venerdì 21 gennaio 2011

Carnival Masks


Carnival Masks

"A Carnevale Ogni Scherzo Vale". It means: anything goes at carnevale. It is rarely said aloud, for the words would be wasted, redundant. Before Lent, before Ash Wednesday, before Easter, there is Mardi Gras - and nowhere is the party more boisterous than Carnevale in Venice Italy. There are lavish parades, luxuriant masquerade balls, and spontaneous parties in the streets as the celebration lasts for almost two weeks. Costumes and masks abound, both ornate and simple. The point is not always the gaudiness of the fabric or the construction of the Carnevale masks, but the anonymity they provide the bearer with. With your mask on, you are pardoned your sins. With the mask on, anything goes.

Time becomes elastic and untrustworthy during Carnevale in Venice Italy. Stand around anywhere long enough, and it becomes a party. A roving band sets up next to a makeshift table of free food. Within minutes there will be revelers in dark capes - suddenly the party has found you. Confetti is everywhere, cascading towards the ground by the handful, resting in piazza corners next to sleeping backpackers, in the surrounding canals of the Adriatic, lying quietly beneath the occasional snowfall. The mountains in the background give the festivities a majestic, regal sheen at twilight, but the scenery is merely a footnote to the party enveloping you. The crowds are intense, immeasurable, and they seem to be participating as subjects in a study of sleep deprivation. By the third or fourth day, you wonder how long this can continue everyday, from mid-morning until well into the small hours after midnight. But the enthusiasm of Carnevale in Venice is heightened with each passing day, and will grow at exponential rates until the great bells of San Francesco della Vigna, signaling the commencement of Ash Wednesday, end the merrymaking.

The roots of Venice Carnevale lie midway through the 12th century, when a festival was held the day before Ash Wednesday to commemorate a vital Venetian military victory. The celebration became an annual tradition, developing until 1268, when the first Venice Carnevale masks were said to have been donned. The masks shielded the wearers not only from their sins, but also from displaying their social status, thrusting the city into an egalitarian frenzy every year until 1797, when the conquering Napoleon disbanded the festivities.

But the spirit of Venice Carnevale would rise again. The city resuscitated the festival in 1980 in hopes of boosting the tourist-based economy during the quiet winter months. Its return has been welcomed by most of the city, though it is a little more sedate than its heyday. Though millions descend on the city each year, many are there to merely gawk, not participate. Some participate halfheartedly, with a few swift strokes of make up hastily scrawled on their face by one of the ubiquitous make up artists found throughout the piazzas. Some buy a cheap mask from a nearby merchant"s cart, hoping no one will notice the sweatshirt and jeans they are wearing below. But how many in the city really care? During Carnevale in Venice Italy, the focus is on fun, on movement, on the release of inhibitions in a roaring atmosphere that happens only once a year, or for many - only once in a lifetime.

@destination360

lunedì 17 gennaio 2011

ITALIAN LASAGNE

LASAGNE


Lasagna

Lasagna on a plate with the rippled layers of pasta visible.
Lasagna (plural Lasagne) is a classic Italian pasta casserole dish which consists of alternate layers of pasta, cheese, a sauce, and often other ingredients.
Typical of the cuisine of Italy, many regional variations exist.
In some areas, especially in the southern regions of Italy, the sauce is likely to be a simple tomato sauce or a ragù, whereas in other areas, particularly in Northern Italy, a Béchamel sauce is used.
The word applies to both the dish and the sheets of pasta used.
Lasagna is singular, whereas lasagne is plural.
In the UK, as in Italy, the plural term (lasagne) is used for the dish.
Lasagne verdi means "green lasagne" (indicating that the pasta incorporates cooked spinach), and has nothing to do with Giuseppe Verdi.
The word lasagna, which originally applied to a cooking pot, now simply describes the food itself.



