Food Blog

When it comes to excellence in gourmet cuisine, high-quality ingredients and expert cooking techniques are essential for delicious, mouth-watering food. But even more important among top chefs is their ability to create dishes with a signature flair. For food that stands apart from the rest, the special ingredient chefs can't live without is Maldon salt, [...]

In Italy, Easter is one of the most important holidays. In fact, the festivities start with the Holy Week, which begins a week earlier on Palm Sunday. Along with religious services and elaborate street processions, the celebration is also centered around an epic feast that is typically enjoyed on Easter Sunday. According to tradition, lamb [...]

A regional dish from southern Italy, Beef Braciole gives classic Italian pantry food a rich and meaty kick. It’s also a family dinner favorite for Rachael Ray, the Food Network star and host of her own daytime talk show. Also included in The Soprano’s Family Cookbook, this recipe comes from her mama’s weekday menu rotation [...]

The United States has pumpkin pie and Italy has panettone, the quintessential cake for the holidays. Made with a combination of candied fruit and spices, panettone is the Old World version of fruitcake, a special treat that dates back to the Middle Ages. Panettone cake might have a rich and storied history, but its flavor and texture has remained the [...]

Italian cuisine varies from region to region, and the menu for Christmas dinner is no exception. While each region features their own classic dishes, a traditional Italian Christmas dinner always includes several courses. For Italians, this is an epic feast that lasts all day and into the evening. This holiday season, bring the flavors of Italy to your holiday dinner table with [...]

Contrary to what you might think, the origins of Italian wedding soup actually have nothing to do with nuptials, although it is often served as an appetizer at Italian weddings. The name comes from “Minestra Miritata” (marriage soup), an Italian phrase that describes the blissful marriage of hearty greens and rich, savory meat. First enjoyed by the peasants of Southern [...]

A staple of Italian cuisine, polenta is a simple and easy way to add a touch of gourmet to your typical eggs-and-bacon brunch fare. In this recipe, starchy and satisfying polenta squares are grilled until crisp, and then complemented with a bed of sautéed spinach seasoned with garlic and red pepper. It all comes together with robiola cheese, a well-balanced [...]

For gourmands around the world, Italy is the number one destination for experiencing authentic Old World cuisine. From Abruzzo to Veneto, Italy offers a wide range of regional food thanks to a variety of landscapes and climates. For centuries, Italians have relied on natural resources as inspiration for distinctive cuisine in each region. If you can’t make the trip to Italy, [...]

Bring the flavors of Southern Italy to your favorite Italian pantry food with Tutto Calabria chili peppers, an easy way to give your dishes a little kick! The magic of using chili peppers in cooking is how it balances other flavors—briny, rich, sweet, or tangy—with just the right amount of heat. Similar to salt, the spice of chili peppers helps [...]

Eating foods from around the world is one of life's great pleasures. It allows you to feel connected to a different culture, imagine life in another country and taste new flavors. For many Americans, there is no better treat buying European groceries and cooking a meal from Italy, France, Spain; wherever they wish to travel! However, it can [...]

Truffles, the diamonds of the culinary world, have reached cult status among chefs and gourmands thanks to an intoxicating flavor that’s synonymous with luxury. When it comes to harvesting these rich and distinctive tasting fungi, a truffle-hunting dog is a chef’s best friend. In a remarkable symbiotic relationship, a truffle hunter (trifoloa) heads to the woods and follows the trusted [...]