This Saturday I’ll be back on my home turf, speaking at the Pittsburgh Public Market about writing, cooking and writing a seafood cookbook. While I’m in town, I won’t just be talking about food. I’ll also be eating my way through the city. Primanti’s fry-filled sandwiches, Pamela’s massive pancakes and Pierogies Plus’s handmade namesakes all appear on the weekend menu. Somewhere along the way I hope to encounter a bowl of steaming stracciatella, too. To me, stracciatella is what plain, old chicken noodle soup is to most—a restorative dish for when you’re cold, sick, blue or just craving a taste of home. A specialty of Rome but popular throughout Central Italy and, of course, my hometown, stracciatella may remind the uninitiated of egg drop soup. Granted, it does feature two of the same major ingredients, eggs and chicken stock. Yet the resulting dish seems far more velvety and savory than the Chinese soup. I suspect that the ever-present Parmesan cheese and occasional addition of herbs such as basil and parsley are what make the Italian …