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The Florentine
Matt OLeary won us over with his list of exciting ideas about food in Tuscanynow its his turn to win over our readers!
Please forgive the dreadful pun and console yourselves with the knowledge that it could have been worse if I'd have chosen a different seafood to write about this issue. (‘Prawn stars', ‘Whelk hello', or ‘A clam for all seasons', for example. Lucky escape, huh?) As it
Eating big, hearty meals at this time of the year can seem like the last thing anyone wants to do: unless, of course, those big hearty meals are cooked outside and served in a bread roll. But, at the same time, all those salads can get a little bit boring
Eagle-eyed readers might have noticed that, of late, this column has revolved around two distinct themes: summer and the onset of good weather, and thrift. It's not through a lack of inspiration-I'd hate to give the impression that writing this column is as easy as gazing
Ah, you know the feeling. Sun on your neck. The smell of marinated meat turned and sizzling on a shiny lattice. The breeze drying the patina of honest sweat on your cheeks. The sound of your friends being chased by drowsy carpenter bees the size of hummingbirds and shining like
There’s little doubt that readers in Tuscany with sweet tooths are spoiled from the moment they wake up in the morning until the time comes to brush their teeth at night. Dolci for breakfast, a morning snack, more paste at lunch, something sweet to taste in the evening
Fresh herbs are an ideal way to add colour, flavour and texture to your spring and summer dishes: they're inexpensive, and you only need a small amount to add a lot of extra taste to dishes. And in Tuscany, you're never short of opportunities to buy or
Predicting food trends is a strange world to get into, and one that most food journalists steer clear of, partly because of the risk of making yourself look a bit silly (‘So, you're trying to tell us that this is the year the electric toothbrush is finally going
It's very infrequently that this column will focus on one ingredient only, and rarer still that the named ingredient will be quite as humble and tiny as the one we're going to focus on now, but something has been missing in my life recently, and I hope to
So, you've spent the whole of January taking it easy, saving money and cranking your health back up to pre-Christmas levels. And you've spent February huddled up against (what we hope is) the last of the wintry weather, eking a few tasty meals out of the last,
Spring is often a bit of an odd time for eating. Yes, there are things that come into season right now, but most of the recipes that you’ll find yourself ...
If you switch on the TV, open a paper, walk into a shop, stroll down the street, go into a bar, or just eavesdrop on someone else's conversation, you're reminded that things are actually quite gloomy, money-wise, right now. Nobody really knows whether or not they're
I'd be lying if I said that the topic of this fortnight's article wasn't inspired by the ready crop of puns that suit anything bean-related. Bean a long time? The importance of beans in earnest? Lentil we meet again? Pun-tastic. However, at this time of
Times are hard. Many people are feeling the pinch right now. One of our favourite money-saving tips comes to us second-hand from a friend who met a very well-travelled gentleman while having a coffee in London; despite working for only two days a week, the man nonetheless
If you're having people over for a party on New Year's Eve, you might want to give them some food. Of course, there are some traditional Italian specialties that you may feel expected to serve, and if you're having a dinner party, then we think that cotechino
Seems unusual, but the act of preparing a simple pot of ragu can mean stepping onto a culinary minefield, where any number of potential wrong moves await the terrified, hapless ...
Autumn is my favourite time of year. The climate is just right, everything looks really lovely-the leaves on the trees, the morning mist, even the quality of the light is ...
If, as we're told, a small grappa can turn an ordinary early-morning coffee and cake into the colazione dei campioni-the breakfast of champions, what's the breakfast of losers? A cold slice of pizza, maybe with a cigarette butt on it. Anyway, we've tried them both,
Ah, September in Tuscany. Rich colours, lengthening evenings, warmth enough to watch the sunset in short sleeves. Supermarkets overrun with the new influx of international students, working out whether the unidentifiable fish in a jar is for human or feline consumption and struggling to vocalize the Italian word for ‘
What is it about warm weather that makes us crave fish and seafood? Perhaps it's the association of the flavours with seaside towns, ocean terraces and beach bars; maybe it's the ease with which it can be cooked, limiting the time you need to spend toasting yourself by
If there's one thing that gets up my nose at this time of the year, it's people droning on about the romance of heading into the great outdoors with a simple, rustic lunch. The journalist Christopher Hitchens once wrote that picnicking-along with lobster, champagne and something else
The first time that you cook for a date is, without any doubt, a nerve-wracking and important occasion. It might seem futile, given that in and around Florence you can't throw a stone without it ricocheting off the walls of at least three or four romantic hole-in-
