What’s so special about “Minni Di Virgini” from Catania
The story behind these pastries is that they were inspired by Saint Agatha, who is embraced as the patron saint of Catania.
Dominique Rizzo | Bespoke Food Tours
Dominique Rizzo is one of Queensland’s leading female chefs who creates purely delicious, healthy and real food recipes that inspire people to make a change for the better while still loving their food. “I love the essence of clean, simple whole food cooking.
The story behind these pastries is that they were inspired by Saint Agatha, who is embraced as the patron saint of Catania.
Vincenzo Bellini and Pasta Alla Norma. What does Bellini have to do with Pasta? Read on to find out.
Catania is the second largest city in Sicily after Palermo, and among the ten largest cities in Italy. Its located on the eastern coast of Sicily at the foot of Mount Etna, the biggest volcano in Europe. Catania faces the Ionian Sea which includes the gulfs of Squillace and Taranto (Italy) and Arta, Patras, and Corinth (Greece). The main Ionian ports are Syracuse, Catania (Sicily), Taranto (Italy),Corfu (Ionian Islands), and Patrai (Greece).
The history behind Sicily and each of its cities is a tangled story of conquests. Historically the name Catania can be found in three stories –
The area of Catania was settled early by Sicels. In 729 B.C. Chalcidian Greeks from the nearby town of Naxos founded Katane, which flourished as a Greek trading town until the 5th Century B.C. The tyrant Hieron I of Syracuse moved the inhabitants of Katane to Leontinoi, named the town after the nearby volcano Aitne and settled more than 10,000 new settlers into the city. After Hieron’s death, the original inhabitants moved up to the southern slope of Mount Etna again and returned to their city. After being destroyed by a lava flow and then rebuilt Dionysius I of Syracuse conquered the city, enslaved the population and settled Campanian soldiers in Katane.
The city flourished again thanks to the fertile volcanic soil which aided agriculture. Under the Romans Catania was a Civitas decumana and part of the Roman province Sicilia. Many buildings such as the Roman theatre, the amphitheater and the baths bear witness to the blossoming of the city under the Roman Empire. The Roman Theatre is one of the best examples of Roman architecture to survive centuries of natural disasters.
During the Byzantine and Arab rule, Catania lost its importance and was outstripped by other Sicilian cities like Palermo and Syracuse. Fortune was less than favourable to Catania over the course of history. Although it came to prominence as a commercial and maritime centre under the Normans again, the earthquake of 1169 with 15,000 deaths and the devastation caused by Emperor Henry VI of Hohenstaufen in 1194 led to tough times yet again for the city.
During the 14th century, and into the Renaissance period, Catania was one of Italy’s most important cultural, artistic and political centers. Not only was it the site of Sicily’s first university, it has been the native or adopted home of some of Italy’s most famous and influential artists and writers, including composers Vincenzo Bellini and Giovanni Pacini, and the writers Giovanni Verga, Luigi Capuana, Federico De Roberto and Nino Martoglio.
It was not until 1434 that Catania gained importance again thanks to the establishment of the university, the oldest in Sicily and one of the oldest in Italy, by the Spanish House of Aragon and became the second largest city in Sicily.
The late 16th and 17th Century saw some significant developments in the history of Catania. In 1576 a major part of the population died due to the plague; in 1669 a lava flow destroyed the western part of the city; and, in 1693 a heavy earthquake destroyed the rest of Catania. Catania’s present day appearance is thanks to its reconstruction in the 18th Century, following the designs by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini using the iconic dark lava stone seen in many of the towns surrounding Etna.
The major feature of Catania is its architecture, which is predominantly baroque and feature mainly theatricality characteristics.
This style dominated Europe in the 17th century as a result of the reformation/counter-reformation where the statement given was one of grandeur.
The preceding style was Renaissance, while the succeeding was Neoclassicism. The three major features are a near excessive amount of detail (statues, lots of gold, columns and pilasters, garlands and wreaths with tall facades and frescoes often featuring trompe-l’œil (visual illusion in art, especially as used to trick the eye into perceiving a painted detail as a three-dimensional object).
Baroque from Catania has several unique features such as use of dark lava stone (basalt), the Bell in the facade itself and grotesque masks and putti. Due to the natural disasters and the destruction of the city , the centre now shines in the Sicilian Baroque style. Whether the Piazza del Duomo with the black lava elephant, the Roman Theatre, the Villa Bellini, the Cathedral of Sant’Agata or any of the numerous churches – Catania offers its visitors a wealth of interesting places and tourist attractions.
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Here are just some of the reasons you should visit: Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, commonly shorted to Chamonix, is a French city nestled between the Alps. It is known as a skiing hotspot and for its mix of modern and traditional architecture. The area sees around 440,000 tourists, but this number typically changes depending on the season. Many of these visitors come to participate in the numerous outdoor activities and see the historical sights of the city. If you’re looking for a more laid-back and unique experience in France, the Casino Le Royal Chamonix is a great place to be.
