Italialicious

Recipes and food from Sicily are actually some of the worlds most singled out cuisines, and this comes with a perfectly good reason. For hardcore foodies, however, the cuisine itself is enough reason for the journey. Of course, every destination in the world has its local culinary treats to offer, its own way of cooking or solay, but for dedicated food epicureans, no other place offers as much culinary diversity, history, and sheer wealth of quality ingredients as holidays to Sicily. Sicily has a lot of cultural heritage which consist of a mixture of many cultures hence offers different recipes that have been with their very own ingredients. The following are the top 6 Top Delicious Recipes from Sicily.

1. Mushroom Arancini

Arancini is made up of risotto rice which has been breaded and deep fried. The arancini is made by mixing risotto into balls and putting cheese at the center. They then rolled to form breadcrumbs. You must try this dish when you visit the Island and the shape of the arancini will depend on where you are stuffing from. They are the best snack as you walk down the streets of the island’s main cities and towns.

2. Caponata

Caponata contains pine nuts, raisins, aubergines, and plenty of vinegar. It should be served at room temperature normally as an antipasto. When fried with tomatoes, onion, and celery it can be used as a stew. You can also flavor it using olives, pine nuts, capers, and raisins. You can then sweeten it using sweet vinegar. Due to its external influence, it’s now a familiar menu across Europe.

3. Raw red prawns

Since you are on an island, you should expect seafood and fish to be obvious. You will enjoy Italy’s red prawns (Gambero Rosso) which are caught by the local fisherman. You can have the best Gambero Rosso from the western coast of Italy. The hotels just add olive oil and lemon juice and serve them raw which makes them a good retreat foodie when visiting Sicily.

4. Pasta Alla Norma

You will the most delicious and famous paste in Catania which is located on the East coast of Sicily. It is made up of local aubergines, ricotta salata, tomatoes, basil, garlic, and salted ricotta.

5. Pasta con le sarde

This is one of the best vegetarian Sicilian dishes. It’s made up of salted anchovy fillets, Fresh sardines, and wild fennel. You then add raisins, pine nuts, and saffron which is then stirred through bucatini (a particular type of spaghetti that has a hole in the middle). Many hotels in Sicilia will sprinkle crisp bread crumbs to add extra texture. Sometimes they also add white almonds and white wines to add extra taste.

6. Involtini di Pesce spade

The swordfish rolls are topped with lemon, capers, olives, raisins, and pine nuts. They are then rolled into spirals and secured using a skewer. After they are rolled, they are later baked, grilled or fried to bring out  the taste of Sicilian cuisine.

The historical-cultural background, the stunning places, the unique cuisine and the mild weather make Sicily one of the most desirable touristic destinations of the Mediterranean Sea. Sicilian local recipes and regional culinary delights await us.…

The cuisine of Trentino-Alto Adige is a delicious and tasty combination of German influences, mountain cooking, and Mediterranean flavors. These delicacies do include fruit-stuffed gnocchi and beef goulash with bread crumbs and browned butter.

Instead of risotto or pasta, chefs here prefer to make polentas using buckwheat or cornmeal. They also make soups covered with bread dumplings, all made from the heart. Spot the prized flavors, from long-simmered pork stews to cooked cabbage in pure-red wine.

Generally, the food quality is high. You do not have to spend lots of your hard-earned money on a fancy eatery to have a lifetime experience with an excellent cuisine. Rather, you can have some in a local malga whenever you go for a hike. Perhaps you might be interested in the items to get on the menu.

Here’s What You Will Find on the Menu:

1. First courses

First courses such as Canederli, Spatzle, and Schlutzkrapfen are the first items you will find on the menu.

Canederli comprises bread dumplings and flour. You can eat this either in broth or with butter alongside some Trentingrana toppings with spinach, cheese or speck flavors.

Schlutzkrapfen or mezzelune is the other first course. It includes half-circle stuffed past; same as ravioli. Normally, Schlutzkrapfen is filled with spinach and ricotta.

Spatzle is the third item on the first course list. Don’t freak out because of the Italian name. Spatzle simply comprises of tiny gnocchi made of water, flour, and eggs. You can eat it either with chives condiment or butter. Alternatively, Spatzle can be made of spinach.

2. Second courses

Second courses do include river fish and fresh lake-like salmerino and trout, venison goulash and rabbit.

3. Cured Meats

Cured meats such as carne salada, luganega, mortandela and speck are the next items on the menu.

Traditionally, the cuisine of Trentino-Alto Adige must include some kind of cured meat – speck being the most popular one. It comprises of partially smoked, dry-cured ham, sliced that you can eat just the way it is or use it in recipes. A famous option in this category is speck sandwich (Panino con lo speck); loved by hikers.

Carne salada is the other kind of cured meat, basically made of beef’s thigh (at times with calf or horse).

Besides speck and carne salada, you will also find mortandela as a kind of cured meat. This consists of smoked pork salami with a meatball shape. You can either eat it cooked or raw; serve it with boiled veggies, polenta or sauerkraut.

Lucanica is a cold-cut cured meat, taken by each farmer’s family – as a tradition. Its taste is delicately spicy, with a scent of garlic and pepper.

4. Cheeses

The cuisine of Trentino-Alto Adige is also rich in cheeses. This isn’t a surprise because cows here graze on excellent fodder. The environment and climate are healthy for the growth of this fodder, hence the production of quality milk to make cheese. These cheeses consist of puzzone di moena, Trentingrana, vezzena and casolet.

5. Deserts

Next on the menu are desserts such as Kaiserschmarren, Sacher Torte, and Strudel. These are usually made from plums, pears, and apples; these fruits are widely grown in Trentino-Alto Adige.

