Postcards and scones from Australia
Since moving to Italy, the month of January has always been a letdown. It’s cold. It gets dark early. And, most of all, it’s lonely, especially after all the Christmas and New Year-related festivities and…
Cucina Conversations: Piedmontese Stuffed Onions
Leftover bread. It’s January’s topic for the Cucina Conversations roundtable and this month, Carmen, Daniela, Francesca, Flavia, Lisa, Marialuisa and I are sharing recipes from around the boot which include the staff of life. From…
Cucina conversations: apple paste on fette biscottate for breakfast
I can’t think of a more appropriate season to post on this month’s Cucina Conversations topic – the ancient art and craft of preserving. Autumn is, after all, a time when many fruits and vegetables…
Cucina conversations: back to school with amaretti morbidi
Summer has come to an end and so has much of the time we spent together during the days in that season. Instead, Monday to Friday, morning and afternoon, we make our way down tree-lined…
A New Country Kitchen and Two Plum Recipes to Celebrate
It’s TT’s birthday. Or, at least it was earlier in the week when she turned 3. We’re holding her party at the weekend instead, so all the people we’ve invited can come into the verdant…
A Taste of Corsica
I know, I’m breaking my self-imposed rule. Some point after starting this blog over two years ago, I realised what I really wanted to write about was Italian food, traditions and travel. A decision to…
Farinata and other food myths
Marco Polo discovered pasta at Kublai Khan’s court in China and brought it back to Europe. Catherine de Medici brought forks, artichokes, peas, asparagus, broccoli, truffles and sorbets to France and changed the way her…
Crostata di marmellata
My intention was actually to post about a rich ricotta-filled baked good for Easter. Think Neapolitan pastiera, Sicilian cassata or Giovanni Goria’s crostata di seirass[i]. The resolve to make these wonderfully elaborate sweets disappeared fairly…
La focaccia della befana
In Italy, the festive season does not end with New Year celebrations. So, if you’re hoping that I’ll be posting about something a little bit lighter after all those deep fried zeppole I posted about…