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How Pasta Grammar Connects History, Tradition, and Taste

Harper Alexander had little experience with Italian food before traveling to Italy and meeting his wife Eva Santaguida, who is from Calabria. But today, as co-founder of the Pasta Grammar YouTube channel and co-author of The Italian Family Kitchen: Authentic Recipes That Celebrate Homestyle Italian Cooking, he’s doing his part to educate the masses about the food and culture that’s inspired him. 

I sat down with Harper and Eva to discuss their new cookbook, why and how they started Pasta Grammar, what goes into recipe writing, the biggest misconceptions about Italian food, which Sicilian recipe is their favorite, and more. 

 

 

How and why did you start Pasta Grammar?

Harper: We started shortly after we got married and right as COVID hit. It was one of those COVID hobbies that a lot of people did during the pandemic when they weren’t working.

 

I’d been to Italy a few times to visit Eva when we were dating, but food wasn’t something I deeply cared about or knew very much about. And so, at first, I made these videos joking around with her because she was new to America and getting her reactions to American food, whether it’s Domino’s Pizza or the prices at Whole Foods, whatever. At the end of every video, Eva would cook to show how she would do things. And more and more people started asking for recipes. As we did more of these videos, I realized something I didn’t even know when I married her: “Oh, you’re a really amazing cook, and Italian food is very different from what I thought.” and “I really like it, and I want to know more about it.”

 

For me, it was an evolution of not really understanding what I had at home, which was a very talented cook and discovering this whole world of Italian food.

 

Behind the scenes of a Pasta Grammar video.

What goes into writing your recipes?

Harper: As the native English speaker, it is always kind of a fun challenge because part of my job is translating what Eva does, which is a very home-cooked Italian style. Nobody measures anything. You ask any Italian cook how much cheese they use. And they’ll look at you. You’re absolutely crazy for even asking such a silly question. But of course, when you publish recipes for people unfamiliar with that kind of food or write a cookbook, you have to translate something she does intuitively into a recipe. So we work very closely together when we’re developing recipes. And so obviously, she’s doing the cooking and coming up with the food, but then I’m measuring, seeing how much cheese she actually used, and then translating that into a recipe.

 

Eva: This is also very useful because if I write the recipe, I write from my point of view, whereas Harper’s recipes are very detail-oriented. He writes for every kind of home cook.

 

What are common misconceptions about Italian cooking?

Eva: What I discovered coming here is that people think we love garlic. Yes, we do love garlic in Italy, but we don’t love garlic as much as Americans think. In Italian food, the taste of garlic is very, very mild. Even if we cook with a lot of garlic, we usually remove it or let it cook for such a long time that it becomes completely delicate.

 

Harper: Another big misconception that a lot of people have is that Italian food even exists because Italy is so regionalized. When people visit Italy, they think, “I’m in Italy. I am going to get good pizza at every restaurant.”

 

You sometimes need to go to a specific town to get a dish made properly. Don’t go to Sicily and order a carbonara. It’s not the place for that.

 

Our second-highest viewership on our channel is Italians. They watch the channel to learn about food in other regions they don’t even know about. Someone from Naples might not even know what they eat in Milan. So, a lot of people need to disabuse themselves of the idea that there is Italian food. 

 

Which kitchen skill should everyone master?

Eva: The first thing people should understand is that you need to put salt in the food and taste it. You need to taste everything you cook to understand if you made a mistake and if it actually needs more salt or spices.

 

Harper: Unless it’s a very specific baking thing where you kind of need some specific chemistry, we never give an amount of salt to any recipe. It’s always to taste because that’s a really important skill. When you see a recipe that says “a half teaspoon of salt,” it is like, “Well, what kind of salt are you using? Some salts are saltier than others. Are you using professional Diamond Crystal salt?” 

One of our biggest pet peeves is recipes that give specific salt measurements. You really need to learn from every step. Also, with pasta, people are used to following the package instructions, where you just put a pinch of salt into the water. But people don’t understand that you need to actually taste the pasta while it’s boiling and make sure that it’s properly salted even before you incorporate it into the sauce. So, we put all of that in the cookbook because I know, as someone who knew nothing about cooking before I met Eva, my approach to salt was always, “I just have to put a pinch of salt in my dish. It’s just a mandatory thing.” But I never tasted it and never added nearly enough to make the ingredients really stand out.

 

You feature several Sicilian recipes in your cookbook. Which is your favorite?

Eva: One of my favorite recipes in the cookbook is pasta alla Norma. 

Harper: Pasta alla Norma probably takes the cake because we consider it to be the perfect pasta dish. When we talk privately about trying a new pasta, our conversation always ends with, “Well, it was good, but is it pasta alla Norma good?” On an objective level, it’s just kind of the perfect pasta, and that’s why it’s actually on the cover of the book.

It is just the balance of flavors. It’s a tomato sauce in which you incorporate some of the oil you use to cook the eggplant. The combination of eggplant, tomatoes, ricotta salata (dried grated ricotta), basil, and olive oil just sums up that southern Italian flavor.

 

Why is incorporating the historical and cultural context of recipes important to you?

Eva: This is very important because if you understand the history of a dish, you can appreciate the dish by itself. A lot of people think that we Italians don’t like to change our recipes. That’s not true because what we have today is just the evolution of what we’ve discovered through tradition.

So knowing why, for example, they use these ingredients more than others makes sense in the dish. For example, the food of Venice: In the Veneto region, they use a lot of spices like cinnamon and cloves. Venice was one of the main cities during the medieval age that had the availability of all these spices. So they started to use them, and what we have now are spiced dishes that you don’t have in other regions. Knowing the history gives the food a new meaning.

 

Harper: I have a dish that is tremendously important to me, which is just a really crappy grilled cheese on white bread, like Kraft American cheese dipped in Campbell’s tomato soup. It’s not that the food is particularly good, but it brings back memories that I had as a kid out in the snow in Maine. You would come back in from the cold and have this hot grilled cheese and tomato soup. So, the story informs how we eat and changes how the food tastes. I don’t think food is ever objective. Those stories matter a lot.

 

You introduce people to experiences on tours. Tell us about them.

Harper: We do a couple of different tours. The one we started doing years ago is a more traditional tour through Southern Italy. We start in Naples and go all the way down through Calabria and into Sicily. What makes it unusual is that we wanted to make a tour that took people off the beaten touristy track. I’d actually visited Italy before I met Eva, so I thought I had the place figured out.

 

But then, when I started traveling with a local, she would take me to the places she wanted to go, and it was a completely different experience. So when we started that tour, the idea was to share a lot of those experiences that most tourists would never have, but in a way where it was accessible to someone who doesn’t speak the language and doesn’t even know about these places or foods to try or things to see.

The second one that we do is expanding off of that idea. We do something called the Week in Dasà, which is where a group of people come to Eva’s small village in Calabria and spend a week living there with us. We cook together, we eat together, and we party together Calabria-style. It’s a project that we’re really proud of, something that’s very unusual. People come to a place where there’s never been any tourism, and they get the real deal of what it’s like living in a small Calabrian village.

 

What experience do you hope people take away from Pasta Grammar?

Eva: What I see right now is that a lot of people treat food like something just to put in the stomach. It doesn’t matter where you are or where you are eating. This is very bad because it’s a moment that you need to use to take care of yourself and of the people that you actually love. So I hope they understand spending more time in the kitchen is a very important time of your life.

