Cooking: -italian Cooking is One of the World's Great Cooking Traditions

Pasta, pesto, parmagiana, Parmesan - all greatdon't need to go for an expensive one. It's such a
Italian cooking ingredients. And all beginning with 'p'.simple recipe that it's not worth paying twice as
Which is appropriate because Italian cooking, for allmuch for a premium brand. Neither should you
its pretensions, is derived from a strong peasantbuy a ready-made tomato sauce with a lot of
tradition? This is not to downgrade it; far from it.extra herbs. For can visit to: you can add these
Italian cooking is based on colourful, fragrantyourself, giving you at least some control over
ingredients that have been farmed in Italy forthe taste of the final dish.
centuries. For more details go to: Appealing to3. Pasta This is an absolute essential. If you have
children and adults alike, Italian cooking is one ofa family, pasta is always a surefire winner. It's
the world's great cooking traditions that has trulyquick to prepare, easy to vary the final dish and
burst out of its national boundaries and conqueredchildren love it. Although fresh pasta costs three
the globe - a little like the Roman centurions didtimes more than dried varieties, Italians buy dried
two and a half millenia ago.pasta, unless their grandmamas make it from
But despite its fertile volcanic soil and rich imperialscratch - something that happens less and less
past, the Italian cooking tradition that we all knowoften. Dried spaghetti, macaroni, penna, shells or
and love arose not from the wealthy North butlasagne is easy to store for a long time, so you
from the impoverished, arid south. While anythingcan always keep plenty in stock.
will grow in the valleys of Tuscany, it proved too4. Parmesan This is simply a must. You can add it
costly to grow potatoes in Napoli and the rest ofas a topping to any pasta dish, no matter what
Southern Italy. But growing hardy durum wheatthe recipe. Avoid the pre-grated packets of
was quite easy. The result? Pasta and pizza.parmesan and go for the whole chunks: grating it
If you want to get into Italian cooking in a bigdirectly onto the top of your pasta is part of the
way, you need to stock up on the staples. Andritual Italian cooking.
one of the good things about Italian cooking is5. Olive Oil You really don't need to go for
that the basic ingredients are readily available andexpensive extra virgin olive oil. While extra virgin
easy to store. Here's a quick summary view ofolive oil is great for making salad dressings, it
some of the key ingredients of the Italian cookingdoesn't taste so good when it's heated up. You
tradition:get an acrid burnt taste quite easily. For making
1. Garlic This is almost ubiquitous in Italian cooking.sauces and frying fresh meat or poultry, go for
You need to store it in a cool, dry place, but itan ordinary olive oil which, despite its yellowish
shouldn't be refrigerated. Garlic goes mouldyhue, tastes better when heated and still contains
quickly in damp conditions. When you're shoppingall the goodness of its more refined cousin. Oh,
for garlic, look for bulbs that are free from theand it's as little as half the price.
dark, grainy discolouration at the bottom. This is aItalian cooking is one of the easiest of the
sign of age and the fact that it is being attackedrecognised and celebrated world cooking traditions.
by mould.The ingredients are easy to shop for, easy to
2. Tomato sauce Keep your tomato sauce simple.store and, most importantly, easy to eat - in
It's always best to use fresh ingredients -great quantities. And as long as you keep to fresh
remember that Italian cooking is like a good wine:vegetables and salads in your recipes, it is one of
you want to taste the sunshine. If you do havethe healthiest diets on Earth.
to buy a ready-made tomato sauce in a jar, you