The humble tomato forms the basis of nearly all Italian cuisine. It is used to make tomato sauce for pasta and lasagne, is a key ingredient in most pizzas, and is a popular addition to many Mediterranean salads. If you thought that the Italian word for tomato would sound like the English or the Spanish …
Eating in Italy is so much more than just ingesting food. It is about friends, family, generosity, being with the people you love, sharing happiness and creating important moments together. It is a celebration of the ordinary around a table of good food. One of my fondest memories of eating in Italy is from a …
Italian meals are made up of several courses, the first being the antipasto, or appetizer / starter in English. Antipasti is a mix of light food brought before the primo (first main course) whose main purpose is to stimulate your appetite. It is composed of two words: anti and pasto with the latter meaning meal. …
We all know that Italian dishes such as pasta and pizza are pretty special, but did you know that Italians are wonderful chocolatiers as well? In fact, Turin – the city where Mat was born – is known as the Chocolate Capital of Europe, and for good reason! Cioccolato (plural: cioccolati) was first brought to …
Water is one of the most precious resources we have. 60% of our body is made up of it, and we use it for many things including washing, drinking and cooking. If there is one Italian city that has a close association with water, it is Venice or Venezia as it is known in Italian. …
In English, there are many different words for the humble eggplant: aubergine (from the French), brinjal (South African and South Asian), guinea squash (Southern American) and finally melongene, the word used in the Caribbean. This last word sounds most like the Italian word for eggplant, which is melanzana (plural: melanzane). Although the melanzana is often …