Tag: show

Puglia Top Wines Road Show: Apulian wines in Milan – Italian Cuisine

The unmissable "metropolitan tour" of the Apulian wines organized by the Puglia Wine Tourism Movement to promote the wine excellences of the region is back

A week dedicated to Puglia and its wines, from 11 to 17 November, the best labels of MTV Puglia members will be the focus of a busy calendar of themed events in Milan's historic wine cellars.

The premises involved

There are thirteen wineries in the Lombard capital that will host the initiative: Cotti (Via Solferino, 42); Enoclub (Via Friuli, 15); El vinatt (Via
Leone Tolstoi, 49); Enoteca Diapason (Via Lomellina, 48); Franco's cellar (Via Raffaello Sanzio, 16); VinoVino since 1921 (Corso San Gottardo, 13); Wineria Winery (Via Carlo Caneva, 4 Sempione Area); Ronchi Ricciardi (Piazza Vesuvio, 12); Gran Cru (Corso Magenta,
32); Enoteca Hic (via Savona, 26); Vini & Sapori (via Vitruvio, 11); Wine (via G. Brentano); Wine O 'Clock (via Benedetto Marcello, 93).

Furthermore, edited by Eventi d´Autitore, four rooms will host sensory workshops led by wine and extra virgin olive oil sommeliers, dedicated to the native vines and cultivars of the region. First appointment at El Vinatt, Tuesday 12 November (17.00 – 19.30). The second is scheduled for Wednesday, November 13 at the Enoteca Hic Lab (17.00 – 20.00). It continues Thursday 14 November at the Enoteca Vini & Sapori (17.00 – 20.00) and closes at the Enoclub on Friday 15 November (17.00 – 20.00).

The unmissable appointments

A busy schedule that will come alive from the early hours of the afternoon of Monday 11 November, starting the Puglia Tasting Week in Milan.
In the afternoon at The Westin Palace Hotel of Milan (Piazza della Repubblica, 20), “Degusta la Puglia”, an in-depth event dedicated to the land of wine and the native vines of the region, created in collaboration with AIS Lombardia. On site from 15.30 to 20.30 the tasting tables of the member companies, with two special moments: the great walk around tasting, where AIS's sommelier and winelovers
Lombardy, operators in the sector and the press will be able to taste a selection of over 60 labels, combined with the Evo of the millers of Buonaterra – Tourism Movement of the Oil Puglia.

Simultaneously, from 16.00 to 18.00, will kick off the seminar reserved for journalists, traders and sommeliers, for a deepening of the wines and lands of Puglia through its great native vines: Primitivo, Negroamaro, Nero di Troia. He leads Sergio Libanore, official taster and speaker of the Italian Sommelier Association, with the participation of Maria Teresa Basile Varvaglione and Vittoria Cisonno, respectively president and director of the MTV Puglia. A true story of the history of the Apulian viticulture in three parts, through the vines and the typologies that have made the enology of the region great, between historical interpretations and modern interpretations.

Afterwards, from theory we will go on to practice with "IndoVino", the blind tasting conducted by the Deputy Director of the Puglia Wine Tourism Movement, Daniele Cirsone who will test the participants, inviting them to combine the olfactory descriptors with the relative native Apulian vines. The best noses will win a tribute by the Consortium.

Entrance to the seminar is by reservation, up to a maximum of 45 participants. Info and reservations on eventi@aismilano.it or at the following link: http://tiny.cc/DegustaMilano_AIS. All information and updates on scheduled events are available on the website and on the Movement's social media channels.

5 goodies from the Roma Bar Show – Italian Cuisine

From non-alcoholic vermouth to gin that changes color, the new products presented at the first edition of the Capitoline event dedicated to spirits and mixing

Two days of tastings, tastings, cocktails, master classes and presentations. In summary, these were the contents of Rome Bar Show, but only by visiting it could its importance really be appreciated. Thousands of bartenders and beverage experts (almost ten thousand admissions according to the organizers) flocked from all over the world, hundreds of labels offered for tasting, dozens of new items ready to conquer the counters. Among these, we selected five proposals that struck us for their singularity.

