Are you in the market for an easy, delicious, and potentially creative new way to eat bread? Meet u’ pan’ cuott’ (Bernaldese dialect for pan cotto, “cooked bread”). It's a bread and cheese casserole from Bernalda, a town in Basilicata best known as the ancestral village of Francis Ford Coppola. This peasant dish features stale [...]
I have a few super exciting things to announce! First, Untitled South Italy Cookbook finally has a title: Food of the Italian South: Recipes for Classic, Disappearing, and Lost Dishes. The book also has a cover (focaccia!!!) and a publication date (March 12, 2019!!!). If it seems like a long time has passed since I [...]
Il Vecchio Castagno in Serrastretta, Calabria It's been a very, very long year for many, many reasons, among them a very demanding and ambitious tour to promote Tasting Rome. I really wore myself out on the road and, while I did have the time of my life, I feel like I have aged [...]
Back in March, Mamma Parla and I took a trip to Basilicata, one of our southern Italian ancestral homelands. We traced family roots, visited a deserted city, and checked out Francis Ford Coppola's newest resort. Check out my review of the place in this Sunday's NYT Travel section.
I have been pretty obsessed with Basilicata ever since my first visit there 5 years ago to update the Rough Guide to Italy. My dad and I spent a little over a week in Matera, the region’s main tourist attraction, and used the Sassi as a base to gorge on carbs research the eastern part [...]
I have been pretty obsessed with Basilicata ever since my first visit there 5 years ago to update the Rough Guide to Italy. My dad and I spent a little over a week in Matera, the region’s main tourist attraction, and used the Sassi as a base to gorge on carbs research the eastern part [...]
