Anna Del Conte

“The precept of Italian cooking is that the ingredient must always be respected and appreciated in its own right.

Respect for ingredients is common to most Mediterranean cooking. It is also ancient, as can be seen by reading the Sicilian cookery writer Archestratus, who lived in the fourth century BC, when Sicily was part of the Greek empire. He writes: ‘Sauces of cheese or pickled herbs are added to inferior fish, but in general this cooking is not based on sauces, the preference being for the addition of oil and light herbs to the fish juices. Meats are prepared with equal simplicity. Ingredients are cooked with few flavourings.’ Such flavouring as there is comes from the beginning of the cooking, often in the form of a battuto or a soffritto, which together form the point of departure of most dishes. Many dishes from these northern regions are ‘slow food’, cooked at length to suit the long cold evenings by the fire.”
― Anna Del Conte, The Classic Food of Northern Italy

“Valtellina is the longest Alpine valley, stretching eastwards from the northern shores of Lake Como to the Stelvio peak, 3,500 m/11,500 ft high. This spectacular valley was loved by Leonardo da Vinci, who even mentioned the good osterie (inns) you can find along the route.”
― Anna Del Conte, The Classic Food of Northern Italy