Food

Mistral made of Gragnano, a town of just under 30.000 not far from beautiful Naples, the historical heart of dry pasta-making in Italy. But we’re not talking about the dry wind born in the South of France that graces the …

I knew I had become truly Italian once I had mastered shopping for food on a daily basis (every morning) as opposed to a large once-weekly supermarket shop. Food shopping Italian style means encompassing the fundamentals of an Italian diet, …

One of my favorite pastimes in the kitchen is finding ways to make under-appreciated and undervalued ingredients shine. I love an underdog. Take celery for example. It shows up in any number of recipes, but almost always in a minor …

Spaghetti alla Nerano, named after the beach town where it originated, could be the child your basic pasta and zucchini would have if it got married with a cacio e pepe. It’s a delightful combination, with zesty provolone cheese adding considerable …

Never like today the idea of having a quick lunch while walking down the main street of our town or village has been so alluring. Whatever we picture chomping on, it tastes like freedom, doesn’t it? Regardless to your country …

The late Anthony Bourdain notoriously said once that pasta cacio  e pepe “could be the greatest thing in the history of the world.” And how could you say he was wrong?  I still remember the first time I had a …

Pecorino Romano: the ancient cheese with the “cappa nera” While they praised the “vigor” of this cheese “made from sheep milk,” which was also part of Roman soldiers’ diet, neither Homer nor Virgil would have thought it could become this …

San Daniele del Friuli is a beautiful, quaint small town in Italy’s northern region Friuli Venezia Giulia, in the province of Udine.  It is situated on the top of a hill, half-way between the mountains and the Adriatic Sea, near …

Easter is around the corner and there are plenty of Italian traditions that go with it. I would say that for Italians, Easter is the second most popular holiday of the year next to Christmas. In my mom’s Calabrian hometown, …

Ligurians, often, don’t come across as particularly pleasant: they lack the expansiveness of our Southerners, but also the good-tempered simplicity of the Piedmontese. Perceived as perennially in a  bad mood and unfriendly to the verge of rudeness, in truth Ligurians …