What’s in a name? So many of our favorite foods are actually named after cities and places in Italy! As you might have guessed, the Caprese salad with its ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella is named for the island of Capri in the Campania region but did you know that the famous Castelvetrano olive comes from town of Castelvetrano in Sicily? or that those sweet and sexy cantaloupe melons originated in the town of Cantalupo in Sabina, Lazio? How ’bout that all American favorite lunch meat Bologna? it’s from the city of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region. And lest we forget my favorite fish…Sardines! yep, from the island of Sardinia. There’s Parmigiano-Reggiano from the cities of Parma and Reggio in Emilia-Romagna, Gorgonzola from the town of Gorgonzola near Milan and of course the famous rolled pizza known as Stromboli; it hails from the Sicilian island of Stromboli and is the featured dish this week. No matter what we eat or what we call it, more than likely it came from Bella Italia! (at least that’s my story and I’m sticking with it!:) Franco Contaldo
