The Genepy liquor
It’s a niche liquor, with a yellowish-green colour and with a strong herbal aroma and a bitter aftertaste to balance the sweetness obtained from the maceration in alcohol of Artemisia, an Alpine herb growing in the Western Alps. It’s one of the symbol of Aosta Valley region, even though the majority of the producers are in Piedmont region. The herb ...
The Amaro liquor
Amaro is a bitter liqueur whose origin goes back to Middle Age, when the monks used to produce medical elixirs in the monasteries with officinal plants grown in their botanical gardens. Italy holds the leadership in the production and it’s where the Amaro was created at the end of the Middle Age, for this reason this is one of our ...
the Spumante wine
Which came first, Spumante or Champagne? It was really the abbot Pierre Pérignon who, thanks to his experiments in the Hautvillers Abbey in 1670, discovered the re-fermentation of bottled wine by chance? Probably not, as in 1622 Francesco Scacchi, a doctor from Fabriano, Italy, described a method to make normal wines sparkling in his “De salubri potu dissertatio” an essay ...
The History of the Spritz
In the past few years, Spritz became the symbol of the Italian aperitif all over the world and it’s probably the most popular in Italy too. The present recipe, made with Aperol, is the most famous and popular but actually is just one of the several versions of this cocktail. It was created in the Veneto region, early 1800 during ...
The Grappa liquor
Grappa, the Italian distillate par excellence. Grappa is a spirit distilled from marc obtained by the grape skins, whose alcoholic contents can’t be lower than 37,5% even if generally it’s between 40% and 60%. It’s traditionally produced in the mountains of Northern Italy, in particular in Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Piedmont, Lombardy and Trentino Alto Adige regions. The tool used ...
Ear-shaped pasta pieces
If you say orecchiette (ear-shaped pasta pieces) you say Puglia, yet there are a few doubts about their origin and their history is not at all clear. Are they French? Or Hebraic? Or from Puglia, as always guessed? Which is the true origin of this dish? Angevin legacy/Provençal ear shaped pasta pieces The ones with turnip tops are certainly the most famous, but they are exquisite with a tomato sauce as well, or with stew or ricotta cheese, The sauce ...
the Parmigiano Reggiano
Parmigiano reggiano: the king of cheeses If you are on tour in Reggio Emilia, Modena, Parma and Bologna regions, you’ll certainly come upon one of the several cheese factories producing Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP, which are spread along the main roads and where you can buy this delicacy. Parmigiano Reggiano is one of the oldest cheese and it’s still produced as it was 8 centuries ago, with the same ingredients and the same technique. It’s a totally natural cheese that can withstand ...
Buffalo Mozzarella
Mozzarella di bufala Campana DOP (PDO Buffalo Mozzarella) is an excellence among the Italian food products and is mainly manufactured in Caserta and Salerno areas. Today, it’s the most important product with Protected Designation of Origin in Southern Italy. Its name is derived from the fact that the cheese strings obtained from the curds are “mozzati” (cut off) by the cheesemakers. The Twelfth century documents prove that the monks living in San Lorenzo in Capua Monastery (near Aversa, Caserta) used ...
Ricotta cheese
It’s often considered a cheese, but actually is a dairy product obtained from reheated whey left from the production of cheese. Its name comes from Latin, re-coctus means cooked again. Ricotta has a very old history as the first evidence of its production dates back to Sumer civilisation and Ancient Egypt. It is mentioned in the ninth book of Odyssey, when Ulysses (Odysseus) meets Polyphemus while preparing it. This means that it was spread among the Greeks and the Romans. ...
aromatiche herbs in Italian cuisine
The herbs are a staple element in the Italian cookery. Thanks to the Roman, who used the herbs coming from Far East to season dishes, they soon were spread throughout the Roman Empire. In the year 812, Charlmagne, the first emperor of the Sacred Roman Empire, issued a decree in which he ordered to grow 74 herbs contained in a list and believed to be healthy. During the Middle Age, herbs have been grown by monks, who started collecting plants ...
The home made egg pasta
Home made pasta has an old tradition: tagliatelle, tagliolini, lasagna, ravioli, tortellini and maltagliati were made from the egg pasta dough many years ago already. Home made pasta was for our grandmothers the only pasta available for their families; it was prepared on Sunday and consumed during the week. Nowadays, women who work do not have much time to dedicate to cooking and can seldom prepare a dish of home made tagliatelle. Yet, altogether, it doesn’t take much time to ...
The SPELT
The spelt soup is as delicious as ancient; this cereal was a staple ingredient of the Roman Legions diet, thanks to its very important and valuable organoleptic properties. Spelt was so important that it was always served during wedding ceremonies; actually wedding was called confarreatio by Ancient Romans (Spelt = Farro in Italian) a term indicating the focaccia bread prepared with spelt that the newlyweds should share.
the history of the genoese Pesto
The first example of pounded sauce at Romans’ time, was the MORETUM, described by Virgilio. The first recipe of PESTO ALLA GENOVESE (Genoese-style pesto) dates from mid of XIX century, made by Giovanni Battista Ratto, and it’s described in his “La Cuciniera Genovesa” book. From the excerpts we know that: <we need a clove of garlic, basil or, in case this is not available, marjoram and persil, Dutch cheese and Parmesan, both grated and mixed together, pine nuts, all ingredients ...
Gorgonzola cheese
Not everybody appreciate the strong taste of gorgonzola, yet it’s a very versatile cheese, that can transform everyday dishes in rich ones. It’s produced with cow’s whole milk and it’s a blue cheese typical of northern Italy, being mostly manufactured in the province of Milano, Pavia, Como and Novara. Its origin dates back to the ninth century, when a king like Charlemagne used to eat it. Alessandro Manzoni cited the “stracchino” in his novel “I Promessi Sposi” (The Betrothed) when ...
The gnocchi
The origin of the gnocchi lays in the old cookbooks. If related to durum wheat pasta, the gnocchi are very easy to prepare at home, with just a few ingredients available in all kitchens. The simplicity of the recipe has actually encouraged the creation of different variants of this dish, so gnocchi are not to be considered a mere pasta shape, but a separate family of dishes. Nowadays the are three kinds of gnocchi (potatoes, semolina and “canederli” or Knödel) ...

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November Porc
touring event
November 1-30 2020
Merano WineFestival
Merano - Trentino Alto Adige
November 6-10
Ice cream Museum
Anzola dell’Emilia
Bookcity Milano
Milan, Lombardia
November 13-17
Tomato Museum
Collecchio
Alba White Truffle International Fair
Alba, Piedmont
10 October 8 December 2020
Bagna cauda day
Asti, Piemonte
November 27-29

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