Magnifico Curiosity
Do you like long or short pasta better? It’s an age old question, and everyone has a preference. However, even if you love both, you have to calibrate your choice to the recipe you plan on preparing.
This fava bean and chicory soup is very similar to macco Siciliano, a soup of mashed fava beans. In fact, Zuppa Fave e Cicoria is part of a vast southern Italian tradition of bean and vegetable soups. Invented in the Puglia region, this dish combines the sweetness of creamy fava beans with bitter chicory.
Paccheri hail from beautiful Campania, the southern region nicknamed “Felix”- happy - by the ancient Romans. This pasta - made with durum wheat semolina - is a cornerstone of Neapolitan cuisine. The shape is large and cylindrical, cut in short pieces. Let’s be honest: paccheri are just oversized maccheroni ditalini!
Italian actress and beauty icon Sophia Loren said that spaghetti and extra virgin olive oil were her secrets to looking so radiant and young. She was not alone. Women as early as Cleopatra, perhaps the first ever beauty icon, used extra virgin olive oil to perfect their beauty routine.
According to a group of scientists (including Italian researchers from the University of Bologna), following the Mediterranean diet for twelve months can improve brain function and promote longevity. The diet also helps older people age healthily.
Mozzarella di Bufala is the Queen, and her Kingdom has no borders—certainly not in Italy, but also not in the United States, Mexico, or Canada, either. A survey testing “made in Italy” brand popularity in North America boasted the trans-national success of Italian food.