What makes people crave puntarelle and long for them when they are away from Rome? Within the species cichorium intybus var. foliosum is a varietal formally called cicoria di catalogna frastagliata di Gaeta, and commonly known as puntarelle, one of the crowning delights of Roman gastronomy. Find out more about its history and how to prepare this unique vegetable.

A special edition post to celebrate Spaghetti Day, January 4. A ridiculous excuse for a holiday, but as they say, I’ll take it! The featured recipe is Spaghetti timpano, a savory free-standing crustless form of pasta with an inner layer of fish and savory flavors. The cookbook dates back to 1837.

In my travels throughout Italy while I was interviewing 90-somethings for my first book Chewing the Fat, a recurrent theme was how nothing was wasted. Cores, pods, peels, - everything was repurposed.

As part of the interview, I asked each participant if they would give me a recipe which for them characterized typical foods they grew up with during the fascist era, foods that were a normal part of their culinary experience. Aida, a mezzadra, or sharecropper, from Gubbio in Umbria gave me her recipe for stuffed chicken neck. It was a dish that combined old bread and the less desirable bits of a chicken to create something that was considered quite a treat.