Si! Good things can come in fours: try this buonissima pasta sauce made with four cheeses: Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi Ingredients (for 5 – 6 persons): about 1/4 cup each of four cheeses: gorgonzola, groviera (gruyère – or Emmenthal, Swiss cheese), pecorino romano, a mild cheese milk, q. b. (“quanto basta” or “ as much…
No doubt about it: Spello’s full floral blossoming is always the Sunday morning of Corpus Domini, sixty days after Easter, when the Host is carried in solemn procession over the stunning floral tapestries carpeting Spello’s medieval alleyways and piazzas. But to share in la passione spellana for le Infiorate, you’ll want to head to Spello…
We just picked our last fava beans for this year and some are now in the freezer. The other day, the fava beans highlighted a simple tasty, pasta dish, pasta con le fave – the way Peppa makes this dish. And do enjoy the recipe for Pasta con le Fave Ingredients fresh fava beans, about…
In 1971, Alice Waters basically launched a California version of the Mediterranean diet when opening Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, promoting farm-to-table fresh local ingredients. Although I’d studied at UCB in the early 70’s, I finally tried out Chez Panisse just a couple years ago although I was rather puzzled by its rave reviews. The…
With hot weather, nothing more refreshing than pasta with a fresh tomato sauce. Why have a sauce simmering on a hot stove on a steamy summer day, after all? You might ask, “Why have pasta at all for lunch on a hot day?” For an Italian, though, what’s lunch without pasta? Years ago, Pino’s wonderful…
Sharing Umbrian rural culinary lore tidbits is always part of my U.S. Umbrian rural cuisine events (and when cooking with guests in our Assisi farmhouse). Like “fare la scarpetta,” that (acceptable) Italian custom of cleaning up tomato sauce or succulent juices of meats by wiping the plate clean with a piece of bread, What laughs…
What a catharsis, those Ceri moments in Gubbio in May and on June 2nd. Living those euphoric moments with the eugubini, you understand why they’re affectionately dubbed “i matti dell’italia” (“the madmen of Italy”). And what joy to share in the madness. The crazed exuberance ignites all right from the first Sunday in May when…
Perugia, “city of the infinite view,” (Henry James) might be dubbed the most elegant city in Umbria. [lcaption]Perugia, “city of the infinite view”[/lcaption] But this Umbrian provincial capital city tucks away hidden simple pleasures, too. Like Umberto, making the richest whipped cream-crowned hot chocolate you’ll ever sip. I’ve known him since 1969 when his cappuccino started…
Key focus of the early May 10-day “Annesitaly Inside Umbria Celebration” is LIVING Umbria from “the inside,” knowing the people, experiencing their rural life, their festivals……and their passione. This tour centers on our four-day Calendimaggio medieval festival in Assisi but this year, the group’s free day was on the first Sunday in May, a landmark…
This May’s 10-day “Annesitaly Inside Umbria” Celebration had to include, of course, a rural feast with Giuseppa at her farmhouse near Deruta – and then, Deruta wonders (including a “hidden treasure”). This day, too, would highlight the aim of this most special Umbria adventure: giving tour guests a completely unique “INSIDE Umbria” experience. Giuseppa’s warm…