I am a sucker for kitchen gadget and food festivals. As I was moving things around in my kitchen I came upon these lovely objects. I adore this Sicilian handmade mold for their desserts. Traditionally this is used for a Gelo mold, they make these jellies with almond milk, watermelon or even quince paste, which…
Pure Summer
Nothing says summer like vine-ripened tomatoes, and there is no better way to enjoy them than right off the plant and onto toasted Tuscan bread. Most people think of bruschetta pronounced (brusKetta) as the chopped tomatoes marinated with basil and oil on bread which has been toasted and rubbed with raw garlic. Here is Florence…
That time of year
Driving around the countryside now, a thin plant is high above the others with its tiny golden pollen calling me! I discovered Fennel Pollen while working at the Antica Macelleria with Dario Cecchini, one of my mentors here in Italy. Dario’s curiosity is contagious and when he discovers something, you also get addicted. I adore…
Summer Playtime!
I have been emailing with David about carmel corn. I loved Fiddle Faddle and Screaming Yellow Zonkers and this winter was making some to put in my selection of goodies I give to my vendors at the Central Market. He wrote the funniest adventure about the 7 times he made the recipe to get it…
Tonno di Coniglio.. Rabbit, tuna style
Last week I had a whole family for class, the children walking around on their own as we were waiting for our vegetables, they came back from the nearby butcher’s booth with this dramatic statement, ” Daddy, I didn’t know that they ate poodles!” It isn’t just kids that are confused with the shape of…
Tuscan Treasures- Roberta
When I first started teaching classes for Syracuse University here in Florence in 1988, one of my first teachers at the San Lorenzo market was Roberta. She had the largest fruit stand upstairs with her oldest son. Roberta would always give me huge bags of ripe fruit for 5,000 lira to make huge bowls of…
To Market to Market
My market, San Lorenzo,also known as the Mercato Centrale, Central Market Upstairs, there are several vegetable purveyors that have some fabulous mushrooms in season, Porcini being the local specialty. (This is no longer the upstairs, it was restored and revamped in 2014) There are one or two fish mongers that have their own boats, Mom’s…
Linguine di Capitan Travaglia
Yesterday we went to visit our friends Stefano and Gianna who have a hot air balloon company in Chianti. They recently moved near to us, on a farm and have a fabulous litte orto, home garden, with three kinds of tomatoes, watermelon, cabbage and of course an herb garden, basil, sage, rosemary and parsley. Gianna’s…