Tag: types

Lentils types – Italian Cuisine – Italian Cuisine

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Green, red, black, brown, shelled: all the variants of this legume, often unjustly confined to New Year's Eve

Too often we see them confined to New Year's Eve. And instead they are a tasty dish to prepare in a thousand ways, also thanks to the large number of variety that distinguish this legume. We are talking about the lentil, the oldest legume known to man, already cultivated seven thousand years ago. A healthy food like few: digestible and fat-free, lentils have about 25% protein, 53% carbohydrates and 2% vegetable oils. They are also rich in phosphorus, iron and B vitamins, and are particularly useful for the proper functioning of the intestine. From a nutritional point of view, 100 grams of lentils is equivalent to 215 grams of meat. To help the assimilation of proteins, it is advisable to eat them together with cereal-based foods: green light, therefore bread, or menus that also include pasta or rice. But what are the varieties of lentils in circulation today? And which are the most suitable recipes? Here, then, is how to orient yourself in the fantastic world of lentils.

The Canadians

I'm the most popular in the world: the Canada it is the main producer. In fact, while the other large producers of this legume – India, China, Iran – allocate a large part of their production to self-consumption, Canada exports almost all of it. Result, in 2012 – according to Coldiretti – almost 30 million kg of lentils were imported into Italy, 19 million from Canada alone, followed by the United States, Turkey and China. While Italian production reaches just 1.5 million kg. Lentils greens Canadians are distinguished by the big dimensions: usually they do not require soaking (useful to make them softer, but it risks compromising many properties) and cooking takes place in about twenty minutes. On the market they are also already pre-cooked in a jar. After cooking they remain compact, which is why they lend themselves well to “dry” side dishes.

Puy

Originally from Auvergne, in France, are very small, colored lentils dark green, and particularly valuable. They are ideal for a simple soup, with extra virgin olive oil, celery, garlic and sage as a condiment. But, due to their intense flavor, they also lend themselves well to more complex recipes.

The Egyptians

The red Egyptian are a variety middle Eastern especially suitable for mashed potatoes and creams. Also good with couscous or to combine with cereals in tasty soups. The color is one brownish to red: should not be confused with the red-orange of hulled lentils.

Armuña

Spanish variety tending to yellow. Both in Spain that in France there are numerous variants of lentils blondes, suitable for both soups and salads.

Like caviar

Black and shiny like the famous type of caviar, the black beluga they are distinguished by their low fat content: particularly delicate and versatile, they perform best in tasty salads and other “dry” recipes. They are grown both in Italy and Canada.

Decorticate

They are lentils of different varieties deprived of the peel. For this reason they are even more digestible, easy to cook and also suitable for feeding children. They can be recognized by their typical color Orange.

Colfiorito

Quality production that comes fromUmbria: L'Colfiorito plateau it is located at an altitude of 800 meters, also extending into the Marche region. Colfiorito lentils are almost as small as those of Castelluccio, but from greenish color. They are tender and cook in 20 minutes: they do not require soaking and do not flake with cooking. They are among the most suitable for the classic recipe with zampone and cotechino.

Directly from the Pian Grande

Although the Italian production is very limited, our native varieties are by far the largest quality. The first place, probably, it is up to Castelluccio lentils, grown on the Apennine plateau of the same name in Umbria (the Pian Grande and Pian Piccolo), with the neighboring Marche territories (such as Pian Perduto, which the inhabitants of Visso stole in 1522 from those of Norcia after an epic as well as unusual battle), at 1350 meters above sea level. Very small and from brownish-green color, is an IGP brand: it is characterized by the taste strong and very thin skin. It does not require soaking and cooks quickly. It is perfect for the classic New Year's Eve recipe.

Onano

It comes from the volcanic soils of the province of Viterbo: round and colored light brown, it is called the "lentil of the Popes". It is said that Papa Pius IX loved to consume them to console himself after the setback suffered for the loss of temporal power. The typical recipes include originals pairings with fish, from lentil purée with prawns and clams to lentils with baby octopus and polenta. Without forgetting the strozzapreti (irony of history) with lentils, clams and mussels.

Rascino

Originally fromPlateau of Rascino, in the province of Rieti, is grown between 900 and 1300 meters above sea level. Slow food Presidium, the lentil of Rascino, is from brownish color and small in size.

Ventotene

Color light brown, is grown on the small Lazio island. It cooks in about 60 minutes and gives life to dishes such as the cream of lentils and mussels.

