Ingredients: History, Uses & More

Cavolo cappuccio is the firm, round, smooth-leaved head cabbage that can be either purplish red or pale green, and most of my Italian cookbooks take it for granted: After devoting considerable space to describing the other varieties, in particular Savoy Cabbage and Kale, they simply mention it. There is more to cavolo cappuccio, however. Quite a bit more....

Cavolo cappuccio is the firm, round, smooth-leaved head cabbage that can be either purplish red or pale green, and most of my Italian cookbooks take it for granted: After devoting considerable space to describing the other varieties, in particular Savoy Cabbage (Cavolo Verza) and Kale (Cavolo Nero), they simply mention it, and perhaps say it's also used to make Sauerkraut. There is more to cavolo…

The Romans loved walnuts, and with good reason: Walnuts are still one of the nicer things about autumn, and an extremely versatile ingredient.

Walnut oil, which was once the everyday oil in much of Northwestern Italy, is making a comeback. It's tasty, and versatile. About it, and recipes too.

If you go up into the mountains in Italy you're certain to be offered game, for example venison, or mountain goat. How to enjoy it at home.

Italy has a vibrant wild boar population, and many recipes for preparing wild boar.

With a modern olive press the olives enter at one end, and the oil emerges from the other. Traditional presses are more labor intensive, but when carefully used give wonderful, richly aromatic olive oils. Francesco Nardi's press is one of the oldest in Tuscany, and his extravirgin olive oil is superb.

Watermelon is the most refreshing summer fruit. It's also quite healthy, and very low in calories. About watermelon in Italy and Italian watermelon recipes.

Susine and prugne, plums in English (the English word "prune" now refers to dried plums, but used to be interchangeable with plum, while the Italian "Prugna" refers to the kind of plum that is dried to make prunes ("prugne secche" in Italian)) are the result of a happy accident: a cross-pollination between wild plums and cherries...

Bottarga is salted, cured fish roe that is traditionally sliced thinly or ground and sprinkled on seafood pasta dishes. Bottarga's flavor is the essence of the sea: Fishy, but not in a bad way, and very briny from the salt. A little tossed in with spaghetti and clam sauce or sprinkled over fresh beans instantly transports you to the seaside.

If you visit most any Italian market you're sure to see them in a butcher's case. Long, grainy skinned, perhaps spotted, and with a pronounced hump; there's no mistaking what they are: Tongue, probably beef, or if they're a little smaller, veal. As meats go they're inexpensive...

Pliny the Elder mentions something quite like broccoli, and Italians, especially Southerners, have been enjoying it ever since. And well they might: It's inexpensive, tasty, and quite versatile

Cabbage is the quintessential Italian winter vegetable, and in the north the king of cabbages is Savoy Cabbage, or Cavolo Verza. It's good in soups, with rice or polenta, and is also an excellent side dish.

Zucchini and squash blossoms are an extraordinarily delicate summer treat. Zucchini blossoms are wonderful fried and delightful stuffed. How to select and cook zucchini blossoms.

Lentils are extremely versatile and quite tasty. They're also a requirement on New Year's Eve in Italy, and delicious at any time.

Mention beans and many people think of winter dishes such as fagiuoli all'uccelletto (white beans cooked with garlic, sage, olive oil, tomato sauce, and, quite often, link sausages), which will stick to the ribs and keep the cold at bay. However they're harvested in summer and can be extraordinarily refreshing in hot weather too.

Chickpeas, also known as garbanzos, may be native to the Orient, but have been a staple in the Mediterranean Basin for hundreds of years, and are quite common throughout Italy.

Fresh tuna is a wonderful treat, especially in the summer. About Italian tuna fishing traditions, and lots of tasty fresh tuna recipes.

Italian cooking is less garlicky than many think, though it does play a vital roll in Italian kitchens, and there are some tremendous exceptions to this generalization.

