Ricotta has always been part of my culinary life.  My mother makes ricotta on a weekly basis and I grew up eating it smeared on fresh bread, with pasta, extra virgin olive oil, and grated Parmigiano Reggiano, and, of course, stuffed in fresh pasta such as ravioli and tortellini.  Given Ricotta’s versatile nature it’s no surprise many Italian cooks make […]

My wife surprised our family with baked Italian donuts a few weeks ago and we were thrilled with our early morning treats, so much so that we’re going to abandon our local bakery! The recipe below doesn’t include ricotta (to give it that Italian twist) but it can certainly be added, but you’ll need to adjust the other ingredients.    You […]

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 […]

One of the biggest fallacies in the Italian culinary world is centered on the idea that Italians do not eat dessert.  Italians do, in fact, enjoy dessert and the items consumed range from creamy gelato to luxurious cakes and icy granita to mind blowing cookies.  Here are some irresistible photos, including gelato, pastries, cookies, and granita – all scrumptious Italian desserts!

(photo: we sampled the Villa Cappelli orange conserve with Greek yogurt and local blueberries) The Greeks, like the Italians, treat ingredients with great respect and they do very little in the way of manipulation when preparing dishes.  Take, for example, the way Greeks consume yogurt with a simple fruit conserve or compote.  Often the yogurt is served in a bowl with some […]

If I haven’t mentioned it here on Scordo.com my father is a dyed-in-the-wool grappa fanatic.  In fact, he’s grown so found of the elixir made from sugar and grape stems he produces a limited quantity batch for his immediate family and select friends.  So, it wasn’t with great surprise when I brought over a bottle of Amaro Nonino Quintessentia on a recent weekend […]

(photo: from left to right: processing the ingredients, toasting hazelnuts, final product) Nutella was invented in Italy in the 1940’s and was a response to the shortage of cocoa (given World War II) and a way to extend the chocolate supply in Italy.  The company, founded by Pietro Ferrero, used hazelnuts as the extender given the abundance of the nut in northwestern Italy.   […]

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 […]