The Musée d'Orsay

The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters including Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin and Van Gogh. Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening in 1986.

Source: http://wrnewz.com

Today, the Orsay museum, which houses thousands of art works, is among the most popular locations that people from all over the world come to see. It’s an amazing architectural showcase. It even has a glass walkway (part of the original train station), and also has a restaurant-café, auditorium, bookstore, and gift shop. The interior design of the museum, which Italian designer Gae Aulenti spearheaded, sparked some controversy. Detractors have decried some of the museum’s features as “mussolinian” in terms of style. Whether you’re an art aficionado who looks forward to viewing French masterpieces created between 1848 and 1915, or someone who loves seeing architectural wonders and enjoying a piece of history, the Musee d Orsay is well worth including in your itinerary.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5HcYY1b7wk&hd=1

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org

http://famouswonders.com

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Posted in: France

Ravioli

Ravioli (plural; singular: raviolo) are a traditional type of Italian filled pasta. They are composed of a filling sealed between two layers of thin egg pasta dough and are served either in broth or with a pasta sauce.

Ravioli are traditionally made at home. The filling varies according to the area where they are prepared. In Rome and Latium the filling is made with ricotta, spinach, nutmeg, and black pepper. In Sardinia ravioli are filled with ricotta and grated lemon rind.

Modern ravioli is also mass-produced by machine.

Source: http://www.bayabistro.com

Some fun facts about Ravioli:

• The earliest mention of Ravioli or raviolo (singular) comes from the writings of Francesco di Marco, a merchant of Venice in the 14th century.
• March 20th is National Ravioli Day.
• Typically, ravioli are boiled and served with a rich sauce, although some parts of Italy bake their ravioli in cream sauces after boiling them.
• All ravioli starts with a pasta dough, typically made by mixing egg, flour, salt, olive oil, and water. The dough is kneaded and worked to a smooth, moist consistency, and then allowed to rest while the filling is made.
• The filling is usually cooked and mixed with egg so that it stays together, and after it cools the dough is rolled out into a flat sheet to make ravioli. Small spoonfuls of dough are placed approximately half an inch (one and a half centimeters) apart before another sheet of rolled out dough is carefully placed on top. A ravioli rolling pin is rolled over the two pieces of dough and the filling, sandwiching the filling into small pockets of dough which can be gently cut apart and cooked.
• Ravioli appears in In India, a popular dish called Gujiya is similar to ravioli, however it is prepared sweet, with a filing of dry fruits, sugar and a mixture of sweet spices, then deep fried in vegetable oil. The dish is a popular food prepared during the Holi festival, mainly in the northern, northwestern and central parts of India.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravioli

http://mobile-cuisine.com

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Posted in: Culinary,Italy

Risotto

Risotto is an Italian rice dish cooked in broth to a creamy consistency. The broth may be meat-, fish-, or vegetable-based. Many types of risotto contain butter, wine and onion. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy.

Risotto is normally a primo (first course), served on its own before the main course, but risotto alla milanese, is often served together with ossobuco alla milanese.

In fact, the tradition of eating rice of these Italians is very interesting. As the Italians are well known as people in this country eat rice more than any other European people. In average, Italians eat rice approximately 5 kilograms per person per year. But for people who live in northern region, they usually eat rice about 12 kilograms per person per year, mean while people who live in southern region eat only about 2 kilograms per person per year.

Source: http://realfood.tesco.com

However, the tradition of growing rice of Italians even more interesting. Most of countries around the world grow rice for the only reason that for domestic consumption. But the reason for growing Risotto is totally different, because they grow rice in order to improve quality of muddy soil and to get rid of mosquitoes and its breeding area, which are shallow lakes after spring. The water that is the cause of mosquitoes breeding site are from the ice melting from Alp mountain. The species of rice that grow in this region are generally taken from Arabian people who live in north Africa.

At first, the northern Italian people grow rice only for family consumption and the way that they cook the rice also not use complicated methods and they can store cooked rice for later use, especially in fall and winter. They just only warm the preserved rice when they want to eat and the rice give more nutrition than soup. This is the reason why rice has become popular among Italians. However, sometime later, more ingredients have been add to have more variety of cooking styles.

