Someone asked which country is the mother of western food? I think most people would say it's French food. Now I solemnly tell you that the mother of western food is Italian food! Italy is a country of delicious food. They have a long history in food. Just like their art, fashion and cars, they always like to elaborate. Italian food is elegant and noble, thick and simple, and pays attention to the original flavor. Italian food is very rich, with thousands of dishes. Besides the famous pizza and pasta, it is also famous for its seafood and desserts. Italian cuisine with a long history has had a far-reaching impact on the catering in Europe and America. Many factions including French cuisine and American cuisine have exhibited it, so it is known as the "mother of western food".
Italy is located in the Apennine Peninsula in southern Europe, with a population of more than 76 million, most of whom believe in Catholicism. Since its founding in 753 BC, the Roman Empire has developed advanced ancient Roman civilization on the basis of absorbing the essence of ancient Greek civilization, thus becoming the political, economic and cultural center of Europe at that time. Princes and nobles, led by Florence, have demonstrated their strength and power by developing cooking skills and having exquisite chefs, which is regarded as honor and glory. Therefore, at that time, ordinary people thought that as long as they could become masters of cooking, they would have the opportunity to join the aristocratic circle, and even the whole country was filled with the fun of research and development of cooking skills, which pushed the development of catering industry to the peak, thus establishing the sacred status of "mother of western food" and influencing most parts of Europe, and was known as "the ancestor of mainland cooking".
Italians have contributed a lot to western food culture. In A.D. 1533, when Italian Princess Catherine de Medici married Crown Prince Henry II of France, she brought 30 chefs to introduce new food and cooking methods to France. The French combined the culinary advantages of the two countries and gradually developed them, creating the most famous representative of western food today-"French cuisine". Secondly, the Italians invented the fork for eating, which set a new annotation for the culture on the dining table.
Italian cooking is famous for its exquisite dishes, which is different from French cooking and has its own style and characteristics:
Dishes pay attention to the original flavor and the use of heat.
Italian food pays the most attention to the essence and true colors of raw materials, and the finished products strive to maintain the original flavor. In the cooking process, I like garlic, onion, tomato sauce and cheese very much, and pay attention to making sauces. Cooking methods are mostly frying, frying, roasting, braising and braising. Usually, the main ingredients are wrapped or pickled, fried or baked, and then cooked together with the ingredients, so that the taste of the dishes is extremely excellent, and a layered multiple taste is formed. Italian food is very particular about heat. Many dishes require medium-rare cooking, while others require tender with blood, such as Roman fried chicken and Angus tender steak. Rice, noodles and macaroni all need a certain hardness.
Ingeniously use the natural flavor of ingredients to cook delicious food.
When cooking Italian food, olive oil, black olives, dry white cheese, spices, tomatoes and Masala wine are always indispensable. These six ingredients are the soul of Italian cuisine, and they also represent the rich and fully utilized edible raw materials in Italy, so Italian cuisine can be called "authentic tradition" and unparalleled. The most commonly used vegetables are tomatoes, cabbages, carrots, asparagus, lettuce, potatoes and so on. Rice is widely used as a side dish, including meat, oysters, squid, frogs, mushrooms and so on. Italians pay great attention to the production and processing of meat, such as dried beef, Parma ham, salami, bologna sausage and leg meat. These cold meat products are very suitable for appetizers and wines and are world-renowned.
Cooking with rice flour has many varieties and rich tastes.
Italians are good at making noodles and rice products, and they cook almost every meal, and they have various varieties and different flavors. The famous ones are spaghetti, pizza and so on. Spaghetti with different shapes and colors tends to let the sauce enter the noodle tube, while striped powder keeps the sauce on the surface of the noodle, and the color represents the addition of different nutrients to the noodle. In the process of making noodles, red noodles are mixed with red sweet pepper or sweet pepper root, yellow noodles are mixed with saffron or pumpkin, and green noodles are mixed with spinach. The black side has the most visual impact, and it uses cuttlefish ink. All colors come from natural ingredients, not pigments. The taste of noodles is dominated by three basic sauces, namely tomato-based sauce, fresh milk oil-based sauce and olive oil-based sauce. These sauces can also be used with seafood, beef and vegetables, or simply with spices to change different flavors.
Regional differences create local cuisine.
Due to the differences in climate and terroir between north and south, Italy has four major cuisines. Food in northern Italy: The main ingredients of pasta are flour and eggs, especially lasagna and lasagna. In addition, the north is rich in medium-long rice, which is suitable for cooking Italian multi-spindle rice and Milan-style Lisuo multi-spindle rice. I like cooking food with butter. China and Italian cuisine: Dosnica and Lazio are the representatives, and the featured products are Dosnica beef, artichokes and pacioli Yano cheese. Food in southern Italy: specialties include hazelnut, mozzarella cheese, bergamot oil, bonito and so on. The main ingredients of pasta are hard wheat flour, salt and water, including macaroni, spaghetti and wheel flour. They prefer cooking food with olive oil and are good at using herbs, spices and seafood. Island cuisine: Silesia, as the representative, is deeply influenced by Arabia, and its diet style is different from other parts of Italy. Seafood, vegetables and various pasta are still the main products, and the specialties are dried salted fish and blood oranges.
