Tastes of Italia

One of the things I love about my work is the freelance writing I do for Tastes of Italia Magazine. For each issue of this nationally distributed magazine I write the lead section called tastes...

Tastes of Italia Magazine

For each issue my section includes all Italian influenced food products that are in season, plus wine or other liquors from Italy.

Here are the pages from the latest issue, after each page graphic I've included the text so it's easier to read, these pieces always focus on the history, origins, types, culinary uses, etc.


I started with olives... 

Olives

Here is the text - FAR EASIER TO READ:

Olives:

There was a time when the only olive options in a regular market were canned black olives, and green olives stuffed with pimientos. Times have changed and so have olive options on most market shelves. In honor of the olive, here’s a quick primer on this wonderful, ancient Mediterranean fruit.

Black and green olives are the same thing. Green are picked younger and black later. When an olive is fresh from the tree it is extremely bitter. To make olives edible the bitterness needs to be leached out using salt brine. There are several methods of curing olives.

1. Greek method: The Greeks don’t allow the quicker soda based solutions. The Greek method uses a salt brine that cold soaks the olives for around ten months until fully fermented. This process produces a much sweeter and more complex flavor then other methods.

2. Salt cured: With this method the olives are rubbed with course salt and left to air dry in a method similar to drying raisons. When done they are more wrinkled and packaged dry after the remaining salt is removed.

3. Spanish method: The Spanish generally prefer green olives, and they developed the lye (caustic soda) method that speeds up the process of curing before rinsing and finishing in salt brine. This method produces a crisper, nuttier flavored olive.

4. American method: Similar to the Spanish method, but with added soakings and the addition of iron to retain the dark colors. During the lye solution soaking, air is pumped through the soak to increase oxidation and give the olives a darker color.

There are also sun-dried and oil cured methods, but these are the basics. Now that you know how olives are cured, the following list covers the more common olives available in many markets. Oh, and in case you’re wondering: canned olives are picked green and cured in the lye solution and then pumped with oxygen resulting in oxidation that turns them black.

• Manzanilla:  Spanish green olive, available un-pitted and/or stuffed

• Picholine:  French green olive, salt-brine cured, with subtle, lightly salty flavor

• Kalamata:  Greek black olive, harvested fully ripe, deep purple, almond-shaped, brine-cured, rich and fruity flavor

• Niçoise:  French black olive, harvested ripe, these are small with a mellow, nutty flavor

• Liguria:  Italian black olive, salt-brine cured, with a vibrant flavor, sometimes packed with stems

• Ponentine:  Italian black olive, salt-brine cured then packed in vinegar, mild in flavor

• Gaeta:  Italian black olive, dry-salt cured, then rubbed with oil, wrinkled in appearance, mild flavor, often packed with rosemary and other herbs

• Lugano:  Italian black olive, usually very salty, sometimes packed with olive leaves

• Sevillano:  Californian, salt-brine cured and preserved with lactic acid, very crisp

So now that you know how olives are commonly cured, and have a list of olives to look for, it’s time to head to your local market, or better yet farmer’s market, with your new found olive knowledge!

Next is nectarines... I learned so much about this fruit. It's been around for EVER...

Olives and Nectarines

And here's the Nectarine text:

Nectarines:

It’s summer time, and with the heat of summer who doesn’t crave that first bite into a sweet, juicy nectarine? Nectarines are so easy to love. They are virtually identical to peaches save one major difference… NO FUZZ!

Many people erroneously believe the nectarine is the result of crossing a peach with a plum; this is not true. They are a genetic mutation of the peach. Often peaches can mutate on a nectarine tree and nectarines on a peach tree. Peaches have a dominant “fuzz” gene and nectarines a recessive gene.

The earliest known recorded history of this delectable fruit dates back to 1616 via trade journals from the east to west. They are thought to have originated in central and eastern Asia. They traveled from the Far East to Persia, Greece and Rome.

Nectarines are smaller than peaches and are usually spicier in flavor. They can be cling and cling-free, and can have yellow or white flesh. Nectarines were formally introduced to the American farmer in 1906, but there are several references of nectarine trees including the 1768 edition of the New York Gazette mentioning a farm in Long Island, New York. Today, California grows 95% of America’s nectarine harvest.

