Posted on
January 14, 2010 by
Stile Mediterraneo
Our guests attending our cooking classes in Puglia are always surprised at the fact that in the Pugliese cuisine we use garlic in a very delicate way.
Our guests’ usual comment after the first bite is: “mmmh…but I don’t taste garlic in my food!“. And we use to reply that if it did taste like garlic, than it would not be authentic Italian food (at least not from Puglia!).
I and Marika are big fans of garlic! We like it because of its flavor and most of all, its health benefits. During our cooking classes Marika loves explaining how good and healthy garlic is for cholestorol, blood pressure, digestion etc.
We use it in many successful recipes. However, it is true that we use it in a very delicate way, without letting garlic cover our food.
Most of the times we sweat a whole garlic clove in olive oil and then we remove it after a few minutes before adding the other ingredients.
Very rarely we use garlic, if we are already using onion in a recipe.
Lastly, if we need to use garlic (as in our famous veal meatballs), we prefer to chop it with a knife instead of crushing it.
And you, do you like the garlic taste? How much garlic do you use?
What was your favorite food with garlic you had in Italy?
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Cooking tip, Mediterranean Healthy food, cuisine, traditions
Posted on
January 01, 2010 by
Stile Mediterraneo
There is one dish that cannot miss on Italian tables at midnight on
December 31st.
This is the Lentil soup! Because they resembled coins, in the past they were thought to bring financial prosperity in the year to come. Nowadays, we associate them to general good luck, in any field. I and Marika had lentils for three days in a raw….just to be sure!
Usually lentils are prepared with cotechino (pork).
Instead, I and Marika prepared a much healthier recipe with lentils, orzo and extra virgin olive oil.
Really easy and really delicious!
INGREDIENTS
1 lb lentils (the very small)
1 lb orzo
2 carrots
parsley
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
chilly pepper
RECIPE
Soak the lentils overnight and then rinse them. Put in a pan with the orzo and cover with water. Add the sliced carrots and cook at low flame for 1 hour and half while stirring and adding water if necessary. Add sea salt and chilly pepper.
When ready switch them off and add parsley and extra virgin olive oil.
What are your New Year’s culinary traditions?
WE WISH A WONDERFUL 2010 AND NEW DECADE TO ALL OUR READERS!
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Favorites, Italy Cooking classes, Mediterranean Healthy food, Pasta & Rice, Puglia Extra virgin olive oil, Recipes, Vegetables & Legumes, cuisine
Posted on
December 26, 2009 by
Stile Mediterraneo
I and Marika don’t eat lots of sweets (apart from tons of the famous hazelnut ice cream from Lecce we already wrote about!).
However, we love the traditional Christmas sweets, just because they are really specific to this festivity and so we make them in Puglia only once per year. And this has been the same since always.
Our favorite Christmas sweet is a fish made of almond. In many families and countries it is a tradition to eat fish at Christmas time. In Puglia we also have fish as a dessert!
This sweet is very simple to prepare. We make the dough with sugar, almond and chocolate. Then we stuff the fish with Marika’s pear jam, biscuits and liquor. We decorate the fish eye with a coffee bean.
However, as for many other almond sweets we prepare during our cooking classes in Puglia, the almonds we use are what make the difference.
The fish we made for our family’s Christmas lunch weighed 1 kg. We understood that everybody liked it since there was none left.
And you, what are your favorite Christmas culinary traditions?
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Category
Cakes & Desserts, Favorites, cuisine, traditions
Posted on
December 19, 2009 by
Stile Mediterraneo
One of the most typical fish from the Mediterranean sea is the Dorade.
If you come to Puglia, this is something you should not miss. Our favorite place where to eat is in Otranto, just by the Adriatic sea.
A dorade can be prepared in so many different ways.
I and Marika love the dorade baked in sea salt crust: this recipe allows us to appreciate the freshness of this fish and its particular taste.
We don’t add any flavor, herbs, lemon or olive oil.
The only ingredients we use are: dorade and coarse sea salt.
As always the most important thing is the quality of the ingredients we are using.
It is extremely important that the dorade is freshly caught and most of all that it is coming from the sea (and not farmed).
INGREDIENTS
2 servings
1 lb 3 oz dorade
coarse rock salt (as necessary)
PREPARATION
Preheat the oven at 200 °C.
Clean the fish.
Place a layer of sea salt on the bottom of a large baking pan.
Lay the fish on top of the salt and cover it with sea salt.
Cook for about 25 minutes.
