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We're All About Italy

Cucina

You Know You're Becoming Italian When...

8/22/2022

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...you throw away your counter-space hogging coffee machine, and now only make your brew in your little silver Moka pot.
6 Cup Moka Pot on AMAZON
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Making Tomato Passata and Pelati the Italian Way

8/5/2020

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This is the time of year when tomatoes are ripening on the vine in both the U.S. and Italy. Even if you don't grow your own tomatoes, this can be also the time to make your own Italian style passata di pomodoro--a basic tomato sauce that has all the skins and seeds removed, with all the flavor left behind.

Here in the states, the closest canned product is called "tomato puree". Many families in Italy make the processing and canning of passata a yearly event--a family event--making enough jars of passata to last the entire year, often enough for extended famiglia. If you're not growing enough of your own paste style tomatoes, you can always buy a bushel or two or three from your local farm stand. Some Italian families will process up to 500 pounds of passata each year!
Think of passata as a basic tomato sauce which you can use in all sorts of recipes, or even as a base to make other tomato-based sauces, such as Puttanesca, Amatriciana, Bolognese (ragu), Vodka sauce, sugo ("Sunday Gravy") or for pizza sauce. The word "passata" (passed, screened, smashed) refers to the processing with a special food mill that removes the seeds, pulp and skins, leaving only the tomato sauce behind. Other family recipes might just use a common food processor or blender, but this can't really give you a genuine passata.

The cleaned, ripe tomatoes are cut up, boiled and processed to remove the skins and pulp, and finally canned in a traditional manner using a hot water bath and canning jars. Some family recipes might also add other spices or flavorings such as garlic as they boil the tomatoes, but since passata is a base to make a wide variety of sauces, you might want to add them at the time of cooking the final sauce. It is traditional, however, to add one large basil leave into each jar canned.
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The Method of Making Passata

Although you can make a passata in very small quantities, we will look at how to make a large volume for the purposes of canning and storage. We would love to promote this time honored, annual ritual here in the United States. Wouldn't it be better to have a yearly stock of your own tomato passata rather than buy supermarket sauces filled with chemical preservatives and other additives?

What Type of Tomato is Best?

In Italy, the best for this is San Marzano tomatoes (used in the best imported canned tomatoes), which have DOP protection and are only grown in the area of Naples surrounding Mount Vesuvius. Of course, many varieties are grown in the U.S. calling themselves "San Marzano", but they are only a similar variety. (You can't match San Marzano tomatoes because of their uniqueness of being grown in volcanic soils.)

In reality, any good-tasting, full-bodied paste type tomato will work well. The tomato you select should have sweetness, depth of flavor, but also a touch of acidity--which benefits long preservation. Most paste tomatoes are thick fleshed and have a similar shape to San Marzano--that is, an elongated plum shape. You can also use larger cherry tomatoes or horn-pepper shaped varieties. Again, if it has a great taste, it will make a great passata. Leave the larger, beefsteak varieties for slicing and eating fresh.

If you want to grow your own heirloom canning tomatoes from seed,  we can highly recommend Striped Roma (horn shaped, sweet), Jersey Devil (horn shaped, very meaty), Debarao (plum shaped, juicy) and Martino's Roma (classic plum tomato). If you want to plant enough for lots of passata, plan on planting a minimum of 10 plants of one single variety that you earmark for canning.

How Many Tomatoes?
This really depends on how ambitious you are. if you use lots of tomato sauce in your recipes each year, then start with more tomatoes. You will also need more canning jars, lids and other varied supplies and tools. Having a very large pot or cauldron to boil the tomatoes helps prevent tedious, repeated boiling/canning sessions. I highly recommend doing it the way most Italians do it--using a tomato processing mill. I also love the way Italians use a very large pot to boil their jars and to do the final canning process--they use kitchen towels to layer in the glass jars to protect them from rattling around against each other.

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Here are some guidelines:

3 pounds of tomatoes to make 1 quart of passata.
21 pounds of tomatoes will make 7 quarts of passata.
One bushel of tomatoes (about 53 lbs per bushel) will give you 15-18 quarts of passata
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You will also be using sea salt and placing basil leaves into each jar.

  • To sterilize the jars, boil them for 20 minutes in as large a pot as you have, layering them with cotton kitchen towels to prevent breakage.
  • You don't need to sterilize the jar lids since you will buy new lids each year. Simply wash them in hot soapy water before use.
 
  1. Never reuse jar lids!
  2. You can reuse jars as long as they aren't chipped, but always buy new lids!
  3. NEVER re-use recycled jars from the supermarket--their glass might not be thick enough to withstand the pressures of the canning process. Large buckets – for washing and storing the tomatoes

Things You will Need

  • Sharp paring knives
  • Large aluminium stock pot or cauldron
  • Large triple ring gas burner
  • LP gas bottle(s)
  • Large size strainer/colander
  • Clean cotton tea towels
  • Electric tomato mill
  • 2 ounce canning jars and new lids
  • Large stock pot or cauldron for boiling bottles
  • Large stidding spoon/paddle
  • Large pouring ladle
  • Large jar funnel

