Tag: combinations

Cooking and music: what do they have in common? The winning combinations – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

What are the agreements and disagreements between cooking and music? There pasta calls parmesan (or pecorino) and rejects the polenta; L’roast call the garlic (and rosemary) and repels basil; The cotechino calls the puree (or lentils) and rejects the salad. These are the “food associations” that Fernand Braudel spoke about, underlining the need for those who study the history of nutrition not to focus on the single ingredient or single product, but on their combinations; the “associations”, precisely.

Designing a few years ago for the M9 museum of Venice Mestre the exhibition Taste! Italians at the table 1970-2050together with Laura Lazzaroni and Marco Bolasco we thought of dedicating a special one section on the theme of “agreements”, that is, the ingredients that in the gastronomic field – just like notes in music – are recalled almost automatically, as if they were “natural” associations. Which, however, are not “natural”, because there is always a cultural choice in preferring and choosing a certain agreement rather than another. This applies in cook like in music: parallelism that we have already discussed, which I am happy to return to. In music, a chord is the combination of some notes that are played together and appear “right”, well harmonized with a dominant note: in tonal music, if I start from C, the simultaneous sounds will be E and G. Other cultures, ancient and modern, they love different combinations. Something similar happens in the kitchen, where a certain cultural tradition – for example the Italian one – will get me used to associating it butter and sage with low-fat tortelli, tomato and basil with spaghetti. German culture will not fail to associate frankfurters with mustard, speck with gherkins (in turn combined with vinegar), boiled pork with potatoes and sauerkraut…

The parallel between notes and flavors is recurring in literature. It was suggested, among others, by the Englishman John Evelyn, who at the beginning of the eighteenth century published a treatise on salads largely derived from Italian works. «In the composition of a salad he wrote, «each plant must play its part (…) in the same way as musical notes. In this search for harmony, even dissonances are welcomed, because they “strike and enliven, so as to distinguish and make the rest emerge better”. It was the ancient principle of the contrast of flavors, not only a gustatory theme (a pinch of bitter makes you appreciate the sweet better), but also nutritional: Galenic medicine taught that each flavor expresses a different quality, and putting them together (the qualities) is good for your health. For this reason, Salvatore Massonio from L’Aquila – one of Evelyn’s sources – recommended mixing herbs “adjusting the hot with the cold, the humid with the dry, the sour with the sweet, the bitter with the sweet”. Here then are the dissonances, the “agreements-disagreements”, not only between one herb and another, but between all sorts of products: melon and ham, cheese and pears… tasteful solutions that have remained over the centuries.

Salads with pineapple: 5 delicious combinations – Italian Cuisine

Turn a simple salad into an original and tasty dish by adding fruit. Today we offer you pineapple.

In general, fruit salads, or fruit salads, are prepared as a dessert, but have you ever tried to add fruit to your mixed salad side dish?
Lettuce, songino, iceberg and endive go very well with some fruits.
We therefore want to offer you some unusual recipes for a tasty side dish based on vegetables and … pineapple.

Why eat pineapple

Pineapple is a sweet tropical fruit with a sour aftertaste, rich in vitamins and minerals.
Known for its remarkable diuretic properties, it is perfect this season because it helps keep the body hydrated and expel toxins. Has few calories, about 45 per 100 gr, and is therefore a fruit recommended for those who follow a low-calorie diet.
Pineapple is also able to facilitate fat metabolism thanks to fibers contained in the pulp that counteract the absorption of lipids in the intestine and is a excellent digestive at the end of the meal.

How to choose a good pineapple

A pineapple at the right point of ripeness is recognized first of all from the scent. So the first step is to smell it.
Then check the base which must be firm and yellow in color.
Switch to peel which must not have dents and must be firm and homogeneous.
Finally check the leaves. If you can detach some of them from the center, it means that the pineapple is ripe, otherwise not. If the leaves are soft and have lost their characteristic bright green color, it means that the fruit has gone bad.

