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Meals in Italy will have at least 3-4 courses. In many Italian homes today, the traditional menu is reserved for special occasions and daily meals are limited to 2 courses, a side dish and coffee. Traditionally the menu would look like this:
Apertivo - Aperitifs enjoyed as appetizers before a heavy meal. These include Campari, Prosecco, Spritz, Vermouth etc.
Antipasto - It means 'before the meal' and consists of hot and/or cold appetizers.
Primo - The first course, usually a hot, filling dish like pasta, risotto, gnocchi or soup.
Secondo - The second course, consisting of meat or fish.
Contorno - Means ' side dish' and is salad or cooked vegetables.
Formaggio e Frutta - 'Cheese and Fruits' which is the first dessert. Local cheese makes an appearance here in addition to Antipasto or the side dish.
Dolce - Of course 'Dessert', like cakes and cookies.
Caffe
Digestivo/Ammazzacaffe - Liquors/liqeurs like Amaro, Limoncello, Sambuca which are sometimes referred to as Ammazzacaffe meaning Coffee killer.
Italians consider meals as a time to spend with family anf friends. As such the lunch or dinner may be longer than in most Western cultures. And it is as it should be. Hard earned food should be savored with much loved family. (Sigh!) I wish that all of us were granted with that bit of happiness. Well tomorrow is Saturday so I can aim for the happiness of making and eating some Italian food with my family. So come back day-after and I promise to post those recipes by then. Ciao and Xin Fu to you !
Vegetables:
And those are some veggie translations for you. Of course, the list is in no way compelete, yet. In further postings I hope to put up names of fruits and dry fruits as well. And some indigenous vegetables have been left out just because I have never seen them in US markets. And looking at this list I understand for the first time - Indian vegetarian diet is truly the healthy way to live. With ample use of different pulses, legumes and beans, each meal provides a complete profile nutrition-wise. There is just so much variety of vegetables grown and each part of India has developed such distinctive cuisine based on it, that we don't miss meat. So let's make sure we eat these veggies to achieve better health. As the old adage goes " Health is Wealth". But more importantly, I say, "Health is Happiness".
pictures from google images. No copyright infringement intended.
Advanced Spices and Ingredients:
And those are the spices and common ingredients found in the average Indian kitchen. But this is not the end of the list. There is so much more to the Indian pantry and refrigerator that I am going to put up another list in a different post. And hope that it will be helpful for everybody who loves Indian food and want to make it. So keep coming back and find what you need right here. Hope that the link to penzeys spices will be an interesting browse.
picture courtesy almishipping.com No copyright infringement intended.