Cuisines of the world

The smell of bread in the towns of Tuscany is a distinctive feature of the region, like the cypresses on the hills, the skyline delineated by pine trees, the endless fields of sunflowers. What distinguishes Tuscan bread from its other counterparts is its lack of salt. Simply put, Tuscan bread is completely unleavened. There is a historical explanation for this. Back in the XII century, as a result of the so-called salt wars, which broke out due to an increase in the salt tax, the Tuscans refused to use salt as a sign of protest.

Even Dante in the XVII song of "Paradise" says how difficult it is for him, exiled from his native Florence, to get used to "foreign" salted bread (Lozinski's translation does not say a word about salt, but still: You will know how sorrowful a foreign scrap is to the lips, how difficult it is in a foreign land to go down and up the steps).

Cereals are the real passion of the Italians. First of all, there is a great variety of them, and an…

All kinds of puddings, creamy scones for afternoon tea, fish and chips, as well as seafood and game from Scotland are considered to be the iconic dishes of British cuisine.

And few people remember that in addition to all of the above in Britain make truly excellent cheeses, and English champagne wines are recognized as the best in international competitions.

The British have a special national love for cheese, and in this regard, Britain produces more than 700 varieties of this fermented dairy delicacy.

The most striking representatives of British cheese making are the sharp and fat blue Stilton, the right to make which only six cheese factories in the world have the right to make; Cornish Yarg in a spicy crumble or classic West Country Cheddar. And the most exquisite are the mild Stinking Bishop, known for its unusual flavor; the crumbly Caerphilly, a favorite of Welsh miners; or Caboc, a Scottish Highlander cheese served with oat…

A whole series of similar cakes with different names. Here, for example, is the "Curly Boy" cake. The boy is sometimes "curly" or grows into a "boy", but is still either curly or curly.

The base of the cake is a sponge cake cut into two layers. One becomes the base, and the second is cut into cubes of larger or smaller size and chaotically laid out on the surface of the base, trying to give the shape of a dome or hemisphere. These pieces form the "curls".

The whole cake can be properly soaked in syrup, the pieces are enough to sprinkle. Both parts, of course, are smeared with cream. The assembled cake is watered with frosting, and depending on its color, the "curly boy" turns out blond or brunette.

For the cake "Curly Boy" is suitable sponge cake, prepared according to any recipe. You can even take different ones, for example, white vanilla for the base and pieces of chocolate for "curls". And take differ…

Tolma is not just responsible. It is the absolution of sins. Those housewives who can make delicious tolma go straight to heaven. When you're in front of the gates of heaven, look to the right. There, behind the left wing of St. Peter's, there's a small gate. It's humble, very rustic. With a rusty, century-old latch. There's a tiny plaque above it. It reads, "Entrance for those who knew how to make tolma. Out of turn." If you look closely, you can see a tiny nail scrawled at the bottom: "And free of charge"! They say St. Peter once took a day off. Just for an hour. And for the whole hour he was replaced by St. Patrick. So he had a blast while no one was watching.

The tastiest tolma comes from fresh grape leaves, they're more tender. Since fresh leaves are a seasonal product, you have to buy pickled ones in winter. If you make tolma from pickled leaves, put less salt in the stuffing. Rinse each leaf thoroughly with running water. Be sure to pour boiling water over larg…

Here in Umbria, the cuisine is wild in the most positive sense of the word. It is simple, pristine and modestly limited to the current season. Forests, meadows and lakes offer their riches to the locals, and they do not hesitate to take advantage of it.

In almost every self-respecting restaurant you will find dishes from river fish caught in the Tiber River, lakes Transimeno and Piediluca, streams Fonti del Clitunno - trout, carp, perch, grayling, tench or eel. Their culinary treatment will be gentle and unobtrusive, as the Umbrians try to preserve the natural flavor of the fish as much as possible. They serve it fried or grilled, with tomato sauce, or stuffed, for example with herbs and pork fat, and then baked. Only garlic and local herbs - rosemary, parsley, fennel - are used among spices, and dry wine is added to the sauce. The same ensemble of ingredients (fish, tomatoes, olive oil, wine, herbs) can be found in fish chowder tegamaccio.

