Mozzarella has its origins in southern Italy and is a fresh cheese originally made from (water) bufala (female water buffalo) milk  but nowadays is usually made from whole, cow’s, milk.  The technique used to produce mozzarella, and other fresh cheeses,  is referred to as Pasta filata (i.e., “spun paste”) also known as stretched-curd, pulled-curd, and plastic-curd cheeses (which are usually also […]

The tomato mozzarella sandwich is so simple it hardly needs explaining, but it certainly should be prepared more often by home cooks (hence the post!).   A good tomato mozzarella sandwich, like most Italian dishes and recipes, is dependent on great ingredients; therefore high quality tomatoes, whole or Buffalo milk mozzarella cheese, extra virgin olive oil, and bread are vital.  For my […]

Lazy, weekend, lunches are one of the small pleasure in life and I define a lazy lunch as a simple plate of food (with little to no manipulation), fresh, crunchy, bread, and a bottle of exquisite wine (psychologically, get an exquisite bottle of wine for under $20, there are fabulous wine deals out there if you stay away from California, […]

Unlike other parts of the world, Italy is blessed with varied micro-environments.  The micro-environments help preserve the varied culture, foods, and traditions of the 107 provinces or regions of Italy. Cheese is an ideal example of how each Italian region produces it’s own version of a basic food commodity.  The region of Calabria, and the birthplace of my parents, produces […]