Posts

how we shop: and lombrichelli pasta with zucchini
recipes, regional specialties, vegetables
I often wonder whether there is a spike in sales of real newspapers over the summer holidays. August in Lubriano is the luxury of walking to the edicola (Lubriano still has one), buying a paper, and maybe stopping in at…

ten years: and a recipe for broccoli pasta
recipes, regional specialties, vegetablesIt is May 7, 2015 and I am on an early morning train bound for Milan, on my way to a rather special book launch and to have a look at EXPO, the Universal Exposition running with the theme 'Feeding the Planet; Energy for Life'. I go with a…

roads less travelled and unique places to stay
destinations, travelMay 2018. It is mid afternoon when we pull into the farm hotel. A deep calm blankets the property and there is no sign of anyone apart from a French couple that pad across the courtyard toward the pool. The tractors have been shut down…

an Italian reading list
destinations, travelSometimes I think about my final year history teacher, and how nice it would be to bump into him in a random piazza somewhere in Italy. Russel Staiff was one of those stand out teachers who take their students far beyond the standard textbook.…

Itineraries. Ceramics and the South: a pilgrimage to Grottaglie
destinations, market guides, travelThe sun climbs as we leave the soft olive hillsides of the Valle D'Itria, where we are staying, for the red plains of the alto-Salento, and the road cuts through carpets of primitivo vines as it reaches out toward the almost irresistible waters…

festive baking: super mince pie pastry
australiana, baking, recipes
When I'm in Australia I feel nostalgic for Italy and want to make a batch of Cavallucci di Siena at Christmas time or a Pastiera Napoletana at Easter. And every single Easter I have spent in Italy I have faithfully made hot cross buns,…

nostalgic baking: candied peel and walnuts
baking, recipes
Much as I don't want to to admit it, my mum Alison is getting older. She is in fabulous shape for an 82 year old, but going down a gear as each year passes. The proof is in her kitchen, and in the gradual slowing of festive production.…