Venice has many hidden treasures, and the best are kept by its people. It is the life and history of its inhabitants -present, past and future- that those who know how to look at Venice see in its lagoon. In search of this, I met Luigi Divari, watercolour artist and expert of traditional Venetian boats, fishing techniques and fish.

Luigi lives with his family in Sant' Elena, in a beautiful house with a living room facing the local sailing club. I have always loved his work and was curious to learn more. Here our short talk:

1. Were you born and raised in Venice?

Yes, I was born in Via Garibaldi, in the sestiere of Castello, 71 years ago.

2. What is your first memory of the sea?

Well, I don't know exactly, I suppose I was born with the sea in front of my eyes. Castello in those days was full of life and used to function as base for the fishermen from Chioggia. The wholesale market was still in Rialto, so the fishermen would settle in Rio de Sant' Anna and San Pietro, at the far end of Via Garibaldi, for periods of about 8/10 days. Their lifestyle attracted me, they literally lived in the boats and seemed different from us. It's because of them that I became passionate about boats and when I grew up I sailed the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. I also used to have a traditional boat called bragozzo, and another called topo, which I kept for almost 40 years.

3. Many of your watercolours depict traditional fishing techniques. Do you see many differences between the current and past fishing methods?

Fishing in the lagoon has undergone serious changes. Until the 80s there was greater harmony between man and nature and everything followed a more natural cycle. Today the pressure is too strong and fishing has become more intense, thus the impact is much stronger. Suffice to think of the introduction of the Japanese lures called Yo-Zuri, of the new fish traps and of the effect of intense motorisation.

4. How did you start to paint?

I started late, when I was around 50. I used to work at Assicurazioni Generali and wasn't exactly fond of my job. During the day I had to wear suit and tie, but as soon as I arrived home, I would put on sandals and shorts and go fishing, winter and summer. I lived like that for a very long time, then at one point, maybe because it was winter or maybe because I felt the need to be more at home, I decided to reduce my outings, at least in the colder months. Although I enjoyed my time home, I still needed to have the sea next to me, so I started to paint as an alternative to fishing. Consider that I am a self-taught painter, so it took me a lot of practice to improve, to understand which paper to use and when, the types of brushes, and so on. I paint merely out of passion and I had never really thought of exhibiting my work, but then some friends encouraged me and so another adventure started. So far I've had the pleasure to see my watercolours exposed in Venice and in other cities like Stralsund, Hamburg and Tokyo.

5. Why watercolour?

Because it's an immediate technique made up of only 4 ingredients: paper, brush, water and colour.

6. As for the fish, how do you work? Do you take a picture of the subject and use it as reference?

No, in most cases I source the subject myself! Because I deal with living subjects, I fish more of the same fish, so I can change them while I work in order to keep them alive, otherwise it would be hard to capture the proper colours and features. In the past I also took part in some expeditions of the CNR (Italian National Research Centre) and helped catalogue and record the different fish of the Adriatic. Sometimes I use as references the pictures from the encyclopaedias 'Grande Enciclopedia Illustrata dei Pesci' and 'Grande Enciclopedia Illustrata dei Crostacei, dei Molluschi e dei Ricci di Mare' by P. Manzoni and V. Tepedino.

7. And your books?

The desire to write came naturally. When you illustrate things, you want to describe them, so I soon started to add captions to my drawings. Again, my friends encouraged me to put down in writings my stories about traditional boats and fishing in the lagoon, so I did, then life did the rest. At the sailing club in front of my house I met a lady called Cristina, who opened a bookshop called Mare di Carta (meaning Paper Sea), specialised in all things nautical, so we became friends and together we published the book 'Il topo. Dei battelli chioggiotti detti anche toppi' , then for Il Leggio I published 'Barche del Golfo di Venezia' (boats of the Venice gulf), 'Belpesse. Pesci, pesca e cucina ittica nelle lagune venete' (Fish, fishing and fish cuisine in the Veneto lagoons) and 'A detta dei nostri pescatori. La pesca veneta del passato vista dai primi naturalisti' (According to our fishermen. Venetian fishing of the past seen by the early naturalists).

8. Of the many islands of the lagoon, do you have a favourite?

Maybe Cason Nansoni, an abandoned island in the extreme north lagoon.

9. Last question: moeche (soft-shelled crabs) with or without egg?

Without! Besides, crazy how much they cost nowadays, especially if we think that crab fishing is not a historical form of fishing and that until the late 18th century crabs were used as lures for sardines. In general, a lot of information we have is imprecise, like for our baccalà (stockfish), always related to Pietro Querini, while it was actually brought by a Flemish trader of herrings at the end of the 17th century.

I want to thank Luigi for sharing his time with me. When I left the house I felt enriched and aware that sharing memories and stories is like opening a treasure chest and discovering a world of traditions.

For further info

Email: Luigi.divari@alice.it

- 'Have you ever asked yourself why Venice has such a melancholic beauty?'

- 'Well... uhm...'

- ' Yes, because, I was thinking, there are many other beautiful cities that have experienced natural tragedies, but none, at least to my eyes, look as romantically melancholic as Venice'

- 'Maybe it's due to its metaphysical aspect, to the fact it becomes one whole thing with water and light and because of the faded colours of her Palazzos' I hazarded.

- 'No, I don't think it's that. For me, I figured, it's because Venice every now and then incarnates its own death, as if she attended her own funeral, just to check on who's there and with the curiosity to see what on earth would happen if she was truly to disappear forever'.

I remained silent for about a minute. I hadn't seen my friend Marina for a long time and this was her first question. A tough one, a question about the city we both love and that lately has been causing us quite a number of preoccupations. Thank goodness I had made a batch of Madeleines to accompany our afternoon tea, small sugary bites that would provide us with oblivion and sweet remembrances at the same time.

Her observation caught me by surprise, and I was finding it fascinating and wise. When Florentine river Arno flooded in 1966, it was a real catastrophe and the damage immense, but the thought that the city could be one day entirely submerged by water hadn't crossed anyone's head, whereas if we think of Venice, the comparison with Atlantis is the first that comes to mind. The Venice Acqua Granda of 1966 was worse than the one we had this year from the people's point of view, because no one was prepared and there were no HiTide apps to monitor in those days, but the one of November 12, 2019 was worse from many other points of view, especially the one related to human (administrative/political) faults, which keep threatening the city.

Consider that if ever the MOSE were to work (but of course it never will...), the barriers would rise at 110 cm from sea level, while Piazza San Marco gets flooded at 90 cm above sea level... As you surely know by now, I go jogging almost every morning and never like these last two months I had witnessed the rapidity with which the water rises. Forecasts have often been imperfect and some mornings I literally had to change my route if I wanted to arrive home without getting my feet wet, despite having checked the App before leaving the house. Consider also that one of the reasons that makes running so addictive for me is that for those 50 minutes I have no phone and can enjoy my city in total emptiness, kissed by the warm colours of dawn and populated only by a few locals, but this year the relaxing benefit of running have been spoilt by the sight of increasingly bigger monster cruise-ships entering the San Marco basin already early morning...

In summer the cruises were so frequent that I had even thought of shooting a short video with me in profile wearing a long red dress with a long silk train blowing fast due to the strong wind provoked by a cruise coming against me, while images of Venice would fade in at the notes of Lana del Rey's song 'Ultra Violence'... Yeah, I know... you are probably thinking what a weirdo I am, and you are right, in fact, in the end, I never actually shot such video, but this is just to say how much witnessing all the wrongs my city is inflicted has been affecting me (and many other Venetians).

The funny fact of our conversation was that while chatting about the death of Venice, outside the sun was shining, the sky bright and blue and all the bell towers in their place. Yes, because my friend lives in a beautiful top floor from which she and her cat see practically everything (while the pics in the post were taken at the Correr Museum), from the Rialto Bridge to the domes of the Doges Palace and the San Marco Campanile. While we were speaking of her death, Venice was showing us how alive she is, as if we were living a joke.

The tea was ready by then, so I proudly took out my citrus scented madeleines and put them on the table, eagerly awaiting for the first bite to bring me back to happy childhood memories and forget for a moment, like Proust in his La Recherche, about all worries and problems. Oblivion and sweet remembrances, the perfect match! By the way, it was my first time making madeleines and they turned out very well! Just for your info, I had looked up a couple of recipes and ended up mixing two. The ingredients were the same, but the difference regarded the baking method: one recipe said to bake the madeleines at 220° for the first 4 minutes and then at 180° for another 4/6 minutes, while the one I followed said to bake at 220° for 8/10 minutes. It worked perfectly for me, but -depending on your oven- I advise to check after 4/5 minutes and decide what option is best for you. A trick I found quite useful was to grease the baking tin with butter and leave it in the freezer a couple of minutes before flouring it and spooning in the batter.

