Blog Post #1: Italian Cooking Styles

Cooking Italian food is simple. It doesn't require difficult cooking techniques because it is more concentrated on the ingredients of the dishes to be prepared. I always watched my mom when she is cooking and I notice that it is all about the right spices which should be poured at the right time to get the perfect flavor.

Looking for the few and simple Italian cooking styles, I came across this article entitled " Italian Cooking Techniques " from The Island's Weekly which an online newspaper.

According to the article, Italy is all about different regional cooking styles. Each region has its own way of making pasta, pizza and etc. They also have their own specialties like the famous pizza from Naples or the delicious risottos from Venice. Even though, there are various ways of cooking in every region, there are still some that they all have in common. The first one is called battuto. It means beaten and it consists of copping the ingredients finely. This technique can be used for everything like carrots, bacon, onions, bell peppers, and etc. A battuto produces delicious sauces, soups, stews and casseroles. It also gives a rich flavor to the dish.

I have seen my mom use this kind of technique when she cooks us vegetarian soups on rainy days. She finely chops the vegetables and mixed them all together. It makes the soup thick and tasty, something that I rarely taste in other restaurants.

" The mixture should look beaten together. A battuto is the first step in producing authentic tasting sauces and other complex dishes, such as soups, stews, and casseroles. ", said Robert Wood who is a professional chef and writer of this article.

If you love pizza, then another famous Italian cooking technique is called al forno. I found an explanation about in the article entitled " Methods of Cooking in Italy " which is feature on USA Today.

Al forno literally means "in the oven". It is usually the technique that Italians use for their delicious and famous pizzas. It is the wood-burning brick oven that is traditionally associated with this kind of cooking style, but modern ovens can be used as well.

I remember that, whenever we went for a pizza, my family will always go to a pizzeria and we'll watch how the chef molds the dough, mix the ingredients and put the thin pizza in the wooden-brick oven. It is definitely a pizza to remember. 

" The nation of Italy is responsible for many revolutions in the culinary world. Even in dishes that aren't considered "Italian," you'll find cooking techniques perfected by Italians. ", said Tricia Chaves.

The cooking techniques I mentioned above are only some of the many styles Italians use to produce their exquisite meals. As you can see, they are quite simple and they can be learned easily because the main focus of Italian cuisine are always the quality and freshness of its ingredients

The Penny Skateboard

The penny board is one of the most common skateboards. It is also one of the most popular ones used for cruising. It is much smaller than a normal skateboard. In fact, it is 22 inches long and 6 inches wide. One of its best features is flexibility. The penny board is extremely bendable. In fact, I recently saw this video on Youtube where a car slowly drives over a penny board and stays on top of it for a couple of minutes. The penny board did not break and it did not even get a scratch. The flex test showed how durable and bendy it can be.

The penny skateboard came to life inside the imagination of Ben Mackay, at the early age of 5. Mackay says: "Skateboarding has always been and it will always be a massive influence in my life". In the 90's, Mackay got his wood-working skills and appreciation for timber as a cabinet maker. In 1999, his career completely changed by working in his parents garage in Australia. The young entrepreneur started building his own presses and glue machine, and getting supplies like Canadian Rock Maple from Besse Group in the Great Lake region.

By making his own skateboard, Mackay's company rapidly took shape. He made skateboards for local skate shops, as well as a long Australian skateboard distributor named "Kwala Skateboards". He gives credit to them for his success because of their help given to his company.

In 2011, after a couple of years building his own skateboard company, he finally created the penny board, and, in less then a year, it became famous not only in Australia but worldwide.

Source: http://business.transworld.net/111297/features/pennys-ben-mackay-reflects-on-a-love-for-skateboarding/

History Of Skateboard

In 1950's, skateboarding was born. It happened when surfers from California had an idea to try surfing in the streets. No one knows who made the first skateboard, but it seems like most people had the same ideas at the same time. Some people say that they where the one who invented the first skateboard, but nothing can be proved, and skateboarding remains a strange and unplanned creation.

In the beginning, skateboards were wooden boxer or boards with roller skate wills attached in to the bottom. A lot of people got hurt in the early years, when skateboarding was just invented, because it was a new thing. Then, the boxes turned into planks, and companies also started producing decks of pressed layers of wood similar to the decks of today. Back then, skateboarding was just a thing to do for fun after surfing.

In 1963, skateboarding became more popular, and companies like Jack's Hobie and Makaha started making skateboard competitions. Back then, skateboarding was just downhill slalom or freestyle. During that time, some well-known skateboarders were Torger Johnson, Woody Woodward and Danny Berer. Skateboarding was different from what it looks like today. The only style of skateboarding was called "freestyle" and it was more like ice skating with skateboard  or dancing ballet.

In 1965, the popularity of skateboarding just crashed. People said that skateboarding was just a short lived thing like the hoola hoop. So skateboard companies closed and people who wanted to skate had to make their own skateboard. People didn't stop from skating, even if parts where really hard to find, and it became more dangerous because skaters were using clay wheels for their skateboard. But in 1972, a man named Frank Nasworthy made a company named Cadillac Wheels. They made urethane skateboard wheels that are almost similar to the once that we use today.The invention became a huge thing, and sparked on surfers and young people.

In 1975, skateboarding started to became a sport like we see it today. In Del Mar, California, a freestyle and slalom skateboard contest was held in the Ocean Festival.  There were many members at the Zephyr team but the most famous once are Tony Alva, Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta. That day, the Zephyr team showed the world that skateboarding was more than a hobby. It was something serious and exiting and they proved it by showing some low and smooth moves like no one had ever seen in public eye.


Source  http://skateboard.about.com/cs/boardscience/a/brief_history.htm