La Piadina Romagnola

Piadina

We were doing food tasting for English Hi Tea today. You know, those tiny miny types of pastries and sandwiches that are place in a 2 tier plates and serve with tea. Who was tasting it? Our beloved Datin wanted to taste it. The feed back? There are plenty of it but I won't blog about it. There is one interesting suggestion that she gave. She ate this bread when she was in Italy. She could't remember the name but as per her, it was hollow and served it with parma ham (dry-cured ham that is usually sliced thin and serve uncooked. The most expensive and renowned piece of ham come from central and northen Italy). I'll blog it in later part.

We were scrathing heads and toes, trying to figure out what type of bread it is. There are plenty of Italian bread such as Foccasia, Panini, Ciabatta and Grisini Stick, just to name a few. But we have not come across bread that are hollow in the middle. So, we went to do some research the old fashion way, Googling, and we came across this bread and its the one and only type of bread that are hollow in the middle. I supposed it was rolled with all the fillings, that make it look hollow in the middle. Its a flat type of bread (similar to our local chappathi, roti canai or tortilla flour) cooked on a testo, or griddle, and unleavened, originated from Romagna, along the Adriatic Coast. Made from flour, salt and lard.

This was the tenant farmer's food, and many families survived on little else. Little wonder; it's tasty to bite into, wonderful when spread with cheese, an excellent foil for cold cuts, and (when folded) perfect for containing all sorts of things, for example grilled sausages and onions.

Understanding Poultry & Bird Game

The versatility, the popularity and the relatively low cost of poultry items make them ideal for all kinds of food service operations, from elegant restaurants to cafeterias and fast-food restaurants. Also chicken and turkey are popular among diet concious people because they are lower in fat and cholesterol than other meat.

Game bird such as pheasant, are also increasing in popularity and availability because they are now raised domestically by many producers. Farm-raised game birds are similar, in many ways, to chicken, so learning techniques for cooking and handling chicken teaches you a great deal about handling these other birds as well.

Learning about poultry is, in some ways, easier than learning about meats like beef and lamb. Because chicken, turkey and other poultry are much smaller, they are not cut up in such details.

However, poultry has its own cooking problems, so it is important to observe both the similarities and the differences between meat and poultry.