(For a large volume...)
  • Once you have your supply of tomatoes, sort them as to their ripeness. Any tomatoes that are fully ripe (or cracked) should be cooked and processed right away. Tomatoes that need more ripening need to be laid out (not touching each other if possible) several days before processing on a large folding, catering table or even a sheet of plywood under a covered porch, or on a large table in your house. This will ensure they attain full ripeness. A ripe tomato will have reached its full color, won't feel too hard when squeezed gently, and will have an obvious fresh tomato scent when the skin is held close to the nose.
  • Before processing, remove any tomatoes that might be overripe, with a slightly rotten odor. A good sniff will tell you if they are OK or not. A ripe tomato will smell sweet with a strong tomato scent. An over-ripe tomato will smell nearly rotten--a bit sour. Your nose will tell you, so if it's unpleasant, toss it.
  • Removed any remaining stems by grasping the stem firmly between your fingers and giving a sharp twist.
  • Next, run fresh water over your tomatoes to clean them, placing them in any type of large plastic tub or even a new 5 gallon bucket.
  • Now cut only enough tomatoes in half or quarters to fill 1/2 of your large pot or cauldron. Cut off any obvious defects or blemishes. Toss them into your cauldron or large pot as you work. -- The reason for not filling the pot with water is that the cut tomatoes first boiled in the pot will produce their own liquid, which becomes the boiling liquid to cook more uncut tomatoes. You might see some passata recipes that either remove the juicy centers before processing, or which boil cut tomatoes in water. Doing either will only lessen the intensity of pure tomato flavor.
  • Set up the cauldron over a portable gas cooker outside and bring your cut tomatoes to a boil and stir until they produce a boiling liquid.
  • After your cut tomatoes come to a boil, you can add more un-cut tomatoes until you fill your pot, then bring back to a boil and cook for another 10-15 minutes.You want to stir the tomatoes from time to time, so you'll need a fairly large wooden spoon or paddle.
  • The next step is to strain as much water out of your tomatoes as possible: for smaller amounts, use either a large colander (in Italian, scolapasta): for large volumes, you can use a clean, plastic milk crate lined with a clean pillowcase.

You can use a standard hand-cranked food mill or a manual tomato milling machine to process the tomatoes, but if you're doing a large volume, you should consider investing in a powered tomato mill. The more power the unit has, the faster your processing will go. You might need to set up your milling machine on a low table, with bowl on the table to capture the pulp and a large container on the floor to capture the passata. 

  • To start processing your tomatoes, allow the sauce to pour into a large bowl, pot or plastic container, and a bowl or pan to catch the pulp. (Carefully read directions from your manufacturer). Repeat as needed. (If you are processing huge amounts of tomatoes, you might plan processing over the course of several daily sessions.)
  • When finished, run the pulp through the mill one or two more times to get even more of the juices. (Or if you have chickens, do as Italians do and feed the pulp to them). When finished, add 2-3 handfuls of sea salt to each large container of passata and stir well. Salt will aid in long preservation.
  • Ladle your finished passata into your canning jars, adding one large, fresh basil leaf into the bottom of each jar before filling.  Fill each jar to within 3/4" - 1" from the top of the rim and screw on the lids tightly. (Every few jars, be sure to occasionally stir up the large container of passata to keep the solids from settling to the bottom.)
  • After all of your jars are filled, it's time to pasteurize them. First, clean your large pot or cauldron that you will use to boil your bottles. Place clean cotton towels on the bottom and start layering in your jars, lying on their sides. Continue layering jars and towels until your cauldron is full. Fill the cauldron with fresh water.
  • Bring your pot/cauldron to a boil and then allow to boil gently for 45 minutes.
  • Next, turn off the burner and wait until the water has cooled enough for you to remove jars while wearing a pair of kitchen gloves. (Be careful! Handle the jars gently and don't allow them to hit into each other. At this point, they are under pressure!) 
  • Dry and place all of your jars in a cool, dry place, away from sun (perhaps a cellar) to cool down overnight (minimum 12 hours). Lay them out on a plastic tablecloth or poly painter's tarp in case any jars break open as cooling down. After 5-10 hours, each jar will start making a "pinging" sound as their lids pop downwards.
  • To make certain they are sealed properly, inspect each lid to make sure their dimples are depressed. Any jars with dimples popped upwards should be stored in the refrigerator and used within 2 weeks or frozen in plastic containers.
  • Using this Italian method of processing and canning passata should give you safe jars that can be kept as long as three years! Share them with family and friends!
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What About Canning Whole Tomatoes?

In Italy, whole canned tomatoes are called pelati, referring to the process of peeling the skins off before canning. In the area of Naples, many families invest in crates of locally grown San Marzano tomatoes, but any pear/plum shaped past tomato will do fine.

Before caning whole tomatoes, the best way to prevent spoilage is to remove the skins. Canning peeled tomatoes also affords more options for use in recipes that might call for crushed tomatoes. Skinned, whole tomatoes are easy to crush by squeeze by hand or pulsing in a food processor.
  • As in the passata process described above, clean your tomatoes and remove any that are blemished or over-ripe. You only want blemish free, ripe tomatoes for canning whole.
  • Also as when making passata, you should have your sterilized jars and new lids ready for filling.
  • To remove the skins, boil a large pot/cauldron of water, then plunge your tomato (working in managable batches) into the boiling water for 60-90 seconds.
  • Remove the tomatoes, plunge briefly into cold water, then lay out on kitchen towels to cool a bit more for handling.
  • To remove the skins (or rather, to remove the tomato from ts skin), hold the tomato with the stem end toward you. With a pinch, break and tear open the skin a bit on the bottom of each tomato (opposite the stem end). Next, grip the plum tomato in your hand and with the thumb of your other hand, push the tomato out of its skin and into a waiting bowl.
  • As one person pops the tomatoes out of their skins, another can start filling the jars. First, place a good pinch of sea salt at the bottom of each jar.
  • Next, place the skinned tomatoes in the jars leaving no air-spaces between them. Press them gently together and pack the jar within 1/2" from the top. Sprinkle another pinch of sea salt on top of the tomatoes. if there are any air bubbles on the sides of the glass, give each jar a gentle tap or use a clean fork to release and bring them to the top.
  • Once you have finished and all of your pelati jars are filled, do the same as before with your large pot/caldron, laying in kitchen towels and jars until filled nearly to the top. Light your burner and bring to a gentle boil.
  • Once the water is boiling, let the jars boil for another 30 minutes, then turn off the burner and allow the water to cool down enough until you can start removing jars with using kitchen gloves. set all of your pelati jars to cool in a dry place as before, allowing them to cool until the lids have "pinged" to seal. (If you have several batches to boil, watch the third video below for a great tip on how to remove the hot water so you can remove jars and then re-use the hot water for the next batch to be boiled.)
NOTE: You can also use a combination of the two techniques above to can whole cherry tomatoes. In this process, after cleaning the tomatoes and filling jars as above, ladle some passata to fill the voids in between all of the cherry tomatoes, again, leaving 3/4" - 1" from the top, then boil to sterilize the jars as with the pelati method above. .

