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Federico's been baking

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Federico has just been working on baking small baguettes with "poolish" a pre-ferment that allows for more complex flavours to develop. 

(More photos in the gallery.)

Would you like Federico to share the secrets of making these delicious loaves? 

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Amazon free app of the day blows up our server!

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On the 16th January, we had the great honour of being featured as the Amazon free app of the day. In under a few hours, the app was downloaded 45,000 times and the stress on our web server caused a huge meltdown!

We were warned that the promotion would cause a fair bit of increased interest, so we prepared by moving most of the site onto a content distribution network. However, such was the demand for the app, that even this was unable to handle the hungry app enthusiasts! I sat at my computer all day monitoring the site, and all seemed well. But, just as I was about to break for dinner, a big surge of interest from Americans (presumably thinking about lunch) overwhelmed the server and it went up in a ball of flames (metaphorically I think.)

Read more: Amazon free app of the day blows up our server!

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15 minute meals

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Jamie Oliver's 15 minute meals series is on the TV at the moment, and we think it is an interesting concept. Whilst we believe that when it comes to cooking, great things come to those who wait, creating delicious quick meals is something the Italians do well.

For your convenience, here is a list of our recipes that you can knock up from start to finish in 15 minutes for a quick snack.

• Mozzarella in a carriage (Mozzarella in carrozza)
• Bread and egg soup
• Fried dough parcels (Gnocco fritto)
• Onion Frittata (Frittata con cipolle)
• Fried sage leaves (Salvia fritta)
• Brilliant bruschetta (Fettunta)
• Caprese Salad (Insalata caprese)
• Caper and anchovy sauce (grilled fish)
• Penne with spicy sausage
• Amatrice Spaghetti (Spaghetti all'amatriciana)
• Spaghetti with Pecorino and Pepper (Spaghetti cacio e pepe)
• Roe Linguine (Linguine alla bottarga)
• Garlc Oil and Chili Spaghetti (Spaghetti aglio olio peperoncino)
• Penne pasta with Salmon and Vodka (Pennette al salmone affumicato e vodka)

Buon appetito!

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New look, same great recipes

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We hope you like the new look to the site. Italyum has come a long way since it's creation in 2005.

2005	2007	2012

We thought that as the web becomes more sophisticated, we needed to update our site again. The redesign aims to:

• Give more prominence to the step by step photos, without having to "click to enlarge."
• Be easier to read on a variety of screen sizes.
• Simplify finding what you want. The menu navigation is at the very top, and recipes are automatically sorted by popularity.
• Improve the search function.
• Keep the great search engine position of Italyum

So far so good. The response we have had is really positive, and the information about how people are using the new site is really encouraging. Since the redesign, people are staying around 50% longer on  the site. What do you think about the redesign?

Do get in touch!