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6 Interesting Things About Italian Meals That Make Us Love Them Even More
Something about Italian meals is hard to comprehend but entices many of us to indulge in the hearty cuisine. You may or may not know, but it keeps us coming back for more. Is it the ambience of a cosy Italian restaurant? The familiar scents that stimulate olfactory sensation? Or the heartwarming flavours, maybe?
People’s love for Italian meals can be traced way back many centuries ago. Although some things have changed, the essence of Italian cuisine remains even in the modern times. Because of the bursting flavours, Italian meals are indeed hard to resist. If there is one word to define how people feel about the cuisine, it would be obsession.
The list below will help a foodie like you to understand Italian meals and how they make everyone gastronomically satisfied all the time. Allow us to break down the reasons one at a time.
1. Fresh Ingredients Are the Key to Flavourful Dishes
If you are familiar with the farm-to-table approach, you probably notice it in how Italians prepare their meals. The most notable benefit of using fresh ingredients in cooking is providing the authentic taste of food, compared to using preservatives that overshadow the real taste of various meals. Because of this, Italians only serve meals prepared using ingredients from the freshest sources—such as meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, to name a few. They did a great job in keeping this tradition alive even up to this day so that everyone can enjoy authentic Italian dishes.
Leveraging fresh ingredients does not only benefit how meals taste. That is why Italians only use freshly picked vegetables and fruits and organically-raised meat to take care of their health. In the long run, manufactured ingredients have adverse side effects on people’s health. Thus, people highly favour Italian meals because they are simply excellent and healthy.
2. The Simplistic Cooking Will Easily Satisfy Your Craving
Sometimes, our hunger gets the best of us. But this should not be the case. Italian meals will be your saving grace as they are easy to make. The simplistic way of cooking Italian food is highly influenced by the fresh ingredients used in the preparation. It does not take a lot of processes to bring out the best flavour of authentic Italian meals because the simplistic method can make any dish as delectable as it can be.
As a result, Italian food can be easily cooked, and there is no need to wait for hours to enjoy a meal. Say, for example, pasta carbonara only has a few ingredients, including pasta, olive oil, meat, egg yolk, garlic, cheese, and some herbs. Anyone can enjoy this fantastic dish in under 10 minutes. Don’t you think this is the best and healthier version of fast food?
3. The Italians’ Passion to Cooking Results in Amazing Meals
Did you know that Italians were the early adopters of the nose-to-tail trend with cucina povera (peasant cooking or poor cooking)? Ingenious food products from Italy that many of us enjoy today were invented by peasants many years ago, in which they only used ingredients that were at arm’s reach. This method of preparing food inspired many Italian dishes of today, such as bruschetta, salami, sopressa, pancetta, gianciale, salsicce, mortadella, cotechino, lardo, biscotti, and many more.
Probably, many would agree that Italian meats and cheese are somehow irreplaceable. That is because many Italians love milk and cream, and they channel their affection to many dishes, like panna cotta, gelato, mascarpone, parmesan, ricotta, gorgonzola, melty fontina, burrata, pecorino, dolcelatte, and tiramisu. Would not you love a dessert after every meal?
4. Nightshade Plants Are Celebrated in Italy More than Any Part of the World
It is not a secret that Italians have their ways with vegetables, especially nightshades. In case you do not know, nightshade plants include tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, and pepper. All this can be easily recognisable in many Italian meals. Peppers are chilli synonymous with Southern Italy, while the eggplant is Sicily’s caponata. Of course, tomatoes present the whole country as they are mostly in every Italian meal.
5. Too Many Carbs? It Does Not Matter If the Italians Would Have to Say
While the rest of the world shied away, Italians are fond of carbs. The fact that Italy has over 310 varieties of pasta is already impressive. How much more if you can see them rolled and folded around everything, including nettles to prawn mousse? Or layered, filled, and baked as one of the ingredients for lasagne or cannelloni? Other than that, pasta is also crusted up for the famous mac n’ cheese!
Well, we do not want those things Italian to do with dough to be the odd one out. Other than pasta, pizzas are also a staple in an Italian menu board. Who could resist a variety of tasty ingredients in one dish? None. Besides pizza, they also have panettone, focaccia, cornetto, and panini. But get this; stale bread is not thrown away because Venetians turn it into peara bread sauce, while people in Tuscany add stale bread into soups, like pappa al pomodoro and other forms of salads.
6. You Could Not Call It a Whole Italian Cuisine Experience Without Wine
Wine is part of many cuisines around the world, and even Italians are fond of drinking wine, especially on many special occasions. Because of this, an Italian restaurant that serves wines as part of their meals comes without a surprise. Sipping wine while enjoying your favourite Italian meals will enhance the flavour. Also, a particular kind of wine goes with any Italian dish. Knowing all this, are you still surprised why many love Italian food?
Indulge Yourself in Another Level of Gastronomic Experience with Cucina Dolce!
Get the best out of every authentic Italian meal from Cucina Dolce. Head to our restaurant today and enjoy a menu full of Italian favourites. You may also call us on (+61) 03 9772 9091 or send us a message through fred@cucinadolce.com.au.
