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 …

September is the month of change: the summer ends and the fall comes, with all the richness and warmth of its colors. It is the month of peace and comfort when we take out our fleece blankets from the wardrobe …

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 …

Valle d’Aosta, the smallest region of Italy, is tucked away at the northwestern corner of Piedmont. A beautiful Alpine heart, filled to the brim with traditions, history, and natural beauty. Popular among trekkers and skiers, it is one of the …

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 …

When you think of it, the small town of San Gimignano, in the Siena province of Tuscany, has all the characteristics of a dream: it isn’t only beautiful, but it is also suspended in a sort of timeless atmosphere, one …

It is the longest river in Italy and it gives the name to one of its richest areas, the Pianura Padana,  but the Po, especially for the people who live along its banks, from Piemonte to Emilia Romagna, it’s much more than that. It’s …

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 …

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the energy issue has been one of the most debated in Europe: with large countries almost fully dependent on Russian sources, fears for rising prices and the potential block of Russian energy …

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 …