Travelers to Italy may be surprised when they order a Pizza con Prosciutto to find that they have been given a pizza with boiled ham rather than what we normally think of as Prosciutto. That is because Prosciutto is Italian for ham so it includes several types of ham. Prosciutto cotto is the boiled light pink ham that is typically seen in the U.S.

The Prosciutto most Americans are familiar with is actually Prosciutto crudo. Prosciutto crudo is a dry-cured ham that is deep red in color and has a distinctive salty, gamey taste. Prosciutto is aged for 10 to 12 months.

Caffé Latte in the morning, espresso in the afternoon and evenings is the Italian way. Americans often drink caffé latte, shortened to latte, and cappuccino all day long which is fine, but don’t expect Italians to do the same thing.

In Italy, breakfast is generally a quick stop at a coffee bar for a small cup and I mean a very small cup (no venti’s in Italy) of coffee. Your coffee may be accompanied by a sweet pastry. At most coffee bars you pay first and take your receipt to the counter to get your order. You then eat and drink standing at the counter. The slow food movement in Italy does not apply to breakfast, which is a fast meal eaten on the go.

A caffé latte is a coffee with hot milk and is similar to French café au lait and the Spanish café con leche. Caffé latte and cappuccino are very similar, the main difference is that cappuccino has more foam and less milk. Espresso is hot, black, strong coffee. It is delicious and will give the shot of caffeine you need to get through the day.

Italian food baskets are the perfect Christmas gift for the members of your family who enjoy a love affair with Italy and Italian food

If your friends and family are anything like mine they love to eat and they love to get gifts they will actually use. I long ago gave up trying to guess what everyone wanted as a gift and started putting together baskets for friends and family. I put together baskets that I know they will enjoy and since most people enjoy all things Italian an Italian food basket makes the perfect gift.

I will include unique pastas, sauces, olive oil, breadsticks, biscotti and if they are wine drinkers a nice bottle of wine. Occasionally I will include an Italian cookbook. I try to find a nice basket or a straw carry all bag to put it all in. I either tie a big red bow on the top or wrap it in the cellophane bags you find in crafts stores that can be shrink wrapped. Living in a large city I have access to all of these things and more.

A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany: Exploring and Eating off the Beaten Track is a gem of a book. Author Beth Elon takes readers through the few parts of Tuscany that have not yet been discovered by the thousands (or is it millions?) of tourists that visit Italy every year. The reader will be transported into the kitchens of more than 50 restaurants where cooks reveal their recipes.

The book is divided into sections organized by the different regions of Tuscany; with some jaunts into what I believe is Liguria. The regional sections begin with explanations of what makes Tuscan cooking so unique. You'll read about a bean so beloved by a village that it's been elevated to cult status-but that is totally unheard of a few kilometers down the road and the endless array of vegetable tarts found only in Lunigiana and Garfagnana.

Ms Elon has organized ten itineraries that include stops at gourmet shops, food festivals, greenmarkets, and private kitchens. She includes recipes and descriptions of different regions, along the way pointing out overlooked art, architecture, historic sites, churches and museums.

Falanghina is an ancient species of grape that has been used to make Italian wines since the times of ancient Rome. According to those in the know, Roman merchants brought the Falanghina grape from Greece to Italy. It is thought to be the key grape in the ancient wine Falernum or Flaernian, a wine that was a favorite of the Roman upper classes 2000 years ago.

The Falanghina grape and the wine produced from it are particularly popular in the central and southern part of Italy. Good water was difficult to find in ancient Rome, so wine became a less risky and more pleasurable alternative to water.

Falanghina is enjoying a rebirth as those of us who appreciate good food and good wines search for foods and food products made with locally grown products using traditional methods. Okay, so you could make the argument that Falanghina was originally produced in Greece and is therefore not local to Italy, but hey that was a long time ago.

This article was contributed by Susan Spalt. Susan lived in Italy as a teenager and has traveled extensively in Italy and Europe.

Last summer a farmer friend sold me some special tomatoes that she had grown from seeds she had brought back from Italy. They were sauce tomatoes. Meaty, not watery.  I made sauce with the tomatoes and right before serving I  added just a touch of butter and some basil. We had the sauce on capellinni, very thin spaghetti, with just a bit or freshly grated parmesan cheese.

It was "meraviglioso". Tasting the sauce took me back to Northern Italy, to a rustic restaurant where we tasted fresh tomato sauce for the first time. I could see the rolling hills out the window and picture my mother and father and sisters around the table. That's what Italian cooking does. The simplicity of the dishes and the quality of the ingredients makes perfection possible, and with the perfection comes a bit of melodrama - but such is the stuff of Italian Cooking. And some recipes never need to be updated.

Joseph's Garlic Bread goes great with everything from pasta to grilled steak. It is easy and everyone will love it, in fact no matter how big a loaf we use, we normally run out at family dinners.

The amount of the ingredients may vary depending on the size of the bread that you are using.

Ingredients:

1 loaf of Italian bread, baguette or any other long hard crusted bread
1 stick of butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon paprika (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Set butter on counter to soften. You can microwave the butter for 15 seconds to soften. If the butter is not soft continue for an additional 15 seconds until you can press down on the butter with a fork.

Ingredients

2 slices of prosciutto
2 tbsp Gorgonzola cheese
2 slices of Mozzarella (may use part-skim)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 small clove garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
 
Cooking instructions
 
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Lightly oil a baking dish. Mince garlic and then sauté in frying pan with 1/2 tbsp of butter until light brown. Cut a slit in each chicken breast and fill with 1 slice of prosciutto (or ham) and 1 tbsp of Gorgonzola cheese and sautéed garlic.
 
