My love for Italian food began, as Ed's grandmother had taught him what her mother had taught her and her mother before that .... you know how it goes in regional Italy. One of my favorite - and one of the simplest - dishes remains Nonna's pesto, which we often make with walnuts, but in the hills above Genoa where she lived, pinoli were used.
I grew up eating meatballs – but this was not due to having a grandmother hailing from Italy. On the contrary, it was the result of having a Danish/Swedish grandmother on my mother’s side of the family. My Grandmother Stave had a knack for making anything taste good.
Today, the whole world knows of the Caesar Salad – a salad generally consisting of romaine lettuce and croutons, dressed with Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper.
This recent collection of holiday recipes from the Switzerland Tourism Media Team (myswitzerland.com) was just too irresistible not to post. You’ll find very personal holiday recipes from Team Switzerland’s staff: Ursula, Paolo, Matthias, Jade, Jeamine and Divine. Thanks gang for sharing it with Traveling Boy.
Today, the whole world seemingly knows of biscotti. Pronounced in Italian as bee-SKOH-tee, it literally means “twice baked” – with the result of an absence of any moisture in the biscuit. Known for its resistance from spoiling, it was a staple for Roman Legionnaires.
Bangers and Mash is a traditional English dish made of mashed potatoes and sausages, generally prepared with flavored pork sausage. The dish is sometimes served with rich onion gravy and fried onions.
My friend and I really love hot food. It was 1987 and we were on assignment in Southern India with a group called The Bible League. We had visited remote villages in the interior and had returned to Andhra Pradesh and needed a rest. This particular region of India has the reputation of having the spiciest and most deadly cuisine on the continent.
Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce is a quintessential Italian dish known around the world, despite taking many twists and turns on its voyage. Last month I had the unique opportunity to be an observer at a cooking demonstration conducted by Maestro Ivan Bombieri, Chef at Risotrante La Taverna, just outside of Udine, in Friuli Venezia Giulia region. Mr. Bombieri is a soft-spoken, charismatic man of no pretension who like his cooking to speak for itself.
Like many North Americans I grew-up eating lasagna. I recalled how my grandmother, who hailed from Genoa, would explain that lasagna was the name of a pasta, not a dish. Her style of preparing lasagna was to boil the pasta, then layer it with a Tucco sauce (dialect) and Parmigiano–Reggiano cheese, with no baking in the oven.
Pancake Day always takes place on Shrove Tuesday in Great Britain, the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of the Christian season of Lent in the run up to Easter. Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday was a day for using up food that could not be eaten during Lent, which was a time for fasting. Therefore people made pancakes …