And here we arrived: Portovenere, Venus harbour. A place so beautiful, it almost feels like a giant postcard. We left an empty, grey and cold city to be welcomed by a town full of vibrant colors and loud, happy people. Most of them were tourists, taking hundreds of pictures and looking around in awe just like us, but it was easy to identify the locals, who were mostly playing cards and arguing around bar tables. 

In the last few weeks, my Facebook homepage was literally flooded with comments on a video, originally shared by a french website, that shows how to make "pasta alla Carbonara" by simply putting all the ingredients in a pot with boiling water and adding a raw egg on top at the end.



While the world seemed stunned by the simplicity and tastyness of the recipe, Italians all around the globe raised an lament of horror and started an infinite number of conversations about it, amplifying the already huge stereotype of Italians being very touchy and oversensitive about their food.

Oddly, imho this is not just a stereotype and most importantly, it's not something I am offended by.
It's true: you could question everything about our Country, from politics to economy, just don't question our culinary traditions.

If you ever had an Italian friend or housemate or you spent some time in Italy, you may know that almost 50% of our daily conversations with friends and family revolve around the meals we had or we are about to prepare. For us, food is not just something we eat to survive, it is a huge part of our culture, it's bonding, it's a status symbol. It speaks volumes about the city or town we were born or raised in, about our family heritage and the stories that our grandmas passed on, alongside the recipes.

The "pasta alla Carbonara" is one of those recipes that hold within amazing stories and misteries about their origins or their name, there are at least 5 or 6 theories about it and many towns claim to be its birthplace. There are also some internal "feuds" about the runnyness of the egg, the use of bacon instead of cheeklard, which type of pasta is the best for the recipe and so on... and mind that this is one of the simplest recipe we have!
One thing we all agree on: bacon must be crunchy and not mushy - so it must not be boiled- and the egg must be incorporated as a sauce and not as a garnish!

You see, this is not about the recipe: this is about the continuity of the Italian habit to take the time to care about every single detail. Preparing a meal, for us, is not about putting everything together and be done in 5 minutes, it's about tasting and enjoying every step of the process, maybe while drinking a glass of wine or talking to our friends and family for whom we are cooking - even on the phone if they're away.

So if you want to learn how to cook "italian", learn how to care italian: that's one recipe that never fails!

Hello, italian food lovers!

Springtime is finally here and I'm esthatic: not only the weather is slowly getting warmer and warmer but the flowers are blooming and some of my favourite veggies are at their perfect ripeness peak.

That's why I decided to post my first recipe of this blog, about one of the simplest and most classic pasta sauces to be made in this time of the year: basil pesto.



The origins of this famous pasta dish are radicated in Ligurian Riviera, mostly in Genoa but incorporates some elements of Sardinian food repertoire: pecorino (sheep cheese) and its history sets back to the 1800s.
Traditionally, pesto is a raw sauce, handmade mashing the ingredients in a stone mortar so that the oil and the essence of the basil will combine and diffuse the most amazing smell and flavour.

Today I'm presenting you two variations of the repice: one is the original and the other is one that many italian families use to make the pesto creamier and possibly greener without using too much basil.
My father uses this when the basil in our backyard isn't enough to make pesto for three, for example - he only uses our own herbs.


Original Ingredients:

Basil 50 gr
Olive oil
Pine nuts 2 teaspoon
Garlic 1 clove
Parmigiano cheese 1 teaspoon
Pecorino cheese 1 teaspoon


Variation ingredients:

Green beans and/or boiled potatoes


If you own your own mortar, you start mashing the basil leaves with some oil and the garlic and then adding the rest of the ingredients, adding oil if the paste is not runny enough.

If you use a blender, instead, you can blend all the ingredients together, in this case you can add 5-6 green beans and half of a boiled potato. This will create more of a creamy texture to the sauce, if you prefer it.
Of course, I prefer to stick to tradition but a little bit of greens more are not that bad for you...


So what kind of pasta do you eat with pesto? In Genoa they will tell you fresh trofie, fresh tagliolini or gnocchi but imho any long shaped pasta (spaghetti, bavette etc...) is perfect.


So go raid your herb garden and put the pasta water to boil, you have a recipe for your next lunch.

Buon Appetito!!

Hello fellow travellers and Italy lovers, it's been a long time!

I'm finally stealing some precious time to write about this little daytrip I had the pleasure to make with my dad and my sister back in January and even if it's been a over 2 months, I'm feeling extremely inspired by the sun shining outside my window.

Could this be the end of Winter??


Anyway, I need you to be prepared, for this is not only a journey in space,  but also in time.

Today I'm telling you about a castle or even better "The Castles" which is the english translation for Le Castella.
There are many theories about this name, since it is actually only one fortress on a little isthmus, that creates two small gulfs in a larger one: one of the many legends tells about six other castles that once existed in six other small peninsulas, that would now be submerged by the sea.

An other very important legend that surrounds this place, crosses its paths with one of the greatest epic poems, the Odyssey, as well as the rest of the Jonic coast. This was supposed to be the isle of Calypso, the nymph that fell in love with Ulysses and seduced him, keeping him with her for seven years. Whether it was her or the beauty of the gulf, I can definitely understand him, this still is a mythical and very seductive place.


As I stepped into the fortress, I felt as if a stargate just closed behind me, leaving me in some other time in history. All around there are ancient walls and even more ancient stones, every corner speaks of a different era and of a different population: Greeks, Romans and even Turkish.

Yes, this small and almost neglected town has been one of the most important strategic bases for centuries, up untill it was almost completely burnt down and destroyed during the raids of the Ottoman pirates, that used it as a way into the italian realms.

These pirates had so much influence on this town that even a famous LeCastella born nobleman that was on his way to become a priest, when he was captured by the pirate "Redbeard" Khayr al-Din, he decided to join the piratery under the name of Uluc Alì Pascia' and became one of the most important commanders of pirate fleets and then governor of Algiers.

What a start, this 2016. One of my main resolution for the new year was travelling more by myself and so far I've been pretty diligent.

 The Alfonso Gatto Foundation, is the Cultural Association involved in the diffuson of Alfonso Gatto's poetical works and in the reclamation of abandoned or neglected urban areas through art, musical and cultural events, accountable for  the Street Art jam that brought to life these amazing masterpieces.

The walls of le Fornelle, painted by young street artists from Salerno, coordinated by Pino Roscigno (Greenpino) and Valeriano Forte really gave a new light to a once dusty and almost ruined neighborhood, now destination  of tourists and art lovers.


Time to leave this open air museum and go back to enjoy the celebrations with Campari and amazing food and every street and every corner of the city, where everything is art.