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Italians love coffee and the country is responsible for introducing the beverage to the rest of Europe. It was the Venetian Republic that first brought the beans to Italy from the Middle East. Venetians instantly fell in love with the brew, but soon the Catholic Church became involved. In 1600, wary of the association with the Ottoman Empire, cleri...

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To understand the nature of lasagne, ask not what it is or how it’s made but who’s eating it. Like many world-wandering dishes, lasagne is not so much a recipe as a reflection of human taste, in all its wild variety. Ancient Greece can lay some claim to being its birthplace, with laganon. This is said by some to have been the first pasta — sheets o...

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The 'Prosecco War' between Italy and Croatia has stepped up a gear after the European Commission published an application for EU-protected label status for the Croatian Prošek wine. Italy's Prosecco producers claim that Prošek's similar-sounding name could confuse consumers and would risk weakening the image of the sparkling Italian drink. The Ital...

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Wine lovers from Ancient Rome through the present day have found much to appreciate in quietly beautiful Franciacorta, the name for a cluster of municipalities in the northern Italian region of Lombardy by the crystalline waters of Lake Iseo. In the Middle Ages, Cluniac and Cistercian monasteries dotted the landscape. Today, the area’s gently rolli...

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Gabriel Byrne (Hereditary) and Oscar winner Mira Sorvino (Impeachment: American Crime Story) have joined feature biopic Lamborghini, about Italian sports car founder Ferruccio Lamborghini. Filming is underway in Italy on the movie, which will star Frank Grillo (Captain America) as Lamborghini. Byrne will play Enzo Ferrari, Lamborghini’s rival. Sorv...

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Sales of Italian cheeses are increasing again in foreign markets. After a slight decrease in the value of exports in 2020, the growth in cross-border shipments in the first half of 2021 was double-digit. Both in volume (+11%) and in value (+13%) compared to the same period last year. The positive trend was favored by the recovery of out-of-home con...

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Like an artwork, preparing a good ragù, or meat sauce, requires patience. In both Bologna and Naples, the lower classes created this sauce to maximize flavor from what little meat they could afford. But Italy has many ragùs. French term The name itself actually comes from France, where ragout refers to any stewed dish containing diced meat, fish, o...

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"September, let’s go. It is time to migrate. Now in the lands of Abruzzo my shepherds leave the folds and go towards the sea: they go to the wild Adriatic that is green like the pasture of the mountains." This is how Gabriele D’Annunzio’s poem I Pastori (The Shepherds) goes, where he accurately describes Italian transhumance. A name with a clear La...

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If the Adriatic side of Italy is all about piadina, crescia, pizza scima, and torta al testo (from the inland), then the Tyrrhenian side is all about Tuscan schiacciata and Roman pizza bianca (pizza without toppings, similar to focaccia). In our journey through the pizza, piadina, and focaccia of Italy, this time we’ve decided to explore two of the...

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Silver and slight, anchovies belong to the Engraulidae family and are common in the seas surrounding Italy, which means they are common also on our tables, regardless of where we are: from North to South, anchovies are perhaps the most ubiquitous of all ingredients, up there with tomatoes and Parmigiano.  They are incredibly rich in omega-3 and can...

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