Necessity is the mother of all invention, as they say, and so it was that Napoleon Bonaparte’s swiss chef Dunand, cooked up the bizarre combination of chicken, eggs and crayfish that would take on the name Chicken Marengo. It all happened after the battle of Marengo (south of Turin), in 1800, when Napoleon routed the [...]
There is no one agreed christmas menu in Italy, but in Emilia Romagna – and more particularly in Romagna – there’s little discussion surrounding the primo for christmas lunch – it’s got to be Cappelletti in Brodo! These tasty small filled pasta float in a meaty broth, perfect for warming up both body and spirit. [...]
While you might not have imagined it, Italy is Europe’s largest producer of rice, and the Piedmont and Lombardy regions of Northern Italy are the main areas for rice production (although rice was first cultivated extensively in the Campania region, only taking hold in the agricultural life of the North in the later middle ages). [...]
This recipe, Pollo alla diavola,is one that we got from friends in Tuscanny – though the recipe is found, with variations, in various regions in Italy. Ingredients for Chicken alla diavola One chicken one lemon salt pepper olive oil How to prepare Chicken alla diavola Cut open the chicken, removing the breastbone, and flatten out [...]
This is one of the most famous meat dishes from Rome. Abbacchio is the term used for a young lamb – there are a number of competing theories regarding the origins of the word. The first links it to the latin ovacula or ovecula, diminutives of ovis (sheep). The more popular theory is also the [...]
The cooking tradition in the Marche region is based on fish and large amounts of game and meat, depending upon whether you’re in the wooded inland or on the coast. This is a great and simple dish for lovers of game Ingredients: 8 quails 150grms of pancetta bacon 50 grms of butter 1 glass of [...]
There are various dishes that have unsure origins, and are claimed by a number of Italian regions. Arancini, though, suffer no such ambiguities. They’re as Sicilian as you can get, though thanks to internal migration you can find them on sale as a perfect take-away food in bars and cafes in most Italian cities. These [...]
This dish, typical of the Valle d’Aosta, gets its name from the dark colour of the salted beef traditionally used to make it (from Carbone, the Italian for coal). It’s a hearty meat dish, perfect for mountain life. It’s obviously related to the Flemish stew – the main difference being the use of beer or [...]
While its origins are obviously Hungarian, Gulash is a popular dish throughout Central Europe, and it’s a common dish in the eastern corner of Italy – the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia province. Ingredients For 4-6 people 800grms of stewing steak 500grms chopped onions 70grms of fresh lard (or butter/margarine) 2 tablespoons of tomato concentrate vegetable broth powdered paprika [...]