Olive oil is quite healthy: It lowers bad cholesterol, has antioxidants that can prevent cancer and improve organ function, and may even protect from age-related dementia. In short, a food that could be sold in the pharmacy.

Cavolo nero, black leaf kale, is a leafy cabbage that doesn't form heads, but rather resembles palm fronds, with deep greenish black leaves that can be up to a yard (a meter) long, have pronounced ribs, and whose surfaces have a distinctive bubbly appearance. It's quite tasty and perfect in hearty soups or over (or in) polenta.

Baccalà is salt cod sold by the slab, and you might think it an unlikely food to get excited over. But you'd be wrong, because well-cooked baccalà is a delight: Firm, slightly chewy, and not at all fishy in flavor. But very good, and easy to prepare too.

These's nothing worse than overripe fish. Here's how to avoid it, and how to estimate how long you should cook what you buy.

Onions are both herb and vegetable, and are fit for all seasons. About, purchasing, storage, and usage.

Some oils are better than others for frying. I find olive oil to be the best oil for frying.

Asparagus is the quintessential spring vegetable: Background, preaparation and lots of recipes

Come November, if you take a drive out into the countryside in Tuscany or the other Central Italian regions, you'll see people spreading parachutes around the olive trees and climbing up into them to strip away the ripe olives with gloved hands. What happens next? The olives are carted off to the frantoio, or olive press, to make oil, Athena's great gift to humanity. Here's How.

Oranges are one of the great bounties of winter: You can enjoy them as is, squeeze them, or cook with them, perparing everything from antipasti through sumptuous desserts.

If you visit Italy and drive out into the country, chances are you'll see many olive groves. COme fall the olives are harvested, and almost all are pressed to make olive oil. The best is extravergin, but there are many other grades as well, all of which have their uses. And even the best oil will fade quickly if it's not properly stored.

Fresh figs have been a South Italian staple for thousands of years. They're wonderful as is, make excellent jams, are superb in cakes, and that's just the beginning.

Broccoli raab (Brassica rapa var. cymosa), which are also known as cime di rapa in Italy, are a wilder member of the broccoli family with small, fairly loose florets... Information on purchasing and using it.

Cauliflower: One of the most classic winter vegetables, which is both tasty and healthful, and quite capable of taking center stage.

Stretching Porcini: On the subject of Porcini, which are ruinously expensive even in their dried form, especially outside of Italy, Sperozzo writes on the forum...

How to Dry Orange or Lemon Peel at Home: It's quite easy.

Though recipes frequently call just for "oil for frying" (including those on this site), you should know that not all oils are equally suited to the task. Escoffier suggests lard...

One of the easiest ways to save in a supermarket is to do the preparation yourself. Take chicken, for example: If you buy it cut up into serving-sized pieces it's going to cost significantly more than a whole chicken because the supermarket will pass on the cost of paying the person to cut up the chicken in the back room. The solution? Do it yourself.

According to Pellegrino Artusi, a good béchamel sauce and a properly cooked meat sauce are the principal secrets of refined cooking...

When one lives in a country one tends to assume that the national dishes are served the same way beyond the national borders -- this is not necessarily the case when it comes to pasta. The major difference between pasta as it is served in Italy and pasta as it is served elsewhere is that for an Italian pasta is generally a first course, to be...

Cuttlefish are very common in Italian waters, and play an important part in everything from appetizers through elegant entrees.

Testaroli are a specialty of the Lunigiana region, a wild, isolated valley that extends inland along the border between Tuscany and Liguria. They derive their name from the testo, a flat or slightly domed cast iron or stone griddle that they're cooked on, and are quite ancient: The city of Pontremoli, Lunigiana's capital, levied a tax on testi in 1391 and reaffirmed it in 1564. Indeed, testaroli might actually be a forerunner of the pasta that's eaten throughout the rest of the Peninsula.

Oranges are one of the great bounties of winter.

Buying and preparing this amazingly versatile winter vegetable.

Asparagus is the quintessence of spring.