Pineapple in the kitchen

Pineapple can be used in many ways.
you can whip at breakfast to get a juice rich in properties which will make you feel energetic for suit in the morning.
you can centrifuge to obtain a super thirst quenching juice and diuretic properties.
you can cut it into thin slices and serve it as dessert with a little maraschino.
You can also grigliarlo and season it with honey and cinnamon or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
you can freeze the pulp and then blend it to obtain a delicious sorbet.
But you know that with pineapple they can also be prepared tasty seconds like sweet and sour pork stew and chicken curry?
Finally, as we said, the pineapple is perfectly fine in the salad and we prove it to you 5 fresh and light proposals perfect for a summer lunch break.

Pineapple and chicken salad
Grill the chicken after letting it macerate in an emulsion of oil, rosemary and lemon juice.
Cut it into strips and place it on a bed of lettuce. Complete with cubes of pineapple, oil, salt and pepper. You can enrich with parmesan flakes and yogurt and mint sauce.

Pineapple, mango and avocado salad
It looks like a fruit salad, but it is not. In fact, avocado is a non-fruit, not sweet fruit with a very particular consistency.
Cut all the fruit into cubes after removing the peel and then add the rocket, salt oil and lemon juice. The protein part could be represented by fresh tuna cubes macerated in oil and lemon.

Rice and pineapple salad
Instead of the usual rice salad with pickles, cheese and tuna try this version with pineapple, green beans and shrimp. Blanch the prawns and green beans separately and then cut them into small pieces and season the rice adding a few pineapple cubes. If you want you can use Venere rice or even couscous or bulgur instead of classic rice.

Mixed salad with pineapple
It is also called cuba salad and is prepared with iceberg salad, diced pineapple and avocado, sliced cucumbers and abundant red onion.

Protein salad
You can use your favorite legumes to prepare this dish. We suggest you soy beans.
After cooking (or washing, if you use the pre-cooked ones), add slices of grilled pineapple, diced celery, diced onion and feta. You can garnish with fresh coriander or mint.

quick recipe and better combinations – Italian Cuisine

A creamy, easy and quick first course. Here's how to prepare pasta with zucchini cream and how to combine it to the fullest

There zucchini cream it is a condiment delicate is wraparound for pasta, whatever its format: spaghetti, trofie, orecchiette is pens they are all suited to the flavor and creamy consistency of this recipe, which can be enriched in many different ways.

How to prepare zucchini cream

Preparing pasta with zucchini cream is quick and easy. First of all, start doing boil water for pasta, you will need some cooking water for the preparation.

Used a medium zucchini each: wash them well and cut them into cubes. Sauté in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil clove of garlic or of the onion, based on your preference; add the courgettes, add salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and remove any garlic clove.

Put the pasta to cook, transfer the zucchini into a container and add a few tablespoons of cooking water of pasta: at this point whisk with an immersion mixer, until you have obtained a homogeneous mixture. When the pasta is cooked, make it stir-fry with the cream of zucchini, to mix it perfectly with the sauce. If the cream is too dry, add a few more tablespoons of cooking water.

In alternative, instead of frying them in a pan, you can boil the zucchini in boiling water for 5 minutes and then blend them with a little oil, salt and pepper.

Pasta with zucchini cream: how to enrich it

The basic recipe can be enriched in many different ways. First of all, to the preparation of the zucchini cream can be added parmesan or del pecorino cheese grated to flavor further, but also a creamy cheese, like it stracchino, the robiola or the ricotta cheese. You can perfume the cream with herbs to taste, like the mint or the basil.

A pasta with a very creamy dressing is an excellent idea, but add a crunchy ingredient could make it even better! First of all, you can use the zucchini itself, keeping a few cubes aside, frying them in a pan for a few minutes, so that they remain crisp, and adding them to complete the dish.

You can combine other elements, for example with toasted breadcrumbs with aromas and grated Parmesan, or bacon or del speck, to be sautéed in a pan until they are crispy. In both cases, add them directly to the dish only at the last moment, to ensure consistency.
Another quick idea? Add some dried fruit, like almonds, walnuts, pistachios, pine nuts or cashews. Toast them a few minutes to intensify the aroma and sprinkle them on the finished pasta dish (you can also whisk them a bit with the courgettes to enrich the cream).

The pasta with zucchini cream goes hand in hand with the salmon or i shrimps. Below, here are more recipes to try!