It is not only Americans that think that drinking grappa is like drinking lighter fluid; even my Italian husband is not a great fan of grappa, until he tried the grappa I was sent as part of a tasting panel. I was asked try to participate by my friend at Studio Cru. How did he…
Divina Cucina Tours- Almost like being here!
Here is a small taste of what we do on our tours in Tuscany and Sicily- to me it is as important for you to be part of the everyday life here and to visit Italy like a local. I hope you can come and join me in Tuscany or Sicily or where ever you…
A Passion for Heat- Fruit Mostarda
Whole clementines at the end of the three day process I adore all sorts of spicy sauces and the heat that chili gives to food.When I tasted the Mostarda di Cremona, it was love at first bite. Sweet, syrupy candied fruit with a wasabi like kick to it- hot and sweet together. Not only great…
Butter as Food
Lelio Botteri and Mario Fiandino at Golosario Often, we think of butter as part of a pantry, to be used for cooking but not really standing on its own as a food. Living in Italy and France, I have had artisan butters which deserve such respect.I was recently asked to participate in a butter “tasting…
Salt- Cured Olives
The olive harvest began a little early this year, at the end of October, many people wait till November 3- something about numbers. When the olives are harvested for oil, some of them are still green, giving the oil here a peppery flavor. As we get farther into the season the olives ripen to black…
Strange but Wonderful
I adore when the seasons change in Italy, it is present in the colors on the trees, the dropping of the temperature, but most of all in the markets. This weeks market treat was this strange but lovely Chicory plant, Cicoria, which is a speciality in Rome. I have seen it already cut and cleaned…
13 at the Table
Cinta Senese pigs are not the only ones pigging out in Tuscany In Italy, thirteen at the table is unlucky as it is the same number Jesus had at the last supper and look what happened to him! However, for me thirteen has always been my lucky number and this week myself and twelve other…
Falling Back
my room with a view, where I write Today we fall back one hour- sleeping in a little extra and waking to an incredible fall day.When I am working at my computer upstairs in our tiny 1/3 of a old stone farmhouse in the hills outside of Certaldo, the songbirds are soundtrack during the day….