black pepper

spaghetti alla carbonara

Cooking Carbonara the right way (recipe)

  After pizza, spaghetti alla carbonara is probably Italy’s most famous dish, but also its most controversial. Everybody knows that this plate of bacon-and-egg pasta is supposed to have a rich, creamy, sauce, but few know the real secret of how to achieve it. Outside—and even inside—Italy, people often cheat and add a little (or …

Cooking Carbonara the right way (recipe) Read More »

Torta salata di melanzana: aubergine tart (recipe)

It’s no secret that I love aubergines, or eggplants as some of you call them, or … well for argument’s sake let’s call them melanzane, the Italian word. So, it’s no secret that I love melanzane and would probably eat them every day, if I could. When cooked properly, they have the same mouth-puckering strength as a …

Torta salata di melanzana: aubergine tart (recipe) Read More »

Salsa tartufata: truffle sauce (recipe)

  It’s black summer truffle season here in the Tuscan Valtiberina and these alternative fruits of the forest are everywhere. Less pungent than in some other areas of Italy they are often served grated over pasta or grilled meat in abundance. There’s one restaurant in the village where the set menu looks like its own …

Salsa tartufata: truffle sauce (recipe) Read More »

Cotolete de sardele: Venetian fried sardines

    Cotolete de sardele (or cotolette di sarde in Italian) is another dish I tried for the first time in Venice while researching cichéti and discovering that I liked sardines, It’s simple, can be prepared in a few minutes and served as an appetizer, starter, or even a main course depending on the quantity.

Sparasi alla Veneta: Asparagus venetian style (recipe)

In the 1720s, the Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Piazzetta decided to paint a version of the Supper at Emmaus, an episode from the Gospel according to Saint Luke. In the story, the newly risen Christ appears to two disciples on the road from Jerusalem to the town of Emmaus. The story takes place on Easter …

Sparasi alla Veneta: Asparagus venetian style (recipe) Read More »