Why Emilia Romagna is the Perfect Foodie Destination
Filed Under Destination Features, Food History, Travel Videos Italy
This week we're focusing on one of our favorite regions of Italy - Emilia Romagna. Home to more P.D.O. (D.O.P.) and P.G.I. (I.P.G.) products than any other in Europe (in all of Europe!), it is a food lover's dream. First, what is a P.D.O.? It is in English a product of "Protected Designation of Origin", or "Denominazione di Origine Protetta" (D.O.P.) in Italian. And a "P.G.I." is a product of… Read
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Sicilian Recipe for Pasta alla Norma
Filed Under Food History, Recipes Italy
One of Sicily's signature dishes is "Pasta alla Norma," a pasta dish with tomato sauce, eggplant, and salted ricotta. There is more than one account of how it got it's name, but most tie it to the opera "Norma" composed by the Italian Vincenzo Bellini (Bellini, like the pasta dish, hailed from Catania). See our culinary tours in Sicily. You can make the dish with almost any type of pasta.… Read
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Mozzarella Cheese
Filed Under Cooking Videos, Destination Features, Food History Italy
One of my favorite gastronomic products from the Amalfi Coast - and one of the area's most quintessential products - is mozzarella cheese. This cheese can be found all over Italy, of course, but it originates in the south. Check out our southern Italy cooking vacations. Mozzarella di Bufala (made from the milk of the Italian water buffalo) is the most known type and has a designation under the EU's… Read
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Tiramisu
Filed Under Food History, Recipes Italy
Tiramisu is the king of Italian sweets, and the popular dessert is one you'll often encounter on our cooking vacations in Italy. And it is actually quite easy to make! While there are variations on the recipe for tiramisu, and its history, it's thought to have originated in Treviso, a small town 30 minutes from Venice in Italy's Veneto region. More specifically, a restaurant in Treviso stakes claim to the… Read
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Orecchiette al Ragù di Braciole
Filed Under Destination Features, Food History, Recipes Italy
Puglia is known for its agriculture and rural landscape; as such produce is in abundance in the heel of Italy. But their gastronomy is known for so much more too, including a pasta known as 'orecchiette,' which translates to "little ears." Take a stroll through the vibrant city of Bari during our best-selling culinary vacation in Puglia, and chances are you'll even see nonnas (grandmothers) making the ear-shaped pasta by… Read
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Italian-Style Stuffed Peppers Recipe from Abruzzo, Italy
Filed Under Food History, Recipes Italy
The turkey isn't the only thing that can be stuffed come Thanksgiving. If you're looking for something fun and different to serve on the holiday, here's one idea: a hearty dish of stuffed peppers like we make on our culinary vacations in Abruzzo. Just as stuffing recipes vary in the U.S., so too do stuffed pepper recipes in Italy. Stuffed pepper recipes are often passed down from generation to generation,… Read
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