Santo Stefano di Sessanio

Very rare variety grown on the slopes of Gran Sasso, in Abruzzo, at over a thousand meters above sea level: very small, does not require soaking and has a very similar taste to that of Castelluccio. Slow food Presidium, has a purplish-brown color. The small size favors fast cooking and the absence of soaking.

Agricultural Valley

Color dark brown, medium size, this product of the hinterland Caserta it is one of the most suitable for New Year's Eve.

They murmur

Mormanno lentils are a variety Calabrian very small, brownish-green in color, the southernmost among those grown on the Apennine plateaus

Altamura

Lentils green giants of Altamura they are the progenitors of Canadian greens: until the 1970s they were widely exported to both Canada and the United States. Then, after the collapse of production, they were recently rediscovered. For this type of lentils, however, there is a need for a soaking 3-4 hours. The typical recipe? Soup with oil, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and bay leaf. Or with pasta.

Villalba

Other type of color large green, the largest in Italy with its diameter of 8 mm: Slow food presidium, this Sicilian product requires soaking for about 12 hours and cooking for 30 minutes. With a sweet taste, Villalba lentils are excellent in soups and summer salads.

Leonforte

It is the most valuable black lentil of Italy: this Sicilian cultivar can be used both for tasty soups and original couscous.

The smallest

Another island jewel, Slow food presidium, lentils of Ustica I'm the smallest in Italy. Samantha Cristoforetti even took them into space. The two classic recipes are the soup, enriched with local vegetables and flavored with basil or wild fennel, and pasta and lentils, prepared with broken spaghetti.

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10 bizarre restaurants in the world for 10 different types of travelers – Italian Cuisine

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Discovering 10 strange and unusual restaurants around the world, each suitable for a different type of traveler, from the adventurous, to the nerdy ones up to those who love dizzying heights

Gastronomic travel is not new, as is the opportunity to be able to live exciting, extreme or unrepeatable experiences in some restaurants in the world. There are some, however, themed or with unique characteristics that stand out from the others for their strangeness and originality, so much so that they are worth a long journey. We therefore decided to make you take a virtual tour around the world to discover 10 bizarre restaurants as extraordinary that not only deserve to be known, but that can represent an indispensable dream, each for a different type of traveler: from the adventurous to the nature lover, to the nerd who is passionate about video games and technology. In short, there is something for all tastes and needs! Ready to go?

1) The Japanese restaurant for crime lovers

The Lockup, Tokyo, Japan

As we know, Japan is the country where fantasy has no limits and where creativity often flows into excess and extravagance. This proves this Restaurant-prison, where visitors are greeted, handcuffed and escorted by a prison maid-guard to their cell. Customers can therefore enter the role of diners and criminals, including fake edible drugs, "lethal" drinks served with syringes, dishes whose names are reminiscent of deadly sins and sirens and prisoners who roam the runners.

2) In the Maldives, the perfect restaurant for diving enthusiasts

Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, Maldives

If you love the sea, diving and you have a dreamy and romantic disposition, this restaurant in the Maldives it's right for you. Ithaa is located inside a luxury resort and offers its visitors the opportunity to be literally transported in a natural aquarium at the bottom of the sea and to eat surrounded by crystal clear waters and colorful fish.

3) In Taiwan the restaurant for trash lovers

Modern Toilet, Taipei, Taiwan

The news of this truly bizarre location has gone around the world and considering the theme it is not difficult to understand why. Enter to Modern Toilet it's like walking into a large, colorful, kitchy and fun public toilet. Between toilet-shaped dishes and trash decorations, you can taste delicious food, but not exactly inviting, including an original chocolate dessert in the shape of … you got it!

4) A dinner in an ancient Mexico cave for history lovers

Alux Restaurant Bar and Lounge, Playa del Carmen, Q.R., Mexico

If you are looking for a magical place, candlelit, steeped in history and surrounded by rocks and stalagmites, you can opt for a dinner in Mexico, in a cave that dates back to more than 10 thousand years ago. The menu of this breathtaking restaurant ranges between Mexican specialties with an international touch.

5) A dinner suspended in the air for lovers of dizzying heights

Dinner in the sky, the whole world

This very special chain of restaurants was born in Belgium and has been enjoying extraordinary success for years.
The hall, a sort of steel gondola lift, is suspended a 50 meters high and welcomes about 20 guests, including diners, chefs and waiters. In short, a lunch in the clouds really worth trying!

