Venetian word of the day: barene
If you’ve ever flown into Venice Marco Polo airport, you may have noticed some strange island formations in the north of the lagoon. They look like odd-shaped mosaic tiles peeping up out of the water,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crispeddi di Riso (recipe)
These crispeddi di riso, also known as zeppole, are traditionally eaten in Catania on 19 March but are delicious any day of the year. 19 March in Italy is the feast of San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph), the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rome shorts: la via delle sette chiese
In Italian, ‘ho fatto il giro delle sette chiese’—I’ve been around the seven churches— means that you’ve been absolutely everywhere looking for something. But what are the origins of this phrase?...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ravioli al tonno e nocciole (recipe)
Fresh ravioli with tuna and hazelnut filling make a dinner-party dazzler or a comforting weekend meal. There is something almost spiritual about making fresh pasta. Seeing the combined ingredients turn...
View ArticleVenetian word of the day: èsser
The word èsser, in its many forms, is fundamental to Venetian identity. It encapsulates the essence of what it is to be Venetian, one’s very existence. Èsser distinguishes Venetian speakers from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Insalata primavera (recipe)
I remember my first fresh pea. Ejected from its pod, I inspected it, lying in the palm of my hand with its siblings. I’d had frozen peas before, tasteless and of a much darker hue than this one which...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Foolproof cacio e pepe (recipe)
Cacio e pepe, along with carbonara, amatriciana, and gricia, is one of the classics of Roman cuisine. As its name, which means cheese and pepper, suggests, it should also be very simple to make....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pasta step-by-step: malloreddus
Mallor … what? Malloreddus, also known as gnocchettii sardi (sardinian gnocchi), is a typical pasta shape from the Italian island of Sardinia. The rather unusual name is Sardinian dialect for baby...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Caffè alla Salentina
Although there are a million and one ways to drink coffee in Italy, I’m always surprised and delighted to discover a new one. Especially one like caffè alla salentina, perfectly suited to the summer...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Melanzane a funghetto
Eggplant: black gold Eggplant, aubergine, melanzana: it doesn’t matter what you call it the taste is always the same. But what an easy vegetable to cook badly. When cooked badly, it’s a bitter,...
View ArticleWelcome to vegitalian food!
More and more people are reducing the amount of meat in their diet, or cutting it out completely. In Italy, this is not hard at all, since there is a vast range of traditional recipes which just...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Polpette di melanzana (eggplant balls)
Recipe #1 in my new vegitalian series The word polpetta (plural polpette) is usually translated into English as ‘meatball’. This is a really bad translation because meat is only one of many...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Orecchiette alle cime di rapa (recipe)
Recipe #2 in my new vegitalian series Making pasta at home can seem like a real drag, especially if it involves making hundreds of hand-shaped creations, like tortellini or orecchiette. However, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Easy peasy risi e bisi (recipe)
Recipe #3 in my new vegitalian series This is not the traditional recipe for risi e bisi (Venetian rice and peas). You will find that in my post here and there’s another version here. This is the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Calabrian red onion tart
Recipe #4 in my new vegitalian series A friend of mine recently visited the town of Tropea in the southern-Italian region of Calabria. When he told me he was going, my reaction was, ‘Ooh, onions!’ The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In the shadow of the Colosseum
I rarely write about Rome. She gets rather overshadowed, I’m afraid, by her flashy younger sister Venice. When in Rome, I even tend to take pictures of anything connected to Venice. Not, I’m afraid,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Simple fig and mozzarella salad
Recipe #5 in my new vegitalian series August is right in the middle of the Italian fig season and shops, markets, and the ubiquitous trees are heaving with the fruit. What better way to eat them than...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pellegrino Artusi: father of Italian Cuisine
Father, guru, evangelist? Ask any Italian chef, food writer, or home cook, who the most influential figure in Italian cuisine is, and one name comes up again and again: Pellegrino Artusi. Regularly...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Schiacciata con l’uva (recipe)
It’s grape time again in Italy and this year, notwithstanding the pandemic, there seems to be a bumper harvest and the sweet uva fragola are everywhere. So, it’s time to pull out this amazing recipe...
View ArticleFave dei Morti: Almond biscuits – Chestnuts and Truffles TV
A repost of a popular video I made a few years back to show how they celebrate November 2 in Umbria. These almond biscuits from Umbria are traditionally served on November 2, the feast of All Souls...
View Article
