Best-selling author, chef, television personality, and educator Amy Riolo is one of the world’s foremost authorities on culinary culture. A graduate of Cornell University, Riolo is sought after for her knowledge about the Mediterranean Diet, which many consider the key to a long, healthy life.
Riolo also runs a private label collection of premium Italian imported ingredients, Amy Riolo Selections, and soon will be on tv. Prior to the pandemic, she was a chef/instructor for the Casa Italiana Language School in Washington, D.C. as well as Italian Sensory Experience, a company in which she leads wine-focused gastronomic tours in Italy, Morocco, and Greece.
Riolo has also written several culinary books, including the second edition of her award-winning, best-selling Mediterranean Diabetes Cookbook, released in May 2019.
Here, in a condensed and edited interview, Riolo tells La Cucina Italiana about the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet and more.
Why do you feel that the Mediterranean diet is not only a diet but a lifestyle choice?
It is important to understand that the Mediterranean "diet" is so effective because it is a lifestyle, not an addition to it. The term diet in English is a misnomer since the etymology of the word comes from the Greek word diata, a word which in Greek would best describe this as a way of life that not only includes, but requires, time for socializing, napping, communal meals, and shared physical activity, just to start. Since this way of life has been enjoyed by many people for millennia, it has proven effects. The modern "Blue Zone" terminology, which describes pockets of the world (two of which are in the Mediterranean) known for their residents living and enjoying healthful and productive lives into their 100s, embodies this lifestyle. With a strong desire to live with both pleasure and health in mind, people all over the world can enjoy this healthful way of life and the traditional eating pattern that accompanies it.
What makes the Mediterranean Diet so effective?
In my personal opinion, it is the best one because it is the easiest to follow from a culinary point of view. Technically, there is nothing that you have to completely "give up" when following the Mediterranean diet/lifestyle. It's all about eating the most of what is best for us — in delicious, pleasing, and traditional ways — and then enjoying the more splurge-worthy foods on occasion. To me, that is important because I know I don't have to completely omit anything. Also, let's face it, all of the cultures surrounding the Mediterranean Sea have wonderful cuisine, so there is a lot of culinary inspiration to choose from. A person who follows this diet doesn't have to stick to only a few types of foods. In addition, the Mediterranean diet has a history on its side. People have been preventing and reversing illness with this type of lifestyle for not only years and decades but millennia, which is important to me. You can't ask for something more tried and true.
Modern medical experts also agree that the Mediterranean diet is best. It is easy to follow, great for weight loss and for those living with diabetes, and has been proven to reduce inflammation, which is at the foundation of every illness and disease.
Which are the messages you always focus on during your workshops, webinars, and lectures?
There are many, but I think the main ones are probably these: Life is too short for bad olive oil. Good quality EVOO is fantastic for our health and culinary creativity. I am always teaching new and interesting ways to incorporate more of the good stuff into our diets. Next, time in the kitchen is a luxury, not a chore. I believe that cooking is one of our greatest pleasures and creative outlets in life, and I like to empower my readers/followers with that sentiment. Each recipe has a history and each ingredient has a nutritional component. My work is full of both culinary history and culinary medicine because that is my passion. I believe that the more history I share, the more meaning the recipes and eating well will have. By sharing the nutritional aspects, it helps people to take charge of their health by basing their meals around the foods they need most.
Ultimately, it is my goal that by the time you read one of my books, attend one of my events, or come on one of my culinary tours, you will not only learn how to cook certain foods but gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of the people and cultures that created them.
Where does your passion for food come from?
