Meatball pasta bake: is it a Carnival joke? Apparently, pasta with meatballs is an American invention not belonging to the Italian food tradition. We would normally associate it to Fettuccine Alfredo, Pepperoni pizza (if you order pepperoni pizza in Italy you would get a pizza with peppers, peperoni in Italian),…
Nine years ago it was a shelf in my mum's kitchen. This is where I began collecting my first spices and props, even when I didn't know they could have a name, props. For me they were just cups, saucers and kitchen towels. When I open that shelf now, full…
This past weekend we taught a food writing class in Vicenza. Each time our eight and more hours of conversation become an opportunity to reflect on many aspects, which go beyond writing. We begin with the use of specific adjectives and action verbs, we move on to the experiences and…
It was the beginning of summer 2010, I had the blog for slightly more than one year and I was stuck in a daily job where gratifications were meagre. I was still at home with my parents and my family was renting the house where I live now for the…
A few months ago I asked you to introduce yourself, to tell me more about who you are, where you live, what you like to do in your free time and, most importantly, what you love to cook. I did not expect such a heartwarming feedback. I read each and…
A new year is beginning. It has the flavour of white pages where you can write freely, oranges in the morning and thoughts in search of form and substance. We are human beings perpetually chasing a new balance. The new calendar that you hang on the wall on the morning…
This year the Christmas countdown, the never ending checklists, the holly that stings me every time I take it in the wrong way, the songs you have to listen to and the movies you have to watch otherwise it is not Christmas are stressing me out. I've always embodied a…
Aunt Silvana arrived on a Sunday morning. While my uncle Giovanni parked the car with care in the farmyard, and then stopped to chat with dad, who would surely be working in one of his sheds to fix something broken, my aunt would get into the kitchen in a rush,…