Tag: buy

Online shopping and food delivery: buy food while staying at home – Italian Cuisine

And now how do you go shopping? After the signature of the Ministerial Decree on 11 March Italy entered a new phase in the fight against Coronavirus. The imperative is to stay at home, to avoid further infections and manage the emergency more decisively.
Practically from 12 to 25 March all non-essential activities must remain closed and fines are provided for those who do not comply with this rule.

The decree provides for bars, pubs and restaurants to close and instead tobaccos, newsagents and above all food in all forms, from shops to hypermarkets, remain open.

THE grocery stores so they are open. Of course, the safety distances must be respected and, to move around on foot in his own city, the head of Civil Protection Angelo Borrelli has explicitly stated that he must always carry the self-certification form downloadable from the website of the Ministry of the Interior (you can find it here). The same goes for those who go to the doctor, the pharmacy and those who go to newsstand (where of course you will also find our magazines Sale & Pepe and Cucina Moderna): you need to have the self-certification form. If you are stopped you risk a fine.

Shopping online

And who has decided to stay at home entirely, how can he go shopping? The major supermarket chains have systems and apps for online purchase and home delivery.
Among the main platforms are Esselunga, Amazon Prime Now, Coop, Carrefour and Conad.

The first step is to verify that the supermarket makes deliveries in your area: on the sites there are special forms that require the postcode of residence, to check that the area is covered.

Then you proceed by selecting the products you want to buy one by one, indicating the type and quantity. They put themselves in virtual shopping cart and finally, you pay at the cashier online, using your credit card or other payment methods such as poste pay or paypal.

Platforms in difficulty

These days the platforms are under pressure and many supermarkets they struggle to manage orders: in some cases deliveries are suspended until a date to be destined. Unfortunately this is not discovered until you go to the virtual cashier.

Some explicitly report that the service is having problems due to the large amount of requests, as does Cortilia, specializing in fruit and vegetables and other fresh products. Already starting from the home page, they ensure that they are enhancing the app and the delivery service, to guarantee a smoother operation of the many requests as soon as possible.

Others, however, are not able to make deliveries now, but the discovery takes place only when the virtual shopping cart is full, to pay.

The practical tip is: before starting the actual shopping, do a test with a few items. Those who are used to shopping online, know that selecting products consciously, perhaps reading the labels and checking the cheapest price, takes time. Almost as much as wandering around the real shelves).

So select a few products and go directly to check out: if the service indicates the delivery date, then you can go back, really fill the virtual cart and finalize the operation. Otherwise … try again later.

Some manufacturers are making available services direct home delivery. In the next few days Sale & Pepe will try to find out for you who is able to guarantee the service and will report it to you.

Food delivery

For those who want to order ready meals directly there is food delivery. In this case, those who offer the service are clubs and restaurants of all kinds, from the sportiest to the most famous: they cook for you and, being unable to accommodate guests at the moment, pamper them remotely, delivering dishes and menus directly to your home. The vehicles of this system are Deliveroo, Glovo, Just Eat, Uber Eats and Social Food.

The sanitation rules observed, they assure, they are extremely rigorous. AssoDelivery is FIPE they wrote a document with the guidelines, which closely follow the recommendations of the Ministry of Health regarding the use of sanitizing products, interpersonal distances between those who work and between those who deliver the food and those who receive it.

In your neighborhood

And then finally there is the neighborhood solidarity: in any area of Italy there are certainly greengrocers, greengrocers and small grocery stores that have always offered home delivery services. They are often reality to be rediscovered. And in this case we must rely on word of mouth and the local social network.

And here is that good communication between neighbors comes in handy. All that remains is to try!

by Barbara Roncarolo
March 12, 2020

Eggs, do we know what we buy? Let's read it on the label – Italian Cuisine

They are full of cholesterol and saturated fats, they are bad for the liver and are difficult to digest. How many times have we heard of eggs in these terms? Yet the evidence scientific they are very different. Just think that egg proteins are considered as much "Perfect" to be taken as a reference point by nutritionists to measure the biological value of protein of all foods. And that research on the relationship between eggs and health have given interesting results, dispelling the link between the consumption of eggs and the increase in cholesterol levels in the blood and the increased risk of illnesses cardiovascular.

But be careful: the eggs they are not all the same. How they live, that is how the hens are raised, makes a big difference. Of taste, and not only. We must therefore choose them well. Fortunately, the eggs have one of the labels more complete e transparent from all over the food world.

