Life as a child is often full of paradoxes and as a small boy I wondered why we needed a day to celebrate Italian-American culture in the United States when I lived like an Italian in the United States each and every day of my life, for example.  As I grew up, I realized many Italian Americans observe Columbus Day […]

(photo: grapes ready to be crushed) Late September is one of my favorite times of the year here in Northern New Jersey.  The temperature and humidity dip, leaves begin to change color, and I begin to relish my days spent outdoors in the sun and cool air (it’s amazing what happens to one’s sense of appreciation when certain things won’t […]

Ask any person from Calabria over the age of 50 to describe a dish from the region that both represents the best and worst of the southern most province in Italy and s/he would probably utter, “minestra.”  That is to say, minestra (a type of thick soup with a substantial base including potatoes, vegetables, beans, tomato pieces, etc. <minestrone is […]

Honey is one of the world’s “first foods” and it is produced in the deserts of Yemen, the jungles of Bormeo (Indonesia), and the drab factories of Beijing.  Honey, like wine, meat, coffee, etc., is a byproduct of terroir; namely, it tastes like the land and region it was grown in (one of my favorite examples of terroir <which has […]