Today we want to introduce on Italian Food Lovers a very interesting twist in Italian food, featuring Academia Barilla 100% Italian extra virgin olive oil! We are talking about a product that introduces a real fusion between Italian and US Southwestern flavors and food cultures: Gourmet Italian Chili!

Available in both sausage and vegetarian variations, the one-of-a-kind, first-to-market Gourmet Italian Chili is a unique Italian spin on the classic American-Southwestern chili, never before seen in the US marketplace.

Produced by South Carolina-based Annette Fioravanti who uses only the finest ingredients and true Italian flair, Annette’s Italian Chili has already shown signs of being the next big hit in specialty food stores nationwide. Annette’s Gourmet Italian Chili comes in three variations: Annette’s Spicy Sausage Italian Chili, Annette’s Mild Sausage Italian Chili, and Annette’s Vegetarian Italian Chili - enough choice for all chili lovers!

We reached out to Annette for a brief email interview, and she told us that she decided to adopt Academia Barilla 100% Italiano extra virgin olive oil for her Italian Chili since her family used Barilla olive oil for many years, and this tradition has been carried over to the second generation.

Of course, Annette chooses the 100% Italian olive oil in the 101 oz. can version, which is ideal for her production use as well as for restaurant cuisine, and available at the Academia Barilla online shop.

“During the Chicago NRA show we had the opportunity to sample several Academia Barilla olive oils. We were most fascinated with the Academia Barilla 100% Italiano, which we decided to incorporate into our recently developed three Italian chili recipes.

We were most impressed by the deliciously mild and velvet flavoring that enhances the perfect taste in the recipes, which is the reason why we selected it over several other well known brands… it emphasizes the aromas that make our products distinct.”

Want some serving suggestions for Annette’s Italian Chili? We asked directly to Annette, and these are her suggestions for enjoying this gourmet product at best.

“Our recipes are made with premium ingredients, and are all natural with no preservatives. We provide products that are prepared within a matter of a few minutes, just open heat and serve. Easy serving suggestions? Here we go:

Main meal
- After heating add some shredded cheese and a dab of sour cream, serve with your favorite hearty chips (we love it with the Garden of Eatin Blue Red Hot Chips);
- Serve over a nice dish of pasta, baked potato, or bed of rice.

Casserole
- Heat your favorite recipe then pour over a layer of hearty chips add shredded cheese then place under broiler until cheese melts
- Serve as a dip with hearty chips (big hit on Superbowl Sunday!)

If you want to get to know more Annette’s range of gourmet Italian Chili products just visit her website at www.annettes-gourmet-italian-chili.com. You can also get in touch directly with Annette Fioravanti for further serving suggestions, recipes, and product distribution info at +1 (386) 846-8428.

A nice video about Annette’s Italian traditions and cultural heritage can be also found at this link on GourmetFoodTube.com, while you can find more recipes and serving suggestions to enjoy Annette’s Italian Chili on Annette’s website.

Our Academia Barilla Culinary School has been recently included in the Alta Cucina directory of Italian Culinary Courses at www.altacucinasociety.com, and we would like to thank our new Italian culinary friends by blogging about them.

Alta Cucina is a Manhattan-based epicurean society founded to explore, share and celebrate premium-quality Italian food and wine products. Created by a group of Italian cuisine connoisseurs who value the company of others “at table” as a way of sharing the experiences of life, Alta Cucina started proposing in New York interesting experiments in dining and food experience.

Alta Cucina recognizes that the enjoyment of fine food is an art form in which every ingredient plays an important role and must be carefully chosen, and each event or product they select is of certified excellence and tied closely to local Italian craft traditions.

As they report on they website,

Product and recipe selections are always made with deference to natural seasonal rhythms, because to know the essence of Italian cuisine in its purest form also means to understand that each dish or ingredient is the product of precise climactic and territorial conditions. Therefore, there are foods whose true flavor can only be enjoyed a few times during the year.

Here at Italian Food Lovers we definitely like this attitude towards Italian food, so let us tell you also about their events such as the upcoming Day of Slowness promoted by Alta Cucina in New York last February 25, or The Aperitivo Series, introducing in busy NY the traditional Italian experience of “aperitivo“, meant for chilling out with friends after work pairing wines, beers and cocktails to a wide range of finger food made from original Italian gourmet products.

In The Aperitivo Series Alta Cucina throws in also a friendly expert or Chef who introduces dishes and wines, talks about their traditional origins and about the differences with similar, non-Italian food products. Well done, it sounds like the series of Academia Barilla gourmet events, where our guests can always count on the presence of an Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist to ask questions to, and get precious Chef and Tasting Tips too.

Alta Cucina Inc’s CEO Amedeo Angiolillo, who has been interviewed for this blog post, invites also discovering the newly launched series of events Alta Cucina Dinners, featuring themed dinners prepared by Italian visiting Chefs in several restaurants of the US East Coast. The next Alta Cucina Dinners will be held in March at the Barbetta Restaurant (New York) and at the Cafe Oggi Restaurant (Washington, DC).

For more details and full schedule of events visit the Alta Cucina website.

We have introduced several times Academia Barilla’s Italian Culinary Specialist and TV Chef celebrity Mario Rizzotti, but we keep getting more and more content about his Italian food experience, and we want to share it with you.

Do you remember when we blogged about the “And they Came to Chicago: The American Italian Legacy”, the documentary produced by Chicago-based Modio Media? Now the documentary is available also on DVD and, if you are interested, you can order it online at the Modio Media’s site.

