After this episode of Cooking with an Italian Accent, we'll be taking a two-week break. Partly to tackle the technical issues that are still keeping our blog in Google’s shadows. Partly to finish the Italian translation of Vegetables the Italian Way. And partly to make the most of these last summer weeks by pushing ahead with the renovation of the little apartment we’re restoring for next year’s guests.
Saturday is Ferragosto, one of the biggest holidays in Italy and the symbolic peak of summer, a day I fully intend to spend eating an unreasonable amount of watermelon, tucked away in the mountains of Mugello and searching for some respite from the heat near Monte Senario. After Ferragosto, the days will start to gather speed, and little by little that familiar melancholy I feel every year as summer begins to fade will return: as exhausting as this season can be, at times even brutal, I know I’ll miss its long days, its sense of freedom (sometimes more imagined than real), the vegetable garden, sun-kissed skin, and hair left to dry in the warm air.
I'm also hoping to devour a few detective novels, spend evenings watching the stars, enjoy long walks in the cool early mornings, and perhaps squeeze in a couple more day trips to the beach before summer slips away and school starts again.
Don't worry, though. While we're away, you'll still have an archive bursting with seasonal recipes to explore—pasta alla norma, Siena-style focaccia stuffed with ham and mozzarella, or stuffed zucchini and peppers, for example—, more than 20 hours of cook along replay videos to keep you company in the kitchen (perhaps fresh pasta could be your next end-of-summer project?) , and hundreds of stories from Tuscany waiting to be discovered, including my Florence foodie guide.
We'll be back in September with the announcement of a new season of cooking classes, a couple of recipes that will convince you to roast more peppers—including these tuna-stuffed pepper rolls), and, drum roll, please, the return of our live monthly cook-alongs. I can't wait to cook with you again, live, one Sunday a month!
And if you're new here, this might be the perfect time to wander through the archive. You may well find a recipe—or a story—you've been waiting for.
I spent more than a month reading Northanger Abbey when I was in high school, curled up on the sofa at home or with my nose buried in the book while waiting for the bus. I would carefully underline every word I didn’t know, then look it up in my dictionary as soon as I got home.
English was my superpower.
I was painfully shy at school and rarely raised my hand in class, but something changed during English lessons. I felt a little braver, even with my hesitant beginner’s English. Perhaps it was because making mistakes felt like part of the process rather than something to be ashamed of. So I threw myself into Jane Austen.
I learnt English because I fell in love with it, and I improved it because I found a way to study it through my passions: first it was Jane Austen, then British films and actors (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Love Actually, just to name a few) and eventually it was food and Jamie Oliver.
I was a proud subscriber to Jamie Magazine from issue number 2 until the very end, reading each recipe as if it were a poem, rolling the words on my tongue, savouring the verbs and adjectives. I’ve read and re-read Elizabeth David’s and Nigel Slater’s books for years, poring over their words and descriptions.
Now I teach my cooking classes in English. I record this podcast in English with my unmistakably Italian accent. I write my blog and newsletter in English, and I’ve even written two cookbooks directly in English for an American publisher.
I dare say I’m fluent in English, as long as we can talk about food. Don’t make me talk about politics, plumbing, or philosophy.
I know that many of you read both the English and the Italian versions of this newsletter to improve your Italian, expand your vocabulary, and become more confident and fluent in a language you love just as much as you love Italian food.
That’s why I wanted to invite someone who could help you do exactly that.
Today I’m talking with Margherita Berti, an Italian teacher now based in the United States, to inspire you and give you some tips on how to improve your Italian, through something you are equally passionate about, Italian food.
You can listen to the interview in today’s episode of Cooking with an Italian Accent
Where to find Margherita: Italian Matters
and her book: Speak the World Italian: History & Culture Through Language
and her Instagram profile: italianmatters
