This week, we’re exploring Italy’s best recipes and stories. Leah Koenig brings us inside the Roman Jewish kitchen for fried artichokes as crisp as potato chips, a cherry pie that has a secret and the beef stew that made her break vegetarianism. Plus, Katie Parla gives us a tour of Italian island cuisine, Matt Goulding infiltrates the secret society that reigns over Neapolitan pizza, Viola Buitoni reveals a surprising use for balsamic vinegar, and we make Rome’s “dirty” pasta, Rigatoni alla Zozzona.

Questions in this episode:

"Is there a reason to use anchovy fillets over anchovy paste?"

"Do you have tips for smoothly transferring pizza from the peel to the stone?"