That’s basically the same as “herbs de Provence” from France but honestly I never buy herb/spice blends unless I can get them from specialty shops… I get my Asian spices at an Asian shop, I grow my own basil/oregano/thyme/rosemary 😍
@@jpp7783 not really. Curry powder is just a UK variation of Garam Massala and has developed lots of genuine uses over the decades such as its important role in Katsu Curry to name but one popular dish.
Just an FYI, in Texas, we have a real serious problem with wild boar overpopulation. People here do hunt them, and I don’t believe there are limits (Texas hunters, correct me if I’m wrong). You are always welcome to head this way to give Harper a taste, as I’m sure chefs here would enjoy learning new ways to cook with their meat.
Ciao from Italy,i'm from Friuli region(northeast of Italy) and we have many wild boars around woods,so we iften eat this kind of meat but before cook it needs the"MARINATURA" so we let the meat in a mix of red wine,red onions,sage and rosmary(somethimes blackpepper grains and lemon zest)for almost 24 hours in the fridge 'cause low temperatures help the transfert processing of flavors from marinatura to the meat,then we cook for a long time the meat adding some good olive oil and all the marinatura....BUONISSIMO😋👍
I have 2 friends who run varmint killing businesses here in North Texas. Wild boars are eating the peanut and other crops here that they need to protect. I like wild boar, but lots of people don’t like it. It doesn’t taste like the sick, corn fed hogs in the grocery stores. It’s red meat and very robust.
For garlic the best way to say it is that we Italians use garlic a lot but not a lot of garlic, meaning we use it in many dishes (but by all means not everywhere and for sure not on delicate stuff) but just a little you can even take it away after it gave its flavour/aroma
@@annother3350 When I cook Aglio e Olio pasta, I put max. 2 gloves of garlic not one more, you just need the taste of garlic so you then take it out. And a good olive oil that you don't have to overcook.
Eva probably uses pepper even less often than most Italians because of the fact that in Calabria chilli pepper is very commonly present in a lot of dishes, and if you use one you don't use the other, generally speaking. One thing that maybe Eva is not mentioning is that the use of herbs is pretty regional. Sage is a very important flavor for Tuscan cuisine (and they also make fried sage leaves!), but it's far less important in other cuisines. Also, herbs use is seasonal. Basil is always used fresh in summer. In winter you don't usually use basil because dried basil is honestly vile.
So if you are doing a Marguerita pizza in winter time, you don't use any herb ? (Not asking to be rude or anything, I'm Brazilian from Portuguese and Italian descend and want to understand the reasoning behind Italian cuisine).
Ma qui Eva l’ha detto che per quanto riguarda le spezie è anche una questione regionale (così come anche per altre cose e anche per quanto riguarda la cucina in generale). In una regione si mette magari di più una determinata spezia che da un’altra parte non si mette proprio e viceversa.
@@lipedax It's spring in the U.S. and I just bought some fresh basil. Went to look at the package. It's from Columbia (was sure it was going to be Brazil). 😁
This is exactly the kind of video people (like me) who are discovering how to cook need. My mother was an excellent baker, so I understand the order and wet and dry and proofing yeast. But learning to understand spices and what doesn't go with what isn't something you can learn anywhere (at least people don't talk about it with such clarity). Thank you.
Yes! Too much cooking instruction is about following precise rules. But cooking isn’t robotic. We need to learn how to taste, what goes with what and why or why not.
Not often but we also use mint! For example it is my go to herb for zucchini. And what about fennel, both seeds and green leaves are used in our cuisine (I love fennel seeds with pumpkin). As always it's a matter of good pairings and regional (or family) taste and habit. In the winter my tomato sauce is mostly with dried origano, with basil in the summertime but I occasionally like it even with rosemary. Surely what we never ever do is to put all herbs together as in those "Italian seasonings".
My mother used to make a salad with fennel stalks and fronds. It was so light and sweet and summery, with olive oil, salt, pepper and a little cheese. I should find her recipe and make that again.
I make something similar, but I make a vinaigrette with blood orange infused olive oil and Strawberry balsamic vinegar fr a specialty shop, and it's just lovely!!
@@markantony3875 never had trippa, even before becoming a vegetarian and despite being Roman myself 😅, but I guess mint is a good idea, maybe it smoothes the strong flavor of tripe with freshness (?)
