Tag: meat

The Amadeus diet? Without salt and without meat but… – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

The Sanremo period opens with the announcement of the competitors. The host Amadeus is already on the front line in perfect shape. How does? Nutrition merit: the Amadeus dietin fact, it is particular and very rigid. It is necessary for him to face all the television challenges he is having in recent years and are already planned for the next ones: “Ama” has in fact been reconfirmed host of the Song Festival until 2024.

Tall and slender, 60 years old – he turned 4 September – the TV presenter from Ravenna has never shown signs of slowing down. Riding high since the 1980s – when he started with Radio Deejay -, Amedeo Umberto Rota Sebastiani – this is his name – never seems to age. “I’m not a foodiethis helps me a lot,” he said.

At 7 years old a bad misadventure

Amadeus has a very healthy diet which unfortunately is the direct consequence of a childhood trauma. In fact, the well-known presenter revealed that he was hospitalized for 2 months in hospital when he was 7 years old due to nephritis. A shock that marked him for life and which inevitably affected his habits, including eating habits. That’s why Amadeus he never adds salt to his dishes. But not only.

The Amadeus diet

Cooking without salt is therefore a healthy habit of the artistic director of the Sanremo Festival who, however, for over 15 years, has also gave up on meat red, to bread and in general to overly processed foods. Furthermore, he is not a good eater: “I eat little, without mixing foods too much”, he revealed

The dish that Amadeus cannot give up

If there’s one thing that Amadeus just can’t give up, it’s pasta. He eats it every day, albeit lightly seasoned or even unaccompanied. “All I need is a plate of pasta and I’m good to go,” she explained in the past. Your favorite condiment? A little bit of tomato sauce light. Pasta with tomato sauce is one of his favorite dishes along with chicken with curry accompanied by rice.

What do you eat during the Festival?

And during the Festival? There is little time, and you always have to be agile and quick because, contrary to what many people think, between rehearsals and live broadcasts, preparation and organisation, there is really a lot of work to do. “Artists and hosts need stay light: I understand, they can’t arrive weighed down when it’s time to go on stage. Amadeus often asked me for one spaghetti with light pestoto eat together with his wife Giovanna Civitillo, and I satisfied him”, revealed during the last edition of the event Pino Bucci, chef of the Globo hotel in Sanremo, where hosts and guests often stay during the days of the Festival.

Which recipes is the priest’s hat used for? – Italian Cuisine

The priest’s hat it is a cut of meat widely used in traditional Italian cuisine: you will surely have already heard of it or have even already used it for some succulent preparation.

Which part of the bovine is the priest’s hat?

The part of the bovine that is identified with this name is the shoulder. It is considered a noble cut of beef, versatile and very easy to use in the kitchen. It is also called underpalette. The meat of this cut has a light vein of connective tissue which melts during cooking and gives the meat a particular softness.

Why is the priest’s hat called that?

In fact the name refers precisely to its shape. The priest’s hat in fact has a triangular shape, which it is reminiscent of the tricorn, a characteristic headdress used by priests.

Not to be confused with the sausage of the same name typical of the lower Parma area, ancestor of zampone and cotechino, the priest’s hat is known throughout Italy by different names. The exact same cut of veal, veal or beef, can be found in Milan as shoulder fesonin Bari, Naples and Turin as simple shoulderin central Italy like shoulder meat. Going south, in Reggio Calabria you could find it with the name of shoulder rindwhile in Sicily it is widespread as paliciata And shoulder coverage in Catania, shoulder pad in Messina or shoulder plane in Palermo.

What to cook with the priest’s hat: all the recipes

The priest’s hat is a lean cut of meat, characterized by a layer of connective tissue that runs through it and which, melting during cooking, makes it tasty and soft.

Its characteristics make it particularly suitable for long cooking, like all those on a slow heat or at a low temperature. The priest’s hat is therefore the best choice for preparing second courses such as roasts, braised, stews, stews And boiled. However, it is also a valid cut for other dishes, for example scallops.

Below you will find all our recipes that include the priest’s hat, from the most classic meat second courses to new ideas to experiment with.

