An Italian told me that while others eat to live, Italians live to eat, and he said that with his mouth full. Italians will enthusiastically share their restaurant recommendations and family recipes, and even as fast food creeps into their culture, Italians staunchly guard their traditional food products, as witnessed by the founding of the Slow Food movement. A favorite Italian proverb is “A tavola non si invecchia” – at the table one does not age – so relaxed meals are the key to a long life. Our culinary and walking tours in Italy feature authentic regional foods that highlight the amazing variety of dishes in Italy that are profoundly local.
Posted In: Italian Food Traditions & Recipes
Though the sale of the Sardinian cheese casu marzu has been banned in Italy since the passage of a 1962 law outlawing it and others like it, it can still be found on black markets.
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Traditionally Italian greens are available in the cooler months of the year, but when you crave greens in the summer, try these Sicilian tenerumi, from the cucuzza plant. Eat them as a simple dish of greens, or try our tenerumi recipe for Sicilian summer soup.
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Next to the huge sweet onions of Giarratana, Sicily, all other onions pale in comparison. Roasted or grilled the cipolle di Giarratana are celebrated in an annual festival.
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If you don’t have access to good lemon granita where you live, try this recipe for lemon granita and dream of Sicily.
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Lemon granita and brioche are a culinary tradition in Sicily, but it’s getting harder to find the real thing. Here’s where to find the best lemon granita and homemade brioche in Modica, Sicily.
Continue Reading »Posted In: Hiking & Walking Trails in Italy, Hip Trip Tips for Travel in Italy, Interesting Festivals & Events in Italy, Italian Food Traditions & Recipes, Italian Wine, Cellar Visits, and Wine-Tasting in Italy, Travel Notes from Tours in Italy
Hiking Italian style means gourmet cuisine in the Dolomites, where Michelin-starred chefs have created special dishes served at mountain rifugi during the “Peaks of Gastronomy” initiative.
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The next time you see funnel cakes at a state fair, ask if they add grappa to the batter. That’s a key ingredient in this traditional dessert in the Dolomites, where funnel cakes are called by a variety of names –such as furtaies, strauben, or just plain delicious.
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Panna cotta is an easy Italian dessert that can be served with a sauce of fruit, chocolate or caramel. This recipe for panna cotta includes a technique for making it silky smooth.
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Making my favorite Italian jam, marmellata di amarene – sour cherry jam – is simple enough when you’ve got a cherry tree at hand, and it barely needs a recipe. But then there’s the pitting…
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This recipe for involtini, little meat rolls with a citrus flavored stuffing, comes from a casual cooking class in our home kitchen in Sicily.
Continue Reading »Posted In: Hiking & Walking Trails in Italy, Italian Food Traditions & Recipes, Italian Wine, Cellar Visits, and Wine-Tasting in Italy, Travel Notes from Tours in Italy, Understanding the Culture & Customs of Italy
One of Italy’s historic cheeses is Provola dei Nebrodi, a DOP cheese made in the mountains above Messina, Sicily, and traditionally aged in damp caves.
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Bartering with a farmer in Modica, Sicily brings us traditional caciocavallo cheese in exchange for weeds.
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