In culinary preparations, they are used interchangeably with peach recipes: Pies, ice creams, tarts, and jams; they are also wonderful in savory preparations – pork tenderloin with a clove scented nectarine glaze…YUM!

So next time you’re at the farmers market and eyeing those sweet tantalizing bushels of nectarines, forget all you ever heard about them being a cross between a peach and plum. Use your imagination as you visualize the ancient Romans enjoying them with all the other wonderful of summer fruit served at their banquets.

For the meat I did wine-cured salami, for the cheese - Caprino, and I did strawberries as the second fruit...

Salami, Caprino, Strawberries

 Here's the text for Salami, Caprino:

Wine Cured Salami:

Salami is a fermented and then air-cured meat. It is made most commonly with pork, but also with beef, venison, and poultry. Salami is made with minced raw meat; it is then mixed and seasoned with salt, spices (lots of white pepper), garlic, herbs, vinegar and or wine.

The raw mixture is allowed to ferment for about a day. It is then stuffed into edible or non-edible casings and hung to air-cure. 

This meat is very dependent on fermentation. Heating the meat up to about 104f can accelerate the process, but when the desired ph levels are reached higher temps around 140f are used to stop the fermentation.

Wine is a major flavoring component in Salami. You can find wine cured salami in many different wine flavors both white and red. It is a popular addition to cheese plates, and antipasto platters. The use of wine in the curing process makes salami very wine friendly. With the many options available, putting together a wine and cheese pairing with wine cured salami is a snap.

Caprino Cheese:

Caprino cheese is a traditional Italian Cheese made from whole or skim goat’s milk. Caprino is a derivative of the Italian word for goat – capra. There are two styles, fresco (fresh) and stagionato (seasoned). The Fresco version is soft and mild; it is aged for 2-3 days and usually packed in oil to retain its freshness. Stagionato is aged for around 20-40 days, giving it a saltier and tangy flavor. It is firmer then the fresco version and is generally sold in small square or marshmallow shaped pieces.

And for the final page I did sesame seeds and Dolcetto... 

Sesame Seeds and Dolcetto

Here's the Sesame Seed and Dolcetto Text:

Sesame Seeds

Unlike many of the lesser used herbs and spices generally found in a spice cabinet, sesame seeds seem to be a very popular and oft used item. But do you know where they come from? What they really are? Well, here are the answers to your questions:

Sesame seeds originated in Africa and India. The earliest known Assyrian myth about these seeds is dated back to 3000 BC when the gods drank sesame wine before creating the earth. African slaves carried sesame seeds with them to America and used them as a common ingredient in their cooking.

The seeds are found in the pods of a flowering plant. When the seeds are in the pods they rattle around and burst out when the pod is opened… this is where the phrase “open sesame” comes from. The seeds vary in color from white, to cream, to black. The white seeds are more commonly used in western and middle-eastern cuisines, and the black in far eastern.

Sesame seeds are rich in calcium and polyunsaturated oils. They are used in cuisines around the world. Who doesn’t recall an American BBQ with sesame-crusted hamburger buns? Or how about a sesame-crusted bagel? They are roasted, ground into paste, and pressed for the oil.

The Italians love to use sesame seeds in many different culinary creations. One of the most famed is the Italian Sesame Seed Cookie.  This is a simple cake like cookie that is rolled in sesame seeds before baking. It is a favorite dipping cookie with a nice shot of Italian espresso.

Dolcetto:

The Dolcetto grape hails from Piedmont, Italy. The name Dolcetto translates to “The little Sweet One”. The wine produced from this grape is dry, yet has decidedly more fruit than the Nebbiolo and Barbera grapes from this area. It also has significantly less acid and tannins. Unlike the other red wines of Piedmont, Dolcetto is drinkable young, usually two years after harvest. It has deep purple hues, and is bursting with black cherries, plums, and anise. The Piedmontese drink this wine far more than the Nebbiolo based wines of Northern Italy.

The origins of the grape are most likely French, but there are records of the grape in Italy as early as the 11th century. Alba is the town where most of the Dolcetto fruit is grown, but it is also found in other regions of Italy under different names. It’s no wonder there are over 2000 different grape names in Italy. Due to the lighter style of this wine, it pairs well with the tomato-based cuisines more common in central and southern Italy.

I love writing this column... I always learn new things - hope you can find the time to read it :-)