Tag: products

Here are the best products of the year (in your opinion) – Italian Cuisine

The most innovative and loved among 12 thousand consumers, from Nutella Bisquit to the best ready sauce, gluten-free biscuit or packaged ice cream

Monday 23 March 2020 was the Product of the Year Day, born in France in 1987 and now in its 15th Italian edition and present in over 40 countries around the world. Chosen by a popular jury of 12 thousand online users, the best products in the food sector were also sanctioned this year.
Here they are in the gallery, and market trends in terms of consumer choices; 0 increasingly greener.

Best food product

The attention to health and well-being is reflected in the daily choices of purchase and consumption, and by the companies themselves that respond with new natural, organic, free from, whole grain and superfood products. Like Kellogg’s Special K Protein and Céréal Buoni Senza Madeleine with almonds among the chosen 2020.

Origin and seasonality, environment and sustainability

In the foreground also the origin, origin and seasonality of the products purchased and consumed as well as the attention to the environment, a key word of 2020 which, in the wake of the new values proposed by the Greta Generation, imposes itself on the whole society with a broader look which includes animal welfare, environmental and social sustainability. Among the elected representatives of this year, for example, the Naturelle Rustiche 12h and Salumi Beretta Puro. The trend linked to environmental awareness shows that the choice of responsible consumption is growing strongly, going from 24% in 2018 to 29% last year; baby boomers (50-65 years and over) and young people of Generation Z (15-24 years) above all prefer products that respect the environment and more natural products. There are more and more companies offering products with recyclable packs such as Noberasco, the mixed Bio and Regionals elected in the Dried Fruit Category. Ecological or made through eco-sustainable processes and with natural components also for non-food products such as Icefor the Ecological elected in the Eco Household Cleaners Category.

Ready meals

The time dedicated to cooking is considerably shortened while practicality is sought through ready-made and easy-to-prepare dishes that go beyond the usual flavors and the usual recipes, without sacrificing taste, naturalness and well-being even for consumption "on the go" as Dimmidisì winners in the Fresh Dishes Soups in the Ready Meals category.

How does it work

Companies apply by offering products / services, assessed by a committee made up of experts from academia, marketing and journalists. The main requirement is innovation, i.e. a completely new product, a new formula or recipe, a new format, a range complement, a diversification, a new packaging, the use of a new technology. The products are then divided into categories, and include consumer products and services aimed at consumers, for example insurance, banking, telephone, etc. The PdA Research is the most important Innovation survey conducted in Italy by number of consumers interviewed: more than 12 thousand individuals vote their favorite products online through a questionnaire to evaluate innovation and satisfaction of consumers who declare that they have used the product / service .

Browse the gallery, category by category

Browse the gallery

from Oriental the best products of the Rising Sun. – Italian Cuisine

The Japan in Milan it is located in the Buenos Aires area, one of the first neighborhoods where "Milanese" has learned to live with and treasure other cultures. Among the streets sheltered from the chaos of the Corso is a succession of exotic aromas: Africa, India, Turkey. The presence of the East can be seen from some signs. And from a shop window that, at 25 Via San Gregorio, attracts by the warmth of light and refined furnishings. The shop is called Oriental, a small Asian market open for two years now. Once inside it is difficult not to get caught up in the desire to know everything, not only about cooking, but also about Japanese culture, habits and traditions. Those products are not only there to be sold: the plot of a story can be perceived in the exhibition. Reason for the visit, a selection of limited edition ingredients from the Hokkaido region: shitake mushrooms, indigenous rice, soy sauce, miso, hand-picked nori seaweed and a very special water.

What's so special about Hokkaido?

L'Hokkaido is thenorthernmost island of the Japanese archipelago. An incredibly intact ecosystem made up of volcanoes, lakes, mountains and thermal springs. Here time seems to flow at a different speed. People age more slowly and nature still retains much of its purity. It is considered by many Japanese a small earthly paradise. For gastronomes a sort of mecca, precisely because, being the uncontaminated environment, the raw materials are of an excellent quality.

