Guess What's for Dinner?

The Italian love affair with food is famous around the world. From simple and fresh ingredients, to regional variations and family traditions, food is an indelible part of the Italian culture. One visit to a crowded Italian market with the shouts of the sellers and stalls overflowing with an abundance of colorful fresh foods and you’ll understand that Italian’s are not just passionate about their food, but they are also immensely proud of their culinary heritage and traditions as well. It’s no wonder why Italians say that there are three important things that make up la dolce vita: God, Family and Food. (Although no one agrees on the order!) Family and food are intricately entwined in the Italian culture, where the gathering of family after mass for Sunday pranzo is a well–loved weekly tradition for both Italians and Italian Americans alike.

Yet from the peaks of the Alps to the beaches of Sicily—and everywhere in between—the country’s cooking traditions reflect a wonderful regional diversity that make traveling anywhere in Italy a gastronomic delight. From one town to another—and even one family’s kitchen to another—cooking methods and dishes change dramatically along with the local specialties grown or produced in the area. Sure there’s pasta and pizza everywhere, but you’ll find it prepared in so many different ways that it’s impossible to choose just one favorite dish.

However, no matter where your travels take you in Italy, there are two essential universal qualities that define Italian cooking—simplicity and freshness. Here simplicity reigns in daily cooking. With a few fresh tomatoes and basil leaves plucked from the garden you can have a tasty and simple pasta dish ready in minutes. Italians shop daily for the freshest foods at local butchers, small fruit and vegetable shops, cheese makers and more. While rather modest refrigerators and kitchens might be the practical reason behind this, Italians wouldn’t have it any other way. Shopping daily for food not only ensures the freshest ingredients, but also serves as a form of socializing—especially in the small villages of Southern Italy. There the daily shopping trip to fare la spesa is like a ritual for many Italians. It’s the chance to chat with friends and neighbors, discuss lunch and dinner plans, and perhaps even to hear the latest news and gossip around town. (The latter perhaps being most important to many!) Food is a part of Italian social and cultural traditions long before it even makes it into the home and onto to the table.

For Italian Americans, the passion for cooking has remained an equally fundamental aspect of life. “La Cucina Italiana” represents their roots, traditions, and culture.

For Italian Americans, the passion for cooking has remained an equally fundamental aspect of life. La cucina italiana represents their roots, traditions, and culture. It provides a connection back to the past, and this continuity ensures that family traditions and recipes will continue to the passed down from generation to generation just like in the “Old Country.” “Nonna’s cooking” may have become “Grandma’s cooking” in many households over time, but the warm scents of the kitchen filling the house, the gathering of family around the table, and the persistence of family traditions has continued just the same as it was a century ago when their ancestors left everything for a new life in America—and just the same as it is in Italy today.

The simplicity, freshness and deeply embedded traditions are why Italian foods are loved around the world. My name is Laura, and I’ll be your guide and companion as together we explore the pleasures of Italian food—from region to region, town to town, and season to season. Italy is rich in culinary traditions, and I look forward to discovering and sharing them with you every Friday here on The italyMONDO! Blog. So pull up a chair and be prepared to be tempted, enticed and inspired by the wonderful foods of Italy—and Buon Appetito!