Son of a ButcherBy Olivia Gordon
An elderly yet energetic woman backs through the curtain of wooden beads separating Machelleria Ubaldi, a butcher shop, from the sunny afternoon bustle of Via Rafaello near the center of town, still immersed in a loud and lively conversation with someone outside. Ending that exchange with a sharp laugh, she issues a quick buona sera while moving into an equally dynamic conversation with the young man behind the counter. Read More
Where the Wild Cherries GrowBy Kerri DeVries
It’s a hot summer day on a mountainside near this central Italian town as Igor Lupatelli walks through his field of young trees and tries to explain the mission that has become his livelihood: Preserving the tradition of making Visciole – a sweet wine using the tiny, bitter wild cherries called viscioles that are indigenous to Italy’s le Marche region. Read More
Keeping Fresh Pasta in Italian CuisineBy Genevieve Bryan
Andrea Maioca begins his work day by laying out flour in a concave circle on a wooden board. With the addition of only water and eggs he is prepared to carry on an Italian culinary tradition: making pasta. “Pasta making is the first thing every Italian should know because it is in the Italian soul,” he said with conviction. Read More
Saluting Salumi: Italy’s Gastronomic TreasureBy Kenneth Foo
Atop a flat plain nestled deep in the rolling hills near this old Roman town, pigs are going wild. It is feeding time. Boars and sows of all colors, shapes and sizes scramble from their wallows, knock into fences and collide into a tangle of loin, belly and butt in the middle of the farm yard. Read More
Gourmet Coffee Made to OrderBy Cassie Thunhorst
In the rolling farmlands of the Marche region, amid cattle grazing on steep hills and farmers working their crops, sits the factory of the Pascucci company. Pascucci is a worldwide supplier of organically grown and locally roasted coffee beans. Its only facility is here, in the heart of traditional, rural Italy. Read More
The Ups and Downs of Cheese MakingBy Yue Wu
Imagine you are visiting Italy, and there are millions of boutiques with beautiful clothes. Somehow you have to quit eating this great Italian food to fit in them, especially goodies like Capocollo, a ham rolled around some kind of cheese. Cheese is such a big deal in the Italian people’s life, nothing seems more important than the happiness it brings. Read More
Renaissance CookingBy Kristina Elliott
Slideshow: Chef Nicola Costantini cleans his cooking space before beginning to prep his meal. He started to cook his meal early in the morning. In order to prepare the third course for his dinner he places cooked peaches into dishes. The peaches were cooked in a pan with a wine sauce. Read More
