Tag: beach

Children's beach snack: mistakes to avoid – Italian Cuisine

What are the foods to avoid? What to choose to stop hunger between one meal and another? Here are the expert's tips and 5 inspiring ideas to make children's snacks healthier and more nutritious

In Italy, more than 21% of children are overweight and 9.3% are obese. The data from the latest Eurispes Italy report say so. The cause? "They eat inadequately and move little," he comments Nicoletta Bocchino, nutritionist biologist. Behind the extra pounds in the vast majority of cases there are bad habits, especially between meals. «Often children skip the snack or consume as a snack mostly high-calorie foods with a low satiating power which instead of stopping hunger, stimulate it. As a result, they nibble constantly, overdo the quantities in subsequent meals and gain weight . But it's not just about the extra pounds. "A child who is overweight or obese is more likely to have problems with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and many other ailments over time", adds the expert. On vacation, the risk of eating badly increases. "On the beach, for example, children are taken by games and baths and often forget to have a snack or as soon as they feel hungry they ask to eat ready-made snacks, easy to munch, which are often also rich in lipids and simple sugars, which favor the weight gain and the onset of health problems. To quench their thirst, they also take sweet and carbonated drinks, which in addition to not satisfying the thirst, increase the desire for sweet ", explains the expert, who here reveals what they are mistakes to stay away from on the beach and the tips to follow to make children's snacks healthier.

Things not to do

Consume brioches and ice cream

"Sweets and ice cream are rich in fats (hydrogenated and saturated) and refined sugars, which in addition to promoting the accumulation of fat have a reduced satiating and nutritional power". The ideal, therefore, "is to replace them with fresh and natural foods such as seasonal fruit. It is particularly rich in vitamins, mineral salts and water, which improve hydration and help the body better cope with the heat. Ok then to peaches, watermelon, apricots. The latter in particular are rich in beta-carotene, a precious antioxidant that protects the skin from damage caused by prolonged exposure to the sun and then natural water, the most effective thirst quencher ".

Eat salty snacks

«Chips and snacks in bags are convenient to carry and easy to munch on the go. However, they are not the ideal solution for a healthy and balanced snack ", warns the expert. "They often bring a lot of saturated fats and a high sodium content, which promotes dehydration, stimulates thirst and increases the risk of undergoing weight gain. In addition, they are poor in vitamins and minerals . For a snack on the beach, it is better to focus on foods that are easy to munch on, nutritious and healthy, such as nuts. "Walnuts, for example, provide satiating fibers and mineral salts such as potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, which improve the body's response to high temperatures. But pay attention to the quantities. «Dried fruit is very energetic. The ideal is to consume no more than 30 grams per day ".

Go overboard with stuffed sandwiches

"To break hunger between meals, the classic sandwich stuffed with mozzarella, cured meats and sausages should be avoided. In addition to providing an exaggerated amount of saturated fat and calories, it is difficult to digest. Better to prefer two small slices of wholemeal bread with cooked ham. It provides fibers and slow-absorbing complex carbohydrates that recharge with energy and give satiety. The ideal is to accompany it with a slice of tomato, rich in minerals and water that help replenish the liquids lost with sweating ".

Drink packaged juices

«Even if they are refreshing and thirst-quenching, these drinks are a" bomb "of rapidly absorbed sugars. They stimulate an exaggerated production of insulin, a hormone that promotes weight gain. Better to give priority to DIY drinking fruit and vegetables such as smoothies and extracts, without adding sugar. The fruit, especially the juice version, due to the lack of fiber is already particularly sweet .

In the gallery you will find 5 ideas to inspire you for a children's beach snack

the most beautiful "kiosk" on the beach in Italy – Italian Cuisine

A destination for gourmets from all over the world and a pop place where you can buy croissants in costume, have lunch for € 12, have an aperitif or dinner with "divine susci". The democratic dream of chef Moreno Cedroni turns 20, and that's why it's really so special

Algida ice cream, coffee drunk in costume, bottles of fresh water. The Clandestino Susci Bar by Moreno Cedroni it is one of the most photographed restaurants in Italy, one of the most evocative, the place to eat the "Italian-style susci", a place that deserves a Michelin star with low hands for cooking, but which remains first and foremost a beach bar , the free one.

The free beach

There Portonovo bay, along the Conero, in the Marche, is the Ancona beach, who arrive by motorbike with a towel under their arm, tupperware with rice salad inside and compete for places in the shade under the Clandestino, which in addition to being a kiosk also becomes a public space, such as a saving umbrella and screen.

This wonderful social experiment, as well as gastronomic and entrepreneurial, now turns 20: many have passed since the song Clandestino of Manu Chao it was the catchphrase of the summer. It was the July 10, 2000 and the Clandestine opened the doors to his first guests, it was the dawn of the new millennium, and much has changed since then (so that everything would remain the same).

