Culture Archive

Who would have thought that octopus, beans, and ricotta cheese could harmonize so perfectly. Throwing out the old Italian rule never to mix seafood and cheese, Chef Francesco Mazzei of L’Anima in London combines these three (more…)

I have just returned from London where I shamelessly gorged myself on all sorts of delicious and magical foods. I certainly didn’t achieve all of my culinary goals, but I did put a good dent into my interminable list of places to eat before I die (more…)

My first formal introduction to Roero Arneis was at Cantina Vietti in the summer of 2006. I was in the Langhe region of Piedmont researching food and wine and I arranged a visit to the cantina in Castiglione Falletto. When we (more…)

Today’s daily food photo comes from Ganapati in London’s Peckham district. On a quiet, residential street off Rye Lane, this restaurant serves south Indian fare, including thali (an array of small portions) on banana leaves. The thali above (more…)

What is better than pizza? Fried pizza. In Naples, you can grab one of these portable personal pies from the frigitorie (fried food stalls) around town. Via Pignasecca and Via dei Tribunali are two famous destinations for such treats. I Decumani (more…)

Have appetite, will travel. That statement pretty much sums up my approach to eating just about anywhere. But it is particularly relevant when I am in London. I stay in New Cross Gate, which is the Anglo-Saxon term for culinary wasteland. Yeah (more…)

I don’t know what my favorite thing in London is. It think there’s a three-way tie between the insane number of restaurants, the Deptford Leisure Centres, and free admission to public museums. I’ve really been taking advantage of (more…)

Polpette, fist-sized meatballs, make a delicious Saturday lunch. At Donna Teresa in Naples, they are fried in a pan of oil and served with contorni (vegetable side dishes), but at my house, they were cooked in tomato sauce and served over (more…)

Erzincan Tulumu is a pungent sheep’s milk cheese made in the Erzincan province of Eastern Turkey. Traditionally, it was aged in goat skin. You can see vendors in Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar unwrapping it from its animal skin sheath (more…)

I fancy myself somewhat of a pizza expert. I live in Rome and spend lots of time in Naples, so I eat an insane number of pies and spend a lot of time thinking, writing, and talking about pizza. Some days l eat it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner (more…)