Growing up as an Italian American boy on the periphery of New York City, iced espresso or Caffe Shakerato was a rite of passage, at least for the Italian natives on our New Jersey block.  My mother, specifically, would prepare a large carafe of sugary espresso and place it in the freezer to develop a slushy consistency.  Thereafter, the fancy glasses would […]

Easy Italian Sausage and Peppers Recipe As Clifford A. Wright, the author of the wonderful book A Mediterranean Feast, writes: The daily consumption of fresh meat began to decline by 1550 as the population was now fully recovered from the Black Death of two centuries before, and, as a result, more land was devoted to the more labor-intensive agriculture rather […]

  (photo: left to right: Creminelli felino, sopressa,mocetta, Calabrese, Milano) The Working Life and the Italian Deli I’ve held many odd jobs as a young lad including garbage man, janitor, landscaper, handy man assistant, electrician’s assistant, travel agent, HTML editor, maintenance man at a women’s clothing shop, and, my personal favorite, salumi slicer / panino maker at Zia Teressa’s beloved […]

(photos: discovered on a town street during an Easter walk with our son) One of the cocktail party fun facts I often recite is that the burgeoning field of “happiness studies” correlates life satisfaction via a few simple items, including friendship, travelling, social outings (including participating in sport), and time spent with family.  Of course, some of the non-correlative items are large […]

  (photo: don’t be fooled by the Carlo Rossi gallon jugs, the contents are 100 percent homemade wine) As many Italian Americans can attest to making homemade wine is one of the culturally defining moments of our group.  Making and bottling homemade wine is practiced by thousands of immigrants and 1st/2nd/3rd generation Italian Americans in the United States.  The process […]

(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.   […]

A while back I wrote about my definition of the la cucina povera or the kitchen of the poor.  I view la cucina povera as a style of cooking centered on cooking with whatever, non bourgeois, ingredients are in the house.  My family in Calabria once cooked in the above manner (mostly due to economic reasons but also because what was “in […]

Any time a new salumi company decides to open shop in the United States it’s cause for celebration.  And If the same company decides it’s going to raise it’s own heritage hogs in an antibiotic-free (and soon to be organic and nitrate free) open pasture environment, then the salumi company should be praised. The Virginia based Olli Salumeria Americana is, indeed, the laudable salumeria founded by […]

(Photo: Courtesy of Dr. K., whole wheat and durum ciabatta) The importance of quality bread cannot be overstated and I’m convinced that access to the very best bread would cause a food revolution in the United States (how’s that for a shocking claim on a Tuesday afternoon).  Like pasta (or noodles) and beans, bread is a staple food product found […]

Pennsylvania Salami Makers: Homemade Soppressata or “Soupie” In Calabria, the salumi sopressata (see my guide to salumi) enjoys PDO or Protected Designation of Origin status meaning any salami labeled as Sopressata di Calabria must be entirely manufactured (prepared, processed AND produced) within the specific region according to traditional methods.  Sopressata received its name from the practice of pressing the salami […]