(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 […]

  (photo: note the wonderful golden brown color of the Colatura di Alici) What takes 12 months to age and is extracted during an age old curing process, hint it’s not a pork product (cue the Jeopardy music).  The answer is Colatura di Alici or anchovy syrup and is produced by Ittica Alimentare Salerno, located in the small village of Cetara, south […]

(photo: simple chicken breast and pesto sauce) I generally like the Fall season and welcome the change in climate, but I always mourn the loss of my second favorite herb on the planet (parsley is number one in my book) come this time of the year; namely, basil. 

The Italian meatball (believed to have originated during the Roman Empire around 55 AD.) has reached legendary status here in the United States and like it’s counterpart in Italy has many variations, as well as differences in how they are consumed.  In Italy, for example, meatballs are served as a stand alone item and not eaten with pasta (although some […]

You really can’t go wrong with fried fish and every important food culture in the word has variations of frying creatures from the sea in a lipid like oil, including the Italians and this delectable Fried Sardine Fillets (Sarde Fritte) dish.  We have two primary methods for frying one of the most common, and tastiest, Mediterranean fish; viz., sardines.  The two methods include:  whole […]

(photo: an old door in Pellegrina, Italy)   There’s a certain comfort in all things deemed old: Old homes, old devices, old parts, old countries, old texts, old people, old trees, old clothes, old friends, etc.  The old can be defined as something not made or experienced recently and having a history (or story) or emotive quality.  An old friend […]

  (photo: spaghetti chitarra with tomato sauce, ricotta, and peas; see below for recipe) The now immortalized copywriter turned French cook Julia Child remarked once that, “anyone can make a bowl of pasta but it takes a skilled chef to put out a fine French meal.”  You can imagine my reaction to the quote and my thinking on Child’s comment; namely, […]