This summer, I’ve been traveling through food

This Summer, I've Been Traveling Through Food

Taysha Murtaugh

My favorite recipes are the ones I've picked up while traveling. This time at home has made me all the more grateful for the memories I've made on past trips—and the flavors that transport me back.

This time last year (almost to the day), I was celebrating my birthday in Italy and found myself in the Roman countryside for a cooking class taught by an Italian grandmother. Inside a cozy kitchen looking out on a village known for its olive oil, the other students and I donned aprons and floured our hands. On butcher block boards atop a checkered tablecloth, we kneaded, rolled, and cranked handmade dough through pasta makers, the sun streaming in from medieval streets outside.

Nonna Angela taught us how to seal the edges of ravioli so that the spinach-ricotta filling stayed inside, how to fold and cut noodles, and how to know when the pasta was done. A three-course dinner paired with red wine was our reward, as was the conversation with strangers who became friends. I'm longing for more experiences like this one, but the beauty of cooking is that I can recreate a bit of that magic myself, right here in my own kitchen.

- Taysha Murtaugh
Associate Editorial Director, Commerce

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