Tag: Guide

Guide to spring vegetables. Known and niche – Italian Cuisine

Follow the natural rhythm of the seasons, wise words. It is something that helps you feel good and feel in harmony with the earth. And if the season we are talking about is spring, the task is even more accessible and enjoyable. The vegetables that are found in the garden in spring are beets, asparagus, artichokes, green beans and legumes, spinach. And then any kind of salad, watercress, radishes is sage. But also vegetables less known as the Jerusalem artichokes, also called Jerusalem artichoke, or the so-called friars beards, otherwise called agretti (but they have an infinity of names and nicknames).

The usual unknown
Returning to our garden on topinambur, among those listed the most niche one, is conquering more and more palates, but not everyone knows it well. It is a tuber that can be eaten either raw or cooked, baked, pan-fried, or fried. In essence it is a low-calorie alternative to potatoes. As for the agretti instead (otherwise also called Negus beard, monks' mustard, roscano or lischi) it should be noted that these are the young thread-like leaves of a plant called Salsola soda and that grow spontaneously in spring throughout the Mediterranean. They are widely used in the kosher gastronomic tradition, in Shabbat dinners.

The timeless
Another spring must are the turnip tops, combined in the common imagination with orecchiette, but important above all as allies of our organism, thanks to a purifying, antioxidant and detoxifying action that allows an effective prevention of cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms. Last but not least let's not forget that spring is the season of gods peas and the Fava beans, like picnics and tables with beans and salami often remind us, marking a memorable moment of the year. In this regard it is necessary to mention also the jackdaws, of the fava family, but with a particularity that makes them unique and very usable: the jackdaws they are an entirely edible fruit and they eat everything, both the seeds and the pod. Raw in salads or as an appetizer, stewed in butter, whole or in pieces, boiled and seasoned with oil and lemon or passed in butter: they should be the most versatile and accessible legume record (thanks also to this peculiarity).

From fruit to fish
Seasonality obviously does not only concern vegetables and when it comes to cooking our marzolini vegetables let's remember a season combination. The fruit par excellence are the strawberries, excellent on every dessert, but also simple and pure or even in the most daring combinations. Finally we must not forget that even the fish has its seasonality. This is the time of horse mackerel, of the mackerel, of the gurnard, of the sea bass, of the bream, of the Pompano, of the bonito he was born in sea bream they are the Mediterranean species that must be purchased.

Password word salad
Finally, Spring is the season for vegetable gardens, which for connoisseurs are much more than a side dish. Except for very few species, from March onwards we find the largest variety of salad imaginable. From the chicory, raw sublime with vinaigrette, to the radicchio, from the chioggia with its crunchy and ample leaves to the iceberg only the embarrassment of the choice remains and the moral duty to know all the possible variations.

Emanuela Di Pasqua,
12 March 2019

the complete guide + 10 recipes – Italian Cuisine

It is the exotic fruit of the moment and we explain to you how to make it a protagonist in the kitchen

Loved by sportsmen and bloggers, photographed on company – especially from overseas – always, theavocado it is slowly gaining an important one market share also in Italy, so much so that now it comes cultivated in Sicily. If your approaches with this exotic fruit are still counted only on the fingers of one hand, here how to eat avocado, advice on how to choose the fruit at the right stage of ripeness, how to cook it and with what to accompany it.

Avocado: errors to be avoided in the purchase and conservation

On the web there are many cartoons that tell the sad course of this bulb-shaped fruit: from hard as a stone to too mature, without middle ground. Seriously, to recognize if the avocado is ready to be consumed, lightly press the wrinkled skin. If you get hurt by how hard it is, forget it and let it rip out of the fridge (never keep an unripe avocado in the fridge) for another 2-3 days, checking it frequently. If the peel gives way, but don't leave fingerprints … it's ripe. Use it in slices or keep it in its perfection 1-2 days in the fridge. If, on the other hand, the peel gives off slightly and your thumb (or forefinger) leaves a slight furrow, the maturation is already more advanced: use it as a base for mousses or sauces or preparations in which the pulp is not needed. Keep the unused avocado pulp in the fridge, lightly wet with lemon juice to prevent it from blackening.

