YOUR US INSIDER
IN ITALY

Life is a combination of magic and pasta, Federico Fellini

In this episode, we’re invited into the warm, magical and delicious world of Carlotta Conti, a gifted cooking instructor who originally hails from Ravenna in Emilia-Romagna and who now welcomes guests into her home in the hills just outside of her Florence. Carlotta doesn’t just teach recipes, she offers a rare opportunity to live and experience Italian culture from the inside. Her bespoke cooking classes unfold in her own kitchen, nestled among olive groves and rolling Tuscan hills, where guests gather not as tourists, but as honored friends at the table. It’s an experience rooted in authenticity, hospitality, and the deep traditions of regional Italian cooking, the kind of Italy few travelers ever truly get to see.

Join us as we delve into the rich culinary heritage of Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Italy, the influences on Carlotta’s cooking and teaching, the nuances between authentic Italian cuisine and its Italian American counterpart, and the evolution of Italian cooking from Pellegrino Artusi’s foundational works to Marcella Hazan’s modern interpretations, and right up to the present day.

We also discuss what makes cooking in Carlotta’s home feel like joining a real Italian family and why her classes are as much about connection and culture as they are about cuisine. Carlotta’s passion, knowledge, and warmth come through in every moment, making this not just a conversation about food, but about experiencing the essence of Italy one dish at a time.

Biography and Links

Growing up in Emilia Romagna, a region known for Parmesan, Parma ham, lasagna, and stuffed pasta, a great deal of my childhood was spent in the kitchen with my grandmother and mother. Even at a very young age, I could see that for them cooking was a passionate expression of their love for their family. While I’m filled with many warm memories of watching them cook, what I remember most is circling the table and watching the stove, waiting for any opportunity I could to steal a taste. Being raised in a home where there was only homemade food, I’m proud to say that I carry on the family tradition of fresh egg pasta, using my grandmother’s rolling pin — an 80-year-old tool that has also come in handy for keeping husbands in line, over the years… Today, there is nothing I enjoy more than sharing my grandmother’s recipes through my cooking. Just as she did, I use the highest quality ingredients, being sure to include in every dish a large dash of love and family memories. …and pasta is magic. Our origins define what we are, and my regional roots deeply influence me. In Emilia-Romagna, fresh home-made pasta, a skillful mixture of eggs and wheat, is the protagonist of regional gastronomic culture. Not only does it contain tryptophan, an amino acid which turns into serotonin, the hormone of happiness, but it also testifies to centuries of efforts in creating a unique cuisine.  Emilia-Romagna, though not so famous as Tuscany, is an area of gastronomic excellence.

The tradition of home-made pasta is still prevalent: the pasta machine is considered “the tool of the devil”, and we still have, in our fresh-pasta shops and restaurants, women who are rolling pasta in front of the shopwindow. Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany are the staple of national gastronomic heritage. The first cookbook of Kingdom of Italy (unified only in 1861) was published only thirty years later. And its author was a gentleman from Romagna (like me) who had moved to Florence in his youth (like me, again).  

Our good Pellegrino Artusi, publishing his Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well in 1891, created the pattern of a unified cuisine in a country which had been politically separated up to thirty years earlier. Copies of his book, stained and tattered, passed down like a family heirloom, from mother to daughter.

Experience Florence like never before and step back in time by taking a visual journey through The Archivio Storico Foto Locchi. Prepare to be transported.

• https://www.fotolocchi.it/en/archive
• https://www.instagram.com/archiviofotolocchi
• https://www.facebook.com/archiviofotolocchi

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Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis 

Recorded at Faminore Sound Agency, Post-production: Lorenzo Maiani