Making Bread “Under the Fire” The Italian word focacciameans “under the fire” and it shares many of the same traits as pizza.  However, focaccia is usually about 3/4 of an inch thick (versus the standard less than 1/2 inch thick pizza found in most parts of Italy) and is meant to be served at room temperature.  Focaccia is also prepared […]

(photo: Capezzana Olio Nuovo 2010 with fresh whole milk mozzarella dried oregano, Kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper) About 25 minutes northwest of Florence in the small wine growing region of Carmignano you’ll find the estate of Tenuta di Capezzana – an estate that has been producing olive oil since the year 980.  I was lucky enough to sample the 2010 Capezzana November […]

(photo: clam sauce in pan including chopped clams, garlic, olive oil, red pepper, and parsley) Why I Would Want to Be Reincarnated as Pasta and the Scordo Pasta Challenge. In many Indian religious traditions, such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, it is believed that when a human dies s/he is reborn into a new body.  You’ll also find the same concept in […]

(photo: two of the Gelato di Babbo flavors: key lime and coconut) Existential Thoughts on Gelato in America  Update: Gelato giveaway from Gelato di Babbo and Scordo.com (see below for details and how to enter) I’ve recently realized that one needs the psychological resilience of a Cylon to get through the winter months here in the Northeast.  And it’s not […]

Everyone should love frittata – the glorified egg dish that is easy to prepare, cheap, and has enough flavor to wake up a Calabrian from an afternoon nap in the middle of August.  Frittata can be prepared with herbs, vegetables, leftover pasta, and cheese.  In fact, the very best frittata recipes are comprised of any high quality leftover you may […]

Guide to Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano Parmigiano Reggiano is a hard Italian, cow’s milk (during production the milk may not be older than one day), cheese produced in Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, and Bologna all south of the Po River in Emilia-Romagna as well as in the Mantova area in Lombardia north of the Po River.  Parmigiano referring to the […]

  (photo: final dish: large rigatoni with braised short ribs in tomato sauce) Short (beef) ribs are cut from the plate and rib section of the animal and are one of my favorite additions to tomato sauce during the winter months.  Short ribs are easy to prepare, relatively inexpensive (especially with the bone in), and make an ideal meat for […]

Any time a new salumi company decides to open shop in the United States it’s cause for celebration.  And If the same company decides it’s going to raise it’s own heritage hogs in an antibiotic-free (and soon to be organic and nitrate free) open pasture environment, then the salumi company should be praised. The Virginia based Olli Salumeria Americana is, indeed, the laudable salumeria founded by […]

By now you know of our connection to Calabria and our familiar, immigrant, story. You know, for example, that our parents immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970’s from a tiny hilltop village in southwest Calabria called Pellegrina and that we’ve been influenced greatly by the traditions found in the region (located in southern Italy).  However, we’ve never told our loyal […]

Canned Tuna, Really? As Suzzane Hamlin points out in her well written 1997 article for the New York Times, canned tuna in olive oil is the best selling seafood in the country.  And your first reaction may be something akin to, “what, canned tuna, why don’t American’s buy fresh fish?”  Well, high quality fresh fish is, indeed, best but if you don’t […]