Tag: drink

What to do, where to eat, where to drink to make Milanese in Milan – Italian Cuisine

Milan is the most visited city in Italy and in the top ten of Europe. Its charm? Live like a Milanese. Here's where and how, including breakfasts from Instagram, cocktails with a view (passing through the best chops), and the latest 2019

Milan is not a city at first sight, overwhelming. It is a city that you fall in love with slowly, as you explore it below the surface of things. but yet Milan is the most visited Italian city and is the only one in the Top 20 of the most visited in the world (precisely in sixteenth place) of the Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index. In the first ten European cities, in addition to the Lombard capital, there are only Rome and Venice, but in Milan one does not come only for history, art, beauty: one comes to live "as a Milanese".

Economic capital of Italy, of fashion and design, Milan is now also the country's capital of catering. The widest concentration of Michelin stars, up-and-coming chefs, trendy and international-style locals rise up in the shadow of the Madonnina. The new openings follow each other, without stopping, and going out for breakfast at lunchtime for a business lunch is the real lifestyle in the city. Needless to look for the "traditional" cuisine, however, the Old Milan survives only in architecture, and even the risotto with ossobuco serves you young bearded hipster. "Autentico" in Milan means rooftop with a view, brioche to post on Instagram, cocktails and trattorias run by adopted Milanese. We eat well, much better than the times when they cooked grandmothers.

Here is what to do to feel like a Milanese Doc, between unmissable places and new openings.

Breakfast at the bakery

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, even on Instagram. Breakfast in Milan is instagrammabile, handcrafted and strictly done outside the home. There are glories of the past like Marchesi in corso Magenta, Cucchi Pastry, Cova Montenapoleone or Gattullo, where you can breathe the charm of Old Milan. The Pavè pastry shop was born a few years ago and is still one of the most loved, awarded and unquestionably good in the city. A few steps away is a new entry, Gelsomina, beloved by bloggers for her husband (who is Roman, but is now in fashion even in Milan).

Natural wines and urban wines

For aperitif or after dinner, drink natural, macerated, orange or refermented in the bottle. From Enoteca Naturale and Vinor a step away from the Navigli, from Champagne Socialist in the Porta Venezia area. In the Porta Romana area there is wine, and in a glass there is also something to eat from Mater Bistrot. Do you want to try a wine made in Milan, made right in the city? There is Cantina Urbana, which presses, bottles and serves Doc wines from Milan.

Pizza and cocktails

You can't eat pizza in Milan! Dry in via Solferino years ago launched the fashion and since then the cocktails have entered fully into the menus of pizzerias. Dry is always a guarantee, but from Giolina, a new opening, you can eat an excellent pizza from the super cornice, drink the drinks signed by MAG Cafè, and natural wines.

Trattorias (modern)

The old trattorias of typical specialties in Milan are disappointing. Better to choose the new generation offering quality, excellent products and professional cooks. For years the Ratanà has remained one of the valid addresses where to find mondeghili, nervetti and risotto with ossobuco. To sit at the Trattoria Trippa table, which has become an international phenomenon, you need to book in advance, weeks. But to taste something of them, there is the new Fratelli Torcinelli spin-off: fast food dedicated to bomblets and typical Apulian dishes.

Chinese bao and ravioli

The Chinese community in Milan is one of the oldest in Europe and the Milanese chinatown boasts a number of excellent new generation Chinese restaurants. Along via Paolo Sarpi you can stop for ravioli on the go at the Ravioleria Sarpi, in the northern district of Nolo there is the convivial restaurant Le Nove Scodelle or you can go where the Chinese go when they want to eat Chinese well: Mu Dim Sum, Central Station area.

The rib

The cutlet in Milan is a myth in part to be debunked, because it is not so easy to eat it good: high with bone and cooked in clarified butter. The best ones in the center can be found at the Daniel Restaurant in Brera or at the Osteria del Brunello in Corso Garibaldi. To spend little, Da Martino in via Farini, a pizzeria with the cut that made the cutlet its strong point. Far from the center, the cutlets of the Antica Trattoria Il Ronchettino or the Trattoria del Nuovo Macello are highly recommended.

Chef's bistro

Starred experience at a reasonable price? From Cracco in Galleria you can eat a pizza (the one that outraged the social networks) or other classic dishes, cooked by the judge of MasterChef. There is the bistro of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Milan, curated by the 2 Michelin stars Antonio Guida. Giancarlo Perbellini, 2 Michelin stars in Verona, also arrived in Milan, with his Locanda offering excellent value for money, award-winning and rightly so.

Rooftop bar

No doubt, the Ceresio 7 is the most beautiful rooftop bar in Milan. Restaurant and pool bar on the terrace of the historic building of Enel and home of the Dsquared2 group. At the stove, chef Elio Sironi and his contemporary Mediterranean cuisine, at the bar the barman Guglielmo Miriello. News, the small terrace of Clotilde, Brera area, where you can sip cocktails of the world-famous Filippo Sisti and eat the dishes of chef Domenico De La Salandra.

Aperitif on the canals

A must, but the happy hour with tons of buffet pizzas and cheap cocktails is certainly not out of fashion. Here, fortunately, they are also concentrated among the best cocktail bars in Milan: MAG, Rita and Pinch. The Rita's Tiki Room is new, with tiki cocktails and pan-Asian inspired dishes.

