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September is National Chicken Month and National Potato Month, and I have the pleasure of spending it in my ancestral homeland of Calabria, Italy. Here potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes find their way into many traditional recipes even though they were originally New World ingredients. Last week my dear friend and culinary collaborator Giampiero Mont...

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Eggplant is my favorite fruit, and come August I like to use them in everything from appetizers to desserts.  This classic dish is a family favorite that is as fun as it is to prepare as it is delicious to eat. The name of the recipe is a tribute to the opera “Norma” by Vincenzo Bellini. It is said that when playwright Nino Martoglio first tasted t...

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Roman rice croquettes, originally known as Supplì al telefono, because when you bite into them the warm mozzarella stretches and looks like old-fashioned telephone cords, are one of my most requested recipes.  Nowadays they go by the simple name of Supplì and are one of Rome’s most beloved street foods. Once during an interview with an Italian food...

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Citrus and nuts are a staple in Southern Italian kitchens. If you’ve ever smelled those two aromas wafting through the air during baking, it’s hard to forget. Eaten together they’re the perfect healthful snack. In Italy the heavenly combination of almonds and oranges is used in sweets and for special occasions. This Almond and Orange Biscotti recip...

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One of the interesting things that you notice while working in both the United States and Italy is that the availability of certain seasonal fruits and vegetables is much more limited (especially on the East Coast and in the Midwest) than it is in Italy. Living in the Washington, DC area, I don’t always have the same fresh fruits in season as my It...

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While Italians and Italian Americans both love pasta, one of the things that distinguishes each group is when and how we eat pasta. Most Italians still eat delicious and nutritious forms of pasta often, many daily at lunch. Italian Americans, however, tend to associate pasta with Sunday Supper and dinnertime. The truth of the matter is, if you choo...

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Easter breads are highly anticipated in Italy. Easter follows the Lenten fast which used to prohibit the eating of not only meat, but dairy as well. As a result, Easter menus were plentiful in eggs and butter, and easter breads have a coveted brioche-like quality to them. Regional differences and personal preferences dictate the symbolism of each t...

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This recipe from my Italian Diabetes Cookbook is said to be the ancestor of San Francisco’s famous Cioppino stew. My version comes from the western Tuscan town of Livorno, located on the sparkling Tuscan Sea. During the Gold Rush Era and later in the 19th century, many Italians immigrated to California. Some of them replicated Italian fishing boats...

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Roasted meats and wintertime go hand in hand, and in Italy, roasted chestnuts, vegetables, seafood, poultry, and meat take center stage in the colder season. In the United States, roasting is something we usually associate with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah, and Easter, but in Italy they’re also enjoyed on other special occasions and as a secon...

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Fish has been enjoyed during the Cenone, or Christmas Eve meal in Italy since antiquity. The Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes is a traditional Italian American banquet-style meal usually comprised of several different seafood courses.  The number of courses or types of fish served at the meal is open to interpretation. Some people maintain t...

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