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I: Interviewer.
M.L.: Maria Liberati

I: What prompted you to write your first cookbook?

M.L.: I never realized how interested people were in Italian food until I began seriously studying cooking. When I would be shopping at the supermarket, going through the rigorous tests I give my fruits and vegetables before I buy them, people would always ask me how to choose and use a particular fruit or vegetable. And then when I started to teach cooking programs, my students were always asking for specific recipes for different dishes that they had heard about but didn’t know how to make. So
with the encouragement of my fiancé, who is an architect in Italy, and my parents, I began to compile recipes that I had gathered over the years and put them together in a book along with stories about my travels in Italy.

I: How did you choose which recipes to include?

M.L.: Most of the them are family recipes—dishes that I learned to make by helping my grandmother and my mother as I was growing up. Of course, these are the ultimate comfort foods for me. Penne arrabbiata, fresh spinach with garlic and olive oil, “sugo,” a sauce made with fresh tomatoes and basil—these take me right back to my mother’s kitchen. Others are unique recipes that I learned while working with chefs throughout Italy. Many of these are for regional specialties that are almost synonymous with the areas that produced them—Crostini Napoletana, Lasagna Verde Bolognese Style, Spinaci fiorentina. Still others are treasured recipes I learned from friends who were kind enough to share them with me and show me how to make them. Learning to make many of these delicious dishes was difficult because I found that many of the best cooks—especially in Italy—don’t use recipes or measure ingredients. You have to cook with them a few times to get a “feel” for how to prepare the dish and how much of each ingredient to use.

I: There are a lot of cookbooks out there; what separates yours from the rest?

M.L.: The one thing I want to convey is that what makes Italian cuisine so special is not just the food itself, although, of course, it is quite wonderful. What makes it special is the combination of how you prepare the food, where the recipes come from, the stylish way you serve it and the gathering at the table with loved ones to eat. What makes the book unique is that we tried to combine all of those aspects here. Food is my passion. I hope that preparing delicious meals for family and friends will become a passion for readers, too.

I: What can we in the United States learn from the way Italians view of food?

M.L.: Food nourishes not only the body but it also nourishes relationships. Cooking for someone is giving love. A study was recently done in the United States that showed that kids who sit down to eat together with their families at least five times a week are 85% less likely to have serious problems with drugs and crime. The study also found that couples who cook together and eat together have longer and happier relationships. I see so many couples together in my cooking programs, which is wonderful. They realize, just like I do, that cooking, preparing and eating food together is not a chore, but a joy.