Menu Speciality Food Ltd (FKA) IB Food Ltd
Fine Italian ingredients for chefs
Spelt is not just a “good-for-you” grain. It has a sweet, nutty chewiness that tastes a little like barley but without barley’s sliminess.
It’s also quick and easy to cook. Try substituting spelt for rice or pasta in a salad or with curry or greens.
These lentils hail from Colfiorito, the high plain that spans Umbria and Marche, an area famous for its high-quality lentils. Firm and tasty, they are excellent with a peppery oil.
This quick and easy lentil needs no soaking, cooking from dry in just 20 minutes. Brilliant in Umido cooked with pancetta, onion and broth. Try also with chilli for a great winter warmer!
Spelt has a slightly higher protein content than ordinary wheat and can be tolerated by many people with wheat intolerances. It can be substituted for ordinary wheat flour in baked goods.
Polenta is coarsely ground Yellow Cornmeal, used in Italian cooking. Season with herbs, spices, sauted mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes or garlic to make a delicious side dish or entree. Polenta can be sliced, baked or fried. Serve Polenta hot and topped with maple syrup for breakfast.
Serve soft polenta, either plain or with herbs or cheese, as a side dish.
Use polenta as the base for vegetarian main dish, topped with sauce or a hearty vegetable ragoût.
Serve polenta instead of pasta or rice as an accompaniment to meat sauces, stews, or chilis.
Try soft-cooked polenta as a hot breakfast cereal, topped with fresh or dried fruit, nuts, cinnamon, and milk.
Use baked or grilled polenta rounds as a base for hors d’oeuvres or appetizers.
Use polenta to replace the biscuit or puff pastry topping on pot pies.
Polenta with truflle is an easy but luxurious truffle-flavored side dish.
Polenta Taragna is typical of Valtellina as well as of the valleys of Bergamo and Brescia. Its most characteristic trait is its dark color, due to the use of buckwheat flour (mixed with cornmeal).
Zuppa Rapida made with a variety of pulses, beans and grains from orzo, lentils, black-eyed beans, tiny white haricot beans to peas. It is a wonderful array of colours and flavours, various textures that work in harmony with a short cooking time, no soaking is required.
Borlotti beans are widely used in Italian cooking and have a sweetish flavour with a smooth creamy texture. They work well in salads and casseroles. The dried variety needs to be soaked in cold water before cooking.