Also promoted by the WHO
The results of recent scientific studies are so interesting that they have pushed theWHO to remove the eggs from the list of foods to limit and to induce dieticians to recommend them to (almost) everyone, and especially to those who want to lose a few pounds. For those who want to diet eggs are an irreplaceable resource: they have few calories (78 for a large egg), stimulate the metabolism (all thanks to the choline) and provide lots of protein without the kit salt, additives or added fats of others products with which eggs are often replaced. Moreover, it is about source of protein that costs less than ever and therefore the eggs are suitable for any budget of expenditure. Not to mention cooks is chef that continue to enhance them in table, to the point that even restaurants where only served are born recipes egg-based gourmet, from Breakfast at dinner. Therefore, the time seems to have arrived unhinge the old ones "Legends" food and give the eggs the role they deserve table.

Why reassess them
They are already perfect because theequilibrium between yolk and albumen it makes them balanced: theegg white contains about87% of water and the 50% of proteins (among which albumin stands out), while the yolk has the other 50% protein, but less water (about 50%), more fat, cholesterol and other nutrients, such as lecithin, which favors the digestion, and carotenoids, for action antioxidant. The yolk is also concentrated iron, which is better absorbed by our body when taken together with polypeptides and amino acidsegg white. In short, it is the mix its two parts to make the egg a high food nutritional quality: this is why it is better consume it whole rather than limiting oneself to the "white" and discarding the "red", as many do. Eating a egg great whole are obtained well 6.4 grams of "noble" protein and 5 grams of fat (especially unsaturated, including Omega 3), ie less than 8% of those recommended each day. And those 200 mg of cholesterol are a small thing compared to what you can take every day with food and has the effect of lower the cholesterol total in a circle in the blood, why increases the "good", which protects the arteries. Starting from these numbers, nutritionists have "Rehabilitated" the eggs. On condition of cook in the right way. For example, simply leave the egg for 3-5 minutes boiling water. In this way there are a couple of advantages: zero fat added and maximum absorption of vitamin B7 present in the album.

Life as a chicken
Over 40 million laying hens only in Italy; 13 billion eggs a year consumed only in our country; about 215 eggs a year each. Chicken breeding is a huge business. But how they are raised these hens? The simplest distinction is that concerning eggs biological (as long as it is a true biological one): they guarantee at least that the hens are not given antibiotics, feed no GMOs or fishmeal and that number of animals per square meter does not exceed a maximum number. There scientific research existing in this respect confirms what applies to meat and milk, that is to say the biological ones they are superior at both level nutritional (in part with more Omega3, vitamins A and E, beta-carotene) that of taste. obviously what the hens eat makes the difference. As for cholesterol in particular, it is clear from the studies that the eggs come from hens with a varied diet – and not the standard of soybean + corn only – contain less cholesterol. As they increase antioxidant substances. The diet of the hens also affects the taste of their eggs, it is more than logical. Certainly chickens that graze have access to one variety of aromas incomparable with that of the bird seed from the battery.

The egg is really the superfood cheapest in the world, and for few cents more, it's really worth it compare it good.

Transparency on the label
Therefore it is fundamental how those who create the eggs live, that is the hens. Once established that, this food has another advantage not just: it does not contain any ingredient or additive added. And it boasts one of the labels more complete (although not always easy to interpret). The alphanumeric code which also comes stamped on the shell gives us theidentikit complete with the egg we are about to buy. Here is a guide for read correctly without getting lost or confusing. There first digit indicates the type of breeding: 0 stands for agriculture biological, of which we have already spoken. The number 1 indicates theoutdoor breeding, where each animal is guaranteed a living space of 4 square meters. The number 2 is that for breeding a land, a method increasingly used by manufacturing companies but whose name is misleading, because the conditions of the animals are worse than they sound: they are huge warehouses closed with 7 animals per square meter, and this type of breeding does not require any rule in terms of feed. Finally the number 3 indicates breeding in 'equipped cage ', with twice as many animals per square meter (14) and cages as high as 40 cm. The next abbreviation is that of country of production: for example, Italian eggs can be recognized by the initials IT. Following is the figure of the Istat code of the Municipality, that of the Province. These two information They are only on Italian eggs. Finally, the last three digits identify the distinctive code of the breeder.