Italian food tastes very particular. Generally, the first course is to eat, such as soup or pasta, risotto rice, tortillas and pizza. The main course includes seafood plate and meat plate. In Italian food, seafood is cooked differently from meat. The traditional menu will retain the side dishes. Popular side dishes include fried mushrooms with coriander, tomatoes and cheese salad. The modern main course will be accompanied by more vegetables and starchy food to balance the nutrition, so there is no need to choose another dish. The famous main dishes are: stuffed cuttlefish, fried cowboy slices with herbs and roast beef tenderloin with mushroom and red wine sauce. Then salad, dessert or cheese. Italian desserts are dazzling, including cakes, ice cream and alcoholic fruits. The famous Italian cheesecake, Sicilian tricolor ice cream and tiramisu, etc. After dessert, the waiter will push the cheese cart. Cheese is a common food in Italy. There are about 400 kinds of cheese, which can be eaten with vegetables or red wine. Common Italian cheeses include BeiPaese, Fonfina and Provolone. After eating, you can drink a cup of espresso or foamed coffee to help digestion, preferably with some almond biscuits. Italian food is heavy. In order to avoid waste, you can choose one dish for each dish.
Italians generally like the fat, spicy, sweet and sour taste, pay attention to the thick, fragrant and rotten dishes, and generally pay attention to the collocation of dishes and wine, fish and white meat (calf, chicken, etc. ) with white wine, meat dishes with red wine or pink wine. Paste, porridge, etc. all depend on their own sauces to determine the wine. Fish and shellfish sauces are paired with white wine. If there is meat, use red wine or pink wine. Italians don't like minced meat and fat pork, and only use white bread for bread.
Introduce some Italian specialties
Italian cuisine, which originated in the Roman Empire, was the mother of western food for generations, and even French cuisine was sheltered by it to reach today's scale. Some experts say it is the most eastern western food (China's pasta was introduced to Italy in the 8th century).
To taste Italian food, first browse the orthodox Italian menu, which is usually divided into appetizer (appetizer), first course (soup, macaroni), second course (meat, seafood) and dessert. Sometimes the vegetable options are subdivided, but most appetizers or first courses will be accompanied with vegetables, so it is unnecessary.
The whole set meal is to choose the same appetizer, the first and second courses, and then choose a dessert. If your appetite is limited, you can choose one of the appetizers or the first course, or omit the dessert. But remember, Italy is known as the second hometown of travelers, and there is no need to tie your hands and feet when eating Italian food. A group of people are lively, generous, happy and have an atmosphere.
The problem is that Italy is like Mecca for food. Each place has its own characteristics and flavor, and local restaurants can only choose key dishes. But basically, they still have their own ownership. For example, Yi Bei is rich in agriculture and animal husbandry, because it is close to France, Aoshan Mountain is warm and fragrant, and it is famous for its troublesome baked goods.
Yinan cuisine is dominated by seafood and vegetables, and its color cooking has obvious Mediterranean style, heavy seasoning, simple technique and original flavor. Central Italy has the advantages of both, especially the vegetables and spices bred from volcanic soil, which have derived many rich historical delicacies.
Want to further explore the original flavor, the following are Italian specialties:
Sliced veal: Milan veal, boiled with celery, onion, bay leaf and other spices and white wine until soft, cooled, sliced and topped with mayonnaise sauce made of squid and fish sauce (both representative Italian varieties).
Fresh meat plate: named after a famous Venetian, it is traditionally eaten with raw beef slices, garlic olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and cheese. The alternative version uses sashimi.
Italian wonton soup: I like small wonton pasta. Inner swallow is mainly ground meat, cheese, ham, vegetables and so on. This way of eating is to cook it into broth.
Salad: lettuce, zucchini, sweet pepper, octopus, turtle, pine nuts, cauliflower, etc. It is very rich in Italy. To make a salad, just add extra-grade olive oil, wine vinegar, salt, pepper and lemon juice.
Authentic pasta: There are hundreds of kinds of pasta, and the most authentic one is the round and thin one. In the north, it mixed tomatoes and ground meat (authentic foie gras and bacon), while in the middle, it mixed cream and egg sauce, cheese and bacon, and then egg yolk. In ancient taste, it was made of pine nuts, basil, garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper.
Italian fried rice: eat noodles in southern Italy and rice in northern Italy. This loose round rice is cooked with seafood, mushrooms, mung beans, cheese and so on. Let it cool before eating.
Dough: It is very similar to [taro]. It is to mix cooked potatoes, pumpkins and rye with flour, and then shape them into small pieces. Eating is similar to pasta.
Milan calf shank: Milan specialty, cut into rings, stewed with white wine, tomatoes and spices for a long time. Bone marrow is its essence.
Ham and cheese steak: Ham, cheese and beef are all Italian specialties. The key is to eat it immediately after frying, without adding other sauces and adding olive oil at most to make the meat more smooth and tender.
Stewed tripe with red and white beans: Italians eat internal organs (except intestines) and stew tripe with special white beans and tomatoes, which is a famous dish in Central China.
Roasted quail with vegetables and roasted lamb chops with spices: the former is a seasonal dish cooked only in summer hunting, while the latter is the new favorite of local diners. It is characterized by being marinated with various spices for a long time, and then stewed and roasted, which is fresh, fragrant and smooth without sauce.
Bass in tomato sauce: Italians eat fish mainly by stewing, and then drenched with various sauces. Other seafood is simply fried, baked locally or boiled, all of which are original.
Tiramishu: Take lady finger and soak it in coffee juice and milk, and then beat it into a paste with coffee juice, cheese, chocolate and whipped cream. And stacked into seven layers in the form of a layer of biscuits and a layer of sauce, and eaten after refrigeration.