If it is true that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, it is also true that we must be careful to take the right path, avoiding the troubled track full of bends, up and downs and breathtaking cliffs. Everyone loves an adventurous journey, though getting car…
Extra virgin olive oil, or just olive oil. Hard to say what it is for me, what it means for our gastronomic tradition without falling into an elegy or writing a mini encyclopedia, with cross-references and footnotes. Perhaps, more simply, I would say that olive oil is for me daily…
I am now an expert in stealing all those special moments just for myself, I try to set them in the day just like jewels, make them valuable and intense, though fleeting. I am almost over with the book, recipes are done - tested, photographed and written - and the…
If you live in the countryside, you'd better not be in a hurry when you leave your house in any September morning. Any other time you find yourself stuck behind a tractor bursting of ripe grapes, carrying its buzzing load to the closer cellar. Arm yourself with patience and get mesmerized…
When I was attending the middle school my Italian teacher asked us to write a self-analysis booklet, in which we were supposed to describe ourselves through photographs, drawings and short sentences. To help us define ourselves - young boys and girls still looking for our true self - she gave us…
If you happen to be born in the inland Tuscany, you do not have that much confidence with fish. Or at least that goes for me. I asked my grandmother for evidence since I wanted to understand which was my family tradition, and she confirmed that fish was eaten only on…
They came home gift-wrapped as only Santa's elves would be able to do: two kilos of intense Caffarel dark chocolate. They came home along with a shower of chocolate stars, wrapped in a shiny yellow and red paper. As you can see from my pictures, I was put in charge of the 20th of December in…
Just two months before Christmas, before a very special Christmas, this year. I've always known that if there was a Christmas to be remembered, after the many jolly festive days of childhood, it should have been the Christmas of my 30 years. So here we are, just two months to…
I’ve written my first acceptance speech, sitting at my tiny desk in the living room with a stained apron, dreaming to wear a red dress and high heels and to stand in front of some of the best food writers, bloggers and editors of our time. I am sure I would have cried, I’m emotional.