Coming out of lockdown and a recipe for pasta with peas
In the past couple of weeks, Italy has been taking baby steps towards some semblance of normality. Provided we wear masks, we can now venture outside our homes to go for a jog, take our…
Ligurian panissa salad
I’ve gradually transitioned to working from home over the past couple of years. This means minimal commuting and to my great relief, far less office politics to put up with. There’s no more need to…
More about radicchio (and what it’s like to be pregnant in Turin)
If you were to ask one of the people who knows me best what I enjoy eating most I’m sure they’ll respond with the word insalata or salad. And by salad, I mean raw, simple…
Cucina Conversations: Fagioli grassi for Carnival
Calabrian proverb: Those who marry are only happy for a day, but those who slaughter their pig are happy for an entire year. It was January 16, the eve of Saint Anthony Abbot’s Day. The family…
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…
Of pigs and panissa
Traditionally, winter is pig slaughtering season in Italy. These days, since the majority of Italians no longer live in the countryside and can easily buy pork and other meats from their local butcher or supermarket,…
Borlotti bean soup and the cult of cucina povera
I am an incurable mangiafagioli or ‘beaneater’. Really though, what is wrong with admitting your passion for one of healthiest, most nutritionally dense foods on the planet? Fibre, protein, folate and iron are just a…