Italian food Archives - Quatro Fromaggio and Other Disgraces on the Menu

[Thoughts on the Table – 96] What makes a dish Italian? With Eva from Electric Blue Food

In this new episode of Thoughts on the Table, Eva from Electric Blue Food is back to help me break down a massive topic: What makes a dish Italian?

To non-Italians, Italian food may be what appears on the menus of Italian restaurants or anything tagged as Italian that goes viral on social networks, like Carbonara, Amatriciana, Neapolitan Pizza, egg-yolk ravioli. To the Italians, Italian food is what they naturally cook at home, and maybe the only thing they are able and equipped to cook. These are potentially two very different things!

With many cuisines, we see a set of iconic dishes that become famous around the world through some kind of selection (like Pad Thai, Chicken Vindaloo, Salmon Teriyaki). Despite helping to make those cuisines accessible to many, these dishes are really just a small sample of the foods originating in their native regions. Eva and I argue that the (often ill-formed) quest for “the original” or “the authentic” version of these recipes may contribute to weeding out all variations of those dishes except for their dominant ones. This is probably why abroad there tends to be only one kind of Tiramisu (the coffee/cocoa one), whereas in Italy important spin-offs happily co-exist.

Join us in this episode to hear more about the true cuisine of Italy by going over some unexpected Italian dishes, such as Mostarda, Bagna Cauda, Prosciutto and Cantaloupe, as well as evidence of many dishes sometimes labeled as “non-authentic” that are eaten daily all around the Peninsula, like Spaghetti alla Bolognese, Gnocchi al Pesto, Lasagne al Pesto, Carbonara with Pancetta, and Strawberry Tiramisu.

Finally, Eva describes her experience with the Polish cuisine of her grandmother and her encounter with Blueberry Pierogi, a sweet variation of the iconic potato dumpling that is equally unexpected outside of Poland.

You can learn more about Eva by visiting her website Electric Blue Food. You can also follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Please also check out Eva’s interview in episode 87!

[Thoughts on the Table – 95] Introducing Chicca Maione from Chicca’s Cooking Club

My guest today is Chicca Maione, an extraordinary cooking instructor for both in-person and online classes on Italian cuisine. Based in Castagneto Carducci – Bolgheri, Tuscany, Chicca and her partners have created a community of people from all over the world who love Italian food and participate in workshops, share their experiences, and create connections.

During the episode, Chicca invites everyone to attend their free cooking workshop on October 2nd. Please follow this link for all of the details and to register.

Besides talking about her classes, Chicca shares her fascinating story, from her Neapolitan origins to the amazing experience of cycling all over the world for over ten years, before settling in Tuscany and seeing her love for food and cooking materialize into a new career.

In the episode, Chicca Maione also goes over her philosophy on food, how to bring joy into the kitchen, and the benefits of cooking every day. Finally, she talks about the food she cooks the most (Italian-Mediterranean), which was studied for its links to health and wellbeing (as I had touched on in a previous episode with Diana Zahuranec).

To know more about Chicca and her Cooking Club, please check out her website: cookingintuscany.cc as well as her page on Facebook, TripAdvisor, YouTube, and Instagram.

[Thoughts on the Table – 91] Introducing Podcaster Wendy Holloway from Flavor of Italy

Cannolo Award winner Wendy Holloway shares her fascinating story on what brought her to Italy and how she started Flavor of Italy, a company offering bespoke travel and culinary experiences for over 25 years.

During the episode, we discuss becoming absorbed into a new culture by learning people’s language and their values. We also talk about the immense richness of the Italian food traditions and the importance of capturing them faithfully to make them more accessible to other cultures.

Finally, Wendy describes her current culinary projects and how podcasting has become such a central channel for her, with a new episode out every week and no intention to slow down!

You can follow Flavor of Italy also on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

[Thoughts on the Table – 84] Introducing Christine from Italian Dish Podcast

My guest today is Christine from Italian Dish Podcast, a fantastic audio project featuring one recipe per episode from Christine’s point of view of an American in Florence. With that as a premise, Christine’s charming storytelling, fueled by her love for food and her fascination with cooking, brings each dish to life via an uncut chronicle of the cooking process, with digressions on the ingredients and the traditions that surround the dish.

During our chat, Christine and I compare our experiences fitting in into the culture of our adoptive homes and how we found it important to try to master the language, but also the local cuisine. Christine also reflects on how talking-while-cooking helps her be her real self and connect with her audience. Finally, we digress on the difficult task of cooking Italian food for native Italians, with the high bars set by their nonnas and with the brutal honesty they are known for!

You can listen to Christine’s Italian Dish Podcast on italiandishpodcast.com as well as stream or download it on any podcast client, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher. You can connect with Christine on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

[Thoughts on the Table – 80] Dining Out and Traveling During a Pandemic

This is a timely yet overdue episode on the reality of living in a pandemic. Join me and my returning guest Raffaella De Amicis as we look at how our lives have changed over the last six months, and how we may be able to adjust our strategy during partial lockdown in order to support small businesses and reduce the risk of exposure, while always respecting local regulations.

Original music by Dan Hughes.

Raffaella is a travel, food, and lifestyle photographer and a travel planner. You can follow her @byforkorbylens on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Also, check out Raffaella’s great photography primer in episode 33!

As a side note, I’d like to thank FeedSpot for listing Thoughts on the Table in the Top Ten Italian Food Podcasts. It’s an honor to be in such good company!

[Thoughts on the Table – 77] Celebrating Memorie di Angelina’s Ten-Year Anniversary, with Frank Fariello

Acclaimed food blogger Frank Fariello from Memorie di Angelina is back on the show on the occasion of his first ten years of blogging!

In the episode, Frank talks about his blogging process—from identifying a new dish to sourcing the ingredients, executing the preparation, taking the photos, writing the recipe, editing it for publication. In particular, Frank discusses his approach on measurements or lack thereof.

In the second part of our chat, Frank gives his take on how blogging has changed in the last ten years and makes a prediction on how it may evolve in the future.

You can follow Frank also on: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.