How to eat avocado: part 1

But if you are still wondering about this fruit, "how do you eat avocado?" Here is the answer. As a basic rule the avocado is eaten raw, cooked becomes bitter easily (and also with the heat of oven and stove the precious fatty acids of which it is rich deteriorate). Of this exotic fruit only the pulp is used, which is obtained by cutting it lengthwise (attention to the central hard stone) in half. Rotate the two halves in the opposite direction, as is done with peaches, until they separate. The core is eliminated with the help of a teaspoon and then you can proceed to empty the shell from the pulp with a spoon, if it is to be blended, or by cutting the halves in half in half – so as to obtain some segments – to peel with the help of a sharp little knife.

How to eat avocado: part 2

This fruit lends itself to many preparations: excellent in small pieces salads or in slices on toast topped with a poached egg, but also as a basis for sauces, including the famous guacamole. The ways how to use the avocado in the kitchen are so many, there are also those who use the pulp as vegan butter and cream solution in cakes, biscuits, mousses and desserts. Due to its consistency, it can also be an excellent ingredient for giving smoothies and smoothies creaminess, having a neutral taste will not cover the flavor of the other ingredients.

When you eat avocado

The avocado is good for every hour of the day: from stars and stripes style breakfast to toast and egg, for lunch in a salad or for dinner with a seared salmon fillet. Snacks, snacks and aperitifs are also delicious. How to use the avocado on these occasions? In a smoothie, in avocado cream with melon and as guacamole in which to dip the nachos.

What do you eat avocado with?

After answering the question "how to eat an avocado", all that remains is to find out "with what you eat it". To never make mistakes, these are the winning couplings: with salt and lemon; in salads combined with an acid element; with tomatoes; with chilli; with fatty fish like tuna and salmon; with chocolate; with yogurt; with cloves, nutmeg or cumin. Now you will have no more doubts about how to use the avocado.

10 recipes with avocado: above, in the gallery

Agrigento: a guide for a weekend between art and good food – Italian Cuisine

A weekend in the beautiful Sicilian city. To enjoy the artistic, literary and archaeological beauties; admire glimpses of enchanting nature and savor dishes and recipes of ancient tradition

Agrigento could be one, none, one hundred thousand paraphrasing the title of the most famous novel by Luigi Pirandello, to which the city gave birth. Those who visit this stretch of southern Sicily often simply visit the Valley of the Temples, without dwelling on the gourmet goodies and i places of art hidden of Agrigento.

Literary itinerary

You can decide to retrace the places mentioned in the Pirandello novels. Love for their land lives and lives in its writing that exudes Mediterranean nature. "Dominated, on the top of the hill, from the ancient Norman cathedral, dedicated to San Gerlando, the Bishop's Palace and the Seminary, Girgenti was the city of the priests and of the dead bells. From morning to night, the thirty churches with long and slow tolls woke up the cry and the invitation to prayer , taken from Old and young, the opera where the great writer and dramatist most describes the city and its churches. Among the most beautiful to visit, Santa Maria dei Greci with the visible remains of a Greek temple and St. Nicholas, directly connected to the archaeological Museum of Agrigento.

For food lover

The alleys of the ancient Girgenti they look decadent and full of charm. It starts from Rabato, old district outside the walls, until you get to the Bibbirria, the door of the winds towards the plateau of the Norman cathedral, symbol of the Christian reconquest and one of the oldest religious buildings in all of Sicily. During the walk obligatory stop at Holy Spirit Monastery: Here the cloistered nuns still preserve the original recipes of the conventual pastry shop. The dessert to try is the "celestial" pistachio couscous (not to be confused with the Arabic one, which is salty), an invention of 1300 made with pistachios, almonds, cinnamon, chocolate, walnuts, candied fruit, dates and spices. Saint Peter instead it is a church no longer used for worship and now converted into a multifunctional space from Temenos Cooperative (rich annual program of cultural and musical events) that also manages the restaurant Terracotta, an unavoidable stop for those who want to savor the goodness of the Sicilian fishery sea and the many Slow Food presences selected by Fabio Gulotta. An example is the girgentana goat cheese, autochthonous breed with majestic spiral horns saved from extinction by the breeder Giacomo Gati. Some specimens have been introduced in the Parco della Valle and can be admired in the large enclosure in front of the Temple of Concordia. In the central Via Atenea is instead the La Scala restaurant of the chef Vincenzo Santalucia, one of the promises of the new Sicilian cuisine.