So...Hope you will enjoy some Madeleines too and I wish you a Happy New Year! See you in 2020!!!

CITRUS SCENTED MADELEINES with CHOCOLATE AND NUTS

For 16/18 small Madeleines

Ingredients:

120 gr sugar

2 free range eggs

100 gr Italian 00 white flour

3 gr baking powder

citrus zests

100 gr melted butter

50 gr dark chocolate

a dozen nuts (I used almonds and hazelnuts)

Method:

1. Melt the butter and keep aside

2. Whip eggs and sugar with an electric hand mixer for 5/6 minutes. This is the most important step, the batter must be nice and airy.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the sifted flour, baking powder and citrus zests and gently add to the batter. Stir and slowly add the melted butter.

4. Amalgamate well, cover the batter with cling film (or a pot cover) and let sit in the fridge for two hours.

5. Pre-heat oven at 250°, grease your Madeleine baking pan and put in the freezer for a couple of minutes. Remove, flour the tin and spoon in the batter.

6. Lower the heat of the oven to 220° and bake the Madeleines at 220° for 8/10 minutes. When ready, remove immediately from pan and let cool.

7. Meanwhile melt chocolate in a water bath and mix hazelnuts and almonds until they become flour-like.

8. When the Madeleines are ready, dip the top into the chocolate, sprinkle over the nutty mixture and serve.

There's a small shop in Castello where I love to pass by even just to say hello and it is located at number 998 in F.ta Sant' Anna. The shop is co-managed by two artisans and today I am spending some time with Alessandra Gardin, glass jewellery designer. I met her about a year ago and liked her immediately. Apparently shy, Alessandra has a warm and friendly personality and is always able to provide me with positive energy!

Besides, I am totally fond of the location: Sant' Anna, at the far end of Via Garibaldi, a corner of peace at not even a minute from one of the liveliest places in Venice. The shop too is super cosy, nice and airy and with a lovely light throughout the day. With regard to her jewellery, I find it contemporary and joyful, with bright colours balanced by matt and engraved metals.

Here below, our short talk:

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself

I was born in Treviso, where I lived until the age of 5, then I moved with my parents to Paderno del Grappa, a small town close to Asolo immersed in the Treviso hills. I grew up quite serenely surrounded by nature and spent in my home town all of my teenage hood. I moved to Venice once finished senior school, to study architecture at IUAV University and, as you can see... I'm still here! About a year and a half ago I opened Kontempo Gallery & Shop with potter Daniela Levera, located in F.ta Sant' Anna in Castello.

2) How did your love affair with glass begin?

It happened all by chance, really. I had taken a short break from my job and out of curiosity took some lessons from a 'maestro lumista' (lamp-work glass master). I was so happy to have rediscovered the pleasure of manual work that I immediately fell in love with the glass world and soon turned this passion into a profession.

3) What inspires you?

Well, definitely nature and my surroundings, where marvellously imperfect shapes are able to trigger primary emotions. With regard to my jewellery, I love to mix and match my beads with other fabrics and materials, in order to create unexpected combinations.

4) The shop in Castello is a relatively recent adventure. How did it start?

We opened the shop about a year and a half ago, myself and Daniela Levera, who used to be my pottery teacher! We became friends and decided to start this adventure together. We both wanted to find a happy place where we could permanently show our work and when we found this small shop, we refurbished it together opting for a minimal style exactly to give space to our creations. We called Kontempo Gallery & Shop, name that represents both our brands. The shop is a small home, a warm space and many of our clients often return to say hello when they are back in Venice.

5) You combine your glass beads with other materials. With which artisans do you collaborate?

As you may have understood, I am totally for team work and some metallic components of my pieces are produced on my design by Art&Oro in Mestre. In fact, in our shop we also keep some of their most iconic pieces from the project 'el remo del pope', rings and bracelets shaped as gondola oars. Currently, I am also working with Daniela on a project to create components in ceramics and glass, a complex work that requires time but is giving interesting results.

6) I fell in love with your logo as soon as I saw it. From what idea does it take place?

My logo is particular like my name, Kirumakata, which is actually the union of three words in dialect that remind me of my childhood: 'chi ruma cata' meaning 'those who seek, find', which is my philosophy of life, being curious and never staying still, thinking that the achieved result is only the first step to further novelties. Going back to the logo, it's a play of shapes and signs drafted during a calligraphy course some years ago. The theme was the creation of a logo and the idea of the brand was still on its way, so I played with the two Ks of Kirumakata, which sounds like a Japanese world (yes, by the way, Japan is my other passion), and drafted this abstract figure, that slightly recalls a samurai.

7) What does being an artisan in Venice today mean for you?

Difficult question. I'd say it means many things and implies a good amount of sacrifice, but it's all worth it. To wake up in the morning and know I am happy to do what I do is one of my biggest fortunes. Besides, Venice is an amazing city and you never know who will enter that door. I have become friends with quite a few of my clients, local and foreigners, and during the Biennale I get to meet lots of interesting people, so the exchange is always an enriching experience.

Well... thank you so much Alessandra for your time, and... see you very soon!

As for you, I hope you enjoyed the post and do pay a visit to Kontempo when in Venice, I am positive you will love it as much as I do! Talk soon ;-)

Kontampo Gallery & Shop

Castello, F.ta Sant' Anna 998, 30122 Venezia (VE)

Phone: 347 360 7177

Website: www.kirumakata.com

November 12, 2019. A date that will remain impressed in the mind of all Venetians and of all the people that happened to be in Venice during the exceptional high tide. The force of nature was impressive. Vito and I were home and for the first time in 8 years, I had to literally close all blinds and lock us inside. The wind was so strong that when I was closing a window and moving inside from the sill the two open bottles of prosecco, a wine saver popped violently on my face. And we were lucky, because we live in a small attic and manage no shop or activity... but some friends of ours have really lost everything and, of course, the most affected have been the least fortunate and least wealthy. The following day Venice looked like Gotham City and now, almost two weeks later, many things still aren't working and have not been restored (like the vaporetto stops...which is absurd and ridiculous!).

Anyway, from that day on... we kept having really high acque alte! How annoying I'm not sure you can understand, and the smell... disgusting! Only a couple of days before the fact, the municipality had published on their website a little notice for visitors saying that 'Acqua alta is a perfectly normal natural phenomenon', that 'the water comes from the nearby rivers and' that 'when it's gone, it only leaves the pavements of the city wet... like after the rain'. Can you believe that???? We were shocked, also because the water comes from the sewers and not from the rivers, thus it is hygienically dangerous for anyone to swim or practice idiotic acts of deficiency in such water! Besides, I assure you that acqua alta does not only leave the streets wet... it's a serious business and privates invest a lot of money in things like paratoie (floodgates), pumps and septic tanks exactly to protect their shops/activities and goods! Not to mention how much higher the rents are of the spaces that are 'esenti acqua alta' (not reachable by the flood) or only a couple of centimetres higher...

So, just for your info, we have been wearing wellies almost everyday and the two main questions are 'Is there acqua alta?' and 'How high?'. Yes, because depending on its height, we can figure out our movements. On Thursday I was really fed up of wearing wellies and had to stay out all day, so I decided to risk it and put on my warmer sneakers. My decision proved to be wrong initially, but my first destination was sullaluna, as I was determined to go there, relax and buy a super cool comic I'm soon going to tell you more about, and I was sure that with 125 cm the water would only cover the fondamenta but not enter the cafeteria. So I went, and how well I did!

The atmosphere was calm, inside only a few people and in the background some jazz music. I sat on the bigger table (nicknamed 'the sharing table') as I wanted to take a couple of pictures and love the colourful texture of the painted wood... I asked for some tea and a slice of cake and while waiting, I took out my favourite journal: L' Internazionale. I wanted to finish the clever essay by Slavoj Žižek on the movie Joker (if curious, I found an extract in Englishhere) and amuse myself with more pleasant things than the flooding or Venetian politics... While reading I got a text from Vito asking if he could join me after 1 pm for a small bite, at which point I totally curled up on my comfy chair, happily aware I had all the time in the world to detach and let off steam.

