Tempting Your Taste Buds Italian-Style!

    BRIGHTON, ENGLAND, June 26, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Freshly made Italian pasta is a world away from the packet spaghetti and boxed lasagne sheets most of us rely on for a quick mid-week supper! But did you know that every region has its unique pasta "shape" that can't usually be found anywhere else, even within Italy? Visit the Veneto and you're likely to come across bigoli, a sort of ultra-chunky spaghetti, usually served with a meat sauce. In Piedmont, by comparison, the local pasta is al plin, best described as wafer-thin sophisticated ravioli.

You could be forgiven for thinking that the ubiquitous cantuccini biscuits go hand in hand with mid morning coffee, but the good people of Tuscany would strongly disagree! Here, these deliciously sweet delicacies are dipped into vin santo (a highly potent dessert wine) to finish off a meal. We think they've got the right idea!

Most UK supermarkets and decent off-licences now sell the Italian lemon liqueur, limoncello, but there's no substitution for the real thing! An after-dinner digestif from the Amalfi Coast - the lemons are traditionally from Sorrento - it is served in small, again chilled, ceramic glasses (the Amalfi is also a renowned centre for ceramic production).

If you're visiting Sardinia this summer, then be sure to try out bottarga (fish roe) sprinkled on pasta - a local specialty. You're also likely to be offered pane carasau, a thin and crispy flat bread, traditionally favoured by shepherds (the low water content meant it would stay fresh for ages), but now handed out in most cafes and restaurants along with the usual grissini bread sticks.

Bread is also an indispensable component of the Umbrian culinary tradition, and is available in all sorts of sizes and descriptions. We'd urge you to try pan nociato, a specialty made with pecorino cheese, walnuts and pine kernels, or the local torta al testo con i ciccioli, a typical focaccia bread baked on a stone disk and stuffed with the little pieces of pork obtained when melting the fat to make lard. It's one of the tastiest, most intriguing delicacies found in this corner of the world.

Apulian olive oil is one of the finest olive oils we've found. For a simple taste of Puglia, tear off a generous piece of local rustic bread, such as Altumura, and dip it into one of the many provincial oil varieties such as Coratina, Cima di Bitonto or L'Olio di Peranzana.

We challenge anyone not to be tempted by a Sicilian pastry shop window! Among the vast array of pastries to choose from, the most prized is definitely the cassata. Made from sponge, chocolate, sweetened ricotta, candied fruit and nuts, the cassata is usually decorated with thick icing or marzipan and covered with brightly coloured candied fruits. And no trip to Sicily would be complete without sampling torrone, the mouth-watering honey-and-nuts nougat that is made in a wide range of varieties across the island.

So, now you have my favourite Italian delicacies! But I'm sure you will come across many more of your own, so do feel free to share them with me and I promise to pass them on to future Headwater visitors!

Enjoy!

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Call us today on 01606 720199 or visit our website at www.headwater.com

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