@@robertpickwoad8512 Have you been to Scarborough Fair you find a multitude of parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Mostly between the salt water and the sea strands.
I have to say that Eva changed the way I cooked pasta. I was told that the salt increased the boiling point of the water and that's why you added a little. This may be true, but pasta doesn't have to boil to cook so there must be another reason. When I saw how much she added to the water and I tried that myself. The pasta tasted so much better, it was amazing. Thanks.
Good rule of thumb is that the water shall taste like sea water, very salty. I would say there are few exceptions to that, for instance dishes with rather salty sauces like carbonara, which already is salty due to the ingredients, and then you’d need less sat for the pasta water.
I think the presence of garlic in this video does speak about the Italian perspective on garlic. It’s seen as a herb in Italy, just an additional source of flavour, whereas elsewhere it’s sometimes considered as a vegetable that you use like onions, to be a base for a dish.
Another excellent video. The aroma of basil instantly reminds me of my Calabrian grandmother who grew copious amounts in her garden. One priceless moment in this video was when Harper called Eva the salt and she did a quick raise of her eyebrows. Cracked me up. Pasta Grammar has to be the best Italian cooking show ever.
This was very interesting and informative. As a Moroccan I abide by the rule 'less is more'. Just because I have a cupboard full of spices doesn't mean I have to use everything every time all at once. But you'll hate me when you see my herb garden is mostly decoration😳
@no one you know here The Spaniards brought cilantro from Latin America. Pico de gallo is a staple in the Mediterranean kitchen. Of course, it's called something else
I'd just returned back to my country (Uruguay) after living in The States for 46 years. I'm setting up a restaurant with pasta included in the menu beside Calzones, Strombolis, NY style pizza, Foccasia, and Florence Sando Schiacciata. I've saved all your videos. Great tips. Thank you. Keep the good work.
Focaccia! Its great news, just make sure your spellings are right on the menu - as an italian abroad im always skeptical when words arent right kn the menu.
This was awesome! I knew from watching many of your videos that “Italian Seasoning “ was way different than what I thought it was. It has totally changed the way I cook certain foods. The best and biggest thing is to salt my pasta water! I always salted it, but not enough to matter. Now I make it salty and it makes pasta taste so much better!!! I will definitely remember these additional tips!
❤❤❤ One seasoning I love that’s not as popular outside of baked goods is nutmeg, but fresh grated from the nut. I love it in dishes with greens, in a bechamel with cheese, even just grated on a glass of milk.
As peperoncino is "mandatory" for calabresi, aglio/garlic is "mandatory" for piemontesi. As a piemontese myself i strongly suggest everyong to try a sauce made by garlic and parsley on fish, fresh cheese and onestly anything. The next day you would smell like you're a vampire slayer and your coworker will hate you but it's worth it. I promise 😂
In Tuscany we use rosmary when roasting a fish. Thyme is put when sauteing mushrooms. Sage is also use when roasting chicken, rabbit and with meat in general.
Great episode! One correction: Wild oregano grows all over the south and wild rosemary too. In our province (Salerno) deep in the mountains, people go hunting and gathering the wild oregano and wild asparagus, manuzzi etc. and it is AMAZING> Oregano here in the US is NOT the same. In fact, Wild Italian oregano is more like marjoram fyi.
@@ghw7192When you see "Mexican Oregano" in a grocery store it is actually to differentiate from the original Greek Oregano. It's a completely different plant that has a similar taste to Old World oregano.
I love these videos because my late grandparents were from conflenti and Consenza, and it gives me insight to the Calabresa people. I identify with this food, because I grew up in a city that was probably 50% Italian immigrants, and of course my mom. Next year I want to go to southern Italy and meet my relatives. Also working hard to learn the language. Thanks again for great videos.😎
Speaking of parsley, a Lombard classic: ris e erborin (rice and parlsey soup). A good, savory beef or vegetable stock (chicken is good too, if you're into it), idelly rich in flavor but not too rich in color; add a bit of butter whent it starts to boil, then add and cook rice in it at a gentle simmer; add a sizable amount of parsley halfway through cooking (not too early otherwise the cooking will extract some bitterness out of it). You can use stems too (in this case, add them rigth away, they need some boiling to tenderize). It's not a risotto, so it should remain a bit soupy at the end (1 liter of stock for 100 grams of rice is a good ratio). Optional grated Parmigiano on top when you serve it. Classic wintery poor rural dish for dinners, with some comfort food qualities; also quite good when your stomach is upset.
