The slapping sound made by pasta dough being rolled was the soundtrack of the Sunday mornings of my childhood (in Italy). When I arrived in the kitchen to have breakfast, I would find the pastry board (spianatoia) on the dining table and my mother working on it with her rolling pin (mattarello) to flatten...

In Praise of Blenders “Long live human-powered kitchen tools!” Thus I ended my most recent post, where I talked about two such tools: the food mill and the potato ricer. Lest I pass for a technophobic person, let me here sing the praise of an electrical kitchen tool.     Before I add something to...

 Italian cooking with the passaverdura and schiacciapatate The aroma of roasting tomatoes filling my kitchen is one of my favorite smells. I first learned to oven-roast cherry tomatoes. With them, I prepare a personal interpretation of the famous Caprese salad or special crostini recipe, to name just two dishes. I then moved on to larger tomatoes that...

  Sale grosso is what my mother added to the water when cooking pasta and sale fino is what she used to season food. That is the world in which I grew up and reaching for these two kinds of salt is what comes natural to me. In recent years, however, I have slightly expanded...

Grated cheese is an important ingredient in my kitchen: first of all, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, then Montasio, Gouda, and other cheeses.   I use only authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano and whatever cheese I choose for a specific dish, I grate it immediately before use. To support my position, I am calling Gordon Edgar, cheesemonger at Rainbow Grocery in...

Among the traditional italian kitchenware my mother had, there was one item that particularly fascinated me: the mezzaluna (literally: half moon). She used it very rarely and I was not allowed to touch it — two facts that contributed to make it even more special to my eyes. And it is a special tool, efficient...