Sari Kamin speaks with Julia della Croce, author of 13 books including her most recent Italian Home Cooking, at the Roger Smith Cookbook Conference. Tune in for a conversation about the importance of the preservation of traditional Italian cuisine.

This week A Taste of the Past recreates a classic master cookbook of the Italian vintage "The Silver Spoon" with the help of the editor Emilia Terragni of Phaidon Press. Emilia expounds on the challenges that face a culinary historian in translating a 60 year old cookbook from Italian into English; from recipes where much was assumed and thus lacking direction, to differences in stoves, measurements and more. This episode is sponsored by Hearst Ranch.

Alexandra "Alex" Guarnaschelli is an Iron Chef, Food Network celebrity chef and the world-renowned executive chef at both New York City's Butter restaurant and award-winning The Darby restaurant. She is also a television personality on the Food Network shows Chopped, Iron Chef America, All Star Family Cook-off and The Best Thing I Ever Made. She hosts Alex's Day Off and The Cooking Loft on Food Network and Cooking Channel In 2012, she was crowned America's Next Iron Chef on Iron Chef America, currently the only woman with that distinction and only the second female ever to obtain that honor. On this week's episode of Chef's Story, hear Alex's story - from growing up as the daughter of esteemed cookbook editor Maria Guarnaschelli to culinary education across the world, to eventually finding her own style in the kitchen. This program was sponsored by Fairway Market.

"Everybody has a culinary identity that they base on their childhood and the repertoire of dishes they were exposed to." [04:00]

"I do think a big part of defining your cooking is what you buy and where you buy it from" [39:00]

"I like competition shows because they show the human side of people - that they are fallible, make mistakes and they crave being a hero" [41:00]

--Alex Guarnaschelli on Chef's Story