chiara dalessio

Can I be very honest with you? The idea that we Italians all love the sun and the summer is bogus. I, for one, don’t count the hottest season as my favorite: in fact, I quite dislike it. The heat …

Who discovered the New World? The canonical answer is, of course, Christopher Columbus, but many among you probably already know that there are other interesting theories: some historians believe that the Vikings had already reached the northern part of the …

For Catholics, Easter is the most important celebration of the year. So it doesn’t surprise that in Italy, where Christianity and Catholicism marked so much of the country’s cultural and artistic heritage, Easter celebrations are a pretty grandiose affair. From religious re-enactments …

Telling an Italian not to be superstitious is a losing game. Even when we generally don’t believe in old-fashioned tales of misfortune and malocchio, I can guarantee you we probably still avoid opening an umbrella indoors and wince in horror …

It’s been six years since the devastating earthquakes that tore through central Italy, causing death, destruction and pain. People lost their homes, their loved ones and, in many cases, their livelihood; they lost their community, their social network and their …

Today, Italian food is known all over the world and our diet, the Mediterranean, is considered one of the healthiest. The importance we give to tradition in the kitchen is legendary, so it isn’t surprising that so many of our …

Who doesn’t have a jar of honey in the pantry? A naturally healthy and versatile product, honey has a place in many a recipe but it is often used as an eco-friendly ingredient to keep our skin supple, too – …

Every person who likes to cook will tell you that it’s not uncommon, in the kitchen, to make a lucky mistake: picking up oregano instead of basil, or hazelnuts instead of almonds can lead to interesting variations on well-known classics …

It seems an established trend, especially after the pandemic: the more we progress from a scientific and technological point of view, the more we yearn for living simply. We all read about young up-and-coming professionals leaving the city during the …

Finally, temperatures in Italy are what you’d expect for mid-fall. While not everyone is a cold-weather lover rain, chilly mornings and snow are necessary for nature to complete its yearly cycle and for crops to develop normally. So, yes. It’s …