Agretti! I spotted the word in an Instagram post with by chef @kentcooking and it intrigued me. After mentioning my interest in this, a comment from Rome, Italy-based chef and teacher @carla_tomasi suggested I had better be quick as this vegetable was in season in Spring and this year’s Spring was already reshaping into Summer. […]
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We called him our ‘Renaissance Man’! Need a DJ for a party … call Giovanni. Need a website building … call Giovanni. Need a BBQ firing up … call Giovanni! And so, with the United Kingdom celebrating National BBQ Week, who else was I going to call, but … Giovanni. Also known as Blushu, Giovanni […]
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We arranged to meet on a deserted street in Bra, empty of people and atmosphere. Bra, a city in northern Italy famous for giving birth to Slow Food, a global activist movement working to give people access to food that is good, clean and fair. But this wasn’t on our minds at the time. No. […]
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Squinting into the screen of my mini-iPad I see friendly, smiley anonymous faces staring back at me in a culinary Zoom session. We’re gathered with a sense of community, to share our time and isolated spaces and take part in an interactive cooking class. I’ve signed up for 90 minutes of expert tuition, connecting with […]
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Hidden behind cardboard boxes of polenta and rice and alongside flimsy plastic bags of dried pasta lay a smallish cotton bag full of magic beans, known in the Italian province as Fagiolo Bianco di Conio, White Beans of Conio. This drawer sits in a cupboard in my Italian kitchen, in a small town about an […]
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Buying fresh radish from my local market in Bra, northern Italy is so different from the experience offered in the mini-supermarket just a few hundred metres away. Market radishes are bright red, likely pulled from the ground within the past 24 hours, eaten with a healthy crunch and with a sweetness enough even to tempt […]
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Barolo Chinato is a bittersweet drink made with Barolo DOCG which is great as an aperitivo, digestivo and medicinal tonic
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Cool morning air blows down from the Alpine mountains into Ivrea, in Piedmont, northern Italy and mingles with the scent of oranges, stacked in quiet street corners and squares ready for the city’s annual carnival, the Battaglia delle Arancie (Battle of the Oranges). It’s mid-February and time for the carnival, in which locals pelt each […]
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There’s a lot of energy in the air at the La Vedetta winery. Lying in the heart of the vine-covered rolling hills of Barbaresco, an extraordinary part of the wine-producing region of the Langhe, the winery is blessed with great soils, magical micro-climates and amazing views. But in the middle of February, the energy is […]
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Italian barrel makers working with Croatian and French foresters seek out the best trees to shape into barrels to hold ageing, fermenting foods and drinks from wine and beer to vinegar and gherkins. Choosing the right tree that will give up its secrets and transform the tastes, flavours and value of the liquids is no […]
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