Tags: cooking schools PugliaItalian cuisineItalian recipesmediterranean cuisinePuglia cooking classesPuglia cuisinePuglia recipes
Category
Cooking tip, Favorites, Fish & Meat, Mediterranean Healthy food, cuisine
Posted on
December 05, 2009 by
Stile Mediterraneo
It’s unbelievable! We are in December and we are still enjoying a fantastic mild weather in Puglia. Even at the market we can still find summer vegetables, which are not imported but produced by the local farmers.
Today I and Marika decided to take advantage of this fantastic weather and prepared one of our favorite summer dishes: the sweet and sour peppers (peperoni in agrodolce).
This recipe testifies the Arabic influence in the Pugliese cuisine.
INGREDIENTS:
4 servings
4 bell peppers (a combination of red, yellow and green) seeded and cut into strips
1 tbsp (15 ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp (15 ml) sugar
1 tbsp (15 ml) wine vinegar
1 tbsp (15 ml) capers
1 tbsp (15 ml) black olives, pitted
1 tbsp (15 ml) bread crumbs
parsley
salt, to taste
PREPARATION:
Place the olive oil and sugar in a pan over medium-low heat and cook gently for one or two minutes.
Add the pepper strips, cover the pan and simmer until the peppers are softened, but still firm, about 20 minutes.
Add vinegar, capers, olives and keep cooking another 10 minutes over low heat. Remove from heat and add bread crumbs and parsley.
Allow to cool before serving.
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Tags: cooking schools Pugliafood markets ItalyItaly Cooking classesmediterranean cuisinePuglia cooking classesPuglia cuisinevegetables
Category
Recipes, Vegetables & Legumes, cuisine
Posted on
November 28, 2009 by
Stile Mediterraneo
The cardoncello mushroom is something you should not miss in Puglia if you love mushrooms! The cardoncello is a typical mushroom from Southern Italy. However, it is in the Puglia and Basilicata area that you find the best!
The most important thing about this mushroom is that it has such an elegant taste, that it does not cover but enhances the other ingredients it is cooked with.
We also like the fact the cardoncello mushroom does not change its texture once cooked.
I and Marika prepare the cardoncello in many different ways: raw, grilled, breaded (fantastic!), with pasta or baked with fish (delicious!) and meat.
Today I and Marika tried a very simple recipe: baked cardoncello mushrooms with potatotes.
INGREDIENTS:
4 servings
4 potatoes
10 ½ oz (300 grams) cardoncelli mushrooms
Chopped parsley
3 ½ oz (100 grams) grated Parmigiano cheese
4 cherry tomatoes, in small cubes
1 ¾ oz (50 grams) breadcrumbs
black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
pinch of sea salt
PREPARATION:
Peel and slice the potatoes. Cut the mushrooms in small pieces.
In a little bowl add half of the parsley, the tomatoes, half of the Parmigiano cheese, 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, black pepper, sea salt and some water. Stir everything together.
In a baking pan pour a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and place a first layer of potatoes. Add on top the mushrooms. Then add the parsley with the tomatoes and parmigiano cheese.
Cover everything with another layer of potatoes.
Sprinkle on top with the remaining parsley, parmigiano, breadcrumbs, a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and black pepper.
Place the potatoes and mushrooms in the preheated oven and bake at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 30 minutes.
For more information about our
Mediterranean cooking classes in Puglia Italy please contact us at
info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to the
Cooking School newsletter
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Category
Italy Cooking classes, Mediterranean Healthy food, Vegetables & Legumes, cuisine
Posted on
November 22, 2009 by
Stile Mediterraneo
Puglia is certainly a region of extra virgin olive oil, which replaces butter almost everywhere: we put it on top of bread and salads; we use it for cooking and baking.
One of the most common questions our guests ask us during our cooking classes and olive oil tastings is whether it is better to fry in extra virgin olive oil vs other oils.
I and Marika think that one of the major takeways from our cooking classes is that our dishes can be delicious and very tasty even if we don’t deep fry ingredients, as the most traditional local cuisine would require.
I and Marika were lucky enough to be brought up by our GrandMother who taught us almost everything about the traditional home made recipes of Puglia. However, the traditional cuisine sometimes requires ingredients to be deep fried.
I and Marika have moved on and re-intepreted those traditional recipes in a healthier way. Because Marika is a Cardiologist and I am an extra virgin olive oil taster, we have a more Mediterranean approach. We love to smell and taste the flavors of raw extra virgin olive oil. We don’t want to destroy its healthy benefits and flavors by frying it.
Also, we don’t want to destroy the benefits of the ingredients we use by frying them.
Therefore our guests are always impressed when we can make very tasty stuffed eggplants, eggplant parmigiana or zucchini parmigiana, meatballs etc, without frying them!