 

Harper: I went from being someone used to convenience food culture where I would say, “I’m busy. I’ll just grab a sandwich or get takeout.” And now I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t imagine not spending time every night cooking food and eating together. It’s something that is very important. And I didn’t realize how important it was, and now I can’t imagine going back.

 

 

 

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Sicilian Stuffed Peppers: Tips for a Perfect Veggie Dish

One of my Sicilian mother’s signature dishes is stuffed peppers. But unlike regular Italian stuffed peppers, she loads hers with veggies. It never occurred to me that her style was uniquely Sicilian until I stumbled on Ada Parisi’s Sicilian stuffed peppers recipe.

Ada, who was born in Messina, Sicily, blogs at Siciliani Creativi in Cucina from her home base in Rome. 

She recently shared with me memories associated with this dish, what makes her stuffed peppers Sicilian, the recipe’s key ingredients, and her serving suggestions. 

 

 

What does this dish remind you of?

Stuffed peppers are a traditional Sicilian recipe, but I cherish the family version I inherited from my great-grandmother. A completely vegetarian version that was prepared at home every summer as soon as the peppers were in season.

 

What makes this recipe Sicilian?

The Sicilian characteristic is certainly the filling, which is not made with minced meat, as in the rest of Italy.

 

What are the key ingredients used in the Sicilian-style stuffed peppers?

The filling is made with a mixture of breadcrumbs, oil, parsley, capers, garlic, grated and chopped cheese. Many also add anchovies, olives, or some chopped tomatoes.

 

Why do you use breadcrumbs?

The use of breadcrumbs in fillings in Sicily is linked to the fact that peasant cuisine was a poor cuisine made of ingredients that farmers always had at home. Nothing was thrown away. Vegetables were stuffed with this old bread seasoned with oil, cheese, and aromatic herbs. Meat or fish were foods for the rich.

 

What do capers add to this dish?

Capers add a very interesting salty note and are typical of Sicilian cuisine (we produce capers in Pantelleria and Salina). Many use salted or oil-preserved anchovies instead of capers, a very common combination with peppers also in northern Italy.

 

If you’re vegan or lactose intolerant, can you omit cheese?

Of course, you can omit the cheese and add a larger amount of aromatic herbs.

 

Do the types of peppers matter for this dish?

The most suitable peppers for this recipe are round peppers, usually red, green, or yellow. I think the red ones are the most suitable, but in terms of color, it is nice to use all three.

 

Are there any specific tips for ensuring the stuffed peppers turn out perfectly?

First, you must not spare the extra virgin olive oil because it is the oil that makes the filling soft and fluffy. Then, cook in the oven at a temperature that is not excessively high, 180 degrees Celsius maximum, so that the peppers cook without drying out.

  

How do you typically serve your stuffed peppers?

We usually serve them among the appetizers or as a side dish for meat or fish. In fact, since the filling is carbohydrate-based, they are also an excellent main dish if accompanied by a rich salad.

 

>>Get Ada’s Sicilian stuffed peppers recipe here!<<

 

 

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Maria Rago: Fusing Sicilian Heritage with Genre-Defying Music

There are countless ways Sicilians have touched, inspired, and vivified American culture, one of which is through music. 

I recently discovered the introspective yet energizing works of Chicago-based composer and pianist Maria Rago, who hails from the small Sicilian town of Santa Caterina Villarmosa in the province of Caltanissetta. Atmospheric and even otherworldly, the title track of her latest album, Red Land, blends electric guitar thrashing with symphonic sounds. Like so much of her music, it defies genre constraints with vibrancy and texture drawn from her Sicilian heritage. 

“My Sicilian roots have significantly influenced my identity as a pianist and composer,” says Maria. “The way I perceive the world—its sounds, colors, the contrasting shadows of tragedy and beauty, the allure of history, the relentless sun, and the vibrant spirit of the Sicilian people—shapes my artistic vision. Being an islander allows me to create an ‘island’ of sound, a smaller haven within a broader context.”

 

Maria took time out to share her music inspiration, creative process, favorite composition, future projects, advice for musicians, and what she hopes listeners take away.

 

 

What inspired you to pursue a music career?

Music has always been central to my life, but it wasn’t until I turned 24 that I transitioned from being a listener to becoming a musician, ultimately deciding to dedicate my life to music. It happened during a cello concert when I found myself immersed in the notes of “Suite No.2 in D Minor” of J.S. Bach. Amid those vibrations and melodies, I realized this was the world I longed to be a part of—a realm of infinite possibilities where I knew I was a unique piece of that puzzle. When you write or perform, you expose your inner self; it feels as if you are recounting your own story through another’s voice, sharing, rediscovering, and sometimes concealing the experiences that shape you, all through the medium of music.

 

Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

In my musical journey, the music of J.S. Bach and his infinite being, the earthly conception that meets the universal—the divine that is revealed among his compositions—has a fundamental role. There is a sacredness that runs through his work, a human logic that transforms into a spiritual path, a path that leads you elsewhere. The divine manifesting itself in man. This path impacted my compositions not in the stylistic sense but in the spiritual sense. 

I also admire Ludwig van Beethoven and his human testament, a project around man and where man dares, challenges, chooses, free from every chain. The divine manifesting itself in nature. Here are two composers who approach, through music, the concept of life differently. 

 

Can you tell us more aboutRed Land?

The album Red Land emerged from the desire to blend two musical languages: classical orchestration and the electrifying sound of the guitar, masterfully played by Martin Szorad, among other amazing musicians. This album paints the world in hues of red, reflecting a tumultuous environment filled with conflicts and strife—a world where life is hard to come by, yet death is all too easy. Red Land embarks on a journey through such a reality, with the electric guitar serving as a poetic explorer seeking the lingering beauty within.

 

Do you have a favorite piece you’ve composed, and what makes it special?

Typically, after completing a piece, I try to distance myself from it. When I revisit it later, I often feel as if it no longer belongs to me; it becomes a “free creature with its own life,” one that I no longer recognize, a “being” detached from its “creator.” However, there is a piece titled “Lullaby on the Sea,” composed just as I was leaving Sicily—a farewell to my homeland, where I felt that “creature,” which is me, started to separate from its origin: Sicily. 

 

What upcoming projects or performances are you most excited about?

I recently composed soundtracks for two projects: one called The Rebellious River with Studio Dance Arts New York, aimed at supporting young talent in the Bronx, and another, called Two Hands, with the organization Unity Freedom Power in collaboration with an English production, using hands as a symbol of either unity or destruction depending on one’s decisions. I’m particularly excited about a new theater project exploring the lives of remarkable women throughout history, guided by the exceptional mediator Leonardo da Vinci.

 

What advice would you give emerging musicians?

Being a musician is a privilege that demands love, dedication, and relentless practice. My advice for emerging musicians is to cultivate the ability to listen, remain curious, and not take themselves too seriously. Let the music lead you; ultimately, it’s the music that transcends time when everything else fades.

 

What do you hope listeners take away from your music?

Writing or performing opens you up to vulnerability; you lay yourself bare, taking risks in communicating your intended message, never knowing how an audience will interpret it. My hope is that listeners walk away with an idea, a thought, or a mindset—not always positive, but rather a perspective that prompts reflection. Indifference is the greatest enemy, and it’s what art, music, and humanity simply cannot afford.

