All new for 2020, my friend and colleague Maurizio Di Franco and I are collaborating on a super fun vineyard excursion from Rome to one of our favorite places just outside of town, Cantina Ribelà. Maurizio is a certified sommelier (you may know him from tastings at Vino Roma) and he has been providing food [...]
Guys, I have a nephew! His name is Rider, he's 4 months old, he lives in New Jersey, and I love him. He's cool in many ways and he's also a model. His first gig was showing off the Food of the Italian South anchovy onesie, a piece that my sister thought up while pregnant [...]
https://www.youtube.com/embed/hU5Iatd__5c Katie Parla, author of Food of the Italian South, stopped by the MUNCHIES Test Kitchen to show us how to make stuffed mussels. Not only is this recipe quick and easy, but making your own breadcrumbs is a great way to use up leftover or stale bread. Serve these stuffed mussels as [...]
It's January 6, the Epiphany on the Catholic calendar. The holiday is called La Befana in Italy and is so-called because tradition states the befana (a witch-like creature) delivers gifts to children on this day as the Wise Men brought gifts to the baby Jesus. I was always terrified of the befana as a kid. [...]
Wines (and a big ol' hunk of Parmigiano Reggiano) at Vittorio Graziano's vineyard. Last summer I traveled to Emilia Romagna and southeastern Lombardy to report on Lambrusco for Imbibe Magazine. The wine I drank was made by tiny artisan producers and was nothing like that saccharine sweet mass produced Lambrusco that tarnishes this [...]
OMG Food of the Italian South is out today! It feels like this book has been so long in the making (possibly because it has?) and I can hardly believe it's finally hitting bookstores in less than 48 hours. Over the past 3 months, while the book was being printed, I was organizing the first of [...]
