Once home to Boccaccio, Michelangelo and Gabriele D’Annunzio, Florence’s hilltop neighbourhood Settignano is a gem with some of the most beautiful views overlooking the city. During the Renaissance, thanks to its proximity to the quarries of pietra serena stone, it was the birthplace of numerous sculptors, from Desiderio da Settignano and the Rossellino brothers to […]

There are few things as comforting and satisfying as apples in desserts, in any form—balanced between sweet and tart and particularly delicious while still warm. By the time their autumn season comes along, they are just what the doctor ordered. In Italy, they are found in classic strudel, which has crept from Austria into northern […]

Homemade bottled tomato sauce, that Italian tradition that encompasses everything we think of about Italian food: family, seasonality, self-sufficiency and copious amounts of pomodoro. It’s about preserving the glut of summer produce—tumbling, cheap, ripe, sweet tomatoes—for use throughout the rest of the year when traditionally they’re not in season.   More than a recipe, it’s […]

Preserving fruit in alcohol and sugar is an age-old preparation, and an enjoyable one at that. The liqueur infuses the fruit, the fruit infuses the liqueur and the sugar adds a bit of sweetness that takes the edge off the strength of the alcohol. In fact, you could really think of this recipe as giving […]

Old fashioned, rather gaudy, but simple to make, zuppa inglese has long inspired debate over its origins.   What Elizabeth David called an “exuberant joke” and a “trifle much glorified” (Italian Food, 1954), this much-loved dessert of sponge cake or finger biscuits steeped in alcohol, layered with custard, often sporting the bright pink hue of […]

April in Florence. The effects of the cambio di stagione are now evident at the market stalls, which are filled with mountains of green, fuzzy pods of broad beans, fresh peas and crates upon crates of artichokes. With early spring the best time of year for foraging fruit and herbs, wild strawberries are now making […]

Shiny and delightfully sticky with decorative split, criss-crossed tops, pandiramerino, which means ‘rosemary bread’, are little buns fragrant with fresh rosemary and studded with sweet sultanas. (Ramerino is the charming Tuscan word for rosemary.) Traditionally, these rustic buns were made for giovedì santo, the Thursday before Easter, and were without the sultanas, hence their name. […]

ph. Emiko DaviesPitigliano is a beautiful medieval town on the very southern edge of Tuscany, just a few kilometres from Lazio. Seen from a distance, the town looks like it has been carved out of the high cliff of tufa that it sits on, looking out over the surrounding valley

This is my go-to comfort food meal, the dish I make when I’m too tired to cook, am cooking for one, don’t have much in the fridge, or want something delicious but quick. It’s a meal that can be whipped up from start

  ph. Emiko Davies   Around this time of year, castagnaccio, one of Tuscany’s most comforting and delicious treats appears in cafés, pastry shops and homes. Castagnaccio, which takes its name from its main ingredient, castagna, or chestnut, is often called a ‘cake’ in English translations, but it is more accurately described as something between […]