Mortara Goose
There’s an Italian saying, del maiale non si butta via niente – “throw away no part of the pig”. But anyone passing throu...
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GUIDE TO ITALIAN LIVING
Clear, sweet, fresh waters
There’s always someone who has discovered some long-forgotten cheese recipe; someone else who has ground a type of grain that no one has grown f...
Pigeon in the Pot
Without a doubt, pigeon is one of those animals that provokes the fiercest culinary debate. Some love it, some hate it; some do it rare, some well don...
The End of Emilia
It goes back a thousand years, Finale Emilia, and it has been a bordertown for every one of them. Today it divides the province of Modena from the pro...
The Great Watermelon
For Linus Van Pelt, the most hotly awaited moment of the year is “the advent of the Great Watermelon”. This is a subtle modification: in t...
Che pizza!
The pizza is Italian-ness in a nutshell. It is simplicity, conviviality, cheerfulness, and the pleasure of spending time together. It is one of the fo...
In Black, in Summer: the “Poor Man’s”
Among those food products that always slot into the upper echelons of high gastronomy, the truffle has always enjoyed its own special presti...
Fritto misto
One of the funny things about Italian gastronomy is that it comes with a set of truisms, a number of firm beliefs that certain foodstuffs, and certain...
The caprini of Capraia
The life of a cook is a strange one (and in fact we’re all a bit crazy, but we’ll leave that for another time). Sometimes we feel like we ...
Easter in the kitchen
Let’s start with a truism. The good thing about Christmas is that it brings the family together, and maybe gifts us a bit of snow and some gorge...
Lenten Diet
In Italy, the idea of Easter is inextricably bound up with Catholic doctrine and the liturgy, behind which lie two thousand years of pagan r...
Prosciutto San Daniele
Those who would enter the town must pass through the Porta Gemona (the Portonat, in the local dialect). It was designed by none other than the great s...
XS size. Taranto and the world’s finest mussels
Taras, certainly. Dolphins, most definitely. But nothing, not the mythological son of Poseidon, nor the cuddliest member of the cetacean family, nor m...
Tortèl Dols di Colorno
Studying the history of tortelli is a fascinating occupation, because it forks out into countless cultural avenues and nuggets of folk wisdom. Th...
Tortelli or ravioli: that is the question
It’s a question that we Tuscans have always asked ourselves, especially those who work with food. And what’s come of it? A deep, bitter ...
Oysters!
On the night of San Silvestro, known to most of the world as New Year’s Eve, it’s an Italian tradition that the table spread includes oyst...
Freshwater sardines: a millennia-old tradition
Go to Lago d'Iseo and with a bit of luck you’ll see a naèt. It looks rather like a Venetian gondola, but unlike those iconic ...
Micooula, the humble Christmas bread
Today there are so many potential tourist attractions in the world, so many places to discover. Often they slip under the radar, like the community ki...
Lampredotto
“Alright, mate? How do you want it?”“Good and wet!” Standard conversation to be had with one of Florence’s many lam...
Zampone and Cotechino, brothers in arms (or legs)
We know that they bring good luck. We know that they taste fantastic. We know that it’s difficult to squeeze them into a low-calorie diet, but t...
![Why they say [il] gnocco fritto](https://www.viveredigusto.it/adm_rsp/upload/1637053488_69_gnoccopic.jpg)
Why they say [il] gnocco fritto
If you come down into Tuscany from Reggio Emilia and ask for "lo" gnocco fritto, everyone will immediately know that you’re ...
The King Trumpet Mushroom
The King Trumpet Mushroom is a mushroom in a rage. A rage like Rockerduck’s enmity for his sworn enemy Scrooge McDuck, both rivals in ...
‘Nduja in Spilinga: history and myth
The first thing you need to know about ‘nduja is its pronunciation. All Italians read it as nduya, but the “j”...
Martina Franca and her capocollo
The colour is a rich rich red, emphasized by streaks of white, white fat. Marbling, it’s called, by those who know a thing or two about meat. Th...
September impression
More than any other, September is the month of transition. Technically speaking, two thirds of it is still summer, but our thoughts have taken a turn ...
Risotto: an Italian speciality
If there is one dish for which Italy can claim sole and complete credit, without fear of cavil or contradiction, it’s risotto. And that’s ...
Caviar: an Italian miracle
Not everyone might know that Italy is the second largest producer of caviar in the world. Caviar of such quality, indeed, that even in Russia it is ea...
Don’t be a boar!
Can the wild boar be considered one of the cornerstones of Tuscan cuisine?[Stefano P. Frassineti, 2021] To misquote the great Tuscan comic Carlo...
Gelato: history and fantasy
Italy is a country that has invented more than its fair share of culinary traditions, both genuine and bowdlerized. It could hardly be otherwise, when...
Panigacci and Crescentine: distant harmonies
The tastebudding traveller will at some point or other have visited the beautiful and quiet area of il Frignano, just south of Modena: here,...
Prosciutto toscano
Tuscan prosciutto, unsalted bread and a nice glass of Chianti. It seems like the quintessential Tuscan snack, or aperitivo, if we’re going to be...
Traditional Balsamic Vinegar
Traditional Balsamic Vinegar – not to be confused with balsamic vinegar in its simplest form – is an extraordinary product, the result of ...
Timballo, and epic hunger
The late 1990s saw the Americans express their love for Italians by releasing a film about them; in particular, it expressed their love – obsess...
Marzolino, beloved cheese
March is when winter starts to cede to spring and when we start to feel the first warmth which, along with the lengthening days, sets us dreaming abou...
Pici. But you can call them Pinci
Pici, pinci, appicciare...what are you talking about? That would have been the response of any number of Florentines, had they been asked if they kne...
Finocchiona, a Machiavellian meat
Of all the wild herbs in Tuscany, wild fennel has always been one of the most widespread. It grows in fields and along country roads. It’s not a...
Parmigiana di Melanzane: a mystery
The "mela insana" (crazy apple) was brought to Italy by Arab merchants at the turn of the fifteenth century. The eggplant began to appear in Sicilian ...
All the “C”s of Baccalà
Due to an odd linguistic game, in a certain part of Veneto there’s a Bacalà – spelled with the one "c" – which isn’t th...
Tortellini and Cappelletti: why?
The only other issue that elicits such passion (forget politics) is soccer. When faced with discussions about “traditional” cooking, peopl...
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
"Michael Pollan is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.” ...
Fresh pasta, a daily sculpture
An entire encyclopedia could be filled with Italy’s fresh pasta wisdom: shapes and fillings, customs, and heated debate between factions. Surrou...
Elaion, treasure from afar
Dozens of questions can be asked about extra-virgin olive oil: many authoritative means of communication have tackled the matter from different points...
Chestnuts, a source of life
Growing chestnuts has left a lasting mark on Italian culture since the Early Middle Ages, when the Apennines acquired a circular system of nourishment...
When you say N’ombra de vin...
Around Piave, the location of one of the vineyards belonging to our La Duchessa estate, as well as in the rest of the Veneto, there’s a saying w...
Dinner in the Contrada: more than horses
If there is one place in the world where you can really understand how food is a communal, social ritual, it’s Siena. Just visit any one of the ...
Bardiccio, pane sciocco and a glass of Chianti from the flask
Whenever we used to go to the butcher’s, I would always go with a certain reverence, even making sure I was wearing clothes less worn and frayed...
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