Browsing by Category: Gastronomic Traditions

I can hardly believe I’m writing this. Rome For Foodies, my first native app for iPhone, iPad, and Android smart phones, has just been released and is now available on iTunes and the Android Market (feedback appreciated!!!). The process was hellish, with more delays, sleepless nights and panicked Skype chats with my developers than I wish to remember, but it’s done and I predict the best night’s sleep ever tonight. (more…)

My mom has always effortlessly whiped up 10-course meals for 20 people. When I was a kid, my sister and I would just get in the way so we were given small tasks that we couldn’t screw up. One was shaking heavy cream in a jar until it turned into butter. Eventually we graduated to apple sauce, which is amazingly easy to make and (more…)

It always saddens me to board a US-bound flight before the holidays and see Italians stuffing boxes of industrial panettone into the overhead compartment. Aside from the fact that in the US there are excellent artisanal producers of the stuff (Sullivan Street Bakery and Runner & Stone, to name a pair), the mass produced junk (more…)

Eating in Rome during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays can be tricky, but with some planning, one can eat very well. Read my recommendations for a declicious holiday season on the NYT In Transit blog here.

There are few things in this world as delectable as porchetta done right. Unfortunately, much of the stuff I have eaten in Rome or Ariccia lately has been dried out choke-inducing rubbish overpacked with spices to mask the pork’s utter lack of flavor. Thankfully, there are still pork (more…)