Tomatoes, leftover bread and a cookbook giveaway!
Except when I’ve been on duty for cooking classes, I’ve been taking it very easy in the kitchen lately. In great part, it’s due to the heat. Why cook when you can have tasty, nutritious,…
Nocino: an Italian midsummer walnut liqueur
Patron saints. Every Italian town has one and a local public holiday for celebrating their heavenly protector to boot. Turin, my adopted city of over ten years, is no exception. Here, San Giovanni Battista or…
Robinia flower fritters: a transient spring time treat
Another less-than-wanted obligation has suddenly piled up on my to do list. But I’m still going to go ahead with putting some thoughts about something dear to my heart anyway, as I had planned for…
False friends, the trouble with translating and two cicoria recipes
Beware of false friends. And no, I don’t mean the kind that are nice to your face but are mean behind your back. Though, you should probably watch out for those too. What I mean…
Learning to love pumpkins, what to make with them and another giveaway!
Growing up, Sunday dinner was almost always held at Nonna Sarina and Nonno Eugenio’s. And Sunday dinner almost always consisted of a roast veal or lamb, with some crisp potatoes and pumpkin to accompany the…
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…
On preserving the taste of summer, two tomato recipes and a cookbook giveaway!
What can I say except that part of me doesn’t want summer, or rather, the fruit and vegetables that characterise it, to end? Mother nature would seem to agree with me too. There’s still plenty…
A pignatta for Christmas and some lentils to inaugurate 2017
I got lots of lovely presents this Christmas. There was the gorgeous waxed canvas handbag with leather trimming that doubles as a camera bag from TP. Friends, colleagues and students gave me some handmade cards…
Cucina Conversations: Croccante di mandorle, the perfect edible gift for an Italian Christmas
No matter what I do, Christmas always seems to arrive too quickly. And this year is no exception. At least this time, however, I can say I anticipated the onslaught of additional tasks and deadlines…