Pasta e Fagioli (pasta with beans) is a delicious, hearty soup well known in both Italy and North America. In the United States, it’s sometimes referred to as “pasta fazool,” carrying the southern Italian pronunciation of the first ... Continue reading
Tag: Italy
Breakfast or Colazione?
Breakfast in Italy is called ‘prima colazione’, or simply ‘colazione’. It’s the first meal of the day and many say it’s the most important one too. However, North Americans and Italians have fundamental differences ... Continue reading
Eating Vegetarian
Italian cuisine, like many cuisines of the Mediterranean, is considered “vegetarian-friendly” because it features plenty of meatless dishes. Since not everybody has the same definition of “vegetarian,” let’s first clarify ... Continue reading
Potato Gnocchi
Potato gnocchi are a common alternative to pasta in first courses. They are made by mixing riced potatoes with flour and egg. There are, however, several other types of gnocchi, such as ‘gnocchi alla romana’ (typical of central Italy) which ... Continue reading
Is Water Just Water?
Mineral water is extremely popular in Italy. The major brands of mineral waters are from specific springs, which are sometimes also renowned spas, and therefore have a precise location of origin. But is mineral water just water? No, it also contains a ... Continue reading
“Italian” Dressing?
Italian dressing. Obviously you can’t find such a thing in Italy, exactly like you’ll hardly find anything called “Chinese food” in China. But it isn’t just the name that doesn’t exist, Italians don’t even know ... Continue reading
The Mystery of Bread
The smell of bread… Freshly baked bread has such an evocative fragrance. Italian bread, just like most artisan kinds of bread, is usually made of just yeast, flour, water, and salt. The Chemistry Yeast. The kind most commonly used is ... Continue reading
Gelato vs. Ice Cream
What is gelato? Gelato is not Italian for ice cream. In Italy, the word ‘gelato’ (plural: ‘gelati ‘, literally meaning ‘frozen’ and with nothing to do with gelatin) refers to a product that resembles ice cream, but ... Continue reading
Formaggio – An Introduction to the Many Varieties of Italian Cheese
Even though Italy is a pretty small place, its regions are quite different from one another. And cheese (formaggio , in Italian) is one of the products that changes the most across the territories. Since the area of origin is a big part of what ... Continue reading
