Posted on October 15th, 2008 by Vanessa
You have always heard that in ancient times salt was like gold, but why is that? Salt is the original preserving mean. Meat cured in salt doesn’t spoil, cheese soaked in brine lasts longer, and those foods could then be stored for long travels, colder months, or times of famine. Cervia, a small town on [...]
Filed under: Traditional Foods | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 13th, 2008 by Vanessa
In a globalized world where parmesan took on meaning any sort of hard cheese, and balsamic vinegar became a generic term for a vinegar dark in color, the EU realized that some sort of protection for their typical food products was needed. This is a way to protect customers against misleading labels and shelter producers [...]
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Posted on October 7th, 2008 by Vanessa
No other Italian recipe has known the success of pesto. a simple mix of only a handful of ingredients, and yet so flavorful that it is worldwide known.
Picture courtesy of Comune di Rapallo
There are six basic ingredients to pesto: garlic, olive oil, nuts, basil leaves, salt and cheese. Yet, everyone does pesto in a different [...]
Filed under: Traditional Foods | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 1st, 2008 by Vanessa
On Friday, October 17th, Marcella Hazan will be at the Pasta Shop in Oakland for a book signing event from 4 to 6pm. Her new book, Amarcord, is a memoir: 53 years of marriage, recipes, and her quest to bring “real” Italian food to the US. The New York Times recently wrote a lengthy article [...]
Filed under: Events | No Comments »
Posted on September 26th, 2008 by Vanessa
Welcome to the last part of our cheat sheet list. At the end of today’s article you will have everything you’ve ever needed o travel to Italy without the fear of a faux pas or the unknown table manners! Our last installment covers everything you want to know about driving in Italy and generally moving [...]
Filed under: Culinary Culture | 7 Comments »