Pizelle are among the many types of cookies or baked treats widely available in the market today. You can usually see pizelle in any bakeshops, Italian food stores, groceries and even online cookie shops. This article describes pizelle or pizella in singular form and the different flavors of pizelle.

Traditionally, pizelle are something in between cookies and waffles that are first made in Italy. The main ingredients include vegetable oil or butter, eggs, flour and of course sugar. There are also a variety of flavorings added to enhance the taste and these flavorings include vanilla, lemon zest and anise. As usual, the most common flavor that is surely loved by kids and adults alike for pizelle is chocolate. Anise pizelle flavor is licorice-like and besides anise is usually used as flavoring in other types of baked treats. The way the pizelle is baked results to different kinds of crispness. The crispness may range from chewy and soft to crispy and hard.

Pizella is round and flat and usually with a snowflake pattern stamped on both sides of the cookie. Baking pizelle is done using an iron specialized for pizzelle making. Pizelle iron is similar to the iron used in waffle making. Once the batter or the dough for pizelle is done, it is poured into the iron and placed over a burner usually at the top of the stove. However, because of the popularity of pizelle, there are models of pizelle iron which do not require stoves and are electric in nature. Because of these recent models, baking pizelle at home is definitely made easier although as mentioned, there are already several stores in the market which sell pizelle.

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Mexican desserts are rather overlooked in comparison to their better known main dish counterparts. The desserts, however, deserve to be in the spotlight. These desserts use simple recipes to make amazing confections that you will fall in love with at first bite.

Mexican desserts are prepared in a variety of ways. One of the more interesting desserts you will find is crema frita. This is a thick slab of custard that is rolled in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs before being deep fried. It is served up with a generous portion of honey. You may want to try some fried ice cream as well. This delectable dessert is made with a ball of ice cream that is rolled in a crunchy coating and fried. These two will knock your socks off!

For a dessert that literally melts in your mouth, try Mexican wedding cookies. They are a true delight. For something your family will never forget, try tres leches cake. This recipe calls for three types of milk (tres leches) to create a cake that is moist, rich, and utterly amazing. While it is rich enough to stand on its own with no frosting, it is traditionally served with a topping of meringue and strawberries. You can also please your kids with empanadas stuffed with fruit or chocolate. Serve them up with a dollop of ice cream for a nice treat.

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It’s spring, and Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner. The great thing about the United States is we incorporate other cultures celebrations into ours. St. Patrick’s Day was brought to us by the Irish and now Cinco de Mayo is here from south of the border. In America, we love to have an excuse to party, and nothing says party better than food and drinks.

Make your favorite foods for this holiday; perhaps you like chalupas, enchiladas, and tamales. It may be harder to think about Mexican dessert when you are menu planning. It is easier to come up with “Hot,” but the “Sweeter” side of things can be overlooked. Maybe it is time to explore the sugary snacks from our southern neighbors.

Banana quesadillas are a great dessert. They are light and fruity… the perfect complement to any meal. If you really want to go for authentic Mexican cuisine try plantains, they resemble bananas, but plantains need to be cooked to be tasty. They can be delicious if prepared correctly. Make sure you look up a good recipe.

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One of the most well known desserts from Mexico is the flan. This sweet custard covered in caramel sauce is simple and elegant. It is loved by everyone, rich or poor; young or old. It comes with an interesting history that dates back to ancient Rome. Way back when, the Romans began to keep chickens on hand for eggs and meat. When they needed something new to do with all the eggs, they turned to Greece and developed a recipe for custard. The Romans made their custards savory instead of sweet.

Rome shared this recipe as they conquered Europe. When Rome fell, the custard recipe they developed flourished throughout medieval Europe. As the recipe was adapted, more sweet versions were created. In Latin, this dessert was known as flado, for custard. In French, it became flaon and eventually it came to be called flan.

Eggs were thought to cause healing. Recipes with eggs like flan were made to help with the kidneys, chest, and liver. They were also thought to increase fertility. In Spain, they developed a delicious version with caramel sauce poured on top. This recipe was brought to the New World when the Spanish sailed to Mexico.