Tags: cooking schools Pugliahealthy cookingmediterranean cuisinePuglia cooking classesPuglia cuisinestile mediterraneo
Category
Mediterranean Healthy food, Puglia Extra virgin olive oil, cuisine
Posted on
November 01, 2009 by
Stile Mediterraneo
What a fun day today! I and Marika made orecchiette fresh pasta with our Nonna and Mamma! Orecchiette pasta is the typical pasta course we have on a Sunday lunch. Usually our Grandmother prepares orecchiette. Because today was a special holiday (we celebrate the All Saints day) and all our family was getting together, I, Marika and our Mom went to help our Nonna.
We started making the orecchiette at 9am so that the pasta had enough time to dry before lunch (usually our Nonna starts making pasta at 7am!!…but it would have been a bit too early for us).
In Italian, “orecchietta” means little ear.
There is no other way to make the authentic orecchiette pasta, than by using a blunt-ended knife, a wooden board and….. your thumb! No machine please!! and no other sort of kitchen tools to make the typical “hat” shape.
The shape of the orecchiette pasta is completely different depending on if you are in the North (Bari area) or in the South (Lecce area) of Puglia.
In the Lecce area, we eat the orecchiette with the tomato sauce (made with basil) and the cacioricotta cheese (either goat or sheep). Therefore the orecchiette look like hats, because we want to collect as much tomato sauce as we can! And people who took our cooking classes know how good our tomato sauce can be!!
In the Bari area, orecchiette are eaten with Rape (which look like Broccoli, but are a bit more bitter) and anchovies. Therefore, orecchiette are flatter.
The size of the orecchiette pasta is completely different from town to town, even 3 km apart!
Of course, the traditional hand made orecchiette are made with durum wheat mixed with some rye flour. The dough is a little bit harder to work, but the resulting pasta has so much more flavor and a fantastic texture!!
The fact that eating durum wheat pasta is so healthy (Marika, as a Cardiologist, confirms!), ….did not make us feel guilty when we served big portions of orecchiette today at lunch.
BUON APPETITO!
For more information about Stile Mediterraneo cooking classes and wine tours in Puglia Italy please write at info.stile@gmail.com
Tags: cacioricotta cheesehandmade pastaItalian cuisineItalian pastaItaly Cooking classesorecchiettePuglia cooking classesPuglia cuisinetomato sauce
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Cooking tip, Favorites, Hand-made pasta, Italy Cooking classes, Mediterranean Healthy food, Pasta & Rice, Puglia, Vegetables & Legumes, cuisine
Posted on
August 14, 2009 by
Stile Mediterraneo
This is the perfect recipe for figs lovers!
Puglia is a big figs producer. Everywhere in the countryside you can see fig trees full of their delicious fruit!
Of course the best figs are those that you can eat just under the tree.
However, when you have picked and eaten too many figs, it’s also a good idea to start thinking about the winter season when you cannot find them fresh anymore.
You can prepare some delicious dry figs with toasted almonds and bay leaves.
This is the recipe:
INGREDIENTS
fresh figs
almonds
bay leaves
lemon zest
PREPARATION
Cut the figs in half, without breaking them and let them dry in the sun on a wooden board for about 10 days. Turn them upside down very often.
When they are competely dry, place an almond in the middle and sprinkle some grated lemon zest. Close them up and bake in the oven at very low temperature just to dry them up completely.
Place them in a jar with bay leaves.
For more information about Puglia cuisine, our cooking classes and wine tours in Puglia Italy please write at info.stile@gmail.com
Tags: Cooking tipdry figsfigsItalian cuisineItalyPuglia cookingPuglia cooking classesPuglia cuisine
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Cakes & Desserts, Cooking tip, Favorites, Recipes, cuisine, traditions
Posted on
March 29, 2009 by
Stile Mediterraneo
What to cook and what NOT to cook!
The extra virgin olive oil is the key of the
Mediterranean cuisine. The extra virgin olive oil (which by definition means it is fruity….otherwise it can’t be “extra” virgin!) adds its fruity taste to your dish, without covering the original taste of the ingredients.: eggplants will still taste like eggplants; fava beans will still taste like fava beans etc.
However, in order to keep the fruity taste of the extra virgin olive oil, it is very important that you add it raw at the end of the dish preparation.
Of course there are a few methods to reduce the amount of dressing while you are cooking (for example, to soften the onion etc), but we will cover then in the next posts.
Please, also consider that recent medical research found out that the extra virgin olive oil, when used raw, has important benefits for your cardiovascular system as well as for cancer prevention.
For more information, please contact us at: info@stilemediterraneo.it
Tags: Italy cookingmediterranean cuisineMediterranean Healthy foodPuglia cooking classesPuglia Extra virgin olive oil
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Cooking tip, Mediterranean Healthy food, Puglia Extra virgin olive oil