 

 

 

 

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Sicilian Entrepreneur Transforms Railways with Sustainable Smart Sleepers

Railways have long been a part of Sicilian entrepreneur Giovanni De Lisi’s life. The 39-year-old started at a young age, working for his family’s maintenance company, De Lisi Costruzioni Ferroviarie. There, he observed problems associated with traditional railroad ties, called sleepers, which are made of concrete and subject to high wear and environmental impact. Giovanni investigated the potential of using recycled materials, such as plastic and rubber from used tires. That led him to found Greenrail Group in 2012, with offices in Milan and Rome.

“The goal was to create a more innovative, sustainable, and high-performance railway sleeper,” says Giovani, who divides his time between Palermo and Milan.

We recently corresponded via email, during which he shared Greenrail’s innovations and benefits, current and upcoming projects, and his optimism for the future of smart technology in the railway industry.

 

 

Can you explain how Greenrail’s smart sleeper technology works?

The Greenrail railway sleeper is an innovative sleeper designed to combine sustainability, efficiency, and durability. This railway sleeper is a combination of traditional and recycled materials, aimed at enhancing performance and reducing environmental impact.

Key technical features:

• Hybrid structure: The inner part is made of reinforced concrete, ensuring the structural strength and stability of the sleeper. The outer coating consists of a mixture of recycled rubber and plastic obtained from used tires and other plastic waste, thereby reducing the need for virgin raw materials and contributing to recycling.
• Durability: Thanks to the outer coating made of recycled materials, Greenrail is less prone to wear compared to traditional concrete sleepers. This outer layer protects the internal structure from weather, erosion, and chemical action, extending the lifespan of the sleeper. The estimated lifespan of a Greenrail sleeper is over 50 years, making it a long-lasting solution compared to conventional options.
• Mechanical and vibrational resistance: The mechanical properties of reinforced concrete ensure high resistance to compression and dynamic loads typical of railway lines. The rubber coating acts as a natural shock absorber, reducing vibrations transmitted to the ground and improving the comfort and stability of train passage.
• Electrical insulation: Greenrail provides better electrical insulation compared to conventional sleepers, reducing the risk of electrical leaks and ensuring better operation of electrified railway lines.
• Environmental sustainability: Each individual Greenrail sleeper recovers approximately 35 kilograms of recycled rubber and plastic, reducing waste accumulation. During its lifecycle, it helps reduce CO₂ emissions through the use of recycled materials and increased durability compared to traditional solutions.
• Compatibility: The Greenrail sleeper is designed to be compatible with standard railway technologies and can be installed on existing railway lines without significant modifications to the infrastructure.
• Advanced versions: In addition to the basic version, Greenrail also offers variants such as Greenrail Solar, which integrates photovoltaic modules into the design, allowing for solar energy generation, and Greenrail Linkbox, which integrates sensors to monitor the state of the railway lines.

These features make the Greenrail sleeper a cutting-edge solution in the railway sector. Its strong focus on sustainability and technological innovation revolutionizes its ability to improve safety and reduce operational costs.

 

 

What are the key benefits of integrating sensors and solar panels into railway sleepers?

The integrated sensors allow for constant monitoring of the network’s status, improving safety and reducing maintenance costs through predictive interventions. Solar panels, on the other hand, generate up to 44 megawatt-hours of energy per kilometer per year, transforming railway infrastructure into sources of renewable energy. This has a significant impact on environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.

 

How does Greenrail’s use of recycled materials contribute to sustainability?

By using recycled plastic and rubber, Greenrail significantly reduces its environmental footprint. Our sleepers reduce CO₂ emissions by 40% and decrease noise, energy consumption, and water usage compared to concrete sleepers. This circular economy not only limits waste but also extends the operational lifespan of the sleepers.

 

What impact do Greenrail sleepers have on the passenger experience compared to traditional sleepers?

Greenrail sleepers contribute to a reduction in vibrations of up to 40%, ensuring greater comfort for both urban residents and passengers. Additionally, the smart technology will help prevent failures and service interruptions, ensuring greater reliability and safety.

 

What has the response been?

The response has been extremely positive, both from railway operators and environmentalists. Our pilot projects in Europe have confirmed the effectiveness and sustainability of our solutions. Greenrail Solar, in particular, has attracted a lot of attention for its ability to generate renewable energy, in addition to all the other advantages of Greenrail technology for railway infrastructure.

 

What are the next steps for Greenrail in terms of market expansion?

We are aiming to expand into international markets, especially in Europe and North America. We have already patented our technology in over 80 countries and plan to build industrial plants to meet demand. Our strategy also includes licensing our technology to local manufacturers, who will use local recycled materials.

 

How do you see the role of smart technology evolving in the railway industry?

Smart technology will be the future of the railway sector. Predictive maintenance and real-time monitoring will become the norm, improving safety and operational efficiency. I foresee an increasing integration of artificial intelligence and IoT technologies to further optimize infrastructure management and minimize human errors. Our smart sleeper technology is just the beginning.

 

Are there any projects or collaborations that you are particularly proud of?

One of the most significant projects is the pilot installation of Greenrail Solar in Emilia-Romagna. It was the first concrete example of our solar technology applied in the real world, with very promising results in terms of energy production and durability. We are also proud of the collaborations that are being concretely activated in the short term with some operators of European subway lines to modernize their outdated systems.

 

What kind of experience do you hope to provide for your clients and partners?

We want to provide an innovative, reliable, and sustainable solution that brings long-term benefits to both our customers and the environment. We guarantee our partners a smooth collaboration process, from design to implementation, with the shared goal of modernizing railway infrastructure. We focus on trust, transparency, and a constant commitment to improvement.

 

 

 

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Sicilian Sea Salt: How a Family Trip to Sicily Sparked a Business Rooted in Tradition

Search for the phrase “Sicilian sea salt” online, and you’ll stumble on Sicilian Sea Salt. When you learn that the company’s co-owner, Joe Styler, works in tech, it’s no wonder the brand has optimal search engine results.

The senior marketing manager of GoDaddy’s Domain Academy runs Sicilian Sea Salt with his wife, Leslie Styler, in Phoenix, only fitting for a product once harvested by the Phoenicians. 

Joe’s grandmother was from Western Sicily, where he first encountered Sicilian sea salt production. After one taste of the product, he was hooked. As a trained chef, he’s fully incorporated it into his food preparation. He’s confident other people will have the same experience. 

Joe and I recently chatted about the Sicilian Sea Salt Company and sea salt from Sicily. He shared what sparked the development of the business and what sets his salt apart from that of other salt producers and purveyors. 

 

 

What inspired Sicilian Sea Salt’s start?

It was kind of an accident. My son really liked science, and he loves geology. We were in Sicily with my parents and brought my mother-in-law. My dad wanted to take my son out to do what he wanted. He wanted to see rocks. Where are you going to see rocks? They went to the salt museum. They came back with salt, and it was unbelievable how good the salt was.

I’ve cooked my entire life, worked in many restaurants, and tried different salts. I know salt’s importance in different seasonings, but this salt was just different. 

We got some from the museum, and when we went back home, I needed to figure out how to get more of this salt. We couldn’t get it here. So, I started reaching out to people in Sicily, and I found a way to get the salt. Then, I started giving it out to people as gifts, and I’d have to get more and more and more salt because everyone wanted it. So, we started getting it in bulk and just giving it away. 

I was talking to one of my friends to whom I gave salt, and they said, “You should sell this because everybody who has it likes it, and there’s not enough for you to give out. You should just try and figure out a way to sell it.”
 

What makes Sicilian sea salt unique compared to other salts on the market?

