Tag: Cuisine

How to Eat Italian Food in Italy

If you want to get to the heart of Italian food, it’s best to go the source. For an authentic experience you don’t just need to get into the country of Italy, you need to get into Italian homes where traditional Italian food was birthed. That’s right, if you want to get to the heart of the cuisine you need to go where it’s cooked and served from the heart, in an actual Italian home.

There are some differences to the layout of an Italian home cooked meal versus other cuisines that you’ll want to be aware of. First off, real Italian food is not meant just to bring sustenance; it exists to bring family and friends together. An Italian meal is at least three to four courses and is not something to be rushed through. Meals in general are longer in Italy because of the cultural view that meal times are not just about feeding the body, but about feeding the soul.

One of the most surprising things to foreigners about an Italian meal is the first course it typically the most filling. There is an antipasti or appetizer course, but there is no salad or soup to ease your way into the meal. Right from the antipasti diners delve into the primo or “first course”. This is the course that will look most familiar to foreigners because it is where that delicious pasta that Italian food is famous for is served. This primo course is where most people’s knowledge of Italian food ends. Few people realize that there is much more to Italian food than just this primo pasta.

The next part of the meal is the secondo or “second course”. Here is the main dish. Yes, that’s right, the pasta that was just served in the primo, while filling, is not the main dish. The second course is where you’ll find the meat of the meal. In the North there will most likely be veal, pork, or chicken. In the South and coastal regions you’re more likely to find freshly caught fish. With this course will come a contorno or “side dish”. This is where you’ll get a chance to get your daily vegetables in. Traditionally this will come in the form of a fresh salad.

To end the meal diners get not one, but two desserts. The first is a cheese and fruit course that will help prepare you for the dolce or main dessert. The dolce will be the rich dessert of the evening, such as cake. Of course, the meal will end with coffee or espresso, a classical capstone to the array of Italian food that has been served. However, there is one last course to come that foreigners may not be so familiar with. The last course is actually the digestive course and consists of liquors and is often referred to as the “coffee killer”.

After having an authentic dining experience as the one outlined above, foreigners will leave Italy with a much better grasp on what Italian food is. There is more to this fine cuisine than pasta and pizzas. In fact, by the time the “coffee killer” comes around the primo pasta course is starting to fade in memory, buried by the exciting meat dishes, fresh vegetables, fruits, cheeses, and coffees that have made Italian food one of the most sought after cuisines in Europe.

Dine in Style Every Day With a Few Simple Steps

In Italy, stylish dining has long been embraced as a relaxing way to unwind after a busy day. So before you order takeout and eat in front of the television, take a cue from the Italians and make each meal a treat.

Whether dining alone, with family or with your closest friends, turn an otherwise hurried meal into a chic expression of style with these tips from Ecco Domani Italian wines.

* Determine the dcor. Whether you are dining at the kitchen table or in a more formal setting, it’s easy to add some pizzazz to your surroundings. Candles cast a warm glow once the sun goes down. Strands of small lights also enhance the mood; string them around the room or even bunch them in a Mason jar for a funky tabletop display.

* Master the art of mood music. Mellow jazz will help take the edge off a long day, and classical music can help lift your mood. Consider tailoring the music around the type of cuisine you are serving. For an Italian meal, for instance, play an assortment of Italian opera.

If you’re dining with family or friends, get them involved by inviting them to bring their favorite CDs. Set your disc player to shuffle so that everyone’s music selection gets played during the meal.

* Create a stylish menu. To help you unwind, it’s best to keep your meal simple. Luckily, delicious meals are a snap to make with fresh, easy-to-prepare foods. And you can add flair to any basic dish with just a few additions.

For an Italian meal, a tomato, basil and mozzarella salad is always a crowd-pleaser. Drizzle chicken and fish with olive oil and lemon for a fresh, light flavor. And dust colorful veggies with Italian seasonings to bring out their natural flavors.

Whatever your menu, be sure to select a delicious wine to accompany the meal. Ecco Domani 2003 Pinot Grigio is a perfect wine for everyday dining because of its crisp, fresh flavor, which pairs perfectly with today’s light cuisine.

It is easy to infuse any setting with glamour by adding a few small touches. In the end, nothing says style like taking the time to make each meal special. – NU

Gourmet Recipes – Choosing the Right Gourmet Recipes Online

You can log into the internet and do a search for gourmet recipies, and you will immediately have a wide variety of different completely mouth watering and totally irresistible recipes that you can print out and try right now. You can try these gourmet recipies at home with your family or you can cook for your friends and your loved ones. While many online recipes are protected by the people that developed them, there are too many gourmet recipies available online for completely free, meaning that you can print them out and try them tonight.

The first thing that you need to consider when it comes to finding online gourmet recipies is whether or not you are making the best choices. Any time that you feel in the mood for cooking gourmet food at home, the following information will prove to be extremely useful. Understanding what the concept of gourmet means and is all about is an important foundation for understanding how you can create gourmet cuisine of your own. Gourmet is a concept that has everything to do with the sensuous enjoyment of food as well as drink. Gourmet, by definition, is an ideal that is associated with culinary arts and the creation of fine food and fine drink.

