(photo: locally produced bacon from a nearby butcher) By now, you’ve read my countless references to salame, prosciutto, capicola, cured pork, etc. and you may be thinking: what’s wrong with this guy, does he have a thing for pigs or something?   The short answer is yes and the pork obsession is centered on the cured kind – that salty and spicy […]

(photo: cooking at home begins with basic ingredients; olive oil is key) “By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind, creating more healthful, less expensive and better-tasting food that requires less energy, water and land per calorie and reduces our carbon footprint. Not a bad result for us — or the planet.” Why Don’t Americans Cook at Home? […]

(photo: Typical Italian breakfast, brioche with gelato.  Image courtesy of THE MUESLI LOVER) Italians Love Coffee and Sweets for Breakfast! News break: if you’re Italian, you can have cookies for breakfast.  Seriously, cake is a traditional breakfast food in Italy and so are other sweets including cookies, brioche, pastries, croissants,etc.  Coffee is consumed as well and it’s usually a quick espresso […]

Chickpea Soup with Perch and Roasted French Fry Potatoes We had a simple, yet satisfying, dinner last night consisting of chickpea and scallion soup, Perch with savory Italian breadcrumbs, baked French fries, and arugula salad. Process and Ingredients: We layed our fish fillets (about a pound) in a baking dish and added 1/2 cup of white wine and the juice of 1/2 […]

The History of Pasta Shapes – The Italian People and Pasta Just in case you were having sleepless nights concerning the birthplace of pasta, the esteemed food critic, Oretta Zanini de Vita confirms that there were records of pasta in Italy 500 years before Marco Polo returned from China; so pasta was, in fact, invented in Italy.  I’m glad we cleared the […]

  (photo: hummus or chickpeas with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Omit the tahini if you’d like a more Italian version!) By now many of our readers have realized that Italian food is all about simple preparation and great ingredients.  In short, simple food equals great food that is satisfying, easy to prepare, and healthy for you. […]

If you’ve waited until now to buy your special somebody a gift for the holidays then you’re probably in a little bit of a jam.  Just think, you have no idea what to get him or her, will need to contend with traffic and super cranky shoppers, and are probably a little stressed overall. In order to provide you with […]

What is Cucina Povera? A friend recently asked me to explain the concept of cucina povera and here’s the working definition I came up with: A style of cooking best represented, in the past, by the lower class (read: peasants) of a given society.  Peasant cooking aims to utilize whatever is found in the kitchen, household, farm, etc. to prepare meals. […]

Young Scordo’s First Experience with Fennel Like most foods I love today, my first introduction to fennel was a catastrophe.  My mother recalls a Christmas Eve dinner back in 1981 when a young Scordo (viz., me) erupted in a temper tantrum to end all temper tantrums when it was suggested by an inebriated uncle that he try a piece of […]

Roasted Rabbit or Coniglio Con Pomodoro From a culinary perspective, I’m always surprised by what one culture finds appealing and another finds foreign and strange.  For example, in parts of Sicilia consuming raw snails is thought to fight gastrointestinal disorders and in Tuscany (and other parts of Italy) pork blood pie is prized (and it’s tied to the idea of […]