Notes from Stella's Kitchen

Although I missed the trip Paul speaks about in his story of this month, I have been with him on other occasions to visit La Spezia and other places in Italy. From a food standpoint, my visits were remarkable. I had the pleasure to discover first hand why Italian cuisine is considered one of the finest in the world. Theirs is a style and approach to eating, nay dining, that is unique to all the rest of European cooking. Its secret is simplicity and silent elegance. It is something that I have tried to instill in all my cooking. In our travels, we quickly found both southern and northern Italian food equally fantastic, but I also found both much different in style and taste.

Where but in Naples would you walk by your customary restaurant and have the head waiter come rushing out and ask what time you would be eating there that night? It seems the cook had an exceptionally nice fish that he wanted us to try, but since it took a while to fix, he needed to know when we would be eating. I told him and that night Paul and I and a friend had a remarkable meal. To me this was the height of elegance and thoughtfulness, yet later when I mentioned this to our Neapolitan friends, they thought it quite normal.

What was different about our visits with Mario and Paola was that unlike other Europeans who, when they have visitors, consider their city their dining room and take you out to eat, Mario and Paola often entertain their guests with diners at their home. From this I was able to get in their small kitchen and witness a completely different way of cooking than what I have been accustomed to.

We’ve added Mario and Paola’s chicken recipe to this column. It is a very nice dish. Try it. I think you will enjoy it.

Oh, yes, if you visit Italy and enjoy a good meal, think of us. We will be with you in spirit.

Caio