Tag: year

Cotechino: the sovereign dish of every New Year – Italian Cuisine

Cotechino and lentils, the first course ofNew Year. An extremely gluttonous and superstitious ritual favored by all of us Italians during parties but particularly on the night of New Year's Eve. He defines himself as a true king of the table, who together with "his cousin" zampone wishes us good luck for the new year. Can we still believe it after this year?

Synonymous with celebration, the warmth of home and family reunited, cotechino was defined by the historian Corrado Barberis “Strong gastronomic sociality”. Yes, because in addition to being a food often consumed in company, it is also loved by many chefs who do not hesitate to include it in the menus for these Special occasions. Everyone is captured by its flavor, its scent is unmistakable and intoxicating and its pork is tender enough to bewitch the most demanding palates.

But let's go back in time for a moment… you know that his first creation is dated 1500? In fact, it all began at the court of the Pico di Mirandola, where it is said that the citizens used it to better preserve the pork during the long siege of the city by the troops of Pope Julius II della Rovere. The product began to spread towards the end of '700, when it came to replace the yellow sausage, which he had already made famous Modena in Renaissance age. Its diffusion in the neighboring regions came with the transformation into semi-industrial structures of the first two famous charcuterie shops, Frigieri and Bellentani. Already in 1800 had become a popular and highly regarded product.

Mr. Cotechino, he calls himself, but only that of Modena, mind you. Yes, because he is the cured meat par excellence, having also received the IGP denomination in 2009. This in addition to ensuring a good intake of valuable proteins, provides good quality fats i.e. unsaturated type. Clearly being a specialty made in Italy, of cotechini there are many, in all regions, each with its own interpretation and a "top secret" concept which, if they involve the generalized use of salt and pepper, with a flavoring and preservative function, then add their own spice mix (from nutmeg to cloves, cinnamon) and wine, white or red. The result is different nuances of taste depending on the meats and spices used and their combination, which can change even within the same production area. Common denominator of all cotechini “always of swine derivation"Is the use of rind (hence the name), capable of "to tie" the dough once cooked and give it the characteristic softness, with a slightly viscous texture.

Taking a tour of our regions we discover that in Lombardy, for example, the most popular is the cotechino cremonese vanilla, so called for the particular delicacy and sweetness of the dough, which contains little rind and more cuts of lean meat. TO Mantua instead, it produces a cotechino really flavored with vanilla. In the heart of the Venetian there is the "Coeghin nostrano padovano", dark red, tasty and spicy. Typical Friulian and the "museum" (muzzle), based on muzzle flesh, savory and slightly spicy, which is served with the typical brovada (purple turnips preserved in pomace).

But remember that buying cotechino is not enough to celebrate the New Year. The traditional sausage without its beloved lentils suffers from loneliness. So why not please him? Together they are the lucky combination for excellence. Already in itself the pig is a good omen for a year of satiety and abundance: a nutritious, savory, warm, sumptuous food. It's like a amulet to ward off the specter of hunger.

of Elena Strappa

New Year. Three main courses in the oven: the recipes – Italian Cuisine

Preparing the New Year's Eve dinner is always laborious. One way to optimize times is to make the oven the protagonist in the preparation of main courses. Here are three perfect recipes for the occasion

When the time comes to get in the kitchen to baste the New Year's Eve dinner, time risks turning into a guillotine. But there is a way to optimize times, without neglecting tradition: to make the oven protagonist of the preparation of New Year's seconds. Thus, while the cotechino, lo shin or the sardines they cook, your hands are free to make, for example, cold appetizers or a first course with one of the many lucky foods.

In crust, the alternative version of cotechino

A great classic that cannot be missing from the New Year's menu is the cotechino with lentils. A alternative version of the traditional recipe, which can be prepared in the oven, is the one in a puff pastry crust. The ingredients for four people are a cotechino of about 500 grams, a roll of puff pastry, 450 grams of spinach already cleaned, two eggs, 20 grams of grated Parmesan cheese, a clove of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper , nutmeg and sesame seeds.

First of all cook the cotechino in plenty of water, according to the times indicated on the package or by your butcher. Drain it and remove the casing. Meanwhile, in another pot of boiling salted water, boil the spinach. When they become tender, drain them, squeeze them and sauté them in a pan with a drizzle of oil and a clove of garlic. Allow them to cool, then transfer them to the mixer and blend them with the parmesan, egg, a pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg. At this point, unroll the puff pastry and spread over the Spinach Cream, leaving an inch of border on all sides. Lay the cotechino on one end and roll up, tightening the sheet well. Close the side edges, brush the surface with egg yolk, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake at 200 ° for about 25 minutes.

New Year's courses in the oven, the inevitable shank

Another dish that is always very popular on New Year's Eve is it pork knuckle. Quick to prepare, it needs instead of more than an hour of cooking in the oven. Four small shins are needed for four people, 80 grams of butter, an onion, two cloves of garlic, a sprig of rosemary, a glass of dry white wine, a liter of broth, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

Quickly rinse the shanks under running water and place them in a pan covered with parchment paper with the butter, rosemary, onion cut in half, oil and peeled cloves of garlic. Bake at 200 degrees and as soon as they have taken a little color, pour in the white wine. When this has faded, repeat the operation with the broth from time to time, so that the meat never stays dry. At the end of cooking it should, in fact, be tender and moist. To accompany the shanks, the tasty baked potatoes are excellent.

