Francine Segan

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Francine Segan, food historian and expert on Italian cuisine, is a James Beard nominated author of six cookbooks, including PASTA MODERN: New & Inspired Recipes from Italy and DOLCI: Italy’s Sweets.
She gives a popular series, UNDISCOVERED ITALY, at the prestigious Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC and at NYC’s premiere cultural center the 92nd St Y. She is a frequent guest speaker at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University and numerous museums across the country such as the Virginia Fine Arts Museum and Lightner Museum.
She is a regular on the Food Network, PBS, Discovery and History Channels and writes for a number of publications including Saveur and Epicurius Magazines. She has been quoted as in hundreds of newspapers and magazines including the USA Today, The New York Times, Wall St Journal, Fine Cooking and Vogue magazines.
She is frequent food judge and has been on the judging panel for the Fancy Food Show, Baccardi Cocktail Competition, Barilla’s Pasta World Championship, Charcuterie Masters and the International Pesto Competition. She was honored by the mayor of Alba with the task of presenting NYC’s Mayor Bill De Blasio with 2014’s prized white truffle.

Articles by Francine Segan

Ah, Spring!  Finally, after a long winter of foods grown far away or in greenhouses, farmer’s markets are open and rich with produce. In Italy ri…
Easter Monday is a national holiday in Italy with towns throughout the country holding special events. Two of the most unusual are an egg-cracking con…
International Women's Day, or Festa Della Donna in Italy, is seen as a kind of “BFF Day” honoring womanhood and female friendships (tho…
Inhale the aroma of Strega, the golden elixir made in Campagna, and you’ll be transported to the raucous spice bazaars of Istanbul.  A…
Alchermes, a spicy-sweet liqueur with a lovely floral aroma and distinctive bright red color, was created in Tuscany and has been popular throughout I…
A Natale con i tuoi e a Pasqua con chi vuoi. “Spend Christmas with your family, but Easter with whoever you want,” a popular expression througho…
A box of pasta can cost anywhere from $1 to $7 or more per pound. Since pasta is just flour plus water, what, if anything, makes expensive pasta worth…
Italians like to linger at the table, both during and after a meal. Dessert is leisurely and often served in three parts. First the sweet itself, whic…

Recipes by Francine Segan

These buttery, not-too-sweet cookies have a hint of lemon and a lovely crispness. They are a traditional sweet of Burano, an island in the Venetian…
This intriguingly delicious main course from Tuscany is a unique pairing of mussels with a meat mixture stuffing. This is one of the many classic…
This cake from the Trentino-Alto Adige region is one of northern Italy’s most popular sweet treats. It’s made with fabulously earthy buckwheat flour…
Despite the word “sweet” in the name, this unusual and exceptionally flavorful specialty from the Teramo area of Abruzzo is a first course, not a…
Spaghetti alle vongole is a classic Italian dish that can be made with or without tomatoes, rosso or bianco, red or white. In Italy the dish is…
A whole-grain, gluten-free, vegan, deliciously satisfying not-too-sweet treat, brustengolo is a traditional autumn dessert from Umbria. Particularly…
Spaghetti with chestnuts is a traditional Sicilian autumn first course, especially popular in the province of Palermo. It’s made with just two…
There’s nothing quite as satisfying as baking your own bread and that’s especially true of this traditional bread from Italy’s northern Trentino-Alto…
There are so many ways to enjoy chestnuts. A wonderful autumn treat, chestnuts are delicious served roasted as a snack, but can also be dried and…
There’s a charming saying about melons in Emilia-Romagna: Gli uomini sono come i meloni — molti cattivi e pochi buoni (People are like melons — there…
Full disclosure: rigaglie, a word that comes from the Latin for “royal gift,” means “chicken giblets” in Italian. The sauce, even though made of oft-…
When you crave something a bit fresher and healthier than fritto misto on a relaxing summer day at the beach in Italy, risotto salad is just the…
This sophisticated yet simple-to-make dessert has just three-ingredients. A perfect summer treat that’s not-too-sweet, refreshing and light. Asti-…
There is perhaps no Roman dish more famous than carbonara. With hot pasta strands tossed with raw egg to create its own creamy sauce punctuated by…
Fritto misto is one of the most popular dishes in beach towns up and down the Boot. Its presence at the table or on a picnic blanket is the…
Fregula, is a specialty pasta of Sardinia that looks like couscous but is made with coarsely ground semolina grains instead of flour. The word…
Figs, with their jam-like sweetness, add pizzazz to the sausage, building a smoky, and deeply satisfying pasta dish. This recipe is from Caneva, a…
Almondy shortbread domes filled with custard and topped with icing, these classic Sicilian sweets were first created in the 1800s at the Monastero di…
Italians take peas, the wonderfully flavorful spring vegetable, and puree them to create the base of a pasta sauce. Peas’ pleasant sweetness is…
Unlike most American fruit pies, this specialty of Italy is best served icy cold so it makes a fabulous warm-weather dessert, perfect for strawberry…

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Francine Segan posted a question: I'd like to RENT a house in Tuscany_title