An Italian Spring Cooking Class with Domenica Marchetti in Charleston, South Carolina, USA

The recipe for this delicate, light and lemony crostata is available on Domenica’s web-site:  Lemon Ricotta with Mascarpone Crostata

Domenica graciously allowed me to interview her before her cooking class!  With her incredibly busy schedule, I was honored to have her take the time to speak to me!  Here’s what this amazing chef and cookbook author shared:

• You’ve been cooking recipes from your Italian heritage, what do you believe are the most important keys to success for preparing Italian food at home?

Fresh ingredients and seasonality are the first things that come to mind. So much of Italian cooking depends on the integrity of the ingredients. Also, restraint. There still persists this perception that Italian cooking is heavy, but that’s not true. It is healthful when prepared properly.

• In my family, life is centered around the ‘tavola’ (table).  Please share your own personal Italian family experiences in your home’s ‘cucina’ (kitchen):

We try to sit down every night together for dinner. With two teenagers and a husband who works at a newspaper this can be a challenge. We often don’t sit down until after 7:30 or 8 p.m. I know this is considered early according to Italian dining habits but pretty late here in the U.S. But for me it’s important that we all gather at the table at the end of the day and share at least that one meal together. In Italy, we’ve enjoyed many meals that have lasted for hours (and hours). You know the old saying: “A tavola non s’invecchia mai.” (One never grows old at the table.)

• What compelled you to write your latest Italian cookbook focused on vegetables?

It goes back to that misguided perception we have of Italian cooking as being heavy and high in fat and starches. But in fact Italy is a Mediterranean country with a Mediterranean climate and many micro-climates. So many vegetables grow beautifully there, and Italians have countless ways of preparing them. With all of the farmers’ markets that we have now in the U.S. we have access to most of the vegetables that are prominent in Italian cooking (I like to say from artichokes to zucchini) and the time just seemed right to shine a light on this important aspect of Italian cuisine.

• As one of the most beloved ethnic cuisines around the world, Italian food is also considered by some to be fattening.  Knowing that 3 of the world’s top 10 places for the highest longevity of life are in Italy, how do you respond to this notion that Italian food is fattening?

Italian food itself isn’t necessarily fattening. I think it’s more Italian-American food that is richer. Also, any food will be fattening if you overdo it on portions, and that’s what we Americans tend to do. In Italy the plates of pasta aren’t piled so high and we don’t drown the pasta in sauce. People eat much more judiciously. I will say that there is a growing weight problem in Italy. Unfortunately this seem to be due to the fact that Italians are picking up bad American habits of eating more fast food and snacks.

• My family came from the Italian provence of Emilia-Romagna where today, many of my relatives still live, also known as the gastronomical center of Italy.  Because I share travel experience with my readers, what places are on your ‘must-visit’ list for foodies when traveling in Italy . . . please feel free to discuss more than one area and why you recommend these places.

Emilia-Romagna is beautiful but my heart belongs to Abruzzo, where my mom was born and raised and where I spent my summers growing up. It is one of Italy’s most diverse and spectacular regions. For those who are not familiar with Abruzzo, it is due east of Rome and stretches from the Apennine mountain range out to the Adriatic coast. The cuisine reflects the region’s dramatic landscape. There is the hearty cuisine of the mountains ~ arrosticini (lamb skewers), porchetta, sheep’s milk cheeses, a variety of pastas ~ and the cuisine of the Adriatic coast, including many variations of fish and shellfish stews. Great wine and olive oil is also produced in Abruzzo, and some of the best commercial pasta comes from the region (including Cocco, De Cecco, Del Verde, and Rustichella d’Abruzzo).

The most appealing feature of Abruzzo is that, unlike other Italian regions, it is not overrun by tourists. It has three national parks within it borders and remains largely unspoiled. I have organized two very small, intimate culinary tours of the region, in which we’ll meet some wonderful food artisans and explore mountain villages, vineyards, and the countryside. I’ll be teaching hands-on cooking classes, too, so it’s going to be lots of fun. If any of your readers are interested, they can read more about it on my site: http://www.domenicacooks.com/tours/

• Is there anything else that you would like to add to help my readers traveling to Italy?

If you travel to Italy, be sure to get off the beaten path. Some of the best cooking and exploration can be found in the small hilltop towns and mountain villages that aren’t in all the tourist brochures. 

• As I did, you also grew up in an Italian family and had the same experiences at an Italian home’s family table where time was spent slowing down, spending time socializing with family while your sister and you made home-made ravioli or gnocchi while you were still youngsters.  Later, your Italian-Americn family would have you spend summers in Italy.  How did these experiences influence you to get to this present moment in your culinary career?

Well I’m sure it has all influenced me ~ after all I ended up writing Italian cookbooks!

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And now . . . (DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!) . . . here is the amazing and GENEROUS Italian/South Carolina giveaway straight from Domenica herself and from me in South Carolina:

Domenica is giving away one copy of her beautiful new cookbook, “The Glorious Vegetables of Italy” to one of my fortunate readers!  This beautiful cookbook is rated 5-stars by the clientele of Barnes and Noble . . . yes, it’s that great of a cookbook!

I am also giving two additional “made in Charleston, SC” food items as part of this giveaway:

From one of the only remaining rice plantations in the entire United States, one lucky reader will also receive a 1-pound sack of the most delicious rice, “Carolina Gold” that rivals the flavor of both Italian Arborio and Asian Basmati rice . . . perfect for making Italian risotto!  

Please note that this rice is not actually gold in color, but rather is creamy white and given it’s name from the golden color that the rice stalks have growing in the fields of South Carolina (as seen in the photos below):

The golden stalks of rice which produce “Carolina Gold” long-grain rice of S.C.