By Anna Fiori

If you are an Italian and you plan on hosting a great get together, you obviously already know what you must not leave out in regards to serving the guests and that is the fine Italian cheeses. This is something that basically goes hand in hand with socializing, and without cheese on the table you can bet there will be some confused and upset guests. Cheese is a very popular item when it comes to not only nibbling, but with larger scale meals as well. Whether it is pre-sliced, or it was left as a whole and you break it off yourself cheese is a big-ticket item that few partygoers forget.

No Cheese Equals No Lasagna

If you are going to make a great Italian dish such as lasagna and you forgot the cheese, then you can basically wipe that dish right off the menu for the night. The fact is that you cannot make this recipe without cheese, and this defiantly broadens the actual importance of the cheese as a whole. There are hundreds of various Italian cheeses that you can choose from when it comes to picking something out for a recipe like this, finding the right cheese however, is key and will be noticed by the diner that tries the lasagna. Lasagna is not the only great Italian dish that defiantly needs a form of cheese to complete it; in fact there are several dishes that depend on the use of cheese to make them a success.

The Cheese Is Everywhere

The great thing about Italian cheese is that it is virtually everywhere. You will not have a difficult time finding a cheese that you can use for a recipe or for a cheese and cracker plate for snacks. Cheese is something that the Italians have been making for thousands of years, and they have actually become authorities on what a wonderful cheese is meant to taste like. Italian cheese is appreciated from the standard snack tray, all the way up to some of the most delicate Italian recipes that are considered world class. Some of these fine recipes are only found in the most prestigious of restaurants today, and the chef will grade the quality of the cheese long before it reaches the recipe. Many of the fine cheeses that are used for the great recipes, are actually made in house at the restaurant for the specific use by the chef for the recipe.

A Simple Choice

Along with fine Italian recipes that use great cheese, you will also find those occasions where someone would just prefer to use a great Italian cheese on a great sandwich. The cheese in combination with some divine Italian lunch meat of fantastic hard crust bread, will definitely tickle your taste buds. You will fine many cheeses that will actually bring the most out a strong Italian lunch meat, and actually change the taste of it. This is what is so wonderful about the cheeses of this delightful tiny country of Italy.

Anna Fiori writes food related articles for the Italian Traditional Food website at http://www.italiantraditionalfood.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anna_Fiori

By Ana Maria Da Costa

Italian salami is not often named as a typical Italian product, even if it is really present in Italians daily diet.

This simple cold cut is commonly used in Italy in an antipasto or, more commonly, inside a sandwich that a young Italian student eat at school pause.

Generally salami is made with 1/3 beef, 1/3 pork and 1/3 fat. This proportion varies depending on the kind of salami. For example, the felino one is usually made with precious meat and less fat, being considered a gourmet one.

Outside Italy, cold cuts are not always fresh and often are considered as something conserved, not appropriate for a daily diet.

This false impression is due to the fact that often these cold cuts are not consumed often in these countries, associated with fat and conserved food.

They are indeed conserved, and one should not base the own diet on cold cuts. But it is not a drastic choice, as they have high nutritional values.

Italian salami has a protein percentage range that goes from 24 to 30%, and contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and B1, B2 and PP vitamins.

Besides salami, there are a wide variety of Italian cold cuts that can be easily found in any Italian market, for daily use. The cold cuts counter has always a queue of people buying salami, prosciutto, mortadella, between other varieties.

Many times the word-of-mouth fails. The famous Italian raw prosciutto
Between the Italian raw hams, one of the most famous one is called Prosciutto di Parma. This product has the European Quality Brand PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), so as 7 other Italian raw hams. But often people just say "Parma" thinking they are saying "Italian raw ham".

Prosciutto di Parma is a wonderful product, so is the Tuscan one, but they are different. The Parma one is sweeter, and the Tuscan one is salted (it is salted because originally used by the shepherd s with the Tuscan bread, that has quite no salt).

Italian raw ham is a gourmet product and is used in all diets, including the children ones, as it is a healthy choice, being rich in proteins an easy to digest.

