Hats off to Alitalia as they recently announced a discount for all students who are taking the AP (Advanced Placement) Italian Language Program. This is now available thanks to a partnership between the Embassy of Italy (Washington D.C.) and the airline itself. The discount will be a 5% student discount to students who take the Italian AP Test.

This is a great opportunity for those who are learning the Italian language to visit Italy first-hand and experience the great history, cuisine, sports, fashion, art, etc. that the country has to offer.

Alitalia has direct flights to Rome from the following US Cities: Boston, Chicago (O'Hare) , Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), Newark and New York's JFK airport.

They also have direct flights to Milan-Malpensa from New York's JFK and Miami.

The students an also connect through Delta, one of Alitalia's partner airlines.
For more information about this special offer, please send an email to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Discount must be secured in advance prior to purchasing the ticket. The airline reserves the right to remove this offer.

Italian Cooking and Cuisine

The land of pastas and pizzas and the mighty Roman Empire is the picture that most of us tend to get when we think of Italy. However, Italy has more to offer to its tourists, especially in terms of its versatile cuisine. The Italian cuisine is vivid and versatile just like the empire and region itself. The lesser-known fact about Italy is that the place is a paradise of food lovers as much as it is a heaven for the shopaholics.

Occupying a huge landscape the region's traditional cuisine has a distinct feature that goes with the distinct geographical spread of the place and offers many more lip-smacking foods apart from the popular pizzas and pastas.

The traditional cuisine has a strong influence of the multiple empires that ruled the country and exhibits the presence of the ancient Greek, Roman and Jewish traditions in this land for a considerably long time along with other civilizations apart from the Turks and Arabs that also have left a mark on the nation's cuisine. The cuisine in the northern part of the country for instance is dominated by the influence of the cuisine from Austria and Germany that has excessive use of potatoes and butter, whereas the cuisine in the southern regions are more prominent with the use of olives and tomatoes.

Secrets of preparing traditional Italian food

The Italian foods are not just delicious, but also healthy as all these foods are made using the local fruits and vegetables excessively. The region, which is famous for its sauces and sausages, however, restrains from dipping the foods in excess of sauce. Therefore, the key to making the perfectly delicious Italian food is to use the right kind of fruits, vegetables and meat without soaking them in sauces for long duration instead these foods use the sauces as an enhancer before the food is served.

The secret to making the perfect Italian cuisine is to stock up the right ingredients along with the cheese, fruits and vegetables. Italians, generally use abundance of species in their food, which includes extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and basil along with balsamic vinegar and parmesan reggiano.

If you are trying to make a traditional Italian recipe then it needs to be cooked the traditional way by shunning the ovens and other modern day innovations of baking. The traditional cooking relies more on stove-based baking, sautéing and frying, which gives the traditional Italian cuisine its uniqueness from other cuisines across the world.

Although the bitter truth is that one cannot make the authentic Italian dishes outside the country the closest possible taste can be derived by following a few simple tips like choosing the right kind of fruits and vegetables. Often people tend to take a liking for large fruits and vegetables, however, the authentic taste of the Italian cuisine ingredients is obtained when the smaller fruits are chosen.

It is also important to schedule your food to the appropriate season so that all the needed ingredients are available, most of which are available in the imported food items section in the stores. In addition, it is necessary to strictly follow the recipe rather than to experiment if you are attempting to cook that delicious and perfect Italian cuisine at your home.

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Venetian tapas-style tradition

The central Italian regions of Umbria and Le Marche can provide an awesome gastronomic experience unlike any other part of Italy, since that area has some unique characteristics not found in other Italian regions.

Hilly and Mountainous

This part of central Italy is hilly and mountainous, so the food is very hearty, and can be gamey. Just like other parts of Italy, it is best to savor the local fruits and vegetables that are grown in this region and look for the items that are in season. You can get a quick lesson of what items are in season by walking though one of the local markets. The farmers in this region are very hard-working and proud of their craft, so you will not be disappointed with the food that comes from these two Italian regions.

Truffles in Italy

This delicacy (pictured right) is grown more in Umbria than in any other part of Italy. Truffles are an underground fungus that is also grown in the Piedmont and Tuscan regions of Italy. There are three types of truffles: black, gray or white, the most prized being the white truffle which can sometimes get approximately $1300 USD per pound. They are used often in Umbrian cuisine by shaving them into omelets, or over pasta, or also in soups and broths.

Central Italian Olive Oil

Just about everywhere you look, along the hillsides, you will see olive trees that are used in the production of olive oil. The soil of the Apennine mountains produces an olive oil that is relatively low in acidity. The town of Tevi is noted for the best quality olive oil in Umbria.

Pork

The Umbrian and Marchigiano cuisine revolves a lot around pork products. It is often roasted, which Italians call "porchetta", and grilled on a barbecue, flavored with herbs, wild fennel, and basted with a rich red wine sauce.

Lentils - Lenticchie

The town of Castelluccio di Norcia is known for its beans, lentils, etc. that are often used in a variety of soups and broths. These dishes are more common during the autumn and winter seasons.

Central Italian Wine

Sagrantino grapes are the most noted red wines from these two regions. This varietal is used to produce a semisweet version, along with a dry version of the wine.

Umbria and Le Marche are easily accessible from Rome, and you can even stop there on the way to Florence or Venice during your Italian vacation. The town of Assisi (pictured below) is located in this region, so it makes for a great excuse to sample some of this great Italian cuisine, as you will not be disappointed.

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Easy Italian Recipes on this site

Image of Assisi below

Photo credit for above Truffles and Wine: From Wikipedia Commons - author: Arpingstone

Here are some of the more common reasons that attract millions of visitors every year:

1. It's a beautiful country - tons of people every year are attracted by the intense beauty of the Italian countryside and landscape.
2. Fantastic Cuisine - Have you ever heard of anyone complaining about a meal in Italy? I don't think so!
3. Sports - it's a great place to watch sports, especially soccer which features some of the best players in the world.
4. Magnificent works of Art can be found all throughout the country.
5. Shopping and Fashion in Italy is truly number one in the world.
6 . The Italian people have an intense pride in everything they do.

If you want to visit Italy anytime soon, my new book on Amazon will guide you through what you need to know.

You will learn things like

• Finding the best deals to Italy
• Avoiding travel scams
• The pluses and minuses of group travel

I've geared this book for those that live in the United States, UK, Canada or Australia. And even those that have been before may find some benefit in purchasing the book as many things may have changed since the last time you went.

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