Vegan meat: the possible alternative – Salt & Pepper – Italian Cuisine

It has now been well over a decade since some visionary entrepreneurs began to study how to get one "Vegetable meat". Quotation marks required for a protein product which, in fact, is alternative to the meat. And we did not use the term "alternative" at random: because more and more consumers are approaching the world plant based while not being vegans or vegetarians. Not to replace foods of animal origin, but to have an extra food to be included in a diet that remains omnivorous. Among them, the more and more numerous flexitarians who, for various reasons, choose to reduce the consumption of meat, fish and derivatives. But also many curious who discover burgers, meatballs, minced meat and morsels that are ever tastier, fun to cook and with the added value of sustainability.

What are
Let's say immediately that they are protein products which, however, differ greatly from those typical of the soy-based veggie diet, such as tofu, or gluten-based such as seitan. The main feature is in fact that of getting closer, in consistency and taste, to the meat. Thus, the "minced" ones are red and succulent as if they were beef, the "pulpy" ones have an elongated fiber structure similar to that of chicken or pork. They have a good flavor, the so-called “umami” which could be translated as “savory flavor”. As for the formats, in the beginning they were i burger, or patties: the classic mashed meatballs to eat in a sandwich, with fresh vegetables and standard sauces. While today the variations are numerous and, in honor of the traditional specialties of street food, they often have English names like nuggets (nuggets, i.e. croquettes), pulled (frayed), chuncks (morsels), meatball (meatballs), minced (ground), sausages (sausages).

A growing success
The names chosen by the start-ups that, overseas, first launched the green challenge (we told about it in this post and in this other one), they expressed the full meaning of the bet: Beyond Meat (where "beyond" means "beyond") e Impossible Burger they were declarations of intent, even before being trademarks. Today, plant-based meat is a solid reality that is increasingly appreciated, as confirmed by the data collected by the delivery companies: both Just Eat that Uber Eats they put the vegan burger at the top of their customers' veggie choices. And the competitors of the two American companies are more and more. Brazilians of Future Farm they are inspired (and aspire to inspire!) "to the pro-earth generation, finally in favor of our planet". In Europe, the challenge was taken up by the Swede Ikea, which he has revisited in key cruelty free its famous meatballs, while the world of start-ups has recently seen the birth of the Spanish Heura and the switzerland of Planted. The latter, "incubated" in 2019 at the Zurich Polytechnic and become a reality thanks to the initiative of 4 students, has just landed on our market with a very specific choice: not to focus on various burgers and minced meat but only on variations " solid ".

The list of ingredients
The formulas developed by the different companies are, in fact, very different from each other. From the point of view of taste, the most effective proteins proved to be those obtained from peas. However, especially in ground products, they are mixed with many other ingredients: mainly soy, but also other legumes and cereals, fats, fibers, starches, thickeners, stabilizers. Additions needed to get it right consistency of burgers, sausages, meatballs, “chorizo”, frankfurters and company. It is to shorten the list of ingredients as much as possible that Planted has decided, on the contrary, not to "create" anything minced but "meat" solid, easier to "put together". Thus the "chicken", morsels that resemble a tender chicken breast, is prepared with pea protein and fiber, water and rapeseed oil. To these 4 ingredients the "pulled" (pictured above), made up of frays, adds oat and sunflower proteins, while the "kebab" is in thin slices flavored with Middle Eastern spices. The ingredients are a short supply chain, coming from local crops: thus, environmental sustainability is also ensured. Pursued by most of the companies in the sector, which adopt competitive production systems in terms of saving of water resources And drop in CO2 emissions.

The nutritional aspect
Interesting to note how the products plant based have a caloric intake similar, if not inferior, to the corresponding animals and in any case a content of saturated fats significantly lower. Then, of course, it all depends on the recipes: both at the origin (the flavored versions are generally richer) and in the kitchen, where the products natural they can be sautéed, browned and seasoned with oils and sauces, while still being one healthy choice thanks to the starting nutritional composition. And providing one more reason to really make it a viable alternative to change our diet and our impact on the environment around us.

Francesca Romana Mezzadri
January 2022