Tag: aperitif

Eating in via Veneto, waiting for the rebirth of the sweet life – Italian Cuisine

Eating in via Veneto in Rome, the most famous street in the capital, was not easy. But something is changing. Because via Veneto is being reborn after years of oblivion and it is doing so starting from the kitchen. Roman and Italian-American.

The first scandalous striptease

It all began, officially, on 5 November 1958, with the party for the twenty-fourth birthday of Countess Olghina di Robilant at the Rugantino in Trastevere: here the Turkish-Armenian dancer Aïché Nana performed the famous striptease, ending up half naked in all the newspapers of the time. Rome had become the international capital of entertainment and social life, and its epicenter was Via Veneto. Due to the presence of the most luxurious hotels and clubs open until dawn, Via Veneto has been the meeting point for VIPs, actors, night owls and paparazzi for twenty years. Here they stayed and spent their evenings, among the bars, lobbies and hotel rooms that made the history of the street. AtHarry’s Bar Frank Sinatra played the piano and even today in the evening we dine with the background of the piano bar. Since 1962 he has animated Rome by Night and hosted Hollywood actors visiting the capital, but it has nothing to do with Venice, so there’s no point in looking for a plate of carpaccio.

The great beauty: a construction site

In 2013 it was the set of The great beauty by Paolo Sorrentino, a film that photographed the upper class of Roman salons, good and even decadent. «The great beauty It is to The sweet life like the Via Veneto of today is the Via Veneto of 1959. Now it is just a street of luxury hotels where it is in vain to seek the nocturnal atmosphere of the past” wrote Alessandra Levantesi Kezich, film critic for “La Stampa”, on the occasion of the his exit. Well yes, because it really is it is useless to come to via Veneto in search of cafés crowded with artists, intellectuals, stars and photographers. Over the years, other neighborhoods have made their way into the preferences of Romans and tourists and Via Veneto has remained comfortable on its laurels. Today Via Veneto is a construction site.

Between public and private, there is the project (already started) of redevelop the urban planning aspect and to relaunch the historic premises to bring back Via Veneto great again. Many prestigious hotels are currently closed or under renovation: the first hotel on via Veneto, the Hotel Majestic, inaugurated in 1889 and designed by the architect Gaetano Koch, author among others of the nearby American embassy building and the Bank of Italy building (Palazzo Koch), has closed its doors and has been acquired by Boscalt Hospitality (Rothschild) and will be renovated. The Westin Excelsior Rome, designed by architect Otto Mariani in the early twentieth century in neo-baroque style, has been bought and will close shortly for renovations. The Grand Hotel Via Veneto will be transformed into a Nobu Hotel and Restaurant, although it is not yet known when. Not far away, in via Boncompagni, work has begun on the new Mandarin Oriental. The only discordant note, for the Cafè de Paris, however, after the seizure and ten years of closure, the shutter still remains lowered and everything is silent. The street is still divided in two, to the south apart Signorvino it’s still all a construction site or bars serving American Breakfast for a few euros, whereas towards the north the rebirth has already begun.

Make Dolce Vita Great Again

First to lead the rebirth consortium, the InterContinental Rome Ambasciatori Palace, named in honor of the nearby American embassy. Built as the ambassador’s residence, then transformed into a library, it is the first five-star hotel to inaugurate the new course of the most famous street in the capital. One hundred and sixty rooms with a pure leisure vocation, a design that takes inspiration from the Roman style, a rooftop with a view and a restaurant NYC shoe which attracts an audience of American and local tourists; which in via Veneto still means Americans. Scarpetta NYC is a short circuit: a restaurant serving Italian-American cuisinewanted by a New Yorker, inspired by the concept of The sweet life, hence the name of the LDV Hospitality group. A foreign format that embodies Italianness abroad, and not an attempt to bastardize Italian cuisine to meet the tastes of others. Homemade pasta and bread, spaghetti with tomato sauce (and butter, very creamy) and steak house menus, just like in the United States. Much loved by expats, diplomats, American citizens of Rome and even traveling tourists who thus rediscover the flavors of home and a place where they feel transported to New York. Via Veneto is in fact an American outpost in Italy, it is no coincidence that the first Italian Hard Rock Cafe opened here, way back in 1998, and one of the most famous nightclubs in the capital (opened in 1972) is right in the area and is called Jackie O’ , named after the iconic Jacqueline Kennedy, JFK’s widow, who became Mrs. Onassis in 1968.

