Tuscan Nutella and meringue tart
febbraio 6, 2012
For me, living on the border between the provinces of Siena and Florence, driving south in Tuscany means going through one of the most breathtaking scenery on the planet, the Val d’Orcia and the Crete Senesi, declared by UNESCO, in 2004, World Heritage Site. The outlines of the hills are well known throughout the world, just as the small group of cypress trees at the top of a small hill that seem placed there on purpose to inspire photographers and dreamers.
Pienza, Bagno Vignoni, San Quirico d’Orcia… these are lands of cheese, hot springs and soft landscapes. Then Montalcino, known throughout the world for its wine and also for the excellent extra virgin olive oil, the view that stretches to a far horizon of rolling hills and an abbey just outside the town where the air still vibrates with mysticism and Gregorian chants.
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Posted in Autumn, Baked Good, Cakes, Chocolate, Desserts, Tuscan Recipes, Winter 30 Comments »
A steaming cup of cardamom black tea for a snowy afternoon
febbraio 3, 2012
When in the afternoon I need a break to lighten up my mind and warm up my hands and my spirit, I put the kettle on the fire and brew a flavored black tea. The cardamom black tea is my latest passion.
When it comes to food, I am a fairly daring person, I taste with pleasure and a hint of challenge every kind of food, even those I might not like at first glance. Basically I am very curious and this pushes me beyond my comfort zone.
The same can not be said of my attitude towards drinking. You already know that I am basically a soft drink person, but do not be surprised if I tell you that I had the first sip of Coke when I was more than 25 years old, and obviously I did not like it. My friends laugh at me, saying I’m definitely more English than Italian as my favorite drink, at any time of the day, is tea.
I usually drink from 2 up to 6 cups of green tea a day – sencha or jasmine bancha tea – but in the morning or afternoon, when I need a boost of energy, there is nothing better than a strong cup of black tea flavoured with different spices accordingly to the season.
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Posted in Autumn, Drinks, Winter 15 Comments »
A tiramisu to celebrate 3 years of blogging
febbraio 1, 2012
“The blog is a part of who I am. It’s becoming like a limb. I have to feed it all the time. I think of it as an engine that propelled me forward. I look at the world through my blogger struggles. When I go anywhere I wonder if it’s blogger material. I experience things more intensely because I’m asking myself more questions, not just living in the moment, so that I can talk to my readers afterwards.
When I’ve found my groove and I’m not hung up on traffic and number of comments and whether I’m going to quit, it’s so gratifying. It brings me so much in terms of interaction and feedback and ideas and inspiration. It’s really worth every ounce of energy I pour into it. It has grown with me. It’s really the key to everything else that I do.”
Clotilde Dusoulier, Chocolate & Zucchini - from Will Write for Food, Dianne Jacob
… I wouldn’t be able to express my feelings in a better way or to find better words to celebrate my first 3 years of blogging today. Today, when I’m back home from London full of ideas and inspiration and I am ready to put everything into practice, today, when the snow has covered everything in white, softness and quietness, today, when the new life has finally begun.
And I want to thank you, because Clotilde’s words are true, true because I do appreciate your feedback, the love and the friendship, the interaction that grows constantly and makes me grow, an everlasting spur to do better not to disappoint you.
Therefore I decided to make this special treat for you, my Mum’s tiramisu, the basic version, still missing here on the blog… I could not wait any longer to publish it! As we are celebrating, I decided to make it a little bit more special with a step by step video: thanks to Valeria for being such a patient actress and to Laura for being a perfect assistant director!
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Posted in Autumn, Chocolate, Desserts, Family recipes, Spring, Summer, Winter 21 Comments »
Picnic at Beachy Head
gennaio 26, 2012
More than a week has passed since I first came to London and in a few days I’ll be back in my mansard over my family kitchen overlooking the woods and fields, waiting for the wheat to turn pale green to announce that the spring has finally arrived.
You may wonder what I have been up to in this first week… if your answer is mostly eating, you are very close to the truth! Being it Indian, English, Turkish or Italian, being it home-made, eaten sitting in a restaurant or standing up waiting for the best Beigel ever tasted or even perched on a rock by the sea, we ate and celebrated the power of food, the best way to communicate, to get to know each other and become friend.
In this never ending feast of abundance, imagination and creativity, there was a sandwich, a very simple one but generous in flavour, that is worth sharing with you. Let’s say it’s an excuse to bring you with me to Beachy Head, but believe me that the sandwich has more than a reason to be celebrated.
Beachy Head, an hour’s drive south of London, is a place that leaves you speechless. Breathtaking is not only the view of the cliffs on a gray winter day, so bright white that it hurts your eyes when kissed by the sun. Breathtaking is also the steep climb back from the lighthouse, against the wind and with a large bag weighed down with camera, gloves, hat, scarf and other bare necessities.
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Posted in Autumn, Quick Recipes, Spring, Summer, Winter 13 Comments »
Mum, could you buy me a rice tartlet? The Italian rice pudding tartlets
gennaio 23, 2012
I like San Gimignano in the early morning, when it is still not crowded with tourists, when you see the local people passing along the streets almost incredulous to have San Gimignano for themselves, yet still for just a few more minutes. I like it when the footsteps echo on the cobbled shady streets, resounding between the high walls of the houses.
I like the gray colour of the stones, especially when they have just been washed by the rain of the early spring. In San Gimignano, along the main street that goes to the Cathedral from the park outside the walls, just after the main gate on the left you find the Pasticceria Armando e Marcella, one of my favourite pastry shops in the world. Every time that mum took me there as a little girl, just entered my question was always the same: Mum, could you buy me a rice tartlet?
The subtly lemon scented rice pudding tartlets were my favourite sweet treat as a child, whether bought by mum on a common Saturday when we went to visit my granddad Remigio who lived there, or by my aunt Silvana in an early morning before going to the market when I used to spend in San Gimignano a few days during the summer holidays.
It might depend on their special character or in their essence interwoven with childhood memories and flavours, but they are still my favourite choice on the rare occasions when I have breakfast in a bar, or when I enter in a baker’s shop and they have just been baked and are still warm with a gentle creaminess inside.
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Posted in Autumn, Desserts, Pies and Tarts, Spring, Summer, Tuscan Recipes, Winter 22 Comments »