by Lucy Gordan | Mar 13, 2022 | Food, Food blog
“Baci” Perugina chocolates, a genuine Made-In-Italy icon, are celebrating their 100th birthday this year. “Baci” means “kisses” and their birth and history is the product of a secret love story between their creator Luisa Spagnoli and businessman and politician...
by Lucy Gordan | Jan 24, 2022 | Food, Food blog
During the past five years The Sophia Institute Press has published three cookbooks, The Vatican Cookbook (2016, $34.95), Cooking with the Saints (April 2019, $34.95), and The Vatican Christmas Cookbook (September, 2020, $34.95). I’ve reviewed all three for...
by Susanna Gaertner | Nov 13, 2021 | Food, Food blog
Recipes in this arena abound but you won’t find one that substitutes parsnip purée for half the ricotta! This ups the fiber while lending the cheese sauce a nutty heartiness.The parsnips will need to be cooked and mashed; adding fennel and caraway seeds to the...
by Noreen Kompanik | Oct 23, 2021 | Food, Food blog
Breckenridge…that amazingly picturesque Rocky Mountain Colorado ski hamlet that’s become known for so much more than just its winter sports.Art and nature blend in perfect harmony in this four-season destination. The outdoor lover’s nirvana is ideal for hiking,...
by Lucy Gordan | Sep 17, 2021 | Food, Food blog
I first interviewed you in September 2010 at your bakery in Tramonti during the cultural festival “Scala Meets New York”. It’s still organized every September in the nearby town of Scala by native-son Padre Enzo Fortunato, a prolific author and the Press...
by Lucy Gordan | Aug 7, 2021 | Contents, Food
Last fall, when Sarah Lemieux, the Associate Director of Publicity at the Sophia Institute Press, sent me a review copy of the Vatican Christmas Cookbook (see my article 11/23/2020) in the package she also included a copy of Cooking with the Saints (2019) (Hardcover:...
by Lucy Gordan | Jun 5, 2021 | Food, Food blog
In the late spring little pots of the culinary herb basil (basilico in Italian) go on sale at flower stands and market stalls all over Italy. Placed on terraces and balconies chefs and housewives add hand-picked leaves to their summer dishes for color, fragrance, and...
by Lucy Gordan | Feb 27, 2021 | Food, Food blog
Sadly Co-Vid is still blocking travel for pleasure from the United States to Italy (down 90% in 2020), but I recommend three new books in English about Italian cuisine to whet your appetite and help you plan your next trip. In the meantime console yourself by...
by Lucy Gordan | Jan 29, 2021 | Food, Food blog
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...
by Lucy Gordan | Jan 11, 2021 | Food, Food blog
In late September I needed photographs to illustrate my story “Top Chef Vissani Finally Opens in Rome”. Instead of the usual small selection the PR agent sent my over two hundred all by the same photographer Alberto Blasetti. I looked him up on Google and his website...
by Lucy Gordan | Nov 23, 2020 | Food, Food blog
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...
by Lucy Gordan | Sep 12, 2020 | Food, Food blog
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...