There are a couple of things that are really cool about the salt. First, really, there’s something that I think is indescribable about it. We call it “magic salt” because everything you put it on tastes better than it would with a different salt. 

What makes it special is that it’s harvested in a protected space, a marine reserve in Sicily. So the water where they get the salt from is really pure, and they’ve been doing it there for thousands of years. We live in Phoenix now, and it’s funny because the Phoenicians started it there. For thousands of years, Sicily was conquered by different people, and everybody used the salt. That was one of the main things of importance that they would take from there.

 

When you drive on the coast from Trapani to Marsala, you just see miles and miles of salt pans, and they’ve been there for thousands of years and have windmills. Those are not really in use; they’re decorations now, but they had those windmills to pump the seawater in these flats. 

Sea salt is made from evaporated ocean water, which is solar evaporation. They put it out into big flat spaces called pans, and then the sun and the breeze from the ocean evaporate the water. Then, what’s left is the salt. So it’s really pure; there’s nothing added to it.

It would be organic. The FDA regulates salt, but the USDA does not because it considers it a rock—and this was another challenge when we started to figure out the regulatory issues of running a food business. The FDA regulates anything you put in your mouth. The USDA designates things as organic, and since they don’t recognize salt as something that comes under their purview, you can’t get an organic designation. But it is really very pure the salt that we get. 

I think that that’s different than what most people get. The stuff that you get off the shelf is made by giant chemical companies, and it’s really processed to be the same no matter what. They need to do chemical processes to make it like that. Then, they add different chemicals for anti-caking and make sure that it can pour out if it’s humid. They also make sure that it’s white. They do a lot of processing to it, which makes the bland, almost metallic flavor of normal salt compared to a salt like ours, which is special.  

 
Even the kosher salt is processed in most cases. It has a more bland taste to it. They also strip out a lot of natural minerals, which are trace elements. 

Since each batch that you pull comes from the ocean, it will vary. But there are different amounts of trace elements in there. Some people say it’s beneficial for your diet, and there are studies on that, but I think that it just gives a different flavor profile.

What makes Sicilian salt special is its long history. The ancient Greeks, the Phoenicians, and the Romans all used salt pans and the grain they grew there as key ingredients in their empires. It’s just been a natural way of life for thousands of years. 

It’s also environmentally friendly to use salt from the ocean. It has been there for thousands of years and doesn’t hurt the land. There’s no erosion. 

If you buy Himalayan salt, it’s fine; the pink salt is good and helps people, typically in poorer communities, make money. But they do a lot of deep mining and destroy much of the earth. 

Ours is sustainable, which is another thing we like about it.  

 

How have you incorporated sustainability into your packaging?

We try to use paper as much as possible instead of bubble wrap or other things like that so it can be recycled. Then we have these jars that we bought, which can be reused. We just did some packaging with paper envelopes so that you can refill those jars and reuse the jars over and over. We actually recently upgraded to a different jar from France, and it’s a little sturdier. You can use our jars for canning or holding other spices, and there’s really not much waste.  

 

You source your salt from Trapani. Tell us about its production.

We have a supplier there whose family has been harvesting salt for 50 or 60 years. They do everything by hand. You see them out there with rakes. 

 

There are different types of salt: fleur de sel, which is the French word, and fiore del sale, which is Italian.

 

It forms when the water’s still there, and the salt separates and floats up to the top. That has to be really carefully skimmed because if you bump it, it will sink. And that is really crunchy, almost like Maldon, but Maldon’s different. It’s thin; it’s very expensive and labor-intensive to pull it out, but that’s all done by hand. I don’t know if there’s any machine that can do that. So, across the world, that part is done by hand, but as it evaporates, it just gets into these big clumps that have to be broken up.

 

Your core salt comes from what’s broken up, and then you have to grind it down further. So all that stuff is done by hand in the same way it’s been done for thousands of years with the company we work with. So they’re out there with rakes, raking or shoveling the salt into wheelbarrows, and they make it the same way that it’s been made for thousands of years. 

For us, that’s important too because you can get a lot of salt from Sicily. Many different types are for sale. There are many bigger conglomerates, and they make it in a large-scale manufacturing process. They’re not doing it the same way that it’s been done. It’s not artisanal, and you can taste the difference. You can actually see the difference. The salt’s good, but it’s not great. It’s not that next level. You can look at the two salts by side and just know, just by seeing them, that they’re different. When you try them, you can taste the different flavor profiles that they provide. So, it’s important for us to have something that’s really at the highest level.  

 

How do you enjoy your salt?

I like it in a lot of different ways. I use coarse salt as a finishing salt. We made roast vegetables yesterday, and we used it on top.

We have the coarse salt that we use for a margarita; we put it on the rim. Then, we use the fine salt if we’re going to do something like a sauce or if we’re baking.

 

I also use it if I’m going to make rubs for barbecue, age steaks, or try to tenderize things like lamb. I use the coarse salt, put it over that, and let it sit.

 

It really makes a difference in almost anything you eat. In fact, my mother has this little salt shaker in which she grinds her own salt, which she brings around now. After trying it from Sicily, she won’t use any other salt.
 

What experience do you hope customers will take away?

I hope they have some connection to the Sicilian people, even if they’re not Sicilian.

 

One important thing is that there’s still high unemployment in Sicily. So, I think it would be good if people were more aware of Sicily as a part of Italy that they could visit. It definitely doesn’t get the same amount of attention. It gets quite a bit of Italian tourists, but outside Italy, not many tourists come. I think the more recognition it can get, the more it can help their economy.

If we can make the connection to Sicily and the unique food culture there, I think that’s important. Sicily has a really different food culture from the rest of Italy. The one thing I like about Italians is that they’re really strict about what qualifies if you make something. If you don’t make the exact right ratio of ingredients, then it isn’t right. You made it wrong. They have protections over their food. Those things are good because they keep traditions alive. As a chef, I like experimenting with things and changing things up. So, for example, I make pizzas. If I’m not using the right flour, the right tomatoes, and the right cheese, then it doesn’t count as a true Neapolitan pizza. 

 

Because so many cultures have ruled over Sicily, there’s a lot more flexibility in the type of food that’s there, and it’s a much more diverse food culture. I like that about Sicily, too. And I think that that’s something that people don’t really realize. They think of Italian food as spaghetti, meatballs, pizza, or things like that. And there’s such a wide variety in Sicily. If you look around at different restaurants or marketplaces, they’ll say, “This is Sicilian style,” or “These came from Sicily.” Italians hold Sicily, in some ways, in high respect as far as their food goes.

I think we can bring more awareness to Sicily as a whole and have more investment there by having people say that they want to go. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was in Partanna, Sicily, and he started olive oil and coffee. That didn’t go well, but it was good because he said, “This is what I discovered when I was in Sicily,” and it brought more attention to the island. 

I think it’s really important for people to do more to help the economy overall and continue the culture. So that’s the one thing I hope people take away when they try our salt. I also hope that they start to think more widely about their ingredient choices, how that impacts their health, and how it impacts the flavor of their food. 

 

 

 

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How Bondolio Turned a Sacramento Valley Farm into an Award-Winning Sicilian Olive Oil Producer

Sicilian olives, particularly those grown in the Mount Etna region, benefit from long, hot summers and mild winters—something the western Sacramento Valley’s semi-arid climate delivers.

That’s where Bondolio olive oil producers Karen and Malcolm Bond grow their Sicilian olives. The couple first purchased their farm in 1986. Back then, it was an almond farm. However, the trees were never big producers, so they pulled them out in 1999 with an interest in starting anew.