The aperitif in Parma – Italian Cuisine – Italian Cuisine

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Gluten-free aperitif: many ideas to try – Italian Cuisine

Vegetables, cheeses, cold cuts, but not only: with the right ingredients you can also prepare pizzas and sandwiches, for a truly appetizing and completely safe aperitif for those who cannot consume gluten

The aperitif time marks the end of work: it does not just mean "have a drink", but also relax, unplug. And obviously nibbling on many good things. For those with celiac disease (or those who are intolerant to gluten), most of the standard snacks, such as croutons and crackers, pizzas and puff pastries, are taboo. Hence the need for reinvent the aperitif.

Gluten-free aperitif: many naturally gluten-free proposals

A gluten-free aperitif may include diced cheese and cured meat (obviously choosing from those allowed), hazelnuts and almonds lightly toasted in the oven, perhaps scented with a touch of paprika or other spices, chips (allowed) and vegetable chips, to be prepared by drying very thin slices of pumpkin, courgette, beetroot or other vegetables in the oven. And speaking of vegetables, an inviting and colorful idea is a pinzimonio: seasonal vegetables in sticks to be served with oil, salt and pepper or with your favorite sauces. And still olives, pickles, pickles … in short, there are so many alternatives.

Finally, also with regard to pizzas and pretzels, you certainly don't need to give up. They can be prepared starting from ready-made bases of gluten-free puff pastry or shortcrust pastry: easily available in supermarkets, garnished as desired and baked in the oven, just like those with gluten. Or, you can create bespoke appetizers following your own inventiveness and some targeted recipes, obviously using suitable ingredients. Here are 5 tasty proposals for a gluten-free aperitif!

Savory gluten-free almond biscuits

To prepare them, you must first mix 250 g of gluten-free flour with a pinch of salt, one of paprika (if you like) and 120 g of grated Parmesan cheese; knead quickly with 130 g of butter into small pieces, then add an egg and a yolk and knead briefly. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 4 hours, then roll it out to about one centimeter thick and cut it out with a mold to form the biscuits. Garnish each biscuit with an almond and bake them at 180 ° C for about a quarter of an hour.

Farinata lozenges

To prepare the farinata, in a bowl, dilute the chickpea flour with cold water added slowly: for 500 g of flour, one and a half liters of water are calculated. Add salt, cover the bowl and let it rest for at least 4 hours. Remove the foam that has formed on the surface with a slotted spoon and mix. Pour the mixture into a generously oiled baking pan. Season to taste with rosemary or other herbs and cook at 200 ° C for about 20 minutes. Cut the farinata into lozenges, sprinkle it with pepper and serve, perhaps accompanied by a selection of cold cuts.

Polenta pizzas

Prepare the polenta as usual, with the yellow flour, then pour it into a large rectangular pan, slightly moistened, and level it. Let it cool, then cut it into discs. Grill the polenta pizzas on both sides in a hot pan, garnish with cooked vegetables, cold cuts or cheese to taste and enjoy hot.

Potato mini-pizzas

Boil the potatoes in their skins, peel them while still hot and mash them in a potato masher, collecting the proceeds in a bowl: 500 g of potatoes add an egg, a little grated Parmesan cheese and a spoonful of starch. Transfer the dough to a pan greased with oil, level the surface and garnish as desired with mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, anchovies, or other ingredients to taste, always completing with a drizzle of oil. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 ° C for about 30 minutes, remove from the oven and cut into regular squares.

Pao de queljo

The typical ones Brazilian cheese sandwiches they are a tantalizing idea for a gluten-free aperitif. They prepare themselves with the tapioca flour: boil a mixture of 100 ml of milk, 100 ml of water and 150 ml of seed oil, and add 600 g of tapioca flour little by little, stirring with a whisk; when the mixture is cold, add 200 g of grated parmesan, and then two eggs, one at a time, stirring and waiting to add the second egg only when the first has been completely absorbed. Shape the dough into balls and bake in the oven at 180 ° C for 25 minutes.