My father used to say: It’s all about the best quality ingredients you have in your kitchen to create a tasty recipe.

And I feel so lucky that since my childhood my palate got to experience the True Italian Taste! This makes it very easy today to recognize if a product derives from genuine and high-quality ingredients.

Now you can ask, how can you recognize an original Italian product?
To recognize real Italian products you have to read PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) or D.O.P. It stands for Denominazione di Origine Protetta (literally Protected Designation of Origin.

According to latest market insights, the most copied Italian product is Parmigiano Reggiano, followed by Prosciutto di Parma and San Daniele, but also, Grana Padano cheese, Mozzarella di Bufala, Asiago and Gorgonzola cheese are copied.

Pay attention on the labels and the packaging. If you read “traditional ham” or “country ham” for example, usually they aren’t real Italian products.

100% Made in Italy products combined with creativity make the magic happen in the kitchen!

On this occasion, Chef Cristian Pratelli from Casa Artusi and presenter Sara Bello provided a group of media experts with their expertise during an online cooking class organized by the Italian Chamber of Commerce from Geneva & Zurich under the motto: Authentic Italian Table. Chef Cristian used a selection of fantastic Italian products we had received at home, too.

Can you imagine how high my heart jumped when I got delivered the True Italian Taste box full of flavours?

This is what the box included:

A white wine called Greco di Tufo – L’arietta Vinosia from the Campania Region!
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A Franciacorta from the company Ca’del Bosco
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A Moscato sweet wine with bubbles called “Dolce Le Rughe”
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Oliixir Biologic Extra virgin Olive Oil from Sicily distributed by Foodforhealth in Switzerland
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Pacchetelle di Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio DOP
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Olive Caiazzane Nuova Eden – Agricola San Giovanni Antonio
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Conchiglie Pasta di Gragnano – Afeltra
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Ceci di Controne – Chickpeas from Michele Ferrante – Controne (Salerno)
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Risotto rice from Risoacquerello
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Parmigiano Reggiano 24 month Consorzio Vacche rosse

What would you create with Conchiglie pasta, tomato sauce, eggplants, Parmigiano Reggiano and Mozzarella di Bufala?

Chef Cristian inspired me a lot with the preparation of the crunchy rice paddies paired with hummus & Friarielli. By now I had never stuffed Conchiglie pasta with mozzarella di Bufala &  eggplant! Watch how I prepared the Conchiglie here.

How to prepare the Conchiglie pasta

Ingredients:

• 200 gr of Conchiglie Pasta Afeltra
• 1 aubergine
• 250 gr Pacchetelle di Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio DOP
• 2 Mozzarella di Bufala (ca. 125 gr each)
• fresh basil
• Biologic Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Oliixir

Preparation:

• Boil the Conchiglie for ca. 7 Min. – Take them out of the water and let them cool down.
• Peel the skin of the eggplant and cut the same amount of stripes (ca. 0.5 cm thin) as Conchiglie you are going to stuff.
• Cut the eggplant into little cubes and pan-fry them golden with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Season with salt and herbs. Let it cool down. Fry the eggplant stripes until they get golden, too – put apart.
• Cut the Mozzarella into little cubes, and add it to the eggplant cubes.
• In another pan, fry the garlic with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the tomato to make a delicious sauce.
• Stuff the Conchiglie with the cubes, and make a loop with the eggplant strip around the Conchiglia so that it looks like a little cute package.
• Take a square mould and distribute the Conchiglie
• Pour the tomato sauce over the Conchiglie as a final step. Grate as much Parmigiano Reggiano you like over the pasta
• Put it in the oven for ca. 20 min. You can put an aluminium foil for the first 15 min. in order to prevent the pasta to dry out.

Pair a delicious white wine from Campania – The Greco di Tufo “L’arietta Vinosia”. It is refreshing with a marked but harmonious acidity, supported by fresh minerality.

A big thank you to all involved parties for this unforgettable culinary trip with 100% Made in Italy products!

In the mood to get inspired on a Piedmont Trip? Read my blog post here!

This blog post has been created as part of a collaboration with the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Switzerland. The project “True Italian Taste” is part of the government program “The Extraordinary Italian Taste” which is promoted and financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and carried out by Assocamerestero. It was launched in 2016 in the markets of North America, to then land in the following years also on the main reference markets of Italian agri-food exports in Europe, South America, Asia and Australia. The project is being developed in collaboration with 36 CCIEs in 23 countries around the world and aims to raise awareness among foreign consumers about the consumption and informed purchase of food 100% made in Italy to counter the phenomenon of Italian Sounding, which improperly uses words, colours, locations, images, names and recipes that recall Italy for foods that have very little Italian about them. True Italian Taste aims to spread a greater knowledge of the characteristics of typicality, places of origin and nutritional aspects and DOP-IGP certification.

A little guide on how to mentally travel by creating your individual culinary experience at home!

We, travellers and foodies, are all facing a tuff reality: It got more complicated to travel after Covid19 time. But hey, why don’t we use this opportunity to challenge our creativity by spending more valuable time at home? Let’s experiment more in the kitchen and bring to our tables joyful culinary moments we collected on our travels. This little personal guide shall inspire you to create cosy travel moments at home!

Choose your favourite corner at home and decorate it with herbs & flowers that remind you of your holiday!

The spot that makes my mind wander most at home is my balcony! I decorated it with fresh herbs like basil and Moroccan mint and some lovely lavender! When it comes to spoiling myself with food I start with using special pottery to arrange my dishes! My latest shopping was at Coop where I found the perfect turquoise blue plates that remind me of Bali or Greece!

Create a playlist with all of your favourite songs collected!

Here you can find mine! I put together songs I listen to during my long flights or just while relaxing at the beach. Once back home I play it while I stand in the kitchen preparing my holiday delicacies!

Spoil your palate with a recipe that reminds you of a memorable food & travel experience

A recipe I really love is the Tuna in Coconut crust with edamame. It brings me somewhere between Greece and Israel!

Ingredients for the tuna:

• A piece of fresh tuna, about 150- 200 grams
• 1 tablespoon grated coconut
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 200 grams of edamame

Preparation steps tuna:

Mix the olive oil and soy sauce, put the tuna in the soy sauce, and wet it from both sides. Use another bowl, mix the sesame oil with the coconut flakes. Now put the tuna in the coconut mixture and after pan fry it for 2 min each side. Take the tuna from the pan and cut it into slices. Optional: put some lemon juice or extra virgin olive oil on the top of the tuna slices.

For the edamame:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pods in it (previously washed in clear water) for about 5 to 6 minutes at medium heat. You can defrost precooked but still frozen edamame in this way, which reduces the cooking time for them by about 2 minutes. Then pour them into a sieve and let them cool down a little before serving. Sprinkle with some sea salt.