“Uffizi Da Mangiare”

“Uffizi Da Mangiare”

  Two days after Italy declared total lockdown, starting on March 10, the Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens changed from being a conventional museum conglomerate to a virtual one by setting up free video virtual tours of its collections on its Facebook...
THE VATICAN CHRISTMAS COOKBOOK

THE VATICAN CHRISTMAS COOKBOOK

THE VATICAN CHRISTMAS COOKBOOKLast week I received a press release from Sarah Lemieux, the Publicity Coordinator of Sophia Institute Press about its recent publication, The Vatican Christmas Cookbook. It’s the sequel to the Institute’s best-seller The Vatican...
TOP CHEF VISSANI FINALLY OPENS IN ROME

TOP CHEF VISSANI FINALLY OPENS IN ROME

Eccentric, extrovert, and bombastic Gianfranco Vissani with a love for scarlet leather shoes was to the kitchen-born on  November 22, 1951.Beginning in 1963  his father Mario was the chef/owner of a simple country-style restaurant, first named “Da Mario”, then “Il...
Salmon and Sauerkraut

Salmon and Sauerkraut

  Salmon, sauerkraut, and fennel sounds like a weird if not downright disgusting combination but it’s my favorite new summer salad! Tinned salmon is both economical and healthy, loaded with the Omega 3 fatty acids that fish is famous for. Canned pink salmon...
MEALS IN ROME’S MONUMENTS

MEALS IN ROME’S MONUMENTS

Romans, the world’s first recorded gourmets, today called buone forchette here in caput mundi, owe their obsession with food, at least in part, to fellow citizen Marcus Gabius. Better-known as “Apicius”, he was a wealthy and decadent epicure who in the...
Pumpkin Bread vs. Pumpkin Teacake

Pumpkin Bread vs. Pumpkin Teacake

Pumpkin Bread Two recipes for this winter favorite, plus two uses for the opened pumpkin purée can! One is a bread, the other more like a cake…try them both. This one is more of a bread than a cake; the slices want to be buttered! The recipe calls for butter...
IL MARITOZZO: Rome’s Only Native-Son Sweet

IL MARITOZZO: Rome’s Only Native-Son Sweet

While gelato, panettone, cannoli, torrone, and tiramisù are beloved worldwide, other Italian sweets are less well-known and even regional. Some examples are bônet in Piemonte, sbrisolona in Lombardy, torta Barozzi in Emilia-Romagna, tozzetti in Tuscany and Umbria,...
Dog Day Salads

Dog Day Salads

In this heat, it’s time to round up some terrific salads, by which I mean hearty ones that are more than lettuce leaves with dressing. Pasta salads are of course a favorite but today I’m going to replace the pasta with couscous, according to Food.com, “a...
Jicama & Orange Salad

Jicama & Orange Salad

A perennial favorite, this refreshing veggie/fruit salad is perfect for indoor and outdoor meals during the hottest days of summer. Jicama is a tuberous root packed with potassium, rich in fiber and vitamin C, its flavor a crunchy cross between an apple and a water...