The Figs of Calabria One of the nicest aspects of visiting Calabria during the summer and early Fall is the abundance of fresh fruit available and the ease of securing it.   Consider, for example, that if you’re lucky enough to own a small parcel of land, and the desire to cultivate it, you’ll be guaranteed seculant peaches, pears, grapes, plums, […]

Walk down any street in the seacoast town of Bagnara Calabra during the summer months and you’ll encounter women dressed in black screaming their lungs out!  No, the ladies aren’t auditioning for a new Jean-Paul Sartre play about existential angst, rather they’re selling fish.  The ladies set up shop early in the morning, usually during outdoor “market day” on Tuesday and […]

  (photo: small block of Pecorino “Monte Poro” from Calabria)Sit down for a meal at any restaurant or home in Calabria and you’ll most likely encounter some variation of sheep’s milk cheese; specifically, Pecorino.  During our recent trip to Calabria, for example, we ate Pecorino 4-5x per week and often mixed in a platter with local salumi and olives.

One of the interesting culinary tidbits in Calabria is that most home cooks do not use their oven during the summer months given the intense weather.  The logic makes sense, however what does the dedicated cook do when s/he has a desire to make a baked dish?  Well, how about using your stovetop? Zia Giovanna used her stovetop to prepare a […]

Driving on the A3 autostrada from the Reggio Calabria airport to the village of Pellegrina (a tiny Comune di Bagnara Calabra) my mood changes instantly.  I’m greeted by a penetrating sun, flowing sea breezes, and intoxicating smells of earth.  The greeting has come courtesy of Calabria, the terra of my parents and the very foundation of my soul. Yes, I’ve been […]

(photo: the “wheat harvest”; taken in Calabria and including Latella and Scordo family members) The above photo is a favorite from my mother’s collection and was taken on the Latella family wheat field in southwestern Calabria (just outside of Bagnara) during the late summer harvest, most likely in the late 1950’s / early 1960’s.  The photo includes my Grandfather (Vincenzo Scordo), […]

(photo: fried potatoes with flat romano beans, garlic, and tomato paste) You may think that there’s not much of a connection between McDonald’s and rural Italian cuisine but the two modes of eating, however far apart, are connected by the fried potato.  While McDonald’s fried potatoes (or french fries) are comprised of: potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef […]

Any time a fruit, such as the Adriatic fig, boasts a history dating back to 9200 BC it deserves both your attention and inclusion in your diet.  Moreover, if that same fruit is grown all over our planet, including Iran, Pakistan, the Mediterranean, India, the United States, Mexico, Chile, South Africa, etc. it demonstrates our collective, and universal, preference for […]

  (photo: Sangaspano extra virgin olive oil from Messina, Sicilia) On the morning of December 28th, 1908 a massive earthquake and associated tsunami hit the western province of Calabria and moved across the Stretto di Messina into Sicilia destroying city after city (including Reggio Calabria and Messina).  In Messina alone 60,000 people were killed and in Calabria our family lost many […]

(photo: grapes in Calabria, thanks to Pierro Morello for the photo) A Student of Italian Wine  Dan Amatuzzi is a modest guy when it comes to wine.  And modesty isn’t the word that comes to mind when you consider Dan served as the sommelier at Del Posto in New York City with an estimated 2300 bottles of wine and arguably the most comprehensive […]