The 2019 novelty

Moebius by chef Enrico Croatti is a new, huge 700 square meter tapas bar between Central Station and Republic, spectacular and beautiful. In 2019 also Cracco and Camilla in Duomo was inaugurated, in the spaces of the former Cracco restaurant, with the cocktail format and small kitchen that makes people smile with menus like the Milanese Imbruttito, Influencer and Mammone.

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Tell me where you go and I'll tell you what beer to drink – Italian Cuisine

That Italians love beer is not a mystery. On tap, in the bottle, craft … everyone's favorite. Even the classic light medium to order and drink without thought. But AssoBirra, who knows us well, advises us to choose it carefully and has identified the perfect beers for each destination. Why not take advantage of the free time of summer to drink with curiosity?

At the sea: LAGER – what we call clear

The most widespread, consumed, required. We drink it without thinking too much about it, usually on tap and it is clear, fresh, of average alcohol content, delicate in aromas and taste. Let's order it on the beach, maybe accompanying it to a simple and tasty aperitif.

In the mountains: ABBEY – from Belgium, with love

What on the beach might seem excessive is perfect for the mountain. Here is a full-bodied beer with rich chromatic nuances, a strong alcohol content and a color that varies from gold to amber to dark brown. It is so called because traditionally abbeys rose close to the water springs, a fundamental ingredient for the production of beer, and even today, in some cases, it remains a link with the monasteries.

From the refrigerator to the small glass: the grappa to drink cold arrives – Italian Cuisine

Here is the new Grandi Cru Prosecco Ice proposed by the famous Castagner distillery, perfect also as an ingredient for special summer recipes

Store the grappa in the fridge is it a mistake? Generally yes, because the ideal serving temperature fluctuates between 18 degrees for long aging products, up to 8-10 at most for non-aged products. However, this rule does not seem to apply to the new born at home Castagner, famous trademark of Treviso distillation: Grandi Cru Prosecco Ice in fact, it appears as the first grappa designed specifically to be consumed cold, just extracted from the kitchen refrigerator.

The stated goal, as it tells the same Roberto Castagner is to offer something new and summery, playing on the floral and above all fruity scents of glera, the grape from which the famous Prosecco originates. «Today the concept of grappa is changing rapidly, and partly thanks to us: we make it a product to drink even with the nose, to be contemplated, even more fruity and soft. Precisely for this reason the Grandi Cru Prosecco Ice, which comes from a work of over 3 years, is also perfect in combination with the most summery desserts, tasted cold. Exactly like white wine .

The first bottles are already on the market, and will be sold until October. Their key feature? Being covered by a real one neoprene thermal wetsuit, midnight blue and reusable, designed to preserve the ideal temperature of grappa for tasting for up to 3 hours out of the fridge. Which is attested, precisely, between 3 and 5 degrees. The company suggests to try it in combination with summer fruit or desserts, after a barbecue in the company, a fish dinner or an open-air picnic. The most curious may even want to use it as special ingredient to give an extra edge to your fruit salad: so here is a very simple recipe to reinvent even a diced melon. Together with an unprecedented mascarpone mousse and some advice to prepare very fragrant apricot and cinnamon jars, using grappa as a secret ingredient.

Melone alla Grappa

Ingredients

2 small melons
the juice and peel of 2 untreated lemons
4 tablespoons of sugar
6 cl of grappa Grandi Cru Prosecco Ice (about two glasses)

Method

Clean the melons by removing the skin and the seeds and cut the pulp into cubes. In a pan, prepare a syrup by combining the sugar, lemon zest and two glasses of water. Boil 10 minutes, add the diced melon and remove from heat.
Once the whole is well cooled, drain the melon, place it in a bowl and flavor with the lemon juice and grappa. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve, decorating with a few mint leaves.

Mascarpone mousse flavored with grappa with berries

Ingredients

400 g of Mascarpone
3 eggs
6 tablespoons of sugar
4 tablespoons grappa Grandi Cru Prosecco Ice
1 vanilla pod
250 grams of wild berries to taste

Method

Separate the yolks from the whites and whisk them until they are stiff. Whip the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture is thick and fluffy. Add the grappa, the mascarpone softened with a spatula and the vanilla to the whipped yolks, stirring until a smooth and homogeneous cream is obtained. Gently fold in the egg whites from the bottom upwards, being careful not to disassemble the mixture.
Let the mousse rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Meanwhile wash the berries and place them on absorbent paper to dry the water well. Arrange in cups alternating mascarpone mousse and wild berries. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve and decorate with icing sugar and mint leaves.

Jar of apricots with grappa and cinnamon

Ingredients

10 small, firm apricots, not too ripe
3 cinnamon sticks 2-3 cm high
4 tablespoons of sugar
150 ml of water
Grappa Grandi Cru Prosecco Ice

Method

Wash and dry the apricots, divide them in two and remove the stones. In a saucepan prepare the syrup by dissolving the sugar in the water over high heat and simmering for a couple of minutes. Lower the heat and immerse the apricots leaving them to soak in a sweet flame for 5 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let it cool.
Arrange the apricots in an airtight jar previously sterilized in boiling water or in the oven, alternating with cinnamon. Drizzle with the syrup and cover completely with the grappa.
Leave to rest in a dark and cool place for at least a week.