It takes 10 minutes to serve you a fried and undercooked amberjack on the table, but it took 20 years of experience to make it

Il Clandestino has become a symbol of the beauties of Italy, gourmet destination for international customers, invariably mentioned in the services on the most spectacular restaurants, it marked the "reform" of a dish now famous as sushi, which has become the hands of chef Moreno Cedroni, susci. Here i was born seafood sandwiches (yes, those you see everywhere) and to book you have to move well in advance. Not for this, however, the Clandestine has become, like many other similar places, a stranger to his land, elitist and gradually more and more inaccessible to its historical customers and people in the area. He did not become an illegal immigrant, but remained a proud citizen.

The secret of the Clandestine

The secret is in being able to live different lives, from the morning with the gourmet breakfasts (for € 12), for the lunch on the beach with the mythical Shrimp hot dog, Sandwich with white tuna or the one with cod (12 € with side dish). The aperitif is equally popular: drinks + tapas for € 10, with games like mortadella and champagne. The crowded day beach is depopulated as the sunset approaches, the costumed girls who buy croissants give way to gentlemen in shirts and we find ourselves at dinner time alone, in silence, suspended on the sea and with the horizon that turns blue from pink, then orange, in a play of light that goes beyond the normal concept of romance.

The magical dinner

At dinner you can, but also not, make a complete tasting menu, of different courses, but which I would not dare define the bistrot of the Madonnina del Pescatore, two Michelin stars in nearby Senigallia, where it all began. At lunch the formula is that of the bistro, but at dinner the kitchen follows its own line dedicated to sea fish and which has seen history and literature intertwine, the imaginary myths of fairy tales with those that really existed in the fifties.
By 2020 the susci is divine, alias inspired by the gods of ancient Greece. Cedroni like Zeus, on Monte Conero as on Monte Olimpo, play with the myths of Dionysus or Aphrodite for a surprising dinner that starts from a Icicle of mead, myrtle, chews, evaporated vermouth and chinotto and goes through a Scallop, elder puree, quinoa, burnt parsley. Pure fine dining, with a lot of raw for an "Italian style" that was born to talk to us, indeed to speak even to Moreno's mother (as she writes in one of her many books), for gastronomically intelligible to everyone; in years when raw fish was still viewed with suspicion. Without lemon, oil or soy in which to drown the flavor, but a continuous study of each type of pulp, consistency, fatness and combination in a Mediterranean key. You can enjoy dinner without puzzling too much, but fascinated by the dishes more than by the view, and at dessert time you are immersed in the darkness and you only hear the surf of the waves. The kitchen? Very small, that of a kiosk on the beach with two micro environments where magic is performed. To direct it all, Massimo Franzin, together with a team of guys dressed in white, smiling like few others, who manage to interpret a professional service, but super relaxed and spontaneous.

It all seems easy now, but to get this far took two decades, a storm, maintenance work and a lot of perseverance. It is not a new opening, after all there are no big news and then you just end up talking about how beautiful the place is or being heard "already heard": the dishes would be equally good even if eaten in front of a white wall and of places like that there are actually few, maybe none. It takes 10 minutes to serve you a fried and undercooked amberjack on the table, but it took 20 years of experience to make it.

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Cilento, free coffee for those who clean the beach – Italian Cuisine

In establishments that use Cilento coffee, just go to the bar with a bag of garbage collected on the beach to receive a glass of coffee in exchange

A "prize" for those who contribute to keeping the beach clean: those who collect waste left on the coast are entitled to a free glass of coffee. It is the initiative, launched for the second consecutive year, by the Coffee Roasting Cilento, active for years in Laurito, in the province of Salerno: the "Clean Cilento" project it was created to sensitize bathers to take care of the beach.

On the other hand, according to the investigation Beachlitter by Legambiente, on every meter of sand of the 93 beaches examined are located almost 10 waste, and plastic alone accounts for 81%. But what is visible to our eyes on the beach is only 15% of the waste entering the marine ecosystem: the remaining 15% float on the surface of the sea and 70% remain suspended in the water column or sink. Among the 10 most found wastes there are pieces of plastic and polystyrene (and it is worrying because they are the "precursors" of microplastics, irreversible and incalculable pollution), the caps and lids of drinks – one for each meter of beach is found -, cigarette butts (the equivalent of 359 packets has been found of cigarettes in just 9 kilometers), cotton swabs (7.4% of all waste monitored) and construction material (with over 4,000 wastes linked to illegal spills on the beach). There are also 45 plastic bottles every 100 meters and 34 plastic dishes such as plates, glasses, cutlery and straws, every 100 meters.

To sensitize all swimmers, Caffè Cilento will distribute i leaflets which indicate how long it takes for the various materials to decompose. In the bathing establishments that use the Caffè Cilento brand, just go at the bar with a garbage bag collected on the beach to receive a glass of coffee in exchange. Which, of course, won't be plastic.