Elizabeth Minchilli's February 2018 Newsletter
february 2018 newsletter
I’ve had a blissfully quite January. I know a lot of people don’t like January, but it’s always been my favorite month. After what is always a hectic end of the year, January always feels like one long nap. The days are shorter, the house is cozy and warm and I usually am not traveling much. It’s also the time when Rome is relatively empty. It’s definitely low season for tourism, and the entire city feels more relaxed somehow.
Since it is low season, and the flight tickets are at their lowest, it’s also the time when friends come to visit. I’ve had two very dear and old friends stay with us this month, and I took advantage of having ‘tourists’ in my house to head out with them to see the sites. Since my friends are art historians, it meant a lot of art watching, which I realize I don’t do nearly enough of. I’m like most people, and rarely take the trouble to go visit the major monuments where I live. But last month, since both friends were here to see the Bernini show, I had a crash course in fantastically carved marble. Not only was the show at Galleria Borghese amazing, we wandered all over Rome seeing Bernini’s churches and sculptures, some of which I’d not seen in over 20 years.
what's new
My website was long overdo for a re-freshening. Not only does it have a new look (to go with my new logo) but it’s also got better working bits and pieces behind the scenes. Let me know if there is anything that needs tweaking. And thank you Nicolee for working so hard to make it all shiny and new!
I’m also busy working on a new updated version of my app, Eat Italy. My development team (who is based in India) is not only fixing things like mapping and search functions, they’re - finally! - helping me launch an android version!! If you already own the iTunes version, don’t worry, this new version will slip right in, as an update, without you having to do anything at all. And if you don’t have it on your phone already? What are you waiting for? Eat Italy is a free app and contains guides to Florence, Rome, Venice as in app purchases. It also contains guides to Puglia, Umbria, Milan and Torino that are completely free! And I’ll be adding free guides to Sicily, Naples, Emilia Romagna, Sardinia, and more.
Sophie and I took a quick trip down to Puglia last week to put the final touches on our Week in Puglia trip. It’s almost here! I know it’s taken a while, but I wanted to make sure I got all the details right! The trip will take place in spring and fall of 2019. I should be posting the dates in the next few weeks. In the meantime, we have the last 2 spots left on our Umbria tour in May! Email me if you’d like to join us.
And our Market tours in Rome and day trips up to Umbria and into Lazio will continue as always. I”m also doing a limited number of private dinners this spring and summer, so let me know if you’re interested in that.
videos
This last year I’ve spent so much time writing that I kind of let my video making slide. Sorry! I’m already off to a better start in 2018 and here is this video I shot while I was in Puglia. It’s not so much a recipe, as a technique you can use with any pizza or basic bread dough. I'll be posting lots more videos in the coming months, so make sure you're signed up to my YouTube channel.
Thrillist wrote and asked if they could re-edit my Making Mozzarella video. I said yes, and this is what they came up with, which I think is pretty cute (and it’s gotten over 1 million views!)
I guess people who watch videos on YouTube are super concerned about hygiene when it comes to food. At least that’s the gist I get when reading through the hundreds of comments on my original Mozzarella video and the Tomato Paste video I posted a few months ago. What is wrong with people??! By all means join the conversation and set these people straight.
what I'm reading
Read this for the recipe, but also for the writing, which is just as delicious.
Fats: what we know, but mostly what we don't know. The one thing that seems clear at the end of reading this densely and well written article is that we should all be following the Mediterranean Diet for the win.
For those of us who live in Europe, the refusal of most doctors to prescribe opioids after surgery is, at first, shocking. This thought provoking op-ed helps explain things, from a personal point of view, and really puts things in perspective when looking at the drug crisis in the USA.
What I’m watching
Did you know there was a Nutella riot in France?
Roman taxi drivers go to finishing school to learn manners.
There is so much wrong with this recipe for cacio e pepe I don’t know where to begin.
This blog post is everything you could wish for. #metoo
events
I’ll be in NYC later this month, giving a talk on creating culinary tours. I’ll be attending the International Association of Culinary Professional Conference, and I can't wait to meet up with friends and colleagues I haven’t seen in way too long. Sorry to say, the event is not free. You have to be a member of IACP, and then buy a ticket to the conference. But if you are going to be there, make sure you say hi.
My big project this past January was planning events to promote my new book, Eating My Way Through Italy. I’ll be visiting New York, Boston, DC, Los Angeles and San Francisco at the end of May and beginning of June. I’m just finalizing the dates now, and all the details will be up on my website, here, in the next few weeks.
One of the things I’m super excited about is that I am doing cooking events at Eataly in New York, Boston and Los Angeles. The New York event is already up here, I’d love it if you joined me!
and finally....
In case you missed them, here are some of my recent posts:
Rolando came over to my house and cooked dinner from his book Autentico. As he would say ‘how lucky am I?’
Winter is legume season for me, and I’ve had this porky lentil soup on frequent rotation.
Here are my favorite markets in Rome (with some navigation tips)
Dreaming of sunny days in Puglia.
I'm also dreaming of these pastries, but thankful they aren't on my daily route.
x,Elizabeth
