(photo: Averna on the rocks with a slice of orange) Averna, the amaro and aperitif/digestif from, and still produced in, Sicilia, is a bona fide rock-star.   Yes, like Bono, Freddie Mercury, or Roger Waters, Averna makes you tingle all over and has you wondering how anything can be (taste) so damn good.   For those of you not in the know, […]

Pizza Sauce Recipe I’ve always stuck to the claim that you can make pretty good pizza at home.  My critics argue that making “pizzeria” type pizza in a home environment is impossiblegiven that a home stove cannot reach the 900+ degree Fahrenheit temperature a proper wood burning stove can and, moreover, impart the appropriate flavor and heat to pizza dough (click here […]

(photo: close up of a few Villa Cappelli sun dried tomatoes in olive oil) One of the most important aspects of a product claiming to, in fact, be “sun dried tomatoes” is that the tomatoes are indeed dried by the sun.  We’re so adamant about proper sun dried tomatoes because we produce our own variety cured in extra virgin olive […]

Our 22 month old son Tommaso has been on a frenetic streak over the last 6 months, that is to say, he has both the energy and ferocity to take on any task including doing full fledge sprints with theatrical spins and twirls, pooping dramatically, greeting family members and complete strangers ad nauseam, separating his parents from a warm embrace and kiss […]

  (photo: left to right: Creminelli felino, sopressa,mocetta, Calabrese, Milano) The Working Life and the Italian Deli I’ve held many odd jobs as a young lad including garbage man, janitor, landscaper, handy man assistant, electrician’s assistant, travel agent, HTML editor, maintenance man at a women’s clothing shop, and, my personal favorite, salumi slicer / panino maker at Zia Teressa’s beloved […]

(photo: a small 55 ml bottle of white truffle infused extra virgin oil from Florence) Prior to my first experience with Calugi’s white truffle infused extra virgin olive oil I must admit I was skeptical of all infused olive oils.  After all, mother nature has already infused the very best extra virgin olive oils with terrific notes of bitterness, sweetness, acidity, etc. so it was beyond me why additives were […]

One of my favorite ways to consume olive oil is via the simple and humble tomato salad.  Our tomato salad is prepared with red onion, basil, dried oregano, Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and the best extra virgin olive oil we can get our hands on.   Recently, we’ve fallen in love with two extra virgin olive oils that […]

(photo: various food mills; ours is the top left above) How many of you own a food mill?  Uh-oh, I only see a few hands and I’m getting some quizzical looks!   OK, let’s jump out of the role play and get down to why I think everyone should own a food mill; after all, like a chef’s knife and a cutting board, the […]

  (photo: La Castellina extra virgin olive oil used to make handmade ravioli with tomato sauce) Every once in a while a particular recipe I’ve made hundreds of times tastes like something completely different.  For example, my wife Erin (who secretly does much of the cooking behind Scordo.com!) made a batch of tomato sauce and I quickly proclaimed it “the best sauce […]

(photo: Calugi tagliolini, about 1/2 pound) Tagliolini is another variety of tagliatelle that is long and cylindrical in shape.  Tagliolini are generally thinner in shape and more delicate than tagliatelle.   Recently, I was fortunate enough to try Calugi’s dry tagliolini from Cambiano Castelfiorentino situated between Livorno and Firenze in northwestern Italy.  Calugi makes their tagliolini with eggs and flour but adds […]