When I was brought my usual green tea and a slice of almond cake accompanied by some whipped cream, I felt a sudden warmth inside, as if everything was really back to normal. The kind smile of the girl, the subtle elegance of the presentation, the warm lights coming from the lamps on the tables and ... being surrounded by books. Finally!!! I would have closed my eyes to breathe in the magic and peace of the moment, but i didn't as I thought I already looked weird enough dressed in my typical Huckleberry Finn clothes... Anyhow, the cake was lovely, I ate it quite slowly as I had a lot of time to wait and once finished, I asked for another tea and also if the comic Celestia by Manuel Fior had arrived. Indeed it had, so I grabbed it immediately as I was too curious! The plot is set in a future Venice and has as protagonists two young adults escaping from themselves. A visionary -yet realistic- world invaded by water, a dystopian Venice with no Liberty Bridge and the two main characters, Pierrot and Dora, discovering a new world in the mainland, of which I can't tell you more about because ... I need to read book number two and I'm afraid it hasn't been published yet!

After a short while my stomach started growling again and when I glanced at the time I knew I would have been soon reached by Vito. When he arrived, we ordered more food. I opted for my usual hummus with raw veggies and the organic sourdough bread from Mira, while Vittorio asked for a smoked burrata with sott'oli (veggies preserved in oil). My dish was simple yet exquisite. The quality of all ingredients is undeniable, with veggies bought at the organic Sant' Erasmo shop i&s in Cannaregio, and the cheese from the farm Borgoluce. In Vito's plate there was something so delicious we made it at home too: puntarelle sotto'olio. Puntarelle are a variant of chicory, one of my favourites, so we steamed them for about 4 minutes, then sliced them roughly and -once cooled- placed into a jar with garlic, fresh chili pepper and a good quality extra virgin olive oil. Sooooo good! Not to mention the confit tomatoes and the taggiasche olives.

Meanwhile, the water had gone down and it was about time to say goodbye and get moving! So we had a last coffee and got ready to get back to work. Vito has been working really hard, whereas on my side a couple of jobs I was meant to do had to be postponed as one of the bakeries I collaborate with had to re-buy some ovens and equipment, so they had no production, and other products coming from Milan... well, were delayed! But still, I can really consider myself lucky compared to lots of people close to us, so I cannot help but feel grateful.

As you know, it's been a particular period for us Venetians and I apologise if I haven't been writing as much lately, but now I am ready to re-start with my things and today I am meeting Alessandra Gardin of Kirumakata. She's a such a great creative and so nice, I want to take some picture of her at work and of her beautiful handmade glass jewellery and share her story with you soon. So please forgive me and keep an eye on the blog because there will be more soon!

Have a great weekend! Nicoletta

It is often said that the best things in life are difficult to achieve, but when it comes to food... most times the simplest things are the best! Today, in fact, I am sharing a recipe that is so easy to make to be almost embarrassing: sgroppino. Differently from most sorbets, sgroppino also includes vodka and prosecco and has no added sugar. It's tasty, refreshing and always greatly appreciated at the end of a meal. A sort of win-win recipe.

I was quite fortunate, as I used a high quality vodka that was given to me at the end of an event, the ice-cream of Dolce del Ridotto(the best in Venice, trust me!!! a danger for Vito and I as it's only 2 minutes from our house...) and my favourite prosecco: Lunatico docg. The prosecco too was a gift, from Francesca of the teahouse and bookshop sullaluna, a wine produced in synergy with the territory and following the natural cycles of the moon, one of the few proseccos that is beyond organic! Prosecco has become quite popular abroad in recent times, but not all types are the same and many factors may change depending on where the vines are located, how the grapes are grown and treated after being picked and, of course, on the fermentation process (if you are curious to learn more, have a look at my old post 'Prosecco making: Costa di Là')

Anyway, with ingredients so delicious, the sgroppino came out wonderfully, and disappeared very quickly...

I see Francesca a lot because lately her teahouse is one of the few places I go to, to find peace. It's ideal for me because it's located in Fondamenta della Misericordia and I am always in Cannaregio, a bit because Vito works in the area, so we can meet for a quick drink when he has his break, and a bit because it's still extremely peaceful. Personally, I enjoy the laid back atmosphere of sullaluna and the girls that work there are just so nice, all of them. Besides, it satisfies both my taste (I generally order hummus and green tea) and Vito's (he goes for cheese and either craft beer or wine) and when we say goodbye, I can wander around the quieter corners of Cannaregio.

The pics in this post, in fact, were taken in Campo Sant' Alvise, a residential area best known by locals for its swimming pool and gym. To reach the campo take the calle on the right of the restaurant Anice Stellato (highly recommended) and just breathe in the silence. There's a cosy church built at the end of the 14th century, annexed to what used to be a convent, a quite bizarre arcade that leads to the vaporetto stop, a couple of benches and a fountain.

Don't ask me why, but I think there's something magical about this place and I hope it will remain like this for as long as possible. It reminds me of my years at high school, as that's where we would have our weekly hour of p.e. I hated p.e., really.. in Italian schools you get one hour per week and it's just so boring! Generally, the teacher asks students to run around the room to warm up and then to do some aerobics... it was the to and fro that was fun, because we would inevitably do things we weren't supposed to do and stop to buy pizzette (mini pizzas made with pastry dough) at the bakery at the foot of the Guglie bridge.

Anyhow, if you seek tranquility, consider stopping by this square. To visit the church, I suggest to refer to the website of the association Chorus Venezia, where you will see the correct and updated timetables. Also, if you are thinking of visiting other churches 'managed' by the association, I recommend purchasing the Chorus Card, in that way with only 12 euros you have access to inestimable masterpieces and treasures! I am lucky, as being a native I have free access to all the churches and museums of the municipality (at least for the time being...)!

I hope with this post to have provided you with some useful info on Venice and less mainstream things to do. An ideal day could include a visit to the Jewish Ghetto in the morning, a quick lunch along Fondamenta della Misericordia (for more tips, see my post 'Around F.ta della Misericordia'), more explorations on the 'backstreets', like the church of Sant' Alvise and Madonna dell' Orto, and then back on the Fondamenta for more wine. Last but not least, while here don't forget to purchase a bottle of Lunatico to make your special sgroppino (otherwise, it's also available online at www.airwns.com)!

Bye for now and happy sgroppino!

RECIPE: LEMON SGROPPINO

Easy; Serves 4

Ingredients:

350 gr lemon ice-cream

200 ml prosecco

50 vodka

lemon zests to garnish

Method:

1. In a steel bowl, combine ice-cream, prosecco and vodka and stir.

2. Refrigerate for at least one hour and serve after dinner adding some grated lemon zests

Note: Normally a flute would be used to serve sgroppino, I opted for another glass as in general I find flutes impractical and too small ... but feel free to use the glass you prefer!

In today's post I am sharing a simple recipe for small mini vegetarian tarts with kale, pistachio pesto and ricotta and combining them with some pictures of Alberoni's pinewood, which I had taken at the end of August. The reason of this is that when I made the tarts, the initial idea was for me and Vito to have a quick picnic in Sant' Elena, but then the weather changed and it was so cold we had to eat them in his workplace! Anyway, wherever you will decide to savour them... I think they're delicious (and really easy to make)!

For the base, I keep using the same recipe as -like we say in Italy- 'squadra che vince non si cambia' (meaning: never change the players in a winning team). For the filling, the season of cabbages and broccolis has started, so I opted for kale, one of my favourites. I am not sure the translation is right, maybe I should be speaking about black Italian cabbage, as I noticed the picture used by Wikipedia shows a plant we actually call riccia (meaning curly). In either case, 8 minutes in the pan will do. I then combined the kale with ricotta and pesto, but if you are vegan you can replace the cheese with hummus and omit the grated Parmesan in the pesto (but please, promise you won't replace it with tofu... it's really a no no for me taste-wise and also conceptually).

Anyway, I'm really enjoying my life lately. Yes, of course, Venice is full of problems, the administration is hideous and we are likely to lose the separation referendum (I am voting YES, thus in favour of the separation between the council of Venice and the one of Mestre, which are two totally different realities, each with its own problems), but you know what?! I don't care (or better said, I care only up to a point)! For the time being, I live in the city I love the most and I am finally doing the job I want. Plus,

Allow me say we deserve a little break, especially Vito. This year we haven't traveled anywhere really... so I hope for 2020 to be slightly different. Also, I want to visit more of my own country, starting from my closest surroundings. Can you believe I've been to New York, Washington DC and Denver, but never visited Assisi? Or that I've been at the Apollo Hammersmith, but never at the Arena di Verona? So, yes, I think the time has definitely arrived to fill this gap and experience more of Italy. Besides, I have the excuse that traveling near and moving by train is more sustainable ;-)

Meanwhile, I hope you have a good All Soul's Day and will be back soon with fresh(er) news!

