Erica De Mane

A lentil field in Castelluccio, Umbria, covered with poppies. A happy New Year to all my Italian food–loving friends. As many of you already know, New Year’s dinner in Italy revolves around lentils. Lenticchie, with their round shape, represent prosperity. They’re traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day to bring wealth and good fortune. I’ll be [...]

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Christmas in Alberobello, Puglia. Recipe: Spaghetti with Bottarga, Lemon Zest, and Parsley Are you a bit frantic this year trying to pull together a fabulous La Vigilia, the Christmas Eve fish feast, not even having the time to think out a decent menu? Well I am, but I’ve got a tip for you: Think bottarga, [...]

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Recipe: Baccala Mantecato for La Vigilia Baccala mantecato, whipped preserved cod, is not a Southern Italian dish. It’s Venetian, usually made with stockfish, an air-dried cod, but since I like salt cod better (it’s less stinky and has a more familiar taste to me), I make it with that. And I whip one up almost [...]

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Still Life with Shrimp, by Vincent Van Gogh. Recipe:  Shrimp with Ceci, Star Anise, and Rosemary Every Christmas Eve I try to cook one new fish dish, one I create just for that evening. I like it to have a contemporary feel while incorporating flavors from my childhood. On that special night, big shrimp were [...]

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The beautiful Chiesa Madre in Vizzini, Sicily, Peter’s grandmother’s hometown. The Italian Recipe Exchange Recipe: Pork Chops with Broccoli, Garlic, and Black Olives Here’s a note I got from Peter Bocchieri, a blog reader, who wanted to share one of his Sicilian grandmother’s signature dishes: pork chops sautéed with broccoli, garlic,  and those rich, oil-cured, [...]

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Still Life with Olives, Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin (1699-1779). Recipe: Chicken with Fennel and Black Olives I have to cook dinner again? Wow, when will it all stop? I guess when I’m dead. Not a problem. When I’m in doubt about what to make, I grab a package of chicken thighs, the indestructible warhorse of [...]

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Here’s another excerpt from my book in progress,  tentatively titled The Making of an Italian Cook. Marcella and Me My University Place apartment replaced our Long Island kitchen as the hub of my self-imposed cooking self-school. My new kitchen was a narrow sliver, but with one of those deep double porcelain sinks, which I loved [...]

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Recipe: Focaccia with Caramelized Onions, Black Olives and Ras el Hanout I find this collage extremely beautiful. I discovered it on the Internet while doing my usual trolling for food-related art. I couldn’t, however, find an artist to attribute it to, so I thought I’d just put up it for all my readers to see, [...]

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A branch of Amorino Gelateria opened this year two  blocks from my sister Liti’s apartment on University Place in Manhattan (that would be at 11th Street).  Liti and I took a little stroll over there the other day to see what all the fuss was about, and boy was that place crowded. The first Amorino [...]

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Recipe: Lasagnette with Lobster, Crème Fraîche, and Grappa I suppose many people would look at the artwork on this Schiaparelli dress and see a depiction of sex, and that’s the way it was interpreted when it was modeled by Wallis Simpson for a famous 1937 Vogue fashion shoot by Cecil Beaton. I believe the spread [...]

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