My family inspired my culinary passion. It would be impossible for me to derive so much pleasure from another career having grown up the way that I did. My nonna, Angela Magnone Foti, taught me to cook and bake, as well as valuable lessons that served me outside of the kitchen. Because of her and our heritage, my first tastes of “Italian food” were Calabrian. Those edible time capsules formed a culinary bloodline between us and our relatives in southern Italy. Because of her, I am able to prepare many of the same dishes that my Italian relatives do, even though I am a fourth-generation American. Nonna Angela gave me my first cookbook and showed me how cooking was not a mundane chore, but a form of magic that could unite people across distances and time. I owe my career to her and would give anything to be able to share more time in the kitchen with her. Cooking was so important to her that a few weeks before she passed, at 90 years old, she refused to go into the hospital because it was Christmastime and she told the doctors that she needed to be home so that she could “make cookies with Amy.” It is an honor for me to be able to pass her knowledge on to my readers.
My Yia Yia, Mary Michos Riolo, shared her beloved Greek traditions with me, and I am happy to say that they have become woven into my culinary fabric as well, especially since many Italian regions were Greek colonies in antiquity. My earliest memories of cooking were with my mother, Faith Riolo, who would sit me on the counter and roll more meatballs and cookies than I could count. She taught me that food was not just something we eat to nourish ourselves, but an edible gift that could be given to express love. I owe my love of food history and anthropology to my father, Rick Riolo, for planting the desire to answer the question, “I wonder how they eat... ” in my mind since childhood. It’s a type of culinary curiosity that is never completely satisfied and gives me the motivation to continue my work each day.
Mediterranean diet staples include lentils as well as beans and legumes.
What do you like to cook at home?
Oooh, this is a good question that no one ever asks. In general, I will say that I like to cook things that are hard to buy outside or things which do not taste as good when you buy them, such as bread. Bread-baking is one of my favorite activities, and if I had to choose only one food to eat for the rest of my life, bread would be it. The second thing would be pasta. I try my best to eat pasta daily, and to me, homemade pasta is one of the ultimate labors of love to give and receive. On holidays, I like to showcase large menus and baked goods from my Calabrian roots. On a weekly basis, I try to plan a special "theme" menu, from various countries in the Mediterranean. Then I set the table accordingly, play music, and pair the appropriate drinks so that my guests and I feel as though we are transported back to a fond memory. On a day-to-day basis, however, I eat pretty simply; lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, EVOO, beans, legumes, eggs and dairy, and of course, pasta and bread.
What should Americans learn from the Mediterranean diet?
What they have been exposed to is mostly about eating. Now it is time to learn about the lifestyle habits that go along with them. Food is only one piece of the Mediterranean diet puzzle, and as we continue to share tips and strategies to enjoy more of the lifestyle — how to enjoy life, develop deeper ties to the community, take naps, engage in fun physical activity — everyone will be able to benefit from the diet more.
How have your roots influenced your job?
Nowadays I have been given the title “Mediterranean Lifestyle Ambassador” in the world, because decades ago, while in Calabria, I noticed that our Italian relatives were much healthier than our American ones even though we shared the same genes and name. I was inspired to share with audiences everywhere the benefits that enjoying a Mediterranean lifestyle could offer them. By choosing to promote the Mediterranean Diet professionally, I am able to uphold our cultural and familial core values while inspiring others to enjoy optimal pleasure and health. My ancestral homeland of Calabria occupies such a huge space in my soul that it’s hard to separate it from my own consciousness, let alone my career. When I return to Calabria now, I feel as though I am retracing my great-grandparents’ steps, and picking up where they left off. Perhaps that is why I am so intensely moved by Calabria, driven to return, and never able to quench my thirst for its energy.
What is the future of food?
I personally like to reinforce the importance of biodiversity. Crops such as beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils are rich in protein and nutrients while being very easy on the environment. They cost little and help to enrich the soil normally used for other crops, such as grapevines, for example. They are easy to store and transport and these ingredients (interestingly the ones that are mostly missing from standard American diets) are the ones we need the most. Fortunately, the Mediterranean region has given us hundreds of mouthwatering recipes using beans and legumes as well as rich stories to inspire us. I never call beans and lentils "poor man's food" as we often hear them described. In the ancient world, Egypt was the chief exporter of lentils, and that is what helped fund the great empire. It is now time to use these resilient and underappreciated ingredients to save our health and our planet.