Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Food”
“Calabria” has a certain cachet in the food world. From exclusive restaurants down to family chains, “Calabrian” menu items are omnipresent. In fact, when I open the menu of an Italian restaurant outside Italy and I don’t see Calabria mentioned, it’s almost more surprising. Whether all these offerings actually originate in Calabria is another question.
Scilla is blessed with the most picturesque of natural settings, between the forested Aspromonte Mountains and the Strait of Messina in Calabria, Southern Italy. The enviable location, characterized by a dramatic promontory reaching into the waters of the strait, stimulates imagination. Ancient peoples invented fanciful stories to explain the dangers of the passageway’s natural phenomena with legends dating back to …
Who doesn’t love Italian food? We savor both the wonderful flavors and the healthy-choice benefits of the Mediterranean diet. For many, it’s associated with memories of good times and the savoring of dishes in a convivial atmosphere amongst family and friends. It’s a win-win. Recently, UNESCO honored the cuisine by recognizing its importance for the world’s cultural heritage. While Italian …
Gelato, sorbetto, ice cream, sherbet… what’s in a name? Who hasn’t enjoyed all of the above at one time or another? Reggio Calabria has a frozen-dessert event with an interesting name – the Scirubetta Festival. The multi-day indulgence is dedicated to gelato artigianale and takes place along the city’s beautiful seafront. This past September, I happened upon the event and …
Calabria has many, many castles and watchtowers. The great number gives a bit of perspective into the value of the land and its need for protection, particularly along the extensive coastline. The largest castle is in Rocca Imperiale, both the furthest east and most northern town in the region.
We eat a lot of Italian food in the United States and feel at home with foreign names of foods and dishes. Pizza and pasta are as common as hotdog or apple pie. We order spaghetti alla carbonara with confidence and scratch our heads at “noodles with bacon and eggs” on English-language tourist menus. But sometimes we get it wrong.
Beautiful to behold and delightful to eat, peperoni cruschi are Basilicata’s “red gold,” the pride of Lucanian cuisine. What’s so special about the peperone crusco? To start with, these crispy peppers are unique and irresistible. They’re a true Southern Italian regional specialty!
How many days in Calabria? People are always amazed when they come upon my tours and realize that the entire program focuses on one lesser-known region. Discerning individuals, however, are rather delighted, not concerned with mass tourism’s raised eyebrow at the idea of a third itinerary in an area used by industry behemoths as a pass-through for their big bus …
Fast food, street food, slow food, show food – it’s difficult to sum up Mi ‘Ndujo in a couple words. The sandwich shop is a Made in Calabria original. With multiple locations, it’s also referred to as a catena, but for me, a chain denotes a level of industrialization that doesn’t have anything to do with this unique eatery.
Not so long ago, ‘nduja was largely unknown outside Calabria. This delectable salami was local, in the Italian sense of the word, in a world where the other side of a mountain or the other end of a region would have its own specialties. But distances have become shorter and connections faster, so that this once obscure pork product from …