Luganega is a sausage made throughout Italy as one, long coiled sausage not divided into smaller links. It is sometimes called a “salsiccia a metro” (“sausage by the metre”) because it’s sold by the metre. It is generally a mild sausage, except in the south of Italy, where it has a bit more kick. The…
Italian Food
Maccheroni di Natale
Maccheroni di Natale is long thin tubes of pasta, hollow inside, about 12 to 15 cm (5 to 6 inches) long. It is made in Genoa, capital of the Ligurian region of Italy. At Christmas in Liguria, it is usually the first dish served, in capon broth with small balls of sausagemeat, and lots of…
Marcella Hazan
Marcella Hazan’s goal was to teach Americans about authentic Italian food. Her ingredients were simple, but she was exacting when it came to technique. Despite her reputation for being a stickler when it came to cooking, two of her favourite foods were Jack Daniel’s — and potato chips.
Marsala Wine
This Italian fortified wine can be bought in three degrees of sweetness: dry, semisweet and sweet. Literature & Lore Marsala takes its name from the city in Sicily, Italy. On the label, “secco” means dry, “semi-secco” means semi-dry (thus semi-sweet), and “dolce”, meaning sweet.
Minestrone
Minestrone is a style of thick, Italian vegetable-based soups with pasta in them. They are started with a soffritto, stock and vegetables are added and the vegetables are cooked until soft. Then a starchy ingredient is added to act as a thickener, and it is served topped with grated cheese such as Parmesan or Grana…
Mortadella
Mortadella is a traditional sausage in Bologna, Italy used as a charcuterie meat. It comes already cooked, and has a pronounced taste. It is unsmoked and unfermented. It is pinkish and has a very smooth texture save for the visible chunks of lard mixed in. The sausage is made in four sizes: Small: .5 to…
Mostaccioli Cookies
Mostaccioli are Italian cookies made with grape must acting as both a liquid and a sweetener. They were something you made on the once or twice-a-week occasions when you fired up the stone ovens outside to make your bread. More modern versions, though, don’t use bread dough, but rather have you actually start from “scratch”…
Mostaccioli Pasta
Mostaccioli Pasta is a hollow tube pasta very similar to penne. It is cut about 2 inches (5 cm) long, though sometimes about 1 inch (2 ½ cm) long. It comes with either smooth or ridged sides. The ends are “French cut” on a slant. It can be used for baking, or for salads. Substitutes…
Mostarda di Cremona
Mostarda di Cremona is a fruited mustard, like a chutney. It is made in Cremona, Lombardy on the River Po, where Antonio Stradivarius was born. The sauce includes mustard oil, vinegar and a sweet sauce made either from honey, sugar or grape must (“mosto” in Italian) boiled down. The mustard is white, not yellow, as…
Neapolitan Flip Coffee Maker
A Neapolitan flip coffee maker consists of two pots resting on each other. Water is put in the bottom pot, with coffee in a filter above it. When the water is boiled, you flip the unit so that the hot water will be on top and drip down through the coffee to the empty pot below.
Nocino
Nocino is dark-coloured, syrupy digestif that is usually serve chilled after a meal in small glasses. Nocino is made from unripe, green walnut husks steeped in alcohol. It has a bittersweet flavour, tasting more herbal than nutty at first, then the nut taste follows. The bitterness comes from the tannins in the nuts, which the…
Olives
Olives © Denzil GreenMost Olive trees are man-made cultivars, rather than true botanical varieties, and won’t reproduce true to seed; they are propagated by grafting. Seeds are planted, though, being cracked before planting to help them germinate. When seedlings grow up from them, they are either used as rootstock to which cuttings from other trees…
Oronge Mushrooms
Oronge Mushrooms are wild mushrooms that grow in Europe, particularly in Italy and France. They grow in oak or chestnut forests in small groupings. Their round, orangish caps are white inside. They have pale yellows stem that are thick and bulbous at the base. They are very tasty, very rare and highly-prized. Cooking Tips Can…
Orris Root
Orris Root is a spice derived from the roots of the Iris plant. [1]Technically actually the “rhizome”, the bulbous part of the underground root system. Three different kinds of Iris plants (Iris germanica, Iris florentina, and Iris pallida) are harvested for this. In Italy, the roots of all three kinds sold collectively as “ghiaggiuolo.”It gives…
Ottobratica Olives
Ottobratica Olives are a cultivar of olives grown for their oil in Italy. They are harvested in October, just as the olives reach “invaiatura” (colour-change stage.) The harvest is done mechanically, using a machine to shake the trees. The olive turns out a golden yellow, has a mild, fruity taste and a good shelf life….
Pancetta
Rolled Pancetta (sliced) © Denzil Green Pancetta is Italian bacon that is made from pork belly, like American-style or British streaky bacon. How it differs from the British and American concept of bacon is in how it is processed. Whereas bacon is smoked, most Pancetta is cured with salt in a cool place. (That being…
Pane Rosetta
Pane Rosetta is a small Italian bread roll that has anywhere from 5 to 10 slashes in the top coming out from the centre, forming petals of dough. In the centre, there is a small round ring of dough, representing the centre of a rose. (It looks something like kaiser rolls but with more spokes…
Panettone
Panettone is a sweetened Italian yeast bread with dried fruit in it. It is a traditional bread in Italy for Christmas and Easter, often being given as a gift. The bread is made tall, round, and dome-shaped at the top. Besides the bread dough, it contains raisins, nuts, and candied fruits. Sometimes food writers say…
Panettone Moulds
Panettone moulds are baking moulds with very high sides in which the Italian Christmas bread called “panettone” is baked. They come in metal or paper.
Pasta
Pasta is dough that is kneaded into small shapes for cooking. The size and shape is based on the function. Typically, cream-based sauces on used on fresh pastas, and tomato and oil sauces on dried.
Pasta for Baking
Baked pasta dishes are Italian comfort food. Italians have been making baked pasta dishes for generations — though not for centuries. Home ovens for ordinary people are a relatively recent innovation in culinary history.
Pasta for Salads
Pasta chosen for salads usually has shapes that are easily managed by forks, as opposed to long, twiddly strands.It needs to be cooked quite al dente if the salad is to have mouth and texture appeal; there is little in life worse than a pasta salad with mooshy pasta in it. Related entries
Pasta for Sauce
Pasta for sauce is pasta that is designed to catch and hold the maximum amount of sauce. The design methods used can be shape, surface texture, or both. The pasta is almost always boiled first to soften it, tossed in the sauce. Occasionally a recipe may have you cook the dry pasta in the sauce,…
Pasta for Soup
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