Sarde a beccafico, for those who do not want to give up fish

The Sarde A Beccafico they are perfect for those who want to opt for a fish-based second New Year's Eve. Four people need 500 grams of fresh sardines, an orange, two teaspoons of honey and a few bay leaves. For the filling 100 grams of breadcrumbs, 40 grams of sultanas, 40 grams of pine nuts, two anchovies, a teaspoon of sugar, a sprig of parsley, a clove of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

First of all turn on the oven at 200 ° and put soaking the raisins. Then proceed with the cleaning of sardines and once ready open them like a book. In a pan with a drizzle of oil, toast the breadcrumbs, then transfer it to a bowl and add the oil, anchovies, chopped parsley and garlic, pine nuts, pepper, salt and sugar. Mix everything until you get a homogeneous compound. Put a teaspoon of filling on each sardine and roll it up on itself. Then grease a baking dish with a drizzle of oil, arrange the stuffed sardines, separating them from each other with bay leaves, sprinkle with orange juice, a little more oil and honey. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about twenty minutes.

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Chiara Ferragni and Fedez, characters of the year on Vanity Fair – Italian Cuisine

Vanity Fair dedicates the new cover to Chiara Ferragni and Fedez, elected as the most influential Italian characters of the year. The issue, on newsstands from December 9, celebrates with them the 20 most significant personalities of 2020 for our country

From today, Wednesday 9 December, the new issue of Vanity Fair dedicated to 20 most significant Italian personalities of 2020: some have made us dream, others cry, there are those who gave hope, those who were an example and those who made us proud to be Italian. For Vanity Fair, telling the 20 characters of 2020 is a way to retrace an unprecedented year, especially celebrating those who have been able to dream, imagine and build the future beyond the difficult present.

In this perspective of commitment and projects, there are on the cover Chiara Ferragni and Fedez: "We have chosen to dedicate our cover to them for many reasons: the influence they exert, the commitment they have shown, the ability to use the new means of communication, the civil and political awareness they are developing", he writes in his editorial the director of Vanity Fair Simone Marchetti. "The thing that most impressed me about what we said with them (you can find the video interview on our website and the even more beautiful one by Marco Missiroli in the newspaper) is a sentence from Chiara:" I can't stay still, every day I have to find an experience that makes me and my family learn something new. Faith makes fun of me, he would stay at home, on the sofa. But then he follows me. And he is happy. We complement each other. I complete him. He completes me. And so we never stand still. And so we always learn new things "."

In 2020, the initiatives promoted by the couple are many: from the most important fundraising in Europe at the beginning of the pandemic (four and a half million euros destined for a new Covid ward of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan) to the recent creation of Scena Unita , a fund to help workers in the music and entertainment industry.
“I'd like my children to be proud of what we do beyond our jobs,” he says Fedez in the interview with Vanity Fair. «I want to make it clear that the social responsibility you have when you reach certain goals is just as important as the goals themselves. However, I would like not to claim authorship of the intensive care act because it is a puzzle that even if a piece had been missing could not have been realized. We were just a fuse .
"We agreed immediately in wanting to act," he echoes Chiara, "Federico wanted to move immediately, I pushed to organize something that could involve many people where there was really a need".

And for the 2021, their schedules are even more precise. Chiara: «When I started with the blog theblondesalad.com the world of fashion was very elitist, exclusive, a niche that only a few could access. It is now a much more democratic environment. This change has happened a lot through social media. Gender equality is important to me right now. For example, it is still difficult to find female CEOs and mothers: I would like to show that this is possible. I don't just want to tell my story, but to be a means through which other women can express themselves .
Fedez: «I'm trying to redevelop Rozzano, the neighborhood where I grew up. On an entrepreneurial level, during the lockdown, I made an operation with a listed company by selling 51% of my company: the result is that I found myself working with banks. The challenge is to make these so distant worlds understand how essential it is to communicate their ethical code and their philanthropic activities. It is really fundamental .

In addition to Chiara Ferragni and Fedez, for Vanity Fair the 20 Italian characters of 2020 are Pope Francis, Giuseppe Conte, the doctor and the scientists who first diagnosed and isolated Covid-19 in Italy (Annalisa Malara, Maria Rosaria Capobianchi, Concetta Castilletti, Francesca Colavita, symbol of all doctors, nurses and paramedics engaged in the front line in the fight against the virus), Massimo Galli, Pierfrancesco Favino, Willy Monteiro Duarte, Vanessa Incontrada, Alex Zanardi, Liliana Segre, Jannik Sinner, Gennaro Arma, Sandro Veronesi, Giovanna Botteri, Giorgio Armani, Achille Lauro, Elly Schlein, Francesca Sivieri, the Alpini and Marco Tuttolomondo.

Retracing the commitment already put in place during the lockdown and in the following months with various charitable initiatives, with this special issue Vanity Fair made a donation to Anpas Lombardy is Italian Red Cross Lombardy Regional Committee for the purchase of two rescue vehicles. The vehicles chosen, being equipped for off-road vehicles, will allow medical rescue and civil protection activities both in urban and rural areas, in inaccessible, mountainous or lake-river areas.
Regarding the donation, the President of CRI Lombardy Regional Council, Sabina Liebschner, and the President of Anpas Lombardia, Luca Puleo, they declare: «We are grateful to Vanity Fair for the gesture of generosity towards our Associations. It will contribute significantly to guaranteeing constant and continuous support to the Community . Finally, we thank the Autotorino dealership, Tavernerio branch, for having kindly made available the cars used for the delivery of the donation.