Giada De Laurentiis is a great name in the culinary landscape. She is famous for her Italian food dishes. Her cooking shows are a hit and her restaurant is also very popular. Which is the ingredients that she loves and uses them frequently in her recipes?
Giada De Laurentiis
American-Italian chef, Giada De Laurentiis has a reputed name in the cooking industry. She owns a restaurant and her Italian food dishes are popular. Moreover, she also hosts hit cooking shows. She has established herself and has a strong foothold in the cuisine industry.
Like every individual, Giada also has her likes and dislikes for foods. She likes delicious and nutritious foods and tries to cook and serve healthy foods. She also discusses health aspects of foods on her cooking shows.
Giada De Laurentiis (Source: The Kitchn)When it comes to ingredients in her food recipes, this master chef has her all time favorite ingredient that she uses often in her recipes. Which is this food ingredient that she loves and cannot do without it?
Anchovies
It would come as a surprise to many. But yes, Giada loves anchovies. She said:
“They’re so polarizing and can get a bad reputation, but they’re used prominently all over Italy,”
She told Eatingwell:
“I think people can be surprised in general when they have an expectation of what anchovy flavor will taste like, and they’re prepared to be grossed out, but then find that it’s really delicious.”
Giada revealed that she adores the tiny tinned fish despite its bad name. She sells many food products on her website and market called Giadzy. On this, she also shares new delicious recipes for her readers and also tips on great and healthy cooking.
Gaelic anchovy pasta (Source: Pinterest)And her favorite brand is Armatore due to its deep flavor. These fish are caught by hands off the Amalfi coast. The skilled fishermen go out for fishing at night. And by early morning, they have already layered their catch with salt. They place them in chestnut wooden casks to begin the process of preservation.
Use of anchovies
These canned fish provide the dishes they are added to a unique salty and umami flavor. You can add it to a sauce or dressing or use them as toppings on other food dishes. The website Giadzy suggests to use them on Pizza Margherita but under the tomatoes. One can also add them to pasta.
And the other ingredient that Giada loves is Armatore’s Colatura di Alici. She relies a lot on it. This is like a liquid gold and is the Italian version of fish sauce. This ingredient can up the flavor of any food dish, she says.
Giada De Laurentiis’ special fish sauce (Source: Eating Well)She revealed:
“Italians on the coast use it all the time to give a salty, umami punch to recipes. I think of it a bit as a secret culinary weapon,”
The manufacturers do not disclose this sauce recipe. But it is similar to that of the Southeast-Asian fish sauce. Here too salted and preserved anchovies are used. The liquid that oozes from the fish during the ageing process goes into making this sauce. The ageing process can be as long as three years.
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And you can use this flavored liquid on bread, pizza or roasted vegetables. One can add it to a dressing or use it to make spaghetti con la colatura. She advises people:
“I’d like to challenge people to try products they’re not so sure about or ones that aren’t as popularized in the United States, and let themselves be pleasantly surprised. I think it’s really cool to expand your culinary horizons and try something new,”