The "poorest" cold cut is mortadella. It is considered poor because who could not afford buying raw ham, bought mortadella. But it is not poor in taste, rather it pleases all. A fresh and crispy piece of bread with a tiny slices of mortadella is one of the taste major delights.

Mortadella is made only of pork. During the '600 a cardinal settled a prohibition of including beef into the mortadella recipe, prohibiting also the production of this specialty outside the city of Bologna, as it was difficult to control these productions. These rules have changed, as it is produced in many other cities now, but a good mortadella must always contain only pork.

In an average Italian family, cold cuts are used for children sandwiches at school - it is surely a better choice comparing to extra sweet snacks, as antipasto and as an alternative dinner.

Specially when one is hungry, the vision of a table set with cold cuts as Italian salami, prosciutto and mortadella together with a couple of baskets containing fresh bread, some good Italian cheeses and a bottle of Italian red wine is surely an excellent choice.

Ana Maria da Costa. Economist, living in Italy since 1983 and proceeding the studies in Food and Wine culture. The website http://www.all-about-italian-food.com gives useful information about Italian food

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ana_Maria_Da_Costa

By Harwood E Woodpecker

Italian sausage and salami is amazing. Every bite of fresh Italian salami is a flavour sensation, it takes a cheese sandwich to a new dimension; if made with Italian cheese it really blows the roof off!

Added to a tomato sauce and left to cook for a couple of hours either Italian salami or Italian sausage can add a real twist to a meal and transform a tomato sauce into something much more varied and deep.

Italy is famous for its varieties of sausages and salamis many of which are famously produced in the Lombardy region of Italy.

Around Pavia, south of the River Po, are a number of villages where sausages are still smoked in the traditional way.This is the area where salame di Varzi is made. Only the finest pork is used to make this Italian sausage, and only wine, pepper, salt, and saltpeter are added. The sausage is matured for three to four months. This comparatively long maturation brings out the flavour. A whole salame di Varzi as sold is a medium sized, coarse-grained sausage weighing about 2 pounds (1 kilogram).

Salame di Milano is a very fine textured Italian salami made from pork, pork fat, beef, and spices is matured for about 3 months and weighs up to about 3 pounds (1.5 kilograms). It has an essential place in any antipasto misto starter of mixed Italian sausage, and is popular well beyond its place of origin. It is probably one of Italy's best-known food products along with Parma ham. The imitations available elsewhere do not necessarily do justice to the original. Salame di Milano is a king of Italian sausage.

Sausages called salsiccia luganega are usually of fresh meat, and cooked or heated in water before serving. The meat is a finely ground mixture of fat and lean pork, flavoured with pepper and spices. Luganega is an example of this type. The meat is filled into long casings, divided into sections and sold by length rather than weight. Luganega is often served with polenta in northern Italy. It can be fried, broiled or braised as well as boiled. A delicious Italian sausage to cut up into bite size pieces to make meat balls and added to a basic tomato sauce.

Cacciatorino is a small well hung variety of Italian salami consisting of two thirds lean pork, tender veal, and various types of fat. It was originally devised as a convenient type of Italian sausage for those working out in the forests to take with them as supplies. That may be the source of the name, cacciatorino which translates as small hunter.

Salametto is a small, well-hung sausage, similar to cacciatorino. It is ideal as a lunch time Italian salami or to be taken on picnics as it is easily carried. This is a beautifully delicate Italian sausage which is perfect to be eaten on its own.

Italian sausage and salami do taste that much different to those of other countries and do lend themselves to being added to Italian meals, such as pizzas and pastas. If cooking an Italian meal and trying to make it as authentic as possible be sure to add Italian salami or Italian sausage.

I try to pass on my musings on life and experiences in a way that people may find interesting to read.

Italian Salami

Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our site

You may not always agree with my writings but I hope to inform.

Harwood E Woodpecker

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harwood_E_Woodpecker

By Harwood E Woodpecker

Italy is famous for many thing's, pasta, architecture, coffee, pizza and pasta just to name a few. But could you imagine a world without Italian cheese, No Parmesan on your pasta or mozzarella on your pizza.

