About
September 16th, 2007Skip Lombardi is a professional jazz musician and cookery author: La Cucina dei Poveri, Recipes from My Sicilian Grandparents.
He writes about contemporary Italian and American cooking and food-related issues. He also publicizes happenings in the arts around Sarasota, FL at http://skiplombardi.org
Writing and lecturing on the arts and cuisines of the Muslim world, Holly Chase has worked in the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and Europe. She organizes yacht charters and specialized tours of Turkey. http://hollychase.com

La Cucina dei Poveri
On Kindle


September 14th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
love your site
January 15th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I discovered your site in a search for a recipe for sugo finto. I look forward to following that recipe and others you offer, thanks.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for your interest in Almost Italian. If you hadn’t found it already, we have a recipe for Pasta al Sugo Finto on our other blog, ‘Sarasota Soundings.’ You can find it here: http://skiplombardi.org/recipes/pasta-al-sugo-finto/
Best regards,
Skip Lombardi
January 15th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Ciao, Andrea,
I’m Skip’s collaborator.I’d urge you and others to check both our sites–AlmostItalian.com AND SkipLombardi.org when searching for a recipe for an Italian family favorite. The line between la vera cucina italiana and Italian-American has been blurred for decades as Italian-Americans have gone back to Italy— as tourists and residents.
One of our about-to-be-posted recipes for an unusual Sicilian salad will give you the idea of how recipes migrate, change, and– in rare cases– remain virtually intact.
We’re please that you enjoy the fruits of our work!
Buon appetito!—- Holly
March 15th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
i just wanted to say that I love this site
April 6th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Hi Skip,
Thank you for the wonderful recipes and photos.
I’m trying to figure out why our Grandpa Marsalla called us “scungilli” as little kids. We just thought it was endearing. (He still makes his own wine, which in a pinch, can remove rust from a chainsaw and repel deer from the vegetable garden; but we don’t tell him that!)
April 7th, 2009 at 10:07 am
I’m afraid I can’t give you a good answer on that one. It sounds like a term of endearment and affection. (Of course, I feel a great deal of affection for scungilli.) On the other side of that coin, though, my grandparents used to call people who had caused them some displeasure ‘cucumber’ or ‘baccala.’ Wish I had a better answer.
Best regards,
Skip
September 30th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I was searching for a Pepper and Egg sandwich recipe and your site popped up. I love it! I’m from Chicago and P&E sandwiches are very popular around lent. I now reside in Alaska.
December 23rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Hi Skip,
Hey, just love your site! Keep those Italian tradition going man! Making big meals and sitting at the table for long periods of time just sharing lots of love with family and friends is becoming a lost art! Keep the recipes coming, you have some goods ones on here! I particularly likes your article about Italian Americans and the Sunday Sauce. Wonderful! I can so relate! Anyway, you might enjoy my site. It’s a labor of love of mine and an effort to keep my Italian grandmothers recipes and traditions going on into the generations to come
http://www.spaghettisauceandmeatballs.com/
Missing the old days but trying to keep them going,
Anthony