Italy Chef

madonna del piatto Profile

Toolbox

everyday good Italian food

Assisi, Umbria, Italy, Italy
Joined February 11, 2010
Advanced Cook
Featured Author

124 recipes

Top Chef, Top Photographer, Top Reviewer, 759 CookEatShare points

CookEatShare Points

Profile - 12

Recipes - 175

Photos - 416

Reviews - 42

Comments - 9

Invites - 0

Friends - 91

Groups - 14

Themes - 0

Total - 759

Learn More

Cooking Influences

I feel like I have been cooking forever and it is almost true. As I kid I lived in a central area of Perugia, my hometown. At that time it was perfectly safe not only to walk alone to school, but to return home before my parents went back from their office jobs.

As a 6 years old I already knew how to switch on the fire under the pasta pan. By the time my parents where back, the water would be boiling and we were able to eat quickly. We had pasta for lunch on working days. Roast chicken with potatoes on Sundays.
If our everyday meals were low profile, holidays were an entire different experience. In fact, a gastronomic extravaganza.

Half of my extended family is Sicilian and most of them live in Umbria. For Christmas or Easter, it was not unusual to have large parties of 15-20 people.
At each of these occasions, not only my mother, but all my Sicilian aunts and some uncles embarked in a sort of food contest. The contest functioned as follows:

1) each day of a holiday would be spent at a different house, i.e. Christmas at our house, New year’s Eve at zia Ida’s, New Year’s day at zia Anna and so forth

2) each day there would be a multicourse lunch or dinner

3) each meal would be different from the previous

There was no winner to the contest as all were wonderful cooks. These celebrations happened throughout my childhood and I remember them as an almost magical experience. There was no separate food for us kids. No junk food, no sodas. We were served a feast of elaborated dishes, all homemade, the results of the hard work the week preceeding the holiday. Images of crostini with chicken liver paté, lasagne, pasta incasciata, cardoons, veal rolls, stuffed pigeon, all sort of roast meat, big bowls of fresh salad, piles of sliced panettone, baskets of mandarins and nuts, all is impressed in my mind as a dream
So, my cooking school was my family. My inspiration is what is fresh and seasonal. And even though I love traditional Italian holiday dishes, I favor what can be done quickly after a long day of work. I cook everyday.

Comments

Reply

Veronica Gantley

June 4, 2012

I am so glad we are friends. I look forward to seeing many of your new recipes.

or Cancel

I am so glad we are friends. I look forward to seeing many of your new recipes.
or Cancel
Reply

Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner

June 21, 2011

Thanks for the great recipes!

or Cancel

Thanks for the great recipes!
or Cancel
Reply

Gordon Attard

February 10, 2011

Ciao! Noi siamo della stessa zona. I'm from the Island of Malta cooking Mediterranean Food. Mi ha piaciuto il tuo blog.

or Cancel

Ciao! Noi siamo della stessa zona. I'm from the Island of Malta cooking Mediterranean Food. Mi ha piaciuto il tuo blog.
or Cancel
Reply

Amos Miller

January 31, 2011

Letezia - OK! I made your Spiced Persimmon & Orange Jam. I have photos and a review. Do you want me to email everything to you? I don't have your email address so I can't attach the photos. Let me know where I can forward the photos and the review. Thanks! - Amos

or Cancel

Letezia - OK! I made your Spiced Persimmon & Orange Jam. I have photos and a review. Do you want me to email everything to you? I don't have your email address so I can't attach the photos. Let me know where I can forward the photos and the review. Thanks! - Amos
or Cancel
Reply

Amos Miller

January 25, 2011

Chef Madonna - Not only do I love your recipes and hungrily anticipate trying them, I am crazy about Umbria! A most beautiful and haunting place, and one of my favorite places to be. I resided for a while near Piana, by Lago Trasimeno and Castiglione de Trasimeno. So many outstanding meals - and some of the finest sausages I have ever eaten. I am really looking forward to sharing the virtual kitchen with you and I hope you will try something from my postings from time to time. Cooking well is its own reward! best regards - Amos

or Cancel

Chef Madonna - Not only do I love your recipes and hungrily anticipate trying them, I am crazy about Umbria! A most beautiful and haunting place, and one of my favorite places to be. I resided for a while near Piana, by Lago Trasimeno and Castiglione de Trasimeno. So many outstanding meals - and some of the finest sausages I have ever eaten. I am really looking forward to sharing the virtual kitchen with you and I hope you will try something from my postings from time to time. Cooking well is its own reward! best regards - Amos
or Cancel
Reply

I Sicilian

July 28, 2010

Great blog

or Cancel

Great blog
or Cancel
Reply

kathy gori

April 15, 2010

thanks for you email on the polenta..yes I'm Italian on both sides..Goris Gattos Baldocchis Landuccis...etc. I started cooking Indian food because for me it was so different and I love the many steps and precision.

or Cancel

thanks for you email on the polenta..yes I'm Italian on both sides..Goris Gattos Baldocchis Landuccis...etc. I started cooking Indian food because for me it was so different and I love the many steps and precision.
or Cancel
Reply

Frank Fariello

February 11, 2010

Salve!

or Cancel

Salve!
or Cancel

madonna del piatto Profile

Toolbox

everyday good Italian food

My Recipes

Sign Up — Free Membership it's free!

Recipes I Love

Popular Searches

Tasty Recipes

Other Chefs

Recipe Themes & Groups

madonna del piatto Profile

Toolbox

everyday good Italian food

CookEatShare Points

My blog

About me

Cooking Influences

Followers

Recommendations

Favorite Cookbooks

Restaurants I Recommend

Comments

Leave a comment

My Recipes

Sign Up — Free Membership it's free!

Recipes I Love

My Groups

Popular Searches

Tasty Recipes

Other Chefs

Recipe Themes & Groups