Here's where to find the rice that Japanese star chefs use

Some of these are on Oriental shelves today. The rice it is placed in a box. Inside three packs of as many varieties: the Yumepirika, awarded as the best in Japan for three consecutive years. "There, prizes matter a lot and in every sector, not only in the food sector," explains Andrea Calvo, who now knows that country as his pockets. The other is the Oborodukithat comes "Cold cultivated". For this reason it contains less amylose and is indicated for those with high blood sugar problems. To complete the picture there is the Nanatsuboshi, ideal for making sushi, often used in starred restaurants in the Rising Sun.

Miso, seaweed, shitake mushrooms and pure water

Three types of miso: the Pirika, which contains more rice than normal and therefore triple the isoflavones, which have an antioxidant action. Then, there is Shiro, less fermented, therefore less savory. And the Dashi, perfect for fish soups. Another specialty is Eggplant moromas, a miso-based sauce to which fermentation has been blocked and barley added. The result is a taste between sweet and sour and pungent that goes perfectly with cucumber. If you want to taste real wild algae, there are the Nori snack which contain, in a few square centimeters, all the flavor of the crystalline waters where they are collected by hand. Last, but not least, the Gaivota, a water so pure that in Japan it is used only for making tea.

From Oriental a corner of Japan to Milan

If these products have reached Milan, the merit is of Andrea Calvo, the Oriental owner, who managed to sign an agreement with the prefecture of Hokkaido and Finnair, the Finnish carrier that took over the transport. Food technician and educator, Andrea is Italian, is married to a Chinese woman and has a daughter with a French sounding name. At home, if you open the cutlery drawer "you will find more chopsticks than forks". After having lived in China for a couple of years, returned to Italy for graduate in Gastronomic Sciences at the University of Pollenzo.

The quality of the raw material above all

There he met Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food, and it can be said that, since then, his life has never been the same. From him he learned the importance of the quality of the raw material. But instead of focusing on the local supply chain, he was led by the call of the East is since 2011 it has started to import Asian excellences (80% Japanese, then Chinese, Thai and Korean), selected outside the conventional markets.

Japanese ingredients, Italian cuisine

He is the first person to choose them, while the shop is thedirect emanation of his many travels and his passion for the Orient. If you are lucky enough to meet him, be guided to discover the products that neatly crowd the shelves. But above all let the secrets be revealed for decline the various ingredients in everyday recipes. For example, to add a little miso to Greek yoghurt so as to create an accompanying emulsion for grilled chicken that is not only tasty, but also rich in nutritional properties.

Japan-Milan twinning: a long-term project

The one with Hokkaido is alone the first in a long series – "hopefully" – of twinning with other regions of Japan that Calvo would like to activate in the coming months and that they would get there in Milan rare, excellent and unique products. Small treasure chests with which to create a bridge, «a meeting and an exchange between two apparently distant cultures: East and West. This philosophy wants to become a manifesto, a new way of experimenting, overcoming limits and conventions. Making innovation in sectors in constant movement is the biggest challenge , Andrea has no doubts.

Piedmontese Occitan cuisine between recipes and typical products – Italian Cuisine

The Occitan gastronomic culture is so vast and rich that an article will not be enough to tell it all, but we will try to suggest some indications on how to best enjoy it

A very ancient gastronomic and historical tradition, the Occitan one, which involves four states: France, Monaco, Italy and Spain. We will focus on the traditions and recipes typical of the Piedmontese Occitan gastronomic culture, a tradition that involves the Maira Valley, the Grana Valley, Varaita Valley, Stura Valley, Po Valley, Germanasca Valley, Bronda Valley and Infernotto Valley.

