Another look at Italy comes from Faith Willinger, a writer and longtime resident of Florence.

Faith Willinger, the author of a book on Italian vegetables called "Red, White and Greens," describes rabe, with its skinny little stalks and flowering heads, as looking like a bunch of turnip greens.

Faith Willinger, who lives in Florence and smartly interprets Italian food through her cookbooks for Americans, says that white beans are actually a better match for caviar.

Among others who caution against the impostors is Faith Willinger, an American who lives in Italy and researched farro while writing her book "Red, White and Greens" (HarperCollins, 1996).

Faith Willinger, the author of the recent "Red, White and Greens: The Italian Way With Vegetables," explains that umido means "wet and humid."

To many, like Faith Willinger, an American food writer who has lived in Italy for many years, the fix the French find themselves in now is America's revenge.

"A few years ago you couldn't pay people to harvest the almonds," said Faith Willinger, the Italian food expert, writer and cookbook author, who lives in Florence.

"It's considered the kind of book that mothers-in-law consult, maybe when company is coming," Faith Willinger, a food writer in Florence, wrote in an e-mail message.

Faith Willinger, an American married to a Tuscan, has created matzonella, a Jewish-Tuscan version of panzanella.

In her book "Red, White and Greens" (HarperCollins, 1996) Faith Willinger suggests soaking the trimmed tender spears in sugared water for 30 minutes before cooking.