Unexpected delight from Salt Cod -- how to select and prepare it.

Pesto sauce, the Ligurian variety made with basil, garlic, pine nuts, and cheese, is one of the most refreshing summer pasta sauces going. And versatile too; you can do much more than put it over trenette.

Astonishingly tasty beans. Some thoughts on what they're known as in the US, too.

More on them, and what they're called in the US.

The Valtellina's delicate air-cured meat can now be found in the US. Info, and a recipe.

Close cousins of the artichoke, and a classic winter vegetable in Northern Italy.

Chickpeas make for wonderful hearty soups.

Sicilian, and also Jewish.

Grano Farro has a long and glorious history: it is the original grain from which all others derive, and fed the Mediterranean and Near Eastern populations for thousands of years; somewhat more recently it was the standard ration of the Roman Legions, and now, after a long period of eclipse, it is making a roaring comeback.

A fine-graiend Sardinian pasta that's good served dry with a sauce, and very tasty in soup too.

Bulb fennel is one of the treats of winter.

The King of Cheeses has many uses.

Pork was a seasonal meat in Italy, and much more popular in winter than summer.

How to select and roast a chestnut, one of the unsung heros of Italian cuisine.

Lentils are a requirement on New Year's Eve that's delicious at any time.

Porcini are one of God's great gifts to Humanity, a mushroom delicate enough to flavor a sauce, yet vigorous enough to stand up to a grilled steak with Barolo.

A few words on selecting eggplant and their place in the Italian diet.

Tips on buying extra-virgin olive oil, and recipes that use it.

Summer brings to mind many things, especially peaches.

That's bell peppers, not sausage. A few words on buying and preparing them.

Some unusual ways to use hot peppers.

Italy has thousands of miles of coastline, rivers, and lakes. All this makes for lots of fish. Tips for selecting it, and ideas for cooking it up when you get home.

It really is bright red, and is one of the most glorious of all winter vegetables.

There's lots one can do with cuttlefish!

How to prepare live ones, and a hearty polenta sauce to make from them

Announce the arrival of spring.

Apples, the classic fall fruit, have many uses.

Some hold they're a precursor of pasta. They're fantastic with pesto sauce.

What could be more refreshing in summer?

A classic Italian dish. Background, preparation, and a basic recipe.

A Ligurian variation on gnocchi that's one of the best foils for pesto there is.

Thoughts on the fish and some tasty recipes.

Selecting and cooking a quintessential summer vegetable.

All sorts of general information on gelatins, from Peggy Trowbridge, About's Home Cooking Guide.

Peggy's notes on an herb Pellegrino Artusi approved of, "in moderation..."

From Diana Rattray, About's Southern Cooking Guide: Purchasing info, nutrition, and links to a bunch of recipes, including some with meat.

From Peggy Towbridge, About.Com's home cooking Guide.

An astonishing amount of information compiled by Peggy Trowbridge, About.Com's home cooking guide.

Fellow About.Com guide Peggy knows an amazing amount about this most versatile of veggies.

Ideas for using Aceto Balsamico di Modena, which is to vinegar what a Ferrari is to a car.

A fascinating site dedicated to medicinal and aromatic herbs, with pictures and uses of each, as well as growing tips and where to find them. In Italian & English.

An exhaustive glossary with lots of photos, synonyms and more. Interesting!

As Artusi notes, a good white sauce is a cornerstone of many dishes. A handy page with instructions on how to make one quickly in the microwave, with variations depending if the recipe is to be sweet or savory.

An interesting chestnut page with nutritional info (very little fat!) and instructions for roasting them in the microwave.

About the Chianina breed and its introduction to the US -- general information, nicely done, with pretty photos.

Another site, with much more information on the glorious hot pepper.

A nice page of jerry facts and figures, with listings of the most common varieties and what to do with them. Useful.

Jim Coleman and Candace hagan give all sorts of information on Truffles... The black ones from Périgord, but it's entertaining nonetheless.