 2.  In a frying pan, brown chicken in remaining 1/2 tbsp of butter for about 2 minutes on each side.  
 
3. Move chicken to baking dish and add 1 slice of Mozzarella cheese to the top of each chicken breast and bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked through (juices should be clear when pierced with a fork).
 
4. Serve hot with pasta and garlic bread
 
5. Don't forget a great glass of wine!

The Italian government and the European Union are on a collision course over the definition of pure chocolate. Pure Italian chocolate is made with 100 per cent cocoa butter. Natural flavorings and soya lecithin can be included as long as none of the ingredients is genetically modified. In addition, non-milk fats are prohibited though added ingredients such as nuts are okay.

The EU says that Italy's definition discriminates against foreign imports. The EU definition allows chocolate makers to use up to five percent vegetable cocoa substitutes such as palm oil and shea butter. In an unusual show of unity Italian political parties united in rejecting the EU’s labeling of chocolate.

The FDA (the government agency that regulates food in the US) has confirmed the health benefits of olive oil. The FDA now allows olive oil producers to claim that it may reduce the risk of coronary artery disease. The statement allowed is as follows: Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about 2 tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the monounsaturated fat in olive oil. To achieve this possible benefit, olive oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day. One serving of this product [Name of food] contains [x] grams of olive oil.

In other olive oil news, new research claims to explain the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil. The results of a nine-year study of Italians living in Puglia showed that long time residents were statistically less prone to cancer and other ailments. This has been attributed to the high consumption of olive oil throughout their lives.

There are three common types of Italian olive oil: extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil and olive oil. Italy produces about 420,000 tons of olive oil. Tuscany, Umbria, Campagna, Liguria, Latium, Calabria, Puglia, Sicily and Sardinia all produce olive oil.

The best Italian olive oil is made from hand-picked olives that are not completely ripe. The harvest is short, normally lasting from mid-November to mid-December.

Virgin olive oils, including extra virgin olive oils, are untreated and do not contain additives. The level of acidity should be as low as possible.

Extra virgin olive oil is the result of the first cold pressing of the olive. Ideally the olives are picked and pressed on the same day. This is the finest and most expensive olive oil and is the olive oil generally associated with health benefits. Extra virgin olive oil is very light and flavorful and has the lowest level of acidity. Italians usually put extra virgin olive oil and a little balsamic vinaigrette on their salads. Extra virgin olive oil can also be used in marinades, for dipping breads and other recipes which call for olive oil that is not cooked.

Rain and bad weather could not keep cheese lovers away. One hundred thousand people made their way to Bra, Italy for Cheese 2005. This biennial event is organized by Slow Food and the City of Bra. It is the leading international meeting for small cheese producers and aims to promote consumer awareness of artisan dairy products. Everything from cheese preserved in goat skin to yak cheese was featured this year.

The event featured cheese tastings (usually accompanied by wine), education and shopping. About 12,000 people went to the Great Hall of Cheese and tasted 157 cheeses washed down with 30,000 glasses of wine. Approximately 1,000 different wines were available at this year's event.

Where better for an organization called the Slow Food movement to start than in Italy. Italy is a country that truly appreciates the benefits of making a meal an event to be shared with family and friends. A meal in Italy is lingered over whether it is served at home or in a restaurant. You will never feel rushed to finish up and leave in a crowded Italian restaurant.

Carlo Petrini started the slow food movement in response to the opening of a McDonalds in Piazza Spagna in Rome in 1986. A fast food restaurant opening in the heart of Rome's historic center was not something to be taken lightly. Rather than protest, Carlo Petrini chose to show that there is a better way - he started the slow food movement.

The slow food movement is headquartered in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. This is the land of fresh pesto sauces, homemade pastas and hearty ragu's.

Mr. Petrini's goal is to demonstrate that we have a choice when it comes to food and wine. We do not have to settle for the bland, salty and generally unhealthy fare of fast food restaurants.

This is the perfect Italian sauce recipe for summer.  It freezes well and can bring a little bit of summer into the cold winter months.  Best of all, the only calories are from the tomatoes and the pasta.

You will need a food mill for this recipe, they can be purchased in cooking stores or on-line both new and used (they are inexpensive).  A food mill is a metal bowl with a screen at the bottom and a press inside that you turn with a handle.  This tool allows you to make sauce from the meat of the tomato while keeping out skin and seeds which can make a sauce bitter. 

Purchase fresh plum tomatoes (they are oblong).  You need at least a pound; there is no maximum amount you can use.  If you purchase a lot of tomatoes you can make several batches and freeze what you do not need for immediate use. 

My mother learned to make this authentic Italian recipe when we were living in Italy. The recipe has been perfected over the years. Since the sauce is heavy it is perfect for the winter months.

1 pound hamburger or sausage (you can use more or less, adjust the other ingredients)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 medium onion chopped
1 28 oz (794g) can whole tomatoes
1 10 ¾ oz (305g) can tomato puree
1 6 oz (170g) can tomato paste
1 carrot chopped
2 sticks of celery chopped
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 teaspoon chopped basil
½ cup red wine (optional)

This Italian Chicken Recipe takes about 15 minutes to make.  It is so easy and good that it can make anyone look like a professional chef.

4 to 8 pieces of frozen chicken tenderloin
2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 small cloves of garlic
1 to 2 cups fresh mushrooms

In the summer months Zucchini is everywhere – grocery stores, farmers markets, roadside stand.  You can stuff it, make bread with it or fry it.  Here is one of my favorite recipes.  It is both good and easy!

4 medium zucchini
1 small onion sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 fresh tomatoes cut into pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/2  teaspoon pepper
Several fresh basil leaves