Episode 36: Pugliese Cuisine with Cinzia Rascazzo

Hosts Sara, Jessica, & Michelle discuss a new Pompeii exhibit in New York City and a proposed train tunnel that threatens Michelangelo’s David in Florence. Then we talk about Pugliese cuisine with Cinzia Rascazzo, a cooking school owner in Puglia.

Eye on Italy News Stories:

• Pompeii Exhibit in NYC Shines Light on Buried City
• Michelangelo’s David ‘could collapse due to high-speed train building’

Special Guest
Cinzia Rascazzo is co-founder of the Stile Mediterraneo Cooking & Wine School in Puglia, a Harvard MBA, wine sommelier, olive oil taster and professional pianist. After living abroad for 15 years, in 2005 Cinzia realized she was missing the good food, blue sea, and the slow life she had in Italy, so she quit her finance job in NY/London and went back to Puglia. Now she and her sister Marika, a cardiologist, run the Stile Mediterraneo School as a way to share their cuisine, culture and love of Puglia while focusing on the simple, home-made and healthy cuisine they learned from their grandmothers.

She blogs about food, wine and travel in Puglia at her blog Stile Mediterraneo Cooking Puglia and is on Twitter @Puglia4Foodies and on Facebook at Stile Mediterraneo Italian Cooking and Wine School.

Eye on Italy Angolo d’Italiano:

• orecchiette
  • literally: “small ears” – also: pasta shape typical of Puglia
• pausa and pisolino
  • pausa = the break after lunch when shops close in many Italian towns
  • pisolino = nap; usually a pisolino is taken after lunch or a heavy meal

Eye on Italy Picks of the Week:

• Sara: Olivetti Lancia Olipad, il primo tablet italiano (in italiano)
  
• Jessica: New way to buy Italy train tickets on WhyGo Italy – with the great Trenitalia advance-purchase discounts, without the need for an Italian credit card
• Michelle: Tuscany for Foodies iPhone app; Calabria Table Tour with Cherrye Moore & Tania Pascuzzi
• Cinzia: Trailer of the Focaccia Blues Movie; Pizzica Tarantella dance video from Lecce Salento area
• Deal of the Week:
  • New York-Milan from $610 roundtrip, late March
  • See the WhyGo Italy travel deals page for the latest travel deals

Videos of the week:
Pizzica Tarantella:

Focaccia Blues Trailer:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS