La Buona Tavola

The word biscotti in Italy refers to what Americans know as “cookies.”  Many Italo-Americans use the word biscotti when they refer to a specific type of cookie, that is, those finger long cookies with almonds. These are known as Cantuccini …

Burrata was born in Apulia, more precisely in Andria, almost by chance: and thanks for that!  We were in the mid-1950s when, because of a heavy snowfall, Lorenzo Bianchino couldn’t go and sell his milk so, in an attempt not …

If there is one reason to be be excited that summer is ending, it’s the appearance of freshly baked schiacciata con l’uva in the windows of local bakeries in Tuscany. If you have visited Florence or the Chianti area of …

When you travel around Italy you will quickly notice that, in every single region, there are culinary traditions locals are not only proud of, but also genuinely consider the best, if one was to compare them with those of the …

Finally the summer heat has yielded a delicious crop of tomatoes – plump heirloom, sweet cherry, meaty San Marzano. I wait patiently all season for the tomatoes to arrive and once they do, I simply cannot get enough.  They are …

A traditional Sicilian pasta recipe which I absolutely adore is pasta con le sarde – pasta with sardines. If you have a keen eye though, you’ll notice that in my photos I used fresh anchovies instead of sardines. This was simply …

Pizza is the ultimate comfort food: it’s filling, it’s versatile, it’s perfect for sharing but also great to have on your own. A night on front of the tv screen is not the same without pizza and every typical Italian …

Summer gives us large quantities of marvelous fresh vegetables, but what about the winter? As the saying goes, necessity is mother of all inventions, so giardiniera was born.  Carrots, celery, cucumbers, cauliflowers, zucchini, bell peppers, all chopped, lightly boiled and …

I stopped by the local farmer’s market this weekend and found myself in front of a beautiful basket of freshly picked arugula.  Memories of a beautiful Tuscan steak, perfectly cooked, sliced and laid atop a bed of simple arugula and …

Symbol of Naples’ patisserie, the babbà has very peculiar and, indeed, ancient origins! It reached Naples from Paris, city were the chefs of bourgeois families were usually sent to improve their culinary skills. But Parisians didn’t invent it because, according …