We went on holiday to Sicily this year. It was roasting hot, in the mid forties most of the time. The Italians sweltered, and complained that they’d never experienced anything quite like it. We were thankful for an air-conditioned apartment and hire car. One day, we drove out of Cefalù to a town in the [...]
So, it’s Christmas again, and that means it’s time to bake something fittingly seasonal and rich. This year, that’s panforte di Sienna, an Italian dessert loosely resembling a cake that’s packed with fruit and nuts. Panforte originated in Sienna in the 12th century, and is supposed to contain seventeen ingredients, to reflect the number of districts [...]
I made a pain au levain the other week, a French sourdough shaped like a torpedo, and full of glorious air holes, encased in a brittle crust. It was a textbook example of why ‘slow is best’ when it comes to baking bread. The levain, or starter, was set up the night before, giving it a [...]
There are dozens of Italian cookbooks on my shelves. It’s a cuisine I return to time and time again, because it’s accessible, exciting and packed with flavour. Its reliance on good ingredients, cooked simply, cooked well suits my own approach to food. Most of all, the food of Italy never stops surprising me – the [...]
Sicily is one of the most interesting parts of Italy, not least from a culinary position. The island’s position as the biggest in the Mediterranean, the ball to Italy’s boot, means that it’s endured attack and invasion from all sides, each successive wave of occupation leaving another layer on the island’s cuisine. The effect has [...]