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You are planning your big event and it is time to select what appetizers you want to serve. There are so many to choose from… how do you ever decide? Do you go for healthy or ethnic? What about those appetizers you know are not good for anyone’s health but they taste so good?

When you are choosing your appetizers, of course the first consideration is your budget. You may have caviar tastes and a hot dog budget. Luckily, there are so many appetizer recipes out there to choose from that you should be able to find several that will please you and your guests. Label each dish so any guests that have food allergies know which ones to avoid and which ones to enjoy.

There is a world of appetizers at your fingertips. Focus on a single ingredient to form a theme, such as cheese, poultry, or seafood. You can use cheese in quesadillas, cubes or melted on toast tips. Poultry can easily fill kabobs or dumplings. Seafood may appear in crab cakes, dumplings or you can make delectable shrimp or scallops wrapped in bacon. Alternatively, you may want to make a spread of finger sandwiches with a variety of fillings.

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There is more to Mexican cuisine than what you can experience in a restaurant. Each area of Mexico has its own unique flavors and specialties for you to enjoy. Mexico is divided into three major regions… the North, the Central, and the South. Smaller regions within each large area also have their own special recipes.

The North is cattle country. Both dairy and beef cows are raised in this arid, rugged part of Mexico. Wheat is also grown, so many recipes will use flour, such as tortillas. Tortillas are made fresh every day and are often used to hold spreads and creamy fillings. The local dairies produce fresh cheeses that are enjoyed in many ways.

Northern cuisine is much simpler than in other areas of Mexico. They also use less spice. Many dishes are prepared over an open flame, adding its own flavor. Beef stews, enchiladas, and beans are common foods in the north. Chilies such as Anaheims are popular in this region for their mildness and subtle heat. Pico de gallo, a salsa made of onions, tomatoes and chiles, is served with most meals.

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Indian cuisine is considered as one of the most diversified cuisines in the world as it exhibits a wide range of dishes along with several cooking techniques.

One will find diversity in every bit of life and every aspect of Indian entity. Indian cuisine is not remained untouched with the same and it exhibits a great diversity in Indian cuisine that varies from region to region. Indian cultural and religious beliefs play a very significant role in the evaluation of the cuisine. Demographic factors also play a very important role for making Indian cuisine diversified one. This diversity in cooking may also be because of cultural interactions of India with its neighboring countries such as Persia, West Asia, Mongols and others giving it a unique position in the world of delicacies. It reflects in various Indian cuisines from different parts and regions of the nation.

Extensive use of spices has become the trade mark of the Indian cuisine. These spices are used to enhance the taste and aroma of the dishes. The Indian cuisine is classified into four broader categories they are North Indian, South Indian, East Indian and West Indian.

All these four categories have left their marks on the world’s cuisine and always remain in demand in almost all of the world’s premium food centers and locations.

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Take a stroll down the aisles of your local supermarket or gourmet food store and you may notice that many foods are labeled “artisan” or “artisanal”. You’ll find products such as bread, chocolate, cookies, crackers, coffee, flour, gourmet cheese, granola, oils, pasta, salami, salt, spices, and vinegar described as “artisan(al)”. And this term is not just reserved for specialty foods, mass grocery brands are employing them as well. Sargento Artisan Cheese Blends and Wheat Thins Artisan Cheese Crackers are perfect examples. How are shoppers to know whether this is just a savvy marketing term or if their product selection is truly “artisan(al)”?

The main issue with the term “artisan(al)” is that it’s not regulated by the FDA like other food label terms such as “low-fat”, which have strict usage guidelines . “Artisan(al)” also bears different meanings across different food categories. Artisan coffee implies the beans are roasted in small batches while Italian artisan balsamic vinegar is produced according to strict regulations regarding recipe, process and region. Essentially, the common denominator for the term “artisan(al)” is to suggest associations of high-quality and to differentiate the product from mass produced foods.

