Archivio Flavours

Grand cheese
Magazine: May 2008

It is easy to say ''grana'', but the only cheese actually able boast about its title is the DOP kind, produced in specifi c territories the Po Valley, namely 32 provinces, rich in pastureland and cattle, reaching from Piedmont to Veneto, from Trento to Piacenza. The product has ancient origins and ...

Wheat from the Marches
Magazine: May 2008

If descending from Colfi orito, leaving the Parco dei Sibillini on your right, you move along the valley of Chienti or Potenza and look up at the hills, you will see that the sides seem faded. This is due to the wheat that once grew there. These were the lands of the Varano, swordsman and merchants...

From stalk to stalk
Magazine: May 2008

The chef recommends
DELICACIES _Celeriac should not weigh more than 500 g or be too mature. The root is should be compact and undamaged. Stalk celery should be fi rmly closed with long, healthy, bright green leaves without bruises and brownish marks. Verona celery can be blanched and frozen. SUG...

Pure white pleasure
Magazine: May 2008

The Ricotta Romana Dop is a fresh product that can be tasted on its own, it is milk derivate but cannot be classifi ed as cheese. After having recognised its Protected Denomination of Origin qualifi cation in 2005, the European Community has inserted it into the category of ''other products of anim...

Marvellous mussels
Magazine: May 2008

In all sea food manuals they are called Mytilus galloprovincialis at the fi sh counter we should call them mitilo but for most they are simply called mussels. To get an idea of how much we Italians love these molluscs it is suffi ce to visit the breeding grounds in the Mar Piccolo in Taranto. Hundr...

Mixed spices from North Africa
Magazine: May 2008

Sourcing out spices in the oriental markets of the southern Mediterranean or in the alimentary emporiums of the Maghreb, it is possible to come up against a mix with a mysterious name: ras el hanout. We could call it curry or a masala of North African spices, in fact, it can be found everywhere fro...

Milky heart
Magazine: April 2008

Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Dop is in the ''heart'' of the Big Apple: the Italian Obikà-Mozzarella Bar has arrived in New York. Despite recent dioxin scandals no fork has trembled in the three locations dedicated to mozzarella. « The clients feel safeguarded by our tracking system and...

Sugar perspectives in the Galleria
Magazine: April 2008

The Galleria di Milano shows off its sweet side in: Savini. The gorgeous gourmand premise has new proprietors who have inaugurated a temple of delights with their own in-house production. The Savini patisserie dances in unison with the philosophy of the entire structure: sophistication and high - c...

The doge′s platter
Magazine: April 2008

Rice in Veneto is happily ‘at home'. It is cooked in lots of ways, but only risi e bisi (rice with peas), benchmark of Venetian cuisine, has a precise position in the history of the Republic. On the 25th April, St Mark's day (the city's patron saint), it was the chosen dish at the Doge's tabl...

Blessed springtime
Magazine: April 2008

Ready to use salad washed, cut and packaged is one of the most successful products of recent times. Convenient but also lazy. It is yet another less direct contact with nature. Pick a head of salad in the orchard, choose the leaves from the bunch, break off the roots from the leaves and rinse them ...

Milky pearls
Magazine: April 2008

The dairy products from the mountain slopes arrive on the plains to be tasted, bought and sold. It all happening at Mantova with ''Mille e 2 formaggi''. From 11th –13th April the show reunites products and tutelage consortiums, promotional authorities and vendors all united in the task of the...

Let's come to the crunch
Magazine: April 2008

The Val Venosta is one of the most emblematic and clearly identifi able locations of northern Italy. Stretching from the Passo Resia to Merano, it is a territory rich in history and legends narrated by the strips of the great glaciers, by the peaks of Ortles, Gran Zebrù and Cevedale and by t...

Green pearls
Magazine: April 2008

Symbol of good fortune and prosperity, peas have always been well loved in every era since they made their debut in Asia, 6,000 years before the Christianity. In the past, fl owers of the legume were plaited as auspicious garlands for brides, whilst the long green pods were one of the principal sou...

Neither garlic nor onion
Magazine: April 2008

There is a good reason why the scallion from Romagna has never been found in its natural state: as it does not fl ower there is no chance of pollination between infl orescence of other plants. It is fundamental to keep apart bulbs from the previous year to plant to obtain a new production. They hav...

Heads or tails?
Magazine: April 2008

Monkfi sh, more usually called ''coda di rospo'' (toad's tail, a fi sh) is a normal item on Italian restaurant menus, being rich and tasty. It is nearly always stewed or in cooked in soups. Despite the fact that it is much appreciated by chefs it is rarely purchased in fi shmongers maybe because of...

Imitation cheese
Magazine: April 2008

Sold under the erroneous denomination of Soya ''cheese'', the pale pats of tofu made their fi rst appearance in Italy thanks to the wave of healthy food habits that took a stronghold in the ‘70s, heralded by the followers of macrobiotic philosophy. Being highly nutritious and low in fats and ...

Irresistible temptations
Magazine: March 2008

Poor is the man who has not eaten a Sicilian cassata on Easter morning: the ancient saying bears witness to the fact that the famous dessert was typically an Easter cake. Originally, it was a type of zuccotto of fresh cacio cheese, later substituted by ricotta. This work of art is a scenographic fe...

“Chocolat” in the Lange hills
Alba (CN)
Magazine: March 2008

Near the Duomo in Alba, lies a modern pastry shop with an antique heart. Behind the counter… a talented pastry chef who interprets peoples' tastes, just like Vianne who caused a ''chocolate upheaval'' in the life of a French village. But ''Healthy Gourmand'' is not the title of a film. We ar...

Valuable tuber
Magazine: March 2008

Never beautiful, ungainly in shape and often covered in warts, but it is good indeed, and versatile. Its appearance is much nicer now, and typologies have multiplied. We are speaking of Italy, naturally, which is not much in potato consumption. We eat around 40 kilos per person each year, to an ave...