A chance encounter with a particularly good fresh olive oil inspired them to set their sights on olive growing. 

Getting started was far from easy, but through persistence and self-taught craftsmanship, the couple is not just growing certified organic Sicilian olives but producing award-winning olive oil. 

I spoke with Karen to learn more about Bondolio’s start, why she chose Sicilian olives, and her favorite ways to use her olive oils. 

 

Tell us how you decided to grow olives.

We were in Naples for Christmas between 1999 and 2000. We stayed in a villa east of Naples. Just as we were leaving, the owner said, “We just made our fresh olive oil last night. Would you like to taste it?” And I said, “I’ve always cooked with olive oil, but I’ve never tasted fresh olive oil.” 

Being a nice Italian girl from South Jersey, I was very anxious to taste it. She took us to their farm, where all the trees were over a thousand years old and had huge gnarly trunks. She took us to a little stone building with a wood-burning stove. She toasted some bread and poured this wonderful liquid on top with a little bit of sea salt, and I fell in love. I said, “This is what we’re doing on our farm.”

 

Why did you choose Sicilian olive cultivars?

After deciding to do olives, we went on a two-year mission to find the right olive oil that met my needs. I always bought Italian olive oils because they tend to be fruity—especially southern Italian oils. And so we went all over Italy tasting oils at farms. If we saw a sign for olive oil, we would stop and buy some. We would go to grocery stores and farmers markets all over Italy to taste the oil. My husband would put olives in brown paper bags for me to taste, and I always picked the same three olives: Nocellara, Biancolilla, and Cerasuola. It’s your typical Sicilian blend that most families have. 

We asked nurseries in California if they had these trees, and they said no. It would take two to three years before they could sell any to us; they would have to import them. So we got our own import license and imported the trees. 

 

Karen Bond holds her prized olives.

 

Tell us about that process.

We found a grower who said they had imported trees to the U.S. When the trees arrived, the FDA called us and said, “We have a problem; come down to the San Francisco airport.”

So we had to go to the Department of Agriculture at the airport, and they took Malcolm through a series of clean rooms, opened the box, and showed that the little baby trees had soil on the roots. They then opened an incinerator and threw our trees away. So that was heartbreaking. 

We had to find a grower who could prove they had imported to the U.S. We finally found someone. In the meantime, the University of Florence helped us design our orchard, and they recommended that we bring in a fourth tree type, a Pendolino. Even though olives are self-pollinating, the Pendolino is a pollinating tree, and we’d have a higher production.

Our little baby trees arrived on Christmas Eve, 2006, six years into the process. I always tell people we were born during a time when delayed gratification was a good thing.

We took the baby trees home on Christmas Eve. They arrived on a Lufthansa flight at around one o’clock. We were just praying they would get through customs and then the Department of Agriculture because they were only packed in vermiculite. It was a three-day holiday, so everything would be closed, and we wouldn’t be able to pick them up. They arrived at the Department of Agriculture at ten minutes to five o’clock, and they got cleared. So we were able to bring them home.

The next day, I cooked dinner, family and friends came over, and we planted 1,250 trees in two-inch pots. The problem was that they had to be quarantined, so we had to put them in a greenhouse.

 

The state and the feds would come and pull a tree out with its roots and take it with them to test for pests and diseases. 

Because the trees were growing, we had to transplant them to five-gallon pots. And finally, after two and a half years, they said we could plant them. 

So that’s 2008. I think they went into the ground in the spring of 2009 because they were cleared in late summer, and you just can’t plant at that time. It’s too hot. 

In the first year, 2010, we actually had little olives on all the trees, so we picked them all. We only got about 300 pounds.

Malcolm made his own homemade mill, and we milled them, and it tasted good. So we said,
“Okay, let’s move forward.” 

The very next year, we got around 3,000 pounds. There was a mobile mill then, and the oil tasted great, so I said, “Let’s enter the Yolo County Fair.” Malcolm said, “No, we’re going to New York and L.A.” They’re the two big international competitions where everyone from around the world enters their olive oil. We won gold in New York, gold in L.A., Best in Show in Yolo County, and Best in Show in Napa County in our very first year.

Our phone started ringing off the wall, and people wanted to buy our oil. The same thing has happened just about every year.

Malcolm and Karen Bond

 

What sets Bondolio apart from other California olive oils?

California olive oils are Spanish, French, northern Italian, or Greek, which have different flavor profiles. Arbequina tends to be a very mild oil, and so many people grow Arbequina. I wanted ours to be different from everyone else’s.

Some people have brought in Biancolilla, and some people have brought in Nocellara, but no one has brought in Cerasuola. It’s very difficult to propagate. They told us we would lose 80%, and we did not. We probably lost only 10%. Because we have such rich soil here, they were happy growing here. But I think that’s what sets us aside. It’s a totally different blend from everyone else in California. 

 

Karen Bond sips her liquid gold.

How do you use your olive oils?

I use olive oil every single day. For example, we normally have poached eggs and roasted potatoes for breakfast, so we roast the potatoes in olive oil and pour olive oil on the eggs. I use olive oil in just about everything I cook, including pasta, risotto, and fish.

 

We make mandarin oil with our Pendolino. We pick it on the very last day of milling and throw fresh whole mandarins in as we’re milling. So it’s a great orange oil. I put that over halibut and bake with it. Then, when it comes out of the oven, I pour a little bit of oil over it. 

When Nathan Norris was the head chef of Zuni Cafe, he told us that we had the most versatile olive oil. They always have an olio nuovo dinner in December; he did a whole dinner with our oil. He started with a persimmon salad with goat cheese and pomegranate seeds on the top and poured our oil with a little bit of salt on it. He then made a salad, then he made fish, and then he made a dark chocolate sorbet with our oil on top. And it was to die for. Our olive oils don’t have a bitter flavor, so they can go with a lot of different foods.  

 

Bondolio olive oil served with crostini.

 

You give tours by appointment. Tell us about those.

On our tour, we serve food. If there are 10 or more people and they request it, we’ll do pizza on the patio for them. Our biggest tours right now are from retirement communities. They’ll come up with 40 people on a bus, and we’ll do a tour, and then we’ll do pizza for them.

They’ll get to taste our oils and vinegar, but sometimes, I serve it with hummus. In the summer, when there are cherry tomatoes because we have a big garden, I will do what I call caprese shooters with our olive oil. I sometimes do crostini, where I’ll take fresh tomatoes with garlic and basil with our olive oil and put that over toasted bread. I try to give people ideas on how to use the oil. 

 

We are open to the public one day a year, the second Sunday of December, when we introduce our new oil and have other vendors there. We have pizza, beer, wine, and sodas on the patio, rain or shine. 


Bondolio olive groves

What do you hope people take away from your olive oil?

How to use our oil and to use it quickly: Many people have the misconception that olive oil is like wine in that it ages well. It does not. The longer you keep it, the flavor profile goes down. Ours usually last two years, but it doesn’t have the oomph it initially has.

 

I also try to make people understand how healthy olive oil is for them. There’s so much evidence coming out now about how olive oil reduces breast cancer, reduces cholesterol, and helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Both my husband and I are in our seventies. Neither one of us takes any medications. We’re extremely healthy. We exercise every day, and we ride our bikes every day. We do Pilates and things, and we go to the doctor, and they say, “We can’t believe that you don’t take any medications.” But I think it’s partly because of the olive oil.