My family use marjoram in a typical Sudtirol (Austrian/Germany origin) dish: Leberknoedel or like we say in italian, Canederli di fegato (liver dumpling). Marjoram lessen the strong and bitter taste of the liver. Someday I would like to see Eva try her hand at some dishes from far northern Italy, thus leaving her comfort zone, no offense of course.
My Mom is German and somehow managed to buy "Italian seasoning" that contained marjoram - which she loves. Took me several years for me to figure out marjoram seems to be a bit on the poisonous side for me - no other herb causes such a reaction. Other than Asian 5 spice and poultry seasoning for Thanksgiving, I have never bought a spice mixture. I like to control my own spicing.
Loved this episode, great info. Eva is a superb cook and Harper should consider a singing career undoubtedly the best rendition of Scarborough Fair ever!
When my mother was younger and used to cook us big meal.s. she always use to add Oregano to the lasagna. it just add such an amazing flavor to me. without it tastes very "meh" or bland. also pizza with no oregano for me tastes weird lol
I was a Sous Chef at a very prestigious global Hotel chain. When we boiled water for cooking we had a decree of using 1/4 cup of kosher salt for every gallon of water if the cooked ingredient (pasta, vegetable) was not going to be blanched. If blanched it would be 1/2 cup of salt per gallon. The theory I heard is that you are not trying cause the salt to be absorbed by the cooked ingredient, rather you were preventing the natural sodium in the ingredient from being leached out into the under salted water. 1/4 cup kosher salt is 39 grams, which is just over 1% over the weight of 1 gallon of water (3780 grams). This seems to agree with Eva's ratio.
Love this video. I've got experience learning regional Italian recipes from Vincenzo's Plate, Giallo Zafferano, Pastagrammar, Pasta Grannies, Chef in Camicia, and some other channels. What I've learnt is what spices and herbs are used in which situation. - Juniper berries go with pork and fennel. Its used in white ragu. I've also seen it in wild boar recipes. - Rosemary. I've seen this in pasta e fagioli. - Horseradish. I've only seen this in recipes from Basilicata. They grate horseradish on pasta, not sure which dishes in particular. Also, a dish called rafanata has horseradish in it. Rafanata is some kind of frittata situation, not sure how to describe it. - Fennel seeds. These also go in white ragu, and in pork sausage - Oregano, I rarely see for some reason. The dried variety is used on pizza recipes. - Basil. This is used in caprese salad; pesto alla genovese; margherita pizza; pasta alla nerano. Basil is almost always paired with tomatoes. Always in tomato sugo. - Thyme, always in mushroom recipes with tagliatelle; or sometimes is seen in a pumpkin risotto, risotto alla zucca. - Pepper is generously used in cacio e pepe, also used in Roman classic Carbonara.. - Garlic is used in aglio e olio. Generally, most recipes take out the garlic after sauteiing in the skin, "in camicia" - Mint. I've seen this only in Culurgiones - a Sardinian dumpling/ravioli situation stuffed with saffron, mint, mashed potatoes and sardinian pecorino (pecorino sardo) - Cocoa powder, used in tiramisu & torta caprese. The latter is a flourless cake. - Lemon zest, used in gremolata - Anchovy, used in pasta c'anciova. I learnt that one from Eva yay - Saffron. This is used in culurgiones from Sardinia. - Sage, can be fried in a batter to make Italian sage fritters. It's also used in burnt butter and sage sauce which is a typical ravioli sauce. Also used in Tajarin Burro e Salvia. - Nutmeg, this is used in bechamel/white sauce. - Bay leaf, I've seen this in minestrone in Gennaro's recipe, not sure what else its used for. - Cinnamon, used in cjarsons. I've never tried this dish, but I would like to one day. A friulian dumpling situation that has smoked ricotta, cinnamon, cocoa. Depending on the nonna making it, it has variations. - Peperone crusco. Used in dishes from Basilicata. I've never seen it in person before, but would like to try it. - Chilli, used in aglio e olio. Calabrian chillies used in calabrian chilli paste. Don't know that many regional Italian chilli dishes. - Rocket/Arugula. This is used in Orecchiette alla Foggiana. - Parsley. This is used in pasta allo scammaro, I learnt that from Eva. Also used in aglio e oglio. Used in Canaderli/Knödle, which also has nutmeg in it. - Poppy seeds: used for casunziei. A beetroot stuffed pasta rom Veneto. - Asafoetida, this is used in medieval cuisine from Apicius' cookbook. Haven't seen modern recipes with this in it. - There are some obscure herbs that also get used. Like in foraged recipes that require "mille erbe", a thousand herbs. I've never tried a mille erbe recipe. - Paprika. I have seen this in a dish called pasta panna acida e paprika. I'm not sure how traditional it is though. No other Italian recipes I have seen use sour cream, ever. Italian Herbs and Spices. I wonder who invented that. Used a lot in American Italian cuisine. I also see it sold in grocery stores in Australia, so I guess its popular here too.
