#eatingitalian

[themusictechguyuk]

New town new experience. Ordered a pizza I can’t pronounce and the are cocking it’s in the flame oven (picture 3) Links to YouTube videos in Linkin.Bio 😉 #tmtgcommunity #themusictechguyuk #musictechguyuk #musician #vintagekeyboard #synthesiser #keyboard #eatingitalian #aberdeen (at Amarone Aberdeen) https://www.instagram.com/p/CdGvdyjN0HJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sharonfacinelliactress]

#50thbirthday #itsmybirthday #happy50th #familyandfriends #birthdaymeal #eatingitalian #birthday #birthdaygirl #cellebrategoodtimes #birthdayfun #birthdaycelebrations https://www.instagram.com/p/B9FF6sBJw5Q/?igshid=sl92qk0hgbpx

[yicitalia-blog]

I studied Italian in Florence. In August. There are better months to be in the City of the Medici. The language school arranged a room with half-pension with a signora whose apt. was right on the Arno. Every night but Saturday at 8:00PM dinner with the Master of Ceremonies, the diminutive but mighty of personality signora. She took me under her wing, worried about my ambition to live in Italy at my ripe age. One afternoon, she invited me into the apt.'s kitchen to chat while she labored on that night's cena. At one point, she pulled out a drawer with small open boxes filled with dried seasonings, spices... aromi in Italiano. An impression similar to the spoons of Italian seasonings, Italian colors, Italian culture. #Italy #tuscany #florence #italianfood #italianspices #italianseasonings #italianrecipes #cooking #eatingitalian (at Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0X-yAaA4Qq/?igshid=vyqtxndoy9u5

[twoheartsneverlie]

Feeling festive with time to kill at work (looking at you cheesecake) so I made beetroot fettuccine and Alfredo sauce. Happy Valentine’s Day indeed. #eatingitalian #pasta #pastrychef #handmadepasta #valentinesday #beetrootpasta #beetroot #beets #cheflife #pink https://www.instagram.com/themillennialdiaries/p/Bt3-M80lTqi/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1egh65c5os9l8

[apronandsneakers]

What's an #italianbreakfast ? Cappuccino is more common than espresso but if you don't like milk like me, it's ok to get the latter. #italianfood #italianstyle #madeinitaly #foodie #foodiegram #foodstagram #eatingitalian #breakfast #foodstagramming #foodstagrammer #cookingwithlove #cookingathome #ciboitaliano #cibo #collazione #collazioneitaliana #collazionesana #buongiorno #goodmorning (at Fiumicino, Italy)

[freegreatmovies]

Parker Posey turned 50 yesterday! Here she is eating Italian food with Benicio del Toro. They were both in Basquiat (1996). #parkerposey #beniciodeltoro #eatingitalian #slurpingnoodles #basquiat #basquiatmovie #independentfilms #markseliger (at Palermo Italian Restaurant, Los Feliz, CA) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp9T2IHFVmN/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=we6zkt29d0z3

[acdave]

2' DAY in NAPLES [ Frittata di pasta 😍 ] . . . . #napolifoodporn #foods #ciboitaliano #napoli #pastas #pasta #frittatadipasta #sublime #bontà #carboidratonontitemo #carboidratiagogo #cibo_che_delizia_ #cibobuono #wow #eccelenzaitaliana #napolibella #ciboavolontà #cibodistrada #eatingitalian #eatingwell #cibotradizionale #passeggiandopernapoli #gnam😋 #adckeynote (presso Via Toledo)

[bellavitabroadway-blog]

Why not celebrate #Valentines with your loved one at #BellaVita? You can reserve a table online at www.bellavitabroadway.com/reservations (we have limited spaces available) #valentinesday #valentines2017 #specialmoments #lovedones #eatingitalian #italianrestaurant #italianfood #broadwaymarket #dalston #hackney #eastlondon #london (at Broadway Market)

[aromataste]

Our team looks for new excellence products at Taste 2017

For our young and dinamic enterprise, the search for new products is vital. Therefore, also this year, we have partecipated at Taste, the food fair dedicated to food culture and to the excellences of made in Italy. The exhibition, arranged by Pitti image, has taken place in the splendid setting of Leopolda, from 11th to 13th of March, which is resulted to be a very stimulating archeological location . Leopolda, in fact, is an old railway station belonging to the  XIX century , completely adapted to host cultural exhibitions and it has definetely represented for Aromataste the perfect occasion to find out new excellences of Made in Italy.