 

 

 

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Noemi Schembri’s Journey to Masterful Guitar-Making

Wood has fascinated Noemi Schembri since adolescence, about the same time she picked up playing the guitar. Her interests collided, sparking a curiosity about how the wooden instrument was built.

Inspired, the San Cataldo, Sicily native, moved to Canada, where she studied under the guidance of renowned Master Luthier Sergei De Jonge. Noemi had the opportunity to learn modern building techniques for both steel-string and classical guitars.

It was a new way of looking at her favorite instrument, which inspired her, after her apprenticeship, to return to Italy, where she opened her first workshop in Solighetto. She has since moved production to a larger space in Susegana, where she builds guitars entirely based on customer needs: desired sound, wood choice, ergonomics, playability, and aesthetics. 

 
Noemi shared with me her journey and approach to lutherie, materials she uses, challenges she’s faced, and more.

What inspired you to pursue guitar-building?

It was mainly the combination of my love for wood and woodworking and the fact that I started playing the guitar when I was 11. Over time, thanks to scholarly studies based on wood—from secondary school to university—my curiosity about how guitars are built and who builds them grew inside me.

 

 

How did your time studying under Master Luthier Sergei De Jonge influence your approach to luthierie?

My time with Sergei De Jonge left a fundamental imprint on me. I had no experience and no references, and his open approach to guitar-making is what I still follow today while building my guitars: trying different ways and learning from my results.

 

How has your experience working in both North America and Italy impacted your guitar-making?

Steel-string guitars have deep roots in American culture, and classical guitars have ties to Italian culture. I naturally started exhibiting in both places, lately more often in the U.S.A. Now, my market is 90% in the U.S.A. with steel strings only and 10% in Europe with mainly classical guitars.

 

My goal is to bring classical guitars to the U.S., learn their needs from the classical guitar player’s perspective, and respond to them.

 

Tell us about your workshop. You recently moved to a larger space.

It was time to move to a bigger one and have proper spaces dedicated to the building process and to the customers who come and try my guitars. It took me a couple of years to find the one I liked, so even if it was bigger than what I was looking for, I decided to keep it and have extra space for the future. You never know!

 

Can you describe the most challenging parts of building a guitar by hand and how you overcome them?

Well, in the beginning, you think that steps like bending sizes, carving the neck, and routing the dovetail joint are the most challenging, but the more you build, the more you learn how to realize those physical parts and the more you focus on the main thing: the sound! Making a guitar sound as you “hear” it in your mind is the most challenging part, and while working on it, at the same time, you are building your personal sound, the sound that players will identify as their sound.

 

 

What materials do you use?

The only material is wood, except for the strings, tuners, nut, and saddle.

 

I use different wood species, grain directions, and ways to cut every piece of wood according to its function. Sometimes, I work with wood species that I have never used before, and in that case, I have to learn how to work with them.

 

Can you share a challenging request?

It wasn’t a customer request but a challenge that I gave myself: building the smallest body guitar I have, with the brightest sound wood I had at that time for the back and sides, adding a cutaway (which means taking off air volume from inside the guitar box), and achieving a big warm sound as if it was coming out of a big body guitar with a warm tone wood.

 

I was very happy with the result and even happier seeing people’s reactions when they realized how small the guitar was!

 

What do you hope people will take away when they purchase one of your guitars?

Inspiration, wider explorations of the field, and joy while playing it!

 

 

 

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Insalata Vastasa: Sicilian Potato Salad

My Sicilian mother always says that a meal isn’t complete without a side salad. Her green bean, tomato, and potato salad remains one of my favorites. The recipe was inspired by my nonna‘s own insalata vastasa. 

 

In true Sicilian tradition, you worked with what you had; if you didn’t have potatoes, you could still enjoy a green bean and tomato salad. Sometimes, we’d have it with just potatoes and beans. 

 

The recipe was so popular at family gatherings that I included a mention of it in my first novel. 

 

I was delighted to find a similar insalata vastasa recipe on A Quaint Life, a blog run by Roxanna Shadd. Roxanna and I recently chatted about her version of this classic Sicilian salad. She shared the right way to cook green beans and potatoes, her preferred potatoes, and what she hopes readers will take away from this recipe.

 

 

Tell us about your background.

I am not Italian; I am more of an Italiophile. Their lifestyle, food, and culture speak to me. Ethnically, I have a mixed background of Puerto Rican, Mexican, and caucasian descent. All of which have influenced me in different ways. But it was my travels to Italy some years back that woke something up in me. The slower-paced lifestyle and love for simplicity and food felt sacred in its own way. I brought back that feeling and decided to embrace it in my home, my work, and my lifestyle as much as a born-and-raised Californian can.

 

I am a full-time blogger and YouTuber who shares a simple life, is approachable in cooking from scratch, and loves homemaking. Life is beautiful; every day, there is an opportunity to engage with it. I want to share ways to fall in love with life, food, and the beauty of creating a home that feeds the soul.

 

How did you discover this recipe?

I like to cook authentically because, frankly, I want the real thing. Not the American made-up versions. So, I scour the internet for those wonderful nonnas who share what they are making and the history behind it. Once I feel inspired by something, I write my own version of it, making sure to include the traditional ingredients and not take away from its authenticity. This one I came across after trying to find a non-American mayo-based potato salad and found one that used only potatoes,  green beans, and olive oil, which caught my eye.

 

What makes this recipe Sicilian?

This is insalata vistasa, or an “eye-catching” salad, and that it very much is. It is a classic Sicilian potato salad that is made all over Sicily. I have seen slight differences in other recipes. Some call for anchovies, while others serve quite a plain version of potatoes, green beans, and olive oil. 

 

You recommend Yukon Gold potatoes. Why?

They have a nice creamy texture that works well with being dressed in olive oil. As a bonus, the peels are fine to keep on if you don’t feel like peeling the potatoes. 

 

How do you ensure the potatoes and green beans are cooked perfectly for this salad?

Well, using potatoes that are about the same size helps for an even cooking time. You want to cook them until they are just done, not until falling apart. The green beans turn bright green and are ready fast, so I put them in to blanch last at the tail end of cooking the potatoes and make sure I don’t walk away. Otherwise, they can overcook and lose the crisp texture that is so good in this salad.

 

What Sicilian meals would you pair with this salad?

This salad is so versatile that you could pair it with just about anything. A crisp, pounded-out chicken cutlet or a Sicilian salt-baked whole fish would work wonderfully. 

 

How and when do you typically serve it?

I like serving it at room temperature. Allowing it to sit a little after making it allows the flavors to develop. It is a great recipe whenever I am asked to bring a dish to a luncheon. 

 

What do you hope at-home cooks will take away from this recipe?

This recipe perfectly represents my food philosophy. Good cooking is about fresh, quality ingredients put together in a simple manner. They make the very best dishes. I think we need to remove the home cook’s misperception that cooking from scratch is difficult or complicated. 

 

>>Get Roxanna’s recipe here!<<

 

 

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Oriana Lamarca: Designing Life in Color, Inspired by Sicily and Fueled by Resilience

Oriana Lamarca creates vibrant jewelry, channeling over 100 hues and dozens of motifs inspired by her Sicilian heritage. Her brands, Oriana Lamarca Designs and My Sicilian Love Affair, have together served as a colorful beacon that kept her going even through the lowest points in her health and personal life. 

