Tag: Italian

How to choose the oil suitable for different dishes and different preparations? – Italian Cuisine

Not all oils are suitable to be used in cooking, but some are indigestible from raw: here is a vademecum for clarity

It's easy to say oil. On the market there are different types, deriving from different raw materials and with different nutritional properties and use. Not everyone is good to use raw, for example to dress the salad, and not all are suitable for frying.

Which ones to use to do what? Below, a practical and fast vade mecum not to make mistakes and not to spoil a dish, but especially to get hurt in the kitchen.

Olive oil

Olive oil is one of the symbolic products of the Mediterranean diet, which can not be missed on an Italian table. Versatile, in the kitchen is suitable for cooking in the pan or in the oven, also for the frying, given the presence of monounsaturated fats, which make it stable to heat. THE'extra virgin olive oil, composed of triglycerides and free fatty acids, is excellent raw: in addition to being very digestible, a teaspoon to season salad or cooked vegetables is a panacea also for health. It in fact strengthens the immune system and controls the level of cholesterol in the blood.

How to choose the evo oil

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Peanut oil

Made from peanut seeds, it has a low content of polyunsaturated fatty acids and a high content of oleic acid. Compared to other oils, it has a more stable structure and is resistant to high temperatures, therefore it is suitable for fried.

Corn oil

Obtained from corn seeds, it contains polyunsaturated fats, which, when subjected to high temperatures, produce substances harmful to the body. No then use in the pan or frying, yes to the raw one: it is rich, in fact, of omega 3 and omega 6, fatty acids friends of the heart.

Palm oil

Made from the fruits of the palm, it is an intense yellow color and in the kitchen it is very resistant to high temperatures, due to the high content of saturated fatty acids. However, use it in moderation: it is not excluded that during frying the food absorbs an amount of oil equal to the two daily tablespoons of fat recommended by dieticians.

Sunflower oil

Obtained from sunflower seeds, it is resistant to heat (so it could be used in baked dishes), but it is better to use it as a condiment raw, also in order not to disperse with its heat its nutrients, like omega 3 and 6, ideal for protecting the heart.

Soybean oil

Made from soybeans, it is rich in polyunsaturated fats, which oxidize at high temperatures, becoming harmful to health. Use it then raw, a precious source of vitamins and linoleic acid, perfect for toning the heart and keeping cholesterol at bay.

3 good excuses to prepare mulled wine at home – Italian Cuisine

How to prepare a good mulled wine at home, bringing home the best perfumes that can be felt in this period among the market stalls

Four steps in the city center. The windows, the stalls and the bookshop where the afternoons seem to fly. And just as we go out, we can only stop and give in to call for a good glass of mulled wine.

Warm, fragrant, sweet and intense. To be held in the hands, lingering a bit, the time to breathe the perfume of wine and spices, to imagine the wave sweet and rich that will overwhelm our palate at the first sip.
And once you get home and put the packages, the question arises: why do not we ever do it at home?
We do not know. But we are ready to provide you with three good reasons to change your habit.

Not to waste wine

We opened a good bottle of Nero d'Avola, but after a couple of glasses we stuck it and put it in the fridge. Do not you think it would be a shame to throw it or use it for cooking?
Making mulled wine is the perfect idea for do not waste full-bodied red wines in winter, authorizing us to open those good bottles more lightly that we are always afraid of not finishing.

For the perfume

There are many valid methods for perfuming the house. Diffusers of perfume, incense, sprays, potpourri and much more. But if you want a house that smells of spices, sweet wine and domestic warmth… vin brulé is the first thing you need to prepare. It will transform the smells of the house into an enveloping scent that we recommend to let even in the bedroom to make sweet dreams.

To enjoy the house

Last but not least reason is the desire to stay at home that grows when temperatures drop and the wind blows hard. And if sometimes we feel a bit 'prisoners, it is because perhaps we have not given enough attention to turn it into perfect nest for our sweet hibernation. Preparing a fun drink like mulled wine, then, also means having one more chance to invite friends, have a chat and relax with friends.

How to prepare mulled wine

Here in the gallery below are the simple steps to prepare mulled wine. You will see, it will be very fun and you will want to experiment a bit with spices, different wines and … honey. Choosing it as a sweetener will increase your chances of playing with the basic recipe.

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Coda: the restaurant where only desserts are eaten – Italian Cuisine

From CODA to Berlin, chef René Frank serves a 6-course tasting menu, just dessert. Without using sugar. This and other addresses for those who do not resist sweets

From CODA to Berlin, dessert is the star, they make a six-course tasting menu, to be eaten for dinner. In place of dinner. And soon this will be a trend in the restaurant world.
Behind the restaurant (not confectionery!) In the super trendy neighborhood of Neuköllin in Berlin there are the award-winning confectioner, the chef René Frank, and the creative Oliver Bischoff, managing director of the "ett la benn" communication agency. Their idea is that dessert is no longer the conclusion of a journey, but the beginning of a new experience, a real one full meal with lots of drinks in combination, completely different from the usual. And they are not the only ones, dessert desserts have sprung up since 2016, almost everywhere in the capitals of gastronomy.
In 2016 CODA is born as a bar in which to conclude the evening in front of a mini-dessert tasting and develops in the current project, that is a real six-course tasting menu plus the combination of drinks and snacks at 98 euros, served at 7.00 pm.

At the third edition of the festival Gastromasa, which brings together international and local chefs every year in Turkey, explained on stage how "It is not the presence of sugar to define a dessert. There are many different natural ingredients that add sweetness, such as ripe fruit, grape juice, maple syrup or honey. And then there are innovative techniques with which to develop the inherent sweetness of the ingredients". Meanwhile he mentions the baklavaecucina of Japanese fermented rice conkogi from which to extract a caramelized sauce for a dessert based on ripe bananas and pear vinegar …

The dessert is modern

The dessert as we know it today, like all pastry, is the result of tradition, techniques and the French approach. Modern.
The dessert at the restaurant is that dish that arrives at the end, from the French "desservir", that is all that is served after having cleared the table: cheeses, fruit and desserts. It is a recent invention, which is affirmed at the end of the eighteenth century when it stops serving all the food at the same time on the table (in French) and introduces the service to courses, to the Russian. The sweet dessert as we know it today is then synonymous with aristocracy, then high middle class and only in the last century of popular food – before the industrialization of sugar production, sweet taste was luxury for few and the pastry a chapter of the gastronomic art.

CODA: a new idea of dessert not sweet
Frank was born a cook and became a pastry chef, arriving at the top of the Michelin-starred restaurant La vie di Osnabrück. From CODA he realizes his idea of a new dessert kitchen that does not compromise with industrial products: here everything is artisanal, without sugar for a trip to the origin of taste and a global experience for techniques and inspirations.
From CODA the dessert it is not sweet, is a taste experience that works on all five tastes and the five senses, with a pair of cocktails designed to accompany the dishes. Sugar is sought from ripe fruit, honey, maple syrup. Artificial flavors, colors, additives are obviously a taboo. Even white flour, dairy products, fats and white sugar are not used. In the kitchen you get the natural sweetness of fruit and vegetables, the flavor of ingredients such as anchovies or cheese, the bitterness from plants and herbs, the acid from citrus fruits or tamarind, the umami from foods rich in protein.