www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrUJv6vrxl4

http://www.lacucinaitaliana.it

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Chef Matteo Carboni from the Academia Barilla Culinary School shares with us in this video a few info and Chef tips on the summertime ingredient of the month: melon. For more Italian food recipes visit Academia Barilla’s web site: www.academiabarilla.com

Go to any family restaurant with Italian dining in mind and you are likely to order chicken parmesan, pasta alfredo, spaghetti and meatballs, or maybe a pizza. It is easy to think that some pasta, some marinara sauce, a crust of Italian bread and a glass of wine is the beginning and end of Italian cuisine, especially if you grew up in the United States.There is much more than red sauce and starch on the agenda for most Italian regional cuisines, and with all of the various regions and cultures in the boot on the ocean, Italian regional cuisines have as much range as your average New York City block.

There is the tourist region of Tuscany, on the northwestern coast of Italy. Tuscany is sought out for its simple but delicious dishes, seasoned sparingly with basil, parsley, and thyme. Tuscan bread and a little bit of olive oil is a big part of the seafood dishes of the Tuscan region.

Abruzzo, a little known treasure in the middle eastern section of the boot mixes chili peppers into almost all of their dishes. Like many other regions in Italy, there is a mixture of mountain and seafood dishes. Pasta is very often a first course, instead of a part of a stew or entrée. Most of the chefs in the Abruzzo region are skilled at hand rolling their own stuffed pastas, and crepes are used in meat dishes, rolled in savory sauces or put in to broths. Polenta is enjoyed with hearty sausages and rich, meaty sauces.

Sardinia, an island off of the western coast of Italy is home to a rich fishing tradition as well as a beautiful mountainous inland landscape. This, in addition to a rich heritage of not only Italians, but also Arabs, French, Greeks, and Spaniards, has made the island home to a diverse culture of seafood and meat dishes spiced with fennel and saffron. Stews and rich, hearty pastas make up a large part of the local cuisine in Sardinia, as well as sheep milk’s cheese.

Emilia-Romagna is perhaps the most sought out region of Italy in terms of local cuisine. It is often called the market basket of Italy. Located in northern Italy, Emilia-Romagna is home to many of Italy’s most renowned dishes, like Prosciutto di Parma, Mortadella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and balsamic vinegar. Chefs in the Emilia Romagna region have a penchant for gregarious presentation and rich spices.

Much like the American idea of Chinese food, the American idea of Italian food is only the tip of the iceberg. Italian regional cuisine is marked by the country’s locality to northern Africa and other Mediterranean countries, as well as a diverse local landscape, ranging from mountains to oceans. Sheppards, shopkeepers, farmers, and fisherman all contribute to one of the most diverse cultural cuisines in the world. Next time you are in the mood for Italian food, try something a little bit different than your usual spaghetti and meatballs, maybe a saffron seafood stew or a polenta. Rest assured, you won’t think of the words “Italian cuisine” the same again.

More about Italian food and wine:
Discover even more about Italian food and wine and find out what your fellow travellers think recommend to try while in Italy here:
http://www.italytravelnotes.com/category/italian-food-and-wine/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiITFNKK4T0

Discover with Chef Matteo Carboni how to prepare the perfect marinade for you barbeque. Don’t miss these Chef tips about fish and meet marinades. If you liked this recipe find more at http://www.academiabarilla.com

Gourmet Italian Food

Dining in restaurants with Italian names does not immediately make you an expert in Italian cuisine. This is because more than 90% of Italian restaurants really do not pass as genuine. You may be eating at an Italian restaurant but reality is that you are not eating real Italian dishes. You may not even be able to tell gourmet Italian food from plain fast food spaghetti. But if you have a discerning palette that is attuned to the inherent flavors of Italian cuisine, then you will be able to taste which really is which.

