The Italian Little Kitchen
Stocking your kitchen pantry with a few basic, essential ingredients will be helpful in creating the tasty recipes we will suggest to you, but remember the better the quality of the ingredients, the greatest and more authentic the result.You can find most of the items at our deli or, for the fresh vegetable, we advice to check local markets.
OLIVE OIL
In Italy, olive oil is the lubrificant of life, used for dressing salads, vegetables, cold fish, pasta and more; for preserving anything else worth saving for later; for shallow-frying and even sometimes as medecine.Whereever it is produced, extra virgin olive oil, which comes from the first pressing of the olives, is known to be superior in taste
OLIVES
Italian olives, which grow from the northern shores of Lake Garda to the southerntip of Sicily, are among theworld’s finest. They come in both green and black varieties and are usually so good thay are eaten by themselves
PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO
The ultimate Italin cheese is used throughout the penisula and is essential to a host of classic dishes and is also prized as Italy’s finest table cheese, eaten in small firm chunks. Named for the cities of parma and Reggio nell’Emilia, it is made only in a defined area. Made from cow’s milk, when young (it must be aged at least a year), it is perfect for sauces; as it ages it is best eaten alone
PASTA
In its purest form, pasta is simply flour mixed with water or eggs, then cut or shaped into various forms, and usually dried. It wasn’t until the 20th century that pasta became a staple of Italian cooking, but today, mention Italian cuisine and it’s usually the first thing comes to mind.
The most exciting thing is to learn how to combine different types of pasta with suitable sauces to emphasize the taste of both. We will give you lots of examples!
PROSCIUTTO
What Italians commonly call prosciutto is actually prosciutto crudo, raw (but cured) ham; the most famous bears the appellation “di parma”, meaning that, while the pigs might be raised in different regions, the meat MUST be cured in the province of parma.Whether eaten by itself or used judiciously in cooking, it is one of Italy’s great culinary treats. Having said that we will offer a great variety of cold meats, the best of their types from their original Italian regions
RICE
Italian cooking makes excellent use of the high quality, short, plump grains cultivated in Lombardia, Piemonte and Veneto. Carnaroli is the preferred variety for making risotto, due to its high starch content, important in making the creamy texture one finds in risotto. Never wash the rice before cooking, as this would remove the needed starch from the grain
