World Cuisine - Italy

Introduction

When contemplating the history of Italian cuisine, it is important to remember that Italy did not exist as a unified country before 1870; prior to that, it was a diverse collection of kingdoms and principalities. Indeed, as Kyle Phillips notes in the introduction to his translation of The Art of Eating Well, only a small percentage of “Italians” actually spoke Italian prior to the 20th century. This political (and cultural) diversity is mirrored by the wide variety of climatic and topographic regions that the Italian peninsula spans. Because of these conditions, there exist a great variety of dishes in the Italian repertoire.

Similarly, one needs to remember that most recipes in the Italian repertoire have come down to us from generations of poor, hard-working people. While the feasts provided by the Medici, Estes and Lombardi are the stuff of legend, court fare was more closely identified with French and Austrian cuisine and subject to changes in fashion and taste. This has little to do with what we now identify as Italian cooking, which was largely dependent on locally and seasonally available products and which probably evolved very slowly over the centuries.

The Italian cuisine is characterized by some specific unique dishes, like pasta, risotto and pizza, which are served in all parts of the country. However, regional differences may occur in the cooking process of a meal, resulting in variations of the same recipe, or unique specific ones of a single area, like the Napoli pizza, specific to the Neapolitan region. Also, Peperoni Imbottiti is another specific Neapolitan dish, and consists of stuffed bell peppers with Eggplant and bread crumbs. In the Tuscan region, harty soups are a common thing, as well as fish stews. Cacciucco and scottiglia are some of the specific Tuscan stews. Other Tuscan specialties include “alla fiorentina” steak, ribollita, a thick vegetable soup and fagioli all'uccelletto, sautéed beans in garlic and sage with tomatoes. In the Piedmont region you can find a special dish called fonduta, containing melted cheese dip of milk, eggs and white truffles. Also, boiled Veal tongue and fish assortments like Anchovies, eels, Carp, Trout, and snails are available in all region. Lombardy is well known for Milan related dishes, such as spaghetti Milanese and minestrone alla Milanese, and for other specialties such as creamy Gorgonzola and polenta. rice and peas are specific for the Veneto region, where you can also find calf's liver fried with onions, shellfish, eels and dried Cod. In Genoa region pesto is the main ingredient, and in Norcia, the Italian cuisine capital, you can find Pork dishes, black truffles, and hand-made pasta like ‘strozzapreti’. Sicily is rich in fruits and seafood, as well as Sardinia, which is also known for sausages, sweet green olives, and Lamb steaks.

From: http://www.cookbookwiki.com/Italy

Recipes

Minestrone

Servings: 4

1 oz olive oil
2 oz bacon, diced
8 oz onions, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 oz celery, paysanne
4 oz carrots, paysanne
1.5 quarts chicken stock
4 oz zucchini paysanne
4 oz potatoes paysanne
10 oz tomato concasse
2 oz tomato paste
4 oz chickpeas, cooked
4 oz cannelini, cooked
2 oz parmesan cheese, grated
Thyme, fresh chopped
Salt and white pepper to taste
Optional: cooked pasta (generally small pieces, not long noodles)

Preparation

1. Place oil and bacon into saucepot and sweat, do not brown
2. Add onions, garlic, celery, carrots and sweat until onions are translucent.
3. Add chicken stock and bring to simmer over medium high heat and simmer for approximately 20 minutes.
4. Add zucchini, potatoes and tomato concasse, tomato paste and simmer for 10 more minutes until vegetables are tender. Do not overcook.
5. Add cooked chickpeas, cannellini (and pasta if desired), simmer until all ingredients are hot
6. Adjust seasonings, garnish soup with parmesan and chopped thyme just prior to serving.

Involtini di Pollo

Servings: 4

Stuffing
8 oz chicken thigh meat, ground
0.5 oz butter
0.5 oz shallot
1 egg white
Salt and pepper to taste

4 chicken breast pieces
2 oz stuffing
4 pieces fresh sage
4 thinly sliced bacon

Preparation

Stuffing
1. Bone and grind the chicken thigh meat
2. Dice and sauté shallots, cool, set aside.
3. Place meat, shallots, and egg white in robot-coupe and pulse.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Assembly
1. Cut each chicken breast in half and pound lightly, dip inside of breast in flour, shake of excess.
2. Place a small piece of fresh sage on top, add 2 oz of stuffing and roll the breast around stuffing, then wrap with bacon and hold together with toothpick.

Sauce
1. Prepare sauce from roasted chicken leg, bones, scraps, and mirepoix. Reduce to glaze consistency.

Cooking
1. Sauté each side lightly in whole butter and set aside until service.
2. Season with salt and pepper to taste, bake in oven at 350°F until done, serve with sauce.

Practical

Our full menu for our Italian menu was:

• Minestrone
• Gnocchi "Piedmontaise"
• Involtini di Pollo
• Spinach & Peperonata
• Saffron Risotto
• Zabaglione

Minestrone is a typical Italian soup, and while it is common it does not necessarily have a set recipe, normally being made from whatever fresh vegetables are available along with meat scraps. Gnocchi "Piedmontaise" are gnocchi made from potato, egg, and flour. Involtini di Pollo is chicken breast and sage wrapped around a ground or paste chicken filling with bacon wrap. Peperonata is grilled pepper sautéed, in this dish we added spinach as well. Risotto was made as our previous recipes, with the addition of saffron. Zabaglione is a desert of whipped egg whites and cream flavoured with brandy, combined with strawberries tossed in balsamic vinegar.

Observations

I was excited for this week's world cuisine class as I love Italian cooking. Our starter minestrone turned out quite well and was very flavourful, a good start to the day. Unfortunately we had some problems cooking our gnocchi, perhaps due to adding too many to the water at once, and they ended up clumping. Once we started again, they turned out fine, although Chef would have preferred slightly less colour from sautéing. Our Involtini di Pollo turned out well, although Chef mentioned it was done well and if it had been cooked much longer it would have easily become overcooked. The spinach and peperonata, along with the saffron risotto both turned out very well. Our zabaglione was also very good, with an appropriate blend of flavours while maintaining a light texture.