One of the nicest Italian rituals I continue to observe  is the “Sunday visit.”  The idea of the Sunday visit is centered on spending time with your family and friends, maybe consuming an espresso or aperitif, and celebrating a leisurely day without work or obligations.  I was exposed to the Sunday visit early on at my grandparent’s home, where we […]

(photo: via iPhone, local persimmons) (photo: via iPhone: sage drying in NJ basement) I snapped these two photos with my iPhone earlier in the week and I really liked the deep Fall colors in the orange persimmon and green sage.  The persimmons are courtesy of my mother who can grow almost anything in her tiny New Jersey garden, including a […]

Recently, we’ve developed quite the craving for hearty greens such as Swiss chard, red chard, bitter dandelions, kale, and escarole.  Maybe it’s a function of aging or my body telling me to eat less salumi and rice balls (arancini) and more naturally occurring, and unmanipulated, food types. Whatever the rationale, my craving has our home fridge stocked with fresh escarole.  […]

Back in August, we published a slightly unorthodox eggplant parmigiana recipe where I first roasted, mini or baby eggplant, (these are usually smaller versions of the generic eggplant found in most US supermarkets) and thereafter covered with tomato sauce, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and baked.  The result was outstanding but not as cheesy and decadent as the more classic, Italian American, version […]

(photo: cover of My Calabria) Authentic Calabria When I see or experience anything with a resemblance of Calabrian authenticity here in the United States I get very excited.   I had a wonderful experience stumbling across Mary Palmer’s very genuine, and heartfelt, cookbook Cucina di Calabria at a used book store during my college days.  Along the same lines, when I […]

I’ve always been interested in language and partly because I grew up speaking two languages at home. Specifically, I speak a southern Italian dialect from the Bagnara Calabra region of Calabria and, of course, English.  My mother tells an interesting story of the local kindergarten teacher in New Jersey wanting to send me back home on the first day of […]

In honor of National Sandwich Day here are two of my favorite egg sandwiches as well as a guide to Italian cured meats and how to make your own roasted peppers.  Enjoy the day and make a sandwich for dinner tonight! Fried Egg Sandwich with Provola: Next to salumi, the fried egg (with a runny warm, runny, yoke) makes the […]

We covered lots of food here on Scordo, including some not so healthy, everyday type of, dishes or recipes (salami, cheese, fried rice balls, etc.).  In turn, I’ve searched the archives of the site and found 9 Healthy, Italian Inspired, Recipes that you can make every week and feel both satisfied and good about what you’re putting into your body (and […]

(photo: fennel salad with radish and feta) By now most of you are well aware of my passion for lazy weekend lunches (see my tomato salad and sardine lunch and leftover salad).  Optimally, a lazy weekend lunch is consumed under a bit of shade (with temperatures in the mid 70’s), with a loving family, a beautiful bottle of wine (yes, […]