Spring 2019. Almond Blossom (1/10 March)

In March there is one of the oldest folklore festivals in Europe: the flowery almond. A popular tradition of Agrigento that anticipates the arrival of spring through the flowering of the plant that symbolizes this stretch of the Sicilian coast. Every year the event attracts millions of visitors and folk groups from all over the world who perform in the shadow of the temples as a sign of dialogue between different peoples and cultures. On the occasion of the 74th edition, the association The Soste di Ulisse presided over by the two-star chef Michelin Pino Cuttaia, promotes an educational workshop (March 8, Palacongressi of Agrigento) to raise awareness on the issue of food waste.

Summer 2019. Sunrise at the Temples with granita (August / 1st September)

Also this summer will return the theatralized dawns organized by CoopCulture – every Sunday in August and September 1 – in the Valley of the Temples. An extraordinary show during which it will be possible to witness the sunrise, participating in a visit to the sacred area of the ancient city, led by an archaeologist and expert guides of the site. The visit will end with a special Sicilian breakfast based on briosce and almond and lemon granita (ticket € 20: admission, theatrical visit and breakfast at the Pietro Griffo Museum cafeteria).

Addresses for a weekend food in Agrigento

Where to eat
• Terracotta, via Pirandello 1
The restaurant has been repeatedly awarded the coveted Slow Food snail for the high quality of the raw materials used in the kitchen. Do not miss the selection of Sicilian historical cheeses.
• La Scala restaurant, via Atenea 72
The restaurant is intimate and welcoming, from its balconies you can admire the main beauties of the historic center. Among the cult dishes of the chef Vincenzo Santalucia: Pacchero with prawns, cuttlefish soup and cannolo with bitter orange sauce.
• Osteria Expanificio, piazzetta Giuseppe Sinatra 16
Housed in an old post-war bakery, the restaurant is located in one of the most beautiful squares in the historic center, a few meters from the Pirandello Theater. Ideal to taste the typical Sicilian cuisine.

Where to buy
• Infurna pastry, via Atenea 96
Historic pastry shop in the main course. The specialties are sweets with pistachios and almonds: shells, granules, curls and crunchy.
• Holy Spirit Monastery, Courtyard Santo Spirito, 9
The church and the monastery are of fourteenth century origin. Adjacent to the magnificent Gothic portal is the homonymous B & B. Every morning the nuns prepare breakfast with homemade products, including sweets typical of the centuries-old convent tradition: couscous with pistachio and almond paste.
• Wine shop CVA Canicattì, Valley of the Temples
The Park Authority has entrusted the management of the small vineyard under the temple of Giunone to the wine cooperative CVA Canicattì. The wine produced in limited edition is called Diodoros and part of the proceeds is used to finance the maintenance of the archaeological site. Diodoros and the other wines of CVA can be tasted in the sales outlet of the cooperative near the entrance to Porta V.

What see
• archaeological Museum "Pietro Griffo", Contrada San Nicola
One of the most important archaeological museums – exhibits 5688 exhibits that illustrate the history of the Agrigento territory from prehistory to the end of the Greco-Roman age – and the most visited in Sicily.
• Kolymbethra Garden (Combo ticket for Valle + Giardino)
Archaeological and agricultural jewel, entrusted to the Italian Fund for the Environment. An extraordinary place that contains colors, flavors and scents of Sicily. It tells the story of ancient Akragas with its finds and hypogea, excavated 2500 years ago. To be purchased at the FAI bookshop the organic jams produced with the citrus fruits of the Garden (lemon, mandarin, bergamot).
• Lucchesian Library, via Duomo 94
One of the hidden wonders of the historic center of Agrigento. Inside there are more than 45 thousand volumes collected on precious hand-carved wooden shelves.
• Palazzo dei Filippini, via Atenea 270
The former College of the Filipino Fathers is a precious art gallery. Extraordinary the gallery with over 100 works by the Palermo landscape architect Francesco Lojacono (1838 – 1915), nicknamed the "Sun thief".

Where to sleep
• Terraces of Montelusa, Piazza Lena 6
Delightful bed & breakfast in the heart of the historic center. Breakfast in the large terrace with a panoramic view of the domes, the sea and the temples.
• Foresteria Baglio della Luna, via A. Serafino Guastella 1 / C
Comfortable resort, a few kilometers from the city center, immersed in the peace and greenery of the Valle Park.
• Hotel Villa Athena, via archeological walk 33
Guests can access the Valle's tour directly from the hotel, affiliated with the Small Luxury Hotel of the World and the only 5-star hotel in Agrigento.