Italian seasoning mix is all the aromatic herbs, at least the ones I buy. It is good in small amounts on most dishes, especially meat, fish or chicken, stews or roasts.
BTW- for the record: it is wonderful that you both are sharing your ideas about how to season cooked food and as well the customs of cooking from the many exciting places you both have visited!!!
I'm really just learning how to cook. I mean "really cook". Learning how to use herbs, season food properly, how to buy meats, and so on. And, all types of foods. Spanish, Italian, Asian., etc. So, I esp appreciate videos like this. It is so super helpful and informative. So many of your vids have helped me. Eva you are pretty DAMN AWESOME!! Thank you sooo much. Please keep 'em coming. Arlene
Brava Eva! To add one thought: it seems to me, in my experience, that most of the unnecessary additions to specific Italian dishes (cream, butter, parsley, garlic, pepper, oregano) actually comes from French cuisine. Those are all fundamental ingredients in French cooking and the American diet is very heavily influenced by French-styled cooking--probably from legendary chefs like Julia Child and Jacques Pepin and Wolfgang Puck. There is no question in my mind that French chefs sought to "elevate" the rustic style of Italian cooking. People throw parsley, for example, on every pasta dish (including sometimes pasta al forno!!) to "give it color" and because it "looks fancy." It has nothing to do with flavor or necessity, but has just become a visual element that is expected, also probably from the food design and photography fields. Of course, I am with Eva that many of these added ingredients don't actually contribute anything to do the dish...but I think this helps explain why the phenomenon exists. To me, it seems a simple difference between French cooking, which is focused on technique and appearance, and Italian cooking, which is rustic in nature and seeks to avoid competing flavors.
Here more than "Italians" we need to say how the Calabrians (like Eva), Sicilians, Piedmontese, etc., season their food. Because, for example, at Eva's house they maybe season dishes a little differently than a Milanese. Adding things that maybe a Milanese person might not put.
Nope. Lol those are ingredients that all around italy we use, maybe in a different way or in different measure, but it's all of that for the peninsula. (There are more, those are the most common ones)
@@hopesky2879 Io ovviamente mi riferivo alle particolarità delle varie regioni. Un calabrese condisce un piatto differente da un milanese. Come vediamo nella cucina di Eva, il peperoncino è appeso come una bandiera ! I calabresi è probabile che lo mettano anche nel caffè. ;) Poi ci sono spezie, come dice anche Eva qui nel video, che in alcune zone o regioni vengono usate magari poco o niente. Magari usano un altro tipo di spezia rispetto ad un’altra regione.
@@aris1956 Ovviamente a seconda della regione i metodi di utilizzo le misure e i condimenti cambiano, ma non c'era nemmeno bisogno di spiegarlo, è vero che al nord non si usa molto il peperoncino come al sud o al centro, ma questo non cambia il fatto che il resto della popolazione italiana usa questi condimenti in buona quantità. Centro e sud (dato che sono comprese anche le isole) hanno una popolazione più densa, quindi il video è totalmente azzeccato se si fa un discorso generico. Poi Eva è calabrese e usa la sua esperienza, ma ha vissuto per anni a Roma, dove vivo io e qui quello che dice nel video è totalmente realistico.😅
Don't forget, seasoning food is also an individual thing. You can't say that everyone from a certain culture on ethnic group always seasons their food the exact same way.
