How to Make Italian Bucatini all’Amatriciana
As part of our Kitchen Series, we are giving you a look at what we discovered on one of our recent farm visits. We got a peek into the farmhouse kitchen and were asked to stick around for dinner where Lazio farmers were making the classic – Bucatini all’Amatriciana (bucatini pasta with pork cheek sauce). […]
Italian Walnuts Come From USA
did you know? Italy once held the position of world leaders in walnut production up until a few decades ago. Now… Italy’s walnut production is 20% domestic & the rest? The rest of their walnut supply is imported from the USA! Yikes, that’s a big loss. SUPPORT ITALIAN LOCAL WALNUTS! What to look for when […]
Italian Christmas Food | 2 Fun Facts
Christmas Eve Thought of the Day. Christmas Eve usually means Italians are preparing the feast of the 7 fishes fish. That’s a lot of fish on your table so while you’re enjoying your seafood feast today, think about how far your lobster has had to travel to be with you… Did you know that? “Italy […]
Italian Christmas Lunch: (castrated) Capon
You may be prepping your Christmas turkey for this season’s holiday feast, but did you know that some of your European counterparts savor the tender bird known as cappone (English: capon). The wholesome goodness of this young tender fowl dates as far back as ancient Greek times & finds its feathery bearing on ancient Roman […]
What does PAT certified mean?
Here is a brief explanation of what PAT certified labels mean in Italy. It’s probably a good idea to read what a DOP certified and IGP certified product is so you can compare! “Prodotti Alimentari Tradizionali”, abbreviated to PAT, is the Italian version of the pan European PGI or IGP scheme of quality certification for […]
Antinori Chianti Winery in Tuscany
Wine Dynasty of the World – you must have heard of them! Wow! We just got a glimpse into the “future of wine” in Tuscany. Today we met with the producers of the Antinori Winery at Bargino in Chianti & all our preconceptions of old school wine-making traditions have just flown out the window. The […]
Make Buffalo Mozzarella on a Dairy Farm
If you haven’t tasted mozzarella di bufala or burrata yet, then you need to book your trip to Italy now. This decadent mozzarella is made from buffalo milk and is a common tabletop staple in southern Italy. This mozzarella is so famous, that there are small specialty shops dedicated to it all around the country. […]
What Makes Malvasia Vin Santo Wine Perfect
The process Malvasia grapes go through to make Vin Santo dessert wine is absolutely gorgeous! These are some photos from Italy Food Root’s trip to a Tuscan vin santinaia where the Malvasia grapes are laid out by hand to appassire (dry out) on bamboo trays to dry for 1 whole year. The grapes are handled […]
Italian New Year Dinner – Lentils & Pork
What do Italians eat for their New Year Dinner? Lentils & Pig Trotter What’s pig trotter? Pig trotter (zampone) is pig foot stuffed with various minced pork pieces – shoulder (spalla), jaw muscles (massetere), pig cheek area (gola), tender pig rind (cotenna) mixed with herbs, wine and cinnamon. What makes pig trotter so special? Very […]
4 Types of Italian Spumante Wine
We love champagne as much as the next guy, but if you’d like to go Italian this New Year, we’ve got a quick cheat sheet explaining Italian spumante wine. But first… a quick lesson. spumante = sparkling wine Therefore no 1 grape is exclusively associated to the making of “spumante“. There are a variety of […]