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Writer's picturePamela Marasco

Why I Write About Italy




I’m a big fan of food writing. The backstory behind what, why and how food is eaten is both an interest and a passion. This may have to do with my travels in Italy with our Italian family and friends where food is a national treasure. It definitely has to do with childhood memories of  family gatherings where food was the centerpiece of the celebration. As CIO (Chief Inspirational Officer) of CosituttiMarketPlace I've drawn inspiration from many sources and reasons for why I write about Italy.





It all begins with a family picture and a connection that has lasted over 10 decades. A picture of our Italian family with their friends taken in 1919 in the countryside near Vicenza. Someone once drew arrows on the picture to identify our relatives including Gino, the one with the big hair. The arrows have faded away but I can imagine the pleasure our family found in the day. The other is a picture of our Nonna who immigrated to America that same year. The others are recent fotos of trips taken over the last 25+ years reconnecting with our family in Northern Italy and making many friends along the way.


Eating, shopping, cooking and traveling in Italy with our Italian family and friends I’ve learned that every plate of food and every bottle of wine brings life to the Italian table. I’ve come to realize the pivotal place food has in Italian culture. Italians take time and effort to prepare a well-laid table where there is beauty and grace in the smallest detail. Meals are an essential part of Italian life. Not that they obsess about food or over indulge. Italians truly value food and its preparation. Without saying a word, season after season food is a vehicle for the transmission of culture and generational traditions.


Traveling in Italy and staying with our Italian family and friends has led me to believe that they seem to know how to balance work and relaxation. They travel through the workday with a mid-day break, surrounding themselves with beauty and art, eating fresh and vibrant food at meals. Italians exist with fewer clothes, simpler food, smaller living accommodations and cars. They eat less, weigh less, buy less but better quality. They travel more and enjoy their friends and family more.


I want to imitate this but can Italy be duplicated? My writings are recollections and experiences of sites seen, food eaten, life lived and generational memories of families and friends who believe that sitting at a well-laid table is a lost art that must be found again.  


Why You Might Like My Writings and Books?  You love Italy. You love Italian food. You drool over the fashions of Milan and sigh over the bridges in Venice. Your vino is rosso. Your blood boils at the sound of a Ferrari and you dream of basking under the Tuscan sun. 


To My Readers:  My writing style is creatively informative with a goal and desire to write simple, useful content that is easy to understand with a comfortable reading font and a manageable number of pages per chapter for pleasurable reading which I hope you will enjoy. 


Writing Style: I like the food writing of Elizabeth David, Patience Gray, MFK Fisher and Waverley Root because it’s more that just about a recipe or food, but also about travel, a place, a way of life and culture. I like the travel writing of Burt Wolf and of course Anthony Bourdain. 



Recommended Book Store Readings To See and Savor Italy:  Issuu


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