Pellegrino Artusi

Pellegrino Artusi: father of Italian Cuisine

Father, guru, evangelist? Ask any Italian chef, food writer, or home cook, who the most influential figure in Italian cuisine is, and one name comes up again and again: Pellegrino Artusi. Regularly hailed as the father or ‘inventor of Italian cuisine’ his book, La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene (Science in the …

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Presnitz and pinza: breakfast in Trieste

Located right on the border with Slovenia, Trieste, in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, has all the characteristics of a frontier town. The city has always been at the centre of an historical crossroads with the Venetians, Slavs, Austrians, and Italians all laying claim to it during its two-thousand-year history. Unsurprisingly all of these people …

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Arista: Tuscan roast pork (recipe)

This recipe is from Tuscany.     Arista is one of the great classics of Tuscan cuisine. People often assume that, considering it is consists of roast pork loin, the name is related to the Italian arrosto, meaning roast. The truth couldn’t be more different and, as with most Italian dishes, there’s a story. Here …

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La Colomba Marietta: Italian Easter cake (recipe)

  This recipe is from Tuscany. The colomba is to Italian Easter what the panettone is to Christmas. The name, which means dove, comes from its shape, representing the Holy Spirit, who in the New Testament of the Bible appears in the form of a dove. Like the panettone, the colomba is ubiquitous in the …

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Torta di semolino: semolina cake (recipe)

This recipe is from Tuscany. No sooner is carnival out the way than we have an excuse for another sweet blow-out: San Valentino, or Valentine’s Day. And in a country famed for lovers and romance it’s seen as a big occasion—notwithstanding the fact that the original Saint Valentine was Italian. It’s also the very beginning …

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