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Antipasto
Antipasto
literally means "before the meal, or before
the pasta" and it is a custom in Italian homes
never to keep people waiting for food. As soon as
guests arrive they should be served an antipasto,
an appetizer that they can nibble on even before
they are seated. There is usually another, more
substantial antipasto served al tavolo "at
the table" that precedes the first course of
dinner. Some antipasti are very elaborate and require
nearly as much effort to prepare as a main course,
but most are quite simple and can be put together
very quickly. What could be simpler, for example,
than preparing a platter together of olives, cheese,
roasted peppers, roasted artichokes slices, thinly
sliced pieces of prosciutto, accompanied with toasted
Italian bread? All these antipasti awaken the palate
and prepares it for the wide range of flavors of
the meal that follows.
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Pasta
One
of the great myths of pasta is that it was not known
in Italy until Marco Polo brought it back from his
travels to China in 1292. What the noted Venetian
explorer probably introduced to his native country
was not pasta, but a version of rice noodles that
was a favorite food of the Orient. The fact is,
throughout the  Italian
peninsula, pasta had been eaten for thousands of
years before Marco Polo's adventures. In an Etruscan
burial chamber near Rome that dates from 400 BC,
painted stucco pictures depict the necessary tools
used for making pasta. Numerous ancient frescoes
depict feasts at which pasta appears to be a main
dish.
Although new pasta shapes have been invented over
the centuries, the ingredients and process of making
pasta have not changed. Essentially, the best dried
pasta is made from durum wheat semolina, a yellow-white
flour.
After
the bran and germ of the kernel are removed, the
wheat is ground into semolina, mixed with water
and left to harden. Before factory methods were
invented, the pasta would be left in the sun to
dry; true pasta aficionados believe that the rays
of the Italian sun impart their own flavor.
The multitude of pasta shapes have been derived
not so much from sheer whimsy as from necessity.
Different shapes are better adapted to different
sauces. A true pasta connoisseur knows that each
shape, by itself, has a distinctive taste.
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Cheese
 Although
there are over 450 different recorded cheeses made
in Italy, most people are familiar with just a few,
whether it will be soft, moist Mozzarella, sharp,
oily Provolone or dry, flaky Parmesan. Italian cheeses
are very regional, and to appreciate them fully
one must understand the geography and the culture
of the country. Each region in Italy produces various
specific varieties, from the northern Alps to the
boot and islands, and when it comes to cheeses,
regional exclusivity is the norm. If you are visiting
a city in Tuscany or one in Sicily, you should expect
only those cheeses produced from that region to
be sold with only a few exceptions. Cheese production
in Italy began as a need to preserve milk and to
provide a source of protein for workers, travelers
and families throughout the winter months.
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Olive
Oils
Olive
oil has been an ingredient in the Italian diet since
at least 800 BC In ancient Rome and Greece, athletes
rubbed their bodies with it before a gladiator contest,
marathon, or other competition. The olive and its
oil were so important to the populace during the
Renaissance that when one city-state overtook another,
the punishment of the vanquished citizenry was not
imprisonment or death, but death to their olive
trees.
Everywhere
in Italy, olive oil from la nuova raccolta (the
new harvest) is much anticipated. At a family-owned
olive grove, the entire family works long hours
at harvesting the olive crop. Once harvested, the
olives are taken to the frantoio (olive mill) to
be
pressed. At the frantoio, family and workers await
that first rush of the green-gold oil to come from
the press. Over an open fireplace in the same room
as the olive press, bread is grilled, rubbed with
garlic, and then dipped in the olio turbo for that
magnificent first taste. During harvest time, locals
bring their freshly pressed olive oils, bread, garlic,
and a flask of new wine for la prova del pane (the
bread test)-a simple ceremony to compare and celebrate
the fruits of the olive harvest.
Olive oil is still relatively new in America, so
most Americans are novices when it comes to tasting
and judging olive oils.
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Vinegar
Balsamic
vinegar is a secret Italians kept to themselves
until the mid 1970s, when it was discovered and
imported in the U.S. This occurred at the same time
that the fashion for lighter, more flavorful food
dishes, called nuova cucina in Italian, began sweeping
the culinary world.
