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 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 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