Losing weight is never an effortless endeavor. It’s particularly challenging when you work from home and the kitchen is so close by. In the age of COVID-19, you can certainly relate to the struggles of attempting to attain—or even maintain—a body in which you feel confident, strong, and healthy.
The three most vital components of losing weight are a healthy diet, adequate sleep, and regular exercise. As unfortunate and frustrating as it is, sometimes there are simply not enough hours in the day for the latter two on this short list.
There are, thankfully, simple ways that you can significantly reduce your daily calorie intake. Here are 12 easy ways to cut calories when working from home.
One of the most common mistakes made by people trying—and failing—to lose weight is that they consume an excessive number of calories in beverage form. The regular consumption of sugary drinks has shown to result in obesity, as well as type-2 diabetes. As a point of reference, a can of Coke contains around 40 grams of sugar and 200 calories.
Not only does the consumption of sugary drinks drastically increase your calorie intake, it also results in even greater levels of hunger shortly after consumption. Stay away from sweet sodas and cut back on the amount of sugar you add to your tea and coffee.
Garnishes such as mayonnaise, chutney, and ketchup are surprisingly calorie dense. Just one tablespoon of mayonnaise contains around 94 calories. Sauces and dressings are often absolutely necessary for flavor. You do, after all, want your food to taste good. We’re simply suggesting that you cut back as much as possible. Swap a dollop for a drizzle.
Research conducted in the United States indicates that between 85 and 90% of adults don’t include enough vegetables in their regular diet. When you ensure your meals comprise of mostly vegetables, you can drastically up your vitamin intake, while also cutting back on unnecessary calories. Vegetables make a great snack too, so you can grab some carrot sticks, tomatoes, and cucumber when you’re feeling peckish.
This psychological trick is a great way of reducing your calorie intake. Take your inspiration from a culinary tour of Spain, where tapas plates are the norm.
By reducing your plate or bowl size, your serving size will automatically decrease too. Once you’ve gotten accustomed to smaller crockery, reduced portion sizes will simply become the new norm.
Drinking water before every meal helps you to feel full more quickly. When you can feel satisfied without having to consume unnecessary additional food, you eliminate huge quantities of calories that would have otherwise gone straight to your hips. In fact, studies have shown that you can reduce your calorie intake by up to 13% by drinking 2 cups of water before every meal.
We’re all aware that carbohydrates should be minimized when trying to cut back on calories and lose weight. It is, however, unreasonable to expect that you can completely eliminate them from your diet. This is why we would recommend consuming exclusively low GI carbohydrates. Low glycemic index foods include those with a rating of 55 or less. Examples include oatmeal, grain-rich bread, lentils, beans, and fruit.
When you eat your food mindfully and at a slower pace, you become more aware of when you’re full. Not only does this give your body time to start feeling full before your plate is empty, but it also heightens your sense of awareness that this is, in fact, happening.
If you’re someone that usually eats hastily, practice putting down your knife and fork between chewing and your next bite. Alternatively, plate your food beautifully and take time with its presentation. If your food looks photo-worthy, you’re less likely to wolf it down and more inclined to savor every bite.
When life is busy and the demands of work are causing you to feel stressed and time-pressured, it’s easy to wolf down a simple sandwich while staring at work emails. But eating while distracted results in overeating.
Not only this, when your lunch routinely goes unappreciated, then you’re discouraged from putting effort into the future preparation of healthy meals. Eliminate all distractions from your mealtime. Use your lunch break to nourish your body and clear your mind. Think of the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited, your next holiday, or anything else you enjoy.
Protein will keep you fuller for longer than any other form of nutrition. This is because it reduces the presence of ghrelin, the ‘hunger hormone’, while also increasing levels of GLP-1, cholecystokinin, and peptide YY—a combination of appetite-suppressing hormones. Naturally, the adjustment of these specific hormones in this manner will significantly reduce calorie intake.
Snacks are sneaky in their often high calorie content. If you feel the urge to snack on something to fuel you through the latter half of the afternoon, choose carefully. For example, substitute crisps for carrots when looking for something to dip in hummus or pesto. That said, fruits are the ideal snack for in-between meals.
Most of the time, when you reach for that second helping, you don’t actually need it. Although you might be in need of a particularly large dinner after a long day of working from home, try to recognize the difference between desire and need.
If you’re on the fence, we recommend waiting 10 to 20 minutes before deciding whether to help yourself to a second serving. Instead of overeating, save the leftovers for a healthy and satisfying lunch the following day.
Intermittent fasting has quickly become one of the most popular dietary strategies for reducing calorie consumption. The most widely adopted approach is one where you’re allowed to eat for 8 consecutive hours of the day, followed by 16 hours of fasting. For example, you can eat between the hours of 10am and 6pm. But you are not allowed to eat between 6pm and 10am the following morning.
If you’re battling a bit of a bulge, you may want to give it a try and see if this calorie-busting method works for you. It may require a bit of meal planning, but it’s worth it.
Now that you’ve got 12 ways to cut calories while working from home, you can switch up your eating habits and see what works for you. Working from home doesn’t have to equal a bigger waistline.
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