Del maiale non si butta via niente, means nothing can go lost from the pig. Growing up in the Italian countryside, I had a sense of what this exactly meant by watching my grandfather curing the pig, the one that he had raised and that the butcher slaughtered for him just the day before. One […]
Balsamic vinegar has become quite popular among chefs, amateur cooks and foodies. But how do you exactly use balsamic vinegar? How do you select, use and store this precious ingredient? To explain, we need to take a step back. In fact, there are many different kinds of balsamic. The subject is actually quite complicated even […]
Artichokes are in season and are great tasting vegetables, or, I should say… flowers! In Italy, there are many different varieties that are usually not available in the US, such as the violetto, shown in the photo here. Most of the American artichokes belong to the green globe variety. They are pretty large, usually weighing about 1 pound […]
Unlike the New York Times’ infographic on extra-virgin olive oil that I commented on some time ago, I really enjoyed their infographic last week. It simplifies some of the concepts behind one of the greatest Italian cheeses — often nicknamed il re dei formaggi, or the king of cheeses: Parmigiano-Reggiano. However, here are a few […]
What is extra-virgin olive oil? Very simply: mechanically squeezed olive juice. Choosing a great product should be, at least in theory, a no-brainer: as in any other fruit juice, we would go for the freshest juice, made with the perfectly ripened – in this case, mostly still green – great quality olives…. But many aspects […]
I have to confess: Sunday morning I chocked on my morning espresso while looking at my fresh copy of the New York Times. Are Italians a nation of impostors? This is what at least I got from reading the page from Nicholas Blechman and Tom Mueller. The information the New York Times provided really didn’t […]
Have you ever tried to choose balsamic vinegar and being overwhelmed by the variety of choices and lack of information? Well, it happened to me far too many times. I have been looking at reasonable priced products versus very expensive ones without knowing if the cost was worth it or not; fancy bottles and more […]
Fall means chestnuts to me – and all the great memories that come with it. In Italy, as Christmas approaches, chestnuts can be bought on the street, grilled over hot coals, wrapped in paper to eat right away. Nothing is more enjoyable than a bunch of hot roasted chestnuts to cheer up your cold hands […]