LOVE LETTER TO ITALY – Let me count the ways…
This affair has lasted well over fifty years. My love has never waned, in fact, it has grown stronger with time. Italy is my happy place. Nostalgia for better times has rekindled fond memories and COVID isolation has led me to reminisce about this extraordinary country. It is not easy to “count the ways” I love her because much of the person I AM today is because of time I spent with her and because of the life experiences I lived and learned there.
It is slightly smaller than the state of California, but it delivers a range of landscapes, cuisines, customs, and cultural heritage that is hard to match anywhere else in the world. If I had to use one word to describe her, it would be “bellezza“, beauty. To celebrate Italy’s culinary diversity, this week our menu takes from the entire peninsula, from north to south and the islands.