The Taste exhibition of Florence has reached its 12th edition and it is now considered a real point of reference for companies and consumers in the field of food and wine and for everything concerns the excellence of food. This year edition was focused on coffee and its trends , but it also took into consideration a series of others events such as: a championship of barmen, a taste ring, where experts had the chance to compare each others on many themes,  cupping and tasting sessions.

Aromataste team, going around the exhibition , has met Mr. Antonio Autore, whose company, situated in San Marco dei Cavoti, on the hills of Sannio, in the South of Italy, characterized by a family managemnent, has started from the traditional production of “croccantino” (a crunchy dark chocolate bar with a mix of almonds, hazelnuts and honey) and it has succeeded in expanding itself thanks to the production of a various range of products which respect the ancient recipes but also consider the new tastes. 

At Taste we have had the chance to talk also to Mr. Andrea Brezzo, one of the best Italian honey producers, who has explained us a lot about the new sweet or salty compotes. 

We have had the chance to find out new products among the 380 companies present at the fair which counted a presence of sixteen thousand peolple from all over the world.   Confectionaries, pralines , chocolate, bread products, biscuits, diary products, pickled vegetables where all  around us, and we were really  enthusiastic by this amount of delicious and high quality products.

In conclusion, the splendid location of Leopolda in Florence has allowed us to fully enjoy the Taste experience, a fair which has given us the chance to satisfy our costant curiosity towards new  stimulating Italian products and everything concerns the taste of excellence. By Giancarlo Losco 

[malbecormerlot]

Doze capers dough #lovefood #foodporn #foodpornography #pasta #shrimp #shrimppasta #spicyshrimppasta #dinner #dinnertime #capers #pasgetti #italianfood #italianfoodporn #pazziaosteria #pazzia #food #foodie #foodiesofinstagram #foodgasm #foodphotography #foodpassion #foodblogger #eat #eatingitalian #eating #eatingout #eatingforthegram #eatingfortheinsta #yummers #delicious #malbecormerlot (at Pazzia Osteria) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxgDAJ2Be0b/?igshid=5jzgw9vkp5jl

[lifesatzu]

The incredible white truffle garlic bread at North Italia. #austin #restaurant #foodie #eatingitalian (at North Italia)

[acdave]

ZEPPOLE [ Quando andrò all'inferno 😈 prenderò in considerazione il girone dei GOLOSI ] . . . . #zeppola #frittura #salata #napoletano #gnam😋 #foodphotography #foodporn #lagoduria #igersfood #igersnapoli #ig_napoli #benvenutialsud #goodviber #dulcisinfood #ciaomagre #ciaodieta #labontà #olio #adckeynote #saporeitaliano #sensazioneunica #eatingood #eatingitalian #instafoods #fritturanapoletana #troppobuona #cibotipico #ciboitaliano #naplesitaly (presso Naples, Italy)

[aromataste]

Street food: what makes it different?

With the increase of the productivity in contemporary  society  and the following lack of time to spend for daily meals , the spreading out of street food , the typical meal sold by small shops , has become very common all over the world.

The characteristics of this kind of meal supposes that the meal is consumed quickly in the street , above all during the small breaks of a working day , in informal locals which are not very expensive , therefore with  affordable prices.

This situation has allowed street food to become , above all in modern and developed countries, the more common strategy to satisfy the daily food needs.

