My mum used to say that I had started a food blog as I had plenty of free time: I still didn’t have a boyfriend at the advanced age of twenty-eight. Once you’ll find someone, you won’t have time for the blog anymore, she would say, looking up to the…
For years Mensanello has been just a nearby working Tuscan farm. My grandmother has aways referred to the Fattore and Fattoressa, the farm manager and his wife, with enormous respect. Mum used to buy fresh eggs from the Fattoressa, we used to go there on a Sunday to mass. There was a…
I have always lived in the countryside, in the same house where grandma and dad were born, but for years the countryside was little more than a well-kept garden, an olive tree orchard and a hedgerow of blackberries at the end of summer. My parents belong to that generation, grown…
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…
I thought this would be a birthday without a cake, a low key celebration, I didn't feel like making anything special. Yesterday I went to bed feeling not as excited as I always am the night before my favourite day of the year. I am tired and in a desperate need…
You are always connected. You are constantly sharing pieces of your life. Is there an end to all of this? How is it influencing the way you live your life? a man asked me last week, while I was speaking at a conference on the influence of Social Media and…
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,…
Cooking anchors me to reality. Last week, after attending Cibo a Regola d’Arte, I was reflecting once more on the reason I started blogging. Well, it is simple, and the most obvious: I’ve always loved cooking. I am curious, and the blog helped me to feed this curiosity. Cooking saved my…