Here in Italy we are at the height of summer and the hot temperatures have us reaching for something cold! The technique of preserving and using snow or ice to create refreshing drinks in summer months was known to ancient civilizations, including the Greeks and...
Bologna may lag slightly behind Florence and Rome when it comes to art treasures, but when it comes to food, the city is in a class of its own, rapidly gaining ground as the country’s food capital. Let’s just say it’s not called ‘la grassa’ (‘the fat one’) for...
Jackie's latest guest article for US online magazine Sixty & Me explores nine gastronomic reasons to holiday in Italy. From cured meats to gelato, discovering Italy's food culture will be a huge part of your trip, and it can be as educational as it is...
One ingredient we always try to have on our lunchtime picnic tables is a taste of local honey. It is delicious on bread, with cheese or drizzled on a fresh apple or pear, and wherever we are walking in Italy we try to find the best, locally produced,...
We are lucky to work in Italy when it comes to rustling up picnic lunches because the selection of ingredients is extensive, high quality and delicious. The picnic lunches on our hiking tours in Italy are the stuff of legend (even though we say so ourselves!)...
Autumn is the season when we start to see pumpkins appearing in Italy's shops and markets. In the UK and US they play an important part in our celebrations for both Halloween and Thanksgiving. In Italy, however, it is the pumpkins themselves that are...
Pecorino is the generic name for all 100% ewe's milk cheeses in Italy. They are largely made in the central and southern parts of the country, as well as the Mediterranean islands, and are named after the word for a sheep which...
Jackie's latest guest article for Sixty & Me looks at some the best gastronomic adventures you can have in Italy and highlights some of her personal favourites. Whether it's joining locals at a seasonal food festival, taking a cooking class or dining in a...
On the final evening of our Tuscan Harvest tour we dine in one of very few restaurants in Italy to have 2 Michelin stars. The restaurant is called Arnolfo and is in the centre of Colle di Val d'Elsa, a small town more or less half...
A Marriage Made in Heavenly Piedmont Towards the end of August and into September the region of Piedmont sees the harvesting of its precious hazelnuts. This is a region already world-famous for its wines and exquisite white truffles, but the Tonda Gentile delle Langhe...
As the summer in Italy beckons, restaurant menus across the country will start to list the ever popular "Semifreddo" dessert. The name literally means "half cold" but it's a good description as a Semifreddo does not feel as cold in your mouth as an ice cream....
This amazing cheese comes from a small alpine area in the northern part of Lombardy, known as the Valtellina valley, close to the border with Switzerland, and its name is Bitto Storico. It is only made in the summer months between June and September when the...
The art of truffle hunting and extraction in Italy has been recently added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, which aims to celebrate and preserve important cultural practices. The tartufai - truffle hunters as they are known in Italian - first...
Founded in 2007, Eataly was born from Oscar Farinetti’s idea to gather high-quality food at sustainable and reasonable prices for all, celebrate Italian biodiversity, and create an informal, natural and simple place to eat, shop and learn about...
It is coming up for two years since we were last in Italy and our cravings for the flavours of La Bella Italia are getting stronger. Living in Italy as we normally do for much of each year we take for granted how easily available delicious food is at any time, from...
Most people of course associate the Italian kitchen with pasta but what you learn as you travel around Italy is that each region has a very different approach to pasta, making the most of traditionally available ingredients and keeping to time-honoured recipes handed...
Torta Pasqualina This pie has become a tradition at Easter time across the whole of Italy, although it is believed to have originated in the coastal region of Liguria. The inclusion of the eggs symbolises life and rebirth, and many prefer to eat the pie cold....
It's the time of year when the woods around our home in Tuscany would be full of locals foraging for chestnuts and, in normal times, many of the surrounding villages would be celebrating annual chestnut festivals. A great favourite with the Italian...
2020 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of Italy's first great food writers, Pellegrino Artusi. He was born in 1820 in the town of Forlimpopoli, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, to a wealthy merchant family. Emilia-Romagna is a culinary...
Looking for your next chocolate fix? While your inner sweet tooth may instinctively point you in the direction of Switzerland and Belgium, head a little further south and you’ll find yourself in the gloriously chocolatey region of Piedmont! Although best known for its...