For Diana Testa, Italian Food Has Always Been About More Than the Recipe

Italian Home Chef, Olive Oil Sommelier, and Educator Brings the Stories and Traditions of Italy to the Table in a New Regional Cookbook

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A recipe can tell you how to prepare a dish. Diana Testa, Fonder of All About Italy LLC, believes the more interesting question is what that dish can tell you about the people and place that created it.

Diana's Regional Italian Recipes, Stories, Traditions, and Flavors of Italy invites readers to discover Italy through regional recipes and cultural stories.

An expert Italian home chef and olive oil sommelier, Diana speaks five languages, is a certified English and Italian educator, and accompanies students on all-inclusive culinary tours throughout Italy.

The book explores the regional character of Italian cooking through recipes and stories about local ingredients, customs, history, and celebrations. A simple dish can carry generations of history. Pasta shapes reveal their origins. Bread reflects a community's resources. Festivals preserve food traditions. Coffee or olive oil offers a window into Italian culture.

"When you learn the story behind a dish, you experience it differently," says Diana Testa. "Italian cooking is deeply connected to place, family, history, and tradition. I wanted readers to experience those connections, not simply follow a recipe."

Her background as an educator is evident throughout the book. Rather than overwhelming readers with culinary history, Diana Testa makes the stories approachable and engaging, sharing the kinds of details that might be discovered while walking through an Italian market, sitting around a family table, or learning from someone who has prepared the same dish for decades. She reminds readers that there is no single Italian table. Each region has its own identity, ingredients, specialties, and traditions.

For Diana Testa, discovering those differences is part of discovering Italy itself. She invites readers to slow down, cook, learn, and experience the stories behind the food. For those who have traveled to Italy, the book may bring back familiar memories. For those who have not, it offers another way to begin the journey.

One recipe, one story, and one region at a time.

DIANA'S REGIONAL ITALIAN RECIPES, STORIES, TRADITIONS AND FLAVORS OF ITALY will be available October 15, 2026 through AMAZON AND ITALIANCOOKINGCLASSESJAX.COM.

About Diana Testa
Diana Testa is an expert Italian home chef, olive oil sommelier, certified English and Italian educator, and experienced culinary traveler. She speaks five languages and accompanies students on all-inclusive culinary tours throughout Italy. Her work brings together her passions for food, education, language, travel, and Italian culture, encouraging others to discover not only how Italians cook, but the traditions and stories that give their food meaning.

For more information on Italian cooking classes and culinary tours visit: Italiancookinglessonsjax.com, Instagram @Italiancookinglessons, and Facebook/Italiancookinglessons. 
Produced by ABC Book Publishers, Inc. and All About Italy, LLC.

Contact: Kimberly Benton [email protected] 
ABC Book Publishers, Inc.
904-422-0490

Register for culinary tours or cooking classes in Jacksonville, FL.                             
Diana Testa [email protected]                                                    
904-446-7773

SOURCE All About Italy LLC