copyright 2009, Maria Liberati, The Basic Art of Italian Cooking

Editor:Kate Hollinger

http://www.marialiberati.com

French cuisine would not be what it is today if it weren’t for the influence of Italy, first and foremost through the culinary icon Catherine de Medici. Catherine, a Florentine who married into French nobility at the age of 14, had a profound influence on the Renaissance in 16^th century France, specifically on French haute cuisine and entertaining. This plump young lady, who was later nicknamed “The Italian Grocer”, moved to Paris to wed King Henry of France, and while she shared no influence during his lifetime, the era following his death in 1574 was named “The Age of Catherine de’ Medici” because of her political influence during her 3 sons reigns and perhaps also due to her contributions to French Gastronomy.

When Catherine moved to France, she brought with her a crew of friends, servants, cooks, and waiters who can be held responsible for the French/Italian fusion. This group was responsible for exposing the French to new vegetables such as Savoy cabbage, broccoli, peas, boiled and fava beans, parsley, and artichokes. They also introduced new fruits including apples, apricots, peaches, cherries, figs, and melons. And while Italian chefs from her crew introduced secret recipes such as canard a l’orange (duck in orange), Catherine herself was responsible for a different idea of separating sweet and salty as well.

While this gluttonous lady was not very popular with the French, they particularly liked the desserts that she brought with her. In addition to breads, cakes, pastries, and marmalades, her ice cream and flavor ices, also known as sorbets, were a huge hit among the French. In fact, ice cream was a favorite among them as it was difficult to produce and ice was limited, causing it to originally be limited mostly to the wealthy. Other rich delights that she exposed to her new country were butters and truffles; aspics, a gelatin made from meat stock; and béchamel and other sauces. Another rich recipe that was introduced to the French was carabaccia, or onion soup.

Along with the food, Catherine brought a new elegant style and refinement to the table. She believed in a more lavish, gluttonous style of entertaining that included a more proper, civilized table setting. In fact, before Catherine only 2 utensils were utilized. It is she that introduced the fork to the French dinner table. She also brought more luxurious dishes and glasses so that the format of events was more proper. Venetian crystal glasses and fine silverware had been unheard of before Catherine de Medici graced them with her presence.

While Catherine may not have been the most admired individual in the French court, her presence without a doubt inspired and influenced French cuisine and affects meals served even today.

Here is another recipe  that we can thank Caterina de Medici for: 

http://www.notecook.com/Main-Course/Vegetarian/Are-Crepes-French-or-Italian.466903

Hope You can Join Me…. If you could not make it to our cooking school here in Italy….The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm  cooking school will  be  at many Whole Foods Markets starting in February 2009 and many more to come..  If you would like to join me in any of our special classes  on pasta making, Valentine’s Day Dinner Italian style, Pairing pasta with their special sauces and other classes..here is the February schedule or call your local Whole Foods market to find out when we will be coming to your area.To register or get more info on any of these cooking programs email us at :events@marialiberati.com…hope to see you there:

*Feb 8-2PM- Whole Foods Market-Jenkintown. Pennsylvania-Book signing and  Cooking Class to follow-Valentine’s Day dinner Italian style from the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking

Feb 18th-7 PM-Whole Foods Market-Marlton, NJ-Book singing (6 PM) and cooking  class to follow-Every Pasta Has its’ Sauce- 4 pasta dishesand 4 past sauces and tips on cooking the perfect pasta and pairing pasta to their sauces..

*February 19th-7 PM-Whole Foods Market-Philadelphia, Pa-Book signing (6PM) and Cooking Class to follow-The Basic Art of Italian Cooking-cooking authentic Italian economically.

*February 26th- 2 PM-Whole Foods Market-Princeton, NJ- Book signing and cooking class to follow-Every Pasta Has it’s Sauce- cook 4 pasta dishes and 4 sauces.

For more great recipes get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

Has anyone out there ever thought about this or researched this..are crepes French or Italian?

In my research about Caterina DeMedici-the Italian responsible for bringing high cuisine to France and some other things  fromFlorence to France like the place setting.. I think that the crepe -which is known as crespelle in Italian -was originally Italian and then brough to France.. Let me know what you think?
http://tinyurl.com/9pnxvw

If there are any food historians out there, let me know if my research is correct..

For more great recipes get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

copyright, 2008, Maria Liberati

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking  Kitchen has been getting in the Holiday mood quite early  this year.  We have had endless meetings to discuss the hundreds of products that have been submitted for consideration in our upcoming Holiday Guide.

The ones that meet the criteria for the Holiday Guide will be the ones that we ultimately select, but they also have to be products that will make the Holiday Season enjoyable and fun for our readers and excite them just as much as they have excited us! Products that make you want to run into your kitchen just to use them! 

 Most importantly they have to enhance The Basic Art of Italian Cooking experience!

In The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Kitchen.. one of our favorite products (you will hear about  some others in posts to come) has been The Rosetta Stone language programs. We have been testing out the basic Italian and French programs..and a laptop has been set up in a section of the kitchen with the programs installed. Most of our intern chefs don’t know a word of Italian or French.

