Italians like their recipes and ingredients to have an origin. Knowing where something comes from give a sense of tradition and authority very important in Italian cuisine. Thus salsa amatriciana  comes from the town of Amatrice, parmigiano-reggiano, is named for the twin provinces of Parma and Reggio d’Emilia, and risotto alla Milanese, comes from the city of Venice. […]
Panina di Subbiano: Saffron and sultana bread Read More »
One of the things I miss most from my travels in the USA is the gourmet burger. And they are quite difficult to knock up at home. Here in mainland Europe, it’s impossible to find good burger buns. The ones sold in the shops here are weird, dry, flaky things that fall to pieces the
Burger Toscana: Tuscany Burger (recipe) Read More »
After a while in Tuscany, you do get used to pane sciocco. However, sometimes you just want a nice piece of soft salted bread to eat on its own, or to make a sandwich out of. Luckily, there are many excellent traditional breads from the rest of Italy. The other day I was putting
Focaccia ai pomodori secchi (recipe) Read More »
For the stranger to Tuscany, one thing that needs getting used to is the bread. The local bread, known as pane sciocco, is made without salt and to many foreigners taste is bland at best. The other problem with it is that it goes hard very quickly and bread bought from the bakers in the
Panzanella: quick lunches #2 Read More »
Nothing illustrates the regionalism of Italian food better than the fact that, despite Sarah Palin-like, being able to see Umbria from my Tuscan bedroom, until last Monday I had never heard of torta al testo, their ubiquitous and delicious flatbread.
Torta al testo: Umbrian flat bread (recipe) Read More »