Don't forget to label your Passata and Pelati with the month and year. (Order oval Avery labels HERE on Amazon). Store them in a cool, dark place. They will last for as long as three years.

Read this article carefully, watch the videos below and by all means, work safely! Make this a yearly event for your extended famiglia. I've read about families who take gather large teams together to process as much as 500 pounds of tomatoes! I would suggest starting small until you get used to the process. You can also make small volumes of passata or pelati right in your kitchen with a large stock pot, colander and tools you have lying around. And whether you use a manual tomato mill or powered, I'm sure you'll be successful and enjoy a fully packed cantina (pantry) all season long.

--Jerry Finzi, GVI


If you are new to canning, you can study the principles of safe canning HERE.
Useful Processing Tools on AMAZON...
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The video below is one of the best I have found covering many aspects of making Passata and Pelati. There are some titles in English,
but it might also help to click the gear icon on YouTube
to turn on Closed Captions and Auto-Translate to select English...

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The "Silly" Pizza from Abruzzo

7/23/2020

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Some people called my Dad acting "silly" as a negative, but not me. Anything silly, I love. Something offbeat, oddball, out of the norm, and I'm automatically drawn to it. The time Dad wore vampire teeth at a fancy wedding's cocktail hour was wonderful. My discovery of this interesting pizza is also wonderful: pizza scima ("silly pizza") from the cucina povera traditions of Abruzzo. It's authentic and offbeat.

Why is it called "silly"? To understand the name, we have to get into the evolution of the Abruzzese dialect word "scima". This is an unleavened bread, and the Italian word azzimo (masculine) or azzima (feminine) in Italian means unleavened, referring to any bread that's made without yeast. In dialect the word is ascime. Southern Italians tend to shorten words, in this case the word was simplified to scima (SHEE-ma). Scema in Italian can mean either stupid or silly, perhaps in this case referring to someone silly enough to make bread without leavening...
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Il Coppo, covered in coals with the pizza baking underneath
The history of this pizza evolved from the 13th century Jews who settled in Abruzzo and made unleavened bread. Traditionally it is baked directly on an open wood fired hearth, common in many country homes even today. After coming up to temperature, the wood coals are cleared to the sides and the dough round is placed directly on the brick base. Next, the dough is covered with a 5" tall dark steel coppo (like a large pot cover) and coal embers are placed on top. This baking method is similar to the Colonial American method of baking bread in a cast iron Dutch oven in an open fireplace.

The baking method below tries to mimic the open hearth by baking on a pre-heated pizza stone (to cook the bottom) with a dark pan placed over the top of the pizza (to create a moist, but hot baking environment). You might even try to make this pizza using a baking cloche.

Common in the southern towns of Casoli, Roccascalegna, Altino, Lanciano and San Vito Chietino, this pizza is characterized by the addition of extra virgin olive oil and wine. Each year there is even a pizza scima sagra (food festival) in Casoli.
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A similar method of baking bread in a Dutch oven
Ingredients
  • 4 cups (or 16 ounces) Italian 00 or All-Purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup Extra Virgin olive oil (EVO), preferably unfiltered.
  • 2/3 cups of an Abruzzo white wine (i.e., Trebbiano d'Abruzzo or Pecorino)
  • 2/3 cups Water (if needed to adjust texture of the dough)
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/4 cup EVO for coating

Instructions
  1. Preheat an oven with either a baking stone on the center rack, or as an alternate, a large, round, dark pan. (The stone or pan must be hot before you place your pizza dough on top for baking). You can also make this pizza on a baking steel, but since a steel heats up faster than a ceramic stone, you will need to check the underside halfway through to make sure it doesn't burn.
  2. Sift the flour onto your work surface into a large mound.
  3. Create a well in the center of the flour to hold the liquid ingredients.
  4. Slowly pour the the wine and extra virgin olive oil into the well, then work the flour into the liquid, pulling flour from the outside.
  5. The resulting dough should be shaggy at first, but soft enough to knead. If it looks dry, add a little bit of water. After kneading on the board for a minute or so, it should become soft and pliable enough to form into a ball. It should not be too dry or too sticky.
  6. Rest the dough for 30 minutes under a kitchen towel.
  7. On a floured surface or, better yet, onto a wooden pizza peel coated with corn meal, use a rolling pin and roll out the dough ball into a circular disk about 3/4" thick.
  8. Using either a single edge razor blade, a baker's lame or a very sharp knife, score a diamond pattern into the top of your dough round. Make each diamond shape about 1" to 1-1/2" wide. (If your round is on your work surface, transfer carefully to a pizza peel for transferring to the oven). An alternate method is to use a pizza/pasta wheel to make the pattern. Essentially, these cuts make this a type of pull-apart bread for mopping up sauces or topping, like bruschetta.
  9. Using a pastry brush or your bare hands, brush and coat the top of your round with the EVO.
  10. If you wish to add a bit more flavor to this authentic version, you can sprinkle the top of the bread with coarse sea salt, rosemary or fennel seeds.
  11. Slide your dough round either directly onto your baking stone or into your pre-heated pan then cover with a deep baking pan that is deep enough to leave an air space above the pizza.
  12. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top becomes golden brown.
(NOTE: An alternative method is to bake this pizza in a liberally oiled, dark, cool pan, and then cover with another larger pan.)
Useful Tools on Amazon...
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Everything You Need to Know About Pasta

