Italian Food Lovers

We run out of recipes from the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Garden Chef Series and the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend, at least for this year - next year we’ll make sure to have one of our bloggers from the Italian Food Lovers editorial team on site, so we can actually video the Chef demos and interview the Chefs (not while they demo, of course).

First of all, we would like to say thank you to Barilla USA’s Chef Lorenzo Boni, Trattoria N. 10’s Chef Doug D’Avico, Francesca Restaurants’ Executive Chef Laura Piper, Pinstripes’ Chef Mark Grimes and Mado’s Chef Rob Levitt for sharing their recipes with us. Thank you again, see you again on Italian Food Lovers!

Just to recap, this year we had the pleasure to publish on Italian Food Lovers recipes for 7 gourmet dishes. Did you try any of them at home? 

• Sautéed Wild Mushrooms Bruschetta
• Grilled Baby Octopus with Watercress Salad and Oranges
• Farfalle Piccolini Pasta Salad
• Linguine Fagottaro Pasta Salad
• Lobster Bread Salad
• Chicken Parmesan with Campanelle Pasta
• Grilled Peach and Prosciutto with Parmigiano-Reggiano and Bulsamic Must

Also, we have to say thank you to Stephanie Sette from the Academia Barilla USA Marketing Team (in the picture above) for getting all the content together for us (she does it all the time with the US events content, by the way) and of course also to Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist Mario Rizzotti, who has been conducing several rounds of educational and tasting demos during the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend.

In these pictures taken during the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend Mario Rizzotti shares his Italian culinary knowledge with the show participants, teaching them how to professionally taste some of the best Italian gourmet products, such Italian extra virgin olive oils and traditional Italian cheese specialties such as Parmigiano-Reggiano and the several varieties of Pecorino, from Sardinian Pecorino Dolce to Pecorino Toscano DOP and Pecorino Sardo Gran Cru. Follow the link to see more pictures of Mario Rizzotti’s tasting demos at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

A final thank you goes of course also to all the guests and visitors and participated to the Chicago’s Chef show. If you liked the Italian cooking and Italian food culture you experienced at the Chicago Botanic Garden, you now you can find it also here on Italian Food Lovers all year round!

Also remember that you can experience the flavor and taste of Academia Barilla’s Italian gourmet food specialties all year round too, they are all available at the Academia Barilla online store, where you can also find Italian cookbooks, Chef tools, Italian gastronomy gift boxes and gift certificates!

Today, following the example of Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist Mario Rizzotti, who loves to educate about the authenticity of Italian gourmet food products, we would like to focus our and your attention on the three different strengths of Parmigiano-Reggiano, as classified by their aging process and by the authenticity stamp on display on the product, as regulated by the Italian Consortium for Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Mild and smooth, full-flavoured and crumbly or aromatic and spicy with a grainy texture. When you choose Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP the authenticity stamps indicating the cheese’s maturity will help you in picking up the right cheese for your recipe.

The Red Stamp is the authenticity label awarded to Parmigiano-Reggiano wheels matured for more than 18 months.

These cheeses have a distinctive milk base at the taste, with vegetable notes such as grass, cooked vegetables, flowers and fruit.

18-months old Parmigiano-Reggiano It is best served diced with aperitifs, and in particular dry white wines, and as a side serving to fresh fruit such as pears and green apples.

The Silver Stamp indicates an aging process of at least 22 months.

The flavor of this Parmigiano-Reggiano is more distinctive, with notes of melted butter, fresh fruit, citrus fruits and overtones of dried fruit. Balanced mild yet full-flavored at the taste, Silver Stamp Parmigiano-Reggiano reveals a crumbly, grainy texture.

It is best served with quite firmly structured red wines and it offers its best when served as Parmesan petals in fruit salad drizzled with aged Traditional Balsamic Vinegar di Modena. 
The 22-months old Parmigiano-Reggiano may also be served with dried fruit, especially prunes and dried figs.

The Gold Stamp authenticity label is awarded to Parmigiano-Reggiano which has been matured for more than 30 months.

This extra-strong cheese with the highest nutritional values has a drier, crumblier and grainier texture, and a strong flavor with notes of spices and dried fruit.

For such a distinctive cheese, full-bodied, firmly structured red wines, white dessert wines from partially dried grapes and sipping wines are ideal. It is perfect when served with aged Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and with different kinds of honey.

To know more about how Parmigiano-Reggiano is made and how to taste Parmigiano-Reggiano professionally and its aging and certification process please visit the blog posts we dedicated to the subject at the beginning of last year (just follow the links).