One thing about Italian food is the regional variances. Pizza and pasta types vary from region to region as do such things as breads. Within these regional variances certain areas of Italy do things better than others, whether it be because of the terrain or the climate different products are associated with different areas, such as Parma ham from Parma, pizza from Napoli, meat dishes from Turin and fish dishes from Sardinia.

Lombardi, the region which includes Milan is renowned throughout Italy for its cheese and sausage. These Italian cheeses are deliciously tasty and make a great accompaniment to any meal.

Small and medium-sized producers of specialist Italian cheeses in the Alpine regions face a difficult struggle to maintain their existence in competition with the varied palette of factory-made dairy products. Unfortunately, European Union regulations often only serve to hasten their demise, by making often contradictory demands, imposing quotas and limits, or fining them for not fulfilling certain norms, despite the fact that theirs are high quality, often imaginative, products. Italian cheese making is going through a difficult time.

Stracchino is one of these threatened products. It is a rectangular Italian cheese made from whole milk. It is a rich cheese, pearly white in colour, with a soft, creamy texture and remarkable, delicate flavour.

Stracchino is sometimes known outside of Lombardi as Crescenza. The name Stracchino cheese comes from the way the milk to make it was originally obtained: it was the milk of vacche stracche, cows exhausted by the journey back down the mountain from the summer meadows. Stracco is local dialect for exhausted - and stracchino is little exhausted one.

Taleggio is a square Italian cheese weighing about four pounds (2 kilograms), it is a typical Lombard country soft Italian cheese. The rind is brownish and tends to form a mold. Directly beneath this rind, the cheese is soft and soft textured, but in the centre, it is whitish and crumbly. The first mention of Taleggio Italian cheese dates from around 1200, and the method of production has changed little since then, apart from the use of selected enzymes to ensure the quality of the end product. The cheese is still only made from cow's milk. The curd takes 18 hours to form, and the cheese must mature for at least one month before being ready to eat. Taleggio is mild with a slight sourness, becoming quite piquant as it ages. It should not he kept for long periods because it spoils easily. A slice of Taleggio rounds off a meal. It also goes well with hot polenta, and tastes delicious eaten with ripe pears. Taleggio is a favourite Italian cheese.

Gorgonzola is a very old Italian cheese specialty, and originates from the town of Gorgonzola in Lombardy. First written records of it are from the 11th and 12th centuries. A blue-veined Italian cheese, it is produced today across a wide area of Piedmont and Lombardy, and is popular both in Italy and abroad. Almost every supermarket in the western world will stock and sell Gorgonzola.

The region produces around three million Gorgonzola cheeses per year, which are exported to the rest of Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, the USA, UK and Canada packed as portions in colourfully printed foil wrappers, which must bear the brand figure of the consortium to be genuine. It has a strong, piquant flavour - with a hint of bitterness, and is a true all-round Italian cheese. Gorgonzola makes a good partner to eat with polenta, tastes good - with egg and with nuts, and can be used for creams and sauces. It is delicious with a robust red wine. It also makes a great sauce to go with steak. Gorgonzola is an extremely versatile Italian cheese hence its popularity.

Provolone Valpadana is a hard Italian cheese with its characteristic shape - round, pear-shaped, or sometimes cylindrical - originally comes from Basilicata in the south, but is also made in northern Italy today, especially in Lombardy. Because of its shape it is also known as pear cheese. Provolone is sold in various sizes, and is made by a similar pasta filata process to mozzarella.The curd is scalded - it is heated until it begins to melt and become stringy (filata), and then wrapped around itself until it assumes its round shape. It is dipped in brine and hung up on a cord to ripen, which takes about a year. The rind is coated in wax to protect it from drying out. Provolone comes in various flavor categories from provolone dolce, which is mild and buttery, to piquant (provolone piccante). The mild version makes a good end to a meal, and the piquant one is often used grated. A smoked version is available in Lombardy. Provolone is a wonderful Italian cheese to accompany a sandwich, its delicate flavor adds to a sandwich without over powering it.

