Jan 282014
 
Readers Write: Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce Stirs Passions

You might wonder why I’m still noodling about spaghetti and tomato sauce after publishing my last post, a fairly definitive update on the state of Italy’s favorite–and undeniably most emblematic–dish. Ever since spaghetti al pomodoro con basilico left the slopes of Vesuvius, its birthplace, to seek fame and fortune elsewhere, its reputation has been sullied by foreign cooks. Such has been the fate of all Italian food, but last week’s International Day of Italian Cuisines, as reported in my earlier post, was an attempt by a legion of native Italian chefs to set the record straight about the “official” recipe. […more…]

Jan 232014
 
Italian Chefs Fight Forgery of Italian Food with Official Recipe for "Spaghetti al Pomodoro con Basilico"

Spaghetti with tomato sauce are the dream of Italian cuisine, a magic mix of ingredients, wisdom and history that a very few other dishes in the world have. Unfortunately this dish is manipulated, tormented and crucified almost everywhere. –Rosario Scarpato, Honorary President Itchefs-GVCI Once every year, Rosario Scarpato, Neapolitan-born gastronome, writer, film maker/director, and commander-in-chief of ItChefs-GVCI (Virtual Organization of  Italian Chefs) makes a global appeal for the preservation of authentic Italian food by live video conference from the amphitheater of the International Culinary Center (ICC) in New York City, reaching 2,000 Italian chefs in 70 countries. “People all over the world are cooking […more…]

Jan 132014
 
Julia's Stories Make 2013 Zester Daily Top Picks, Site for the "Weird and Wonderful" in Food and Drink

Judging by the top picks of the savvy food crowd that reads Zester Daily, it looks like people just can’t get enough of Italian food. Good thing, because there are endless more tales to tell and dishes to make you smile, up my proverbial sleeve. Zester Daily is not any ordinary food publication, but a cooperative of experienced writers from around the world who bring you the fresh, the undiscovered, the “weird and the wonderful,” writes founder and editor, Corie Brown. Contributors don’t have to fit into any magazine template to sound and look like everyone else, or be muzzled […more…]

Jan 082014
 
Thank You, Hungry Readers

You are the wind in my sails. Whether you read my blog, my articles, or my books; follow my recipes or listen to my periodic radio broadcasts, I think we are fellow travelers. I like to call you my tribe. It would be a lonely journey without you. I love your letters and comments; the questions about recipes; your reports of triumph; the inquiries in search of lost ancestral recipes and accounts of new discoveries; in short, knowing how you’re coming along. I’m awed by the occasional treasures you send me—home-made jams of garden berries and honey all the way […more…]