Ristorante Cocchi Just as we finished up our delicious lunch at Ristorante Cocchi, which included fried zucchini blossoms filled with vegetables mozzarella and sardines and braised stuffed veal breast, our guide for the afternoon, Mirca, arrived to whisk us away to the Parma hillside. San Pietro Prosciutteria Nestled in its own microclimate where the dry […]
The Big Wheel In Parma
Parma We woke up early to catch the train out of Rimini up to Parma where our guide for the morning, Giovanna, was waiting for us at the station. Our hosts at Emilia-Romagna Tourism had really pulled some strings for us and had planned a very exciting day. Thanks to the generosity of the Consorzio […]
Bologna: World Class City
Bologna Housing the oldest university ever known, Bologna is a world class city with high end shops, beautiful piazzas and great food. Sometimes overlooked for more popular tourist towns, Bologna has a lot to offer from amazing architecture including leaning towers to kilometers of beautiful porticos. If you are into food and travel, Bologna is […]
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 […]
I Hate Bees
I hate bees “I hate bees,” a fellow blogger said to me when I asked whether she would come with us to visit Miele Praconi, one of the biggest honey producers in Emilia-Romagna. I was stunned that someone could feel such a negative emotion towards an insect that is so beneficial to humans but I […]
The Taste For Speed
Lamborghini Anyone who knows me well knows that I have long had a love affair with cars. In fact, if money were no object I am sure my garage would be bigger than my house. How lucky for me then to be, not only in the land of great food but in the land of […]
Living Like A Local In Blogville
Emilia-Romagna As a chef, to travel to the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy is something special. Widely considered the culinary capital of Italy it is the birth place of world famous foods like Parmigiano cheese, prosciutto di Parma and balsamic vinegar to name just a few. Dishes like lasagna, tortellini in brodo or the quintessential tagliatelle […]
The Warm Sun Of Rome
The Beehive A cab, a shuttle, a ferry, two trains and a couple of flights eventually landed us in the warm sun of Rome. We reset our watches and quickly tried to forget that we had been up for 27 hours, riding the buzz of being back in Italy. A quick walk about the neighborhood […]