There is something endearing about The Show with Vinnie, the purposefully trashy and low-tech MTV talk show, the most recent spin-off of the Jersey Shore reality TV hit. Hosted by Vinny Guadagnino, a former protagonist of the now defunct Jersey Shore series, each episode is taped in Vinny's Staten Island...

Click here to read an original op-ed from the TED speaker who inspired this post and watch the TEDTalk below.

When I was studying Asian languages in Italy, back in the 1980s, the few Chinese restaurants open in my native city of Rome only served two...

Today, many argue that the culinary world, and in particular the restaurant industry, is developing two opposing trends. On one hand, chefs are embracing farm-to-table dining; they highlight the provenance of their ingredients -- emphasizing in particular local and organic ones -- and stress the artisanal aspect of their craft....

Innovate or die. This has turned into a mantra for today's globalized food scene to the chagrin of those that would rather see traditions survive and thrive. Food manufacturers constantly introduce novelties and then spend huge amounts of money convincing consumers to embrace them. Chefs embrace new technologies and approaches...

When I first moved to the U.S. back in 1998, my grandmother's sister, who had moved from her village in Abruzzo, Italy, to America in the early 1930s, invited me to a dinner organized by her daughters and many of her descendants in Delaware. Meeting for the first time so...

Farmers' markets, a mainstay in several cities and towns, are meant to provide fresh -- and often local -- organic products, while re-establishing direct connections between communities and the people who produce food. By so doing, the markets are expected to create alternative food systems that prioritize issues of health,...

A new cooking show is vying for a slice of the prime time audience on network TV: ABC's The Taste. The title and structure mimic NBC's The Voice, which is supposed to discover new singing talents. In The Taste, four judges use blind tasting to choose a team of contestants,...

Carne & Co. is where gourmets can find good, local meat, great charcuterie, and all sorts of delicious stuff in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. It was the perfect place for me to give a talk about food in movies to a small group of...

Stars, points, forks, chef toques... Restaurant ratings have entered the language and the imagination of diners all over the world. The web has allowed anybody to post reviews and comments on the places they visited, often accompanied by pictures of the dishes they consumed. Depending on what reviewers choose as...

As we get closer to Christmas and look forward to enjoying some rest and relaxation, it is time to suggest some movies where food traditions and holidays collide, often producing the perfect setup for family drama.

1. When trying to survive the holidays, many of us have wished for...

Supersized food portions are not news, especially if you live in the U.S. But when I first moved here as the correspondent for the Italian food and wine magazine Gambero Rosso, I was constantly amazed by the difference in food servings with what I was used to in...

Don't get me wrong -- I love cooking for friends and family. Thanksgiving happens to be my favorite food-related gathering -- followed closely by the Super Bowl party, where I can get creative and come up with new, usually healthier interpretations of traditional game treats. I guess I enjoy those...

The release of Lutz Hachmeister's documentary Three Stars confirms what I suggested a few weeks ago on this blog: the love story between media and cooking has found yet another outlet, and one that can claim very respectable origins. After cookbooks, TV shows, the Internet and social media, celebrity chefs...

Japan occupies an interesting place in Western popular culture: as one of the most developed countries in the world, its presence is warranted among the major players in the global economy and in international politics. Its industrial and technological products are among the most common household names in consumer culture...

A few months after the US release of Jiro Dreams of Sushi, another documentary about chefs reaches the American screens: Step Up to the Plate. The new movie shares a few core themes with Jiro, namely the fascination with the world of haute cuisine and the extraordinary abilities of great...

Just like New York and Tokyo, and several Italian cities, Rome now has its own Eataly store. In the post-industrial and newly revitalized neighborhood of Ostiense, a former train station has been turned into a temple for premium Italian food. "Cibi alti," literally "high quality food," is the motto for...

Once again, the unstoppable machine of pop music invites us to a tasting of a sweet and -- not incidentally -- black body. This time Rihanna entices listeners to join her in a celebration where the main course is herself on her song Birthday Cake. As a matter of fact,...

I admit it, I am a shameless history nerd, and I got excited when I received the advance copy of E.C. Spary's upcoming book, Eating the Enlightenment: Food and Science in Paris. As much as we think we know French cuisine and its past, there is always new...

Quenelles in Lyon, tagine in Marrakesh, tortellini in Bologna: it sounds like a dream itinerary for food lovers. Moving from place to place to taste the best that the local cuisine has to offer has strong appeal. It is also the premise of a new reality show, Around...

"So, do you cook?" Until a few years ago I often found myself trying to respond constructively to this question, which was the usual segue from my admission to teaching Food Studies. Other assorted reactions included: "So, does chocolate really affect a woman's mood?"; "So, do you always shop at...