Often Italians are not regarded professional in the kitchen. The ability to open the refrigerator and “whip up” a good meal seems to belong to the reign of “pure improvisation”. My answer is: it depends on the result. If the “whipped up” meal is good and balanced this is more than random improvisation: it is deep knowledge of the ingredients, their behaviour in cooking and how they can be matched without de ...

“Pull me up” is the translation of Tiramisù. For sure it refers to the strong caloric contribution, which is supposed to give an aphrodisiac help. What is basic for this delicious dessert is the freshness – and safety – of the ingredients: Mascarpone, which is a cheese from Northern Italy with a high contents of fat and the eggs, which are usually raw. Marcella Ansaldo suggests a method for a “really safe” ...

My mother was pregnant with me the day her father took her to visit the kitchen of the cargo ship where he was working as the crew cook. They went down the narrow stairs to get to the underwater level kitchen. My mother, being a weak-stomach person, got immediately sick with the smell of paint, petrol, salt, moisture and fried onions that characterizes the belly of cargo ships. She didn't say anything, but ...