THE COMFORT OF BOLOGNESE SAUCE
Call it sugo, call it ragú, call it bolognese - the name doesn’t change the fact that if you grew up in Italy, a tomato-based meat sauce for pasta is part of the trove of your taste memories. If, like me, you also happen to bear the last name that defined the history of pasta in Italy, then you grew up in a family where pasta was what kept you nourished, clothed, and sheltered. Put the two together, and you can imagine how big the piece of my heart occupied by a bolognese is.
HOLIDAY COOKING : TORTELLINI IN BRODO
Every Italian table has its Christmas idiosyncrasies, whether they’re related to regional tradition or personal preference. But there is one dish, originating in Emilia Romagna, that promotes harmony across the country: a piping hot bowl of tortellini floating in a golden stock.
MINESTRONE ESTIVO - SUMMER MINESTRONE
In the dictionary of my imagination, food is defined as a universal language that builds bridges of understanding. My most mindful exchanges, my significant a-ha moments, my epic fights, and tearful reunions all happened around the table, and the conversation always starts at the stove.
Cioppino is a stew of fish and seafood in a tomato broth, born long ago in Liguria by fishermen on the very wharf where many restaurants still serve it. There are many theories about the origins and name of this dish. Some say it is a re-imagining of an Italian soup; others say that it is an “Italianized” mutation of the English chip-in (a call hollered by the fellow who goes boat-to-boat, making the rounds and asking for a contribution in his fish bucket for the communal meal.
MY ITALIAN THANKSGIVING TABLE - GIBLETS AND MARSALA GRAVY
Right after expressing gratitude for all the good in our lives, my husband and I engage in our favorite Thanksgiving blood-sport – the gravy war! He thinks gravy should complement the turkey, while I’m certain that gravy was invented to make the turkey more palatable.
HOME COOKING : COLD SUMMER MINESTRONE
If someone ever tells you they have the best recipe for minestrone, chalk them off the list of cooking sources you trust. I know this is an uncharacteristically harsh assertion for someone who believes anyone can (and should) cook, but follow me for a second. The word ‘minestrone’ literally means ‘big soup’ and can be defined as a mixed vegetable soup cooked in salted water. It follows then that minestrone sidesteps any kind of codification because its very nature links it inevitably to seasonal ingredients, geographies, and the imagination of the chef.
HOME COOKING - COLD POACHED MEATLOAF
Close your eyes and think meatloaf. Chances are you’ll conjure up an image of a warm kitchen in the middle of winter, with the aroma of secret ingredients from your family’s meatloaf wafting through the halls of your memory.
FAVE DEI MORTI - HALLOWEEN ALMOND COOKIES
If I were in my hometown of Perugia right now, I would have already started feasting on fave dei morti cookies in early October. Fave dei morti cookies – which literally translates to ‘fava beans of the dead’ – are soft, intensely almond-flavored cookies typical of Central Italy, that we eat around Halloween when Italy celebrates and commemorates our ancestors who have passed on.
AMARETTI & ESPRESSO SEMIFREDDO
As a young bride married to a Sicilian man, my delightful friend Adriana Marino from Napoli settled in Puglia years ago. Adriana is the mother of the only other man I ever got close to marrying – and she’s also the best Southern Italian chef I know. Her mad stove skills and unparalleled knowledge of the subject matter were a pivotal part of how close I got to saying "yes" to her son. I rarely get to eat her food nowadays, but when I do, I still wonder why it didn't work out.
I have a rather difficult relationship with eggplants. I will happily eat them when served, but they rarely beckon loudly enough from the market stands when I’m doing my own shopping. My husband, however, could live on eggplant alone for the rest of his life. And while we might think of it as a summer vegetable, the season for eggplants actually continues well into October (coincidentally, my husband’s birth month, as well). Among the eggplant dishes, I’ll be making for his birthday is a lighter version of the classic eggplant parmesan.