Here’s a goodie from the Scordo.com archive and a recently highlighted post in the What’s New Newsletter (sign up if you haven’t done so already): Material Satisfaction and the Feast of the Seven Fishes Have a great holiday! Best wishes, Vince

(photo: Creminelli owner Cristiano with his artisan salami) Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of tasting and reviewing a wide variety of Creminelli salami, including Cacciatore, Sopressata, and Piccante and the salami was some of the best I’ve tasted (and I’ve consumed a ton of both US and Italian salami).  In fact, I was so excited about the Creminelli […]

(photo: notice the natural mold on the exterior of the Creminelli product; this mold imparts lots of taste on meat and also prevents it from drying out, along with the casing) There are certain items or products that are immediately associated with a given country, for example: ice hockey and Canada, beer and Germany, haute cuisine and France, hot dogs […]

(Photo: that’s my mother, grandmother, and aunts leaning on an Oxen in rural Calabria) If you haven’t noticed, Scordo.com has been posting on all things Italian as of late (salami, mushroom hunting, espresso, Italian cocktails/Amari, Italian immigrants and money, dry pasta, pesto, cheese, etc.) and I wanted to reassure my readers that while the editorial theme of Scordo.com will not […]

Embrace the Bitter- Introduction to Italian Digestives and Amari Drinks Do you do bitter?  No, no I’m not asking you if you like to complain or wake up each morning looking for a fight with the world (or worse your spouse)!  What I’m asking is if you’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing what the Italians refer to as Amari?  Amari […]

At first glance it just doesn’t make any sense.  That is to say, how could a shot of liquid gold (aka, fresh espresso) come out of a handheld device?  Afterall, if you walk into your neighborhood café or Starbucks you’ll mostly likely see a $10,000 plus hunk of steel with a brass broiler, multiple portafilters, a warming tray to accommodate […]

As I’ve suggested in a recent post, I’m a dyed in the wool country man, but I live a few minutes outside of the largest city in the US!  You must be thinking: how paradoxical that this guy loves nature yet lives so close to a major urban area?  Well the truth of the matter is I value the rural […]

Guide to Cured Italian Meats: Salami, Salame, or Salumi salame salumi salami cacciatore prosciutto prosciutto cotto, finocchiona, capocollo, soppressata, culatello, mortadella One of the highlights of my summer trips to Calabria as a small child included spending time on my grandfather’s working farm.  Nonno Vincenzo’s farm was a 10 minute drive north of the small village of Pellegrina on Via Nazionale. […]

I’ve often stated here and to many friends directly that recent immigrants have an intuitive personal finance philosophy that not only embraces the pillars associated with the American dream but also runs counter to the deeply entrenched, and ugly side, of modern American life: consumerism and materialism.   Some friends get the above point quickly and agree, while others look […]

Fresh Basil Pesto Sauce Recipe Growing up in New Jersey I was surrounded by people from all over the world; on my block alone I remember families from Italy, Egypt, Lebanon, England, Spain, etc.; needless to say, the aroma of food hovered on our small block like haze hovers over Los Angles. One of my favorite food smells came from my […]