5/6/2020

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The History of Pasta

  • Dispelling a myth: The popular legend that Marco Polo brought back Chinese pasta is in fact a fictional story invented at the beginning of the 20th century by Macaroni Journal, an American journal published by the pasta industry and perpetuated in Hollywood films.
  • Of course, the Chinese had their own evolution of noodles: The earliest written record of noodles made from wheat is from a book dated to the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD).
  • In 2002, archaeologists found an earthenware bowl containing world's oldest known noodles made from millet flour, about 4000 years old, at the Lajia archaeological site along the Yellow River in China.
  • Proof that Marco Polo didn't discover pasta in China is found in a will penned in the year 1279 by Ponzio Baestone, a Genovese soldier who referenced "bariscella peina de macarone" (a small basket of macaroni). This was written 16 years before Marco Polo returned from China.
  • There is archaeological evidence suggesting the Etruscans made pasta as early as 400 B.C.
  • The Roman poet Horace wrote in 35 B.C., “I come back home to my pot of leek, peas and laganum”. Laganum was a flat dough, cooked first in water, then fried in oil, and in later years the frying was omitted.
  • Historians think laganum was the first sheet pasta and was used like lasagna is used today. Written in the 1st century A.D., the Roman cookbook Apicius, contains a recipe that describes layering laganum with meat and other ingredients like modern day lasagna.
  • The first Western mention of boiled noodles (called itriyah) is in the Jerusalem Talmud of the fifth century A.D., written in Aramaic, where the authors debate whether the boiled dough satisfied the laws about the use of unleavened bread.
  • In the 9th century, there are at least two written descriptions of itriyah (used as an Arab word) being used to describe the long, flat pasta called vermicelli (little worms).
  • In the 12th century, an Arab geographer, commissioned by the Norman king of Sicily, reported seeing pasta called itriyah being made.
  • From itriyah is derived the current day Sicilian dialect word for spaghetti, tria.
  • By 1400, pasta was being produced commercially in Italy. The pasta dough was kneaded by foot, a process that could take all day long. The dough was then extruded through bronze dies under great pressure, via a large screw press powered by two men or one horse. This pasta was dried for long storage.
  • In the 14th century, Sardinian merchants used the expression obra de pasta to refer to the dry pastas that they exported abroad.
  • Pasta came first... tomatoes were introduced in Italy in the 16th century but were not paired with pasta until the 18th century.
  • Thomas Jefferson was credited for bringing the first macaroni machine to America in 1789 after falling in love with macaroni in Naples.
  • The industrial era began at the end of the 19th century with the development of hydraulic presses, when all pastas were made from hard wheat.
  • The spread of pasta around the world was due in part to the immigration of Italians at the end of the 19th century, who brought their recipes and techniques to the USA and Latin America.
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Drying spaghetti, Naples 1900.
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Pasta press, 1950s, Naples
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Modern pasta extruding

