Tradition in Italian Cuisine

The reason so many people fall in love with Italy has much to do with its cuisine. Italian cooking has been influenced by diverse groups of people and places, historically and in modern times. The Americas, for instance, had a huge influence on Italian cuisine. Tomato sauce, polenta, and anything piccante (hot) would not exist in Italian cuisine without the introduction of tomatoes, maize (corn), and peppers—all plants native to the Americas.

The world has adopted parts of Italy's cuisine, but not the structure of its meals. In Italy a meal is a leisurely sequence of events served in courses on separate plates, each appearing in the appropriate sequence. Americans often find it frustrating for a meal to be so lengthy, but, for Italians, dinner is often the main event and the focus of celebrations.

The cooking style is usually quite simple. There are no really elaborate sauces, and what sauces do exist are used only in small amounts, just enough to moisten pasta or delicately anoint meat or fish. Italian chefs claim, with some justification, that the secret to Italian cooking is “sapori e saperi” (flavors and skills), which implies doing little to excellent fresh ingredients.

It's not for nothing that the "slow food" movement started in Italy. This movement was founded, as the organization's Web site (www.slowfood.com) puts it, to counter "fast food and fast life." Classic Italian food is often of the "slow" kind. Think of pots of luscious ragu, polenta and osso buco (veal shanks), simmering for hours on the stove. It follows logically, then, that the slow cooker is an excellent vehicle for cooking Italian.

Vocabulary:

diverse – різноманітний

Americas – Аметика, США

рolenta – полента (каша з кукурудзи)

piccante – пікантний, пряний

maize – маїс (кукурудза)

peppers – перці

leisurely – неквапливий

course – порядок подачі страв

appropriate sequence - відповідна послідовність

frustrating – марно

lengthy – довгий

elaborate – детальний, детально розроблений

amount – кількість

moisten – зволожити

pasta – паста (макаронні вироби з соусом)

anoint – змастити, приправити

claim – заявляти

justification – виправдання

flavors and skills - аромати і навички

imply - мати на увазі

It's not for nothing – Це не даремно…

to counter - для протистояння

pots of luscious ragu - горщики солодкого рагу

veal shanks – телячі гомілки

simmer – кипіти

stove – піч

excellent vehicle – чудовий засіб, провідник

Спеціальність: Музичне мистецтво