Belsazar, the non-alcoholic vermouth made in Berlin

Among the Piedmontese vermouth, which claims its birthright, and French vermouth, few know that there is also German wermut. Belsazar declares itself "based in Berlin, rooted in Baden", meaning that it has the company in the German capital, but concretely distills its products with the collaboration of the Schladerer House Distillery, a historic plant located in the center of the Black Forest in the Baden-Württemberg region . Four main references (rosé, dry, white and red), to which the latest gem has just been added: the non-alcoholic vermouth, which we tasted as a preview, waiting for it to be presented in Germany. The fact that he is German circumvents the stringent Italian rule of the disciplinary which fixes the bar of alcohol at a minimum of 14.5 ° and gives the possibility to this company of spirits whose products are distributed by Diageo to propose the alcohol free version. Use? Both in mixing and in purity, perhaps for an aperitif without the alcohol test anxiety.

Amaro Venti, the Italian bitter

Before even reading the payoff "the Italian bitter", this definition came to us spontaneously when listening to the description: the first bitter not linked to a single region, but composed of twenty botanicals, one for each region of Italy. Twenty, then the name, like botanicals and like the regions of Italy. As the creators explain, the intention was to find the right balance between the sweetest products typical of Southern Italy and the most bittering characteristic of the North. In a historical moment in which bitters are experiencing a great wave of rediscovery. Olive tree from Liguria, juniper from Tuscany, gentian from Abruzzo, orange from Sicily, just to name a few. The result is a liquor of good complexity that we bet to see soon on the bottles.

Jack Daniel's rye

Apparently the Jack Daniel's is certainly not a novelty, but those who understand a little about whiskey will find it strange to see the word Rye (rye) next to this famous label. Yes, after 150 years the most famous Tennessee Whiskey has decided to indulge in the luxury of offering the public a new recipe, with its rye version, which distorts the percentages of the three ingredients already contained in the classic. 70% rye, 18% wheat and 12% barley malt is the balance from which this new recipe starts, created by the current master distiller Jeff Arnet. The first new blend for 150 years!

Sake Black, dark and Italian

Already hearing about an Italian sake makes your ears stand up, then you can see that it's black disrupts practically all the previous information acquired on the subject, according to which the transparency of the product is an indication of purity and quality. The Japanese will forgive us, but in fact even if we do not have a millenary history of rice distillation, rice paddies in Italy are not lacking and are quite peculiar. In particular those of the Vercelli area, the kingdom of the mondine, where among others a particular variety of black integral rice is produced, Penelope produced by Gli Aironi, which is the basis of this sake. The production process also changes, with the use of beer yeasts (a tribute to the historic Piedmontese brewers of the early 20th century) to start fermentation, and an addition of botanical herbs to flavor the infusion, including the classic artemisia and achillea, as a tribute in this case to the Piedmontese liqueur tradition of vermouth. In short, if we look at the disciplinary, perhaps sake has only the name (and indeed the taste), but there are several poetic licenses that do not make the product less interesting, but perhaps enrich it, making it more "homegrown".

Noon, the gin that changes color

Already seeing a blue gin makes you think of a concoction, then seeing that when in contact with tonic water it turns from blue to amethyst purple to a kind of rose (depending on how much tonic you put on), it will certainly upset even more purists. Yet it is nothing more than a small-medium chemical reaction, produced by reacting the anthocyanins of the Butterfly flower of Thailand with the bubbles of the tonic. This gin at the end is a very pleasant London Dry with ten botanicals, with a typically Italian flavor. In the first distillation in alembic the first nine botanicals are infused, including Florentine giaggiolo, bitter almonds, orange and lemons from Sicily, juniper harvested on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, in the second cold passage is added the Thai Butterfly flower which gives the characteristic gin color. And the magic is done.

Caper plant: to show off on the balcony – Italian Cuisine

Generally the desire comes on vacation. You look up at the beach or you take a sunny path, and you see it. Here it is, anchored to rocks or a Wall of stones, one caper plant two meters long, with fleshy leaves that move in the wind and that explosion of pinkish white flowers, with a tuft of violet peduncles inside. She's gorgeous. Capers we know how to buy them, but are we aware that we can also cultivate them? like this: it is grown on the balcony. Converting the terrace into a vegetable garden is increasingly common. With capers we transform it into a magical, fruity and semi-wild landscape spot. And then the home made capers are a satisfaction on the table, to put on under salt or pickle to flavor the food summer, but it is useless to deny that at a domestic level true virtue is Decorative.