Interesting Pasta Facts

  • Contrary to the Great Spaghetti Tree Harvest April Fool’s Day Hoax of 1957, pasta never has grown on trees.
  • The average person in Italy eats more than 51 pounds of pasta every year.
  • The average person in America eats only 15 pounds of pasta every year.
  • Top-quality pasta in Italy is made from durum wheat flour, which curiously is grown in North Dakota and shipped to Italy.
  • The United States with a population of over 320 million people produces 1.9 million tons of pasta annually.
  • Italy has about 60 million people and produces 2.75 million tons of pasta annually.
  • Each year, over 13 million tons of pasta are produced worldwide.
  • To cook one billion pounds of pasta, you would need over two billion gallons of water--enough to fill 75,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.
  • In Italy, pasta is the first, or Primo course and stands on its own.
  • In Italy, meat is not served in pasta recipes, but is served as the Secundo (second) course.
  • In Italy, pasta may be served with certain fruits of the sea, such as mussels or octopus.
  • Spaghetti and meatballs doesn’t exist in Italy, aside from in tourist restaurants.
  • The regional Abruzzo dish, Chitarra con Pallottini, is the closest thing to spaghetti and meatballs in Italy, pairing tiny meatballs with square sided spaghetti made on a wired pasta tool called a chitarra.
  • Spaghetti Bolognese doesn’t exist in Italy. In the area of Bologna the dish is called Ragù con tagliatelle.
  • Pasta isn't always cream colored: spinach makes it green, red pasta uses tomato, dark gray or black pasta uses squid ink, orange pasta contains carrots or pumpkin, green pasta can contain spinach or basil.
  • There are approximately 1500 different pasta shapes in Italy, with perhaps 5 times the number of names for each pasta shape, depending on region.
  • The most popular shapes of pasta in the U.S. are spaghetti, penne and rotini.
  • Historically in France, pasta were called nouilles, macaroni and lasagnas. In Provence, they were called menudez, macarons, vermisseaux or fidiaux.
  • There are two types of pasta: Fresh and dried. The fresh type is typically made with eggs, but can also be made with just water or olive oil and is used immediately or can be frozen for later use.
  • Dry pasta is made using water, and since it contains no eggs can be stored for very long periods of time--often years. Historically, before refrigeration, dry pasta was considered a long storage food.
  • A little known fact is that even pasta made with eggs, if dried completely, and kept in low humidity environment, can be stored for long periods of time.
  • 100% whole wheat pasta contains more fiber which causes it to be digested slower than regular pasta, causing a measurably higher calorie intake.
  • In the 1300s, Pope Benedict XII set strict quality standards for pasta.
  • The word pasta means "paste" in Italian, referring to the paste of water and flour created when making pasta.  
  • The longest single strand of pasta measured 12,388’ 5” and was achieved by Lawson Inc. in Tokyo , Japan, on 20 October 2010.
  • The world’s record for the most pasta consumed was broken by Matt Stonie, of hot-dog eating fame. He consumed 10 pounds in 8 minutes.
  • The first American pasta factory was opened in Brooklyn, New York, in 1848, by Antoine Zerega. He used a horse to power his machinery and dried the pasta on the roof.
  • One cup of cooked spaghetti contains 200 calories, 40 grams of carbs, and less than one gram of total fat.
  • There is no cholesterol in pasta made with water.
  • Linguini means "little tongue" and Vermicelli means "little worms". Many pasta names have meanings to describe their shape.
  • Couscous is a type of pasta.
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Cooking and Making Pasta
  • To cook 1 pound of pasta, you should boil at least 1 gallon of water. Most Americans don't use enough water when cooking pasta.
  • When cooking pasta in water, use the largest pot you have or your pasta might become a slimy, starchy mess.
  • You need to add sea salt to pasta water when cooking—enough to give the water the taste of the sea. A good handful will add lots of flavor to your pasta.
  • Adding salt also makes water boil faster.
  • Pasta should be added only after the water has come to a rapid boil.
  • Pasta can actually be “cooked” by soaking in warm water: Salt the water and stir. Add pasta let sit for 30 minutes, until the pasta rehydrates. This method is best to hydrate small pasta shapes intended to be added to soups.
  • You can use regular lasagna noodles in the same way as “no boil” noodles. Just be sure there is enough moisture covering the pasta when assembling your lasagna casserole.  
  • Never add oil to pasta water, no matter what your mother told you. The oil would prevent sauces from sticking to pasta.
  • To prevent any pasta from sticking together, after adding the pasta to the boiling water, give the pasta and water a couple of swirls with a wooden spoon.
  • To cook spaghetti, do not break in half, but add to the large pot of boiling water in a fan like motion. Within seconds, use a wooden spoon or tongs to gently push the spaghetti strands down into the water. Give a couple of stirs to the water.
  • If you have average sized hands and grip spaghetti between your thumb and forefinger (making a circle about 1-1/4” across), that should give you enough for two servings.
  • Cover your pasta pot with a lid left 1-2” open along one side to prevent it boiling over.
  • To prevent spill-overs, place a large wooden spoon across one side of the pot, then rest the lid on top.
  • Pasta should be cooked al dente (to the tooth). You can test a piece of pasta by biting into it. If you still see a little white center and there still a resistance in the pasta when bitten, it is done.
  • Undercook pasta slightly when making a recipe that requires adding pasta to a sauté pan to finish cooking in the sauce. The liquids of the sauce will finish cooking the pasta and add flavor to it.  
  • Store bought, dried pasta cooks in 8-12 minutes. Wheat or spinach pasta takes longer. Fresh pasta cooks quickly within 3-4 minutes.  
  • When finishing your pasta along with a sauce in a sauté pan, add 2-3 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to the pan. The starchy water will help the sauce thicken.  
  • You can drain pasta with a spider or scolapasta (colander), but don’t rinse it. Rinsing would remove starch which helps sauces stick to your pasta.
  • Sauces should be tossed with the pasta (allowing the sauce to be soaked up by the pasta) instead of serving naked pasta with sauce sitting on top.
  • Anyone can make fresh pasta without a machine: Place the flour on a work surface in a volcano shaped mound. You can then make a basin in the middle of the volcano to contain eggs or water. You then use hands or a fork to mix the flour into the wet ingredients until a rough dough is formed. Knead the dough until smooth for 5-10 minutes, then roll or shape your pasta.  
  • Fresh pasta can be made with a variety, or even a mix of flours: durum semolina, finely-milled 00 flour, all-purpose flour, buckwheat flour, wheat flour, etc. Never use bread flour to make pasta as it contains too much protein and creates too much gluten.    
  • Fresh pasta can be laid out on sheet pans lined with cotton kitchen towels, lightly dusted with flour or corn meal, then dried for later use.
  • Fresh pasta, after dried, can be frozen, spread apart on sheet pans, then when rock hard, bagged for future use.
  • The secret to making ravioli that don’t explode when boiled is making sure that there are no air pockets in with the filling when you seal them.
  • Frozen, “fresh” pasta can be stored in a freezer for 3 months.
  • Making fresh pasta is easy to do, even by hand. You can learn to make many traditional shapes with nothing more than your hands, fingers, a rolling pin, a bench scraper and a long knife.
  • If a pasta dough is well worked, smooth then rested, it should not give any problems or stick when run through a pasta machine.
  • Fresh pasta dough should be covered and rested for one hour before running through a pasta machine.
  • A batch of pasta dough can be divided into 4 equal pieces, then roughly shaped and rolled into ¼” thick rectangles, ready for rolling through a pasta machine.
  • Pasta machines typically have numbered settings, from thickest to thinnest. You start rolling, twice on each number, from thickest to the thinnest setting that matches the type of pasta you are making. Not all pasta types should be paper thin, as a slightly thicker pasta holds heavier sauces better.
  • When using a pasta machine (the roller type), never clean it with water. Just lightly brush off any residue. If your pasta dough is made correctly, it will not be sticky or floury. If it feels sticky, then your pasta dough needs a little more flour, not your pasta machine.
  • You don’t need a machine or roller to make pasta. You can use a rolling pin to flatten your pasta and then cut your shapes with a pasta cutting roller or a knife. You can cut strips of fettuccine, squares for making ravioli or tortellini, or snakes cut into 2” long pieces for making dumpling shapes, like cavatelli.
  • Before cooking fresh pasta, you should dry it for at least 30 minutes.
  • Dust freshly made pasta with a bit of flour, then lay out in one layer on sheet pans to dry.
  • For long pasta, like fettuccini or spaghetti, flour the pasta and drop into loose “nests” on a sheet pan to dry.
  • Fresh pasta can be totally dried in 24 hours for longer storage.
  • Fresh pasta, after an initial drying, can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
  • After totally drying fresh pasta on sheet pans, they can be placed into a freezer until rock hard, then stored in plastic bags for use within 2-3 months.
  • Don't place sauces on top of naked pasta, instead, either finish the pasta in the saucepan or mix the sauce with the pasta in a large pasta bowl.
  • Which pasta to use for a recipe depends on the type of sauce:
    1. Tubular shapes like penne and ziti are perfect with hearty, thick sauces like ragu.
    2. Pasta with ridges, called rigate, grip sauce even better.
    3. Wide, flat pastas like pappardelle are ideal for holding creamy sauces.
    4. Long, round pastas like spaghetti are best with oil or tomato sauces, which coat each strand evenly.
    5. Chunky vegetable or meaty sauces are best paired with larger shapes that have cups or large cavities to grip the large particles.

--Jerry Finzi

Useful Pasta Tools on Amazon
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Our Conversation with Mary Ann Esposito, Cooking Legend from PBS's Ciao Italia! - Part 3

3/30/2020

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Continued from Part 2...

