A frittata is always the answer to a busy day, a hungry belly or an empty fridge. In short, it’s my go-to meal when I’m in a pinch. It’s also my favourite way to throw together some great ingredients to showcase them

ph. Emiko DaviesUnder Spanish rule for 150 years, the southern Tuscan town of Orbetello has long been famous for its bottarga, made with mullet roe, and its eel dishes, such as its anguilla sfumata (spicy, smoked eel) and scaveccio (which takes its name directly from escabesce, the Spanish method of

In Italy, traditional Easter desserts are usually egg-rich baked goods. Naples’ Easter sweet is pastiera, a ricotta and wheatberry cake scented with orange blossom and candied citron. In Sicily, it is cassata, a sponge cake layered with ricotta, chocolate and candied fruit. Tuscany’s simpler palate is

She has been called the ‘original domestic goddess,’ but Elizabeth David should be given much more credit than that. The celebrated English food writer and cookbook author would have turned 100 years old last month, and yet her witty and often passion-fuelled writing is as valid today

The great-grandfather of Italian cuisine, Pellegrino Artusi (see theflr.net/artusi), has a recipe in his 1891 cookbook, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, for a dessert that he calls Dolce Firenze, a previously unnamed dish that he savoured in Florence. While it is no

In Tuscany, the end of summer and beginning of autumn is synonymous with mushrooms. And when mushrooms are mentioned, they are porcini of course. Fresh porcini. Many a keen forager will plan to andare a funghi to collect their own fresh porcini, which go into pasta and risottos. But another

The first lesson to learn about Italian cooking is that there really is no ‘Italian cuisine,’ but 20 diverse regional cuisines, each with their own character, style, flavours and traditions. What you find in one region you may never see anywhere else on the peninsula. There are, however,

There’s no doubt that Italians have a sweet tooth, particularly when it comes to starting the day. Take a glance at the offerings behind the glass counter at your local bar or pastry shop: cornetti (sweet and fluffy rather than buttery and flaky croissants), berry or apricot jam

A favourite Italian holiday destination, the island of Elba, the largest in the Tuscan archipelago, is best known for its beaches and crystalline water than for its food. That may be because the traditional cuisine of this island is a humble one that stems from cucina povera and the rough

A recent proposal to reopen two of Italy's smallest islands that have served as prisons made headlines last May. With Italy's prisons on the brink of disaster from overcapacity, Italy's minister of justice Paola Severino said she was considering the idea of reopening the now-closed maximum-