6) In Las Vegas the "heart-safe" restaurant for junk food lovers

Heart Attack Grill, Las Vegas

This hospital themed restaurant ironic about calories and giant portions of fast food e junk food that you can happily order and swallow, between waitresses in sexy nurse version and hamburger-bypass.

7) A steak in Arizona for Far West lovers

Pinnacle Peak, Tucson, Arizona

Everyone, at least once in a lifetime, has dreamed of living in Far West, between cowboys, gunslingers, bean soups and wine served directly from the barrels. All of this is possible on Pinnacle Peak in Arizona, one steakhouse which looks like the location of a Sergio Leone film, in which original delicacies are served including green chilies from the southwest, the Wrangler Burger and the Cowboy and Cowgirl Cocktail.

8) The robot restaurant in Tokyo for nerdy lovers of Japan

Tokyo robot restaurant

This restaurant is so absurd that it is difficult to classify. Located in the neighborhood famous for entertainment and red light clubs, the Robot Restaurant is surreal, pop and excessive beyond imagination. Here, in fact, in addition to attending Japanese science fiction cabaret performances and shows with giant robots, you are surrounded by fluorescent and flashing lights and huge screens and bombarded with sounds and music of all kinds, from taiko drums to techno music.

9) Nerdvada Frisco for geeks and videogamers

Nerdvada Frisco, Dallas

There are not many video game restaurants or retro games scattered around the world, which is why a visit to the Nerdvada Frisco deserves to be included in the to-do-list of geeks who are passionate about cooking. Between video game console placed at the table, giant screens and a huge choice of board games, here there is something for all tastes and for all ages and, above all, there is really fun!

10) A tree dinner in Thailand for those who love nature

Bird's Nest Restaurant, Soneva Kiri Eco Resort, Thailand

For lovers of nature and relaxation, the Thai Bird's Nest Restaurant can be a real paradise. This restaurant, located inside an eco-park and a luxury resort located on the island of Koh Kood, is accessed by walking in a river forest, to then be welcomed in a handmade wooden structure with a shape that recalls that of a bird's nest, then raised with ropes 10 meters above the ground. In addition to enjoying an extraordinary view, customers can enjoy delicious local and natural cuisine.

Photo:
1. restaurant crime_Lock Up Tokyo Japan.jpg
2. and cover_ristorante mare_ithaa-undersea-restaurant Maldives.jpg
3 restaurant trash_Modern_Toilet_Restaurant_Taipei_wikipedia.jpg
4. restaurant history caverna_Alux Restaurant Bar and Lounge_Mexico.jpg
5. height restaurant_Dinner in the sky_Karlis Damrans Flickr.jpg
6. junk restaurant food_heart-attack-grill Las Vegas_Ⓒ Wayne Parham Photography.jpg
7. restaurant far west cowboy pinnacle-peak_Tucson.jpg
8. nerd sci fi_Tokyo robot restaurant.jpg
9. games_Nerdvada restaurant Frisco_Dallas.jpg
10. natura_Soneva-Kiri-Soneva-Kiri-Treepod-Dining_Thailandia.jpg restaurant

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Honey: how to combine various types with beers, cheeses and recipes – Italian Cuisine

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Color, consistency, taste: there are many criteria for choosing the honey to buy, but we have never thought of that of thepairing with drinks and food? Honey is not only a healthier sweetener with which to sweeten tea, coffee or even desserts, it is a real precious food which you can use in the kitchen like ingredient, in sweet and savory dishes. And then, we even learned to combine pizza and wine, why should we never know how to match the taste notes of bee food with herbal teas, beers and cheeses & c.?

Help in this sense comes from Mielizia, historical brand of the National Beekeepers Consortium, which this year extinguishes 40 candles. So let's see some types of honey and the suggestions to couple them better.

A premise: there is the wildflower honey and the monoflora, flowers present in the different territories, each with its own taste, aroma and unique color. Let's start with the millefiori.

There is the classic and generic wildflower it is the purest and most authentic expression of the collection area and is the meeting of many honeys, as many as possible combinations of blooms. IS versatile, is the first that is put into milk and is spread on bread with butter. The most suitable cheeses are those fresh and soft like taleggio, ravaggiolo and squaquerone, perhaps together with dried fruit. Beers: Pilsner and Tripel. Recipes: try it on the swordfish, with fresh tomatoes, toasted pine nuts and new potato chips. Finally, it is excellent with the infusion of flowers of karkadé and with the Languages of Cat.

