If you say orecchiette (ear-shaped pasta pieces) you say Puglia, yet there are a few doubts about their origin and their history is not at all clear. Are they French? Or Hebraic? Or from Puglia, as always guessed? Which is the true origin of this dish? Angevin legacy/Provençal ear shaped pasta pieces The ones with turnip tops are certainly the most famous, but they are exquisite with a tomato sauce as well, or with stew or ricotta cheese, The sauce ...

Parmigiano reggiano: the king of cheeses If you are on tour in Reggio Emilia, Modena, Parma and Bologna regions, you’ll certainly come upon one of the several cheese factories producing Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP, which are spread along the main roads and where you can buy this delicacy. Parmigiano Reggiano is one of the oldest cheese and it’s still produced as it was 8 centuries ago, with the same ingredients and the same technique. It’s a totally natural cheese that can withstand ...

Mozzarella di bufala Campana DOP (PDO Buffalo Mozzarella) is an excellence among the Italian food products and is mainly manufactured in Caserta and Salerno areas. Today, it’s the most important product with Protected Designation of Origin in Southern Italy. Its name is derived from the fact that the cheese strings obtained from the curds are “mozzati” (cut off) by the cheesemakers. The Twelfth century documents prove that the monks living in San Lorenzo in Capua Monastery (near Aversa, Caserta) used ...

It’s often considered a cheese, but actually is a dairy product obtained from reheated whey left from the production of cheese. Its name comes from Latin, re-coctus means cooked again. Ricotta has a very old history as the first evidence of its production dates back to Sumer civilisation and Ancient Egypt. It is mentioned in the ninth book of Odyssey, when Ulysses (Odysseus) meets Polyphemus while preparing it. This means that it was spread among the Greeks and the Romans. ...

The herbs are a staple element in the Italian cookery. Thanks to the Roman, who used the herbs coming from Far East to season dishes, they soon were spread throughout the Roman Empire. In the year 812, Charlmagne, the first emperor of the Sacred Roman Empire, issued a decree in which he ordered to grow 74 herbs contained in a list and believed to be healthy. During the Middle Age, herbs have been grown by monks, who started collecting plants ...

Home made pasta has an old tradition: tagliatelle, tagliolini, lasagna, ravioli, tortellini and maltagliati were made from the egg pasta dough many years ago already. Home made pasta was for our grandmothers the only pasta available for their families; it was prepared on Sunday and consumed during the week. Nowadays, women who work do not have much time to dedicate to cooking and can seldom prepare a dish of home made tagliatelle. Yet, altogether, it doesn’t take much time to ...

The spelt soup is as delicious as ancient; this cereal was a staple ingredient of the Roman Legions diet, thanks to its very important and valuable organoleptic properties. Spelt was so important that it was always served during wedding ceremonies; actually wedding was called confarreatio by Ancient Romans (Spelt = Farro in Italian) a term indicating the focaccia bread prepared with spelt that the newlyweds should share.

The first example of pounded sauce at Romans’ time, was the MORETUM, described by Virgilio. The first recipe of PESTO ALLA GENOVESE (Genoese-style pesto) dates from mid of XIX century, made by Giovanni Battista Ratto, and it’s described in his “La Cuciniera Genovesa” book. From the excerpts we know that: <we need a clove of garlic, basil or, in case this is not available, marjoram and persil, Dutch cheese and Parmesan, both grated and mixed together, pine nuts, all ingredients ...

Not everybody appreciate the strong taste of gorgonzola, yet it’s a very versatile cheese, that can transform everyday dishes in rich ones. It’s produced with cow’s whole milk and it’s a blue cheese typical of northern Italy, being mostly manufactured in the province of Milano, Pavia, Como and Novara. Its origin dates back to the ninth century, when a king like Charlemagne used to eat it. Alessandro Manzoni cited the “stracchino” in his novel “I Promessi Sposi” (The Betrothed) when ...

The origin of the gnocchi lays in the old cookbooks. If related to durum wheat pasta, the gnocchi are very easy to prepare at home, with just a few ingredients available in all kitchens. The simplicity of the recipe has actually encouraged the creation of different variants of this dish, so gnocchi are not to be considered a mere pasta shape, but a separate family of dishes. Nowadays the are three kinds of gnocchi (potatoes, semolina and “canederli” or Knödel) ...