... tradition doesn't mean immobility!

But they also said: "and yet, to define ‘traditional’ in Italy is not simple. Within Italy too, there are so many regional influences to the cuisine. In southern Italy, for instance, there is an abundance of olive oil near the coast. Naturally, it forms an important ingredient in the cuisine. However, as you travel north and it becomes colder, olive oil is replaced by butter."

What about the recipes instead? To be able to experiment with a recipe, you have to know and understand what the traditional recipe is, he says. “Once you learn what each ingredient brings to a recipe, you can try innovating."

Strangely this discussion is the same going on in the italian blog too this week. "Tradition is not immobility but the contrary: the local traditions comes from the combination and influences and everything in the time is influences by the contest, the people and the historical moment. Everything is in evolution."

So for instance, I was surprised when yesterday, having a dinner at Roscioli, a very nice restaurant in the centre of Rome, I found very innovative dishes, near very traditional recipes, but all with a common point: the best italian ingredients, PGI or PDO, sometimes revisited in new combinations or just proposed following the most classic recipes.

The most classic white pizza or focaccia VS suppli with pork ragu'

Amatriciana or Carbonara VS Paccheri with peppers sauce, ricotta and bits of dried cod

Tiramisu' VS Cold chocolate cream with anise ice cream and croccante biscuits

And even the place is a mix between tradition and innovation: it's a classic old grocery, transformed in an little but very peculiar restaurant, with wine, homemade products and specialities everywhere and a great service.

As chef Macchia says : “I’ve learned that diners don’t always want foie gras or black truffle to get a good dining experience. Even a simple dish prepared differently will give them that feeling.” After my experience in Roscioli I can definitely agree ... the Paccheri were amazing!

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... is it London the new "gastronomic capital of the world"?

Yesterday the Michelin stars finally arrived in UK and Ireland too and everyone was expecting new winners, old confirmations and maybe some fall, but none could think these countries could collect together 143 stars, more than anytime before.

This news created lots of talk about the fact that the english gastronomy finally reached the dignity and the respect needed.  Derek Bulmer, the editor of the guide, said to the Telegraph, food in British restaurants had improved immensely since he started. In 1974, the first year Michelin Guide published its guide in Britain under its current format, there were just 25 stars in total: " Our gastronomic reputation was, let's be generous, poor!"

He also added that though Britain may not have as many stars as France, Italy or even Germany, there were few cities in the world that attracted as many top-flight chefs as London. Truth is that in England at the moment you can find any kind of cuisine from all over the world: not just Indian and Asiatic, but I personally had the chance to try food from Ghana, Persia, even Mongolia, thing that is not so easy in other countries. 

Joël Robuchon, pluri- starred french chef, who has a restaurant in Soho,  just admitted few days ago that the restaurants in London are now more innovative than those of Paris.
The 65 year-old, also claimed that "London is very possibly the gastronomic capital of the world”. “Why? Because it’s only in London that you find every conceivable style of cooking. When it comes to what’s new in cooking, to innovative cuisine, it’s all happening in London."

But let's talk about this edition of the Michelin Guide, that this year celebrate in England also its 100th anniversary. Another good news in fact is the presence of new awarded female chefs: the first one is Hélène Darroze who received her second Michelin star, at The Connaught in London. Then Skye Gyngell, with her first star for the Petersham Nurseries Cafe in Richmond, and finally Clare Smyth, who runs the kitchen at Gordon Ramsay's  restaurant and was confirmed as one of just four chefs in the country to have three stars.

 
Lots were the restaurants awarded yesterday and I'm especially happy to notice also some good italian ones maintaining their star: Casa Mia in Bristol, Zafferano, Semplice and of course Locanda Locatelli here in London! Between the italian restaurants awarded a Bib Gormand there are Trullo e Zucca. I will need to try them soon!

So congratulations to  the women and to all the winners of this 2011 Michelin stars edition.

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Joining the worldwide ola of Homemade Pesto Genovese

Today, 17th of January is International Day of Italian Cuisines again, and this time is all dedicated to the Pesto Genovese.

As in the past editions, the IDIC is a worldwide celebration of authentic and quality Italian Cuisine, to defend it from bogus and counterfeiting. Hundreds of chefs and restaurateurs all around the world will prepare simultaneously on today Pesto Genovese with pasta, according to an authentic recipe. 

All the food lovers too where invited to join the ola and cook some Pesto, and i couldn't miss this international call to action.

The International Day of Italian Cuisines is born from a mission: "we certainly aim at educating worldwide consumers, but more than anything else, we want to protect their right to get what they pay for when going to eateries labeled as "Italian", that is: authentic and quality Italian cuisine." says Rosario Scarpato, GVCI Honorary President, and IDIC 2011 Director.

