Tag: January

January: seasonal vegetables and fruit – Italian Cuisine

With the beginning of the new year, in the heart of winter, the fruit and vegetable stalls are certainly not stingy with products, far from it! It's time to fill your shopping bags with vegetables and fruit in January. To be interpreted in a rich, tasty and always varied cuisine that enriches the daily diet with vitamins, mineral salts, fibers and antioxidants, so precious for the well-being of the body and the immune system.

Triumph of leaves
Among thistles and fennel, broccoli and cabbage, undoubtedly those are to excel over the many vegetables of the moment leafy: spinach, beets, ribs white or colored, they cook quickly and give the diet mineral salts and lots of fiber, with an undeniable detox effect useful after the festive "big binges". They are eaten raw or cooked envy as the Belgian or the escarole, both good in salads as well as in the stuffed and stewed versions. They are part of the large family of chicory, among which it is necessary to mention the late radicchio from Treviso. The one on the market now has uniquely shaped tufts, with a thick stem and long, thin, slightly spread leaves that roll towards the tips in graceful curls. The taste is gentle but characteristic, to be enhanced with quick cooking or in the most classic of winter risottos. The stems are not discarded: well scraped and julienned, they will give a crunchy note to the preparations. Their texture is reminiscent of another seasonal vegetable, the celeriac, also called of Verona. It is actually a large rounded root with an irregular and brownish surface. Once peeled, it reveals a whitish and intensely aromatic pulp. Raw it is the protagonist of two famous salads: the American Waldorf with apples and walnuts and the local capricciosa with gruyère and cooked ham, both tied with a mayonnaise-based sauce. It can also be cooked in the oven or boiled to make a puree, like a potato. About potatoes: have you noticed that those on sale are getting bigger, with thick skin and dirty with soil? They are old potatoes, perfect for gnocchi!

At the greengrocer's
Many think that the winter orchard pales in comparison to that of the warm months. In fact, there are many ready-to-eat varieties. Between pears, for example, it's time to buy Abbot And Kaiser but also an exotic specialty, the Japanese Nashi, which ends its season in recent weeks and surprises with its juicy, delicate, very fresh pulp: it can be bought in Asian stores with the fruit and vegetable department, in organic ones and in well-stocked supermarkets. Looking at the vast world of citrus fruits, it's time for cedars of which the peel, the albedo (the white part, not at all bitter) and the central pulp, little but very aromatic, are consumed. The best way to serve cedar is, therefore, cut into thin slices like a carpaccio, to be enjoyed in salads together with fennel, raw shellfish, flaked cod. While diced it can finish both a risotto and a fruit salad. Other citrus "mangiatutto" (peel apart) are le clementines, cross between mandarins and mandarin oranges: small and juicy, they are characterized by the lack of seeds. The wedges are immediately inviting, so much so that one leads to the other … that the cherries are envious of! In addition to being an excellent source of vitamin C, essential for preventing seasonal ailments. Among the fruits rich in antioxidants, one cannot forget the pomegranate, which has certainly made a splash on the holiday menus but deserves a place at the table even these days: superfood for the well-being of the body, super ingredient to give an elegant and crunchy touch to many dishes.

Francesca Romana Mezzadri
January 2022

January, ideas to get started: the new issue on newsstands – Italian Cuisine

How do you start a new year? With something new, and something old. With tradition and innovation. And what's more ancient and contemporary than a very spreadable and very enjoyable one pate, to be enjoyed on hot and steaming croutons? A little French and a little Tuscan, he tastefully combines high and popular cuisine and interprets salmon, smoked trout, chicken, rabbit, duck…

Chic citrus
Linguine with yuzu, risotto al cedar, lemon ravioli and other savory dishes acquire a very special acidity with the contribution of citrus fruits: from the classic zest to season spaghetti to lemon, to the salad of oranges, up to the juice added to the bottom of the roast, the most popular had already made themselves noticed in some dishes. But new interpreters come from the family in the kitchen. THE pink and yellow grapefruits they accompany roast poultry, pork and beef tenderloin. THE kumquat they give sparkle to fish and meat and the cedar joins the fish. Seeing is believing.

194 153 Crustaceans
Precious, exquisite, sparkling, they are the top for a banquet with a refined and contemporary personality. Under the zest they hide a delicious and delicate taste, excellent with mayonnaise of various kinds, unusual breading, contrasting side dishes and combinations with fruit. Do you have any difficulty cooking them? Although according to experts lobsters and lobsters should be cooked alive, we suggest you buy them frozen and boil them by throwing them in water as soon as they have been removed from the freezer: do not defrost them in the fridge, they would lose their mood and the pulp would dry out. It is also essential that the water is boiling and abundant. Don't you have the appropriate tool to cut the shells and the forks to pick up the pulp? Arm yourself with nutcrackers, serrated scissors and olive forks, and everything will be fine. You will still be ready to cook and taste the scamponi with cauliflower cream and coleslaw, the tostici in foam with tarragon with fried fennel, i coconut crusted king prawns with spicy sauce…

And then….
A hyper-traditional dish, the Maritata soup, A historic Neapolitan preparation in which a mix of vegetables happily marries various types of meat, the Trento Classico, one Dry sparkling wine in three types: base for aperitifs, vintage or reserve, from exceptional harvests. And for the more experienced palates, a foray into the world of sake under the guidance of the expert Lorenzo Ferraboschi who introduced us to the famous Japanese drink. And, given that there is still some time left between holidays and festivals, why not close seasonal vegetables and fruit under glass? And here are ours kaleidoscopic preserves: jellies, pickles, pickles with a modern taste. And again, to travel (or to dream) here we are Lisbon, between the blue of the sky and the ceramics, the baccalà and the sweets of the monasteries.

