Driving through the Umbrian countryside during the week prior to Easter, you’d note whiffs of smoke drifting up from the outdoor stone bread ovens fired up by the farmwomen. Holy Week for the Umbrian farmwomen is a busy one, an exhausting one: making the torta di Pasqua (“Easter cake”) or pizza pasquale, as it is often called, in the stone bread ovens is a major task. The traditional Easter “cake” or “pizza” is a raised cheese bread, make of eggs, flour, olive oil, salt, pepper and three kinds of cheeses: parmigiano, pecorino and groviera…
read more…

February 4th is just around the corner: D-day for me: “Departure Day”. My U.S. cooking lessons/lectures tour starts in Los Angeles again this year – and then I’ll be cooking in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Phoenix. Houston follows…..and then on to the Midwest (Chicago). I’ll lecture at MIT in Boston – and also cook in the area. I’ll have a Connecticutu stop – and my 2011 our winds up in Washington, D.C…
read more…

Cooking with friends just for pleasure happens quite often on these US tours, too. Last week, I made a pasta dish for three University of Santa Clara women friends here in San Francisco when we all gathered for dinner and reminiscing and laughter til ’round midnight…
read more…