This article is about Calabria. ‘Nduja (pronouned ‘in-doo-ya’) is an incredibly spicy salame from the Calabrian village of Spìlinga. It’s made from pork mixed together with a high proportion of Calabrian chile (peperoncino), which gives it a bright red colour and fiery taste. It’s very soft which makes it easily spreadable on bread, which […]
Quick guide to Italian ingredients: ‘Nduja Read More »
For a long time, one of my favourite food blogs has been Keep Calm and Fanny On!, in which we are introduced the to the wonderful 1970s world of the British TV cook, Fanny Cradock. For those of you that don’t know her, Fanny was like a terrifying caricature of Julia Child, who corralled the
Mozzarella in carrozza: deep fried cheese sandwiches (recipe) Read More »
I love risotto and make it at least once a week. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it’s one of my specialities. I serve it with the rice perfectly al dente, in the northern Italian all’onda style, which means with plenty of liquid. I hate leftover risotto. It’s almost impossible to reheat
Arancini di riso (Sicilian rice balls) Read More »
Tramezzino, the diminutive of ‘in the middle’ is the Italian word for sandwich. Said to have been coined by the early-twentieth-century poet Gabriele d’Annunzio, the word is used to refer to sandwiches made with white pancarré bread, again said to have been invented in the Bar Mulassano in Turin. Notwithstanding their Piemontese origin, the
Tramezzini Veneziani: street food from Venice (recipe) Read More »
In 1439, a council of the Greek and Roman churches was called at Florence. According to legend, during the meeting, the Bishop of Florence proudly served his local communion wine to one of the Greek bishops who proclaimed, ‘What lovely wine! It’s xantho! (yellow)’. The Florentines, mishearing the greek adjective as santo (holy), took this as a
Holy wine!: How Vin Santo is made Read More »
If you go into any restaurant in Tuscany and look on the menu, under antipasto you’ll find crostini. Rather akin to bruschetta,crostini are slices of Tuscan bread, lightly toasted, and then loaded up with a wide variety of toppings of which chopped tomatoes with basil is only the beginning. The usual suspects are, fresh tomatoes or tomato paste,
Crostini: Five of the best (recipe) Read More »