No less c…

Every year, the British Health Protection Agency (HPA) publishes a list of countries where tourists are most at risk of getting poisoned or catching a stomach infection. The top five worst countries are traditionally Egypt and India, followed by Thailand and Morocco. This year for the first time in the top five "leaders" was Turkey, displacing Tunisia in this alarming rating. It is important that the rating concerns only those countries that are included in the fifty most visited destinations by tourists. This means that almost everyone who likes vacationing in exotic resorts can be in the risk group. And who among us does not like it?

Water kills people

According to the research of the same NRA, the most stomach problems are caused not by some rare fugu fish, but by ordinary tap water. Its composition in each area is unique, and how the stomach can react to this "uniqueness" - unpredictable. In Egypt, Tunisia, Israel, tap water is dangerous to drink at all -…

A traditional Tunisian meal begins with harissa , a red pepper paste that the delicate tourist's throat usually cannot handle. Rarely a visitor, having grabbed harissa, will not start frantically searching the surroundings in search of something to extinguish the fire burning in his belly. And then he finds wine!

Wine is a bit strange to combine only with the king of Maghreb cuisine - couscous, because it is essentially porridge. But the rest of Tunisian food, which has combined North African and French traditions, urgently demands wine accompaniment. And it gets it: Tunisian winemaking is more than three thousand years old, so they understand wines here more than some people.

Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Alicante, Bouschet, Senso, Mourvedre and Muscat are the usual Tunisian grape varieties, while Cabernet, Merlot and Pinot Noir have arrived in the country relatively recently. A lot of quite fruit-bearing vines remember the French - some local vineyards are 50-60 y…

...Outside the high windows of Tuğra restaurant, the Bosphorus flows with imperial majesty, and seagulls circle over passing boats. Tuğra - a restaurant of Ottoman cuisine - is located in a real sultan's palace by the water, and its inhabitants for many centuries preferred to get home from the Bosphorus (in modern times, too, now it is the Çırağan Palace Kempinski Hotel). The entourage is appropriate. Dishes, for example, with the monogram of Sultan Abdul Mejit. Each ruler had his own utensils, some even had special porcelain that changed color if poison was added to the food. Well, there's no need for that at theTour.

There are only a few tables in the huge hall. A musician strums the strings of an ancient instrument. Dinner has not yet begun, but already served a tiny pie with goose liver, hot, freshly baked bread - and to it various tapenades, soufflé of three kinds of baked cheeses .... Finally, on a silver tray are brought appetizers - six dishes…

Japanese whisky

Whisky in Japan is called uisuki in English. This drink, which became popular in Japan after World War II, acquired its Japanese roots thanks to the skill and persistence of a man named Masataka Taketsuru. He was the one who was able to realize the idea of Japan producing its own whiskey.

These days, there are several producers of very high quality whiskey in Japan. In 2012, at the International Spirits Challenge (London), where I have had the honor of working as a judge for many years, two Japanese whiskies won the Trophy. They are The Hakushu Single Malt Whisky (25 years old) and The Yamazaki Single Malt Whisky (18 years old).

By the way, the Japanese practically do not drink whisky in its pure form, but dilute it with water in the proportion of one part of whisky - from 4 to 10 parts of water.

Japanese wines

The first documentary evidence of the production of an alcoholic beverage from plums of the ume(umeshu) variety dates …

We'll start with the famous Andalusian cold soup of pureed vegetables and olive oil - known worldwide as gazpacho. Based on the simple food of the rural laborer - stale bread, olive oil and garlic - gazpacho andaluz is as old as the land of Andalusia itself. Most likely, the great-great-granddaddy (or rather, great-great-grandmother) of this refreshing raw vegetable salad soup, remotely reminiscent of okroshka or cold borscht, is a kind of Roman turia made of water, bread and olive oil. Even the very name gazpacho, according to many experts, goes back to the Latin panis - bread. However, others believe that the roots of gazpacho lie in the Mosarabian word caspa - "pieces". There are also those who claim that the word gazpacho comes from the Hebrew gazaz - to break into pieces....

The most primitive recipe is quite simple and somewhat resembles the preparation of Russian turi - bread is poured with water and then added olive oil, garlic crushed in a mortar, salt and…