You will have to take note of the flavor first. Italian cuisine is famed for being simple. Don’t expect to try an Italian dish that overpowers your palette. The American style of cooking is just too strong with too much spices and additives added to the dishes. But you should know that Italian cuisine is striking the right balance between flavor and restraint. Of course there are some Italian dishes that are quite robust but they never have unnecessary flavor added to them. Italian cuisine is all about letting the delicate and subtle flavors of the ingredients just shine through and not hide them at all. You can always know if you are really in an original Italian restaurant by sampling their pasta sauce. For example when you order a dish like spaghettini ai frutti di mare, do you taste more of the the pasta sauce than the seafood? If so, you must be in the wrong place. Italians make sure that their tomato sauce is just there to complement the food and not to hide the original flavors of the pasta or the seafood. And if you notice that the sauce sticks to the pasta a lot better, you are likely to be eating homemade pasta. Homemade pastas are unlike dried pastas in that sauces stick to it a lot better. Eating homemade pasta is also a lot lighter on the stomach so you won’t have that heavy feeling after finishing your meal.

You should also know how gourmet Italian desserts taste like since they are still a part of the menu. Italians are famed for mixing in different fruit zests and peels in their cakes and pastries. They may even add some fruit liquor in their desserts yet the taste will still be particularly light. The reason for the lightness is because Italians are not fans of adding to much sweeteners. Most of their recipes wont need heavy cream or margarine. Like their savory counterparts, Italian desserts show the flavors of the ingredients and not just simple sweetening thing up.

More about Italian food and wine:
Discover even more about Italian food and wine and find out what your fellow travellers think recommend to try while in Italy here:
http://www.italytravelnotes.com/category/italian-food-and-wine/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYgKLp2Eahc

Pinzimonio is an easy and fresh way to eat mixed vegetables as appetizer or like side dish for your summer BBQ. Chef Matteo Carboni from the Academia Barilla Culinary School shows us how to prepare the vegetables and the right proportion for the vinaigrette you will use to dress your pinzimonio. For print this recipe: http://www.academiabarilla.com/recipe…

A vacation to Italy will change what kind of food you would categorize as Italian food. Throughout your Italian vacation, you will find a varied selection of Italian food that will be very different than most of the Italian food that is served in the United States. The food that is served in Italy by the people who live there and in the restaurants is often a surprise to a lot of people who visit Italy. Visitors often expect to eat pizza, pasta, and traditional red spaghetti sauce the whole time. While you will definitely be able to enjoy these foods, you will also be able to enjoy plenty of regional Italian food as well. Regardless of where in Italy you are eating though, you should make it a point to try the dishes that are made with locally grown ingredients and paired with some of Italys great local wines.

There are three regions in Italy; there is Northern Italy, Central Italy, and Southern Italy. Each has Italian dishes that reflect the food available in their region.

Northern Italys Cuisine

The meals that you will find in Northern Italy are probably not what you are expecting. For instance, they dont use a lot of olive oil, pasta, or tomato sauce. Instead, they use a lot of butter, rice, corn polenta, wild game off the countryside (i.e. wild fowl, rabbit and quail) and a lot of seafood and fish originating in nearby streams and rivers.

Central Italys Cuisine

What we have come to know as Italian food actually originates in Central Italy. This is where Tuscany is located, which is where Italian cooking was born. Here you will eat Italian food cooked with plenty of olive oil, cheeses, and rich tomato sauce. In addition to what is commonly known as Italian food, you will also enjoy a lot of great seafood dishes because of the many coastal areas that are located here.

Southern Italys Cuisine

You will find the perfect olive oil here in Southern Italy. A lot of this olive oil isnt even exported anywhere so you will definitely want to make time to experience its taste while visiting this area of Italy. Naples is one of the many well-known cities that are located here. This town is known for its pizza. There is also a lot of great citrus fruit grown in this region. It is in Southern Italys that you will find numerous vineyards, with some of the very best wines.

A cooking class in Italy will assure you the ability to eat real Italian at home whenever you want. Cooking classes will last only a few hours to half a day. They will cost you anywhere between $150 to $250 (2010). Many of these classes are actually hosted by families in their homes while others are held in small inns or at bed and breakfasts. Excellent chefs who not only manage restaurants but also have written their own Italian cookbooks teach some of these classes. They are ready to teach you how to prepare the food and how to pair the food that you make with wines to create delicious meals.

