This recipe is from Puglia. To fully understand Italian cuisine, it’s important to note the major difference between it and, for example, French cuisine. French cuisine is the cuisine of the chef. Home cooks spend a lot of time trying to live up to the creations and recipes coming out of the important restaurants […]
Melanzane ripiene della nonna Checchina: Puglian stuffed eggplants 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 »
White ragù—Italian meat sauce without tomatoes—is one of my all time favourite dishes. I learnt it as a teenager from my Italian step-grandmother in her kitchen in Venice. She was noted for her ragù and people were forever asking her how she made it but, of course, she wouldn’t tell. But one summer morning while
Lasagne bianche ai noci: lasagne with white ragù and walnuts (recipe) Read More »
We’ve been waking up to temperatures of about -4°C at La Madera this week, proving that the Mediterranean climate is an extreme one. So, while we wait for the return of the 38°C days we experienced last summer, it’s time for winter comfort food: and here’s some from my childhood, pasta e fagioli, or as they say
Pasta e fagioli: pasta and bean soup (recipe) Read More »
The magic of Florence is legendary. The city, with its red-tiled roofs fills the wide valley of the river Arno, straddled by the ponte vecchio, literally paved with gold shops. The enormous cupola of the duomo, also red-tiled, has given Florence one of the most recognized skylines in the world, to rival, Paris, London, New York, but
Florence at Christmas: a photo essay 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 »
