As many of us know, acid is a main component in cooking and a curious one indeed. One drop of lemon juice can transform a soup, vinegar balanced against olive oil makes a salad and in my new career as a mustard maker I use it in gallons. Acidity brings food alive.We are still so […]
Laura and the food tour: a food-centric day in Turin
Food tour with Laura If you’ve never taken a food tour when visiting a new city or country, you are really missing out. Faced with the big city of Turin we had some ideas of the local dishes but wanted to get down to the root of the food scene and history and a tour […]
Gorgonzola, Protected Designation of Origin
Otherwise occupied Getting up early, I check the train schedule, grab some fruit and head to the station by myself. Tim being otherwise occupied with a virus that is draining his body of all fluids. The train to Novara is on time and as it makes its way towards the mountains, I notice the frost […]
Modena and the Ferraris
An afternoon in Modena So far our morning was a fully packed romp through the wonders of Balsamic vinegar production but, the day was only half over. It was lunch time and our host, Simone, from the Consorzio Tutela Aceto Balsamico di Modena, had a plan to take us to one of his favorite local […]
The straight DOP (& IGP) on balsamic vinegar
Modena If you’ve been following along you know that we had a pretty full dance card in Bologna. This day would be our longest yet but absolutely worth the effort. We woke up before the sun and made our way to the train station in order to make it to Modena to meet our hosts […]
Nice Legs! a visit to a Prosciutto di Parma factory
Ristorante Cocchi Just as we finished up our delicious lunch at Ristorante Cocchi, which included fried zucchini blossoms filled with vegetables mozzarella and sardines and braised stuffed veal breast, our guide for the afternoon, Mirca, arrived to whisk us away to the Parma hillside. San Pietro Prosciutteria Nestled in its own microclimate where the dry […]
The Big Wheel In Parma
Parma We woke up early to catch the train out of Rimini up to Parma where our guide for the morning, Giovanna, was waiting for us at the station. Our hosts at Emilia-Romagna Tourism had really pulled some strings for us and had planned a very exciting day. Thanks to the generosity of the Consorzio […]
Garfagnana: The Land Of Wolves And Witches – FORMENTON POLENTA WITH GARFAGNANA SAUCE and CHESTNUT PANCAKE WITH HONEY SPIKED FORMAGGIO FRESCO
The Serchio Valley Another forty degree day was on its way so we decided to escape into the hills in search of cooler weather, unfortunately, we would never find it. Northwest of Tuscany Garfagnana is a territory in the extreme Northwest of Tuscany, dominated by the Apuan Alps to the South, bordered by the Tuscan […]