RECIPE

SAVOURY WHOLE WHEAT TARTS WITH KALE, PESTO SAUCE AND RICOTTA

for 4 mini pies/tarts

easy

Ingredients: - For the base:

250 gr whole wheat flour

100 ml water

70 ml olive oil

a pinch of salt

- For the filling:

1 medium kale

1 clove garlic

1 cup pesto sauce

1 cup ricotta -For the pesto

an abundant batch of basil

1/3 finely chopped garlic (remove germ)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino

1/3 cup crushed pistachios

1/2 cup e.v.o. oil

Method:

1. First prepare the base: in a bowl combine the previously sifted whole wheat flour, a pinch of salt, water and olive oil. Form a ball, cover in plastic wrap (please, let me know if you have a more ecological option) and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, prepare your pesto sauce. I suggest to use a pestle, but if you prefer opting for a food processor (I do it too sometimes so... it's fine!) just combine basil leaves, garlic, crushed pistachios, grated cheese and olive oil and mix. Taste and if needed, adjust salt.

3. Wash the kale and chop roughly. Heat a pan, add a crushed clove of garlic (remove after about a minute) and the chopped kale. After one minute, lower the heat to low/ medium and cook for about 8 minutes. When ready, put in a steel bowl and mix with a hand blender. 4. Now add the pesto sauce and the ricotta and amalgamate everything together.

5. When the base is ready, roll out and divide into 4 parts. Place them onto your baking tins, add the filling, and with your fingers gently tear the butter dough.

6. Pre-heat oven at 180°. Roll out all that 'remaining' dough again and cut in stripes about 1/2 cm thick. With delicate movements, wove them to cover the mini pies.

7. Bake for about 30 minutes at 180°. When ready, let sit in the oven another 5 minutes.

Excellent served warm with a side salad, but also great for a picnic!

No matter how incredible it may sound, it's hotter this week than at the beginning of October... If I am not mistaken, the same thing happened last year too, as if the seasons in general had slightly moved forward. Last year, in fact, winter began and ended relatively late and, if it weren't that we are all aware of global warming, I'd say that right now the temperature is perfect.

So far, October has been a lovely month. I managed to visit a couple of exhibitions, received some amazing presents for my birthday (mum... thank you so much for the new flash!!!) and worked at some really interesting events. One I found particularly fascinating was the Nikka Competition 2019, held at the cocktail bar , the historical cafe in front of the Frari Church, during which 10 bartenders had to prepare three cocktails with Nikka products in maximum 12 minutes. The cocktail competition was super cool, but what I enjoyed most was the preparatory workshop taught by Slovakian barman . Of all the interesting things he said, what caught my attention was the talk on the Oriental approach to perfume and odor and the importance of incense for Japanese people. Prior the three tastings, he prepared an incense with special fragrances and passed it round, then during the tasting the participants were required to fill in a questionnaire and describe what they felt and associate their feelings with personal memories, music and so on. He wanted the attendees to learn to 'listen' to what every perfume and scent has to say.

If you think about it, in the Western world when professionals describe wine or spirits, they often talk about perfume of cherry, apricot, a particular type of wood... all words that don't really mean much. Scents, instead, are about memory, life experience and deep emotions and in the Eastern world they know it well. In Japan every person has its personal incense and in the past (this was my favourite part...) when a man wanted to court a woman, he would burn a little bit of his incense on a small piece of paper and have someone bring it to her. If she liked the scent, she would do the same and then the meeting between the two took place in a dark room, where before their appearance what mattered was what they were, the haiku they wrote, the watercolour they painted, in short: their soul... I won't continue but... yes, it was all so interesting! Also, I had never thought about the fact that incense is made with burnt wood, which is the smell of fire, thus of comfort; the sort of odor humans deeply connect to warmth and protection...

Anyway, moving forward, another event I enjoyed (where I was not working but only went for pleasure) was the first afternoon of lectures at , the teahouse/bookshop in Fondamenta della Misericordia. Francesca, the owner of the bookshop, was so nice to close the cafeteria and offer her space to support the local school Foscarini, which is participating in this national competition called 'Io leggo perchè' (I read because...). The winners will receive 1500 euros to spend in books for their school library and for ten days people can buy books in specific bookshops to donate to local schools. The afternoon I went there was , well known comic author and professor, talking about the origin of comics, pagination, storytelling and... it was great! I would have liked to take some pictures but there were so many kids it was literally impossible to move. I left after one hour and a half, but the event continued and was followed by other initiatives the following days.

As for exhibitions, Vito and I quickly visited at Ca' Pesaro, which gathers some works from the collections of the British Council. Personally, I did not appreciate it that much, but mine is just an opinion... Instead, I really liked the exhibit by Italian artist Chiara Dynys at Museo Correr, which I found very clever and original. If I manage to return before next week I'll take some pictures and share them with you!

For now, what I will share, is an easy and delicious recipe for wintery pancakes with citrus juice, chocolate and honey. Speaking about perfumes and scents, in my house autumn and winter smell of tangerines. They are quite cheap in Italy, so we always have lots in our houses and when we peel them we normally place the skin on the heaters and let their scent pervade our homes. Being so hot, we still haven' turned on the heating, but I admit I just love the slight tickle I feel in my nostrils whenever I tear their skin with my thumb. Besides, I use tangerine juice almost for everything in this period and if you like raw fish, let me suggest combining tangerine juice and a delicate type of olive oil for the perfect dip. In today's recipe I used the juice to soften our pancakes, which I then topped with Barena honey, with a strong balsamic flavour, and some grated extra dark chocolate from South America. Barena is the word used to describe the strips of marshland we have in the lagoon that get occasionally flooded, where in certain periods it's possible to find a severely endangered plant called Limonium, responsible for this balsamic and slightly briny taste. As mentioned in older posts, it is not possible to find this honey all year round and the production is extremely limited, but if curious you can try see if you find it at the Monday and Thursday market in Rio Tera' dei Pensieri at the stall.

That's all for now, hope you'll enjoy this simple recipe and wish you a lovely week!

RECIPE:

LIGHT PANCAKES WITH TANGERINE JUICE, CHOCOLATE AND HONEY

Easy 6/8 pancakes

Ingredients:

1 free range egg

65 gr sugar

200 gr flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

250 ml whole fat milk

the juice of 2 tangerines

2 teaspoons honey

extra dark chocolate to grate

Method:

1. In a cold steel bowl, whisk egg and sugar until you get a foamy mixture.

2. Slowly add the milk, whisk, and finally add the previously sifted flour and baking powder. Cover the bowl and let the batter cool in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, squeeze the juice of two tangerines and combine with 1 teaspoon honey.

4. When ready, heat a non stick pancake pan and with a ladle , pour a little bit of batter. Let cook for about 4 minutes, then turn and repeat until you have finished.

5. Use a small basting brush to apply the tangerine and honey syrup on the pancakes, pile them and top grating a generous amount of dark chocolate and with extra honey.

Browse more ...

Oh my gosh! It's already mid October and in less than a week I am turning 32! Can't believe how fast time goes and how many things happen in life. The season of fog in Venice has officially started and with the fog ... the traditional high tide too! As you must have learnt by now, I am more of a summer person ... although I discovered that food photography is a great remedy for meteorophaty, as I don't need to use the diffuser and can work with natural light for longer hours. My ideal day, in fact, would be foggy until about 1 or 2 pm, sunny and warm in the afternoon, and then chilly again, sufficiently cold to make one want to go to the cinema or inside a nice museum or cafeteria.

Speaking about movies... have you seen Joker yet? I did about 10 days ago and it was great, I'm still thinking about it. I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that it is very very very sad and that I loved Arthur Fleck from the beginning and just wanted to hug him and tell him that everything is okay. What is so disturbing -at least for me- about that movie is how it speaks to us of current times, of what is considered right and what wrong and -mostly- about who decides what everyone should think and how everyone should behave... I'll stop here otherwise I'd have to go into detail, but if you still haven't, go see it.

Whereas, with regard to exhibitions, I still haven't been to Biennale. Shame on me, I know... it's just that I am waiting for Vito to come with me and the man hasn't had a full free day since the first of September! But I will soon, and take pictures too, promise. Instead, I returned to Palazzo Ducale to re-visit 'From Titian to Rubens'. The lighting in those painting is simply magnificent, dark yet warm and so enveloping I felt I was looking into the eyes of real living human beings. Besides, the Doges Palace is always impressive, especially the Sala del Maggior Consiglio.