Sono italiana e vivo in Italia. Non ho mai sentito nominare questo Italian seasoning. Ho cercato su Google e ho visto che si tratta di una miscela di aromi che utilizziamo nella nostra cucina spesso ma mai tutti assieme. Ogni piatto richiede il suo o la sua particolare combinazione. La cucina italiana è molto diversa da regione a regione ma anche da città a città ed è impossibile riassumere l'uso delle spezie e degli aromi in Italia. Se vi piace la miscela usatela è roba buona, da noi però non esiste, non nell'uso comune. Saluti dal Salento. 👋🙂
I had no idea that you’re supposed to take out the germ of a garlic clove. Didn’t even know there was such a thing. That explains so much! lol. Thanks, Eva!
I only remove it when it's green and sprouted, I'm told that's when it becomes bitter though if you let it keep growing, you get 'garlic chives' which are quite tasty.
Italian cuisine is very different from region to region. she's calabrian and she's showing you calabrian cuisine. I'm from another region and for instance we use peperoncino very rarely and sometimes we use garlic in very moderate amount only to add a taste but many times we use onions instead of garlic also in moderate amount. I've never eaten anything with maggiorana and black pepper use is rare also. another thing to consider is that every family changes the traditional recipes according to their tastes or for health reasons nowadays for instance people rarely use bacon or lard in their dishes even if they are required by the traditional recipe.
Da Calabrese mi aspettavo che Eva citasse la polvere di peperoni cruschi, da noi in provincia di Cosenza si usa quasi ovunque. Video fenomenale come sempre!
I am Sicilian but Calabrese are not the only ones that eat spicy food. My family puts peperoncino everywhere. BTW, my father is from Sciacca and my mother from Comiso in the Ragusa region. We cannot live without Peperoncino! ❤
That was great! I was expecting to see finocchio though. Will you make a video all about cooking with finocchio using the bulb, seeds, fronds and pollen? 😁 Thank you! ❤
i gotta say thanks to learning about italian cuisine from actual italians helped me appreciate the simplicity of an amazing dish that doesn't need 10 or more herbs and spices. using fewer kinds of seasonings in a dish does not mean its under seasoned. but i have a hunch that americans use way more herbs and spices in an italian dish because the quality of foods aren't the same as what you might find in italy. for example our tomatoes are kinda bland so they need the extra help with additional herbs and spices.
I remember learning in high school science class that salt raises the boiling point of water 10 degrees Fahrenheit (it also lowers the freezing point of water which is why salt melts ice on your sidewalk). I would imagine that if you didn't add salt to your pasta water (or didn't add enough salt), the pasta is not going to cook at the same rate that the package says. This doesn't really matter to me as I've stopped timing my pasta. I love to test it several times to get the super al dente I want so I can finish the cook in the sauce. But fun fact. Science is fun!
@@PastaGrammar A discussion about the different kinds of salt would be awesome as well. I have table salt I use in baking, I have a sea salt grinder I used to add salt to a finished plate, and I have kosher salt that I cook with. I'm not really sure if that's right. Vincenzo's Plate talks about rock salt. I really think you could do an episode about salt. Perhaps Chef Alfredo could stumble around with this for a bit (love that guy!).😂
Salt does raise water's boiling point, it's true, but the quantities in the solution are important. Sea water, with an average salt concentration of 3.5%, boils at 103° Celsius. Pasta water should be at most a 1% solution (10 grams per liter), so the effect of the added salt is basically neglectable. Also, atmospheric pressure impacts the boiling temeprature too. The lower it is, the lower the boiling themperature. Above 1000m from sea level, for example, pure water can boil as low as 90°C instead of 100°.
yes is true that salt risies the boiling point of water but it's quite irrelevant: the pasta water usually has a concentration for salt of 1% or less (100g of salt for 1lt of water) rises the boiling point by 0.2 °C (0.5°F) because the solution is not so heavily salted so the boiling of the water is a matter of seconds, you add salt when the water is boiling because if you put salt at the beginning it concentrates on the bottom of the pot before dissolving ,and that in the long run could ruin the pot
Water will eventually reach boiling temperature, but the normal rule in Italy is to add salt to water when it already boils, to reduce (by a tiny percentage) energy consumption.
