dicembre 9, 2009
In Italy the 8th of December is an holiday dedicated to Saint Mary, when usually we trim the tree and we start making Christmas cookies… as every year, the house is full of cinnamon, aniseed and vanilla smells! Tuscan cookies are not nice to see nor colourfull, cool or chic… they’re round, a bit flat on the edge and dusted with flour. When I was young, mum used to bring home a white paper bag from San Gimignano, full of cavallucci, a gift from my Grandad for his niece.
Each time I eat those cookies, they remind me of Grandad. They are very similar: rustic and bashful on the outside, but sweet and flavourl inside, full of delicious ingredients and spices.
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Posted in Cookies, Dessert, Italian Recipes, Tuscany 
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dicembre 6, 2009
Here I am after 2 days of work in Spello, Umbria: it’s amazing! As soon as my brand new car will arrive, I’ll put on a Bruce Springsteen cd and I’ll drive my Kia car towards Umbria, to discover old medioeval villages covered with fog and new delicious dishes. I bought grass-peas: any suggestions on how to cook them?
Today was the first of three days off work, so I decided to make some Christmas reharsals, baking my first Christmas cookies, which contributed to make an happy tea time. The other goal was ti read until the last page my Cecilia Ahern book: so, don’t expect a long post, I must discover the mystery behind the castle!
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Posted in Cookies, Dessert 1 Comment »
dicembre 2, 2009
Bread soup, also known as black cabbage and beans soup, it’s one of the most popular dish in Tuscany, during cold months, it is an old recipe, typical of farmers of all times, one of those dishes you could make each and every single day for months!
It wasn’t so typical at home when my grandma was a child, as her dad didin’t liked it too much, but it was extremely appreciated by her mum and all her family. She used to make it with black cabbage, but she loved it with chard too, as the soup flavour gained sweetness and softness.
Making this soup has been a dive into the past, back to the end of the Nineteenth century, because this white and blue soup tureen belongs to Tommaso and Adele, my grandma’s grandparents, who inherited it when they left the house where they used to live with Tommaso’s brothers and sisiters and Maria and Giuseppe, the oldest ancestors we can reach in my grandma’s memories.
I’ve been witness of a powerful stream of consciousness, where pepole life were told through their objects and trasures, while my grandmother was making this dish.
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Posted in First Course, Italian Recipes, Tuscany, Vegetables 7 Comments »
novembre 30, 2009
I studied them for a long time. Flourless cupcakes with dark chocolate, coconut and almond meal. I mixed them with care, getting into raptures because of their intriguing flavours. I decided not to use cake cases, to exalt their dark brown chocolate colour. I watched them rising into the oven, proud to see how they were growing so self confident, I was desperately in love with each and every wrinkle they had on their wonderful crisp surface. I removed them from the oven with a satisfied smile, sure that the next day they would have been a wonderful birthday present for my friend Fede.
Poor thing! Can you single out which was my huge mistake? How could I not have tought at that small detail?! and it wasn’t the first time I was making cupcakes! Cake cases!! Never forget cake cases! The day after cupcakes were firmly in love with the mould, they didn’t want to leave it, not for all the for all the tea in China! I had just crumbles in my hand… small, delicious, chocolate crumbles!
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Posted in Dessert, Puddings 1 Comment »
novembre 27, 2009
Here we are again. After tripe, spleen crostini and chiken liver crostini my true and genuine Tuscan blood comes out again to reveal a deep love for offals! This is the turn of pork liver. It is such a simple and true dish, perfect for upcoming winter months since it is flavourful and nourishing. The first time I found pork liver into my dish I was quite astonished, because I couldn’t understand waht I was going to eat and it was difficult as well to give a name to that meat wrapped into a strange ‘net’. Once you overtake the initial distrust, you discover a rich and unique taste.
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Posted in Italian Recipes, Meat, Second Course, Tuscany No Comments »
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