The cooking method of risotto has been developed for more than 300 years. Since the risotto is introduced to the people who are in rich family and it was very popular among them. Later the "Risotto Culture" was introduced to middle class, even low class, then it became popular among Italian very quickly. Start form northern region, then to the central and southern region. Risotto is known as the food that popular for Italians, apart from Pasta.

Today, many of Italian chefs always find variety of cooking Rissoto. Some chefs also try to find new technique to make their cooking style unique in order to attract customers. They try to find new ingredients to add in to their Rissoto recipes, which some of them are rare and expensive such as Porchinee, goose’s liver, herbs, seafood and vegetables. Rissoto also has influence to people to change their social value that change. People will order Rossoto instead of pasta, because they will be looked like a high class person. Pasta is known as a fast food dish that has more calories.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risotto

http://www.streetdirectory.com

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Posted in: Culinary,Italy

Spaghetti

Spaghetti is a long, thin, cylindrical pasta of Italian and Sicilian origin. Spaghetti is made of semolina or flour and water. Italian dried spaghetti is made from durum wheat semolina, but outside of Italy and Sicily it may be made with other kinds of flour. Traditionally, most spaghetti was 50 cm (20 in) long, but shorter lengths gained in popularity during the latter half of the 20th century and now spaghetti is most commonly available in 25–30 cm (10–12 in) lengths. A variety of pasta dishes are based on it, from spaghetti alla Carbonara or garlic and oil to a spaghetti with tomato sauce, meat and other sauces.

Spaghetti is the plural form of the Italian word spaghetto, which is a diminutive of spago, meaning "thin string" or "twine".

Source: http://www.cookingclassy.com

Some fun facts about Spaghetti:

• Spaghetti is rich in carbohydrates, and is a symbolic food of the Mediterranean diet. They are easily digestible, and provide a large amount of both energy and nutriments.
• Bolognese. The most famous condiment gets its name from the Italian city that makes the best meat sauce: ragu. But in many places in the world, spaghetti is served with tomato sauce and meatballs.
• Like other types of pasta, spaghetti comes in both dried or fresh variants, and the two are very different. Dried pasta is more common and made from durum wheat. The fresh kind includes eggs and should be eaten immediately.
• To prepare a dish of spaghetti, a high pot is needed in which salted water should be brought to boil. You’ll also need a drainer and a saucepan to mix it in with the sauce. Measurements? The rule is 1-10-100: 1 liter of water, 10 grams of salt, 100 grams of spaghetti.
• Flying spaghetti monster. The most famous pasta shape has also inspired the name of a satirical Kansas-based cult whose leader wears a pasta drainer on his head.
• Italy. The homeland of spaghetti and pasta. It’s the world’s largest producer, making 3.2 tons a year. The USA comes in at second place, with 2 million tons a year, and Brazil produces one million tons. Each year, the average Italian eats 28 kilos of pasta.
• Jefferson (Thomas). It is believed that the third US president was the first to bring a special machine to make “macaroni” (what pasta was called) into the country from France. Jefferson is said to have been a great fan of spaghetti with cheese.
• Ober Ramstadt. This German region is now in the Guinness Book of World Records, for having made (thanks to an Italian), the longest spaghetti ever – measuring 455 meters.
• Xtreme spaghetti. The current world record for eating the most spaghetti in the least amount of time is currently held by a Tuscan man, who ate 100 grams in 33 seconds, stealing the record from the previous Japanese winner.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti

http://www.finedininglovers.com

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Posted in: Culinary,Italy

Lasagne

Lasagne are a wide, flat pasta shape, and possibly one of the oldest types of pasta. The word also refers to a dish made with several layers of lasagne sheets alternated with sauces and various other ingredients.

Lasagne originated in Italy, in the region of Emilia-Romagna. Traditional lasagne is made by interleaving layers of pasta with layers of sauce, made with ragù, bechamel, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. In other regions and outside of Italy it is common to find lasagne made with ricotta or mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, various meats (e.g., ground beef, pork or chicken), miscellaneous vegetables (e.g., spinach, zucchini, mushrooms) and typically flavored with wine, garlic, onion, and oregano. In all cases the lasagne are oven-baked.

