Tag: quality

Butter: history, production and quality – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

It’s the turn of the butter. There is no country in the world with so much richness and variety of productsnatural as the territory gives them or worked by expert hands in simple ways, which are ancient and at the same time the most contemporary. Continues voyage to discover our goodnessfrom the best known to the lesser known ones far from the production area.
The richness of butter is the result of essential processes that add only that little needed to transform the raw material into joy.

Butter

The butter – first inevitable, then criminalized – has forcefully returned. Even in haute cuisine, where there are those who mix it with water and then whip it to give it lightness and those who prefer the tastiest one from Campania buffalo. The sociologist Enrico Finzi speaks of «the revanche of butter, which derives from the organoleptic characteristics often connected to the pleasure (of eating and – more generally – of living) and the contribution it gives to recipes. The +6.7% of consumption in 2022 also concerned the Central-Southern Italy, historically linked to olive oil: Plutarch narrates that Julius Caesar, guest of Valerius Leontes in Milan, had to remind his officers to have good manners, as they were annoyed at tasting what seemed to them to be an ointment for the body.

There revaluation of butter (and its many variations) goes hand in hand with the qualitative improvement and diversification of production. Considered (wrongly and for a long time) to be a by-product of cheese, the great simplicity of processing guarantees its naturalness: emerges in the centrifuge or by surfacing when working with pasteurized or raw cream. Whey derivatives are of lesser quality; the those of the remote mountain huts in the Alps are better. Being a fat, a vehicle of flavours, it enhances the characteristics of the ingredients. That’s why it is ideal in risottos, indispensable in sweet doughsand a brushing is also good on the meat.

Butter identity card

HOW IT IS PRODUCED – For emergence of the cream, thanks to the long times, it acquires greater aroma. In the centrifuge (at least 6500 rpm) it guarantees the purity of the material.

NUTRITIONAL ASPECTS – It’s rich in vitamins A, D, K and E, essential for the nervous and immune systems. It should be used in moderation because it is accused of increasing cholesterol and fats in the blood.

CHARACTERISTICS – The color varies from white to golden yellow. The scent is harmonious and delicately aromatic, without peaks. In the mouth it has a neutral flavour. There must be no drops of liquid. Smells of cheese on the nose are symptoms of alteration.

CLARIFICATION – For frying, use the clarified butter which has a very high smoke point (does not burn up to 200°C). It is a normal butter, deprived of water and casein (the milk protein).

South Tyrol, high quality from our mountains! – Italian Cuisine

Drowned mozzarella

Poached mozzarella in sauce is a second course that combines the sweetness of fresh mozzarella with a tasty tomato sauce… Poached mozzarella

Lasagna with chanterelles and Stelvio

Lasagna with chanterelles and Stelvio: an exquisite first course that combines the creaminess of the cheese with the unique flavor of chanterelle mushrooms. Find out get ready! Lasagna with chanterelles and Stelvio

Spiced broccoli and yogurt hummus

Spiced broccoli and yogurt hummus is a variant of chickpea hummus enriched with vegetables and honey yogurt, a delicious idea for an aperitif! Spiced broccoli and yogurt hummus

Galette with potatoes and cheese

The galette with potatoes and cheese is a simple and delicious savory pie. Discover here the doses and procedure for preparing this recipe at home. Galette with potatoes and cheese

Mousse with figs and dried fruit

The mousse with figs and dried fruit is a delicious yogurt dessert served in single-portion glasses, very easy to prepare. Here’s the recipe! Mousse with figs and dried fruit

when quality rhymes with simplicity – Italian Cuisine

Rita Sodi and Jody Williams, partners in the kitchen as in life, have been included in the Best Chefs list in New York 2019 thanks to their Via Carota restaurant: we discover what and how we eat

They have recently been named among the Best Chefs from New York in the coveted list James Beard Restaurants and Chefs 2019, insert between Best Restaurants of the city from New York Magazine for their restaurant Via Carota, defined by the New Yorker such as the most perfect restaurant: Rita Sodi is Jody Williams have definitely conquered the foodies Americans and not only. The secret lies in the winning formula of simplicity and quality, which diligently apply to their seasonal menu in full respect of Italian tradition and local production.

