MENU TYPES

Questions :

• How many types fo menu are here listed?
• What is the difference between an à la carte menu and a set menu?
• What is the characteristics of a table d'hote menu?
• What difference is there between a cycle manu and a menu of the day?

A la carte menu
An à la carte menu , coming from the French and literally meaning” from the card” is a menu offering choices in each course and where each item is individually priced, charged for and cooked to order.

Un menù à la carte, proveniente dal francese e che letteralmente significa "dalla scheda" è un menu che offre delle scelte in ciascuna portata in cui ogni elemento è singolarmente prezzato, addebitato e cucinato su ordinazione.

Table d’hote menu
A Table d’hote menu, again , coming from the French and literally meaning “ from the host’s table”, is a fixed price menu offering some limited variation in each course . Table d’hote menus are often used for business lunches or festive occasions as they give a sligfht choice for a modest price.

Un menù a prezzo fisso, di nuovo, proveniente dal francese e che significa letteralmente "dal tavolo del padrone di casa", è un menù a prezzo fisso che offre qualche variazione limitata in ogni portata. I Table d'hote menus sono spesso usati per pranzi di lavoro o feste in quanto forniscono una leggera scelta a un prezzo modesto.

Set Menu/Function Menu
A set menu, as the name suggests, offers set items (one for each course) and is used to show what there is for a meal rather than giving a choice. Set menus are usually used for weddings and banquets.

Un menù fisso, come suggerisce il nome, offre una scelta di piatti (una per ogni portata) e viene usato per mostrare ciò che farà parte del pasto piuttosto che dare una scelta. Menu fissi sono di solito utilizzati per matrimoni e banchetti.
Menu of the day
This menu offers choices available for a particular day only . It is often used in addition to a pre-printed” à la carte menu”, thus allowing the chef to offer list of “specials” or variations.

Questo menu offre le scelte disponibili per un particolare giorno solo. E 'spesso utilizzata in aggiunta ad un pre-stampato "menu à la carte", consentendo così lo chef di offrire lista di "speciali" o variazioni.
Cycle menu
A cycle menu is a group of menus which are rotated on a set cycle but not a seven-day cycle as this results in a boring predictable menu with the same items being served on the same day of the week. They are used in the institutional sector of the industry(hospitals, airlines, work canteens)

Un menu ciclico è un gruppo di menù a rotazione su un ciclo stabilito, ma non un ciclo di sette giorni , in quanto risulterebbe in un menù noioso, prevedibile con gli stessi piatti serviti nello stesso giorno della settimana. Sono utilizzati nel settore istituzionale dell’industria (ospedali, compagnie aeree, mense di lavoro)
Kids’ menu
A menu made especially for children offering dishes that appeal to them or smaller portions.

Un menù fatto apposta per i bambini che propone piatti che si rivolgono a loro in porzioni più piccole.

OUR BEAUTIFUL TERRITORY- Gastronomy

morzeddu

The typical Calabrian cuisine is a prototype of the Mediterranean diet, as a matter of fact it is simple, genuine and healthy but also characterized by strong flavours.
Extra virgin olive oil is the main condiment rich in antioxidant substances and used for all types of dishes; it is rarely replaced by lard.
Pastas which is mostly homemade and always present on our tables may be served with a simple fresh tomato sauce with basil or with ragu sauce of different types.
A traditional dish prepared for religious festivity or special days is the “pasta chijna” (full pasta) based on layers of homemade pasta (lasagne) topped with small fried meatballs, slices of hard-boiled eggs, slices of spicy salami, caciocavallo cheese and grated pecorino cheese (baked).

At times we find pasta or bread combined with minestrone of wild vegetables and herbs, a typical

example is the “licurda”, made with potatoes, onions, different kinds of vegetables and herbs and stale bread placed at the bottom of the plate.
Minestroni where legumes are used are very common in our culinary tradition since they replaced meat in the peasant’s diet and they were a tasty one- plate dish, cheap and healthy. The most used are fava beans served as a purea of dry fava beans, very nutrient, either with stale bread or pasta; the beans with pasta or tripe; the peas, lentils and chickpeas combined with pasta.
Among the meats, the pig is undoubtedly the most used meat especially in the Winter Season as a second course dish, but mostly we use the pig to make excellent salami. The inland villages and towns often utilize goat, sheep, of which it is used every part and we can find a few dishes made with the animal entrails such as “the morzeddu” (the small bite), typical of Catanzaro province, cooked with tomato, hot pepper and served inside a pita bread and eaten “biting it”. Along the coast we find a large use of fresh fish, cooked in different ways, especially of blue fish rich in fatty acids kown as omega 3 which help to reduce cardiovascular risk. Sword fish is usually grilled and served with a sauce called “salmoriglio” made with extra virgin olive oil, vinegar or lemon, garlic and spicies. Tuna is seasoned with “ la cipollata” (onions), the famous red sweet onions of Tropea. Cod fish, soaked, is the main ingredient of the “ghiotta” (tasty). The baby fish that we call “neonata ”is used to make small fritters or utilized to make a paste known as “rosamarina” with hot red pepper which has been dried and ground ,that we use on tartines or in homemade pizzas.

It is the hot pepper, introduced in our land , probably, by the Saracens and that found good growing conditions here, that is one of the basic ingredient of our culinary tradition, as a matter of fact it is used not only to give flavour to almost every dish but also as the main component for canned food and typical regional salami.

Calabria is a region that produces a great variety of cheeses made with cow, sheep and goat milk. Among the first mentioned, we have the caciocavallo cheese produced in the Sila mountains and awarded the DOP quality brand ( protected origin designation); scamorza cheese; provola cheese and the “butirro” which is a caciocavallo with butter inside and made only in the Sila area. Among the cheeses made with sheep milk we have the fresh ricotta cheese, the best known is that sold in the “fashedde”, basket made of wickers, and the smoked one; the pecorino cheese, especially that from Crotons spicy and of a maturing time that goes from three months to one year. From the mixing of the sheep and goat milk we have a cheese from Aspromonte mountains called “Musulupu”, of Albanian origin, produced in the Easter Season utilizing the “musulupare” that are inlaid wooden moulds.

The vegetables that are often served are eggplant, parmigiana style or as balls; fried pumpkin and zucchini; pumpkin stem fritters; potatoes and green peppers; boiled wild vegetables (chicory, asparagus), mushrooms picked in the woods and cooked in different ways ; dried tomatoes that can be stored in oil or used to give flavour to pasta dishes.
Among the fruit we have the citrus, particularly the Clementines of Calabria IGP (typical geographic indication), the chestnuts , the figs especially those from Cosenza which are covered with chocolate or worked with spices and dried fruit (almonds, walnuts) to make the famous “crocette” (cross-shaped) or the “Pallone” (the ball).

On a Calabrian table you can always find a good glass of wine produced in our region, especially the red one. Many types of wine have been awarded the DOC or IGT for their high quality due to the autochthonal grapes cultivated in different areas of Calabria. One of the best wines produced is white and red Cirò wine.
At the end of the meal we usually have a glass of homemade liqueur made with bergamot ,very diffused in the province of Reggio Calabria. It is an extraordinary and prided citrus fruit exclusive of this area and it is thought that it is an hybrid between cedro and bitter orange and lemon. But we also make cedro liqueur , a citrus fruit of a tree cultivated only on the Tyrrhenian coast in the province of Cosenza, and the famous “limoncello” made with lemon.

OUR BEAUTIFUL TERRITORY

OUR BEAUTIFUL TERRITORY