“[Sanders’] emphasis is on freshness and purity of flavor. . . .The formulas are straightforward and wholesome. And, ohhhh, so good tasting.”
Marilynn Marter, The Philadelphia Inquirer
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“Author Sharon Sanders brings home the essence of Italian living.”
Pasta, The Journal of Italian Culture and Cuisine
Bravo, Gourmet
Sure, times are tough and the weather’s downright cruel. But, when I wrapped myself in the January 2009 issue of Gourmet magazine, celebrating “all things Italian-American,” I felt as warm as the summer sand on a Sicilian beach.
From the greats of Ital-Creole cooking (leaving me seriously craving broiled oysters with pancetta at Irene’s Cuisine) to Gourmet editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez’s Calabrian heritage recipes (such as Marinated Eggplant, Polpette , and Sweet Ricotta Pastries), to an ambitious recipe for making fresh mozzarella at home, Italian American cooking is receiving the respect it deserves.
As editor in chief Ruth Reichl observes, “Italian-American food is not pseudo-Italian, and it is neither the food of the north nor the food of the south. It is the food of the Italian diaspora, an authentic cuisine that has been joyfully embraced throughout the United States.”
To learn more about the Italian-American issue, visit your newsstand, library or www.gourmet.com
The Minestrone Cure
The remedy for holiday indulgence is simmering in the soup pot.
After half a month (heck, who are we kidding? — it’s more like six weeks) of feasting like a Medici pretending that calories don’t count and that rules don’t apply, we all need a cure.
For me, the solace comes in a steaming bowlful of minestrone, a veritable thicket of winter vegetables. Just preparing minestrone makes me feel healthier, cleaner, lighter. To the uninitiated, minestrone may be just Italian vegetable soup but it is so much more than that.
Top Ten Movies to Inspire Italian Wannabes
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck explore the Eternal City on a Vespa in "Roman Holiday."
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck explore the Eternal City on a Vespa in “Roman Holiday.”
Whether La Befana, the Christmas witch, or good old Santa Claus is doing the shopping, wannabe Italians will swoon for any of these DVDs in their stocking. Our Top Ten “Discover Your Inner Italian” movies, in chronological order, are . . .
Roman Holiday (1953) Beguiling postwar Rome is the real star of William Wyler’s bittersweet masterpiece, although ingénue Audrey, in top gamine form, gives the Eternal City a run for star billing. She did receive the Oscar, after all.
Three Coins in a Fountain (1954) Three single American women in Rome: Each throws a coin into the Trevi to wish for the man of her dreams. As Sinatra crooned, “Which one will the fountain bless?”
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Say Ciao to Your Inner Italian
Dolce fa niente…it’s sweet to do nothing.
Envying the simple, yet rich, life in Italy is nothing new. Shakespeare, who understood that location is the thing, set All’s Well That Ends Well, Much Ado About Nothing and many of his plays in this luminous land.
Five hundred years later, the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun” defined the dream for millions in the new millennium. The adaptation of American Frances Mayes’ best-selling memoir begat caravans of tour buses chugging up and down Tuscan hills. The pilgrims fantasize about life in Cortona, Montepulciano, or San Gimignano populated with flirtatious dark-eyed shopkeepers, sunflowers by the armload, and languid afternoons at a caffè. There are no sick kids, overdue bills, cold rainy days, PMS, or arguments with your partner.
The allure of this ideal is quite simply irresistible-even to natives. My Roman friend Anna, who comes from an aristocratic family in Emilia-Romagna (and, from my perspective, has a pretty enviable life) was even given a translated copy of Under the Tuscan Sun by her mother!
The bad news about this fantasia all’italiana is that few Americans, Italians, or anybody else for that matter, can afford an ancient stone house like Bramasole. Fixer-uppers start at three-quarters of a million dollars. The good news is that imaginary Italian real estate is free. [Read more…]