Hey there! We are Barbara and Silvana, two dear friends who have known each other for many years. We did a lot of things together: adventures, travels, parties and dinners with mutual friends.
We became moms around the same time, 23 years ago. Now the kids have grown up and became very good friends too.
We both live in the same city - Milan - and what we have in common is a passion for travel and for Italian cuisine.
Speaking of these two aspects, a few years ago we took a few days trip to the beautiful city of London, with our husbands and kids.
In a big mall in downtown, we stopped in an area of the store dedicated to Italian culinary products: pasta, sauces, rice, cheeses ... We were curious to know which Italian products and brands had made their way into the hearts of English people.
Italian Food Products Known Abroad
Well, we have not found any of Italian brands that are the most famous in our country. There were unknown brand names on the shelves.
And what about the food products? Only few types of pasta, spaghetti and macaroni; 2 types of sauces (pesto and tomato); finally the Parmigiano, Pecorino and truffles! Truffle? Do you really think that Italians often eat truffles? And that truffles are an Italian product? No really, no other country has got truffles?
Parmigiano cheese. Did you know that there are about 500 different types of cheeses in Italy? Why are only Parmigiano, Pecorino and Gorgonzola famous abroad? And which kind of Pecorino? Roman, Tuscan or Sardinian?
More over, the most famous Italian pasta sauce sold in a jar is the marinara sauce. But it is the simplest pasta sauce ever! Tomato, garlic, oil and oregano. It's worth doing it at home! Homemade marinara sauce is certainly tastier and cheaper. As well as pesto sauce. Nowadays, it takes a quarter of an hour to make homemade pesto!
But what surprised us most, was a tomato passata in a jar, 100% made in Italy according to the label, made with Italian tomatoes but produced in Germany! A disappointment.
A Question That Has No Short Answer
A few days later, we read on Quora (a famous website where anyone can ask any kind of question and whoever wants to can answer) this question: "Why aren't Italians fat if they eat carbohydrates (pasta) a lot?"
Everyone in Italy knows that pasta does not make you fat. It depends on how much you eat and how you season it. But that goes for any food, of course.
After reading this and other similar questions on the eating habits of Italians, we suspected that perhaps, outside Italy, people don't really know what Italians eat.
We tell you one thing right away. We don't eat junk food.
Step by Step Recipes
It was in those days that we made the decision to make a website that explained in a simple, clear and intuitive way how and what Italians eat. So, all the recipes you find on this site are made in our home kitchens: recipes that we experiment, re-propose, try, but - above all - dishes that finally we want to eat!
Yes, we eat like this for lunch and dinner. Our kids and husbands come back from school or work and they know they will find a freshly made carbonara, Amatriciana, lasagna, arancini, chicken cutlets or pizza just out of the oven and a jam tart or tiramisu for dessert, just to name a few of the dishes we make almost daily.
Anyone Can Learn to Cook Anything
It's said that Italy is a country of Cooks. It's true! Everyone in Italy knows how to cook traditional Italian dishes. Men and women. Young and old.
There is this myth that Italian grandmothers have handed down the most famous dishes of Italian cuisine from generation to generation. This is also true!
We also want to add that first of all it was our mothers who taught us how and what to cook, since it doesn't matter if an Italian mother works and is away from home all day. She always puts a dish on the table and she knows how to do it right.
If everyone knows how to cook then we can say it's not such a difficult thing. We can also think about teaching how to cook "Italian style" through simple and effective recipe-tutorials. Why not?
Recipes from Italy: All you Need to Know about Italian Food
Therefore our aim is to make known how the dishes of Italian cuisine are really made; what are the tricks used to cook like an Italian; what are the best products to choose and the utensils we usually use in the kitchen to make our best recipes.
And so you'll know that in Italy we make carbonara with guanciale and not with pancetta, that we don't put parsley on every dish, that it's not true that we use a lot of garlic in our dishes. Also, why do people have to always cover the flavour of other ingredients with parsley and garlic? It's a shame!
You'll find out that the lasagna you eat in the north of Italy (lasagna Bolognese) is not the same as the one you eat in the south (Neapolitan lasagna).
We'll explain why there are different types of pizza in Italy: almost every region has its own (Neapolitan, Tuscan, Pugliese, to name a few).
We'll show you authentic Italian recipes explained step by step, with pictures for each phase, in the hope of making you love our cuisine and our beautiful country even more. #eatlikeanitalian
Barbara Felicità Lucchini
My grandmother passed on to me not only her recipes, but also stories, traditions and the soul of Italian cuisine....
Silvana Nava
From a tender age, I was drawn to the scents and flavors of Italian cuisine, inspired by my nonna's ancient recipes and the rich culinary traditions of Lombardy.
Throughout my life, I became the heart and soul of every family gathering, delighting friends and family with my dishes ranging from classic Milanese risotto to delicious osso buco...