Zest Files

Once the curtains go up on an encounter with Italian food and drink, they never go down. From the opening act to the final bow, memories linger till the next production. This glossary draws the outline of some important actors in the Italian culinary experience, including minestrone, pesto, risotto, prosciutto and zabaglione.

The mellow, uplifting contemporary ambience at Ottimo – Cucina Italiana and its refreshingly anchored menu, make it a dining experience right out of any modern Italian city.

This ristorante offers connoisseurs the opportunity to experience the charms of pan-Italian cuisine in all its breadth and unrestrained authenticity.

Shapes, Sizes and Stuffings
It’s hard to overlook pasta’s wide ranging physical attributes and on that score, pasta may be categorised not only by length into long, short and tiny, but also by density (hollow/solid), and surface texture (smooth/ribbed).

Pasta is best sauced while still hot but there are some broad rules on pasta-sauce pairing to ensure you spend more time savouring your first course rather than spending hours trying to get good ratios of pasta and sauce chunks on your fork. While tomato sauces go well with any pasta, things get more complicated with more complex profiles:

– Giuseppe Prezzolini, journalist
Lasagna is an example of a flat pasta. 
Tortellini and ravioli lead the brigade of stuffed pastas known as pasta ripiena which also include tortelli, cappelletti and cannelloni. 
Gnocchi, though they may come across as stuffed pastas are considered dumplings and normally prepared as such.