Anyway, I am working a lot these days (hours in front of the computer...) and compared to last year have less free mornings to go to farmers market and farms so, although slightly more expensive, I end up getting most of our greens in the afternoon at the smaller stalls or at the i&s farm shop (the one with organic veggies from Sant' Erasmo) in Cannaregio. Because it is the season, last week I got half a pumpkin and made a really exquisite pie. I will immediately confess that for the first time in my life, I did not make the shortcrust myself but bought a ready roll... Sorry! I now it's a little bit like cheating, but I suppose it's okay every now and then, right?

With the shortcrust ready, the pie turned out to be super easy to make and really special, the type of dessert I would be proud of at a dinner party. To balance the sweetness of the pumpkin, I melted some dark chocolate and used it for the base layer. Then, I covered it with the pumpkin cream, made simply boiling small cubes of pumpkin for 8 minutes and blending them with a little bit of milk and a pinch of sugar. I called the dessert 'the perfectly imperfect pie' because where you see the rose decoration, well... the chocolate had made a little crack... But trust me, despite that small aesthetic imperfection, the flavour was amazing and it disappeared quite quickly.

Hopefully in the next ten days I will have a full morning to dedicate to my website and make some small changes and additions, meanwhile I wish you a great week and hope you will enjoy the recipe. Let me know!

RECIPE

PUMPKIN AND DARK CHOCOLATE PIE

Easy; Autumn/Winter

Baking pan diameter 22 cm

Ingredients:

1 ready rolled shortcrust pastry

100 gr dark chocolate

a known of butter

150 gr sliced pumpkin

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons brown sugar

almond flakes to top

Method:

1) Boil the sliced pumpkin for about 8 minutes, drain and let cool. When ready, blend with half cup of milk and a little bit of sugar and keep aside.

2) Meanwhile, steam cook the chocolate and when it's nice and melted, add a knob of butter and amalgamate well.

3). Pre-heat oven at 180°.

4) Grease a pan, roll out the pastry dough and add a layer of chocolate. Flatten with the back of a spoon and then add your pumpkin cream.

5) Bake at 180° for about 35 minutes.

6) Let cool and decorate with almond flakes.

Autumn is in the air! The weather is variable, the leaves on the trees are an in between of green and yellow and the duvet has finally made its reappearance in our bedroom! Normally I am not too enthusiastic about entering the cold months, but the idea that at the end of October the cruise ship season will end (at least until March and then it'll depend on the results of the administrative elections...) makes me feel a lot better. It is also quite likely that we are going to have a referendum on the separation between Venice and Mestre and I have no problems in saying I shall vote YES. I don't think we will win, as in the mainland the population is of 180 thousands, against the 51 thousands based in the lagoon, but... fingers crossed!

This is also the first year I embrace the new season with a real and strongly felt sense of gratitude. I realise I have never been an easy person, I complain a lot and -as Vito says- I am never 100% satisfied with my achievements and go a bit obsessive until I get what I want (or at least try to!). But never like before, deep down in my heart, I have felt so thankful for what I have right now, and I am referring especially to the love and support of my family. Also, I am learning to accept myself and my limits more and am following Julie's, my cousin, advice to always be true to myself, even if the road may seem harder or longer.

Anyway, before I take you with me along my walk in Castello and do some chit chat, the recipe I'm sharing is a simple and rustic whole wheat pie with plums, cherry plums, ricotta and honey. Easy to make and low in sugars!

As you already know, I spend most of my time in Castello. It's just that once passed the Ca' di Dio bridge, the streets are so much calmer and the ease of life so inviting! If it's sunny, even a simple walk from Riva dei Sette Martiri to Sant'Elena makes me happy. Besides, I am often in the area of Caffè La Serra. I go at least once a week to collect the paper bags for the recycling, but also... I have my potters and some of my favourite cafeterias. Unfortunately I still don't know if the Municipality will renew the contract to the potter association I Bochaleri, which has been located in front of La Serra for at least 10 years... I really hope it will, as that space is simply ideal for their activities; besides, they share it with another association of local pensioners and it's just too nice! In fact I suppose that what I like about Castello, is its rustic nature, similar to the one of the food I prepare and the clothes I wear: never fancy, but always comfortable.

Going back to us, I just want to let you know I will be posting a little less on the blog and more on social media (especially INSTAGRAM). From mid October, I shall also be providing more info and special features to my NEWSLETTER subscribers, to thank them for their support and for being my best readers! My first two years of blogging have been intense and I (don't know how) managed to post sometimes even twice a week, but now I am releasing it is becoming too difficult to keep this pace. It's positive because I am busy with other projects, but at the same time I want to maintain my relationship with you and keep providing my personal tips on Venice.

One thing I really enjoyed was the exhibition 'From Titian to Rubens' at the Doges Palace. I had tried to visit more than once, but the queu was too long (if you listen to me, book your visits in advance!!!!). Then a couple of days ago I happened to pass in front of Palazzo Ducale and there were just two people, so I ran (I even stumbled and hit my head against a sign...so embarrassing!) and seized the occasion. Well, allow me say it was amazing and I will return soon. Finally I got to see 'Jacopo Pesaro presenting Saint Peter to Pope Alexander VI' by Titian, which I had studied at uni... I also fell in love with a couple of beautiful ladies, one of which remained me of Daniela Levera, my potter, and ... well, the still life paintings were just... wow! Do go if you have the chance, I promise it will be worth your time!

As for myself, besides being always on the lookout for new clients and projects, I want to re-design (not drastically, but...) a little my website, move a couple of things around, create a member-only section and add a nice Services page where people can book photography walks and/or travel planning services directly. So far I've been doing it only responding to direct emails, so I thought I might as well create a proper page where people may also leave reviews (your feedback is so important for me)! So, that's it for now. Please feel free to drop me a line if there is something I haven't thought about and that you'd like to do with me or see in my offerings and... talk soon! Oh and, yes... enjoy the pie! It's delicious!

RECIPE

RUSTIC WHOLE WHEAT PIE WITH PLUM, CHERRY PLUMS AND RICOTTA

Easy

30' prep + 35' cook

Ingredients:

500 gr whole wheat flour

200 ml water

160 ml oil (I used olive, but seed oil is fine)

a pinch of salt

6 plums

250 gr ricotta

2 Tbsp honey

brown sugar and almond flakes to top

egg wash

Method:

1. Prepare the dough. Sift the flour and in a bowl combine with water, oil and a pinch of salt. Mix with your hands until the flour has absorbed the liquid, form a ball, wrap in cling film and let sit in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

2. Meantime, wash and slice your plums and cherry plum and in a bowl combine with ricotta and honey. Pre-heat the oven at 180°.

3. Brake the dough in two smaller balls. Roll them. Use one as bottom layer, so grease a pan, add the dough and fill it with your ricotta and fruit mixture. Now roll the remaining dough and with a pastry cutter prepare your top layers and weave.

4. Brush some egg wash, sprinkle a little bit of brown sugar and almond flakes and bake for 35 minutes.

It all happened in one night: the day before here in Venice we were all dying from the heat and then, after a night of rain, autumn arrived. A new season has begun and for now, it is marvellous. Like every year, I did an extra at the foreign press accreditation desk during the Venice Film Festival and now I have some free time to make plans and arrange my 'school-year' routine. Work-wise, I finally feel strong enough to make some major changes...

As for the rest, tough, things are going to remain the exact same! The first autumnal habit I am eager to re-start is going to the movies at least once a week. On Wednesdays, the cinema costs only 3 euros per person, so that's when we generally see the latest films, otherwise I love to go to the super cosy film library named after Venetian director and film critic Francesco Pasinetti (1911-1949), in San Stae. There I go by myself in the afternoon, at the 5:30 show, with all the pensioners!

The other school-year tradition I am looking forward to is spending one afternoon a week with Matteo, my brother. As soon as he will learn the permanent schedule, we'll arrange something. By the way, how does it work in your country? In Italy when kids go to school there is about a month of 'temporary schedule' and lots and lots of strikes and protests by teachers and staff, which I do understand but -allow me say- make parent's life extremely complicated. Matteo is 16 now, so it's not a big deal, but for those in elementary school ... it's a sort of nightmare!

