Central Italy Food and Wine

Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2011

The food from this part of the country is a very simple, peasant cooking that uses a lot of extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, beans, hams and salami. Fresh fish is available along the coast.

Some typical dishes:

• Cured meats and hams – A platter of sliced Parma Ham, prosciutto cotto (cooked ham), mortadella, wild boar salami, which is often presented as hors d'oeuvres.
• Crostini – Toasted bite-sized pieces of bread topped with olive, anchovy, tomato, liver or mushroom paste.
• Tortellini – Egg pasta stuffed with meat or cheese, served either in a broth or topped with a rich tomato sauce.
• Rigatoni al ragu – Typical dish from Bologna, the pasta is covered with a rich tomato sauce cooked with minced beef.
• Cannelloni – Large stuffed pasta tubes filled with cheese and spinach or minced beef, coated with tomato and cheese sauce.
• Bistecca alla Fiorentina – Very large tender steak grilled over open fire, generally seasoned only with a little salt and olive oil.
• Cinghiale – Wild boar, generally grilled, typical of the Maremma area in Tuscany.
• Panforte – Rich nut cake spiced with cinnamon and cloves.
• Ricciarelli – These biscuits are made from almond flour, orange peel and honey.
• Cantucci – Sweet nut biscuits generally served at the end of a meal with Vin Santo, a dessert wine.

Wines: Everywhere you look in central Italy you can find vineyards. The best come from the hills of South-eastern Tuscany, like the red Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano or the Brunello di Montalcino wines. Lovely white wines that generally accompany a traditional dinner are the Tuscan Vernaccia di Gimignano, a fresh, dry Orvieto Classico from Umbria, or a crisp particular Verdicchio from the Marche region.

Ready to taste the cuisine of Central Italy?  Start planning an Italy tour vacation for 2012.

Food Network Guided Vacation to Italy

Posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Copyright © 2011 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved.

Italy Food and Wine Vacation

Posted on Thursday, October 20, 2011

Italy has a 3,000 year tradition in winemaking. Grapes are grown in almost every part of Italy, with over 20 wine regions including Veneto, Umbria, Tuscany, Sicily, Sardinia, Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Campania, Calabria and Abruzzo.

If you have been reading through our blog, you have also read how different the good can be in each region of Italy. A great way to experience Italy's food and wine, it to take a cooking school vacation.

For example there are travel packages that include a week in the countryside of Tuscany and small group cooking lessons with a fine local chef. One such program is called "A Classic Tuscan Table with Chef Claudio". You can also stay in a villa/hotel or in a B&B and visit the local produce markets and bakeries as well. Often excursions are included to visit the local culture and view the architecture.

These unique vacations are from 2 to 7 nights in length and if one of the guests is an eater but not a cook you can opt out of the lessons (and not be charged for that portion.) If you don't find a region that you are interested in on our site, please call as we can normalize arrange any date as long as there are 2 or more people in your group.

We work with only a handful of specialty partners who provide personal, well run and complete cooking school vacation. Everything you need is included. The staff is unfailingly gracious, friendly and helpful. You really get the feel of "living" in the Italy, not just being a tourist.

Written by Lois G
sslois@shipshop.com

Southern Italy and Sicily Food and Wine

Posted on Thursday, September 29, 2011

You can distinguish southern cuisine because of its wide variety of seafood, fresh tasty vegetables, rich olive oil, and, of course, basil and oregano. All this makes it one of the most healthful, most envied diets in the world. The best Italian olives come from the Puglia Region, and are often marinated in garlic oil or covered with crushed chili.

Some typical dishes:

• Maccheroni con le Sarde – Typical Sicilian pasta dish with sardines, pine nuts, raisins and bread crumbs.
• Frutti di Mare – Sauteed mussels and cockles. Char-grilled lobster, prawns or scampi and squid generally dressed with olive oil and some lemon juice.
• Pizza Napoletana – Soft crust pizza with tomato, garlic, anchovies and oregano. This is only one of many ways of topping pizza.
• Pesce Spada – A favorite in Sicily, swordfish steak is generally grilled, accompanied by eggplants cooked in a sweet and sour tomato sauce (Caponata).
• Cassata Siciliana – Ricotta cheese and candied fruit covered by marzipan.
• Torrone – A sweet nougat with nuts and almonds, often served during the Christmas season.
• Cannoli alla Siciliana – Tube-shaped biscuits stuffed with ricotta cheese, chocolate chips and candied fruit.
• Cheese – Battipaglia, near Naples, is home to the world famous Mozzarella di Bufala, made with buffalo milk and often served with sliced tomatoes and basil leaves  – the classic Caprese Salad. Scamorza, generally served grilled with Parma Ham, which is typical of Basilicata. Provolone, either mild or piquant, and ricotta cheese, used both for pasta dishes and for desserts.

Wines: Since the bronze age, wine has been produced in the south of Italy. The biggest regional producer of wine in Italy is Puglia, and some of the best Italian wines come from Sicily. Marsala wine – it takes its name from its city – has been in production since the 18th century, when it became famous thanks to Admiral Nelson, who ordered huge quantities of it after the Battle of the Nile.

Food & Wine in Rome & Lazio

Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2011

"Cucina Romanesca" relies on using fresh seasonal products from the countryside near Rome. Typical vegetables include artichokes, mushrooms, and the ever-present, strongly flavored rughetta selvaggia – arugola or rocket salad. Most dishes are very richly seasoned with garlic, sage, bay leaves and onions, and often topped with grated Pecorino, a strong flavored goat's cheese.

Some typical dishes:

• Carciofi Fritti – Artichokes dipped in batter and deep fried in oil.
• Fiori di zucca – Zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella cheese and anchovies, dipped in batter and fried.
• Suppli di riso – Rice croquettes with mozzarella filling, covered in bread crumbs and fried.
• Filetti di Baccala – Fried battered cod fillets, one of the main dishes in the Roman Jewish cuisine, like the fried artichokes.
• Gnocchi alla Romana – Semolina dumplings grilled with grated cheese and melted butter.
• Bucatini all'Amatriciana – Spaghetti style pasta with a rich tomato, onion and bacon sauce, and served with grated pecorino.
• Spaghetti alla Carbonara – This creamy pasta dish is made with fresh eggs, crispy bacon, parmesan cheese and grated black pepper.
• Saltimbocca alla Romana – Veal slices skewered with ham and sage leaves.
• Coda alla Vaccianara – Braised oxtail cooked in a spiced tomato sauce, typical of Rome.
• Torta alla Ricotta – Cheesecake filled with ricotta, lemon and candied fruit.

Wines: The Romans began wine-producing over 2,000 years ago on the same hills that still surround the city of Rome. Roman wines are all made from the same variety of grape, the Trebbiano, so most local wines, from the Frascati to the Colli Albani or Marino are white, and fairly similar in taste. Local red is rather rare; Romans drink reds from other parts of the country. A meal is often accompanied not by wine but a chilled beer, generally a Moretti or a Nastro Azzurro, light Italian lagers.

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