This makes a great gift for the culinary enthusiast or traveler on your list..

In The Basic Art of Italian Cooking  kitchen we always stress the importance of knowing at  least the basics of other languages, especially if you want to experience the culinary arts of another country to any of the chefs or chef interns that work with us.

The Rosetta Stone programs are entertaining but also the one thing that we think you will find amazing is that with these programs a microphone can be hooked up to the computer and when you pronounce the words you are told whether or not it is correct, so it is almost like having a live teacher!  Some of our chef interns have used the programs and after a few days are already able to communicate in basic Italian…So kudos to The Rosetta Stone for making the world just a little bit smaller. 

By the way, there are also other languages that are really important to have some basic knowledge of, who knows next year maybe we will try Japanese, Chinese, Russian.. with the Rosetta Stone it should be easy..

 Here is an easy expression that is used at the dinner table, before you eat your meal in Italy everyone says..”Buon Appetito” ( Pronounced: Bwone-ah-peh-tee-toe)

After you have mastered that expression, you can enjoy eating this recipe:

Ratatouille of Zucchini and Eggplant

*2 medium fresh eggplants

*3 medium size zucchini

*5 fresh plum tomatoes

*2 cloves of garlic

*3 tblsps of olive oil

*1 slice of  fresh onion chopped

*pinch of salt

*4 ounces of fresh mozzarella cut into cubes

*3 tblsps freshly grated  parmigiana-reggiano cheese

Wash eggplant and zucchini. Cut zucchini into 1/4 inch slices. Cut eggplant into 1/4 inch cubes. Wash tomatoes. Fillet them by removing inside liquid and seeds. Slice into thin slices.

In large saute pan, heat olive oil. Saute whole garlic cloves, chopped onions till golden. place in cut eggplants and zucchini and 1/2 cup dry white wine, 1/2 cup water. Saute for 10 minutes, stirring. Add in tomatoes, stirring and saute for another 10 minutes or until eggplant and zucchini are tender. If at any time liquid is needed add in a little water.

When done remove from heat and add in cubed mozzarella and  freshly grated parmigiana-reggiano cheese. Stir, mozzarella cheese will become stringy. Serve warm or cool. In the winter it is great hot or warm, in the summer cool. Serve with crusty bread  and  dry white wine.

Buon Appetito!

 Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria
For more recipes get your copy of the bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

and/or http://stores.lulu.com/marialiberati

 French Crepes also have an Italian twin- we call them crespelle. They are typically made with less butter and can be used in many recipes. Now that the warm weather is well on its’ way and many of you will be looking for different fare to make your spring and summer picnics’ a smash-here is my favorite ’portable’  and delicious, picnic food. But you can eat these at home or bring them to work and with every bite just imagine that you are having your own picnic somewhere in the mountains of Abruzzo .. by the way, crespelle is a traditional dish from Abruzzo

Crespelle with Spinach

(4 portions)

*1 cup of milk

*1 egg

*1/2 cup flour

*2 1/2 tblsps of butter

*1 lb of  frozen spinach

*1 tsp of finely chopped fresh onion

*2 tblsps of  grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

*2 ounces of freshly washed lettuce, pat dry

*pinch of salt

*pinch of kosher salt (for water to cook spinach)

For the crepes:

Break egg in bowl, beat with wire whisk. Sift flour in another bowl. Add in beaten egg to sifted flour and mix with wire whisk to keep mixture form forming lumps. Place in pinch of salt. Add in milk always mixing with wire whisk. Melt 1/2 tblsp of butter in sauce pan and place into egg mixture ,whisk in with wire whisk. Let the dough stand for 30 minutes, mixing with wire whisk every few minutes to keep mix smooth.

In a sauce pan, bring 4 cups of water to boil, alt water with pinch of gross salt. Cook frozen spinach for 5 minutes. Drain well and chop spinach.

In sauté pan, place  in1 tblsp of butter, melt on low heat and place in chopped onion till just golden. Add in chopped spinach, sauté for 1 minute, add in pinch of fine salt to taste, and grated cheese, sauté for 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Place to the side.

In a small round pan-to cook with crepes, melt 1 tblsp of butter. When pan is hot, place in 1 tablespoon of crepe mixture, rotating the pan to distribute the crepe mix uniformly. Cook crepes for 30 seconds and turn over cook on other side for 30 seconds.

 Place on long  dish covered with baking paper. (Be sure to keep all crepes separate from each other. Do not place one on top of the other). Continue cooking in this manner until crepe mixture is finished.

When finished, fill each crepe with spinach mixture, roll in form of crepe. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Take out of refrigerator and cut into slices about 2 inches thick. Arrange slices on a plate of lettuce.

For more recipes get your own copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com and receive $5 off retail price. Get a free subscription to The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm monthly ezine and receive a free excerpt from the book by signing up at http://www.marialiberati.com

Ciao for now!
Maria Liberati

http://www.marialiberati.com

http://www.marialiberati.com/blog2