I'm surprised capers are not there. Would you use with swordfish ? Though my mother mainly uses on pizzas with olives and no cheese . Capers in salt is probably in my top 3 herbs. Maybe they need their own video *nudge nudge * ahaha
@@cody0126a Like Tony Chachere's? That makes sense. I guess you could put Old Bay and Gebhart Chili Powder in the same category. It just seems hard for me to think of 'American Seasoning' as we have so so many different types of foods here. But they have the same in Italy and obviously Italian Seasoning is made here in the USA so if anything it should be called Italian-American seasoning.
Well obviously “Italian seasoning” was created for non-Italians who wanted to season non-Italian food to make it more like what they imagine Italian food to be…
I buy the tutto Calabria oregano, I sent some to friends,they loved it as they we used to only the jar stuff, I stocked up on my peppers.still I have 5 plants in my yard so I get to pick them freash, im.working on a freash herb garden still Sandwich idea basil,olive oil, chilli peppers,little salt
Totally enjoyed this video, so helpful in understanding the secret of just using the right herbs in small quantities. I think our media chefs have lead us all in the wrong direction trying to add every spice used in a cuisine in every dish. Thank you Eva! Steve (67 yrs) Manitoba
Another thing I’ve wondered about: Most online chefs are very fond of putting lemon juice on practically everything to ‘highlight’ the flavors. Yet, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Eva use lemon on a savory dish at all. Did I miss something, or, is that an accurate observation?
It actually serves very well to cover up the taste of a dish. Fish that's not really fresh, for example. Or vegetables that are not really that good. I love lemons but I actually don't use them to cook Italian dishes, except when they are at the heart of the dish, such as pasta al limone.
I started using Mutti tomatoes products about 6 years ago and I can honestly say they have some of the best if not the best tomato products. After trying it in my spaghetti sauce i dont use any other tomato products anymore. Mutti is a game changer for sure. My daughter couldn't find it one day and bought cans of store brand tomato sauce and I panicked. She said its just tomatoes it wont make a difference i told her yes it will. I ended up making sauce both ways and hands down Mutti won and she said wow mom i never knew that it would make a difference i just buy whats on sale Lmfao!!
After finding out I have a corn allergy, resulting in being forced to make almost everything from scratch due to corns pervasiveness in processed foods, I also came to realize the ubiquity of flavor enhancers in food packages. Without those chemicals being dumped into the food we consume, we need to increase the natural flavors by utilizing those ingredients in increased quantities because often times American recipes are dependent upon utilizing ingredients that feature those chemicals. But when you extricate those from your choices, you become much more dependent upon the flavors you bring to the party. And, as Eva's simple tomato sauce demonstrates, a proper balance of simple ingredients provides a fresher flavor that just can't be purchased in a bottle. This video also demonstrates the weakness of much of the American diet's willingness to just toss in flavors, almost at random, without quite having an understanding of why those flavors either should or should not be used.
To your last point though, for many of us if there isn't a well established recipe to balance out those flavors for us, the amount of people who would only ever add some salt and pepper and then end up eating bland food is staggering. In those cases it is actually better that they add a bit of "something" to spruce it up because in many cases that something is better than nothing.
people lived exclusively and extensively on corn for thousands of years without allergies appearing. Blame the overly sterile environments we're raised in. also most of that corn that's added is in the form of starch, which you can't be allergic to. no protein in it. also all food is 100% chemicals. I think you don't know what chemicals are.
@@KairuHakubi - you can be allergic to the protein and/or the sugar of a product (like lactose or casein). The fat is safe if it has been processed thoroughly. This is why someone who has an anaphylactic allergy should not eat something cooked in the fat of their allergen (like peanut oil). Unfortunately corn has replaced many sources of regular natural food thanks to the American farmers subsidy program. So allergies have increased because of the unnatural overuse of chemicals in our food.
@@mythicsagefire casein is a protein. nobody is allergic to lactose, they have _lactose intolerance_ because they lack an enzyme to break it down, and it gives them gas. there is a difference. peanut oil is 100% fat, there's no protein in it, and it's safe for people with peanut allergies to eat. Unless it's that cloudy hippie peanut oil that has a lot of pureed peanut in it. basically nothing you're saying is true, and you should really stop.
