These are sunny days that taste like early Spring, days of morning walks in the countryside before work. I feel the vibrations of the upcoming season, so I try to shake off the fatigue of a tiring winter, which I had completely underestimated. I channel this energy in the kitchen,…
Although we had been friends for several months, in the first weeks of us being officially together we did not miss an opportunity to talk about who we were, what we liked, which were our first and deepest passions. We spent ten days at the seaside in Maremma with friends:…
When we talk about chocolate salame, my mind goes immediately to what we call rotolino in my family, a soft sponge roll brushed with the ubiquitous pinkish alchermes and spread with chocolate and custard. But there is another chocolate salame, which is made with very few ingredients that you will…
Nine years ago it was a shelf in my mum's kitchen. This is where I began collecting my first spices and props, even when I didn't know they could have a name, props. For me they were just cups, saucers and kitchen towels. When I open that shelf now, full…
We've been the champions of the Tuscan staycation this year, working throughout August when almost everyone else was on holidays, carving out weekends and mornings to spend exploring our region or simply having a break at home. We made small videos and long naps. In one of our weekend getaways we drove…
I am impressed and humbled by the enormous amount of emails, messages and survey entries I got from you on the last blog post. You made me laugh, you made me reflect on my work, you moved me to tears more than once. You are sensible, caring and curious people,…
Garlic is the peasant’s spice cupboard. Spices were essential to sophisticated cuisine from the middle ages until at least the seventeenth century. But the rural masses couldn’t afford them. Garlic, leek and onion, by contrast, stank of poverty. Which is not to imply the well-to-do refused to eat these pungent vegetables…
I know, I've been silent for a while, but I needed it. In the upcoming weeks I will slowly get back to normal rhythms, to blog, recipes and stories. When the time comes, I will tell you how this unusual, homely, thoughtful August has been a month of exploration, a month…