. It is delicate and light and is almost sweet. The product has a long history and has been called Mortadella Bologna since 1661 the year in which Cardinal Farnese set out the standard rules of making the product. The word Mortadella is instead from the Roman era and comes from the word for a kitchen utensil called a mortarium in latin or mortaio which was used to press pork meat.

The process to make Mortadella starts with a mixture of the above mentioned ingredients. This blend is then put into a skin and is cooked in the oven with dry heat. After cooking, the product is left to cool.

Mortadella can be eaten at anytime. Here is a great recipe which uses Mortadella on Crostini.

Ingredients:

300 grams of Mortadella
Panna da Cucina (cooking cream)
40 grams of Ricotta
30 grams of grated Parmigiano
1 tbs of Brandy
4 slices of thick bread

Put the Mortadella in the blender and whip until you get a fine mixture, adding the brandy, the ricotta cheese and blend a tad more. Whip the cream (panna) and blend it in with the mixture together with some parmigiano cheese. Put this mousse in the refrigerator and let it rest. When you are ready, spread it on slices of toasted bread.

This dish can be paired with a light and fruity red wine such as a Dolcetto d’Alba or a young Barbera d’Asti. Check out what is happening with the Barbera grape at this website Barbera2010.

Filed under: Cooking, Emilia Romagna "

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The Inner- Gourmet: Recipe: Holy Cannoli !

The Inner- Gourmet: Recipe: Holy Cannoli !

After careful research, I decided on a Sicilian type cannoli. The difference with a Sicilian cannoli and that of a regular cannoli is that the shell is made with cinnamon and Marsala wine. Let me tell you the taste of the shell is ...