The FAO estimates that 2.5 billion people consume street food. But how are the habits  changing from country to country? Without considering only the different type of products offered by the various cultures, in which way do they appear sociologically different? In what do we find differences between American street food culture and the southern Italian one,  particularly the Neapolitan one? The Hyper productivity, which is typical of one of the most dominant economy  that is the American one,  and the young age of this new continent characterised by a cookery quite immature if compared to the Mediterranean or Asiatic one , has made  street  food  less settled down and , maybe , for this reason easier to be spread out. The food used for street food ( thanks to the high diffusion in the world  of large retail chains) such as the hot dog for example, can be found all over the world. Nowdays it is possible to find the typical hot dog stall  also in cities and towns with an ancient cookery tradition such as Rome, Paris or Tokyo. The American street food is everywhere regardless the presence of a “food culture” in the country.

Americans  spend very little time on their meals . Everybody is always in a  hurry because the work calls for people and they have to respond. If you want to be on the top of the world economy, you don t have time to spare.

On the other hand there is the Neapolitan  cultural tradition  which is very different. You can perceive the differences  even in the street food field. Probably you will find the small hot dog stall imported from America  just around the corner of a main street but with some characteristics that make it completely different due to the high presence of women  involved in the production process itself that make the street food superior in quality. Think about the so called “pizza a portafoglio” (which is the classical pizza  margherita  which differs from the one sold in the restaurant for the price, it is definitely cheaper, and the size, it is a little bit smaller). This kind of pizza it is sold above all in the historical centre of Naples and it is served folded into four parts. We also have the fried pizza (which has the shape of an half moon and it is filled  with ricotta cheese, mozzarella, ham and/or salame) and the so called “cuoppo” (a mixture of fried specialities which are served in a rolled up piece of paper  in a shape of a cone). However in Naples you will find any kind of street food  everywhere , also in very small  but at the same time  very ancient  and historical locals.

Another characteristic  of Naples is that you can eat at any time: often pizzerias, pubs, sandwich shops are open till late to offer  food to people who enjoy living at night. The two cultures also differ  in the time  spent for meals. It is known that in America meals are consumed quickly due to their working culture . In the south of Italy and in most Mediterranean countries , people spend more time for their meals, maybe because of the more favourable weather conditions as well. In Naples there is a way of saying which comes from the verb ”intalliare” a word coming from ancient greek  ( Thallien)  which can be translated into English with “to settle down” or “to put roots”. Anyway a word that Neapolitans like very much. In fact they usually spend more time on their meals , they take it easy in the streets of the city looking for one of hundreds of locals which sell the Neapolitan excellences. Maybe this is the biggest difference in the gastronomic field between Italy and America : a bigger  presence of products of excellences of 'made in Italy' which  is the field  in which the Italian culture is definitely affirmed. By Giancarlo Losco

[righttoremainentertained]

[aromataste]

I would like to invite you for dinner. Regional Italian Cooking: Carbonara and Parmigiana.

Do you like Italian cooking? What would you think if I invited you for dinner and I prepared for you something typical Italian? Do you like Carbonara and Parmigiana made with aubergines? I have decided to cook something I usually prepare for my best friends: two typical regional dishes of the Italian cooking. Carbonara is a main dish whose origin is quite uncertain, however, it is considered a typical delight of Lazio, while Parmigiana is an excellence of Campania and Naples probably offers the best one.