A fascinating look at an essential item in coffee production that people often overlook: the container for the roasted beans, to be displayed in a shop or coffee house. In Italy some of the finest containers are made of maiolica, and are extremely beautiful.

Primarily devoted to the herb, with some notes on cooking and medicinal uses too. Turns out the seeds are a good breath sweetener.

Interesting suggestions for flavoring your pasta water, and alternative ideas for adding liquid to risotto as well. Fun!

The Artisan's exhasutive and impressive exploration of European (and especially Italian) flours. Must reading for bakers!

Mascarpone is the soft, delicately flavored creamy cheese that forms the underpinning of Tiramisu and a great many other desserts, though it also finds its way into all sorts of savory dishes. If it is not available where you live, here's a good substitute.

An interesting overview of the many varieties of the Noble Bulb, with ideas on preparation, keeping and more. Pictures too.

Excellent advice from Derrick, About.Com's barbecue guide.

And vinegars, panzanella, and many interesting thoughts about gardening. From La Lama Family Secrets.

Indispensable in certain situations...

Sims Brannon, of In Italy.Com, describing his search for truffles and the trifulau -- those who wander the mists in search of white gold.

An excellent overview of Italian cured meats, beginning with a discussion of Italian salumi (cured meats), followed by recipes and a detailed alphabetical listing of the various kinds, from Baldonazzi (blood sausages from Trentino) though Zampone (Modena's glorious stuffed pig's trotter).

Barton Brands imports Caravalla's Limoncello, and though they do suggest you drink it, they have also assembled a tasty collection of recipes featuring their limoncello -- everything from antipasti to desserts!

Indispensable for translating recipes form most European cookbooks.

From your Mining Co. Guide.

How to make it at home. It's more involved than some cheeses, but success will bring satisfaction.

Lots of information on what's available in the US, with pictures as well. Handy and nicely done.

An incredible collection of mushroom information, with everything from growing to shitakes to preserving portabellas.

An interesting collection of non-wheat flours, with photos and substitution suggestions, from The Cook's Thesaurus.

The process, from cleaning the olives to storing the oil once it comes out the press.

Everything you need to know about Athena's gift to Humanity.

Lots about both, with descriptions and pictures of the olives available in the US, and information on the various categories of olive oil, from Extravergine on down. Well done.

A quick page dedicated to one of the more classic South Italian herbs, which brings with it the clean crisp smells of forest and field.

The spice trade played a fuindamental role in commerce for centuries, and laid the groundowrk for a significant part of modern trade as well. Interesting.

A neat, though complex site, with lots of flash graphics leading to recipes information on rice, and lots more. Fun to explore!

How to make raveggiolo, a smooth creamy cheese that's nice spread and an important ingredient in many dishes -- calls for whole, unpasteurized milk.

All about fats and how they interact with cholesterol, from Peggy, About.Com's Home Cooking Guide.

An excellent factual article with info on purchasing (including American varieties), cleaning and storage, and a number of recipes and usage tips. Nicely done.

All about them -- turns out there are 16 species, only two worth killing for. From the Marche Voyager.

Corby's Kummer's view of a delight few have ever tasted.

How to use it, and why you should not use what's sold in supermarkets as "cooking wine" if you live in the US.

A quick rundown on the various forms of the Gift of the Gods from throughout the world.

You'd think you knew all about it, but there are some good tips here.

A fascinating site dedicated to the glorious melon, with lots of information!

Chantilly is whipped cream with some powdered sugar and vanilla added, and is nice. If you fold it into pastry cream, however, you end up with a voluptuous treat Italians call Crema Chantilly, which is perfect for layer cakes, pastries, and more.

Pecorino Roamno is an anciant cheese, enjoyed by the Romans and still very popular even now.

Caciocavallo is a South italian cheese that closely resembles Provolone. Provolone is South Italian in style, but also made in the north, and is wonderful both as is and as an ingredient.