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Bringoli: Tuscan hand-rolled pasta – Chestnuts and Truffles TV

  This hand-rolled pasta is popular all over Tuscany with local variations on the name. My local town of Anghiari calls them bringoli and even has a festival dedicated to them in early November. Visit the festival and watch as I show you how to make them, just like an Italian would, in the video above. …

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All about truffles: white truffle risotto

As you may have seen from this week’s video, on Saturday I attended the annual white truffle festival in Città di Castello, the area around which is renowned for the quality of its truffles. A facebook friend of mine recently asked me ‘Why are mouldy old lumps scrabbled from the autumn ground the source of …

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Holy wine!: How Vin Santo is made

  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 …

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Zuppa di marroni al tartufo: Chestnut and truffle soup

When I started this blog, I decided to call it Chestnuts and Truffles because these are the two major local products here in this corner of Tuscany. In fact the name Marrone di Caprese Michelangelo, (marrone being a cultivated chestnut) is protected in Italy with a DOP status. I could easily have called it Chestnuts …

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Running up that hill: the Palio della Vittoria

  Summer in Italy is a time for festivals. Up and down the peninsula, the sun brings communities out of their houses to join together in celebration of the many fine things Italian culture has to offer. How and what they celebrate is as varied as Italian cuisine, and just as regional. In the south …

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