Best of Regional Cuisine (Feb 20 - Mar 31)

Italy is made up of twenty regions with distinct characteristics. Every town, every village, makes the same dish in vastly different ways, and every town and village has its proudest specialty. These cooking traditions define people's identities just as much as their dialects and their traditional costumes. Local cooking preferences and customs are shaped by geographic, historical, and climactic differences: some regions are landlocked and mountainous, others hug the sea and are hilly; some regions have absorbed Arab or Greek influences, others have been marked by the French or Austrians; some regions live under the dazzling Mediterranean sun most of the year, others have cold winters, snow, fog, and harsh winds. Italy is a small country (less than half the size of Texas), but it is one with a long and venerable history. From the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 to 1861, when it was finally unified under one kingdom, Italy was made up of independent city states, republics, and regions that spent much of their time fighting off encroaching neighbors and outside intruders. This, along with the fact that the large-scale exchange of culinary traditions among Italians is a recent phenomenon (linked to modern roads, technology, and an improved post-war economy), explains how Italy managed to maintain its varied cuisines into the twenty-first century.

Beginning February 20th, each week, Gisella will combine our most popular dishes from the regions of Lombardia, Piemonte, Trentino, Friuli, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Toscana, Umbria, and Marches, and share with you our favorite recipes.

Please click on to our facebook link and like Gisella at facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gisella-Aspen/373184376043 to discover Chef Michel's menus on a weekly basis!