Of all European countries, Italy is perhaps the hardest to classify. It is a modern, industrialized nation. 

It is the harbinger of style, its designers leading the way with each season's fashions. But it is also, to an equal degree, a Mediterranean country, with all that that implies. 

Agricultural land covers much of the country, a lot of it, especially in the south, still owned under almost feudal conditions. In towns and villages all over the country, life grinds to a halt in the middle of the day for a siesta, and is strongly family-oriented, with an emphasis on the traditions and rituals of the Catholic Church which, notwithstanding a growing scepticism among the country's youth, still dominates people's lives here to an immediately obvious degree.  

Destination Guides > Europe & Russia > Europe > Italy

Celebrate With Italian Flair
 
(NAPSI) - Italian living is said to be all about style, elegance and indulgence. Here are a few tips to help you bring some Italian flair to your next get-together.

Decorazione!

Make your guests feel as though they've been transported to the Italian countryside. Fill your room with color using red candles, brown place mats and orange decorative pillows. Create an Italian-inspired centerpiece by filling a terra-cotta bowl with grape leaves and oranges that will not only look beautiful but will also fill the room with the scents of citrus. Instead of coasters, set out postcards depicting popular Italian locales, artwork and landscapes for your guests to place their wine glasses on. To create the ultimate Italian bistro setting, put together a playlist of classic Italian operas and ballads.

Mangia!

Instead of spending the entire evening preparing a big pasta dinner, treat your guests to traditional Italian antipasti. Fill large baskets with loaves of fresh Italian bread and set out with decorative bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. Prepare plates of cheeses, meats and olives and place them on tables around the room. Offer small dishes such as bruschetta (Italian bread topped with fresh tomato and basil), caprese salad (fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil) and pizzettes with a variety of toppings such as prosciutto and sweet Italian sausage. An Italian meal is not considered complete without a glass of wine. For example, Ecco Domani's 2006 Chianti with its deeply fruited bouquet of cherries and spicy, peppery notes is a great match for the bold Italian flavors on your table. The 2006 Merlot with aromas of well-ripened blackberry fruit can pair nicely with panettone, a traditional Italian dessert bread.

Arrivederci!

To ensure an unforgettable evening, send your guests home with their own "tastes of Italia" gift bag. Fill bags with bottles of Italian olive oil, some pieces of torrone (an Italian nougat candy), a CD of Italian songs and a bottle of their favorite wine. Ecco Domani's premium wines make it easy and affordable to share a bit of Italian style with each guest.

Above all Italy provokes reaction. Its people are volatile, rarely indifferent to anything, and on one and the same day you might encounter the kind of disdain dished out to tourist masses worldwide, and an hour later be treated to embarrassingly generous hospitality. If there is a single national characteristic, it's to embrace life to the full: in the hundreds of local festivals taking place across the country on any given day, to celebrate a saint or the local harvest; in the importance placed on good food; in the obsession with clothes and image; and above all in the daily domestic ritual of the collective evening stroll or passeggiata - a sociable affair celebrated by young and old alike in every town and village across the country.

Venison can describe meat of the dear families, hares, and wild pigs, and certain species of goats and antelopes, such as elk, red deer, fallow deer, roe deer, moose, caribou, pronghorn, brown hare, arctic hare, blue hare, wild boar, and ibex.

Originally the term venison described any meat obtained from a wild mammal, and specifically after hunting it.

In our modern pre-packed, supermarket age, venison is usually dear meat steaks, packed in air-tight plastic bags.

When opening the packaging, you may well find the smell from the venison meat is very pungent. You should leave the meat to rest at room temperature  for at least half a hour.

Venison does have a gamey taste, similar to the beef offal, kidney and liver.

It seems a reliable way to get rid of the gamey taste is to add two spoons of cider vineger to a bowl of water. You then soak the venison in the mixture for at least 12 hours.

Some people soak venison steaks in Coke or Pepsi, others use pineapple juice and rock salt. It seems the most importent thing is to soak the meat in some form of citric acid.

For the last family poker night, I tried a mixed stew of venison, beef and winter vegitables. Most people found the strong "wild" flavour just to much. However, after the consumption of 3 cases of beer, Bushmills chasers and 5 hours of hard fought poker... ALL of the leftovers were re-heated and ate in short order!