@@KairuHakubi This is why I don't often get into discussions on the internet, there are too many people that think they know something for absolute certain while simultaneously demonstrating absolute ignorance.
this reminds me of the fact that uh, in america we mostly use 'all-purpose flour' which is half (low-protein) cake flour and half (high-protein) bread flour.. but in some other countries, especially with less storage space or that really prioritize getting bread and noodles just right, they keep both kinds and they mix them in the appropriate ratios.
try rosemary while baking your next homemade pizza, under the crust=gamechanger! I make my own sourdough bread/buns, OMG yummy under the cruset/bottom of the pizza tho, was how I first tried it, so F'n! good! bon apetito
Great video. I find the Italian "seasoning" is more just a novelty. In fact if you buy that donair meat in the stores, the main flavour is usually those mixed herb. As for Basil in Tomatoes, how I see it is Basil to Tomatoes is like Vanilla in baking. It helps a great deal, and it compliments it most times.
As a guy raised by a Calbrian mom and grandma, I get how you use peperoncino & garlic. We use "red pepper' in so many things. I use garlic much the same as you. There are only a couple of old family recipes that call for a lot of garlic. Another biggie is oregano for us. You are reminding me so much of my earliest memories, playing with pots and pans while my grandma cooked. I loved pots and pans! Still do.
I never understood the concept of Italian seasoning, unless it 100% just comes down to price? As in, I can buy this one jar or I can buy 7 other jars. Because it's super easy to make your own herb garden, even if you live in an apartment. Most of the herbs I grow spread like weeds, especially the rosemary. That stuff gets everywhere if you don't cut it back. Plus there's nothing like fresh herbs. Even just fresh basil will make a huge difference in taste.
Just curious, I've heard cutting basil on a board leaves all the flavor behind, which I don't really believe, but I've not heard that cutting it makes it bitter. Now I need to know if this is true and why...🤔 Ps, love this channel 👍
From my experience, basil is very delicate and most important very subsceptible to high temperatures. As soon as you pick it from the plant it will start to "age" and as soon as you cut it it will start to obsidize. When I was making pesto last summer, which was very hot, I had to be very quick pecause the leaves were beginning to get brown immediately after being picked. So it makes sense to rip them only at the last moment.
@@Tarrasque73 I can understand working with it at the last minute, I just wanted some proof or chemical analysis of whether or not it's true about the effects of cutting it with a knife 🤔
My favorite of these ethnic blend products (favorite in terms of my own amusement) is "Mexican cheese blend." They always include Cheddar and Monterey Jack, neither of which are Mexican. They sometimes add Colby, which is also not Mexican. There are times, particularly in 4-cheese blends, that they do include a couple of actual Mexican cheeses: Asadero and Queso Quesadilla, which I believe is the same as Oaxaca cheese. At least with Italian seasoning blends, it is mostly herbs and spices used in Italian cooking.
Eh. Eva has taught us that Italians that aren’t Italian Americans are afraid of garlic. We disagree on this choice, but we respect your right to have your food how you want. But y’all really are just scared of it. We are not. Lol
Well, that's a surprise. To summarize, if you use 10 grams of salt per liter of pasta water, here's what happens: 1) If you take the pasta out of the water three minutes early and mantecatura it in a sauce made with canned tomatoes, you get about 608mg of sodium per serving. 2) Cooked al dente, served with pesto, you get about 600mg of sodium per serving, plus whatever sodium is in the pesto. 3) Overcook the pasta by three minutes and you get about 718mg of sodium, plus whatever sodium is in your sauce. So overcooked pasta combined with sauce made from canned tomatoes gives 858mg of sodium per serving. The most important lesson here, as somebody put it to me, is to do what Eva says. Don't overcook your pasta.
