Spring 2019 Issue
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
SPRING INTO WELLNESS
I write you as I stare out the window awaiting what will hopefully be the last snowfall of 2019. You know how March typically brings a...
COOKSHELF
Gaia DiGiacomo - Dietitian at Temple University
GAIA DIGIACOMO LOOKS RIGHT AT HOME KNEADING A BALL of semolina dough. She presses it forward with the heels of her palms and brings it back gently with the ease of someone who learned from her mom, who learned from her mom.
Because she did. DiGiacomo is from Oria, a small town in Puglia, where she was raised by very good cooks. “My mom made everything from scratch,” she says. DiGiacomo joined her in the kitchen as a toddler and later learned on her own.
She’s now sharing her love for eating well as Temple University’s dietitian. She’s the go-to for students with allergies and helps the campus chef develop recipes to accommodate special diets. She also works with the football coach to amp up nutrients in players’ diets.
“The best part is when students try something they’ve never had before,” she says. “Some of them have never tasted a chickpea!”
She introduces new foods through hands-on demos. Orecchiette with broccoli rabe was a recent hit. The traditional Italian dish is one of her favorites. She likes the recipe in Sharing Puglia, by Luca Lorusso and Vivenne Polak (Hardie Grant, 2015). The book is a true taste of the region’s cuisine, she says.
One thing missing in this recipe is the Pugliese tradition of boiling the broccoli rabe and pasta together for a few minutes before serving, DiGiacomo says. The well-cooked rabe mingles with the pasta starch and, when mixed with the olive oil, transforms into a silky sauce—the way it should be.
Communities Near You
Related Stories & Recipes