To better promote their documentary the guys at Modio Media published online some key video sequences, among which are a couple with our Mario Rizzotti, such as the one here below. Here Mario introduces Chicago Cooking instructors Dede Frank and Roseanne Pileggi, who teach a class on Italian-inspired cooking.

In this video Mario Rizzotti joins with them in the kitchen while they are preparing Linguine with Olive Oil, Capers, Lemon Zest and Anchovies - listen to the Chef tips from Dede and Roseanne, especially on how to make a perfect soffritto with the anchovies.

While hanging out in the kitchen, Mario offers his expert advice on how to taste extra-virgin olive oil, on avoid abusing garlic “not to kill food with it” as Mario says, or to pay attention to the cooking time of the pasta to make it “al dente”. Mario Rizzotti’s Chef tips include adding fresh Italian parsley and some bread crumbs at the end, “to add textures” as Mario explains.

Final note: the Italian extra virgin olive oil the Chef used in this recipe is Academia Barilla’s Monti Iblei, available also online at the Academia Barilla online store.

Buon appetito from Academia Barilla, and kudos to Modio Media for the great movie production!

After introducing the “Discover Barilla” project last week, we have another important announcement about our parent company’s online activity. Barilla, the world’s number one pasta maker, announced last week its second annual call on pasta lovers to help fight hunger in the United States with the launch of The Celebrity Italian Table Cookbook.

To create the cookbook, Barilla US asked 5 of America’s favorite celebrities, one of the world’s leading Italian chefs and the most prominent party planner in the U.S. to help celebrate the Italian Table in 6 different ways.

Hollywood celebrities Stanley Tucci, Marisa Tomei, Debra Messing, Natalie Portman and Chris Daughtry shared their favorite pasta dishes with us. Chef Mario Batali recreated these dishes and developed a special menu for each party, while David Tutera developed creative and stunning table designs to make each experience special.

Barilla’s Celebrity Italian Table Cookbook offers the following celebrity-inspired recipes and table settings:
- Romantic Night with Chris Daughtry’s Rigatoni with Basil and Gorgonzola
- Celebratory Feast with Debra Messing’s Penne alla Vodka
- Girlfriends Gathering with Natalie Portman’s Penne alla Puttanesca
- Dinner Party with Marisa Tomei’s Farfalle “alla Marisa”
- Family Dinner with Stanley Tucci’s Spaghetti al Tonno
- Babbo with Mario Batali’s restaurant favorite Fettuccine with Zucca

The Celebrity Italian Table Cookbook is available online for free download at www.celebrityitaliantable.com for the entire month of February. For every downloaded copy of the cookbook, Barilla will donate 1$ to America’s Second Harvest, the US Food Bank Network. To thank the celebrities for their participation, Barilla is also making an additional $5,000 donation to America’s Second Harvest on their behalf. Follow this link for a cookbook preview, or this link for a direct download.

Since 1997, Barilla has been a supporter of America’s Second Harvest, donating over 5 million pounds of pasta. Donations are distributed among more than 200 member food banks serving all 50 states, the District of Colombia and Puerto Rico.

“Today in America there are more than 35 million people, 12 million of whom are children, who are at risk of hunger,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of America’s Second Harvest. “We are grateful to have Barilla’s continued support for our fight against hunger. It’s easy to do your part by simply downloading this year’s cookbook.”

“Barilla is passionate about supporting hunger relief and passing on Italian traditions that show others how to bring people together around the table,” said Kirk Trofholz, president of Barilla US. “We are thrilled to partner again with America’s Second Harvest on this campaign and be part of such a highly worthwhile cause.”

Beside of the main fund raising for Second Harvest, The Celebrity Italian Table website proposes a photo contest, with the help of the online community of Gather.com: upload your Italian Table pictures on ItalianTable.Gather.com and every week a winner will receive a Barilla gift basket filled with pastas, sauces and olive oils. All weekly winners will be also eligible to win the grand prize of a $500 gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma. See the contest website for details.

More precious resources for all Italian food lovers are available at ItalianTable.Gather.com, such as premium articles by Barilla on how to host a pasta party, or the complete “Pasta 101: A Quick Guide for Making Perfect Pasta Every Time“.

Don’t forget to download your Celebrity Italian Cookbook today - your download will help Second Harvest, and will make all your friends happy next time you’ll invite them for an all-Italian, celebrity-inspired lunch or dinner!

We would to introduce you to one of our recent partners, the Denver-based Cook Street.

Located in the historic LoDo district of Denver, Colorado, Cook Street is a world renowned Chef school which delivers culinary training by focusing on hands-on learning, menu preparation, palate development, wine education, and by building a rich appreciation for the culture, history and heritage of great cuisine.

The Cook Street School of Fine Cooking offers an accelerated Professional Food & Wine Career Program, recreational cooking and wine classes for students of all skill and experience levels.

Cook Street also provides online resources for those who are looking for more info about the culinary world, and offers a directory of trusted (friendly) links to several operators in the food industry under categories such as Books, Food&Wine, Kitchenware, Restaurant Equipment, Nutrition and more.

Italian Food Lovers has been listed within the cooking classes category, that we remind you we regularly run all year-long at the Academia Barilla Culinary School in Parma, Italy, and across the United States in partnership with several local US food organizations. We will soon publish on Italian Food Lovers the updated calendar of 2008 cooking classes at our Parma Culinary School.