Have I convinced you? If you are Italian cuisine lovers I should probably make you curious and hungry. If you have already been in my country, maybe you have tasted our Parmigiana and Carbonara, haven’ t you?... No? We must do something then…immediately. Well, shall I start?..I really think so. I would start from the main course, the Carbonara. I am not going to talk about its origins; I will prepare "my Carbonara", which is quite similar to the original one. This recipe is for four people. I fry a half medium onion (don’t cut it too thin otherwise it will burn) in plenty of extra virgin olive oil and, after about one and a half minute, I chop and add 200 grams of bacon, sliced or in cubes, in fact, in your house, you can do as you like. It is important that the bacon becomes crispy. In the meanwhile, I take the eggs. Somebody, I don’t exactly remember who, told me that the right number of eggs to use must be one more than the number of people who will eat it. So, in this case, 5 eggs. I put them in a plate. I add two handcuffs of Pecorino cheese, a little bit of salt and a lot of pepper. I mix everything with a fork as if I were preparing an omelette. As concern the kind of pasta, I would recommend a kind of spaghetti known as “spaghetti alla chitarra”, which are a little bit thicker than usual and quite squared; they will keep better the cooking and will absorb better the Carbonara sauce. I drain the pasta when it is still “al dente” (not completely cooked) and I put it in a saucepan. At this point I add the bacon and the mixture of eggs. In Rome, they prefer the eggs to be cooked only by the heat of drained pasta while in the North they prefer to add some cream, making this recipe a little bit heavier. Personally I prefer to finish the cooking over very low heat, splashing a little quantity of cooking water. In this way, everything becomes quite creamy. In fact, as I told you, it is a Carbonara in “my” way, and I will serve it with a lot of pecorino cheese and some more pepper. What do you think? Is it a tasty way to start our dinner?

Parmigiana needs a longer preparation. Boil a bottle of tomato sauce (700 ml.) with a clove of garlic and some leaves of fresh basil, remove the stalks from the aubergines, slice them up into 1/2 cm. thick and fry them in plenty groundnut oil; once they are ready, put them on paper towel to absorb the excessive oil. Take a baking dish, spoon over some tomato sauce on the base and top the sauce with a layer or two of aubergine slices. Spoon over a bit more sauce, then scatter over some sliced mozzarella, parmesan and basil leaves. Repeat this operation for three times, layering up and finish with the last of the tomato sauce. Scatter over the parmesan and put the Parmigiana in a 200˚ preheated oven for about 35, 40 minutes. I usually wait some minutes before serving to avoid unpleasant burnings of palates.  Very well so far. For my dinner, I will have a main course, the Carbonara, and a second course, the Parmigiana. What will we be drinking? With the Carbonara I would choose a dry white wine, maybe Frascati. And with Parmigiana? Well…there are tomatoes, aubergines and mozzarella…. I would choose a red wine, an Aglianico from Campania.

I will end my invite for dinner in my little but cosy house with an advice: follow the traditional recipes but don’ t forget the fantasy…maybe the best ingredient for a successful recipe. Parmigiana and Carbonara are two classic recipes of regional Italian cooking, but nothing stops you from revising them, without changing them completely but adjusting the taste following your desires and needs. I really hope you took some notes. Enjoy preparing some Italian cuisine for your guests. Now you have two secret weapons: Carbonara and Parmigiana.

Enjoy your dinner! By Giancarlo Losco All photos: Giancarlo Losco 

[aromataste]

Food Photography... How to Improve the Pictures of Your Dishes

Food photography...the new tendency of taking pictures of food! A genre born relatively recently which, in a time where socials dominate, has spread out very quickly. But what is exactly food photography?

How many of you have been out to eat and have shared a photo on your social of the succulent and beautiful aspect of the dishes you had just ordered? Maybe, once published the pic, you notice that the images are all similar, the lights and shots are all the same and we are a little bit disappointed by the results. Well…food photography is not exactly this.

Food photography is having a real boom such as everything concerning food; it is perfect for commercial and advertising purposes but also just for fun.Following some expedients, we will get closer to a more professional approach to this genre of photography. In this article, we will see how few, simple rules can help us to improve our food pictures. Obviously, these rules are perfect for cooked dishes after we have prepared a small set of shots. So…what are the basic rules to improve our food photography? 