Scent of spices
Whole or in powder form they give unique aromas to parfaits, tarts, rolls, a thousand leaves And nude (like our cover). They evoke the charm of distant lands and exotic worlds, but they are also the protagonists of many traditional sweets of our house, from Umbrian gingerbread to Tuscan gingerbread, from frustingo from the Marches, to the Parma spongata. We asked the chef Claudio Gatti, master pastry chef from Parma, a great lover of ancient medieval recipes how to use them. Better in powder, because they are easier to incorporate and to dose in the doughs of baked desserts. Or in seeds or barks to infuse (never too much though!).

from Friday 15 January the restaurateurs are rebelling (perhaps) – Italian Cuisine

The numbers spoke of 60 thousand adhesions, reality counts much less. The trade associations dissociate themselves, but the protest speaks of a sector in difficulty that needs support. Ours too

"Wake Up! Italy reopens on January 15, without fear ". The new protest of the restaurateurs scheduled for Friday 15 January had started with "bellicose" intentions of civil disobedience: to open their premises by violating the closures imposed by the last Prime Minister's Decree. At the cry of the hashtag #ioapro, several restaurants had proclaimed they wanted to join. Or so it seems, because the numbers do not add up and the protest "from below" ends up turning out to be a political boutade. But with a clear message.

The numbers (that don't add up)

The self-proclaimed numbers on social networks and the press spoke of 60 thousand subscriptions. On the website, Ioapro.org, the activities registered for the initiative are currently only 21 and on the Facebook page they reach almost 19 thousand likes. The hashtag on Instagram has been used a little more than 1000 times and scrolling through the posts in search of some well-known name there is only a video of Vittorio Sgarbi (who insults the Government and declares to open the municipality of Sutri of which he is mayor) and post not too covertly attributable to Salvini's League, which immediately supported the initiative proposed by some restaurateurs.

The direct with Salvini which triggered the protest

It all started a few days ago by Maurizio Stara, owner of a pub in Cagliari. "I no longer turn off my sign, I open," he wrote on Facebook. But the national interest is due to Umberto Carriera, "entrepreneur, chef and writer", as he defines himself on Linkedin, with six restaurants in Pesaro. It is he who relaunched the protest live on social media with Matteo Salvini, only to end up being interviewed by newspapers and televisions, by D'Urso and Door to door.

"48 Italian cities will be involved: citizens are asking us to reopen because they want to support us. We have fielded a task force of over 30 lawyers, ”said Carriera. But no denier idea. On the social networks there is in fact an "Autonomous DPCM", that is a Practical Decalogue of Motivated Merchants and which provides for compliance with the rules of sanitation and mask, closing at 9.45 pm and the use of half of the tables.

The trade associations dissociate themselves

The trade associations responded by dissociating without ifs and buts from the initiative. «We share the frustration and sense of disorientation of so many exhibitors, which can lead to radical gestures. But precisely to support them effectively, as a representative of the largest and most widespread sector in the entire country, we exercise our role and our responsibility. Our role is to defend the category and represent its real interests, enhancing them for their ability to contribute to the good and the future of the country , writes the Italian Federation of Public Shops. "If, following forced openings, a new peak in infections were to be recorded by chance, the entire category would be further damaged also from this point of view. Italians have always shown great attachment and closeness to their public establishments, but it would be difficult to sympathize with acts so distant from shared behavior. The risk is to undertake actions without history and without a future, which penalize everyone . This is echoed by Alfredo Zini, restaurateur and president of the Confcommercio Historical Enterprises Club at “Il Fatto Quotidiano”. «The protest is dividing the category of restaurateurs and this is absolutely not good. Protests must be made respecting the rules. In Milan over 3 thousand will be the public establishments that will raise the shutters and turn on the lights, while at the moment there are no more than twenty who will let customers in, at their own risk ”, he explained. "From the trade associations there is an invitation to maximum responsibility because one can also be heard in silence. The restaurateurs are not greasers and we have always respected all the protocols .

We help the industry, in our home

From Brescia to Rovigo the prefectures promise sweeping checks and sanctions. On social media you can read statements from chefs and restaurateurs who join the chorus of complaints about closures and missed refreshments, but publicly admit that they do not want to reopen illegally, for compliance with the rules and for fear of repercussions. Administrative and image: if many customers are close to restaurateurs as well as other entrepreneurs in difficulty, many more would not appreciate a gesture that risks endangering public health.
The restaurants are open, for delivery and take-away, and in this phase they can be helped in this way. At our home.