Sono Arrivata a Casa!

After over three weeks of traveling all over Italy, I have finally arrived home! Although I am in love with the food of Italy, it will be nice to give my palate a bit of a break from eating too much good food and drinking delicious, local wines. {yes, even too much of a good thing needs a break}.

The main purpose for going to Italy was to meet with other artisan producers, visit local markets and be inspired by distinctively indigenous ingredients from various regions. It was an honor to be invited and the host couldn't have been charming and fun. My travels took me from Asti, near Milano, to Chianti





to down south to Basilicata, Sicily and Sardegna.



I feel fortunate to have tasted many delicious artisan products and it was an added bonus to be welcoming into the owner's homes or favorite local restaurant and share a meal using their products {and practice my Italian!} with these talented, committed producers. And, the one thing that was the most enlightening revelation for me on the trip was how similar Bella Cucina is to many of these producers. Bella Cucina has always used the finest ingredients, made everything in small batches by hand, and packages them with the care and beauty that is required to deliver a product of the highest quality and visually esthetic presentation. It was over 14 years ago that I created Bella Cucina. I am still utterly inspired by inspired by what I see when I travel and humbly proud of what we have created and how we continue our committed practice of honoring the artisan way of producing. Our production team has been the same {with a few family additions} from almost day one of our business and they are my heros that cook the recipes I have created each and every day to make consistently delicious artful food. Grazie!



I am working on new and exciting products for Bella Cucina and look forward to sharing them with you as we create them in our kitchen and work in partnership with other artisan producers to bring the best quality and most delicious products. Our own local farmer's markets are now open and I can't wait to see what is being harvested for this weeks inspiration.



Thanks for joining me on my journey! I welcome all of you to send me your comments, suggestions and requests so I can be sure to feature more of what you want to see, hear and taste. I will continue to send you more posts about the adventures I experienced, the food I tasted and the beautiful countryside I visited along the way.

It's time for me to get back in the cucina and starting cooking again. I look forward to sharing inspiration and new recipes with you all over the coming weeks.



Until then,
Eat deliciously well.

Buon appetito!
copyright 2008 Alisa Barry