And stuff about other ingredients

Bacon Bits for Caesar Salad:

These must be made from real bacon--no imitation ones please!!!  Take the time to fry up the bacon in the pan while you’re putting the rest of the salad together, it’s worth it if you are making a Caesar with bacon bits.

Selecting Bacon:

Canadian bacon is your best choice if you can get it as it comes from the meatier loin of the pig and is trimmed more than the standard U.S. bacon.

Bacon should be used within a week, or two after it has been purchased. Cook it over a low to medium heat, as it will burn quickly over a high heat.  Separate slices in the pan as it heats up.

Don’t Be Afraid of a Little Garlic

This wonderful herb promises low blood pressure, reduction of “bad” cholesterol, is a cure for athlete’s foot and gout, is rumoured to be a preventative of cancer.  As well, it will clear your sinuses, and intensify the flavour of every ingredient it is combined with.  Don’t forget the cheap cost, and the fact that it keeps vampires away.  What more could you ask for?

So, if you want to add a little extra garlic to the recipes that you have just read through, don’t be afraid. And if your husband, (or wife) complains about your breath make sure that he/she gets an ample dose of garlic in his/her salad as well. The best defense against someone with garlic breath is garlic breath.  (An ample dose of curry works well too, but hey, that’s another web site.)

Why Buy Extra-Virgin, or Fine Virgin Olive Oil?

Regular olive oils are prepared by a process of refinement with solvents, or chemicals which are steamed off.  Extra-virgin oils and fine virgin oils are the finest because they are premium oils which are processed through the fruit being crushed, and the oil simply being collected. No chemicals, or solvents. The oil is prepared in late fall through to early winter, and ends up on store shelves in North America a couple of months later.  Oil should only be kept for one year, so don’t buy a large quantity unless you use a lot.  Note that “virgin olive oil”  and “light olive oil” are processed with solvents, or chemicals.

Many Italians who now live in North America bring back olive oil in their suitcase when returning from a trip to the “old country” simply because it is the best that there is for food preparation. Watch out for this if you are of Italian ancestry. It has been my experience that on your day of departure Aunts, or Grandmothers (a.k.a. “Zia”, and “Nonna”), will simply slip it into your bag when you are not looking!

The Most Famous Italian Cheese

Parmesan has many imitators, but the highest quality cheese known as “Parmigiano-Reggiano” has been produced by the same methods for over seven centuries.  It is made in the Italian provinces of Parma, Reggio, Emilia, Modena, Mantua, and Bologna. The cheese goes through a very specific process which is completely natural, and takes over a year to complete. The cheese makers are so particular that only the milk of cows fed in a meadow can be used, and it must be the evening’s milk that is left to stand over night.  The cream is skimmed off the next morning for the cheese production. It then goes through a process of heating, being broken down, and then reheating at very specific temperatures in copper vats. In a cloth it is deposited into wooden, or metal moulds where it sits in a salt solution for 20 to 25 days.  At the end of the year it is transferred to specially built store rooms.

Some terms that you may come across if you venture to Italy and are fortunate enough to try some of this delectable cheese:            fresco (fresh)-less than 18 months old vecchio (mature)-18 to 24 months old stravecchio (very mature)-24 to 36 months old

Great Works of Salad Literature:

Surely Caesar