1) A good light

Light is generally the main element to get a nice pic and, therefore, it is necessary also for food photography. Natural light is highly recommended: it is in fact more uniform, it doesn’t flat the image and it doesn’t produce too high and strong lights or too marked shadows. It is possible to use artificial lights but we should never and I really mean never use the incorporated flash of our camera. It is better to use an adjustable external flash which in food photography (in some ways like still life) can be softened by white tissue paper or banks and by orienting the light source from the back or from the side. In this way, we will have a softener and more delicate light. 2) The right composition

For the composition of food photography, we use the same rules of general photography. The basic “rule of thirds” whose basic principle is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds both horizontally and vertically. Intersecting the lines, we obtain four points on which we will position the main subject of our photo which will be the guide of the photographer. 3) Framing The great expertises of food photography prefers three types of framing, which consider three camera angles: 15˚, 45˚, 90˚.Using the first 15˚ camera angle, we will put into evidence the verticality and the dimension of food type, we will also highlight the verticality and size of the food by taking a picture at the dish height to play more with the depth of the field. If we take a picture using a 45˚ camera angle we will give a more natural aspect to our photo. It will be as if we were taking the picture while sitting at the table. With 90˚ camera angle we will highlight the shapes and geometries of our dish, perhaps wisely created and thought before the shot.

4) Style and history of the dish 

It is very important in photography to give pictures a style and a history. What does it mean? We need to understand what we want to photograph and put our object into evidence thanks to kitchen utensils, foods and complementary colours which go well with the dish. It is better not to combine certain elements such as fish and cheese for example because, in this way, the image itself will lose its credibility. Therefore, in food photography we could complete and fulfil the image with elements linked to the main subject or with complementary ingredients useful for the dish preparation, avoiding exaggerating. In photography, in my opinion, it is always better to use few elements, what is important is they have a sense and that they help to give a clear and pleasant image. 5) Food and colour  In photography, the main element is the subject, it is important to have this concept clear on one’ s mind. Since we are talking about food and to be a good food photographer it is better to choose for our pics raw or half raw food to preserve the freshness of the ingredients such as their colour. As said before we could complete the image with kitchen items, wooden utensils, plants or even vegetables. It is only important to combine the right colours. 

6) The background 

We should avoid distracting people who will admire our works of art. Too focused or showy backgrounds could distract the observer from the subject. So, for our perfect food photography we will have a faded background (in common with the subject) or we will use neutral backgrounds such as a white paper tissue. 

7) Lens and diaphragms

 In food photography, we should also avoid a high depth of the field because it would interfere with the focusing of the subject. We shouldn’t use too wide-angle lens; better not to go below 50mm, while the use of lens up to 200mm is recommended. Another essential element for this kind of photography is the dish: so, let’s try to use wherever it is possible open diaphragms, which allow us to shade the rest. Openings between f 1.4 and f 2.8 will be fine. We can also close to f 4 or f 5.6, but carefully. 8) The tripod  In the picture of the food you can also move and shoot free-hand, thanks to the open diaphragms and the lights used. Sometimes, however, it will be the case to build a set of shots, positioning the camera, setting the scene, and just lastly, our beautiful plate. In these cases, to avoid annoying vibrations, we should use a tripod and maybe a remote shot. Alternatively, let's use the self-timer, which will keep the camera away from vibrations anyway.  As far as concern the dishes, unfortunately here I cannot help; the camera does not cook a good dish, but with a little bit of attention, maybe the food photographer that is in you, could come out and, who knows, one day you could become a professional food photographer.  In conclusion of this little journey inside the food photography, I really suggest you to study all the techniques and pictures of the best food photography. A genre which is continuously expanding (such as everything concerning food) but very difficult and complex and with many factors you must take into consideration.  However, it is possible to approach food photography with these few rules by shooting, improving, refining techniques and compositions, using the right elements and lights.  What is important is to have clear in your mind what you want to take a picture of, and how to do it since your target will be not only to stimulate people's appetite but also the appetite of the sight with stimulating and pleasant images. By Giancarlo Losco All photos by Gaetano Russo and Giancarlo Losco