The labels are however clear. Unfortunately the same thing cannot be said about the eggs used in industrial preparations: anywhere, from biscuits to mayonnaise to vegetable pies, the type of eggs is not indicated used. We can only suspect that it is from default the cheapest, in spite of health and taste … For this reason some big companies are communicating to declare that they now use only eggs from free-range hens.

I'm ok for a month
On package of eggs, then, comes the expiration date and above all the freshness of the eggs.

Eggs have a life of 28 days from the date of laying but must be withdrawn from the market seven days before the storage term indicated on thepackaging (24 to 48 hours between production and packaging). The wordings "extra" and "Extra fresh" they can be used only if the date of deposition and the term of consumption within which the eggs can be defined as extra and extra fresh, ie nine days from the day that the hen made the egg or seven since it was packed. These eggs are those of 'category A', the only ones for sale in stores. The category is established based on the characteristics of the shell, of the yolk, of theegg white and theirs freshness. Category B eggs are those with lower quality characteristics (for example, they can be frozen at a temperature below 4 °) while category C (and possibly D) is used for further downgraded eggs. All these eggs are intended for the food industry …

The expiration date is stamped also on shell, usually accompanied by the phrase "to be consumed preferably by …".

The place worse to store the eggs in the fridge are just the niches dedicated to them that are usually found in the top shelf of the front office. Frequent opening and closing causes temperature changes and abrupt movements they create microfractures in the shell, diminuendo the time of storage some eggs. Better to keep them in package original in one of the internal shelves.

Size and details
In terms of size, the eggs are not all the same. They can be varied size, that's why they are classified with letters capital letters like clothing sizes: XL le larger (over 72 grams); L le great (63-73 g); M le medium (53-63 g); S small (less than 53 g).
Furthermore, the eggs are classified into four categories of quality, identified by the first four letters of the alphabet.

Egg producers can add on other packages information, which underline any particular quality of the product and thus help consumers in their choice. For example the type of supply of the hens. If on the packaging there is written that they are nourished with cereals, means that at least the 60% of the ingredients of feed data to the hens is composed of cereals. If the label refers to a specific cereal (for example the corn) this must be at least the 30% of the feed. If we talk about more cereals, then each of them must constitute at least the 5% of the "recipe" of fodder.

Manuela Soressi
February 2018
updated in August 2019
by Carola Traverso Saibante

DISCOVER THE COOKING COURSES OF SALT & PEPE

the most expensive cheese in Italy that you would never buy – Italian Cuisine

It costs € 450 per kilo and is made in the kid's stomach (as tradition requires). Would you eat it? No, but if you knew how other cheeses are made, maybe yes

The Calle de crabettu is an ancient cheese, almost an ancestor of the cheese, an authentic example of “paleocasearia” art: the stomach of a suckling kid closed at the ends with a rope and matured with all its contents, that is the last feeding of breast milk. It is useless to make faces, it is a very rare preparation, which survived in the Sardinian tradition, and which will reveal something that you do not know about the majority of the cheeses in circulation …

The intense flavor

The consistency, on the other hand, changes according to the seasoning: at the beginning it is a spreadable cheese, then refining beyond two months it becomes compact enough to be sliced. The flavor condenses and gradually takes on a more intense color, until it reaches an ocher color, a compact, grainy paste, and a very intense, spicy flavor (and for many decidedly too much). It is eaten spread or sliced together with bread (including the sides of the stomach), or sliced, fried in lard.
It goes well with red wines like a Cannanoau, with Sardinian carasau bread and with sweet vegetable jams, which balance the taste. The shepherds of the province of Nuoro still produce it, and thanks to the distributor and refiner of Guffanti cheeses, it can be found throughout Italy and during FORME, the festival dedicated to cheese that takes place every year in Bergamo.

Rennet is animal

Sardinian shepherds also used this cheese as rennet for milk, hence the name literally in Sardinian means "kid rennet". The Calle de crabettu does not need an ingredient that is widespread in almost all the cheeses in circulation: animal rennet. To make cheese, from Parmesan to mozzarella, it is necessary to add rennet, and the rennet can be of animal, vegetable or microbial origin. The rennet of animal origin is the only one accepted today for the production of DOP cheeses, for example, and is the most used. Where do you get it from? From the abomasum, that is from the stomach of some ruminant animals, mainly calves and lambs, but also from kids and pigs. The cheese therefore if not otherwise indicated would not be suitable for a vegetarian diet, because although in minimal quantities, it contains particles of animal origin.