Pork ragu and other hearty meat sauces are one of the specialties of the Northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. They are paired with tagliatelle, the regional pasta, a fresh string noodle about 1/4 inch thick. Pork shoulder is an excellent cut for a braised ragu – it’s inexpensive, and the long, slow cooking brings out [...]

I’m working at an Italian restaurant now, and doing a sort of study of Italian regional cuisines on my own time. My goal is to learn the similarities and differences between each of the Italian regions, before I move on to my next job, in either a French or Mediterranean restaurant. The food of Tuscany, [...]

I’ve been a big fan of Pappardelle, the ridiculously wide pasta ribbons, ever since I first had it at Trigo, a Mediterranean restaurant I worked at in Tribeca. We served it with a lobster and tomato confit sauce, garnished with half of a lobster claw. Pappardelle is a popular pasta among New York chefs and [...]

Here is a simple stir-fried beef dish with colorful strips of red and green peppers, a quick marinade, and a tasty sauce of Sichuanese sweet bean paste and soy sauce. Authentic Chinese cooking does not get much easier than this. There’s a little prep work involved – cutting the beef into thin strips that will [...]

I was looking for a couple recipes to try on my days off last week, and this rabbit dish from one of Charlie Trotter’s books caught my eye. It was the flavor combination that attracted my attention: mildly gamey rabbit, peppery, bitter arugula, sweet figs, and rich goat cheese. So I bought a frozen rabbit [...]

This simple Italian pork dish is all about crisp, fresh, spring flavor. A salad of raw baby artichokes, fava beans, arugula, and frisée keeps the palate clear and refreshed, while shards of pecorino add a sharp, salty note. The lemon-olive oil marinade adds brightness to the dish, and also cuts the fat of the pork, [...]