La Buona Tavola

With the arrival of summer in Italy, it’s definitely time to think about the pasta recipes that are celebrated during this holiday season.  My all time favorite pasta, that I love to eat during my summer vacation on the beach, …

Italy is always associated with pasta so I thought I’d write about one of it’s most celebrated pasta dishes which is a traditional Roman recipe, and often made incorrectly around the world.  I’ll confess that for many years I was …

Calabria, more specifically the area of Rada dei Giunchi,  holds the world record for the production of bergamot. Here, a temperate-tropical and humid microclimate has supported cultures since 1750.   Bergamot is a peculiar citrus fruit, both for its origins and …

The difference is tiny, yet it cannot be overlooked… “A sliced cookie, made with fine flour, sugar and egg whites:” this is the definition given by the Accademia della Crusca in 1691. Cantuccio, whose name comes from the word “canto,” …

Sicilian granita has rougher consistency than gelato, is entirely free from air and has a sugar content of about 30%. It is made of water, fruit juices or syrups. On the Siracusa coast, it’s semi-liquid, whereas on the opposite side …

Italians are one of the largest consumers of canned tuna in the world and for good reason.  Italian oil-packed tuna (tonno) is a flavor packed treat that puts the water packed variety to shame.  The tuna is typically precooked and …

Around the first half of the 19th century, during the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Lent days were called giorni di scammaro and people had to eat quite frugally, avoiding meat and rich foods. It is in this period that …

Sturdy yet light, with its typical red color it made the cupola of Firenze’s duomo unique in the world: this is the terracotta dell’Impruneta, a small village only a stone throw away from Tuscany’s capital. Jars, vases, tiles, shingles, all …

Ask anyone around the world to name a classic Italian dessert and many will answer tiramisù. We tend to think that tiramisù has been around for centuries (like many of Italy’s traditional recipes) but you may be surprised to learn …

We all know it: in Italy, we love bread! These very crunchy “bread sticks” were invented in Turin in 1679, by the Savoias’ personal baker, who created them appositely for king Vittorio Amedeo II, who couldn’t digest regular bread very …