November 26, 2015
I don’t know if you have access to fresh ricotta made this morning but I bought mine from the cheese maker next door while staying at the off the beaten path agriturismo Palazzo del Duca in Tavernelle. A blog post about the experience is in the making but I had to use the cheese right away so here is one of the ways I used it, simplicity itself, and in the words of Leonardo da... View Article
November 25, 2015
Travelling off season has its benefits. We are here at the height of truffle season and during the white truffle festival of San Miniato. This year the Festival is celebrating its 45 anniversary and we were here for the celebration. Every November more than 100,000 people descend on San Miniato for the Nostra Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco di San Miniato and the narrow streets and small piazzas fill with truffle aromas and stands of vendors displaying... View Article
November 24, 2015
The truffle I bought at the San Miniato truffle festival was enough for just two dishes: soft scrambled eggs with truffles and risotto with truffles. It was a fun and short lived, I need to find another white truffle before we leave Tuscany. we are off to Florence in a few days and are staying there long enough to do some cooking, looking forward to that. The truffled risotto is easy to make, simply make... View Article
November 23, 2015
The Ligurian coast is stunningly beautiful with jewel-like towns dotting the coastline between the Cinque Terre and Genoa. One of my favourite areas is the Gulf of Tigullio, home to three towns, Rapallo, Santa Margherita and the famous Portofino. This is where the rich and famous came to live La Dolce Vita, anchoring their mega yachts near Portofino’s little harbour and filling the luxury hotels and gorgeous private villas on the hills above the town.... View Article
November 20, 2015
Some things feel luxurious and truffles are certainly among them. We are in Italy right now at the height of white truffle season and just returned from the white Truffle Festival in San Miniato, still overwhelmed by the abundance of truffles and array of truffle products that were available. We tasted truffles in several dishes, mostly with pasta, risotto, cheese and on crostini, but one of the simplest ways it was served and to me... View Article
November 19, 2015
We are stationed on the Tuscan coast, within a short drive of most sites in Tuscany and close to the gorgeous Ligurian coast with its five charming villages known as the Cinque Terre (chin-que-te-rrre). This is where we are headed today. The Cinque Terre are five picture perfect coastal villages, lined one after the other in ravines along a 6 mile stretch of rugged coast. The colourful homes cling to each other and to the... View Article
November 12, 2015
We are in an oak forest in the Tuscan countryside on a beautiful fall day in November. Our truffle hunter Luigi Leto, his truffle hunting dog Mora and his son Simone are taking us on a truffle hunt outing in the woods. Following the hunt we are invited to a truffle lunch to be prepared by Luigi’s wife Giuseppina’s at her cooking school Cucina Giuseppina at Certaldo alto, the magnificent ancient town on top of the hill. I... View Article
November 11, 2015
We are keeping different schedule here in Italy with all the comings and goings and sometime late at night we just want something to eat. Unless I have a dish ready I invariably turn to a quick pasta and use passata as a base for the sauce. Passata is a useful Italian ingredient not well known at home so I thought I’d tell you about it. It is common in Italian kitchens and frequently called... View Article
November 10, 2015
You may find it interesting that after talking about all the towns in Tuscany that are “on the list” (whose list is it anyway?) our first excursion was to a town that is not, not “on the list” that is. We set off one morning for a three day excursion to Certaldo, about an hour and a half east from here inland, to meet Simone and his parents Luigi and Giuseppina. Luigi and Simone were... View Article
November 7, 2015
We arrived in Tuscany a few days ago and settled on the coast between laid back Lido di Camaiore and the more happening Viareggio. We will be using this place as our base for the next four weeks and from here will make excursions inland and up the coast, probably as far as Cinque Terre and Portofino. The kitchen in the apartment is bright and well equipped and now I understand the concept of the... View Article
November 3, 2015
If you are a foodie visiting Milan there are a couple of places not to be missed. In the center of town, within a couple of minutes walk from the Duomo on Via Spadari 9 (Google Map directions were confusing, just take Via Torino from the Duomo and turn right on Spadari) you will find Peck, a high end gourmet food store and restaurant that is rightly described as a gastronomical temple celebrating the best foods... View Article
November 1, 2015
The last thing you expected to hear from me is about fast food in Italy, right? Well, I am full of surprises. I was going to write about some of the restaurants we tried but gave up (I may try again later) because, really there is no need to chase specific places as almost any place you walk into will serve good food. Before we came here I researched and listed a few places that... View Article