Citrus honey it is a poliflora that marries Stout and Rauchbier beers, the latter distinguished by their smoky flavor. Ideal with i pasta filata cheeses such as caciocavallo, scamorza and buffalo mozzarella.

Honey from the forest or honeydew it is liquid and has an intense aroma with spicy notes. It also goes well with the Trappist and fresh cheese beers, primarily the mascarpone. Ideal with black tea, in the kitchen it combines well in recipes with dark spices and vegetables. You could for example prepare a ratatouille by adding a spoonful of honeydew, and serve it with a hot tomino along with the honey itself. Try it in a gentian herbal tea, to be savored with cantucci or with a strudel.

And now let's move on to the monoflora.

Linden honey, long-lived plant with white-yellowish flowers with a pleasant and intense aroma, is a clear honey – ivory-white if crystallized – with a taste sweet and fresh which recalls mountain herbs. It goes well with Barley wine, or high fermentation beer, or Trappist beer. The top cheeses are the Castelmagno and the Bitto. Like hot drinks, it is perfect for an echinacea herbal tea or with the Rooibos, to accompany with Krumiri or a Sacher Cake.

Acacia's honey: generally liquid, clear and refined, reminiscent of flowers, almonds and vanilla berries. Defined by tasters as "confetti", it is good for sweetening many beverages including green tea and chamomile and also for syruping and candying fruit. Great for sweeten the preparations sweet, loves fresh cheeses such as ricotta or blue cheese. There beer it must be clear and light, that is Weisse. Or IPA, or India Pale Ale. Recipes? On friselle, with marinated and orange anchovies. How sweet we choose one ricotta tart or of macaroons.

Coriander honey: it is a crystallized honey clear, sweet and refreshing. It combines well with meat, especially beef and chicken, and with medium aged pecorino cheeses. Good with tea and fruity PAHs.

The chestnut honey, with an intense brown color, it tastes very special and decisive, not suitable for all palates as it can be delicious or stuccoso. Not very sweet, it has a bitter background. The consistency is thick but liquid, in the sense that it is difficult to crystallize. As for beers, we choose the same as for lime honey. As cheeses we choose the Parmigiano reggiano or Castelmagno. And as a recipe for beef meatballs, perhaps seasoned with parsley, Parmesan and nutmeg and a chestnut honey sauce. To prepare it, melt 20 g of butter and brown two chopped shallots, then combine two glasses of amber beer and a glass of chestnut honey. Cook the sauce until it has reduced by half and then whisk it with an immersion blender. Serve with the meatballs still warm. Desserts: cocoa-flavored bisscotti. With aged black tea.

The eucalyptus honey it is a particularly balsamic honey, with beneficial properties in particular against coughs and respiratory ailments. A taste strong and particular, which works with a medium-seasoned pecorino. In the panorama of beers, excellent with those in spelled or with Porter, that is dark beers, obtained with dark colored malt. An ad hoc combination with a hot drink: liquorice infusion. Accompaniment: oat biscuits or ladyfingers.

The strawberry tree honey is the famous "Bitter honey". Perfect with Sardinian pecorino – Sardinia is a privileged production area with artichokes and thistles. In the kitchen try a rice with pecorino and honey of strawberry tree. As for drinks, the ideal beer is the Märzen, a low-fermentation style of the pale lager family and is ideal as an accompaniment to coffee. The right honey to sweeten the purifying teas, to be accompanied with a Paradiso Cake or canestrelli.

Sulla honey, a clear crystallized honey, delicate and very floral, which comes from this spontaneous Mediterranean plant with a beautiful purple-red conical inflorescence, it is a very valid sweetener for tea and infusions. It is also used in the nougat production and desserts in general. However, it can also be combined with savory recipes such as cheeses, it prefers fresh caciotta. Gourmet cuisine: knead one flat bread to which you will add oregano, a few tablespoons of Sulla honey and chopped hazelnuts. Beer? Dortmunder – light Lager beer, moderately hoppy. Use it to sweeten one herbal tea with lavender, to be enjoyed together with Baci di Dama.

Orange honey: a crystallized honey very clear, floral and fruity but pleasantly acid. It is versatile and enhanced in the use cold, mix with yogurt, creams and whipped cream. Also excellent in the preparation of desserts – example: plum cake or torcetti, it is also ideal for imaginative dishes vinaigrette, with raw fish, pasta filata cheeses and even in omelettes. Try it to sweeten a lemon and ginger tea.

Aurora Quinto
July 2019

DISCOVER THE COOKING COURSES OF SALT & PEPE

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