Finzi: The first time our family visited Molfetta (where my father was born) we didn’t have time to meet the relatives that still live there (although we've gotten to know each other since on Facebook). What advice would you give to someone with a desire to approach long-lost relatives in Italy, especially if there is a desire to collect the heritage of recipes from their famiglia?
 
Mary Ann:  Call or email them; send photos; plan a meeting with them; bring old family photos if you have them.
 
Finzi: When you first met your Italian relatives, what impressed you most?

Mary Ann: Their genuine hospitality and love of connection with you. My cousins were especially welcoming.
 
Finzi: I lived in France for a while and tried my best to be a decent French cook, but after experiencing the simplicity of regional Italian cooking on our voyage throughout Italy, I immediately was drawn back my Italian roots. It’s amazing to think that in centuries past, the food eaten by the Italian upper classes was in the French style. Why do you think the Cucina Povera rose to the top of Italian cuisine, with its fairly simple ingredients and basic techniques?

Mary Ann:  Because that is the true Italian cooking. It was only the upper class Italians who employed chefs called monzu. These were Italians trained in France and what they cooked was truly French and not Italian.
 
Finzi: When my parents got married, according to my mother, she “wanted an American household”, so she didn’t teach her five children Italian. I’ve read that you took lessons on how to speak Italian. Did your mother have this same attitude to “Americanize” your family in this or any other ways?
 
Mary Ann:  No, my mother spoke Neapolitan dialect because my Nonna Galasso--her mother--lived with us. My mother would never serve an American style TV dinner and neither would I.
 
Finzi: I’ve never heard you talk about having a second home in Italy. If you do, can you tell us a little about it? And if not, of all the beautiful regions and towns in Italy, where would you love to live, and can you describe your Casa dei Sogni, or Dream Home for us?
 
Mary Ann:  I go to Italy every year but do not have a home there; if I did, it would be in Siracusa because I love this baroque town; my second choice would be Torino.

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Mary Ann Esposito Foundation culinary students
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Finzi: Your culinary life was influenced by two Nonne, but not everyone has an Italian grandmother to help educate them on how to prepare Italian dishes. In a way, you have become that Nonna for the millions of us who have watched you cook for nearly 30 years. Can you tell us something about your Mary Ann Esposito Foundation and your desire to pass along your passion and techniques to future Italian chefs?
 
Mary Ann: Thanks for asking! The foundation provides scholarships for students in culinary degree programs in universities offering the study of Italian regional foods and is also establishing a legacy library online to record for posterity, regional recipes that otherwise would be lost to time for future generations. All donations in any amount are most appreciated. Your Grand Voyage Italy readers can go to www.ciaoitalia.com and click on “foundation” to learn more and to make a donation.
 
Finzi: I want to really thank you for taking the time for this wonderful chat, Mary Ann. We'll be looking forward to seeing your new episodes on PBS... my TIVO is fired up to record every episode!

One last thought... For us to envision il pranzo perfetto per Maestra Esposito, what are your all-time favorite dinner courses in La Cucina Esposito?
 
Mary Ann:
  • Aperitivo:                   Prosecco
  • Antipasto:                  Grilled Vegetables, crostini
  • Primo:                         Cacio e Pepe
  • Secondo:                    Branzino al  Limone
  • Contorno:                   Broccoli Rape
  • Insalata:                     Fennel and Orange
  • Formaggi e frutta:     Parmigiano Reggiano, Figs, Melon
  • Dolce:                         Gelato
  • Digestivo con caffè, Non lo bevo
 

Guy Esposito on Gardening

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Finzi: When I was a boy, my Dad taught me all about saving seeds and the benefits of Home Grown Tomatoes, and now my 15 year old son grows them with me. Our favorites are Eva Purple Ball, Jersey Devil and Giant Belgium. Which are your top three favorite heirloom tomato varieties, and why you like each.

Guy:
Costoluto Genovese for fresh eating and preserving, intensely flavorful, deep red flesh); San Marzano are the only ones that match to those in Campania for sauce; Redorta for eating fresh, making sauces, canning or drying. It's better than San Marzano for growing in colder climates.

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Costoluto
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San Marzano
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Redorta
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Finzi: For some reason, I’ve always had less than good results with Costoluto in our garden and Redorta is one we haven’t grown. I’ll try some next season.
 
I’m in Zone 6a in Bucks County, Pennsylvania (April 15, last frost) and still I wish the growing season was a bit longer than it is. What are the problems growing vegetables in your short, Zone 5b growing season in New Hampshire?

Guy:  We get a late start after May 31 because of such a short growing season.
 
Finzi: What do you consider the essential vegetables for an Italian gardener to grow, and for beginners, which do you think are the easiest?  
 
Guy:  Lettuce, zucchini and radishes are easiest and the hardest are melons and artichokes.
 
Finzi: Were you always a gardener or did your garden develop as Ciao Italia became a more prominent part of your lives as a couple, and what compels you to grow your own vegetables?

Guy: I have been gardening since Medical School. We are believers in farm to table food without pesticides. For good health we maintain a Mediterranean diet.

Finzi: We are also pretty much organic in our garden, but can always do better with a heathier diet. At least we make pretty much everything from scratch. I just wish we had a good fish monger near us.
 
My wife Lisa would love to grow huge bushes of rosemary like we saw in Italy. For me, pomegranates and olives. But of course, we can’t in our Pennsylvania climate.  What don’t (or can’t) you grow in the garden that you wish you could, or would like to grow, and why?

Guy:  Radicchio di Treviso and Bulbing Fennel (finocchi). Both are delicious for salads or cooking.

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Radicchio di Treviso
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Bulbing fennel
Finzi: I’ve watched videos on how complicated it is to grow Radicchio di Treviso. Definitely not for the home gardener!

What single vegetable or other crop has May Ann wanted you to grow that you haven’t yet, and why haven’t you grown it?
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Piennolo del Vesuvio tomatoes can be stored all winter in Italy

Guy: Piennolo  del Vesuvio tomatoes. It's just not hot enough here in New England and we have the wrong type of soil. .
 
Finzi: I love the idea of growing these but even if I could, I doubt if they would last through the winter, hanging in large bunches, the way they do in Campania.

