Italian cuisine is considered to be the best in the world. It is original, diverse, very tasty and useful at the same time, because it contains a lot of vegetables and olive oil. Relatively simple technology of cooking Italian dishes and rich flavor palette made dishes such as pasta, pizza or risotto world famous.

Favourite products

Italy - the land of plenty, where the generous sun grow all kinds of vegetables and fruits. Not surprisingly, nearly all Italian dishes include tomatoes and other vegetables - eggplant, zucchini, artichokes, peppers, lettuce, beans. Almost all the dishes are added to the olives or olive oil. It is also very widely used wheat flour (pasta - durum wheat flour).

Italians pay tribute to cheese made from cow's, sheep's and goat's milk. So, in honor of parmesan, mozzarella Mozzarella: an authentic Italian taste , Gorgonzola, ricotta and mascarpone. Happy to eat in Italy, fish, seafood, beef and poultry. Of prefer rice cereals, fruit - citrus fruits, peaches, berries, nuts - almonds. The most popular seasonings - a basil, garlic, oregano, rosemary, pepper and capers. The composition of many dishes include grape wine.

Interestingly, the people themselves are divided Apennines Italian cuisine to regional specialties - Lombard, Roman, Sicilian and many others. Indeed, the culinary traditions in the different regions of Italy sometimes differ considerably. For example, Roman cooks prefer olive oil lard, Calabrian cuisine based in fish and seafood dishes in Lombardy like meat in wine and Piedmont eat polenta, gnocchi, rice dishes and creamy dessert panna cotta.

The most famous dishes

The Italians at all times know a lot about food, for example, general Lucullus was famous for his peers. The abundance of fresh products allow Italian chefs prepare simple, but they are not less tasty. Over time, the technology of the preparation of foods improved, developed the art of wine-making and confectionery.

Perhaps the most famous Italian dish is pizza - cake made of yeast dough with filling, which usually consists of cheese, tomatoes or tomato paste, basil and a filler, for example, mushrooms, sausages, ham. There are many varieties of pizza toppings from fruit and vegetables, cape and smoked fish and seafood, mushrooms and different cheeses, even chocolate. However, remains the most popular pizza Margherita with filling in the colors of the Italian flag: red tomato sauce, white mozzarella and green basil are perfectly combined with each other not only in color but also to taste. Generally, in Italy like the relatively simple filling - pizza ingredients are usually a dozen chefs invented elsewhere.

No less known and popular Italian pasta - pasta. There are many types of pasta - long and short, thick and thin, normal and color. All these variants are distinguished from each other not only in size and shape, but also the route of administration. For example, thick rolls stuffed cannelloni, spaghetti served with sauces, small pasta added to soups. It is believed that from the Italian pasta do not get fat because real pasta produced only from durum wheat, safe for the figure.

Lasagna - Italian casserole - it is possible to some extent be called a kind of paste. Thin sheets of dough sandwiched sauce, meat, vegetables, cheese and baked in the oven. And Italian ravioli Ravioli: a treasure of Italian cuisine   and tortellini - distant relatives of ravioli. Small cakes of unleavened dough stuffed with cheese, spinach, meat, poultry, fish or fruit, and boil in salted boiling water.

It is widely known and the Italian risotto Risotto - rice porridge in Italian   - A dish of rice boiled in broth with wine. Delicate risotto with cheese, vegetables, meat or white mushrooms not only nourishes fine, but delivers gourmet pleasure. Sometimes, this dish is prepared not only rice but also of pearl barley - risotto is called the "pearl."

Italian desserts are famous throughout the world. Dessert tiramisu made from impregnated strong coffee and alcohol biscuits with cream of delicate mascarpone cheese. Cream sabayon (zabayone) is served in the form of heat, and a yolk cream with the addition of sweet Italian wine. Italian ice cream is made from cream, fruit, berries and nuts - it differs delicate creamy texture and does not leave indifferent even those who follow the figure.

A piece of Italy in the home kitchen

Is it possible to cook at home Italian cuisine? Absolutely. Suffice it to stock up on suitable products and the right recipe. To get a true Italian flavor, it is necessary to carefully follow the recipe and do not try to replace the olive oil sunflower, mascarpone cheese on and basil on dill. It is possible that as a result of these experiments will be able to make a tasty dish, but to call it an Italian has not come out.

So do not skimp on the products. High quality ingredients - more than half success, because the technology of preparation of the majority of Italian dishes are not complicated. Of course, few people at home have a special wood-burning oven for baking pizza, but right Boil spaghetti, for example, is a snap. Not even the most experienced cook to cope with minestrone soup, potato dumplings or gnocchi mannyh or ready lasagna sheets of dough.

The important thing to remember when cooking on traditional Italian seasonings - garlic, basil, rosemary, thyme and oregano. And the best accompaniment to dishes prepared according to Italian recipes, will dry wine produced in the Apennines.

Maria Bykov

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