Creative chefs discovered in balsamic vinegar just
the right combination of pungency and sweetness
to new dishes with an exciting and unorthodox flavor.
In the last few decades, it has become a staple
of gourmet cooking in the US and all over the world.
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Espresso
Espresso
is Italy's version of coffee. The process for making
espresso is relatively fast and can be duplicated
at home with an espresso machine. The principle
behind this type of beverage is to take hot water
under high pressure and have it go through the coffee
grinds in a short period of time. The end result
is a cup of strong and bitter espresso.
The
history of espresso is not known for sure. There
is however various legends about its origins. The
most common of these legends has to do with goats
located in Ethiopia. Around the 13th century a shepherd
noticed that his goats were feasting on berries
from a shrub in the region. He also noticed that
after his goats ate these berries they became excited
and sleepless. The people of the land decided to
use these berries to help them stay  up
at night. These shrubs were found all along the
peninsula and were brought to Italy when traders
from Venice and Genoa visited the regions that contained
these magical berries. Today Italy consumes well
over 1 billion pounds of coffee a year and they
have turned these berries into one of the most popular
beverages in the world.
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Meats
Traditionally,
sheep, pigs and goats, along with rabbits and poultry
of all types, have been the principal sources of
meat in the Italian diet. Cattle thrive in some
areas of the peninsula, particularly in and around
the Po Valley. However, they are more often appreciated
for their milk, used in making superb cheeses, or
as draught animals.
Salami
(a word covering a wide range of salt-cured, air-dried
and smoked preparations) is the most common way
meat is included in an Italian meal. Most salami
is made from pork in two generic types. The first
covers minced meats known as insaccati  (encased
in protective coverings or sausages), such as salami,
cotechino, soppressata, luganiga, zampone and mortadella.
The second covers whole cuts, such as prosciutto
(ham), spalla (shoulder), capocollo (neck), pancetta
(belly, sometimes smoked as bacon), culatello (an
aged filet of rump) and speck (smoked flank). Sources
of salumi range beyond pork to beef (for bresaola),
goose, goat, boar, chamois, turkey and more. Veal
has always been more popular than beef in much of
Italy, not only because of its more delicate flavor
and greater tenderness but also because it was often
more readily available.
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Breads
Cereal
preference or dependence relatively neatly divided
the ancient Mediterranean world in half. In the
east, the Greeks cultivated and consumed barley,
while wheat was the principal grain of the Latin
West.
Italians
did not reject barley. They grew it and ate it in
various preparations as they still do, usually in
soups. But it was never a major or vital part of
their diet. Rye was grown to a certain extent in
the Alps but it, too, was and is still today a minor
food resource. Millet and oats never acquired much
of a following in Italy but buckwheat (grano saraceno)
is popular in northern Italy and particularly Lombardy's
Valtellina. Wheat in the form of bread was the mainstay
of the diet for centuries. However, it changed its
form in the 17th century after the arrival of corn
(maize) from the New World. Corn replaced wheat
and the result was polenta.
 Various
types of wheat evolved at an early date. Some are
specifically adapted to use in bread because of
their substantial content of gluten, which gives
dough elasticity. Hard wheat (durum) is more compact
and the dough retains its shape during cooking.
It is the ideal grain for the production of pastas.
Farro or spelt wheat is a rare survivor of ancient
agriculture. Cultivated primarily in Tuscany's Garfagnana
zone, it was only recently rediscovered. Today,
production barely keeps up with demand. Italians
have developed a wide range of breads over the centuries
and many ancient types are still produced in most
cases on a local or regional basis. Commercial bakers
account for most of the bread consumed in Italy
today as they have since professionals started turning
out loaves in ancient Rome in the 2nd century BC.
Baking is still practiced at home to a certain extent,
as at Genzano, a village near Rome. The selection
nationwide ranges from extremely large loaves, once
intended to keep a household supplied for a full
week, to small rolls. Most breads are leavened but
many are not, like the Sardinian carta da musica
(thin as sheets of music paper) or carasau.
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