It is not common in Italy to have free kindergartens or childcare, people have to rely on grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends, and the summer holidays are so long that really put every single family to test and it is just necessary for one of the two parents to either stay home or work only part time (or spend half of their salary in baby sitters). Wednesday was the first official day of school and on social media every one was posting pictures of their kids wearing the uniform and waving goodbye, whereas a friend of mine who has 3 extremely lively and energetic kids, well she posted a picture of herself jumping in the living room showcasing a 32 teeth smile, with her arms in the air, and a witty caption saying 'Have a great first day at school kids'... hahaha!!!! Poor woman, I had seen her just a few days earlier at the beach and she was exhausted...

Anyway, going back to our main topic... with September and autumn round the corner, we finally start having less cruise-shippers and I can finally re-start going to the centre without worrying too much. A lovely area in this season is definitely San Giacomo dell' Orio, where I like to stop for a glass of wine, a nibble and some chit chats at Al Prosecco. It's one of my favourite campi (squares), large and spacious, all in pastel pink and with some huge trees that offer shade to those sitting on the red benches. There are two schools nearby so in the afternoon it's full of children playing and parents relaxing. Until a year ago there was La Vida, an ex theatre recovered by the community and used for educational and beneficial activities, but now... it will be transformed into a bio restaurant. The people (called squatters...) were evicted on the 6th of March to free the space for a private initiative, so I do have to say it breaks my heart a little when I pass by. Also, I do wish all the best to the new managers, but I am afraid I won't be one of their customers ... I am just hating the way our mayor and the administration (currently totally based in Mestre) is behaving. Just think that on the island of Burano people were protesting against the installation of the Vodafone 4 giga repeater, but the staff of Vodafone was protected by our local police during the works and people treated as vandals. So now we have this dangerous thing placed over a kindergarten... No wonder Venetian people are angry and can't take anymore of anything!

Fortunately... we can always rely on friends and family! In my case, although I lead a relatively quiet life, I am very lucky, as I have had the same best friends for over 15 years. I don't see them everyday, but I know (and they know) that if in need, a helping hand will always reach out for me. One of them is Antonella from Pellestrina. I wrote about her father, who is a fisherman, in the summer of 2017 in my Venice Detour: Pellestrina and our fishermen post. Antonella, her fiancé Santo and her family have always been so good to me that I will be forever grateful... Now, she lives at about 20 minutes from my home and she has a beautiful garden full of fruit trees, herbs and lavender, so she fills me with food! I happened to pass by her house with Vito when my cousin Mark and his girlfriend Elle (she is soooooo lovely!) were visiting and when we saw them she immediately offered some 'saor' to bring home because, according to her, her dada had made too much and they were fed up of it. So, of course we brought everything home. In addition to the sardines, she also gave us herbs and a huge variety of apples, both green and red.

I used some of the green ones to make a risotto (I know it sounds weird, but in northern Italy it is quite normal! Usually it's apples and a cured meat called speck or sausage), and some others to make apple juice (btw, try combining apple juice and prosecco... it's lovely!), whereas the red ones were turned into sweet morning treats! Yes, because I made hasselback apples in a healthy Mediterranean version, thus replacing the butter with olive oil and lemon juice.

I often bake fruit and dress it with a mixture of oil and lemon, as it gives the fruit a nice and fresh flavour and is much easier to eat with this temperature (in winter, butter will be fine... but for now, lemon is just perfect! Trust me!!!). I left the skin because the apples are beyond organic... and the skin is the part with the most vitamins and nutrients, but feel free to peel it off if it doesn't suit your taste. This hasselback apple recipe is super easy and perfect for breakfast. For a little protein, I add yogurt, but of course ... with ice-cream it tastes even better! I hope you will enjoy it too! Bye for now and talk soon! XXX

RECIPE: HASSELBACK APPLES

Easy

Serves 2

10' prep, 30' bake

Ingredients:

2 organic apples

2 oat cookies

2 Tbs rolled oats

2 Tbsp crushed almonds and hazelnuts

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven at 180°

2. Wash the apples, dry, slice in half and, with the appointed spoon, remove core.

3. With a sharp knife, make vertical slices leaving the bottom intact.

4. In a small bowl, combine the crushed cookies, the oats, the nuts and part of the oil and lemon mixture. Amalgamate and apply between the slices.

5. Pour the remaining oil and lemon mixture over the apples and bake for about 25/30 minutes.

Serve hot with yogurt or, for a more sinful version, top with vanilla ice cream.

In today's post we are visiting a private Venetian home, where I shall have the pleasure to introduce you to brilliant cook and dear friend Barbara. I met Barbara back in 2006, when we were both working at Osteria Bancogiro in Rialto, a special place that -in a way- changed my life. She is the sort of Venetian who was not born in the lagoon, but has lived here for so long to know the exact location of every stone and every brick of the city, one of those people I often happen to meet at the market or on the street, always available if I ever need a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on.

For as long as I've known her, she has always been passionate about good food and even better wine. I remember that back in 2006, while I had just finished high school, she was attending a course to become sommelier and was already quite involved in the industry. I've had the pleasure to dine at her house a couple of times, and there are some dishes I will never forget (like her risotto with porcini mushrooms and scallops and her fish soup...OMG!!!), in fact, if I had to choose two adjectives to describe her cooking style, I'd go for peccant and lustful.

Anyway, since Bancogiro changed management, she has kept working in this field and about a year ago, at the repeated suggestion of her friends, she also started to host private cooking classes.

As you can see from the above pictures, she pays great attention to the quality of the ingredients and, just like me, puts into practice the theory according to which 'cooking starts at the market'. Like a true Venetian, when she goes to Rialto she walks around all the stalls and gets different things from different fishmongers. She's also a big veggie lover, thus all her recipes involve something green or something fruity.

When I went to her house, she had chosen to prepare three recipes, as this is what she normally does during her cooking classes. Needless to say, I was enthusiastic! She had bought so much fish that my eyes were shimmering and I would have skipped the cooking all together and eaten everything raw... but I restrained myself and patiently waited for the magic to happen...

For our starter, she took out the steamer and in a few minutes arranged a lavish plate with scallops, zucchini flowers, Chinese tangerines, ginger and herbs. The scallops were just perfect, moist but still firm, and with a lovely fresh flavour.

To drink we had a glass of Terlano and after some chit chat, while I stopped to take pictures, Barbara returned to the kitchen and went back to work. She was about to serve me one of the most scrumptious fish soups I've ever had.

Spicy, with tomato, this soup featured: mussels, clams, prawns, gamberoni, mantis shrimp, razor clams and scallops. So rich I didn't't know where to start from... The base for the liquid part of the soup had been made with the water of the previously sautéed mussels and clams and with a bisque made with the prawn's heads. Then the varieties of fish were added at different times, so as not to result overcooked. As you may imagine, it was exquisite. We ate with our hands and then finished all the soup doing what we Italians call 'scarpetta' (dipping bread).

We accompanied the soup with a glass of Verdicchio and relaxed for a little while, until she went to check on what was coming next: duck leg with cherry sauce, rosemary and orange zests.

It was a bit funny because the same morning I had posted on Facebook a picture of the new book 'We can save the world before dinner' by Safran Foer, and then there I was, enveloped in a cherry sauce scented atmosphere, with my friend Barbara tempting me with this mouthwatering -meaty- dish. But I suppose I should have known... after all, hadn't I just described her kitchen as lustful?!

Anyway, now in front of a glass of Pinot Noir, we talked about her cooking classes. Everything started almost by chance: one day, following her friends' suggestion, she decided to put herself to test and open her home to anyone curious about Italian cuisine, with a proposal based on fresh seasonal ingredients, mostly local. When I asked her which moment of her classes she prefers, she wasn't sure whether to reply 'the shopping' or 'the eating'. One thing she noticed is that most people are interested especially in how to choose the best fish and how to clean it properly. The specific requests, then, vary. Some people prefer to meet her directly at home, others prefer to join her during the shopping, some are eager to eat fish, and some others would love to learn how to cream the perfect risotto. Whatever the expectation, she does her best to exceed it.

Having spent a morning watching her cook, I would recommend this experience to anyone looking for a friendly and laid-back cooking class, filled with wine, chit chats and Mediterranean spices. If you ask me, her best strengths are anything fish, definitely the risotto and, last but not least, her hospitality.

So, this is more or less what to expect from a day with Barbara. My suggestion is that you contact her directly and arrange your morning together!

Barbara - Venice Cooking Classes

Email: bagrande@gmail.com

WhatsApp: 0039 3467134829

Rialto, the heart of Venice. Not only the place to shop for food and to drink with friends, but also the place where I met Vito. I have always loved this area, with all its inviting perfumes and the local workers, with its arcades and alternations of light and dark...

