Simona Carini

The dark brown, pleasantly bitter, chemically complex substance we know of as chocolate bears little resemblance to the pulp-surrounded seeds of the cocoa plant from which it is produced. One would never suspect that one could be derived from the other. — Sophie and Michael Coe, The True History of Chocolate In a space inside […]

“Cheese is one of the great achievements of humankind. Not any cheese in particular, but cheese in its astonishing multiplicity, created anew every day in the dairies of the world.” — Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking The multiplicity of cheese is astonishing and can be intimidating if you’re learning to make cheese by carrying […]

On March 17, 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II (hitherto King of Sardinia) was proclaimed King of Italy by the first Italian Parliament. On March 17, 2011, Italy turns 150. I don’t expect flags will be displayed from windows and balconies: Italians reserve that for the national soccer team’s big games. I choose to celebrate Italy’s sesquicentennial […]

I have a habit. I have developed it in the past two years and I am not planning to break it in any foreseeable future. Once a week or so, I prepare my working space in the kitchen, sterilize my tools, warm up milk and start a new cheese-making adventure. There are variations on the […]

Toward the end of the 19th century, Richard Cadbury, under the pseudonym of “Historicus,” wrote a book titled Cocoa: All About It. Richard was the second son of John Cadbury, founder of the English  cocoa and chocolate company Cadbury. At the very beginning of the book, there is an illustration that shows a crowned character […]

The plane lands and finally we are in Milan. It is early afternoon, so, after we settle in the hotel room, I have time for my first grocery shopping (we have a kitchenette) — and my first cappuccino. I enter a bar (more on this word later) and ask for un cappuccino. Two words, and […]

Recipe for a special day: Choose a Saturday morning in Fall. Make it sunny and set it at a pleasant temperature. Go to the Arcata Farmers’ Market. Walk around the Plaza until you reach the corner of 9th and H streets. Taste six different variations on the theme of salsa. Vote for your favorite salsa. […]

“There are no seasons in the American supermarket. Now there are tomatoes all year round: grown half way around the world, picked when it was green, and ripened with ethylene gas. Although it looks like a tomato, it’s kind of a notional tomato, I mean, it’s the idea of a tomato.” I heard this passage […]

Fare una frittata in Italian means, literally, “to make a frittata” — a dish of lightly beaten eggs (to which vegetables or other ingredients are often added) cooked in a skillet. Fare una frittata also means, figuratively, “to make a mess,” as when you drop an egg on the floor. Whenever my mother sent me […]

A bit of nostalgia nibbles at me this time of the year: I miss Easter breakfast, a ritual that was part of my life until the end of my teenage years. We always spent the Easter holidays with my aunt Lucia, in my father’s native village, north of Rome. On Easter Sunday, before going to […]