(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 […]

(photo: Orecchiette with broccoli rabe) Orecchiette is literally translated as “little ear” and the pasta is created by using the thumb to press down on the pasta dough to create a concave shape or disc.  Orecchiette originate from the southern Italian province of Puglia located on the “heel” of the boot.   I like orecchiette because the shape holds the condiment or sauce […]

If you haven’t noticed we don’t do many dessert recipes on Scordo.com and the reason doesn’t stem from a philosophical objection to sugar, flour or butter, rather we don’t bake often because we’re, frankly, not very good at it (though we’re getting better all the time)! Baking requires precision and following recipes one to one; a process that goes against our improvisational talents […]

  I have to admit that I’m sucker for zucchini.  I like the clean taste of zucchini when added to soups, made into a risotto, or grilled with good extra virgin olive oil and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.  My preference for zuchhini, however, is not shared with many southern Italians and I was especially surprised to find the great disdain for zuchhini or squash (at […]

You have to love any establishment that sells over 200,000 pounds of Italian cheese in a given week, in turn we’ve fallen deeply in love with the Pittsburgh based, Pennsylvania Macaroni Company.  The Italian food store was started in 1902 by Sicilian immigrants from Trabia and they now carry well over 5,000 Italian specialty items, including an online business that will slice […]