Very interesting I didn't know about the parsley I love the flavor and use it in a lot of dishes. My Dad grows basil oregano mint sage rosemary and thyme love using fresh herbs. My dad dries the oregano and puts them in jars for the family and it always stays nice and green I noticed that store bought is a faded green not sure why. I now grow my own herbs as well. Marjoram is one I never use and never knew what to use it in. I never use more than one or two cloves of garlic. I cringe when I see the recipes with a whole head of garlic. I love watching Ina Garten shows but she makes a chicken dish with 40 cloves of garlic I can't imagine you would taste the chicken much. She also adds peas and cream to carbonara eeek love you Ina but although I'm sure it taste good you can't call that carbonara
Ava, Your idea that crafting the perfect dish rely on withholding spices that compete and overpower, is powerful and proper. Using a spice on a dish, the flavor must enhance and complement the flavor of basic ingredients much like a portrait artist might highlight a subject with subtle flourishes and color shading to enhance the portrait. That English-speaking is a second language has not hindered your teaching us proper cooking techniques that apply worldwide. Your dialect beautifully enhances our retention and enjoyment factor, encouraging us to watch your presentation completely. Your husband is blessed and your parents proud to have you in their world. Respectfully submitted, Timo
EVA, My most humble apologies for misrepresenting the spelling of your name. I have an Ava in my family and she wears her intelligence prominently, like yourself. My advanced years allows my ears to hear them in a similar fashion. Again deepest apologies! Timo
My daughter makes biscuits from scratch. Tear them open, slather with mayo, too with a thick slice of freshly grown home grown tomato, a touch of salt, ground black pepper and basil leaves fresh from the herb garden. It’s her favorite.
I am surprised that Eva uses a clear bottle for her oil. I know you guys use a lot of oil and it won't have a chance to lose its antioxidants, but still...Or is that just for the camera so we can see it's olive oil she's using...
Wonderful video!!! The swordfish has me wondering what Eva has to say about fresh vs frozen fish (or anything else). Does it matter, and to what extent?
My grandmother is Abruzzese, and her ravioli recipe with spinach and ricotta uses pepper and nutmeg. A lot of my friends with families from the south think that's really weird, especially the nutmeg.
As an Italian I can confirm everything Eva explained about herbs. It's weird because nobody here really teaches us these basic rules, we apparently absorb flavors by tasting and watching our parents and granparents cooking. For example, we would NEVER ever put basil in a fish based recipe, and for sure we would never ever never ever use creamy dressing in jars 😱 the liquid part of this stuff is JUST the king: extra virgin olive oil. Period.
No, Harper it is not "hard to find wild boar." Here in S.C. it's legal to kill boar without a permit. (Local restrictons apply) They are a national problem.
Reality Check on the Salt- I will preface this that because of a health anomaly, I've always been hypersensitive to salt. At times, that is all I can taste in any particular food. I would eat so little salt, that my sodium levels would drop below accepted normal levels, and that is not a good thing. [Salt is an electrolyte.] I've always had low blood pressure; low blood sugar but not bad enough for medical intervention, and I still developed atrial fibrilation. I have a shiny new pace maker and a compensatory dietary change: 1500 mg of sodium OR LESS per day. That amount has been proven to not be a danger of too low sodium, by the American Heart Association. However, they say 500 mg of salt per day, is all that is truly needed for proper health. At present, the recommended sodium intake should be LESS THAN 2300mg. That 600mg of salt for a single portion of pasta is almost half of my daily sodium allowance; and it's more than what is necessary for good health. Every one is different, and your individual needs and dietary requirments will be different. As a Rule, MOST AMERICANS EAT 3400MG OF SALT PER DAY, AND THAT IS NOT HEALTHY.
Oh, I definitely want to try these recipes! They look so fresh! Question- can that sauce for the fish be used for any other types of fish, like haddock?
I thoroughly enjoyed this lesson in how Italians use, and don’t use, spices Eva. It was a fascinating video. I have a question though, if you have the time to answer. I know you are both very busy. Would you ever use basil and oregano together in the same dish? Grazie mille you two.
Parsley and artichokes.:) Here in Campania we use parsley when we prepare 'carciofi in umido': stuffed baked artichokes. (And in 'caricofi alla romana', Roman-style artichokes as made in Rome.) And as Eva said, it's in all our local fish and seafood dishes.
Another thing that I've noticed about American cooking is that they double down on the alliums. They will use garlic and onion for example. We do that too, in Italy, but not that often, and in very specific dishes, more isn't always better, as Eva mentioned.
