The Top 12 Italian Foods in 2014 – the votes are in!

Happy Saturday great foodie friends…. The holidays are around the corner and thoughts of holiday Flavors are no doubt dancing in your brain, across your tastebuds and tummy! I know these aren’t traditional holiday flavours but aren’t Italian flavours just perfect anytime? I think so.

Thank you to Italian Living .com for posting this vote! I couldn’t look at these photos with out my mouth watering!
Love all things Italian….. Enjoy.
click here for the full article on Italianliving.com

Per the Italian Living article:
More than 700,000 foodies and 5,00 food professionals—including bloggers, chefs, restaurateurs and cooking schools —voted for the twelve most popular Italian foods. Parmigiano Reggiano won 1st with the “King of Cheese” receiving 20% of the votes. This international contest sponsored by the nonprofit group I Love Italian Food http://www.iloveitalianfood.org was conducted online in November 2014, with results released in mid-December.

“This contest made us understand which of our traditional foods are the real ambassadors outside of Italy, “ comments Alessandro Schiatti, founder of I Love Italian Food. Three of the winning foods—Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and Aceto Balsamico, are all from the Emilia-Romagna region, which isn’t surprising as that region has more products that are DOP and IGP ( protected designation of origin) than any other region.

Using these twelve winners, I Love Italian Food will launch a project in January 2015 called 100per100, which will ask twelve of Italy’s top chefs including Heinz Beck, Cristina Bowerman, Moreno Cedroni and Antonella Ricci to create a unique recipe for each.

And the 2014 winners are:

You Gotta Try all of these!

Have you tried Prosecco?

One blissful sip that we found in Italy was the latest favorite craze of many Italians. It was far more normal to see Prosecco on the menu of many restaurants and cafe’s or on the table of the relatives compared to the previous vino rosso (red wine) since the beginning of time….
One beautiful winery that you must visit in the Valdobbiadene region in Northern Italy is Villa Sandi in Valdobbiadene Treviso Italy. http://www.villasandi.it/i/index.php
There are many different wineries producing Prosecco in this region but I was taken by this historical winery and they also offered a bed and breakfast experience in their Locanda Sandi along with beautiful grounds, wonderful food and a wine shop.
This frizzante tasty sip is great with so many foods and has become so popular.
You can find Prosecco in our local liquor stores including from this region which is the reported birthplace of Prosecco.

Try some in the summer and make a perfect refreshing drink on a summer afternoon or before dinner called the “Spritz”

Traveling to Italy?

Found the most wonderful pasta in the world in a little town in Italy (Camogli) on the Italian Riviera.
This is not a light recommendation it is truly a MUST.
The Firorella Sisters lovingly make fresh pasta every day from the traditions of days gone past from the heart and soul…. Smiles greet you every time you walk in and then the world of taste buds blossoms beyond words. To couple with your fresh pasta are daily made fresh sauces…..marinara, nocci, pesto, pesto a mare, bolognese etc…. Yum…..