Tag: Prepare

Melon: how to choose it, keep it and prepare it – Italian Cuisine

The recipes with the best seller of summer dishes that go beyond the more classic "ham and …"

The melon it is summer: its intense aroma, which is already felt at the market or at the supermarket, which accompanies you in the shopping bag and which then continues to be released on the table, is summer.
When the heat knocks on doors, one of the things we all do in the kitchen is replace dinner with a nice plate of ham and melon. Or not?

How to choose the melon?

The melon is an annual herbaceous plant, the varieties are divided into summer and winter and therefore the first thing to do is to choose a seasonal one. Yes to the Retato melon, round with the skin drawn by a dense lattice, with a sweet pulp; Cantaloupe, very sweet, fragrant, with firm pulp; al Galia, with a very aromatic white pulp. To choose a good melon always remember to smell it: a fragrant melon has reached a good ripeness, if it does not smell and tends to green it will be unripe.

How to preserve the melon?

The melon can be stored outside the refrigerator but in a cool place, away from heat sources or direct sunlight, which speeds up maturation (so it should not be left on the balcony, for example). If you need to consume it immediately, the ideal is to put it in the refrigerator only a few hours before consumption. Be careful if you decide not to consume it immediately; especially the Retato matures and rots quickly, so in that case it is better to keep it in the fridge but away from the walls to avoid freezing.

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Cooking school: panna cotta, how to prepare it – Italian Cuisine

Panna cotta is a perfect dessert for all occasions and all seasons: find out how to prepare it with the advice of our chefs!

Panna cotta is made from four ingredients: fresh cream, sugar, vanilla and isinglass. But how to put them together in the best way? Follow all the tips of our chefs at La Scuola de La Cucina Italiana, step by step!

How to make panna cotta?

Start to soak fish glue sheets in cold water. Then in a saucepan heat over low heat cream, sugar and vanilla pod previously scraped. After a few minutes, remove from the heat and dip the drained, squeezed and rehydrated fish glue sheets, about 16-18 grams per liter. Finally, fill a mold with the mixture, keep in the fridge to firm and … how about trying to flavor it?

Flavoring in progress

You can flavor your panna cotta with what you prefer, such as spices, herbs or fruit purees. If so, proceed as follows: filter with the sieve to remove the solid parts, or make layers, but remember that it is essential to let the panna cotta cool first. And be careful that the spilled liquid does not exceed 30 degrees: it could melt the previous layer!

Old style panna cotta

Did you know that in the past the panna cotta was made to thicken with the egg whites of theegg? All the ingredients were combined and brought at 70 degrees so that the egg whites coagulate.

Do you want to learn other little tricks and secrets in the kitchen? We are waiting for you at our School of Italian Cuisine. See the course calendar here.

Texts by Giulia Ubaldi

What to eat to prepare for exams – Italian Cuisine

With the end of schools this year too the dreaded begins for thousands of students exam period. In the previous days, also crucial for the preparation of small and large students food is a crucial factor to better face the study and the burden of tiredness and tension that inevitably accompanies the checks to be faced. To understand how food choices can help we talked to Alessandra Bosetti, clinical dietitian of the nutrition center and pediatric diabetology of the Vittore Buzzi Children's Hospital ASST FBF Sacco di Milano.

The first thing that needs to be clarified is the type of food to choose to get the right load, because (as opposed to what you might think) energy does not go hand in hand with food wealth: "It is very important to avoid large meals, rich in fats and sugars, which instead of supporting the body in the study make it heavy, thus lowering performance and making the learning process difficult", explains Bosetti. “No then to soft drinks and packaged juices, excessively rich in sugars, to cold cuts, to dishes that are too elaborate. Better to prefer small split meals, which more help the student to face a long study. Yes to water, perfect for maintaining the right hydration, and ai shakes prepared only with fresh seasonal fruit and water. Only in the case of inappetent children can the smoothie be enriched using milk or yogurt together with fruit ".

How to appease in a healthy way the sudden hunger, often even late at night, in the middle of study hours?
Fresh fruit and dried fruit are certainly the ideal foods for an afternoon snack, which you will regenerate without weighing down your body and mind. Even it night snack it is not to be demonized, but the ingredients must be carefully chosen. The classic sandwich that's fine, as long as it's prepared with wholemeal bread or cereals, fish (eg smoked salmon, a source of noble proteins and rich in omega 3) and naturally vegetables. To avoid, instead, the classic combination "salami and cheese" because it is two proteins together. For those who prefer sweet flavors an excellent snack is made up of whole wheat bread with dried fruit; also the traditional bread and chocolate it's fine if we choose wholemeal bread and a square of dark chocolate, or chocolate with almonds or hazelnuts that – rich in magnesium – fight psychophysical fatigue. Let us remember that chocolate contains tryptophan, a precursor of melatonin that helps support mood, so it can be an ace up its sleeve for days of stress from exams!

From elementary to university, there are so many students involved in this period. Should food choices be differentiated according to the age of the students, considering that exams for high school and university students continue for several weeks?
The guidelines for proper nutrition do not know age, instead the amounts of food to be taken at different times of growth vary. The student's dish will therefore also change in relation to age. If, for example, the correct portion of whole wheat pasta for a 10-year-old child is 60g, at 18 he will go up to 100g. In addition, older students, for whom the study period is extended to the warm weeks of July, will have to pay even more attention to hydration. I advise them to look for the charge in smoothies to be enriched with dried fruit to fill up with magnesium, which also promotes restful sleep.

Here comes the fateful day of the exams, is there an ideal breakfast to do before sitting at the school desk?
The day of the exam la breakfast is that of the heart, which helps keep the mood high for the test to be taken. The classic cappuccino and brioche combination is also good, if it is a question of breakfast which makes you feel good, in this case we also combine a banana which gives a charge of power and a contribution of potassium. Savory lovers should try wholemeal bread or cereals with scrambled eggs. To all students, small and large, I suggest always prefer i Whole grains Because I am rich in vitamin B6 and we know that B vitamins are linked to cognitive performance, they help them.

Claudia Minnella
June 2017
updated June 2019

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