Falling in Love with Franciacorta
We knew we wanted to go away, switch off and relax for a few days after the New Year. The ideal location would be Italian, filled with good food and wine, but not too far…
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: too many recipes for bagna cauda
I came close to throwing in the towel with this one. I was going to contact my fellow Cucina Conversations bloggers and say, I’m sorry but I won’t be joining you with an olive oil-related…
Cucina Conversations: castagnaccio for Ognissanti
That time of year is upon us again. It’s the season Giacomo Castelvetro, Inquisition refugee and author of the 1614 manuscript The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy, described as per la bocca (‘for tasting’)….
Cucina Conversations: Italian cuisine, a new blogging roundtable and Sicilian grape must pudding
I had quite the epiphany a couple of years ago when I first read John Dickie’s highly readable account of Italian food and culinary history, Delizia. In the book’s second chapter, after describing Palermo’s totemic…
Amatriciana for Amatrice: a recipe and how to support the earthquake relief efforts
The almost eerie perfection of the Baroque reconstruction in Sicily’s Val di Noto. The twelfth century church three metres below street level in the same island’s port city of Messina. The ghost town of Romagnano…
Rice-stuffed tomatoes and forgotten Italian foodways: an interview with Karima Moyer-Nocchi
Over the years, I’ve developed a passion for food. Few things make me happier than when I’m chopping vegetables, stirring a risotto or kneading dough in my kitchen. I’m always looking for new things to…
Bagnet verd (Piedmontese green sauce)
I have a confession to make. Unless I’m baking or recipe-testing for this blog, I don’t always take out my kitchen scales to check how much an ingredient weighs. And I don’t think I am…
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…