We couldn’t have arrived at a more perfect time. The setting sun was throwing it’s last rays on Assisi’s medieval walls and majestic Basilica, gently painting each stone a shimmering, dusky rose and transforming the whole town into a glowing beacon of warmth and peace …. one could almost feel a divine presence standing there…… Continue reading AN ITALIAN FESTIVE ‘STRUDEL’ in Assisi – the ‘City of Saints’
Tag: italy
HARVEST FESTIVAL, PEPPERS & AN ‘INNER GLOW’: with Red Pepper Salsa
It’s amazing to think that only a couple of weeks ago we were at the annual ‘Fiera del Peperone’ or Pepper Festival in Carmagnola, a well-known fixture on the Piemonte early autumn calendar. We were at the tail end of a long, blistering hot summer and still having to search for coolness, shade and chilled…… Continue reading HARVEST FESTIVAL, PEPPERS & AN ‘INNER GLOW’: with Red Pepper Salsa
CHILLING WITH ROSES & ANGELS: An Easy Rosewater & Watermelon Granita
In this relentless heat we’re having at the moment, I’m becoming more and more like a rose every day. Sadly not in the way of looking beautiful or having a gorgeously heady and fragrant aroma, but in the way they shut down when it gets too hot or too dry! According to ‘Fine Gardening’ magazine…… Continue reading CHILLING WITH ROSES & ANGELS: An Easy Rosewater & Watermelon Granita
BERGAMO, BUBBLE TEA and TOADS
Does anyone remember tapioca from their childhood? It was one of those hugely divisive puddings which herded all of us kids into two camps: lovers (that was me!) or haters and was referred to disparagingly as “frogspawn”…. which, I have to say, it had an uncanny resemblance to. Well since those early days (a lifetime…… Continue reading BERGAMO, BUBBLE TEA and TOADS
ARTICHOKES AT THE DOOR: Raw Artichoke & Fennel Salad with Pecorino & Barley Flour Crumb
My honey arrived this morning. Not some random sweetheart of mine but actual raw-honey-in-a-pot brought right to the door……delivered fresh, almost dripping, from bee-hives near Lago d’Iseo by the beekeeper or apicoltore himself. Che bella Italia! This time, rather delightfully – and coincidentally in time for Valentine’s Day – I was not only presented with…… Continue reading ARTICHOKES AT THE DOOR: Raw Artichoke & Fennel Salad with Pecorino & Barley Flour Crumb
VENETIAN-STYLE ‘CICCHETTI’ & BAGPIPES in COMACCHIO
After a difficult year last year (I apologise for no postings) I asked for 2017 to be full of new and exciting experiences and….wham!.. the universe came right back with its own humorous response…. ..Eels and Zampogna for you! Eels or ‘anguille’ are pretty self-explanatory and they came mixed in with other deep-fried fish &…… Continue reading VENETIAN-STYLE ‘CICCHETTI’ & BAGPIPES in COMACCHIO
ITALIAN MOUNTAIN FOOD: ‘PIZZOCCHERI’ with ZUCCA, CAVOLO NERO & PRIMROSES
“Arriverdeci Winter” – “Benvenuto Spring” I always have a slight moment of panic when trekking through forests and mountains we haven’t been in before. It’s always exhilarating (actually mainly afterwards) but there’s that tiny niggle of fear that we could be on the wrong track – after all you can’t see anything through the trees -…… Continue reading ITALIAN MOUNTAIN FOOD: ‘PIZZOCCHERI’ with ZUCCA, CAVOLO NERO & PRIMROSES
ITALIAN POLENTA CORNBREAD from the Tanaro Valley in Cuneo
Please do click on this link to see my next Guest Blog! Hope you enjoy it…..! http://www.turinitalyguide.com/italian-polenta-recipe/
UNDERCOVER PORCINI: Italian-style Porcini Tempura
‘Porcini mushrooms are scarce this year’ was the word on the street. I had been searching for fresh porcini for a while but everyone kept telling me that it’d been such a hot summer that the harvest was bad and fresh porcini hard to find. But then came the rain and porcini apparently started popping…… Continue reading UNDERCOVER PORCINI: Italian-style Porcini Tempura
GUEST BLOGS: ‘THE ALTA LANGHE’ and ‘RECIPES FROM PIEDMONT’
I know, I know!……I’m sorry I’m way behind on my blog but I?m working on the next one right now and thereafter I should be up to speed! I haven’t been idly lounging around sunning myself on a palm-edged beach – more’s the pity! But I had an exciting offer from Turin Italy Guide asking if I’d like to write…… Continue reading GUEST BLOGS: ‘THE ALTA LANGHE’ and ‘RECIPES FROM PIEDMONT’
EATING CLOUDS IN ITALY 