You really can’t go wrong with fried fish and every important food culture in the word has variations of frying creatures from the sea in a lipid like oil, including the Italians and this delectable Fried Sardine Fillets (Sarde Fritte) dish.  We have two primary methods for frying one of the most common, and tastiest, Mediterranean fish; viz., sardines.  The two methods include:  whole […]

(photo: an old door in Pellegrina, Italy)   There’s a certain comfort in all things deemed old: Old homes, old devices, old parts, old countries, old texts, old people, old trees, old clothes, old friends, etc.  The old can be defined as something not made or experienced recently and having a history (or story) or emotive quality.  An old friend […]

  (photo: spaghetti chitarra with tomato sauce, ricotta, and peas; see below for recipe) The now immortalized copywriter turned French cook Julia Child remarked once that, “anyone can make a bowl of pasta but it takes a skilled chef to put out a fine French meal.”  You can imagine my reaction to the quote and my thinking on Child’s comment; namely, […]

After posting the above photo of Pasta with Cauliflower, Garlic, & Anchovy Sauce  my Calabrian born mother prepared on our Facebook fan page, we were overwhelmed with requests for the recipe.  So, without further qualification here’s a simple recipe for one of the easiest pasta dishes on the planet made with a staple vegetable in southern Italy: linguine (and/or capelli […]

The following is a guest post from our friend and loyal fan, Dr. K.  Click here for all of Dr. K.’s guest posts. You don’t have to be an Italian or of Italian descent to recognize the heralded position that the tomato holds in the pantheon of Italian cuisine.  But without some careful planning, it is not possible for most […]

  Iced Coffee or Homemade Frappuccino I’m not a big fan of Starbucks, but I do respect the chain for promoting the concept of a “cafe” or, as Europeans say, “bar” experience in the United States (the “bar” experience in Italy isn’t, of course, about sofas, extra large portions, and wanna be Existentialists, but, like most things American, we can’t leave well […]

(photo: at the heart of making great small plates for an Italian themed dinner party is good bread) Piattini: 12 Small Plate Italian Menu Ideas Preparing multi course meals can be a fulfilling endeavor, especially when you’re cooking for family and friends who appreciate food.  However, spending hours in the kitchen to prepare L’antipasto, Il primo, Il secondo,  Il contorno, […]

In Italy Cranberry beans are known as borlotti and they are at the heart of the traditional pasta and bean soup or Pasta e Fagioli soup.  An uncooked cranberry bean has red marks but when cooked turn a brown / white color.  Cranberry beans are excellent when fresh and particularly suited for hearty soups given their chestnut like flavor and texture.  As […]

(photo: the photos found in the Glorious Pasta of Italy are truly impressive; on the left is a photo of our pasta pesto)  There’s no way around the obvious fact that Italians are slaves to pasta.  The typical Italian (northern or southern in origin) consumes pasta multiple times per week, in various shapes and sizes, and in varying dishes from […]

  (photo: Femminello lemons grown in Calabria) The summer months always call attention to the misunderstood lemon.  Most folks use lemon in the summer months to squeeze on fish, make lemonade, and in their favorite cocktail.  And the Eureka and Lisbon varieties grown in the US (mostly in California and Arizona) are great for the aforementioned tasks.  Prior to the beginning of […]