(ANSA) - Pavia, May 3 - Gently press a dozen mint leaves, a
spoonful of lime juice, and a healthy dose of sugar together at
the bottom of a glass, and you are on your way to a refreshing
summer cocktail.
"Just add soda, ice and grappa," says Cesare Mazzetti,
president of Italy's National Grappa Institute.
"Not rum. That would be a mojito. This is a moschito," he
tells ANSA in an interview.
(ANSA) - Monigo del Garda, May 2 - Italy may be one of the
world's largest wine producers but rose' is a variety often
overlooked by those in search of a rich red Barolo or Venetian
pinot grigio.
Now wine producers in the Lake Garda region between Verona
and Brescia are leading a push to give this delicate,
pink-coloured wine the attention they think it deserves in Italy
and abroad.
Lake Garda is Italy's largest lake and one of the most
popular tourist attractions in the north of the country.
(ANSA) - Luxembourg, April 27 - The European Commission on
Friday said Italy was now in line with European Union norms on
'pure chocolate' labels and would avoid a fine.
Roger White, spokesman for Farm Commissioner Dacian Ciolos,
told ANSA that "Brussels has decided to shelve the infraction
procedure, averting a fresh recourse to the European Court of
Justice (ECJ) as well as pecuniary sanctions".
In 2010 the ECJ condemned Italy for using 'pure chocolate'
labels on products made solely from cocoa butter.
The court said the labels might mislead consumers.
(ANSA) - Rome, April 20 - Italians have fallen back on pasta
amid the economic crisis, eating more of the classic and cheap
staple than more expensive items, farmers' association
Coldiretti said Friday.
"Pasta is on back on the menu for 10 million Italians every
day," it said, highlighting a 4.7% rise in pasta sales in the
first three months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.
(ANSA) - Rome, April 13 - Dripping with chocolate, covered
with strawberries or laden with cream, there is a gelato to
tease the tastebuds of every ice-cream lover.
It's no surprise to learn that thousands of foreign
tourists who come to Rome take time out to scour the cobbled
streets of the Italian capital in search of the perfect gelato.
Historians seem to be divided about whether it was the
Greeks or the Egyptians who pioneered the icy delight.
(ANSA) - Milan, October 4 - Italy's most famous chef is
working at McDonald's.
Gualtiero Marchesi, the first chef in Italy to earn three
Michelin stars, announced Tuesday he had created two hamburgers
and a dessert for the Italian menu of the world's biggest fast
food chain.
"I simply asked what and where young people were going to
eat," said the Milanese master chef. "They were very simple
questions which led to my decision to team up with McDonald's".
(ANSA) - Rome, August 29 - Italian wine producers are
predicting a season of "excellent quality" in 2011 although
total wine volume may be 5% lower due to high summer
temperatures.
The forecast came from the Assoenologi, the Italian
association of enologists, and is expected to give wine
producers a boost after a recent fall in domestic wine sales.
"There is a certain homogeneity in almost all the regions in
2011, but it's possible we'll produce a high-quality harvest,"
said Giuseppe Martelli, director general of Assoenologi.
(ANSA) - Rome, August 5 - Italy's grape harvest has begun
early due to warmer seasonal temperatures with producers
expecting a good season that should reinforce the country's
position as the world's leading wine producer.
Picking has begun in the northern Franciacorta area near
Brescia where the white grapes produce some of Italy's best
sparkling wine, made using the traditional or champenoise method
used for French champagne in which the wine is fermented inside
the bottle.
Tuesday July 12 I had the pleasure of attending the Fancy Food Show. What a nice surprise it was.
I was expecting to see just a few Italian companies, but there were over 250 vendors of Italian food. Many companies came over from Italy while other sent their representative here in the US. I have been living in America a long time and I am not fond of Italian-American food, preferring the authentic Italian food.
(ANSA) - Rome, July 8 - Italian scientists and farmers have developed a black, anti-aging "super tomato", the Coldiretti farmers association said Friday.
According to Coldiretti, the "Sun Black" tomato is rich in lycopene, a red pigment that is one of the most powerful antioxidants known to fight against aging and prevent cardiovascular diseases.
The tomatoes will be commercially available within a few days.
Coldiretti will unveil the super fruit at the headquarters in Rome Wednesday morning.
(ANSA) - Rome, July 7 - Exports of Italian food and wine
have started to outstrip those of cars, motorbikes, tractors and
other vehicles, the Coldiretti farmers association said
Thursday.
In the first quarter of the year, it said, agro exports
amounted to 7.1 billion euros while automotive exports were no
higher than 6.6 billion euros.
Over the last five years, Coldiretti said, Italian food and
wine exports rose 23% while motor vehicle exports fell 11%.
(ANSA) - Rome, June 20 - Muslims can now feast on one of
Italy's best-loved gastronomic delights, mozzarella, without any
fear they are breaking Islamic Law.
For the first time a producer of the famous cheese from
Campania, the La Baronia company based at Castel di Sasso near
Caserta, has won certification that its mozzarella is halal -
made in accordance with the dictums of Sharia.
(ANSA) - Rome, June 17 - Italian Health Minister Ferruccio
Fazio ate a hamburger in public Friday to reassure consumers
amid an E. coli bacteria scare in France.
"As long as these patties are cooked at the proper
temperature there's absolutely no risk," Fazio told reporters.
Overnight Italian food-hygiene police in Verona seized
1,500 hamburgers ready for distribution by the German-based
supermarket chain at the centre of the scare, LIDL.
(ANSA) - Rome, June 13 - Italy last year overtook France to
become the world's biggest wine producer and data for this year
show a surge in Italian wine exports, the Coldiretti farmers'
union reported.
Citing data from the European Union, Coldiretti said the
last harvest produced 49.6 million hectolitres of wine in Italy
compared to 46.2 million hectolitres in France.
EU wine production in 2010 totalled 157.2 billion
hectolitres, down 3.7% from the previous year, Coldiretti added.
(ANSA) - Rome, June 6 - Connoisseurs of Italian art,
architecture and scenery know that the country has just as many
treasures hidden away in small country towns as it does in the
museums, monuments and cathedrals of Rome, Venice and Florence.
It is a similar story with Italian wine.
While Chianti, Barolo and Prosecco are winning more and
more fans abroad, these flagship products are just a small part
of what Italy has to offer the serious wine lover.
