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Cucina povera – Italian peasant cooking – is the way people have been cooking in Italy for centuries. This is not just a unique approach to cooking and ingredients; it’s the highest expression of the Italian arte dell’arrangiarsi – the art of making do with what you’ve got. Tuscany’s cucina povera is in my blood. I was born in the Tuscan countryside and raised in a traditional tight-knit family, with a mother and grandmother who applied the principles of the cuisine to our everyday meals.
Traditional cucina povera dishes are immediately recognisable from some common traits: the use of humble ingredients, seasonal vegetables and simple cooking techniques, along with a healthy dose of imagination. It relies on basic, affordable ingredients that are available no matter where you live. Day-old bread and leftover pasta, rice and boiled meats are transformed with inventiveness into treats like fried arancine/arancini, spaghetti frittata, meatballs and beef stew with onions.
With their short lists of affordable ingredients and simple cooking techniques, cucina povera dishes easily fit into our modern lives, with a traditional yet contemporary focus on sustainability, budget and inclusiveness. Dishes are often vegetarian or vegan, and naturally gluten-free.
Meat is eaten only on rare occasions. Rather, the cuisine is centred around dishes made with fish or vegetables, and plant proteins such as chickpeas and fava beans, along with basic ingredients such as chestnuts, potatoes and pasta.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2023 من Decanter.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2023 من Decanter.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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A single-minded commitment to sustainability and terroir, combined with business acumen and first-class communication skills, have made his one the most interesting (and divisive) names in Spanish wine. In the end, though, all he wants is for the land to speak through his wines
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DO TORO - Tasting a land and its history
In Spain's Castilla y León, DO Toro still offers the serious, powerful Tinta de Toro that established its reputation - as well as elegant, refined expressions and even organic white wines
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For decades, there were just a few wines regarded as Spain's most revered. Recently, these have been joined by a growing cast of modern-day powerhouses that have risen rapidly to win the hearts of critics and collectors alike. Read on to discover the 10 Spanish wines you should try before you die
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Accepted wisdom isn't always especially wise. Here are four examples from the world of wine
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There are a few bottles in my gradually dwindling cellar here that have question marks over them.
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Quite possibly the world's most popular Christian pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago conveniently passes through some of northern Spain's best wine- and food-producing regions
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Turn on the romance with a pre-dinner cocktail concocted from one of these rosy spirits
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Why a range of Italian grape varieties are flourishing in Australia's soils, and what the future holds for them
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In a year that was respectively 'challenging' and 'troublesome' in south and north, it will be vital to follow expert advice when it comes to finding the wines that you'll enjoy. The effects of some extreme swings in the weather were quite localised, however, so there are plenty of good wines to be found. Our Rhône expert Contributing Editor tasted 1,250 wines in all - here's a selection of 45 of his top picks
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Preserving the wisdom of the past - to shape the wines of the future