Probably the most universally famous Italian cheese is Parmesan, avariation on this is Grana Padano which is often compared to Parmigiano Reggiano, despite the differences between them in the method of production and region of origin. Parmigiano reggiano comes exclusively from Emilia-Romagna, and grana padano from the Veneto,Trentino, Piedmont, or Lombardy. Parmigiano Reggiano may by law only be made from the milk of cows that have been fed on grass or hay, whereas other types of fodder are permissible for grana padano.

This does not mean that it is in anyway inferior. Its manufacture is supervised by a consortium, and only cheeses bearing the official brand mark grana padano are the genuine article. The milk from which it is made comes from two consecutive milkings, and is allowed to stand and partially skimmed to produce an Italian cheese with just 30 percent fat in dry matter. The milk is then heated and micro-organisms added. The cheeses are matured for 1-2 years. Grana padano has a granular texture, and can become dry and crumbly. It forms a thick, smooth rind. The cheese has a harmonious flavour, not too salty and not too mild, with a slight piquancy and a nutty quality. It can be eaten as an appetizer, or used for grating over pasta dishes or green salads.

So next time you want to eat the real Italian way use real Italian cheese, it will make a difference.

If you've never tried fresh Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano give it a go, its one Italian cheese that pasta cannot do without.

I try to pass on my musings on life and experiences in a way that people may find interesting to read.

Gorgonzolla Cheese

You may not always agree with my writings but I hope to inform. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harwood_E_Woodpecker

By Anna Fiori

There are several different foods from the Italian culture that are worth noting, but it is the Italian sausage that seems to come to mind so many times. This meat is absolutely delightful, and it is a meat that has a place in many great dishes not only back in the mother land but in North America too. This meat is available just about anywhere today, and there are various forms of the sausage that you can purchase in most grocery stores let alone the butcher shops. Finding the type of sausage that pleases you is really not difficult, you are just going to have to try as many as you can.

Excellent For Sauces

When it comes to Italian pasta sauce, you are obviously going to find some meat that will be added. One such meat that graces a wonderful sauce is the Italian sausage. This meat can be spicy and it is very easy to cut, making it a great meat to work with and an excellent choice. With mild, medium, and hot on the menu you are not going to struggle to find a decent meat for your sauce. These sausages can be cut into small disks or even chunks that are great to stew within a pasta or tomato sauce for hours at a time. Usually the meat is not cooked prior, as it is going to stew for a great number of hours within the broth. This will not only instill the sauce within the meat, it will bring out the great flavors of the meat into the sauce.

Finding The Right Sausage

It is not difficult today to find good Italian sausage, and depending on how much you are looking for and what variety you should have no troubles at all locating it. Most grocery and specialty stores carry this sausage today, and if you are fortunate enough to have an Italian butcher shop near your home you can find it there. This is not to say that you cannot find it elsewhere, it is simply to imply that there are great chances of finding this sausage at the fore mentioned locations first. Most deli's whether they are Italian or not, will usually carry this sausage as it very popular. Many sub shops and sandwich shops will carry it now as well, as they usually have a hot Italian sub on the menu.

Other Uses

Italian sausage is not solely reserved for Italian food today, as you will find many restaurants and sandwich shops all having this meat on their roster of fine foods. The sausage is relatively cheap, and you can bet that there are more than a few people that eat in these locations that consider it a favorite. This meat is easy to prepare, and you have almost endless options when it comes to its uses. Soups and stews are always popular with this meat in them, as too are great casseroles and bakes foods.

Anna Fiori writes food related articles for the Italian Traditional Food website at http://www.italiantraditionalfood.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anna_Fiori

Final SUBMARINA video, third of three.

See the Friar surf!

Cowabunga Dude!

 

By Sei DeMarks

My father was born in Escatawpa, Ms. He was a driver and general hand for an old Italian gent in Biloxi, Ms. As a result, he could whip up a mean spaghetti sauce, chicken fricassee, or a big pot of spicy red beans. But his favorite food was any part of the pig, preferably ground up, spiced up and shoved into a casing.

He loved sausage, any kind. You would have thought he was a drug dealer. A phone call would come to the house. A low-voiced conversation would be held and he'd be out the door to meet his supplier(s). He'd buy sausage from the back of a raggedy ford pick-up truck, the trunk of a car, or down a dark alley. Needless to say, none of this pork product was government inspected or had a USDA stamp of approval to indicate that it was safe to eat. But he would bring it home wrapped in whatever packaging the seller had available, croaker sack, greasy brown paper bag, whatever.