With this in mind,  today i won't  just give you here the most classic and official recipe for the real pesto, but i will also tell you about the best combination of pasta you can have with this sauce.

But let's start from the recipe as written by the cooperative of the Pesto Genovese:

- 50 gr of fresh young basil leaves.

- 1 big spoon of pine nuts

- 6 spoons of Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese freshly grated.

- 2 spoons of Pecorino cheese

- 2 garlic cloves

- 10 gr of  gritty salt

- Half a glass of  Extra Virgin Olive Oil (better if it's from “Ligurian Riviera” d.o.p.)

- and finally 600 gr Trofie Pastificio dei Campi (the name comes from the genoese dialect and the way to call the manual movement necessary to create the shape).

The procedure is quite easy, but to be traditional, you will need a marble mortar and a wooden pestle. This because instead to chop the leaves you will need to crush them to have the leaves' oil necessary for the sauce.

Wash the basil leaves in cold water and dry them on a paper towel. Don't squeeze them.
Then crush in the mortar the garlic clove the pine nuts and the basil leaves, add  the salt, the Parmesan, the Pecorino cheese and keep pounding using a light circular movement of the pestle.

Add some of the Extra Virgin Olive from time to time and keep  mixing until  you obtain  a smooth creamy sauce. Pesto should not be greasy and the amount of oil used must be well absorbed and not floating on top.

Trofie and Trenette are the pasta used in Liguria, however linguine or spaghetti al dente will make a good companion to this sauce. The original recipe also says to cook the pasta in the water with french green beans and potatoes and serve all together dressed with pesto (more like a salad type of dish), but you can just mix this with pasta and will be great!

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Good ingredients and good chefs can make you feel in Italy

In the majority of the english food blogs you will find reviews of restaurants, pubs and new places to eat: in a country with a mix of so many different cuisines, you can get lost and finish to eat always in the same places or the same kind of food.

Instead this is the best country to discover other food traditions, taste, flavors and in few word enter in real contact with other cultures.

Between all these posts I have just seen one published this week, that is absolutely perfect for you, reader of this blog and pasta lovers: 10 best pasta dishes by the Epicurean blog.

This is a very intriguing guide to the best pasta cuisine experiences he ever had in London and some of the restaurants in the list are really famous and great.

As he said the fact that these dishes were great is not just for the chef who made them, but also for the good products, chosen for the recipes: from the pasta (and he is the first one to quote Pastificio dei Campi between his favorites), to the tomatoes, the Parmesan, the fish or meat, the vegetables, the real italian products.

How can you resist to this Paccheri with burrata from the Tinello Restaurant or the Vongole spaghetti from Francesco Mazzei a L'Anima? Truly italian stuff!

The only thing to let me a bit confuse was the Spaghetti with meatballs that for how much they can be good (and I absolutely believe in that) are not really italian. We don't have that dish there, but maybe can be the case to go and try them.

However thank you very much Epicurean for the quote and for this list because is always hard to spot very good and traditional italian restaurants, when you have so many fake ones.

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Some i-tech tips to improve your cooking time

Thursday on the LondonDaily Telegraph, our Italian tourism minister asked Apple to remove an Iphone application that suggests Italy is the home of "pizza, mafia, pasta and scooters". She said “I cannot allow our country to be discredited by a criminal organization".
Thinking about this Iphone app and the increasing number of them on the app store I started to look at the most famous food related ones. What a discovery: there are plenty and very useful ones for all of you who likes to learn more about Italian cuisine and products.

Let's begin by two amazing one discovered on Mashable: TopChef Recipe Finder and CookBook. The first one will help you to find recipes with your grocery shopping, season fruits and vegetables. The second instead will let you input ingredients and will suggest you some recipes that you can make using them.

Now there are special italian ones... So if you want to become a real Italian chef and know what we really eat in Italy those are perfect.
You can’t miss the app. Eataly - The Recipes: Eataly, the biggest market for quality food in the world has selected 1,000 best recipes inns throughout Italy reported by Slow Food. Moreover, thanks to the "Wheel of the Seasons" you will have the possibility to know fruits and vegetables by month & season.

And Gambero Rosso created an Iphone guide to Italian restaurants and 2010 wines... It will helps to prepare your "dolce vita" holidays and weekend or  to choose the best Barolo or Chianti of this year, to impress your hosts.

There are also Ipad applications, for those of you who have one.

In fact if you want to cook and you have an Ipad, this can be a really great support. Try one of the best app for Italian recipes, the Artusi HD app: 222 recipes coming from the traditional and real Italian tradition. You can search for recipes and when you find the one you like, quickly add it to your “Favorites” for quick access afterwards. Moreover, if there’s something worth sharing, that can be done just as easily via email.

