A short drive from Castellina lies the medieval town of Volterra made famous most recently as one of the locations for the movie series Twilight. One of the larger walled towns that we have visited, Volterra has a number of beautiful streets, museums and attractions that are steeped in history, including the ruins of a […]
Happy 145th Birthday Canada! – PROSCIUTTO WRAPPED BOCCONCINI
Happy 145th birthday Canada This weekend Canada will celebrate its 145th birthday. To mark the occasion we have a quick and versatile recipe good enough for an elegant starter, a snack or potluck. Family style I serve this up family-style on a bed of mixed greens with chopped tomato and crostini. Include some basil leaves […]
Eating, Sleeping & Making Love – PASSATELLI
Maestro Federico Fellini Maestro Federico Fellini is definitely Italy’s most famous movie director. Over his forty year career he was nominated for twelve Oscars and was awarded five. Movies like La Strada, 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita and Amarcord captured life in a profound way, sometimes blurring the line between dream and reality. To capture […]
Rimini More Than Just A Beach Town – PIADINA
Beach vacations Beach vacations aren’t for everyone but the hundreds of thousands of beach chairs in Rimini are proof that many people enjoy the sand and sea. There are over 100 bagni (plural of bagno, Italian for beach), pick one, go to the booth and pay, then someone will show you to your chair. You […]
TAGLIATELLE AL RAGU
Tagliatelle al Ragu As promised we have investigated (thoroughly) the makings of a proper Bolognese sauce and we can now tell you definitively that there is no such thing as “Bolognese” sauce, kind of. In fact, what is known in the rest of the world as Bolognese sauce or spaghetti Bolognese (spag bol for you […]
On The Road Again…
Between three and seven times Experts say that people change careers between three and seven times within their working life. As we get ready to go on the road again with our very first press trip, Tim, a career chef with over 15 years behind a stove and I, an office lifer, wonder whether this […]
A sneak peek at what’s ahead – TAGLIATELLE ALLA BOLOGNESE
No this isn’t a doomsday post, far from it. It’s a peek at what you can expect to read about this summer. Yep, we’re heading out again, back to Europe. At the end of May we’ll be taking part in BlogVille, a project by the Emilia-Romagna Tourism Board that lets bloggers “live like a local”. We’ll […]
A Mexican Dish From The Yucatán – COCHINITA PIBIL
Yucatan street food Introduced to us by our friends Gerardo and Liz, Cochinita Pibil is a Mexican dish and typical street food in the Yucatan. It is a heavily seasoned, marinated and slow roasted piece of pork (usually shoulder). The marinade is the key to a good cochinita and achiote paste is the key to […]