Fat adds flavor, texture, and richness. “Fat makes food delicious,” Samin says. It adds its own taste and amplifies every other flavor. Italians are masters at using fat.
🇮🇹 Liguria: Liquid Gold
In Liguria, Samin discovers Taggiasca olive oil—sweet, delicate, the champagne of oils. Good extra virgin olive oil follows one rule: no heat, no chemicals. It’s fresh-pressed juice. The best oils are fruity, spicy, and bitter.
“Olive oil doesn’t just flavor food—it strengthens it,” she explains. In a bakery, Samin learns how it transforms focaccia—giving it rich flavor, a tender crumb, and a crisp crust.
Focaccia Recipe:
- Mix flour, yeast, malt extract, and oil into a smooth dough.
- Add salt, knead again.
- Rest 15 minutes.
- Transfer to pan, drizzle with oil, stretch gently, rest.
- Dimple surface with three fingers, drizzle oil-salt mix.
- Rest 40 minutes, then bake.
- Drizzle with more oil before serving.
ROI Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Made from Ligurian Taggiasca olives. High polyphenol, DOP certified, fresh cold-pressed in Italy. No pesticides, no GMOs. 16.9 fl oz (500 ml). 4.6★ | 2,300+ reviews
“Rich, fruity, and smooth—this olive oil elevated every dish I used it in.”
– Verified Amazon Reviewer
🌿 Basil Pesto with Lidia
Liguria is also famous for basil pesto—made with cheese, pine nuts, and oil. Samin prepares it alongside Lidia, using a mortar and pestle. She notes that most people today no longer make pesto this traditional way, preferring blenders for speed. However, she insists that when you crush basil, pine nuts, and cheese by hand, the flavor is deeper and the texture more vibrant—something you simply can’t achieve with modern shortcuts.
Pesto Method:
- Grind pine nuts.
- Add basil and a pinch of coarse salt.
“The coarse salt helps crush the basil,” Lidia notes. - Mix in cheese (Parmesan 2 : Pecorino 1).
- Stir in olive oil to desired texture.
Mortar and Pestle Set with Anti-Scratch Oak Wood Base – Mortar with Extra Large Pestle Made of Natural Granite. Perfect for making pesto the traditional way. 4.8★ | 2,300+ reviews
“Solid, beautiful, and functional—this mortar and pestle has become my go-to for pesto night.”
– Verified Amazon Reviewer
🥓 The Flavor of Pork Fat
Italian butchers say: “More fat, more flavor.” Pork is fully used, creating many cured meats:
- Finocchiona – fennel-scented salami from pork shoulder.
- Sbriciolona – crumbly, large salami with rich fat.
- Soppressata – from pork head meat, seasoned and pressed.
- Salami – minced pork, spiced and cured.
- Prosciutto – whole pork leg, long-aged, prized for its deep flavor.
The fat distribution—porkier—is key to taste.
🧀 Cheese: The Powerful Fat
In Reggio Emilia, Samin visits a dairy using red cow milk—sweet, high-fat milk from North European breeds. This is the queen of Parmesan. Cheese wheels soak in brine for 22 days, then age.
- 24 months: sweet, milky.
- 30 months: salty, with crunchy tyrosine crystals.
- 40 months: sweet, salty, bitter, and umami all at once.
🍝 Pasta & Sauce
With her pasta teacher, Samin makes ragù. Pork fat, beef fat, and milk enrich the sauce. Pasta dough—flour, eggs, water—relies on egg yolk fat to create chewiness.
“Fat has five distinct textures,” she says: creamy, flaky, crisp, tender, and light.
More Than an Ingredient
Olive trees, free-range pigs, and dairy cows are cared for not just for food, but for sustainable ecosystems. Fat, in all forms, is essential—and, as Samin says, “It’s nothing short of a miracle.” In Italy, fat is not just an ingredient. It is a reflection of tradition, a sign of respect for the land, and a bridge between generations. From the golden drizzle of olive oil to the marbled beauty of prosciutto, every drop of fat tells a story worth savoring.
🔗 Explore More
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
The bestselling cookbook that inspired the Netflix series. Samin Nosrat teaches the four essential elements of good cooking through science, storytelling, and beautiful illustrations. ⭐️ 4.8 + 9,800+ reviews
“This book changed the way I understand flavor. It’s not just a cookbook—it’s a food education.” — Verified Amazon Reviewer
👉Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy – Liguria – Travel with Tucci to explore Liguria’s olive oil, pesto, and coastal flavors.
👉Episode 1: Salt in Japan – Discover how salt shapes flavor, tradition, and umami in Japanese cuisine.
👉Next Episode: Acid in Mexico – Follow Samin to Mexico for the bright, zesty world of acid in cooking.
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