OUR CUISINE

OUR CUISINE"Life is a combination of magic and pasta" /Federico Fellini/ WE ITALIAN FOOD!!!

Italian food is one of the most popular on earth and Italian cuisine is widely adopted all over the world.For Italian food is not merely a means of survival. It belongs to Italian history and culture. In Italy, cooking and sharing food is a way of life. Italian cuisine is always based on fresh, seasonal products, which is the main reason why it is hard to talk about Italian food as a single entity. In fact, Italian food varies widely from region to region and even from village to village and according to the time of the year. Many ingredients are used across the country with some more in certain regions than others. Northern Italian food relies on butter, meat, potatoes, pork, Parmesan, while southern cooking is focused more on olive oil, tomatoes, different types of cheese, vegetables, capers and freshfish. While travelling from the north to south of Italy you could experience as many different dishes as you travelled around the whole continent.

ITALIAN BREAKFASTItalian Food isconviviality and joy. And slowness of course. Enjoying a meal with friends or family is the main ingredient of any Italian dish.The traditional Italian breakfast consists of a cup of milk and coffee, some biscuits or a piece of cake.

Children drink hot chocolate, or hot milk with very little barley coffee. Other products such as cereals, fruit salad, fruit juice and yogurt are becoming increasingly common as part of the meal.

If breakfast is eaten in a bar it is composed of cappuccino or espresso and a croissant or other pastries.

ITALIAN STARTERSAntipasto On special occasions Italians start their lunch or dinner with antipasto. It literally means "before the meal," and its a beloved combination of small bites of tasty food, usually accompanied by wine or a soft drink and meant to stimulate the appetite before the main meal. It consists of cured meats, fresh cheeses, herbsor fish salad.

Wine for adults is an important part of Italian cuisine. Children usually have still or sparkling water, coke or orangeade with their meals.

ITALIAN LUNCHLunch is usually the most important meal of the day. A typical Italian lunch consists of a first course il primo (pasta, rice, soup or potage), a second course il secondo (meat or fish) served together with a side dish il contorno (vegetables or salad) and fruit. Italians finish their lunch with an espresso and on special occasions with a dessert.ITALIAN FIRST COURSE DISHES

Pasta with tomato, meat or fish sauce

Tortellini in broth

Lasagne or Timballo

Rice with vegetables, fish or saffronITALIAN SECOND COURSE DISHES

Grilled or fried fish

Roasted chicken, rabbit, lamb or beef

Meat balls

Omelette

ITALIAN SIDE DISHES

Cooked vegetables

Roasted potatoes

Fresh salad

FRUITSeasonal fruitFruit saladCLASSIC ITALIAN DESSERTS

Tiramis cake

Pastries

Sponge cake

Italian ice-cream

Panna cottaITALIAN LUNCH

At lunch Italians eat white bread too.

ITALIAN DINNERDinner is a light meal in Italy. People usually have pizza, soup, meat or fish, eggs, cheese, salami, vegetables or salad. ITALIAN DINNER IDEAS

Each pizza is topped with special ingredients (mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, chips, frankfurters, ham, mushrooms, basil, artichokes). In our region, we like pizza and arrosticini.

Arrosticini: little pieces of grilled lamb on a stick. Delicious!!! PIZZA

Steak with chips or other cooked vegetables

Cutlet with mushed potatoes or saladSalami and cheese with white or brown bread

Fish with salad or cooked vegetables

Mozzarella cheese with tomato salad

ITALIAN SMALL BITESAperitivo (APPETIZER): The Italian aperitivo is a very social and functional way of meeting up with friends, having a cocktail and something to eat before lunch or dinner. It has become very common in summer, especially on the beach. But it is also served in bars and restaurants all over the country.It usually consists of a drink (crodino or bitter) and some snacks, such as salami, olives, crisps, peanuts, small sandwiches or pizza. The drink may taste a bit bitter at the first sip, but once youve tried it, the taste is quite nice.

Ricreazione (School breaks): During the morning school children usually have a sandwich, white or red pizza and they drink ice tea or fruit juice. They bring it from home or buy it at school.

Merenda: afternoon snack for children (bread, cakes, biscuits, fruit, yoghurt, chocolate bars, crisps or ice-cream).

NATIONAL DISHESThere is no single national dish of Italy, as each region has local variations on classic dishes. Dishes such as pizza, pasta, polenta and minestrone typify traditional Italian cuisine.

