Tag: middle

Atayef: the Middle Eastern pancake – La Cucina Italiana – Italian Cuisine

A dessert for those who love sweets … sweets! And for those who love to experiment even beyond the Italian tradition

qatayef, but also Katayef, call as you like these similar to Middle Eastern pancakes because it seems to be the same thing. Two different names, but the same recipe. These are bundles with a dough similar to that of the Pancake, but be prepared with brewer's yeast and without eggs.
They are stuffed with fresh cheese, walnuts and almonds and then fried in butter.
The thing that makes them even more gluttonous is the bath in sugar or honey syrup.
Needless to say, they are the end of the world!

qatayef

The Qatayef recipe

Ingredients

For the dough
200 g of flour, 2 tablespoons of flour, 5 g of brewer's yeast powder, 300 ml of water, 15 g of sugar, 30 ml of seed oil, salt

For the filling
100 g of cottage cheese, 75 g of walnuts, 50 g of soft dates, a pinch of salt, butter for frying

For the syrup
250 g of sugar, 250 ml of water

Method

Dissolve the yeast in the water and then add the sugar and two tablespoons of flour.
Leave the mixture to rest for 10 minutes and when bubbles have formed on the surface, add the rest of the flour, oil and salt and mix well.
Cover the bowl with cling film and let it rise for two hours.
Heat a non-stick pan with a piece of butter and slowly pour the mixture, just like you do to prepare pancakes.
Cook them only on one side, until bubbles appear on the surface.
As you go on cooking, put the pancakes aside and cover them so they don't dry out.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling by whipping the ricotta, walnuts and pitted dates.
Stuff the pancakes on the raw side and fold in half, pressing well on the edges to seal the pasta, or leave only one end open. You can use some water to help you.
Fry the qatayefs on both sides in hot butter and serve with honey syrup or hot sugar.
To prepare the syrup, dissolve the sugar or honey in the water in a saucepan over low heat. It must not caramelize.
They should be eaten immediately, still warm.

Cooking in the oven

If you don't want to fry the Qatayefs, brush them with melted butter or vegetable oil and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200 ° for about 20 minutes, or at least until they become golden.

Some variations

The syrup can be flavored with orange and lemon blossom water if you want a tastier and more fragrant dessert.
The filling can also be done only dried fruit with the addition of coconut flour if you don't like ricotta or if you want a vegan version, and in this case use the coconut butter or oil for frying.

In Milan water bottles as a gift for elementary and middle school children, the idea of Beppe Sala – Italian Cuisine

Less than two weeks before the start of the school, the news of a "precious" gift waiting for them on their return arrived for all children enrolled in primary and secondary schools in Milan. This was announced on his Instagram profile Mayor Beppe Sala, making himself proud with two aluminum flasks in his hands. Here it is gift for the 100,000 elementary and middle school children in Milan: an aluminum water bottle to strongly reaffirm that Milan is becoming increasingly plastic free. And what is more sensible than starting from them, from children, to convey the message that a world without plastic is possible, with the effort of everyone and with small but important new habits to be acquired?

In September, therefore, 100,000 children (60,000 enrolled in the primary school and 40,000 in the lower secondary school) will be distributed as many aluminum water bottles, probably bearing the logo of one of the participating companies that the Mayor Sala is involving in the project (A2A or Mm). Thus the Mayor of Milan announced and explained this initiative on the pages of the Republic: "To set a good example we will start with our subsidiaries and public services. And we will also do symbolic actions that will help to reflect: the City will give all the girls and the children of the elementary schools, and the boys of the middle schools, on their return to school, an aluminum flask to mark our will to fight the plastic. We need signals and, above all, examples ".

We need signals, and examples. All parents know that they learn quickly how much their children learn more from their gestures than from their words. And even Beppe Sala (and the municipal administration) knows this very well and has realized how fundamental it can be to teach children a reduce the use of plastic in favor of a healthier and more livable environment.

And then in Milan the mayor's water is good and controlled, what better way to carry it around in the "mayor's bottle"?

The first step has been taken, now we are waiting for the next projects of respect and care for the environment that Milan intends to launch to be able to tell them and who knows, to hope that they can be "signs and examples" also for other Italian cities and beyond.

Among the trees, in the middle of the river, suspended in the void: the hotels to enjoy nature – Italian Cuisine

In Sweden he is about to inaugurate a floating hotel from which to admire the northern lights. But even Italian facilities offer unique experiences

In the summertime floats on the waters of the river Lule, in winter it is set in the ice. And from its rooms with huge windows to the ceiling, you can admire the sky without having to go out. The Arctic Bath hotel, designed by Bertil Harström and Johan Kauppi, is about to open in Sweden: it is the ideal place to enjoy the Northern Lights phenomenon, from October to March, or the midnight sun. There are only six rooms, set up on a circular structure that has a natural pool with very cold water inside. The inevitable wellness center has twelve cabins for massages, thermal baths and crystal treatments. A structure that, as the designers wanted, has the least possible impact on the environment.

Who loves to immerse themselves in nature, always in Sweden, can also choose the Treehotel, with its own rooms in glass, bird's nest, Ufo-shaped, suspended among the tall trees in the pine forests of the northern part of the country, with a panoramic view of the river.

The rooms of the Free Spirits Hotel in Canada are real spheres in the trees of the rainforest coastal Vancouver Island, British Columbia: a unique hotel, where you can seek peace and relaxation by doing glamping, a new type of camping, between green and luxury. Or from which to go to discover the natural wonders that the island offers.

In the Sacred Valley of the Incas, in Peru, the Skylodges Adventure Suits allow you to sleep suspended in a transparent capsule at 300 meters of height (but with all the comforts), for a breathtaking experience where the condors fly.

And in Italy? In the Renon (Bolzano), the Adler Lodge Ritten is a cozy retreat in the forest, among fragrant trees, Spa in the woods and lakeside chalets. It was opened in late June. There is the possibility of reach the structure with the cable car starting from the center of Bolzano. Guests arriving by foot from the forest to the plateau face a large clearing overlooking the entrance of the central structure, all covered in black wood. Around, 20 chalets (some on the shore of a natural pond) with large windows, sauna and fireplace.

In Friuli Venezia Giulia, in Claut Valcellina, stands the Tree Village, a veritable small village of small houses built on trees without damaging them. The structure provides sleeping bags: each cottage can accommodate 2 to 6 people.

Never slept in a cave? In Matera Sextantio le Grotte della Civita is a widespread hotel, of which they are part well 18 caves carved into the tufa rock, to relive the feelings of the families who lived there until the fifties.