Massimiliano Gugole

Have you ever thought about chocolate in Italian cuisine? We don’t mean on tiramisu or on toast, imagine it with pasta and game meat... Cinghiale in dolceforte is a Tuscan wild boar stew with a sauce made from dark chocolate, and food writer Emiko Davies says it’s “luxurious-tasting”!

Are sea urchins a rare delicacy or the one type of seafood you avoid? Many people in Japan enjoy eating this unusual-tasting creature, but Italians also view sea urchins or ‘ricci di mare’ as a culinary delicacy. Learn how they’re best eaten in the first episode of series two of Scarrafoni In…

Scarrafoni in Cucina - The Ugly Ducklings of Italian Cuisine is a podcast series by SBS Italian dedicated to the ugliest Italian delicacies. We’re excited to say that season two of the series will launch on February 1. In the meantime, enjoy this special episode dedicated to the Italian holiday tradition of La Befana which is celebrated with sweet coal, or carbone di zucchero.

Our sixth and final episode of The Ugly Ducklings of Italian Cuisine celebrates Carnival in Naples, where children feast on crostoli and a bloody chocolate custard. Believe it or not, the tradition lives on in Australia.

In our fourth episode of The Ugly Ducklings of Italian Cuisine, we travel back in time to Renaissance Florence, where Catherine De’ Medici was in love with cibreo. The dish uses some very exotic parts of the chicken, including its crest and testicles.

In our fourth episode of The Ugly Ducklings of Italian Cuisine, we travel back in time to Renaissance Florence, where Catherine De’ Medici was in love with cibreo. The dish uses some very exotic parts of the chicken, including its crest and testicles.

In this first episode we will go to Sardinia to taste casu martzu, a cheese filled with... maggots. Joining us are Giovanni Pilu and Marilyn Annecchini, the couple at the helm of the most famous Sardinian restaurant in Australia, Pilu at Freshwater.

Australia’s agriculture sector is facing critical labour shortages due to backpackers’ unavailability as the international border remains shut. The government is offering cash incentives to Australians to fill the gaps left by absent foreign workers.