Traditionally, the dough was prepared in Southern Italy with semolina and water and in the northern regions, where semolina was not available, with flour and eggs. Today in Italy, since the only type of wheat allowed for commercially sold pasta is durum wheat, commercial lasagne are made of semolina (from durum wheat).

Source: http://www.donaldrussell.com

Some fun facts about Lasagne:

• Lasagna Could've Meant Something Much Grosser than Food. Originally, in Italy, the word "lasagna" did not refer to a food (in fact, today, the food is still spelled "lasagne" as the plural form). The word "lasagna" referred to the pot in which the food was cooked. It is thought that the word "lasagna" for the pot is derived from the Greek word for "chamber pot.
• Original Lasagna Did Not Use Tomatoes. The earliest lasagna recipes known are dated from the thirteenth century. At that time, tomatoes were not known to Europeans. This means that they couldn't have used them in the recipes. However, depending on the recipe, different cheeses are used.
• Boiling Is No Longer Required to Make Lasagna. Boiling noodles used to be a requirement for making lasagna. No-boil noodles now exist. These are great as they soften in the oven, but it is absolutely necessary to make sure that there is a great quantity of sauce so the noodles get wet and cook while they are in the oven.
• Lasagna Can Be Made in the Dishwasher. Do you not have an oven or do you not have a working oven? You can make lasagna in the dish washer! All you have to do is put the ingredients together in a dish (either boils noodles or use the no boil noodles), cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil, then use the heated dry and sanitize cycle on your dishwasher to cook the lasagna.
• Lasagna Is Prevalent in Pop Culture. The most well-known bit of lasagna lore is probably that the cat, Garfield, from the comic strip, has lasagna as his favorite food. It is also prevalent because the parody artist Weird Al Yankovic recorded a song called "Lasagna" that is a parody of "La Bamba" and that in an episode of Seinfeldcalled, "The Butter Shave," Elaine gave the passenger next to her the nickname "Vegetable Lasagna".

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasagne

http://voices.yahoo.com

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Posted in: Culinary,Italy

Gardaland

Gardaland is the eighth-most-popular theme park in Europe and is between Peschiera and Lazise, at Lake Garda in Italy. Built on the eastern shore of Lake Garda at Castelnuovo del Garda, the park opened on July 19, 1975. It has expanded steadily in both size and attendance, topping 1 million visitors annually for the first time in 1984. By 2007, attendance reached 3 million. 

Run and operated by the Merlin Entertainments Group, the park is promoted as first in Italy. This statistic is believable as the different attractions are considerably spaced throughout the park. It currently is home to six roller coasters and a total of 32 rides. The coasters are called Blue Tornado, Magic Mountain, Sequoia Adventure, Raptor, Orto Bruco, Mammut. Fuga da Atlantide is a Shoot the Chute.

Source: http://www.hotelscaligero.com

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardaland

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Posted in: Italy

Milan Cathedral

Milan Cathedral is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy. Dedicated to Santa Maria Nascente (Saint Mary Nascent), it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Cardinal Angelo Scola.

The Gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. It is the fifth largest cathedral in the world and the largest in the Italian state territory.

Source: http://www.panoramio.com

The plan consists of a nave with four side-aisles, crossed by a transept and then followed by choir and apse. The height of the nave is about 45 meters, the highest Gothic vaults of a complete church (less than the 48 meters of Beauvais Cathedral, which was never completed).

The roof is open to tourists (for a fee), which allows many a close-up view of some spectacular sculpture that would otherwise be unappreciated. The roof of the cathedral is renowned for the forest of openwork pinnacles and spires, set upon delicate flying buttresses.

The cathedral's five broad naves, divided by 40 pillars, are reflected in the hierarchic openings of the façade. Even the transepts have aisles. The nave columns are 24.5 metres (80 ft) high, and the apsidal windows are 20.7 x 8.5 metres (68 x 28 feet). The huge building is of brick construction, faced with marble from the quarries which Gian Galeazzo Visconti donated in perpetuity to the cathedral chapter. Its maintenance and repairs are very complicated.

Milan’s cathedral has recently developed a new lighting system, based on LED lights.

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Posted in: Italy