Tag: Regional

What are the most famous Italian regional caciotte – Italian Cuisine

Overview of the most famous and prized caciottas in Italy, from the Tuscan cow's milk to the Casciotta DOP of Urbino

There caciotta, soft cheese that can be seasoned or semi-seasoned and made with any type of milk, it has a cylindrical shape and an unmistakable taste. The origin of this dairy product is quite recent. Initially it was made mostly with sheep's milk and during the colder months, to then be prepared with different types of milk, depending on the region. This cheese was invented above all as an alternative to pecorino, with the aim of creating a product that was sweeter and more delicate, but also faster and easier to prepare. In the kitchen it can be served as table cheese, eaten fresh in appetizers based on vegetables or fresh and dried fruit, or used cooked as delicious ingredient of savory pies, tartlets and patties.

In Italy there are many types of caciotta, including the drowned, colored and flavored specialties. Among the many regional varieties however, there are some particularly renowned ones, which stand out for their originality and for the excellence of quality. Let's find out the most important.

Guide to the most famous caciottas in Italy

Among the many Italian caciottas made from cow's, sheep's, goat's or buffalo's milk or mixed milk, the most popular ones are scattered throughout the country and have different characteristics.
The best known is the Tuscan caciotta, made with a mixture of pasteurized cow's milk (60-90%) and sheep's milk. It has a sweet taste and a soft paste and, locally, it is eaten mostly fresh, often accompanied with typical salami. Also noteworthy is the Tuscan sheep caciotta cheese PAT, which has been assigned the recognition of Traditional Agri-Food Product (PAT).

We move instead to Lazio to talk about the Genuine Roman Caciotta PAT, mainly produced in theRoman countryside and based on sheep's milk, which adds a little flavor to the typical sweetness of this cheese. It can be eaten both fresh, for example as an ingredient in veal with baby rocket or as a filling for sandwiches, or seasoned, often combined with broad beans as an alternative to pecorino romano.

The only Italian caciotta that has been awarded the PDO denomination (Protected Designation of Origin), obtained in 1996, is the Casciotta of Urbino. This cheese, typical of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, it is made with 70/80% of sheep's milk and the remaining 20/30% of cow's milk. Characterized by a soft paste and a sweet milk flavor, it lends itself to many gastronomic uses. For example, it can be combined with cold meats and sausages, with fresh vegetables and the Marche olives from Ascoli.

Also noteworthy is the Sicilian variant called Caciotta degli Elimi PAT, semi – cooked sheep 's cheese typical of the province of Trapani, and in particular of the Valle del Belice. To distinguish this caciotta is the ancient origin and the particular processing technique that includes a 30-day maturation in cell in rush containers.

caciotta_Kellerio2007_Flickr

The strangest types of caciotta

Caciottas, as well as other types of cheeses, can be flavored and flavored with other ingredients. Among the most famous and particular we have the caciotta caprina from Campania chili pepper and the Umbrian one with the addition of truffle. Then, from various regions, there are also caciotta with onion, black pepper, aromatic herbs, smoked and poached in red wine.
Finally, typical of the Siena area is a caciotta whose crest is flavored with tomatotherefore characterized by a red color which was once used to confer with lamb's blood.

Photo: caciotta_Kellerio2007_Flickr.jpg

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The first regional Christmas dishes – Italian Cuisine

Not a review of dishes, but a real journey into taste that animates the Bel Paese at the most important dinner of the year

In a peninsula that extends from the Alps to the Mediterranean for a total length of 1300 km, an immense gastronomic heritage of products, recipes and traditions prepares to meet the Christmas table with all its load of flavors and … knowledge! Limiting ourselves to the world of the first regional Christmas dishes, Italy does not fail to show itself an incredible alternation of ingredients of earth, sea and lake capable of giving new emotions every time while adhering in part to the tradition that sees December 24 embracing the meager giving up meat.