There are hundreds of types of pizza, each of which is unique to the local town or city.

PIZZA

From simple basil pesto to creamy cheese sauces, the collection of Italian pasta recipes is endless!!!

PASTAPolenta is a very old dish of Italian origin made from flour obtained from a number of cereals, the most commonly used today is corn. It is served with tomato sauce, sausages or minced meat.

POLENTA

Minestrone is a thick soup with pasta and vegetables.

MINESTRONE

FESTIVAL FOODCHRISTMASChristmas is the most important Italian festival. On Christmas Italians always have a big lunch with their family at home or at the restaurant, with a lot of different things. In our region, the first course of the Christmas lunch is Timballo, it consists of layers of crpes with mozzarella cheese, Parmesan and meat sauce. As second course we have roasted chicken or lamb with some side dishes, such as roasted potatoes, green salad or fennel. We often finish our lunch with fruit (grapes, pine apple or mandarins) and some desserts. We usually have a sponge cake with cream and custard. Other traditional Italian Christmas cakes are Pandoro, Panettone and Nougat. Panettone is made of raisins and dried fruit. Nougat is made of almonds or nuts. Traditional Christmas pastries of our region are sfogliatelle and calcionetti.

Timballo

Roasted meat and potatoes

Which do you prefer? Both!!!

Nougat

SfogliatelleShell-shaped pastries filled with grape jam or chocolate cream

CalcionettiFried pastries filled with creamed chestnut or jam

EASTERIn Italy Easter is celebrated with traditional Easter foods. These can vary from region to region although some can be found all over Italy. Boiled blessed eggs are usually eaten at the beginning of the meal.Lamb is usually the second course for the Easter meal, and depending on the region, it can be served in various ways. In Abruzzo agnello cacio e uovo is cooked in an egg, pepper and cheese sauce. In the region of Lazio and in southern Italy, the lamb is usually roasted simply with rosemary, red wine and garlic. In Sardinia and some places in Campania the Easter meal may consist of goat instead of lamb.

Agnello cacio e uovo There is no lack of desserts on Easter day. Traditional desserts for the Holy feast are the Cassata Siciliana, a cake with ricotta filling; thecolomba, a dove-shaped cake with dried fruit and almonds. Children also have chocolate eggs.

Different types of colomba

Easter eggs

Cassata

WAY OF EATINGMost Italians have their meals at home, sitting at the table with all the family. In Italy food is conviviality and slowness of course. Many adults still make their own food (e.g., tomato sauce from their own tomatoes) and takeaways are still not very frequent.

But having a cup of coffee at the bar is a daily Italian ritual, at breakfast, mid-morning or after lunch. Whether it is an espresso coffee, a cappuccino or one of the many other versions of coffee in Italy, it is generally drunk standing at the bar rather than sitting down at a table.

In some schools children have lunch at the school canteen. But most students have a packet lunch when there are extracurricular activities.

Commuters and other workers have a quick meal in a restaurant.

WAYS OF COOKINGHow Italians prefer foodEGGS

grilled

fried

poachedMEAT

boiled

roasted

stewedfriedboiled

FISH

grilled

baked

steamed

fried

poachedVEGGIES

Fresh and uncooked

boiled

roasted

grilled

Eating and drinking in ATRI

A plus of our town lies in its food specialities.

A mouth watering first course is Scrippelle mbusse, fine rolled crpes served with chicken broth. A traditional spring time dish is le virt, a soup with vegetables, beans, pork and different types of pasta.

You can also try the locally famous cif ciaffe, a mixed casserole made with pork, stewed with wine, garlic and pepper.

Eating and drinking in ATRI

Every gourmet would enjoy the delicious Cacio di Atri, a wonderful ewe cheese.

Last but not least, you cant leave the town without tasting its delicately-flavoured PANDUCALE treats, cakes and biscuits known all over Italy.

If you have a sweet tooth you wont be able to resist the Atri Liquorice.

There are also good wines: red Montepulciano dAbruzzo and white Trebbiano dAbruzzo

We hope you have enjoyed our presentation. But the best way to know about Italian food is to try it.So come and visit us!!!Were waiting for you!!!

Buon Appetito!Enjoy your meal! gero apetitoJ tvgyat!Bon Profit!labu apetti!

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