(photo:Italian durum wheat pasta made by Carlo) When it comes to reviewing Italian products we’re pretty blunt and we’ve, unfortunately, offended a few Italian product manufacturers with not so positive feedback.  In fact, when companies approach us to review already prepared products we often turn them away for fear of writing yet another negative review.  In turn, many of our favorite […]

Over the last few years there’s been renewed interest on the topic of what makes people happy (or happiness studies).  “Renewed” is probably the wrong word since humans have been chasing fulfillment and happiness since we picked up traits such as language, consciousness, and the need to write things down and keep records.  The interest in happiness I’m talking about […]

(photo: simply pork cutlet with cremini mushrooms, white wine, butter, and rosemary) Cutlets, or costolette in Italian, can be found in many food traditions around the planet, including French, Indian, Japanese, and, of course, Italian cuisines.  Cutlets can be made with veal/beef, chicken, pork, and even mutton.  Cutlets are usually prepared with a thin cut of meat and generally fried […]

  (photo: linguine fine with zucchini and red onion) It’s only fitting that after posting about cucina povera that our part of northern New Jersey is hit with yet another apocalyptic event; namely, a freakish snow storm in October causing hundreds of tree limbs to crumble under the weight of several inches of heavy precipitation.  Our small New Jersey town saw roofs collapsing, cars […]

(photo: the author of Cucina Povera, Pamela Sheldon Johns) If you were to tell people that Italy and America have a few things in common you’d most likely receive some awkward stares.  After all, America is a country driven by capitalism and rationality while Italy operates under a lifestyle driven worldview with importance placed on living well and understanding the subtleties of day to day existence […]

When folks discover that I have an Italian last time, as well as parents who were born in Italy, they immediately ask if I speak Italian.  My answer is a definite yes though I always qualify my fluency with the fact that I grew up speaking a regional, southern Italian, dialect. Dialects, of course, are examples of full blown languages with […]

Chestnuts are revered in Europe with the Mediterranean cultures particularly adamant about including the treasured nut in their diet. Chestnut eating in Italy has been glorified since ancient times and both Homer and Virgil mention chestnut trees and their cultivation near Rome beginning around 37 B.C. Today, Italian chestnuts, with their characteristic flattened side, come in many varieties but the […]

(photo: bottle of 500 ml Chiappetta Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Calabria, courtesy of Chiappetta web site) Located just north of Cosenza in Calabria, San Vincenzo La Costa is a comune made up of small villages including San Vincenzo, Gesuiti, Giuranda, etc.  San Vincenzo La Costa is famous for growing olives, like much of Calabria, including the large oval shaped Caroleo olive which […]

(photo: left to right: simmering green beans and tomato sauce by Scordo and Man Reading by John Singer Sargent) Today we launch a new feature on the site called, “What We’re Reading” and it will basically function as a mechanism to share our notes on cooking, eating, thinking, drinking, and, on occasion, fuming about.     New York Times Dining & Wine […]

(photo: oven roasted broccoli with baked flounder with breadcrumb topping)   Like our recent orecchiette recipe this Italian style flounder recipe with roasted, spicy, brocolli can be prepared in under 30 minutes.  Moreover, the toppings used for both the fish and vegetable are nearly identical making this meal very easy to prepare.  A breadcrumb topping is a universal flavor enhancer that can […]