“My hashtag is #addictedtoarmcandy, and I love to say that my addiction to designing these bracelets and this passion that I have for what I do truly did save my life,” says Oriana. “And through it all, I’ve just had so many amazing experiences.”

Oriana shared with me her deep connection with her Sicilian roots and how that shapes her designs, how she got started, her passion for color, how she balances the trendy and the timeless, and more. 

What is your connection to Sicily?

My parents were both born and raised in Sicily. They both came over as teenagers. My mom’s from Castellammare del Golfo; we still have the house she was born and raised in, and we recently did some renovations. And so she and I went back and forth.

My dad is from Agrigento, so a little farther south. My grandparents, up until pre-COVID lived there from September to June. So, growing up, I always would spend a couple weeks at a time staying with them and spending time in Sicily. I have beautiful memories of that and continuing the Sicilian traditions through everything we do, including holidays and food.

 

What role does your Sicilian heritage play in your designs?

Pretty much everything revolves around that. I have another website dedicated to my love for Sicily, which is called MySicilianLoveAffair.com. And there’s also an Instagram attached to it. My Sicilian heritage is the basis of everything I do and design and my storytelling.

 

I was actually married. I got married in Taormina, Sicily, in 2014, when social media started to kick off. So people saw that I was going back so often, and I found myself planning trips for people every summer. And I said to myself, “I need a reference point to be able to send these people so I don’t have to just keep repeating myself.” So that’s kind of how the idea for My Sicilian Love Affair was born, as a reference point for everything from where to go, where to stay, what to eat, traditions, travel, and fashion.

 

That ties into Oriana Lamarca Designs. I’m designing my collections and storytelling and translating my life experiences, values, and roots, all through my designs and creations. I have a My Sicilian Love Affair collection in which I incorporate pieces of ceramics handmade in Sicily. The ceramics I’ve selected highlight Sicilian culture, whether it’s the cassata cake, a traditional Sicilian dessert, or the carretto Siciliano, the wheel of the cart. I have teste di moro, of which there’s a male and a female. It’s a traditional Sicilian legend. And so I’ve utilized these ceramics to highlight little bits and pieces of our culture and all the stories that go along with it. 

 

How did you start Oriana Lamarca Designs?

My parents have a tile and stone design center, so I grew up working for them. I went to college, graduated, and decided to stay and help them. I was designing kitchens and bathrooms and working with stones, but I always loved fashion a little bit more. My grandmother was a seamstress for Ralph Lauren and Halston, so it kind of runs in my veins.

I would go to work for my parents during the day, and at night, I would go shopping. I came across these beaded bracelets and thought, “I’m not going to spend a hundred dollars on one. I can make it for myself.” So, I started ordering beads. I taught myself how to tie the knot.

 

I started selling to friends and family from 2013 to 2014. I took a break because I had planned a wedding overseas. Once I got back, six months after I was married, I was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy. And so I was home for three months. During that time, I built my website and solidified the concept for the collections and the idea for the brand. Once I got better and started going out again, I did a lot of pop-up shops, like home shopping parties.

 

The website was picking up a little traction. In January 2016, I decided to leave work for my parents to pursue this full-time job for about three years. It was kind of still just a thing that was keeping me busy. I was growing this brand, which I love, but at the same time, I was a wife, and I thought I’d be starting a family. And so it wasn’t as serious, I’ll say, as it is now.

In 2019, I went through a divorce right before COVID. Again, at this low point in my life, my business gave me the strength and focus to pull through, and I dedicated every second of my life to making it work and bringing it to where it is today.

Color plays a huge role in your work. Share with us the story behind the various shades.

I love color. Actually, that stems from both my mother and working at the tile store, where my mother is one to have always really worn a lot of black and just beige and neutral colors, as well as designing kitchens and bathrooms. Everybody wanted just neutral colors, and I just loved color.

Color plays a huge role in our everyday life, mood, confidence, and so much else. With these bracelets, the idea was to effortlessly add color to your outfit, whether you’re wearing all black but want to add a pop of color without it being too much or you don’t want to wear a strong-colored top. You can add a little bit of color with your accessories—not just the bracelets, but the earrings, the necklaces, and the bags to complement the entire look.

 

At this point, I have over a hundred different colored gemstones, which allow people to mix and match and create their own “arm party,” as I like to call it, to compliment your outfit or add color. I like to wear a lot of color, so I will often compliment all the colors I’m wearing and kind of wrap that all up in one little storyboard in my arm party. Or if I’m wearing just my classic Sicilian black lace go-to type of outfit, I’ll accessorize with colorful bracelets to give it a pop of color and fun.

 

When I started with six or seven signature collections, each of which was created during the time that I was sick, my brain organized the colors together into six collections inspired by different destinations I had traveled to.

 

So I live in New York, which has more of an edgier vibe with metallics, white, and black. Everybody wears black in New York. The Miami collection has a lot of brighter colors, like the neons—the lime green and the bright magenta pink, which reminds me of Miami Vice. The Greek collection was inspired by my honeymoon. I had been to Greece, and there were a lot of white houses, blue roofs, and blue water in the Mediterranean. So that was what inspired that collection. But basically, I organized the colors—over a hundred of them—through these signature collections, through the culture of that destination I had been to.

 

How do you source the materials and stones for your collections?

I do a lot of research online. I order from all over the world. The ceramics are made in Sicily. A lot of the beads come from India, some from Greece. My suppliers are based in the U.S., but it depends on where the stones originate. But that’s as far as the beads.

 

As far as the other products, a lot of the collection I’m now moving more toward is made in Italy. We just got a new collection called the Gaia bag, a beautiful leather bag made in Tuscany. A lot of our other bags are made in Florence or Italy. Also, the beaded bags are made in India. I pay attention to where I’m sourcing my material and make sure I give my client a product that is not only affordable but quality as well. We make our bracelets in-house in my studio in New Jersey.

How do you balance creating trendy pieces with maintaining a timeless appeal?

A lot of the collections that I’ve developed, aside from the signature collections, are collections that I like to tell a story through to represent something. These trendier pieces may have a little more of a timeline to them, but I like to incorporate the classic pieces that I use throughout the signature collections, even when designing the trendier collections. Because color is so important in what I do, even when sourcing the charms, I want people to be able to mix and match the bracelets without any reservations. That’s why the focus of the bracelet is on the color. So the charm doesn’t hinder whether you can pair it with another bracelet or not. It’s really just the color of the stone that will stand out.

 

But then I do have another collection called the Expressions Collection, in which there are over a hundred charms that are more specific to a theme or a way to express yourself with something you like. For example, I have a lipstick charm if you’re in the beauty industry. Or if you’re a hairdresser, I have a pair of scissors charm. So that’s where I focus more on the charms. But as far as the other collections I design are concerned, I always try to portray style, class, and elegance through whatever I’m designing.

 

What are your future plans?

One of them, which is coming into fruition in 2025, is focusing more on bridging the gap between Sicily and New York and some travel planning, which I started through my other website, My Sicilian Love Affair, and sourcing products that are not just made in Italy, but also more specifically in Sicily. Because Sicily is such a rich island of culture, we have so many stories to tell and beautiful products to choose from. One product that was just brought to my attention is from a woman who designed a collection of bags using prickly pear leaves, which is really innovative and different. And so I want to bring all of these unique pieces Sicily has to offer here stateside. Along with the bracelets and the jewelry, it is a lifestyle brand, so I’m incorporating more food, travel, and fashion altogether. 

 

What do you hope your customers take away?

