Italian pantry
Despite all the talking of the complex flavors in Italian cuisine and the comparison with French food, Italian dishes can be counted among the world's simplest to prepare. Italian cooking has been compared to the Japanese one because both rely on some trusted flavor profiles and quick, simple cooking methods, most of the times.
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Swiss fondue
A fondue is a dish made with melted cheese with various seasonings, usually with the addition of dry white wine or kirsch. The fondue is served hot and eaten by dipping pieces of bread in the cheese sauce. Its origins date back to the 15th century. What probably was a way to use hardened cheese and stale bread in Swiss peasant homes in those times has become a special treat in ours.
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Cook Italian gourmet on a budget
Cook Italian gourmet on a budget by keeping a few simple tips in mind. Just take the time to cook, get to know the culture, and learn which ingredients you can skip and which ones are indispensable.
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Champagne and sparkling wines tasting notes
Champagne and sparkling wines tasting December 2010.
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Great Italian gnocchi
Think of Italian food and pasta almost always comes to mind first. But there is another staple that has been part of the Italian diet for centuries: gnocchi. Their name in the native tongue - lump - describes their shape, but not their taste. Made from potatoes one might think that taste would be bland and boring, filling, but flat. Oh, how wrong that thought would be...
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The wine region of Jerez
Wine is produced in many areas of Spain. The hot sun and Mediterranean breezes make for some stellar Palomino grapes. But the capital of one type - sherry - has to be assigned to Jerez de la Frontera, a city in the Cadiz section of Andalucia. The very name means 'sherry', a derivative of the Arabic word for this sweet nectar.
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Wine in Spain, the south
Is Andalucia, the south of Spain, were wine making started in Spain, and probably in western Europe, about 500 BC. These robust, strong very sweet wines evolved into the three main varieties, sherry, Montilla and Malaga wines, that are still made in the region. The scorching Andalucian heat makes most grapes to over-ripen, but not in the cooler areas at higher altitudes. Some states are growing grapes and producing some impressive non fortified wines, both reds and whites, in the Andalucian heights.
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Wine in Spain
Wine in Spain is ancient history, as Spain is the second oldest wine producing country in Western Europe. It also has the largest vine area of any country in the world, but many of them are in very dry and low producing areas so the Spanish wine output comes only in third place.