This year I was invited to attend a wine festival south of Naples. I adore the wines of this region, mostly whites and knew little about the reds so was excited to join the group. I adore travelling around any food and wine festival as you see the locals celebrating and each village has some…
Cioccolosa!
When the chill of winter first blows into town, any good Italian knows it is time for a Cioccolato Caldo. If you have never experienced a Italian hot chocolate, you are in for a surprise. It is not that thin water thing we drink in the USA with marshmallows, but rather like drinking pudding. I…
Tasting the Past- Cotognata ( Quince Paste)
There are some fruits and vegetables that remind me of the past. Odd shapes and incredible flavor and fragrances. Quince are one of those fruits. Impossible to eat as is. Often when at the market something catches my eye that I HAVE TO COOK. I don’t think I ever cooked or saw quince in California…
Torino – j’adore
I adore going to Torino. It reminds me a lot of Paris and has a feel of San Francisco about it. This week we ended our Ecole Chocolat tour with two days in Torino. Of course, one of the reasons was Chocolate! Torino has it’s own chocolate festival called CioccolaTO, TO being the initials for…
The Pleasures of Learning- ICAM
I think I am a perpetual student. I adore studying, hate tests, but love learning new things. For the past 7 years, I have been helping my friend Pam with her Ecole Chocolat Italian program for graduates from her online-chocolate school. We have been doing the Tuscan chocolate valley with visits and workshops with the…
PIgging Out Tuscan Style- Porchetta
For my 500th post I decided to dedicate it to pigging out. Pork is so popular in Tuscany and most of my clients adore visiting and tasting at the markets and butcher shops. I thought I would let the rest of you come on my virtual tour. I am very lucky to be able to…
Never too much Sicily
I love Palermo. This Sunday, no attempted mugging! Lovely lunch at Zia Pina with my ladies, quite the antipasto table. Great fried fish again. Then a lovely day in Cefalu’. Nothing better than learning to slow down. We saw this great “500” with a demijohn, suitcase and extra tank for gas on the roof, was…
More Sicilian Gold- Arancine
Arancini or Arancine— east coast of Sicily says Arancini– and the Palermo side says Arancine. I will let you fight it out– with whatever name they are so worth making! Arancini or Arancine fried rice balls; looking like small oranges. An arancia is orange in Italian. They are probably the most iconic Sicilian street foods. We had…