Via Carota it is located in the West Village, a few steps from Bleecker Street, where the streets shrink and the houses are brick with the iconic steps at the entrance that we have come to love from movies and TV series; Carrie Bradshaw of SATC lived few blocks further north. The large showcases with solid profiles enclose a warm and familiar atmosphere, which on the first creak on the floor with light planks embraces you sincerely. The stylistic inspiration comes from the chef's family home in Tuscany Rita Sodi, an ancient residence of the seventeenth century. To welcome you in what defines itself as "gastroteca", there are young waiters in a crisp white shirt and long aprons in linen who take your name with a big smile and write it on the cast iron pole with chalk. Yes, because from Via Carota they do not take reservations and a glass of wine at the impressive bar counter quickly makes us forget the wait. Rustic and genuine furniture hosts porcelains, bottles of wine and fruit baskets, while cantucci and homemade cakes greet the diners from the central dark marble countertop in the main room. Here too the tablecloth gives way to the thick wood of round and square tables, around vintage chairs from an English chapel that contain the rolled menu on the back. From the first glance, one perceives the all-Italian feeling with which this special place has been built in the heart cool of Manhattan, reciprocated with mutual affection.

Instead of door strips in leather or laminated brochures, the menu of Via Carota it is an A3 sheet of ivory paper the size of a poster: a message intended to make people understand that it is precisely from here that the poster of the couple's food and drink business starts. Rita Sodi is Jody Williams. Printed monthly in full compliance with the seasonality of the ingredients, the list is striking for the unusual arrangement of the courses: in the center, vegetables. From Fennel, pecorino and anchovy sauce until Black cabbage with lard or Asparagus and pecorino cheese, one understands on the fly that simplicity is the key to understanding the kitchen of Via Carota. At the first bite of the scafata (beans, artichokes, endive and peas sautéed in a pan), quality comes to confirm its success. Suffice it to say that the last dish of Via Carota celebrated from The New York Times is … theGreen salad with a light sherry-based vinaigrette. A mountain of bright grass-colored leaves as high as possible almost to defy the law of gravity composed of a mixed salad of endive, lettuce (also frisée) and watercress watered with a seasoning thread and generously studded with shallots and mustard seeds; an impeccable confirmation.

«Our Italian food is like a collection of stories that come to the table, in a bowl or on a plate. Our goal is simple: to honor the markets and farms from season to season, educate our cooks and maintain a balance between authenticity and spontaneity in the kitchen ".

Through the menu, the candid journey into the traditional Italian cuisine of Via Carota is accomplished by tasty stops by the Spuntini (Olive all 'Ascolana, "Nduja arancini, Bagna Cauda) to Appetizers (Tuna and beans, Burrata di Puglia, Salami and pecorino), passing from the praise Florentine trippa to Tonnarelli Cacio and Pepe up to the much appreciated Fried rabbit. Separate chapter for the Via Carrot Switzerland, lightly seared in a pan with rosemary and garlic, which makes you love to madness for its infinite purity making you forget the exaggerated local hamburgers. To close in sweetness, the proposals are many: Zabaione, Crostata, Biscuits, Semifreddo, Panna Cotta, all naturally prepared in the kitchen. Note on the choice of ingredients used from what they call Community, or a network of producers local honestly told online.

If the first restaurant opened in New York in 2008 I Sodi represents the brave past, Via Carota it is the lively present, which joins the brilliant future of Pisellino Bar. In fact, Rita and Jody are continuing their enogastronomic journey together with the conquest of New York with this new venue opened in June destined to bring the Italian spirit of our tasty habits such as breakfast or aperitif. Good luck!