* When making gourmet recipies at home, you want to make sure that you are always using the freshest and the highest quality ingredients. Any recipe that is requiring a specific cut of meat needs to use that specific cut of meat, even if it may cost a little more to do it the way that the gourmet recipies dictate. There are elements that make gourmet eating what it is, and messing with these elements will spoil your chances of a real gourmet meal.

* While you are cooking, you may want to use a convection oven rather than a conventional oven, and yes, this does matter when it comes to gourmet recipies. You should probably need to use a temperature converter to make sure that you are making the necessary heating adjustments depending on what type of oven you are using and what type of oven was used when the gourmet recipies were developed.

* Sometimes you will come across ingredients in your gourmet recipies that will be difficult for you to find. Unfortunately, when you substitute items in a gourmet recipe, you may be messing up the final results. For this reason, you do need to make sure that you are using the exact ingredients that are being called out for in the gourmet recipies that you are following, otherwise you may not end up with what the recipe developer intended, which spoils the entire concept of a recipe-driven gourmet meal.

Follow these simple rules for gourmet recipies and you should be able to turn out some truly wonderful gourmet meals for yourself, your friends and family and other loved ones.

What It Takes to Become a Celebrity Chef

Jamie Oliver. Anthony Bourdaine. Hiroyuki Sakai. These names have been known throughout the world for their cooking ability. What does it take to become the greatest celebrity chef? How can a person gain fame from cooking and showing people how to cook? Well, here are a few factors that can be easily observed from the greatest celebrity chefs today:

Exposure In order to become the greatest celebrity chef, one must have been exposed to the delights of food. You might say that most people today are exposed to that from the time that they are babies. However, what this factor pertains to is the actual delight of food. What most people have been exposed to is the requirement for food. What you need to look for is the delight of food. Most celebrity chefs have been exposed to this at a very young age. In fact, celebrity chefs today can still remember the taste of the food which started them on their quest for cuisine.

Although exposure at a young age can help you become the greatest celebrity chef, it is never too late to get it. In fact, there are those who worked in restaurants because of a great need and there, gained the exposure which influenced them throughout their careers. You can choose to travel or even just experiment around at home to get it.

Passion In order to become the greatest celebrity chef, you need to be passionate about food. People should be able to feel your love for food. People who watch celebrity chefs on television today will be able to sense whether or not someone is passionate about food. If you want to become the greatest celebrity chef, your initial exposure to great food should instill within you a passion for even greater dishes. This passion is the reason why many celebrity chefs today can be seen traveling far and wide for new experiences and better food.

Experience Every celebrity chef needs to have experience. After all, how can people put their trust in your skills if they are unproven? If you want to become the greatest celebrity chef, then you must be known to have worked at one restaurant or another. Otherwise, you have to be content as a critic. Do you think that in order to become a celebrity chef, all you need to do is go up to a television executive? No, you need to prove your skills. Most celebrity chefs today did not set out to become celebrity chefs, they merely wanted to become skilled in cooking and it is through their cooking that they have gained fame.

Charisma Of course, in order to become the greatest celebrity chef, you need to connect with people in a special way. This means that you need charisma. Charisma can be pretty hard to define but basically, it is what allows celebrities to become celebrities. It is that certain quality which attracts people to you. Celebrity chefs became famous because people found them appealing.

Cooking is usually a boring subject, but with charisma, you will be able to share the passion that you have with your audience. This will be what differentiates you from other chefs. In order to become the greatest celebrity chef, you need to have this special factor. Otherwise, you’ll remain to be mediocre in the sight of the public.

Where to Find Chinese Recipes

Finding Chinese recipes is usually pretty easy. Chinese food is loved all around the world and many people are more than willing to pass on their favorite recipes.

These can be in cookbooks, on television shows, and on the Internet. If you are new to Chinese cooking, you might want to try out a few free recipes before spending any money on a new book though.

For a beginner who really wants to learn the basics of Chinese cooking and find some great and easy recipes, nothing can beat the Internet. There are tons of websites out there that have nothing but recipes for all kinds of cuisine.

Many are specially geared toward Chinese food. Some might make you register with the site but most give you recipes for free. You can print them out or save them for when you are ready to start cooking.

Television is a great way to learn about Chinese recipes and what it takes to make them. The food networks get a lot of ratings with Chinese cooking shows and competitions.

The food is interesting to watch being made and always looks delicious. It can be hard to write down a recipe while watching someone cook it so a digital recorder can help make sure you dont miss anything.

The old fashioned way is sometimes the best way. A nice Chinese recipe cookbook cant be beat most of the time. If you get a very large one, you can pick and choose from any Chinese dish you can imagine.

They often include common substitutions and cooking tips as well as helpful advice for the beginner.