Or, join one of the many gastronomy and cultural tours organized directly by Academia Barilla or with other partners (VIP Tours, Sur La Table) to discover the century-old production secrets of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

If you want to aim straight at the products, then we suggest to visit the Academia Barilla online store, where you can find authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano aged 18 months, both as whole Parmigiano wheel (72 lb.) and in the practical cuts of 2.2 lbs and 8.8 lbs. Of course you can also find the aged Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena to taste with your Parmigiano-Reggiano!

Enjoy the pleasure of the king of cheeses with Academia Barilla!

Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist and Iron Chef Judge Mario Rizzotti is back on TV for another educational session on how to recognize authentic traditional Italian cheeses from fakes.

TV Host Vince Gerasole invited Mario Rizzotti for a special extra insight on CBS2 Chicago’s popular food show Table for Two. You can watch the entire video segment from the TV show at this link - we couldn’t embed it, but we got some screenshots for you, and we can summarize the Italian food insight and tips shared by Mario Rizzotti at the show.

Mario started presenting Parmigiano Reggiano, the king of cheeses, as something totally different from what you get “in the green can”, as asked by Vince Gerasole. Parmigiano Reggiano, tells Rizzotti, has more than 900 years of history, as recorded by historic menus and publications. Parmigiano Reggiano is entirely made of specially-fed cows in the area of Parma, and shouldn’t be confused with “Parmesan cheese“, a sort of mass production product for the export markets.

To recognize the authentic Parmigiano Reggiano, as Mario Rizzotti reminds, it is enough to check the external part of the wheel, that must feature the “Parmigiano Reggiano” original print all around.

But the major revelation about the authenticity of the product comes with the tasting. Parmigiano Reggiano must be cut into blocks (chunks) to fully appreciate its crunchiness and sandiness, the latter created by the amino-acids released by the proteins of the high-quality milk used for its production.

The quality of the ingredients and its rich flavor make Parmigiano Reggiano a great choice for many applications: grated or shaved on pasta, as an aperitivo with a glass of wine and, as told by Mario Rizzotti, also as a “munchie” for young babies aged 6 months, because of the good milk, that carries great calcium and protein for kids.

Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist Mario Rizzotti also introduced other Italian regional cheeses, focusing on all the varieties of Pecorino (Romano, Toscano, Sardinian, Sweet), the popular cheese made of sheep’s milk cheese.

To counterbalance the tasting of Parmigiano Reggiano, Mario Rizzotti invited TV Host Vince Gerasole to taste Academia Barilla’s Pecorino Gran Cru, which is the first sheep’s milk cheese produced with the same production technique and aging process used for Parmigiano Reggiano, making it… the king of sheep’s milk cheeses!

You can find Academia Barilla’s Parmigiano Reggiano (both in wedges or as a whole wheel) and Pecorino Gran Cru at the Academia Barilla online store, and at the best gourmet food and specialty stores in the United States.

If you want to catch up with Mario Rizzotti, you have two choices: check your local listing to see him in action as a Judge for Iron Chef America, or meet him in person for an Italian food demo at the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend at the Chicago Botanic Garden this weekend!

Napa Valley in Los Angeles? You may think this is not possible, and certainly it would be impossible if it wasn’t for our friends at Learn About Wine, who have been promoting Wine Culture in the Los Angeles area for the last few years.

This is not the first time Academia Barilla partners Learn About Wine (LAW) for a food and wine tasting event in Southern California, as some of our blog readers can recall.

Academia Barilla’s Italian Culinary Specialist Francesco Zimone is always ready to join our friends at LAW to set up a tasting event with some of our delicious Italian food specialties.

Tomorrow, Friday March 7, between 7.30pm and 9.30pm PST, Francesco will be joining again Learn About Wine for a special event in Culver City, Los Angeles, where Napa Valley wines will meet gourmet food.

The list of Napa Valley wines available for tasting is impressive, and if you are a wine lover who lives in the area you should try not to miss this event. Check LAW’s website for the full list of Napa Valley wines available at the event, that you can enjoy while tasting samples of Academia Barilla’s Italian extra virgin olive oils and Balsamic Vinegars of Modena.

The address for the Learn About Wine event is HD Buttercup in Culver City, 3225 Helms Ave at Venice Blvd. A Google Map to the event is provided here below for your driving direction needs.

Entry fee is $60 per person / $100 per couple (online only), while TASTE Members pay only $48 (find more info about the very valuable LAW membership programs at LearnAboutWine.com).

Get your ticket in advance, as entry fee at the door will rise up to $75 per person. For more information and booking you can also call Learn About Wines at (+1) 310-451-7600.