Seven Years of Blogging, Four of Podcasting

Hi! Here I am celebrating seven years of blogging and looking back at the past 12 months, as I do at this time every summer. Thank you for reading this post. Your choice to dedicate a bit of your precious time to me and to my work is humbling and makes me proud to be a blogger!

So, what happened in the last 12 months? The podcast Thoughts on the Table continued to be my main focus and has become a great passion. I enjoy every aspect of it, from the planning stages, through the ever-exciting moment of the recording, to the post-production and its magic. But among everything, I especially love the fact that the podcast allows me to work together with amazing people around the world and meet them face-to-face on Skype. In the last 12 months, I published 12 episodes with new and returning guests, including food writer Mark Preston, food bloggers Linda (Signorina Spaghetti) and Ale Gambini (A Queen in the Kitchen), restaurateur Simon Pagotto, as well as travel blogger and storyteller Nick Zingale, who has quickly become a recurring guest. This year, the podcast also hit an important milestone, its 50th episode! For the occasion, I was joined by my buddy Jason (with whom I started this series four years ago) for a special episode dedicated to balance in food.

Celebrating seven years of blogging with my new friends at The Happy Herd Sanctuary in Aldergrove, British Columbia
Celebrating 7 years of blogging with my new friends at The Happy Herd Sanctuary in Aldergrove, BC.

The series has since hit 59 episodes, and still counting! I have already started working on new outlines with future guests and I look forward to organizing many more. If you’d like to be on the show, I’d love to work with you on themes that you find meaningful — please contact me for more information. BTW, the podcast is now available on Google Podcasts and on Stitcher, besides of course iTunes, and direct playback on the Internet Archive and on this blog.

In other news, this past year I have posted three new recipes: Buckwheat Gnocchi with Mascarpone Tomato Sauce, Mascarpone Cream as the perfect accompaniment to Panettone, and Piadina Romagnola, the iconic flatbread of the Adriatic region of Italy.

Mascarpone Tomato Gnocchi Mascarpone Cream on Panettone Piadina Romagnola

I also wrote an autobiographical article on my first impressions as I arrived in Vancouver, Canada, 16 years ago, to discover a whole new culinary world: An Italian in Canada – From the Food of Italy to “Italian Food.”

“ I had discovered a parallel universe! A pretty unappetizing one […] the portions were too big, the pasta was either drowning in sauce or looked pale and overcooked, and the sauces looked overly rich.”

Finally, I’d like to thank all of you who follow me on the various social networks. Thanks for joining the discussion and for helping me preserve authentic, continental Italian food and its main qualities of simplicity, balance, and flavor. If you don’t already, please follow me on Instagram (where I also share my recommendations for good food in Vancouver or in Italy, and occasional pictures of my gorgeous cat); Facebook (where I sometimes take a provocative stance against the horrible Italian food aberrations I come across); Twitter (where I occasionally also share random thoughts of some wit); and of course on the blog itself, Disgraces on the Menu.

As always, your feedback is really important to me — if you have any corrections, suggestions, or ideas for future collaborations, please contact me! Thanks again.

[Thoughts on the Table – 53] The Boom of Italian Food in the US, with Food Writer Mark Preston

Mark Preston is a food writer, a blogger, and the author of California Mission Cookery, a cookbook on the early cuisine of the Californio population, which he discovered while working as an archivist for the UCLA library.

Last October, he got in touch to tell me about his research on ragù, the Italian meat sauce; he wanted the opinion of an Italian on what he had found. This is how we started collaborating!

In this episode, Mark talks about his encounters with Italian cuisine while growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, and how this experience prompted him to travel to Europe, as he says, “just to go to Italy to eat!”

He also analyzes how the popularization of the Mediterranean diet may have caused a shift in preference from Thai to Italian in Los Angeles, where he now lives.

Finally, he reveals his thoughts on what, in the fifties, caused the Americans to go crazy for pizza! A trend which of course goes strong today.

To end the episode, Mark shares one of his best Italian-inspired recipes: Crayfish Simmered Shrimp and Pesto Penne with Cherub Tomatoes, and invites everyone to try making it!

You can follow Mark on his blog, as well as on Instagram.

   

[Thoughts on the Table – 47] Introducing Food Writer and Cooking Instructor Giulia Scarpaleggia from Jul’s Kitchen

My guest today is Giulia Scarpaleggia from Jul’s Kitchen, an incredible project which includes a blog, food writing, food photography & videos, and a cooking school! Join me to hear from Giulia’s own voice how it all began and how it has evolved. During the episode we also talk about the recipe development that led Giulia to writing her fifth cookbook (currently being finalized) which will feature 100 recipes inspired by tradition, and which will not include Chicken Parmigiana – a dish you will not find it in Italy!

You can follow Giulia also on Twitter @julskitchen, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube.

The music in the episode is by: www.purple-planet.com.

   

[Thoughts on the Table – 42] A Chat with Domenica Marchetti, Cookbook Author and Food Writer

Domenica Marchetti is an American food writer and cookbook author of Italian heritage. In 2012, I gave her a much deserved Cannolo Award, and I’ve been following her since. I knew she was busy working on her next book, so I was very happy she found time and kindly accepted to be in the podcast. After our extensive chat, I must say that Domenica is exactly how I imagined her – she is approachable and funny, genuinely passionate about Italian food, and very knowledgeable on the topic.

In this episode-interview, Domenica talks about her Italian origins and her relationship with food, as well as how her former career as a journalist led her to becoming a cookbook author. Domenica also brings her authoritative contribution on various themes with plenty of examples and colorful stories. For instance, we discuss the existence of the Italian palate, the importance of technique as well as ingredients in Italian cuisine, and the role of tradition as the necessary base for innovation.

During the podcast, Domenica mentions the following resources:

You can follow Domenica Marchetti on her website and blog, as well as on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest.

You can also join Domenica in her upcoming Abruzzo culinary tour! It will take place September 18-25, 2016. Check out the tour’s page for more info.

   

[Thoughts on the Table – 25] Introducing food writer Simona Carini from Briciole

In this episode, food writer Simona Carini (Briciole) describes how she made use of both her artistic and her scientific side to learn how to make bread, pasta, and cheese. As she tells her inspiring story, Simona provides some of the details behind her artisan productions and shares her tips for a satisfying learning experience.

You can follow Simona on Facebook, Google+, YouTube, and Twitter.