If you could only grow one, solitary crop, which would you grow?

Guy:  Lettuce! Virtually every day we eat large salads every day.
 
Finzi: That’s one crop I wish was possible to grow all season long. I’ve grown a variety of types, but some years, the rabbits and chipmunks get the best of them.

What are the most difficult things to grow in your garden?

Guy:  Melons and sometimes tomatoes. Melons need a lot of heat and a long growing season. Some types of tomatoes we love can be prone to disease.
 
Finzi: I’ve also had some experience with melons, but they require a lot of attention and even watering--difficult to keep up with in drier seasons.

Is it difficult to be the husband of such a famous chef, or do you consider yourself a partner in Mary Ann’s efforts—and how involved are you in the production of the show?
 
Guy:  Mary Ann is first and foremost my wife. I am involved with Ciao Italia as the head gardener and wine consultant. The Mary Ann you see on TV is the exact same person in real life. I am a lucky man!
 
Finzi: You certainly are.

Mary Ann and Guy, I want to thank you both for being so generous with your time. I’m certain our readers are going to gain a lot of wisdom from the depth and span of your knowledge, experience and passion about Italian cuisine.

Alla prossima e mille grazie!

--Jerry Finzi
Copyright, 2020 - Jerry Finzi/GrandVoyageItaly.com - All Rights Reserved
Not to be reproduced in any form without expressed, written permission.

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Mary Ann (3rd from top left) and her family
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In a Carnevale mood
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Flirting with tomatoes in Campania
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Just two gals hanging out
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A vineyard stroll
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With her Premio Artusi award
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Our Conversation with Mary Ann Esposito, Cooking Legend from PBS's Ciao Italia - Part 2

3/29/2020

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Mary Ann at home in front of the camera
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Continued from Part 1...

Finzi:
Of course, we’ve read your new book, Ciao Italia: My Lifelong Food Adventures in Italy. You've given us all some more great recipes and stories with an enormous degree of detail. Another winner, for sure. Brava, Maestra!
 
Speaking from an Italian-American perspective, what are the main differences between Italian cuisine and the dishes Italian-Americans served here? And regardless of their lack of authenticity, which Italian-American dishes do you really love?
 
Mary Ann:  Regional dishes are based on local ingredients, fresh ingredients and simple preparation. Italian-American food is often based on many canned foods like beans and prepared tomato sauces and inferior, imitation cheese. Of course I love spaghetti and meatballs and chicken “parm” like anyone else.

Finzi: I grow our own string beans and especially love those yard-long heirloom beans that can plate like a green spaghetti, but I'll have to take your advice and start growing my own beans. We do make our own sauces from scratch, but most of the year used high quality canned tomatoes. In summer we do make fresh tomato sauce, which is wonderful.

Chicken “parm” is a favorite in our house, too. We love the way my wife makes it (casserole style with rigatoni) but I also make a lighter version more like a standalone corso secondo.  
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With Julia Child
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with Jacques Pepin
All of us have our favorite cookbooks. We have a collection of yours (of course), but also from Julia Child, Nick Malgieri, Marcella Hazan and Pierre Franey. Which cookbooks couldn’t you live without? Also, what are some historic cookbooks you would recommend for people wanting to explore the history of Italian cuisine?
 
Mary Ann:  Ada Boni’s, Italian Cooking; Waverly Root, The Food of Italy; John Keahy,  Seeking Sicily; Carol Field, The Italian Baker; Pellegrino Artusi, The Science in the Kitchen and The Art of Eating Well
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Finzi: We actually have one on your list--Carol Field’s Italian Baker is amazing and includes a fantastic recipe for focaccia.
 
What regions—or towns—have you never visited or cooked in when traveling through Italy? Which are on your bucket list, and why?
 
Mary Ann: I have never cooked in Friuli or Calabria and I would love to cook in Abruzzo because the food is very high quality, and I love the way they use almonds in cooking. Although I love the confetti (candy coated almonds), there is so much more to do with them.
Fried Fish Fillets with Parmesan and Almond Coating
PictureShopping in an Italian market
Finzi: We agree totally. We love the flavor of almonds in all manner of pastries. But to be honest, I personally never went for confetti almonds—I was always worried about breaking a tooth!

The waves of Italian Diaspora during the 19th and 20th centuries brought Italian migration to several countries around the world, merging Italian cuisine with that of their host countries. Have you ever thought of exploring the evolution of this mash-up of culinary cultures? (Examples: Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Tunisia).  
 
Mary Ann: It is a great idea and I have thought of it. It's on our bucket list!
 
Finzi: I’ll be looking forward to see what you come up with. By the way, in researching my own surname’s roots, I have discovered that there are nearly as many Finzi in Brazil as in Italy! I’m in touch with many of them via Facebook—perhaps I’ll ask them for some fusion Italian-Brazilian family recipes!
 
Are there any other countries you like to visit and cuisines you enjoy cooking? A fusion, perhaps?
 
Mary Ann:  I just love Ireland and their food is fantastic. I also enjoy cooking Chinese food.

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Click the photo above to see our own Shepherd's Pie Recipe
PictureMary Ann and her Mom cook together in this classic episode. Click to see the video.
Finzi: This past Saint Patrick’s Day, I made my annual shepherd’s pie and my wife Lisa made her Irish Soda bread. Although my wife Lisa makes fantastic Chinese food, she hasn’t picked up her wok in a while. (Hint, hint.) There is such a wealth of ethic food in the world and so many influences in the regional foods of Italy!
 
You’ve cooked with many famous chefs over the years, but we also appreciate when you cook along with home cooks here and in Italy (I still remember the episode with your Mom). Have you thought of doing a series of shows where you feature these home cooks’ recipes?

Mary Ann:  We have featured many home cooks and you will see them on our new season coming this spring. I learn a lot from them.

Finzi: My mother was a pretty good Italian cook and my Dad worked as a grocer and deli man his whole life. Because of this, my favorite heirlooms from them is Mom’s scolapasta, her large pasta pot, her ravioli pin, Dad’s meat slicer and even his retractable crayon marker he used to mark prices on cold cuts. Which kitchen heirlooms do you treasure?
 