Until a couple of years ago, we would go to Rialto almost every Saturday morning, to get the freshest fish for the evening meal and to meet our community. Then life, work and other commitments led us to different habits, although I have to admit we have recently rediscovered the pleasure of delving into foodie sins thanks to the 'pulperia'I.Compari.

This small bar, open only from 7:30 am to 5 p.m., is definitely worth a stop, as -at least as far as I'm concerned- it is the only place in Venice specialised in polpo bollito (boiled octopus). It used to be a coffee bar, then Simone Lazzari took over and, to the simpler bar with coffee and croissants, added one of the best cichetterie in town! Simone has been in the food business forever and I highly appreciate his attentiveness to quality and his philosophy. Few things, but fresh and, as much as possible, local.

Besides, Simone and his fiancé Michela are so kind and helpful that we sometimes stop by even just for a quick espresso and a chat! Anyway, what truly makes me happy is that I can finally talk about a place that doesn't offer just crostini and spritz, but real cicheti! The offer may change based on the season and the products availability, but in general you will find the three varieties of baccalà (creamed, in red, and in Vicenza's style), sarde in saor, nervetti (veal's cartilage) rigorously served with onion and wine vinegar, and -of course- the octopus! I saw they also have options for vegetarians, like spelt salads and some veggies, and at lunch time it's possible to order a pasta.

As previously mentioned, I.Compari is an easy-going location, but I cannot help notice all the small details that prove how much the owners care about what they do, like the beautiful wooden tables, the books on the shelves, the small plants and the general cleanliness. Every guest is treated as a gentleman/lady, thus it is impossible not to feel at home! I figured that most of the veg comes from Sant' Erasmo, as his supplier has a stall just in front, at literally one meter distance, and keeps going in and out the place carrying herbs and greens... how sweet!

As for myself, I have become addicted to Simone's octopus. He boils it and leaves it in its water, so its nice and moist, then he slices it for you and dresses it with salt, pepper, parsley, olive oil and white vinegar. The portion is generous and perfect for two to share, obviously accompanied by a glass of wine.

The tables are high and the stools so comfortable that I recommend trying more than one dish. A special mention goes to nervetti. In the past nervetti were something quite common to find, whereas now not many places make them. My dad is a real fan and when I was a child he would often send me to an osteria near our house to get him a portion, so finally now I have a place where I can take him to enjoy one of his favourite treats!

After all, it doesn't take much to make us Venetians happy: just give us a friendly smile, a glass of wine and something to snack on and you have made our day! And I want to underline that the smile and friendliness parts are without doubt the most important!

So, I cannot but recommend you to go, eat, drink and be happy! Let me know ;-)

Address: San Polo, Rialto 255/a 30125 (VE) - map

Phone: 329 2183540

Because I took after my mother, I have decided to surround myself exclusively with nice and positive people and when I met Raffaella, it was love at first sight. Venetian, kind and smiley, it was my husband who introduce her to me and, by the way, everything happened in my favourite restaurant, Fiumefreddo Bio. While her son was listening to Vito (they are two big supporters of Inter and apparently had a lot to talk about...), Raffa and I started chatting about food, life in the lagoon and so on and, in the end, I gave her my website address and she showed me what she does, although -elegant as she is- she did it in a very understated way. Of course, I was eager to learn more...

We met again a couple of times by chance until we arranged a proper appointment so that I could see how she works. Raffaella is very refined, therefore she did not highlight all of her qualities, but I just want to add that in addition to working as a designer, she also teaches textile technologies at IED (European Institute of Design) and some of her creations have been selected among the items sold at the bookshop of Ca' Pesaro, the Museum of Modern Art located in San Stae.

Anyway, she invited me to her house -and studio- in Cannaregio and we spent a wonderful afternoon together! She lives with her son in a bright top floor with a small terrace from which you can see the roofs of Venice (so so so amazing!). The house is smallish, but very luminous and full of books, magazines, arty objects and plants. In short, it exudes positivity! I was put immediately at ease as she offered me drinks and lots of hazelnuts to snack on, then we started talking about her activity. As you will see in the pictures, I only photographed some of her designs (she had delivered the others to her retailers), thus I invite you to have a look at her Instagram pageand her websiteto see more (especially the necklaces!!!).

I was curious to know more about Venice during her university years and -because I work as a creative too- about the difficulties and/or privileges of carrying out this sort of activity here, so I'll report our conversation in the form of an interview!

You were born and brought up in Venice, could you please tell me more about the years at IUAV?

'At the beginning of the 90s living in Venice was just great. There was 1/3 more of resident population and a significant number of students from other parts of the country and the world, besides there were many more 'normal' neighbourhood shops and a vibrant daily and night life. A very diverse city from the one we live in today, from many points of view, especially with regard to touristic pressure...

When and how did you get involved with design?

My passion for design flourished during my years at university, when I was attending a History of Design class that opened a whole new world to me. Eventually, for a research project, I became very familiar with the Italian design and architecture journals of the 1950-70s like Domus, Abitare and Interni and realised how much my compatriots had been ahead of their time and revolutionary in this field.

Is it difficult to work as a designer in a reality Venice?

I have to say that I have never encountered particular difficulties, as I follow each step of the creative process, from the design to the physical creation of my pieces. Besides, thanks to the internet, I can easily buy materials and fabrics from all over the world and sell my jewellery anywhere. I actually find amazing the fact that my objects, from my little Venetian studio, can reach any part of the globe!

Does the lagoon inspire your creations?

Yes, definitely. Just look around yourself, wherever you set your eyes you see beauty: the facades of the palaces, their decorations, all the architectural elements, the games between light and shade and between solids and voids, everything is inspirational, even the pavements are rich in textures, motifs and patterns! I am particularly fascinated by the intricate network of stitches so typical of our Burano lace, not to mention certain architectural elements in Istrian stone of some late gothic architectures such as Ca' d' Oro,Ca' Foscari and Palazzo Ducale.

Where can I buy your jewellery in Venice?

- At the clothing and design store Altrove. I am somewhere Else. I started collaborating with them many years ago, as there seems to be a perfect harmony between the outfits designed by Alessandra Milan and my jewellery, in fact for her brand I also realise exclusive pieces to match her clothes. The atelier is open by appointment and is located in a stunning Venetian interior.

- You can also find some of my pieces at the shopBragoràin the heart of Castello, a wide and luminous space that gathers the creations of artists and designers who self-produce using recycled materials.

- My designs have also been selected by our museums bookshops, therefore you can find some pieces at the Museum of Modern Art Cà Pesaro.

- Another curious and truly lovely space that hosts my collection is The_Sign Venice, small yet incredibly sought-after, only two minutes from the Fenice Opera House.

Are you available for custom orders? Of course! I am always enthusiastic about new projects and really enjoy creating customised pieces for my clients. Making something that not only is unique, but also thought for a specific person gives me great joy.

I noticed that you still haven't opened an online shop, how can people buy your designs from far away? You are right, I still haven't had the time to open an online shop but I am planning to do so very soon! For now, clients can contact me dropping me an email at info@raffaellabrunzin.it or through my Skype account raffaella.brunzin . I am very responsive and usually reply within 24 maximum 48 hours.

At that point I stopped asking Raffaella questions and just admired her working at the sewing machine. In a way, I understood that there is a lot more to her work than what she describes... I could see her references and enjoyed watching her adding the finishing touches to her minimalist pins. Hers is a world of colours, books, patterns and fabrics and her passion exudes from her energy and from the way her eyes shine whenever she starts playing with needle and thread.

Don't forget to have a look at her website and to follow her on Instagram. Oh... and yes, I highly suggest to visit the above mentioned shops when in Venice. They are unique and will introduce you to a whole new world of local and designers!

Talk soon.

Muffins, small homemade cakes that carry the scent of home and love. Not flashy, yet beautiful in their simplicity. I hadn't made them for years, then a couple of months ago I bought a muffin baking tray and made up for all the missed occasions. I found a perfect (and really simple) recipe on an Italian website called Giallo Zafferano and have applied it several times, changing type of fruit and type of flour, and it has always worked! The version I'm sharing today is gluten free, nutty and delicious, featuring apples and hazelnuts.

I made these ones the 16th of August early morning, to have something sweet -and different- for breakfast to celebrate Vito's birthday. I was a bit worried as it was the first time I combined rice and hazelnut flour, but they turned out delicious. The only difference I noticed is that the top remained a little flatter, but the texture was just right.