I want my customers to feel fashionable, confident, part of a community, and just good when they wear these bracelets and know that they are wearing a bracelet that has a purpose, a bracelet that represents them, and a bracelet that, for the woman who doesn’t feel like getting decked out head to toe daily, she can throw this on and feel like she has a fashionable look effortlessly.

I have a collection called Armcandy for a Cause. It’s the philanthropic side of what I do, which I started about 10 years ago. I design a bracelet dedicated to a certain organization. I design the color and the charm to represent that organization, and then I donate the proceeds back to that organization. So, through all of it, we’re also making a difference together and helping our community. 

 

 

 

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Rediscovering Gattò di Patate: The French-Inspired Sicilian Potato Cake

Potatoes are not commonly used in Sicilian cooking. For my nonna, there were two exceptions: her insalata vastasa and a main dish called gattò di patate. 

The name gattò comes from gâteau, the French word for cake. The rich dish was created in the late 18th century by French chefs who served at the Bourbon court. These so-called monsieurs or monzù were brought to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies by Queen Maria Carolina of Habsburg, wife of King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon and Marie Antoinette’s sister.

 

I recently stumbled on a recipe for a gattò created by Letizia Mattiacci, a Rome-based food writer, cookbook author, and Madonna del Piatto cooking class instructor. While Letizia uses ham, this potato cake can easily be made vegetarian by substituting spinach.

 

Letizia and I spoke about her winding path from entomologist, a biologist who studies insects, to agriturismo owner and then cooking class instructor. She told me about her gattò recipe and shared tips and tricks for achieving the perfect gattò structure.

 

 

What is your background?

I was born in Perugia, but my mother was from Librizzi, Sicily. She moved to Perugia in the 1960s for work, and there, she met my father, who was a local in Umbria. So, I spent my youth there. 

 

Then, I started a Ph.D. program in insect ecology. I didn’t speak a word of English, and I had never been anywhere. In the second year of my Ph.D. program, I took a plane for the first time to move to the United States for six months of lab work. And that was the first big adventure of my life.

 

I worked in a couple of labs in Washington, D.C. I worked in Beltsville, Maryland, at the USDA lab, and then I worked at Texas A&M University. I loved it so much that I went back in the second summer to finish some of the experimental work I had done there. 

After that, I started traveling for work. I found my first postdoc in the Netherlands. I met a lovely, tall, and skinny Dutch guy who, at some point later, I married. He’s also an entomologist. 

We worked as scientists in the Netherlands for three years and did some field work in Zimbabwe. I worked with the United Nations in Vienna and then got a job as an associate professor in Switzerland.

By then, we both had jobs in Switzerland and spent five years there. But then we discovered that an academic career with all the politics involved was not really our calling. So we did the romantic thing: We bought a farmhouse back in Umbria, in a beautiful place above the hills of Assisi. 

We bought this place in ’97, and it took us five years of hard work in Switzerland to finance the renovation. Then we went back to Umbria, had our baby, whose name is Tea, and started the adventure of innkeeping and cooking classes. 

We had friends everywhere, and I’ve always loved to cook. I discovered that people always ask you for a recipe when you are Italian. 

I always cooked with my mom or with my family. My Sicilian family mostly lived in Perugia, so we always had big Sicilian parties.

 

We had an agriturismo for more than 22 years, and it was marvelous, but we had to stop for many reasons. We sold it, and we moved it to Rome. 

 

Tell me about yourgattòrecipe.

In the south of Italy, you won’t find many recipes with potatoes. The original gattò was made with some sausage there, probably some salami. But my mother made it with cheese and ham because when we grew up in the 1960s, the concept that you should have had lighter food started to come in slowly. By the mid-70s and 80s, food had probably started to be less oily and less rich, while between the 1960s and the 1970s, it was very rich. 

My mother made this lovely potato puree. She cooked the potatoes and then riced them with a vegetable mouli. She then added eggs, a bit of olive oil, and quite a bit of Parmigiano. She then layered it in an oil pan with breadcrumbs and put some cheese and some ham in it. When you cut it in the middle, you have this sort of melting cheese that comes out of it.

My daughter is also very fond of the dish, so this is a tradition. I probably make it once every three weeks or so in the winter. 

 

Can you speak to the 18th-century history of this dish?

In that period, a lot of things happened. There is a dish called sartu, a rice dish. This is another dish that comes from French chefs and has been adopted in southern cooking. For a very long time, rice was not especially popular in Italy, and it was considered a food for the sick. 

Then, the French cooks at the Bourbon court elaborated on these exotic ingredients. They realized they had to offer them in a way that reflected the local tradition. Most likely, the French wouldn’t have made a rice casserole with tomato sauce, but they put tomato sauce in it, which made it more palatable for the local court.

What are some other Sicilian potato recipes you would recommend?

While in the past, potatoes were indeed not common in Sicilian cuisine, there are a handful of recipes that might be nice to consider. My grandmother Rosaria made whole-baked potatoes stuffed with meat and cheese.

 

Here are a couple more examples:

• Patate Vastase from Trapani
• Patate apparecchiate from Siracusa

 

What are some important tricks for achieving the rightgattòstructure?

It’s important to cook the potatoes just right so they don’t absorb too much water, and it’s important to have good-quality potatoes. Your equivalent in the U.S. would be Yukon Gold potatoes. If you have floury potatoes, they will absorb too much water, and your gattò will not have the right texture because you want it to be fluffy. In recent years, I have microwaved the potatoes because they do not absorb any humidity except their own.

If you boil your potatoes, do so with the peel on so they don’t absorb too much moisture. If you feel they’ve gotten a little bit overcooked, you could put them in the oven and dry them a bit after that. 

It’s important to do a good job with the ricing. Just smashing will not give you a good structure. The easiest way is actually using a vegetable mouli. 

Then, you beat the eggs in there quite soon while the potatoes are still warm. You beat all the ingredients together, but what matters is the eggs because they will hold it together.

After that, you can just put it in a bowl so it doesn’t stick and let it cool off. This is the most important part. It’s also important to taste it for seasoning because it has to be sweet. If you use ham, it is sweet; if you use some melting cheese, it is also sweet. If you don’t give it a little bit of salt and pepper and maybe a dash of nutmeg to contrast, then you will have something that is a bit bland.

  

The rest is very easy. Oil or butter your pan and sprinkle it with breadcrumbs—good breadcrumbs, not store-bought. [Get Letizia’s breadcrumbs recipe here.]

To keep the shell whole, take two spoons and spoon the potato all over the top. Then, wet one of the spoons and very lightly push it down. If you start moving your potatoes around, the crust will break.

For my recipe, I normally make three layers of potatoes, so you also have to decide how many potatoes to use for that size of pan. I like to use a Pyrex circular pan, but it works in many different pans. 

 

Then, I layer my cheese and ham. I like to use Scamorza, but it’s not easy to find in the United States. A good-quality cow’s milk cheese that melts easily without becoming watery is ideal. 

I make two layers and then sprinkle again with breadcrumbs, a little bit of Parmigiano, and a few dots of butter. 

 

What do you hope at-home cooks will take away from yourgattòrecipe?

This is an easy family food. It is good the day you make it and gives you good leftovers. You can make it for a party. It is a very easy, practical, and inexpensive dish to make nowadays. And it makes children very happy.

After a certain age, we worry about calories and blah blah. But it is good food; I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like it.

 

>>Get Letizia’sgattòrecipe here!<<

 

 

 

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