Italy

This is another great cake that I’ve had many times at the River Cafe. Among the tweaks I’ve made to the recipe over the years, it’s a lot easier to start by whipping up the egg whites and then setting them aside....

Colatura di alici (“anchovy drippings”) is a fish sauce, much like the Thai-style fish sauce that I was more familiar with. That said, colatura is very different from Thai fish sauce....

This is pretty easy to get creative with. Just about any reasonable hard herb works really well. Think thyme, rosemary, or sage. Delicate herbs like basil will work, but they’ll be a little bit destroyed by the high heat of the oven....

While you can of course use whatever pasta shape you like, I think the traditionalists have a good case that orecchiette works well here. I do think that mixing this up a bit with broccoli rabe — leafier and more bitter than regular broccoli — is a good idea....

Neapolitan pizza will probably always be my favorite, but if I’m honest, it’s a bit of a pain to make at home. The dough really does need to be rested for at least a day, ideally more....

This is one of my go-to desserts. I’ve adapted it from something I’ve had at the wonderful River Cafe in London. The original version has more drama: it’s much larger and made in a very wide cake tin....

I had this at one of those great restaurants that reinvents its menu every day. They usually have one or two house cocktails on, and this one was particularly great....

As with most good fish stews, you can use just about any fish and shellfish. Though I would avoid anything too delicate, because it will fall apart and be difficult to serve....

The original source for this recipe is lost to my memory. It entered my repertoire one Christmas when I needed something new to bake. They’re more or less the sweet version of grissini....

This is one of those dishes that’s ubiquitous and still manages to raise the hackles of purists. I would argue that the purity tests around the ragù alla bolognese are unfounded....