The bottom line

Besides the first & second courses, desserts, cured meats and cheeses, the cuisine of Trentino-Alto Adige also consists of rose, red and white wines. These wines include Muller Thurgau, Teroldego and Lagrein. Finally, you can drive the food-themed roads in this area and experience different tastes.…

At 70 miles wide and 175 miles long, Sardinia is known as the second-largest island in the Mediterranean. As you would expect in such a huge region, each area has its own specialities. From carciofi, faba, and lumache in Sassari to sheep’s cheese, fresh ricotta, and white wine in Pecorino, you can easily find many distinctive dishes anywhere on this beautiful island. For those who are going to embark on holidays, here are top 5 foods to eat in Sardinia.

1. Pan’e saba

Literally bread and saba, pan’e saba is a traditional dessert in Sardinia. It is often cooked on the first week of November during the special days of Christianity. The dish is typically aromatic and sweet which often serves as the delicacy during Easter and Christmas. The production of cooked wine or saba, a popular condiment used in many recipes in Italy, often starts at the end of the harvesting season, so make sure to make the right plan if you want to enjoy this delicious dish.

2.  Charcuterie

Just like other cured pork dishes in Italy like salsiccia sarda, prosciutto, and pancetta, charcuterie is typically a cross between sausage and salami. In general, it is often a mix of fat and lean pork seasoned with pepper, anise, and fennel, then stuffed into the intestines which have been soaked in vinegar or wine. The ends should be tied together to create a horseshoe. If you want to eat the tastiest charcuterie, try the rustic version that is made from smoked myrtle and wild boar. Also, there is a lamb sausage, combined with beef, and goat sausage which isn’t for the faint-hearted due to its smells.

3. Pane carasau

A traditional flatbread in Sardinia, pane is crisp and thin, often in haft-a-meter wide shape. It is cooked by taking a baked flat bread which is made of water, yeast, salt, and durum wheat flour, then dividing into 2 sheets and baking again. The recipe was created in the ancient times by the shepherds, who stayed far away from home for a few months. That’s why pane carasau would last up to 1 year in a dry form. If you want wet bread, just eat it with sauces, wine, or water.

4. Bottarga

Bottarga is a Sardinian delicacy of cured, salted fish roe, often of the bluefin tuna or grey mullet. These types of fish can be found in coastlines all over the world, but they are typically featured in Mediterranean specialities. This dish can have many different names as well as can be prepared in various ways to meet the tastes of the caters.

5. Lamb artichoke

By tradition, lamb artichoke is often cooked by Sardinian locals during the Easter. As the island is home to millions of sheep and massive areas of fresh artichokes, you can feel the freshness and tastefulness of this dish. Firstly, the lamp should be stewed in 1 hour to get rid of its smell, then you need to add artichokes and wait for about 20 minutes. To enhance the appetite, you can taste this dish with Vernaccia wine.

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Roman cuisine is known for being very simple, exceedingly flavorful and very satisfying. Many of the foods are prepared in creative ways using only a handful of ingredients. From pasta dishes, cured meats, pastries, offal stews and even pizza, you can be sure to expect something different from what you’re accustomed to back home.

With so many mouth watering meals to choose from it can be difficult to determine the best foods to eat while in Rome and the ones to ignore. To help you out we have compiled a list of 5 foods guaranteed to make your Italian indulging experience a highly pleasurable one.

1. Carbonara

Carbonara is a dish made primarily from pasta, bacon and eggs. According to the ancient Romans, the dish was first invented by charcoal burners who worked outside the city for months at a time and had very few food supplies.

Due to their limited options they combined this trio to come up with what is known today as Carbonara. Over time, the dish has evolved to include other ingredients such as black pepper, tomato sauce, basil, asparagus e.t.c. It is considered one of Rome’s top dishes and is available in virtually every restaurant.

2. Focaccia

Focaccia is considered to be one of the best appetizers or snack foods in Rome. It is basically bread that is baked using Italian yeast in rectangular pans to give it a block shape. Unlike conventional bread, the dough is flavored with sea salt and olive oil.

After baking, small dimples are made on the surface of the bread onto which the baker tops olives, herbs, tomatoes, green onions, mushrooms e.t.c. The crunchy wheat crust and the resulting sweet flavor from the combination of olive oil, salt and spices has made this food very popular throughout Rome and all of Italy.

3. Porchetta

If you’re a huge fan of pork you might want to consider trying Porchetta – which is basically a de-boned piglet that has been stuffed with herbs and garlic, roasted and made into a sandwich. The pork is roasted on a metallic support in specific temperatures.

This causes a crispy crust to form on the outside which insulates heat and causes the herbs and spices used to merge into a flavorful paste. The result: one of the best tasting meat dishes you’ll ever eat.

4. Risotto

Risotto is simply Italian rice that has been prepared in a broth with ingredients such as meat, seafood and vegetables. The dish is prepared through toasting and creaming. Vegetables are heated in a pan with oil and then the Italian rice is added and cooked until it turns translucent. At this stage; hot stock i.e. liquid from simmering meats, can be added to the rice.

Depending on the risotto, wine can also be added among other additives. The risotto is continuously stirred until everything is absorbed. This indicates the dish is done. Although risotto might not look enticing this dish is a classic that must not be overlooked.

1. Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

This is a spaghetti dish that is made from a combination of ingredients such as anchovies, capers, garlic, tomatoes and olive oil. The anchovies, tomatoes and other vegetables are first sautéed in a generous amount of olive oil. Other additives such as pepper and salt are added to the mixture which is then poured over the spaghetti. Once done, toppings can be added over the dish to garnish it. If you enjoy eating food with many different flavors then this is an Italian dish you simply should not pass up.

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