When shopping for cheese in the United States, the origin of production plays a major role in how it’s labeled. The countries of the European Union (EU) have long recognized how food and wine is not only a way of life and a symbol of cultural and national pride but also an important tradition worthy of preservation and continuation. In an effort to protect these types of foods, to ensure a high-quality product and to minimize consumer confusion of similar products, the EU has developed the “Protected Designation of Origin”- a culinary copyright, if you will. Strict rules govern production particular to the protected food and wine such as region, recipe and method. The countries of France, Italy and Spain have greater quantities of foods and wines that benefit from this labeling system and each have a different acronym reflecting the translation into their respective languages – AOC, DOP and DO respectively. To make matters confusing, a PDO labeled food does not necessarily guarantee an artisanal product, as there are mass producers adhering to these stringent rules. And conversely, there are plenty of high-quality European foods made by hand in small batches that do not benefit from PDO status.

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If you email or chat online with any frequency, you may have noticed a proliferation of acronyms being used. BTW (by the way), LOL (laugh out loud), OMG (oh my goodness) and WTF (what the f***) have found their way into our daily electronic communication. There is another set of acronyms you may want to become familiar with when shopping for gourmet cheese and fine wines – AOC, DPO and DO. And while it’s important to know what they mean, you will likely never need to say the words in their non-abbreviated form – unless of course, you want to show off your newfound foodie knowledge.

These cheese acronyms only apply to cheeses crafted in the Old World. The European Union (EU) has developed the “Protected Designation of Origin”- a culinary copyright, if you will. Only foods with PDO status are the authentic version. Strict rules govern production particular to the protected food and wine such as region, recipe and method. The countries of France, Italy and Spain have greater quantities of foods and wines that benefit from this labeling system and each have a different acronym reflecting the translation into their respective language.

Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AOC) is the French version of the EU’s PDO laws and governs foods such as gourmet cheese, chicken, lentils, honey, butter and fine wine. The genesis of the French food labeling laws was first applied to Roquefort in the 15th century when production was regulated by the French parliament. A few hundred years and and a few hundred cheeses later, only 40 cheeses are protected by the AOC label including our favorites – Brie de Meaux, Camembert de Normandie, Comte, Epoisses, and of course, Roquefort. To illustrate just how stringent these laws are, Roquefort can only be named as such provided that milk from particular herds of sheep is used, the cheese is aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, France and must be injected with Penicillium roqueforti molds produced in the same cave.

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To some it smells like feet, to others it reeks of dirty socks. We are not talking about the locker room but the aroma of some of the world’s most delectable foods – gourmet cheese. One step into a cheese shop and it’s easy to be overwhelmed with the aroma. To some it’s offensive and to others it’s heavenly. With most foods, the sense of smell is directly related to the taste but this is not always the case with cheese. If the odor wasn’t enough to keep you from sampling these culinary delights then perhaps the production process will. Certainly adding to the gross-out factor is the use of molds and bacteria in the cheese production process to yield a desired rind color, flavor profile and scent. For the adventurous foodie, there are many renowned gourmet cheeses considered to have an unsavory bouquet that are definitely worth a taste.

Most gourmet cheeses known to be odiferous have something in common. They fall into a category known as washed-rind cheeses. During the aging process, these cheeses are washed with a brine typically of salt water, brandy, beer or other spirits. Sounds perfectly harmless, right? Turns out this washing method allows the cheese to become hospitable to a beneficial bacterium responsible for the brightly hued rinds, robust flavor and pungent odor. A few times per week, the cheeses are bathed in these liquids until they are perfectly aged.

While this may seem like these gourmet cheeses would be an acquired taste, chances are you may have already savored a few. Gruyere is a popular washed-rind cheese commonly enjoyed as a table cheese, used in fondues and is traditionally melted atop French onion soup. There are two types of Gruyere – Swiss and French (Gruyere-type cheeses are known as Comte and Beaufort). Only Gruyere produced in Gruyere, Switzerland has the Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AOC) and can only be labeled and sold as Gruyere. The AOC designation is essentially a culinary trademark protecting the recipe, region, heritage and production methods. Both the Swiss and French versions are produced from cow’s milk and washed with a salt-water brine. Gruyere can be identified by having small holes and is characteristically sweet, nutty and slightly salty. As it ages, the flavor becomes more full-bodied and the texture hardens with crystalline crunchies. This is one of the few washed-rind cheeses with a mild scent.

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