The cuisine of the Maira Valley is a rich, opulent cuisine, a cuisine that reflects the territory where it has developed, a cuisine with a strong mountain vocation. The few deviations in the path were born thanks to the contamination due to the seasonal migration from Italy to France, mostly women who went to France looking for work, to pick olives, flowers or to make housekeepers. These returns home brought back recipes and Provencal flavors, the link with the fish, the trade of anchovies, the union of the latter with garlic, to create one of the best known and appreciated Piedmontese recipes, bagna cauda. It was eaten with cooked and raw vegetables according to the season, although it is a recipe that prefers the cold winter temperatures in order to be enjoyed at its best.

One of the best known products, the protagonist of dozens of recipes, is the potato, in Occitan trifolas, tartiflas or bòdis. Cultivated in Val Varaita and Alta Valle Po, it probably spread thanks to the favorable climatic conditions since the mid-1800s. Prazzo potato (Cn) Al Chersogno farm, used for the preparation of Tundiret (potato dumplings) made with eggs and flour and dipped in boiling water, soft and irregular in shape, seasoned with cream, butter and cheese. Or del Mato (or Mata), an ancient preparation that involves cooking pumpkin (stewed with butter), boiled potatoes, leeks and rice, all the ingredients worked separately and then combined to form layers for cooking in a terracotta pan. To be seasoned with butter and cheese, sometimes with the addition of cream, in some cases also with sausage and vegetables such as San Pietro grass, beets or spinach. The bread was prepared annually, by drawing lots, which usually took place from November to Christmas. Few sweet recipes, but it is worth mentioning the Subric, semolina or potato pancakes or the Apple Panet, prepared for the feast of the Saints: an apple was placed in the center of the bread dough, a real delicacy for the little ones . Sweet bread was usually kept in the attic.

We find the potatoes again, for the preparation of the famous ones ravioles (gnocchi from Val Varaita) seasoned with butter and mountain pasture, Nostrale is often used. Among the typical desserts of the Val Varaita the sweet of Miando (in the Occitan dialect the Baita), a sort of caramel crème, which differs from the traditional recipe by adding pears cooked in white wine.

The protagonists of the recipes of the Valleys are also i legumes, vegetables from the garden, what nature offers, leftovers cooked in earthenware pots, transform apparently simple dishes into sumptuous soups. How theOla al forn, an invigorating soup of legumes, vegetables and meat, cooked in the bread oven once turned off, oven that maintains high temperatures even for two days, thus giving way to prepare other dishes without wasting the accumulated heat.
The soup cooks for at least 12-14 hours, usually at night. Dried borlotti beans, leeks, squash, onions, the poorer pieces of the pig are married in the Ola, butter or olive oil and flavorings are added and salt slightly. Once prepared, it is covered with a lid also made of crock and left to cook in the oven while still hot or on the fire (for at least 7 hours). The secret, for an optimal result, is knowing how to dose the amount of water well. A bit like panissa, the spoon, if placed in the center of the crock pot, must remain standing.

Very important for these valleys is also the Nostrale d'Alpe, the cheese par excellence of the Cuneo mountains, produced exclusively from the mountain pastures. The production huts must be at a minimum height of 1500 meters. Nostrale is a raw milk cheese and each malga differs from another, each milk used is different in aroma, due to the different types of herbs and flowers eaten by cows in the mountain pastures. So it may seem very similar, but it will differ in flavor and percentage of fat. It can be found fresh (Nostrale of about 35 days), or seasoned, from 4 or 5 to 12 months. Seasoning gives it intense aromas and a very particular flavor, a slight spiciness. Since 2011, the Producers Association of Nostrale d’Alpe certifies production with a special brand, as well as specifying in which hut it was produced.

For info and purchases: La Meira Dairy, township Meira 3, Elva, cell. 333 408 6239.
Martini Alessandro Farm in Celle Macra (Cn) in Borgata Grangia 9, tel. 340 3243094 (Mountain butter, Tome, fresh and aged Nostrale).
Alpine Nostrale Cheese Producers Association at the Agenform Dairy Institute p.zza C.A. Grosso 82 in Moretta, tel. 017 293 564.