May
5
Baked millet with squash
May 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I started using millet few years ago when my doctor told me to eliminate wheat from my diet for awhile and since then I developed some recipes that now are part of my family’s eating habits. I was also very surprised that when I introduced solids in my baby’s diet he loved millet right from the start, first as ground flour or flakes and later as hulled seeds.
In modern times millet has been mostly known as bird food, but it has been now reintroduced as an important element in everyday nutrition mainly by persons that want to have a healthier way of living as well as a more varied diet. I discovered that millet is mostly cultivated for cereal in Africa, in the Middle East and Asia and been consumed by the populations of these regions for many centuries though prepared in different ways. In China it was considered by the ancient Chinese one the the five sacred crops, drank as wine during the Han period and prepared as a gruel cooked in milk during the Ming dynasty. In Italy it was already utilized during the Roman empire mostly as flour and mixed with other flours to prepare flat bread as well as in India where it’s still used to make roti. Read more
Apr
28
La Festa della Sparasina
April 28, 2008 | 1 Comment
Every year in Pigozzo, a small village about 10 kilometres from Verona, they celebrate the Festa della sparasina, the Wild Asparagus Festival. Sparasina is the word in dialect for Asparagus Acutifolius from the family of Liliaceae. These wild asparagus grow spontaneously in the woods and close to rivers between April and May, and it’s in this period that the Festival takes place.
I’ve always heard of this Festival but I’ve never been to it or to Pigozzo. This year I saw the advertisement and decided to go right away. Pigozzo is a really small village surrounded by hills that are covered by vineyards, olive trees and forests which made for a perfect setting. It was a fantastic day, sun was shining and the weather was so warm that I ate outside. Read more
Apr
16
Echoes of winter: Mostarda
April 16, 2008 | 1 Comment
It’s spring, warm weather, flowers blooming or at least I thought it was spring. In the last few days it has been cold again so I decided to allow myself one last winter treat, I bought Mostarda Di Cremona
A must in the Italian cuisine during the winter and especially at Christmas time. Mostarda is served along with other typical sauces with bollito misto (boiled meats) a real traditional Italian dish. It is also served with cheeses or used in the fillings like Tortelli con la zucca (tortelli with squash) . I love to eat it accompanied with fresh and creamy Stracchino cheese (Crescenza) as you can see in the picture above but most people prefers to eat it with Mascarpone cheese. I personally think that Stracchino is much lighter and tastier. Read more
Mar
22
Colomba symbol of peace
March 22, 2008 | 2 Comments
Easter is one of the most important Christian holidays in Italy. A celebration of the death an the rebirth of Christ. After church on Easter Sunday most families gather at the table to have Easter dinner together. Easter dinner in Italy is usually concluded with a cake that takes on one of the most recognizable symbols of Easter, the dove. The Colomba cake takes on this shape precisely because the word ‘Colomba’ in Italian means dove. Thus, it is a fitting dessert as a symbol of peace to finish Easter Dinner.
The Colomba cake finds its roots in Lombardia even if some believe it is from Northern Europe. There are are different legends that surround its birth. Here is one of them. Read more
Nov
18
Pizza al Taglio
November 18, 2007 | 9 Comments
Pizza al taglio (pizza by the slice) is typically Italian and you can find plenty of places all around Italy. It can be a great snack but we usually buy it for dinner when we want to eat something special, when we have friends coming over or simply because we’re tired and don’t want to cook. It’s not a fast food type even if lately some fast food pizza appeared here too, however they have nothing to do with the real Pizza al Taglio.
Pizza al taglio is still home made, the place I always go to still uses the rolling pin to flatten and shape the dough. Pizza al taglio is prepared in big squared iron pan, it’s much thicker than the pizza you find in the pizzeria. The secret they told me for a good pizza is to bake the whole pizza at the same time. I explain better, some places cook the dough first and then when you go to buy the pizza they add the topping and cook it again. The result is not bad, but the one I buy is much better. The dough is really soft but well cooked and it tastes different. Read more
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