My mother wanted no part of this enterprise since she was convinced that we were all gonna get sick and die from ptomaine poisoning, so he would use us children to sneak the sausage into the house and hide it in the back of the refrigerator. I don't think we ever fooled her. She never cooked the sausage or ate it. My father cooked it for us children and himself. He'd fix it for breakfast with hominy grits and eggs or it would go in a pot of red beans and rice or sausage gumbo.

Since my father was such a sausage connoisseur, stands to reason his favorite sandwich would somehow be sausage related. It was - a fried bologna sandwich.

My brother and sister and I would sit at the kitchen counter while he'd explain the finer points of preparing a fried bologna sandwich. Below is my father's instructions. I don't think you can rightly call it a recipe.

Austin's Fried Bologna Sandwich

1. Coat the bottom of a cast iron skillet with whatever oil you have available and heat the skillet over medium heat.

2. Place in the skillet a good quality, thick-sliced piece of bologna from which you have removed the rind. Cook the bologna until the edges are crispy and slightly charred. Turn the bologna over and cook the other side. Bologna will puff up in the middle, You can make slits into the edges if you wish it to lie flat. Purists just let it puff up.

3. For a breakfast sandwich, place the fried bologna between two slices of white bread along with a fried egg, and some apple jelly. For a lunch sandwich, it's white bread, bologna, mayonnaise and lettuce and tomato.

I taught my children how to make these sandwiches. When they were young this was a Saturday morning treat. I still make them myself, but, in homage to healthy living, I use grilled, reduced fat turkey bologna and 9 grain bread. Even so, they still make me think of my father, the King of Sausage.

Sei deMarks is smooth jazz singer who lives in Atlanta, GA. Along with her husband Cliff deMarks, she performs as The Showtyme Jazz Duo. She loves history, cooking, cookbooks, music, music history, murder mysteries, police procedurals. Her voice has been likened to that of Sade, Randy Crawford, a young Carmen McRae. Visit the duo's website http://www.smoothjazzduo.com, listen and buy some mellow jazz.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sei_DeMarks

Second of three SUBMARINA videos.

See the Padres Friar hit the beach.  Surf's up Dude!

 

By Margaret W

This sandwich recipe was inspired by a trip to New Orleans. I had heard about the famous muffuletta sandwich, and was excited to try it. I was not disappointed.

The main ingredients are salami, mortadella, Italian ham, provolone, olive salad dressing and of course, the muffuletta bread. The olive dressing is the core of this sandwich. It is Italian in nature and consists of olives, olive oil, cauliflower, carrots, celery, sweet peppers, capers and spices.

I went to my local supermarket when I returned home, and was happy to find the dressing. I found it in the aisle by the pickles and olives. When I ran out of the ingredients in my home for muffulettas, I decided to experiment with the dressing. My first attempt ended up as my best. This is the recipe I came up with:

What you need:

1/2 c cooked chicken breast, shredded
raw baby spinach
2 T light mayonnaise
4 very thin slices of ham, or shaved ham
2 slices multi-grain or whole wheat bread
2 T Italian Olive Salad dressing

What you do:

Spread 1 T mayonnaise on each slice of bread. Layer baby spinach on one slice. Place chicken on top of spinach. Place 3 slices of ham onto chicken. Spread olive salad dressing over ham. Cover with remaining slice of ham, then remaining slice of bread. May alter mayo and/or olive salad amounts per taste.

My family as well as myself, are infatuated with this easy to make sandwich recipe. I hope you are as well.

If you enjoyed this article and recipe, please visit Easy Breezy Recipes at http://www.easybreezyrecipes.com for cooking videos, articles and quick and easy to make recipes.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Margaret_W

YouTube is an amazing thing.  While surfing youtube I came upon three videos SUBMARINA did in partnership with the San Diego Padres in 2006.

The first one is shown below - I will post the other two next week.

The Friar is the Padres mascot, didn't know that did you?

Enjoy!