October is my anniversary of arriving in Florence, in 1984. If you have ever been here in Fall, you will know how easy it is to fall in love with Tuscany with the Fall light. The countryside is turning gold, the vineyards and hills covered with chestnut and oak trees are vibrant. Weekends are filled…
Pici Pasta -Tuscan Traditional Pasta
I have always enjoyed learning to make Tuscan traditional pasta shapes. Locally, the cucina povera, poor cuisine, found a way to make eggless pasta. Flour and water pasta is one of the first pastas created we can trace it back in history to Roman times and also think about Ramen noodles. Around Siena and heading…
Panna Cotta – My Favorite Dessert
Panna Cotta or as I refer to it, Jello for grownups, is one of my favorite desserts. Since I was a pastry chef, that is saying a lot. When I go to a old school trattoria , if Latte alla Portughese or Creme Caramel is on the menu, I will order it. These are both…
Happy New Year- Another Trip Around the Sun
Happy New Year? I think we all love to celebrate and as an expat, I discovered new holidays to celebrate in Italy. We all have December31/January 1st as New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. My mom was raised in Shanghai, we although we are not Chinese, Chinese New Year’s was always big in our…
Market Day Menu: Chickpeas and Beets
Creating a market day menu for me is like being on one of those cooking shows every time I shop. In my own village, Certaldo, we have our large weekly market on Wednesday. They bring it all in, not just food. This is like the mall coming to you, you can get almost anything you…
Feast of the Seven Fishes- Cacciucco
I have heard from so many of my Italian American friends about the Feast of the Seven fishes for Christmas Eve, but no one in Florence has ever heard about it. Like many Italian American traditions, they came with the immigrants and found new life in the USA. Regional Italian cooking, would trace that recipe…
Ballotte-Stewed Tuscan Chestnuts
When the chestnuts come out you know the temperature has gotten chilly and we have broken out the down comforter, put the mattress heater on the bed (called scaldasogno) and turned the heat on in the house. The grapes have been harvested and driving past the wineries you can get drunk smelling the wine fermenting….
Cookbook Review: Florentine, The True Cuisine of Florence by Emiko Davies
I recently received a copy of Emiko Davies ‘s cookbook, Florentine, The True Cuisine of Florence. It is filled with her favorite recipes from living in and around Florence. Like me, she got some of her inspiration for the local trattoria’s, pizza places and friends. Marrying a Italian also helps for quality control! I first saw…