Zeppole Recipe The word zeppoli is Italian dialect for zeppola (the plural is zeppole).  Zeppoli are deep fried dough balls or fritters that can be made savory or sweet and are often made on Saint Joseph Day in various parts of Italy (made specifically as as sfinge or a cake on March 19th). Our family, which hails from Calabria, prepares zeppoli […]

Christmas is just around the corner and if you’re celebrating an “Italian Christmas” then you’ve most likely heard of the Feast of the Seven Fishes.  The traditional Christmas Eve dinner is steeped in folk tradition and as Maria Laurino writing for the NY Times has said, the ritual varies from region to region, including the number and type of fish served. […]

My first experience with the Italian language was in utero and I suspect I overheard a conversation between my mother and grandmother in relation to food (something along the the lines, “cosa stai facendo per la cena?” or what are you making for dinner?).  Post birth, I didn’t aquire English until I was five or so; legend has it that […]

Pizza Recipe I recently had a wonderful email exchange with Dr. K, an avid home cook, supporter of local foods, and Scordo.com reader.  Dr. K was moved by our article on cracked Calabrian olive saladbecause of the suggestion that making food with others is truly a special, and uniquely human, activity.  I couldn’t agree more with him and in turn wanted to […]

Oliva Schiacciate or Calabrian Cracked Olive Salad One of the great thrills in my life, if you haven’t noticed, is the simple ritual of preparing and eating food.  The preparing part fulfills me on a tactical kind of level; that is, finding the ingredients, thinking through how I’ll manipulate the products, and working with the food.  The eating part, well, […]

With the passing of my grandparents, my father and his uncles have moved to sell the first Scordo home here in the United States (purchased in the late 1960’s and just a few years after my parents and grandparents arrived in the United States).  The house is full of memories and Italian American traditions, as I spent the first five […]

The tomato mozzarella sandwich is so simple it hardly needs explaining, but it certainly should be prepared more often by home cooks (hence the post!).   A good tomato mozzarella sandwich, like most Italian dishes and recipes, is dependent on great ingredients; therefore high quality tomatoes, whole or Buffalo milk mozzarella cheese, extra virgin olive oil, and bread are vital.  For my […]

Here’s a simple chicken dish that I learned from my childhood next door neighbor Amelia who was originally from Genoa, Italy.  My mother prepared this dish at least once a weak during the winter months (my sister and I would jump with joy when we saw this dish at the dinner table).  Amelia had her own rosemary bush in her […]

(photo: the final dish including clams, parsley, garlic, olive oil, and red pepper flake) The following linguine with clam sauce recipe is basically pasta alio e olio (garlic and olive oil) with the addition of minced clams (I like the brand “Snows”).  Note: you can use fresh clams but I recommend steaming the clams and shucking them, as opposed to […]

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 […]