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Letters From Tuscany: Cooking with Benedetta Vitali

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Friday, February 13, 2009. Cooking with Benedetta Vitali. Cooking with Benedetta Vitali is like being informally initiated into a fraternity of impressive, regional Italian cooks, all openly bestowing their vast food knowledge on you via one expert chef. The only requirement to be a member of the secret Italian food society and to enter into its revered kitchen is a willingness to learn. For over six years. I spent the morning and good part of the afternoon on February 4, observing her pass on that philo...

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Letters From Tuscany: Lunch with Gino

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Wednesday, June 18, 2008. My favorite place to eat in Milano is not a restaurant, but at the table of my third cousin Gino. When I arrived he had already been in the garden picking beans, lettuce, zucchini, parsley and basil for our lunch. We had decided that we would rest a bit before starting the preparation. Above, fruits of the garden - romaine lettuce, basil and zucchini. Hot chili peppers in olive oil. He also puts out the left over’s from the previous day’s dinner, usually a meat, ...When the meal...

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Letters From Tuscany: August 2009

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Friday, August 14, 2009. Knowing My Family's Stories. Will my family’s stories be lost? That is what went through my mind as I sat amongst my Uncle’s sister, her children and grandchildren looking at photos — tones of black and grey and color, old and new. Yesterday was the first time I met her. I spent the day with my mother’s oldest sister, Nella. I accompanied her in saying her “goodbye’s” to her sister-in-law before returning to Australia. As I sat there quietly listening to their gasps and laughs as...

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Letters From Tuscany: My Sicilian Crush

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Friday, August 22, 2008. Is one of the reasons why I look forward to summer in Sicily. When the night train touched the city of Messina, the conversation amongst the others in the compartment turned to their want of the flavored crushed ice. Eaten for breakfast, it usually served in a tall glass with a sweet brioche on the side. Some people like to put cream in between and on top. It is a cool way to begin a dry sun drenched day on the island. I wanted to see how granita. I do not know how I did it.

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Letters From Tuscany: October 2009

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009. Seeing the "David" for the First Time. I am ashamed to say that for the almost two years that I have lived here, I have never seen the “David.” I attribute my reluctance to see the sculpture to the replica standing outside the comune in Piazza della Signoria. However, a visit from a friend spurred me to see the capolavoro (masterpiece) today. He is eye-catching. Something else caught my eye. There was a plaque on the wall of the hallway to the left of the “David...Besides tha...

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Letters From Tuscany: My Story

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Sunday, June 15, 2008. I am writing this blog in partial fulfillment of Masters of Science in Journalism at Ohio University and to document my new life in Florence, Italy. On June 14, 2008 I packed my belongings into three suitcases and left on a one-way ticket for Florence. I have been here three times before this adventure. Each trip to the medieval city – never in my initial plans – was taken with reluctance. Yet, for some reason, fate has placed me here over the years. He kept his word. In the days f...

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Letters From Tuscany: A Witness to Love

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Saturday, October 10, 2009. A Witness to Love. Under the cloudy blue Tuscan sky my friend and old roommate in NYC proclaimed her honor, love and commitment to the man of heart’s desire. I have been invited to many weddings, all of them fairly large with hundreds of guests. This was the first small wedding that I attended. I actually spoke to the bride and groom without interruption. I shared their day with them. Her look was gorgeous. At home I tried my best to get dressed quickly and re-do my hair.

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Letters From Tuscany: Harassed by a Worker at the Vendemmia

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Thursday, October 8, 2009. Harassed by a Worker at the Vendemmia. He cupped my breast so fast I didn’t even realize that I had just been molested. I didn’t know what to do. One of the workers, who I’ll call One-Eyed Pete, kept harassing me today. At first it started with glaring stares. One of the supervisors had to yell at him. One of the non-Italian workers noticed what happened. This was the first time he spoke to me. He yelled to me from down the vine to stay away from One-Eyed Pete. Esat remarked th...

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Letters From Tuscany: Eating at My Favorite Pizzeria

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Monday, October 19, 2009. Eating at My Favorite Pizzeria. After cooking for my friend and date to the wedding for almost 10 days, I wanted a break from the stove. We decided to eat out. At first I was at a loss for suggestions, then I remembered that one of the hottest — hot as in spicy — pizza places I ever ate at was here in Florence. Florence is known for many traditional foods, pizza is not one of them. Not to say you can’t find good pizza here, but generally in Italy it is best to eat the ...But thi...