Tag: friend

Buckwheat, best friend of the pancreas – Italian Cuisine

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All the advantages of buckwheat. Plus one
This so-called pseudo cereal has in fact the same use as its relatives cereal grains and boasts, notoriously, many nutritional properties.

In the kitchen it is known above all for two dishes of the Lombard tradition: the pizzoccheri and the polenta taragna. In fact, it is no coincidence that the areas in which it is grown are mainly in Valtellina and Trentino Alto Adige.
It is a non-cereal not to be underestimated for its extraordinary nutritional characteristics.

The question we are most often interested in is: does it contain gluten? The answer is no: buckwheat is a gluten free seed.

It is rich in minerals such as magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, zinc, selenium and phosphorus, vitamins of group B and E and fiber. It is also an excellent source of vegetable protein, its seeds contain it 18% protein and provide essential amino acids (lysine, threonine and tryptophan). It is also a source of antioxidants, such as rutin and tannins.

I study
And precisely thanks to the properties antioxidants and anti-inflammatory, it seems to contribute in a particular way to the quality of life after a resection surgery pancreas. It supports it a study conducted by the Council for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economy Analysis (Create), and from the University of Rome Sapienza. In essence, the researchers selected 18 patients, operated on for 3 years of pancreatic resection, not undergoing chemotherapy and with a body mass index of less than 19. Within the sample group, two subgroups were monitored which were monitored for a long time, first , during and after the analysis. The first group was given a snack of 70 grams of malted buckwheat per day, while the second was given an equivalent, but rice-based snack. In the first group, at the end of the observation period, the patients had improved their nutritional status, increasing the intestinal ability to absorb food. In addition, patients reported reducing abdominal pain (very common in this clinical picture) and a substantial decrease in steatorrhea (stools with undigested fat), frequent in this type of patient.

The pancreas, this unknown
In Greek πάγκρεας, it means "everything" and "meat" and it is a very important gland attached to the digestive system. Yet it often happens that ordinary people (doctors are obviously excluded!) Do not know how to indicate their tasks.

The main function of this organ is to produce pancreatic juice, which is used to digest certain substances in the small intestine, including carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, and to produce insulin and glucagon, the purpose of which is to regulate the concentration of glucose in the blood. Despite being an indispensable gland for vital functions, it is still possible to live without a pancreas or without a portion of it. But after a pancreatectomy it is clear that lifestyle becomes precious and fundamental. And buckwheat seems to be the most suitable food.

160851Buckwheat
Ndoes not belong to the botanical family of grasses, but to that of the polygonaceae is it stands out for mostly for the high biological value of proteins, higher than that of any other product of plant origin. A few decades ago it was grown in the Alpine valleys, especially in Valtellina and South Tyrol is on the Apennines. Today this precious crop has almost completely disappeared and Italy imports this food from other producing countries (mainly China, the USA, Tanzania, the Netherlands and Poland).

Emanuela Di Pasqua,
May 2018
updated in April 2020
by Barbara Roncarolo

Ph. Credits: Pixabay + Pixabay

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How to clean the coffee maker, dear friend of our breakfasts – Italian Cuisine


What is the object that never fails in an Italian's kitchen? Without a doubt, the moka.
Some advice to keep it always in good condition

How many times have you happened to prepare a really disgusting coffee with one coffeepot which you do not use every day and which you had stored for months on a shelf?
These contingencies usually happen when you have many guests at home and lots of coffee to do.
On these occasions the coffee pots that are never used are dusted off, those that live for many months a year in a kitchen shelf and that are pulled out as a joker when needed, but unfortunately they don't make good coffee.

The more coffee, the better!

The best coffee is undoubtedly the one made with the mocha that is used every day and the same is true with the espresso coffee from the bar. The more a machine is in operation, the more tasty, creamy and fragrant the coffee is.
But if we only have a new or a little used moka, then the first solution is to make a "test" coffee or to put it into operation only with water to remove any residues inside.

How to clean the coffee maker

If the coffee maker that we use every day remains in good condition precisely because it is always in operation, the others that we have at home and that we never use must be kept carefully to prevent them from being ruined.
If we have to put away a coffee maker knowing that we won't use it for a while first of all, let's wash it well to remove all the residues.
The best method to wash a moka pot, immerse all the pieces in boiling water with a spoonful of white vinegar.
Never use dish soap and never put it in the dishwasher.
Before closing it and place it somewhere in the kitchen, however, dry it very well with absorbent paper and place sugar cubes in each part of the moka that will absorb all the bad smells, or a few teaspoons of coffee. Sugar and coffee should be placed both in the jug, in the filter and in the part where the water is usually placed.

In any case, we advise you to follow our 5 tips to prepare an excellent coffee with mocha.

Fontina, a cheese that is a health friend (if you do not exaggerate) – Italian Cuisine

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Sweet taste, hard paste, intense aroma (a bit like the Gorgonzola), capable of bringing the fields of Valle d'Aosta directly on our tables. La Fontina it is much more than a cheese, it is an expression of a territory, the Valle D'Aosta, of its rich and substantial cuisine.
A real gastronomic specialty, so much to be protected by a Consortium which supervises its production and provides for the marking of the forms conforming to the quality criteria.

A cheese with ancient origins

157205It seems that its history is very old. As reported by Consortium, the first mention of Fontina dates back to 1477, while the first classification is dated 1887 with "The Fontine of Val d'Aosta"In the yearbook of the Experimental Station of the Lodi dairy. The second classification dates back to the years 30 and 40 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests. Only in 1995, Fontina was conquered, along with 6 other Italian cheeses, by the European Commission Protected Designation of Origin.

Essential ingredient of many preparations

169617Today the Fontina represents the basis of many typical recipes of Valle D'Aosta, to comic the tasty Fondue, i Gnocchi Alla Bava, as well as the tasty Valdostana steak or the crepes. But it is also perfect to natural, for a nutritious snack or breathtaking delicious appetizers in an evening with friends. But what are its characteristics? And what is the best way to consume it from a nutritional point of view? We deepen these aspects with the doctor Valentina Bolli, dietician.

Values ​​and nutritional properties

128787Illustrates the Dr. Bolli "La Fontina it is a semi-fat cheese, of varying maturation, with interesting qualities from a food point of view. It provides an excellent supply of vitamin a, (has about 420 micrograms per 100g), important for vision, bone development, teeth growth and immune response. It also contains a good amount of vitamin b2 (0.45 micrograms per 100), which plays a fundamental role in energy processes ". Among the minerals stands out in particular the football (870 milligrams per 100g), essential for bones and teeth. As for the other characteristics, the dietician continues "The proteins are in line with the other cheeses of equivalent curing, about 24.5 grams out of 100. As well as cholesterol, with 82 mg out of 100".

It must be considered a second course or a single dish

157207It is therefore a cheese that can be consumed like other hard cheeses. Points out Valentina Bolli "The guidelines suggest that the ideal is to add it to the diet once a week, in the amount of 50 g (against 100 g) of fresh cheeses. It must be considered a real second course or a single plate. Perfect for example the pizzoccheri, a balanced mix of proteins, vegetables (verze) and carbohydrates. The use of buckwheat among other things makes this dish also suitable for coeliacs. But also gnocchi alla bava, using 50 g of fontina and 150 g of gnocchi, you get a delicious single dish, rich in taste and well-assorted ".

Elisa Nata
January 2019

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