Mary Ann:  My nonna Saporito’s  2 ft long, thin rolling pin, her cleaver, chitarra, my mother’s scribbled notebooks on Italian foods, her apron and old cannoli forms made out of bamboo.
 
Finzi: Bamboo cannoli forms? I love the idea. Easy to make if you have a neighbor with overgrown patch of bamboo.
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Click the photo to see Bamboo Cannoli forms on Amazon

Beside heirloom kitchen tools, my Mom left me her techniques of making “Sunday gravy”, gnocchi (click for RECIPE) with a fork and her Italian style Pot Roast (click for RECIPE). Dad taught me how to make giant deli meatballs (click for RECIPE) Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas ham and all about home grown heirloom tomatoes. What are the most important technique your family's cooks passed along to you?

Mary Ann: Use your hands! They are your best tools.
 
Finzi: According to my son, my pizzas and other dishes are so good that he’d like to see me open a pizzeria or restaurant, but I simply enjoy cooking for my family and friends. With both of your grandmothers cooking for professional reasons, did you ever consider “going pro” and perhaps opening your own restaurant? If “no”, why not? Personally, I would really enjoy dining in your Trattoria Ciao Italia!
 
Mary Ann: No, because I think of my show, Ciao Italia! as my restaurant. Opening a restaurant means a commitment to be there and I cannot do both at the same time.
 
Finzi: Last summer, we vacationed in Cape Ann, Massachusetts and seemed to discover Italian influences just about everywhere. When we visited the North End of Boston we considered it to be a better Little Italy than Manhattan’s Little Italy, the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue or Philly’s Italian Market district.  Which “Little Italys” have you visited and what are the best features of each?
 
Mary Ann:  I've been to most: Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, New Orleans.  Philadelphia has retained more authenticity; the rest are fading examples.
Click HERE to read the rest of our interview...
Copyright, 2020 - Jerry Finzi/GrandVoyageItaly.com - All Rights Reserved
Not to be reproduced in any form without expressed, written permission.

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Solimene Ceramics from the Amalfi Coast

8/11/2019

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When we spent some time on the Amalfi Coast, one of our goals was to visit "the" ceramics town--Vietri sul Mare, just west of Salerno. One of its must-see places to visit was the amazing Ceramica Artistica Solimene, one of the most iconic artisan shops for Vietri ceramics. Rather than the geometri, Renaissance designs of other ceramic design shops, Solemene's designs are childlike, with free-handed strokes and creatures and colors of the life along the Amalfi Coast... fish, octopus, pigs, chickens and donkeys.  

The building which houses the "factory" (if you can call it that, since all the ceramics are made by and painted by hand), is itself a work of art, commissioned by Vincenzo Solimene and completed in 1954. Architect Paolo Soleri designed this masterpiece of architecture, a mid-century modern homage to ceramics, with its inverted, cone shaped exterior covered with terracotta discs.

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The interior houses a sales area on the first floor open to the skylights on the roof, with a ramp that spirals upward (no stairs, but there is a small elevator) to different levels where the clay is formed, sculpted and then painted. The spiraling design is similar to modern parking garages.

Chain smoking artisans welcome visitors and will even give short lessons on their techniques (our son--then 11--was shown how to attach a handle to a cup). Visiting the Solimene factory can be considered the highlight of spending some time in Vietri sul Mare's ceramics district--there are scores of ceramic shops within a few blocks.

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Broken ceramics pave your way outside
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Artisans a work
PictureOur own Gallo pattern serving my ratatouille

The family business has been creating ceramics for more than a century and has produced tableware, garden ceramics and pots, sculptural pieces, floor and wall tiles--all worked and painted entirely by hand, using a combination of modern and ancient techniques, such as the potter's wheel. Their tableware is food safe (they utilize lead-free glazes) and can even withstand dishwashers. In our own Pennsylvania villa, we serve our meals on Solimene ceramics. So far, in about 5 years, no chips--just compliments.

--Jerry Finzi

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The chaotic, colorful main sales floor
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Random pieces decorate the outside of the Solimene building
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On Amazon...

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Pesce Mug
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Pesce Olive Oil Bowl
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Cavallo Large Pasta Bowl
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Mucca Pasta Bowl
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Pesce Oval Serving Bowl
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Porco dinner plate
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Uccello cereal bowl
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Classic Italian Cucina

11/14/2018

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The Philosophy of the Italian Cook

9/17/2018

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Scolapasta: The "Dripping Pasta" Tool from my Mother

6/26/2017

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I never was interested in an inheritance from my parents. Not that I couldn't use some extra financial help when we had our son late in my life (I was 53 when he was born). After my Dad passed, my Mom didn't have all that much anyway... besides, I always felt strange about even discussing such things. When my Mom finally passed on some years ago, I actually refused to deposit the meager check my sister sent along after her affairs were supposedly "finalized".

But when my Mom was alive she did "will" me some things in person when she was moving from her tidy suburban home to a senior citizen's apartment complex. I treasure these simple things.

One treasure was her scolapasta. The literal translation of this essential kitchen tool is "dripping pasta", a very descriptive name for her colander. It might even me called scola maccharon' (macaroni drain) in southern dialect. My Mom would grab a mappine (pronounce mop-EEN, meaning dishtowel), pick up the boiling spaghetti pot and then dump the steaming pasta into the scolapasta to drain the water.

I remember when she offered it to me... "Here, you take this home". It was like she was passing the culinary baton to me and my cooking. No fanfare. But with that simple statement, I was honored all the same.

She must have poured several tons of pasta through that beautiful piece of aluminum for decades before I got it. It's a large one, too... holding two pounds of pasta. I've been using it every time we make pasta in the new Casa Finzi for over a decade now. It's amazing to think that this tool must be over 60 years old--at least--and still going strong. Try that with one made of plastic or from cheap Chinese steel. We actually have another colander that we bought in the famous Dehillerin kitchen shop in Paris, but somehow we always reach for Mom's scolapasta first... 

Thanks Mom.

--Jerry Finzi

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