If you cant visit Italy, you can buy an Italian cookbook that separates the recipes by region or go to an authentic Italian restaurant to taste diffrent regional Italian dishes. In Florida you can go to Mama Jennies Italian Restaurant, Catering, and Pizzeria for delicious Italian food.

More about Italian food and wine:
Discover even more about Italian food and wine and find out what your fellow travellers think recommend to try while in Italy here:
http://www.italytravelnotes.com/category/italian-food-and-wine/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqWT3iqW2Ic

Chef Matteo Carboni from the Academia Barilla Culinary School shows us how to prepare a Grape Must Jelly, and teaches us how to make grape must jelly desserts. More gourmet recipes at our web site: http://www.academiabarilla.com

While some of the most popular dishes associated with the Italian culture include a tempting slice of pizza and a heaping plate of pasta, there is much more to the world of Italian cooking. Throughout the many regions in Italy, the distinctive cuisine of the Italians shines through in a wide-range of eating habits, styles of cooking, and selection of local ingredients. The changing of the times has also influenced Italian food, as the meals served in the pre-Roman era possess both similarities and differences in the cuisine of today.

The culinary history of Italy established a reputation more than 2,000 years ago, which includes an illustrious movement during the Roman Empire. Culturally, food preparation was quite important in the past where flashes of significance have been captured in the only surviving cookbook (Apicius), which dates back to the first century BC.

The spread of Italian food diversity began after the fall of the Roman Empire when individual city states began to uphold separate identities and traditions. Each region began to display its own unique way of cooking, right down to the formation of a meatball to the characteristic cheeses and wine produced in a locale. The north developed Tuscan beef, while black truffles were very popular in Marches. Provolone and mozzarella cheeses developed in the south, as well as a host of interesting citrus fruits.

Diverse types of bread, variations in pasta, and varying food preparation techniques also differed according to region. The southern regions of Italy embrace hard-boiled spaghetti, while the north often prefers a soft egg noodle. Milan is known for their risotto, while Bologna has a deep history regarding tortellini, and Naples is famous for their pizzas.

Over the years, Italian cuisine has greatly evolved in part because of a wealth of outside influences that have added to its characteristic flavor and appeal. In the beginning, ancient Greek cookery became an integrated part of Italian cuisine. Eventually, a wealth of imports found their way into the kitchens of early Italians, who sent Roman ships to collect a variety of important foods, including wheat, wine, exotic ingredients, and fine spices from around the world. Some ships even traveled to faraway locations, such as China, to bring back edible resources that catapulted the depth and variety of Italian cooking styles.

Coastal regions are known for their developments in delicious fish and seafood dishes. For example, the island of Sardinia supplies a more traditional and simple style of cuisine, which often incorporated delicacies, associated with the sea. Swordfish, lobster, anchovies, sardines, and other Mediterranean treats represent Italian cooking of the area. In Sicily (another island region), a great deal of the cooking drew heavily from North African influences. An Arab influence also affected cuisine on the island and within the rest of the south, especially with the introduction of various spices and sweets, such as the Sicilian ice cream cake called cassata.

As for one of the most popular Italian dishes, while the history books often state that pasta was a product of the Chinese brought back by Venetian merchant, Marco Polo, it was actually a rediscovery of a food item eaten during Etruscan and Roman times. It is believed that the first pasta in Italy was made similar to the noodles of today – from the same durum wheat – which was cooked in ovens instead of boiled in water.

Today, the differences in Italian cooking still show through in the distinctions between the north and the south. Each region still carries their own traditions in cooking that reflects deep history and culture with a never ending supply of main courses, appetizers, and desserts that continuously tempts the taste buds.

More about Italian food and wine:
Discover even more about Italian food and wine and find out what your fellow travellers think recommend to try while in Italy here:
http://www.italytravelnotes.com/category/italian-food-and-wine/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2yRfWWSPeg

Discover how to taste cheese. Academia Barilla Chef Sergio Maria Teutonico will teach us how to taste cheese. The short film is focused on Pecorino Gran Cru by Academia Barilla, and explains you how to find all the flavors hidden in the cheese. If you want to know more about Italian food and the Italian products have a look at our web site: http://www.academiabarilla.com/