Amaretti
Si narra che nel 1718 il Cardinale di Milano decise di recarsi in visita al Santuario della Beata Vergine dei Miracoli di Saronno. In onore della sua visita una giovane coppia preparò un impasto a base di zucchero, armelline e bianco d’uovo che, fatto lievitare in forno, diede origine a dei biscotti tondi che vennero chiamati amaretti.
The legend says that in 1718 the Cardinal of Milan went to visit the Sacred Place of “Beata Vergine dei Miracoli” in Saronno, a city in the Lombardy Region. To honor his visit, a newlywed couple prepared a special dough made out of sugar, eggs white, and apricot/peach kernels, and baked it in the oven. The rounded amaretti biscuits were born. The apricot/peach kernels have a bitter taste, and can be poisonous if eaten in large quantity. Today, you can use bitter almonds, which are a variety of sweet almonds.
Fiolaro Broccoli
Fiolaro Broccoli are a particular broccoli that grows only on a small hill close by Vicenza, our hometown. The Fiolaro Broccoli derives its name from the sprouts along the stem of the plant, in Venetian dialect “Fioi” that means children. The Fiolaro broccoli is also a Slow Food Presidia. Slow Food is a worldwide known Italian association that aims to protect the biodiversity, the territories, and the knowledge of traditional productions. The Fiolaro Broccoli is at risk of disappearing because currently there are only two main producers. That is why it is so important to eat seasonal and local!
Mascarpone
Mascarpone is an Italian soft cheese made from cream and resembling cream cheese, that is coagulated by the addition of acidic substances such as lemon juice or citric acid. It is recognized in Italy as a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT) (“traditional agri-food product”). Mascarpone originated in the southwest area of Milan (Italy), probably in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century. Popularly, the name is held to derive from mascarpa, an unrelated milk product made from the whey of stracchino (a young, barely aged cheese), or from mascarpia, a word in the local dialect for ricotta. Ricotta, unlike mascarpone, is made from milk rather than cream.