Origin

There are two theories on the origin of lasagna, both denoting an ancient Greek dish.
The main theory is that lasagna comes from Greek λάγανον (laganon), a flat sheet of pasta dough cut into strips.
The word λαγάνα (lagana) is still used in Greek to mean a flat thin type of unleavened bread.
The other theory is that the word lasagna comes from the Greek λάσανα (lasana) or λάσανον (lasanon) meaning "trivet or stand for a pot", "chamber pot".
The Romans borrowed the word as "lasanum", in Latin meaning "cooking pot".
The Italians used the word to refer to the dish in which lasagna is made. Later the name of the food took on the name of the serving dish.
A recipe for what was called "loseyns" consisting of layered pasta and cheese was featured in the first cookbook ever published in England during the 14th century, leading some to believe that the dish was first formulated in the British Isles.


Lasagne

Materials:
9 lasagne strips
1/2 lb. of Ricotta cheese
1/3 crumbled Mozzarella cheese 1/2 lb. of Parmesan cheese
2 T. of olive oil
Italian Meat Sauce Ingredient:
1/4 C. of olive oil
1 lb. of ground beef
2 C. of diced tomatoes 2 C. of tomato paste
1/3 C. of beef stock 1 C. of sliced mushrooms
1 T. of fresh basil 1 bay leaf
1 t. of salt 1/4 t. of black pepper
1 T. of chopped garlic
Procedures:
Prepare Italian meat sauce: Heat 1/4 C. of olive oil, add chopped garlic, ground beef, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, beef stock, salt, black pepper, and bay leaf.
Simmer the sauce uncover about 1 hour.
Add sliced mushrooms, basil in the last 15 minutes.
Remove and set aside.
Cook strips of lasagne in boiling water and add 2 T. of olive oil. Stir occasionally. Cook about 10-15 minutes. Drain and separate the lasagne strips.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spread a layer of the sauce, then a layer of pasta, in a rectangle baking dish.
Cover with a sprinkling of each of the three cheese.
Continue to build layers.
Make sure to have enough meat sauce to cover the final layer of the pasta and enough Parmesan cheese to dust the top.
Bake about 30 to 40 minutes.
Let it stands briefly before cutting and serving.

venerdì 7 gennaio 2011

Venice Carnival (preview)

A small preview of what will be in Venice next few days ....



mercoledì 5 gennaio 2011

Venice SPRITZ the original ... !!!


Spritz (alcoholic beverage)

The Spritz (German: "splash" / "sparkling") is a wine-based cocktail commonly served as an aperitif in northern Italy, especially in the Veneto region and surrounding areas.
The drink is prepared with white wine or Prosecco wine, a dash of some bitter liqueur such as Aperol, Campari, Gran Classico, Select or Cynar.
The glass is then topped off with sparkling mineral water.
It is usually served over ice in a lowball glass (or sometimes a martini glass or wine glass) and garnished a slice of orange, or sometimes an olive, depending on the liqueur.
Another variation of the drink uses champagne with the liqueur rather than wine.
The drink originated in Venice while it was part of the Austrian Empire, and is based on the Austrian Spritzer, a combination of equal parts white wine and soda water.
More recently it became the traditional drink of the students of the University of Padua.

Aperol

Aperol is an Italian aperitif originally produced by the Barbieri company, based in Padua.
Aperol is now produced by the Campari company.
While Aperol was originally created in 1919, it did not become successful until after World War II.
Its ingredients are, among others, bitter orange, gentian, rhubarb, and cinchona.
Although it looks, tastes, and smells much like Campari, it has a higher sugar content.
Aperol has an alcohol content of 11% - a little less than half of Campari.
Campari is also slightly darker in color.
Aperol is the main ingredient in Spritz.


Critical Acclaim

Although it has not been frequently submitted to spirit ratings competitions, in two recent submissions, Aperol received high marks.
In 2007, Wine Enthusiast rated Aperol in its 90-95 point category.
At the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the Aperol received a dougle-gold medal—the highest available award