That's not it... if you have a weekend planned in Milan, you can’t miss to have a meal in "Il Marchesino", restaurant of the Teatro la Scala. Here the same Guglielmo Marchesi, very famous Italian chef with historical fame, suggested to use the Ipad to make the menu more clear. Since September this is reality and the menu’ look stunning!

What about the Blackberry owners? Don’t worry there are some nice app. also for you! With iFood Assistant LITE powered by Kraft, you get fun, convenience and delicious inspiration, all for free. With Healthy Recipes instead, you can browse and search almost 200,000 recipes, plus save your favorites. It also provide calories, carbs, and more for each recipe. Perfect for anyone on a diet!

Do you use any application to cook or have inspiration ? Tell us your experiences about it. How do you use it ?

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From America to Indonesia passing by Italy

This week it's finally arrived in the english cinemas EAT PRAY LOVE, the movie inspired by the book written by Elizabeth Gilbert that remained in the New York Times Best Seller list for 187 weeks.

I read this book this summer after lots of reviews and buzz about it. The title was really intriguing and the fact it was a biography was even more interesting: what someone can tell you more about the 3 basic important things in life without being banal or too prophetical?

I have to admit it I found the book and the story really nice and well written, fresh, frank and not fussy at all. It’s just the story of a journalist who despite the trappings of success and upward mobility, found herself unfulfilled and without direction. So she decides to take a break, almost a sabbatical year to explore the three essential elements of life: “eat” the italian language and culture in Rome, fulfilling her personal interests and kind of “fisical” needs too; “pray” in India, looking and taking care of her spiritual side after the rehabilitation in Italy; and finally “love” in Bali, a last step not really predetermined (how can you with love?) , but just  surprisingly arrived by the research of a balance between the first 2 trips and experiences.

 

Now I’m speaking about this book here because it was really funny to read the description of Rome, roman people and Italian culture in general, made by this american journalist, in love with my country: it’s everything sooo true and her passion in every single word she put down is unbelievable! She really loved that time of her life and I really started to miss all that when I was reading the book.

The best part for me were of course all the food related experiences she had, from the roman ice cream of S. Crispino, to the amazing Pizza in Neapols da Michele, to the artichokes and fried zucchini blossoms… and of course the pasta: spaghetti alla carbonara, linguine con le vongole e la pasta ai quattro formaggi.  She is hilarious in all these descriptions but I can ensure with this book you can have a really good picture of the daily life in Italy and the pleasure you can find in any corner, from historical places, to food, to traditions and funny people of course.

Let’s see if I can help you too in getting more near to my culture … maybe starting like her from the verb “EAT”!

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Discovering the secrets for an authentic italian meal!

While living in the UK I have met a lot of people who love Italian food and love to try our classic Italian recipes. I have also seen a lot of Italian restaurants with red, white and green flags, pizza and pasta places with Italian names but… fake menus!!!
Unfortunately this is something I see quite often… so it’s in fact quite difficult for me to suggest good, genuine Italian restaurants when someone asks me.

So at this point I’m asking: what makes an Italian restaurant genuinely Italian? What do you think are the secrets in creating a proper Italian restaurant?

On the 6th of July, the Italian government decided to create a  DOC badge for 1,000 real Italian restaurants abroad to help the "Made in Italy. The reason was to support "Made in Italy" all around the world and to help the consumers finding the right place for their Italian meals. The characteristics chosen to determine these as genuine Italian restaurants are: first of all at least 50% of the restaurant’s menu had to consist of typical Italian dishes. The restaurant has to have a chef qualified to cook classic Italian recipes as well as a correct written Italian menu. The use of Italian extra-virgin olive oil is also an important criteria but most important of all is the presence of at least 5 recognized Italian PGI or DOC products in the menu.

So the menu and the atmosphere and especially the quality of real Italian products are some of the secrets behind an Italian restaurant. However none of these elements alone can create a good Italian restaurant itself!

Some of the restaurants following those basic rules in London are:  Tinello,  Semplice  and Locanda Locatelli. Locanda Locatelli belongs to the famous Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli who at one point this summer was interviewed by the Sunday Times for their column “Eating in”. During the interview the chef revealed some typical Italian recipes as well as his favorite and essential and original ingredients. Among others the pasta from Pastificio dei Campi was on the list! We are proud to be recognized from a chef like him.

Now of course I'm not saying that without these specific pasta you won't have a real italian restaurant and meal but, as mentioned earlier this is one of the GPI products a restaurant needs to have. So try to be aware about what kind of products a restaurant uses, what dishes are in the menu and what’s the story behind the place! And if you want to have a laugh about some of the most common fake italian dishes, ingredients and products abroad, please check out this hilarious blog post from Elena. It's great!
  

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