First regional Christmas dishes: the North

There Valle d'Aosta it is exalted with legume, onion, cabbage and cabbage soups, leaving its legendary fondue of mountain cheese to be interpreted freely in the meal. In Piedmont dominate the agnolotti which are sometimes replaced by a warm Barolo risotto. There Liguria continues to marry the stuffed pasta with the pansotti that, especially in the Genoese, over the years have supplanted the "Natalini in brodo", long macaroni served in capon broth with meatballs or sausage bites. In Lombardy for the first regional Christmas dishes you go for pumpkin tortelli, while in Emilia Romagna we find spaghetti with tuna and anchovies that alternate with the classic tortelli, even here or pumpkin or classic butter and sage. There is no shortage of single-dish solutions like crepes or cannelloni. In Trentino Alto Adige the scene is of canederli, perhaps interpreted with the monkfish tail. In Veneto you give yourself generous portions of bigoli, risotto alla trevigiana with radicchio, Venetian rice with peas or traditional Venetian rice and peas or "coe cappe" rice based on clams. In Friuli Venezia Giulia the protagonists of the table are the potato gnocchi in Montasio sauce and leeks.

First regional Christmas dishes: the Center

In Tuscany, the hinterland highlights snails, while in Livorno it is the fish soup par excellence to reign on the table: the cacciucco! In Umbria spaghetti alla "nursina" with thin sliced truffles and anchovies are a delight. In Marche, we return to sail the Adriatic with sea-scented spaghetti. In Lazio one never gives up the broccoli pasta in arzilla broth (the race nailed) or pasta with tuna sauce, while in Abruzzo spaghetti alla chitarra dominate with scampi sauce preceded by delicious fried codfish.

First regional Christmas dishes: South and Islands

Cod fritters and ricotta trousers enliven the tables of Molise, while in Puglia dinner with orecchiette with turnip tops and cavatelli with seafood. Among the first regional Christmas dishes, the taste of is not missing Basilicata with escarole soups and pasta with anchovy sauce. In Campania, spaghetti with clams is a serious thing or lobster linguine is a serious thing. In Calabria Spaghetti with anchovies and breadcrumbs or, if appropriate, spaghetti with broccoli and red pepper are preferred. Meeting between sea and land for the Sardegna with fregola with seafood, linguine with sea urchins and culurgiones, delicious ravioli filled with aged cheese and herbs.

Carnival desserts: pancakes. Regional recipes – Italian Cuisine

Castagnole, fritole, tortelli: all the variations (and the cooking tricks) to prepare the soft and crispy frittelle of Carnevale

call them damselfish or tortelli. Do it with the apples or with the semolina. Retouch them with alchermes or Pebble. The dough varies slightly from region to region and even the shape can change slightly, but one thing is certain: le Carnival pancakes they must be crunchy out is soft inside.

Castagnole, tortelli, fritole: the regional variations of pancakes

That of the damselfish is a typical recipe of Emilia Romagna, very widespread also in Liguria and Lazio: theorigin it's a lot ancient, it seems that you are already talking about it in an eighteenth century manuscript. They can also be baked, but fried give the best of themselves. In Veneto, instead, just add Pine nuts is raisin to traditional pancakes to have them fritole. Changing the ingredients a bit, in Lombardy we get the tortelli: to make them you need about 275 grams of flour, eight whole eggs and two egg yolks, 120 grams of butter and 250 milliliters of milk. And then, as for the castagnole, a sachet of yeast, the gratinated peel of a lemon and a pinch of salt. No anise liqueur, however, at most a bit 'of rum.

The pink carnival pancakes

With 200 g of flour, 160 g of sugar, three eggs, the rind of a lemon, a pinch of salt and some alkermes, in Piedmont they are made bignole. These carnival pancakes are distinguished from the others by the crimson color due to the cochineal based liqueur. If the bignole are not enough and you want to try other special variations of the pancakes of Carnival, there are those of Apple or those of rice.

The tricks for frying

To get the magic equilibrium between softness is crunchiness, in the past to fry lard was used, a very inviting animal fat but also very caloric. Certainly not the best ingredient for one fry light: to "lighten" your fritters of Carnival, we recommend that you use orextra virgin olive oil, which has a smoke point around 210 degrees orpeanut oil, which has a smoke point around 190 degrees. The latter has a less strong flavor and is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, unlike other seed oils that contain polyunsaturated fats. As for the process of preparing carnival pancakes, one is always advisable quick fry and at one temperature between 165 ° and 170 °.