There flowering it is very long, from June to September, and throughout this period a choice must be made: whether to opt for flowers or for the kitchen. Yes, because capers are nothing but i buds still closed. If the flowering is generous, you can move on by half and half: that is, leaving a few flowers on the plant and picking up some buds for tuna veal, pizza bruschette, sweet pepper pans, rabbit and more. Then, later in the season, i also arrive fruits, sayings cucunci, large and fleshy, summer protagonists in aperitif bars. And those can be seized at will, they are there on purpose.

But back to our plant. When you see it in nature, the first instinct is delinquent, yes, you want to climb and take it away. Absolutely not to do. You want to disfigure the landscape because it's uncivilized, you want it because it's probably illegal, you want it because then the plant dies.[IconfessIamwritingthatIdiditItookasmalloneafteradangerousclimbonarockyridgeinSardiniaandinreturnIhaveonlyscratchescutsandbruisesleftWellheisrightwithmyrenownedgreenthumbBeyondthefeelingsofguiltIunderstoodonething:sorobustinitsnaturalenvironmentregardlessofthesunandthedrynessoftheearththecaperplant[ConfessoiochestoscrivendodiaverlofattoNehopresaunapiccoladopounapericolosascalatasuuncostonerocciosoinSardegnaeincambiomisonorimastisolograffitaglielividiBenmistaconbuonapacedelmiorinomatopolliceverdeAldilàdeisensidicolpahocapitounacosa:cosìrobustanelsuoambientenaturaleincurantedelsoleedell’ariditàdellaterralapiantadelcapperowild it is very fragile].

To be able to grow it on the balcony you need to buy one of it greenhouse, or already used to living in jar and to feed on adequate fertilizers. It can be found in nurseries specialized in vegetables, in agricultural consortia, in those small local shops that sell hoes, seeds and salads, in the markets in the square.

Once the plan has been purchased (do not leave from seed, is a botanical undertaking almost impossible), here is how to proceed.

1) Put the jar in one sunny position or semi-up and leave it there for a few days (irrigating as in step 3).

2) Transfer the plant with its undamaged ground bread into crock pot larger and deeper, which can last a few years: the roots are delicate and it is good not to disturb them often. Put a layer of expanded clay on the bottom and fill with soft soil mixed with 30% of sand (sell them ready-made).

3) The caper does not like moisture: moisten little and often, avoiding that the earth is soaked or dry.

4) If possible, avoid the the saucer and surely remove it throughout the autumn and winter: stagnant water is lethal.

5) For a more abundant flowering you can ask in a greenhouse fertilizer adequate.

6) At the beginning of winter, when the leaves have fallen, pruned the branches by cutting them to a length of 8-10 cm.

7) In winter, those who live in a harsh climate zone (below 8 °) will have to to protect the plant: place straw on the ground and wrap the stems with non-woven fabric, or move the vase into the stairwell or into an attic.

8) In the period of rest, little irrigated, only when the earth dries up, because the roots absorb little water; an excess would make them rot.

9) From the point of view of the illnesses, the plant fears above all the snails, to be removed by hand if possible, also to avoid poisoning with pesticides if you want to eat the buds. It is known that the caper attracts ants, which do not damage it, but could be a problem in the home. Especially in this case, do not use insecticides. On the market (supermarkets and greenhouses) there are cans that contain bollards that can remove them.

10) Capers cannot be tasted as they are, just picked from the plant: they have a slightly intense and too herbaceous taste. You will have to treat them by putting them in salt or vinegar. The best technique is that of under salt, it preserves the taste better and is more practical: just put the buds in a bowl with plenty of coarse salt and stir occasionally for 3 days. Then pour it all into an airtight jar and keep it in the fridge.

Cristiana Cassé
21 July 2016
updated July 2019
by Carola Traverso Saibante

DISCOVER THE COOKING COURSES OF SALT & PEPE