Vito had bought some special types of flours a couple of days before, and I was really curious to try the hazelnut one. Considering its price and my inexperience, so far I have only used it to thicken a vegetable soup and for the muffins, but I have to tell you it tastes wonderful.

After breakfast we went out and spent a calm and relaxed day. We didn't do anything particularly glamorous, we just did the usual because, I reckon, that's what we truly like! So, for lunch we ate at Fiumefreddo Bio and then had a walk in Castello, with coffee break at Caffè La Serra. Around the area it's full of external pavilions, so we wandered around the exhibitions (loved the one at ISMAR, the Marine Biology Institute) until we reached Campo San Pietro di Castello and had another break, this time sitting on a red bench under the shade of the trees, leafing through the papers.

From San Pietro you can see the Ponte dei Pensieri, which leads to the gardens of Arsenale. Until a year ago, the gardens were accessible only by the visitor of Biennale. This year, instead, the part reserved to the exhibition area is private, whereas the Giardino delle Vergini is open to the public. It's where the free shuttle that takes you to Arsenale Nord leaves from. Anyway, we had a walk there too and then slowly headed towards home, stopping here and there to buy the final things for our evening meal.

In this period, our life is very simple. We have both been busy with new projects and although we haven't had the chance to go even on a short break, time has flown. Vito says that his birthday marks the end of the summer, as days start to get shorter and the temperature slightly cooler (thank goodness!!!). In fact, I think that the best period to be in Venice goes from the end of the Film Festival (thus the first week of September) to the beginning of November. Daylight is not as harsh and I find it a lot more pleasant to wander about and take pictures!

Anyway, going back to our muffins, as previously mentioned, I combined rice and hazelnut flour, but you can replace them with any kind of flour you want, the recipe still works. They were nice and moist, butter-free but with yogurt, and I served them with a little bit of jam on the side and green tea. Hope you like!

RECIPE: GLUTEN FREE APPLE AND HAZELNUT MUFFINS

Easy

10 minutes preparation + 20 minutes in the oven

6 muffins

Ingredients:

250 gr sliced apple

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 Tbsp crushed hazelnuts

1 organic egg

50 gr sugar

90 gr yogurt

30 ml oil

30 gr hazelnuts flour

95 gr rice flour

8 gr baking powder

Method:

1. Peel the apple, remove core and cut into small squares. Put in a bowl, pour a little bit of lemon juice and keep aside.

2. Pre-heat oven at 180°C.

3. In a cold steel bowl, whisk the egg with the sugar until you obtain a foamy mixture.

4. Aside, combine well yogurt and oil and add to the liquid mixture. Amalgamate.

5. Now add the previously sifted flour and baking powder and mix well. Finally add the apples and the crushed hazelnuts and give a final stir.

6. With a spoon, add the dough into the paper cups until it's finished. Top with a little bit of hazelnut's grain and bake for 20 minutes.

7. When ready, let sit in the oven for 5 minutes. Let cool at least one hour before serving.

Excellent served with a little bit of jam on the side.

One of the aspects that most characterises the lagoon has always been its slowness. When I was a teenager, I used to hate it! At that time, living in Venice seemed anachronistic to me, and slightly boring too. While in the rest of the world kids would go around by underground and move from one club to the other, us Venetians were relegated to the eternal slowness of our vaporettos and, to party, obliged to reach places in the mainland like Jesolo, Padua, Verona and Vicenza.

Incredible how only 16 years later, at the age of 32, my point of view has changed completely. So many things that seemed completely dull and uncool, now appear amazing. Even food wise (although I've always been relatively attentive to keeping fit thus have always had a sufficiently healthy diet), I did not enjoy fruit and veg as much as I do now and I would much prefer complex and challenging preparations -or industrial snacks!- to the simple dishes I make nowadays. Especially fruit required to be transformed, whereas now I often just peel it, core it if needed and eat it...

The way Venice was built and the delicate and unique ecosystem of the lagoon require special attention and measures, in theory boats should not exceed a certain speed (to avoid worsening the swell) and specific noises should be avoided not to disturb the rich variety of fauna we have. There are numerous species of birds (there were more once, but...) and on the Lido we have the beautiful WWF oasis of Alberoni (which, though, was seriously damaged with the exceptionally high tide we experienced in November 2018). In Northern Italy, people in general are more sensitive to environmental matters than in other parts of Italy and there are groups of volunteers that meet up to clear the beaches from garbage rude people leave behind them and now, some, practice the so-called plogging (picking up litter while jogging). Personally I like to think, and truly believe, that most people are good in nature and care about the place they and their children live. It has always been the big industries to spoil the territory, using it to make money they will never share with anyone else but themselves.

Please don't think I feel nostalgic about the years of the most Serene Republic of Venice. For the poor, things were no different and lower classes were mistreated and exploited as much as today, but at least the governors lived here and were well aware they had to preserve and improve the city and the surrounding to become more powerful and important. Doges and nobles would invest in art and architecture and certain activities were restricted to preserve the lagoon. Now, instead, our mayor lives in Mogliano (which is not even in the council of Venice... but of Treviso!), multinational companies are buying or building huge hotels and entire blocks of apartments are turned into airbnbs. Every week there's a new bar or restaurant, but only a few open for passion, most just think about the money and the average offer are crostini and spritz or, worse, pasta take-away (Italians don't eat anything to go) ...

We are all aware of climate change and, with the rising of sea levels, it would be very important for Venice to have a plan and take action, although right now our administrators can't think of anything else except keeping their job and stealing our money... (please have a look at this article published by The Art Newspaper, which was shared with me by a super kind reader).

Only this summer Venice experienced two huge accidents due to giant cruise ships. The second one, happened during a hail storm, was super frightening. A dear friend called Beatrice described her experience as hell: she was on a vaporetto trying to reach the Lido, where she lives, but the boat was swaying like crazy and she got off at Giardini because she was scared. The vaporetto stop was over crowded with people squeezed at every corner trying to protect themselves from giant hail cubes and the strong wind, when at one point she turned her head and saw the giant face of the cruise ship going against them, as close as she had never seen before. She said she thought she was going to die... it looked so near and so threatening, that she ran out of the stop to go inwards, but with the wet floor she slipped and hurt her knee. Thank goodness, the three tug boats managed to avoid the tragedy, but... boy, that was really creepy! Although, allow me say, I find creepier that no measures have been yet taken.

Brugnaro now pushes for the excavation of another canal, which should really be avoided, while the most useless of infrastructure ministers Toninelli is clearly unable to decide. Not that I expect anything good from the 5 stars... Toninelli was an insurer until yesterday, so I don't see how he can take a serious and educated decision. And unfortunately, if I look at other European cities and at the U.S too, I don't see much hope. So many people have criticised Greta Thunberg, and yes I do agree that she is only 16 and the way she lives is not practicable by everyone, but I admire her deeply and consider her more intelligent than most of the world's politicians and economists...

In these moments of mistrust, I find shelter and strength in the arms of my husband who always tries to see the bright side of things. He says that in the past some things may have been better but many other were not and have improved with time. The quality of the houses we live in, for example, has greatly improved. The quality of water too had improved until a while ago and will improve once again if only we stopped allowing cruise ships (and I am also referring to the smaller ones, which still use the heaviest and most polluting petrol in commerce). In the 80s, there were no places open for the younger generations after 10 pm while now it's the contrary, and so on... so, he says, I should stop worrying and just keep practicing virtuous everyday choices. We can't save the world, but with our choices we can do a lot to improve it...

To joke Vito sometimes tells me I even turned him into 'a fighetta' (delicate and picky pu..y), able to recognise ripe tomatoes at a glance and always seeking for Italian and locally grown produce. Even with regard to alcohol, he has switched from cocktails and long drinks to natural wine, craft beer and artisanal spirits... so, he says, if he's improved, the world can too! So, to conclude this post, I just want to remind you about a couple of really interesting and SLOW activities you can do while in Venice and with a simple recipe for poached pears.

For nature and slow living lovers, my tips are:

- check out the events organised by BIRDWATCHING VENEZIAand seize the occasion to explore in a slow manner the lagoon and its unique fauna

- support the local artisans based in the convent of Ss. Cosma and Damiano on Giudecca

- take an entire day to visit the magical and peaceful island of San Francesco del Deserto

- choose an afternoon to visit the Armenian island, its convent, library and gardens and learn more about their special rose petal jam

As for the recipe, it's a guilt free poached pear dessert made with baby pears from a nearby region, marinated in a fruit syrup (I used the juice of my prunes in syrup), honey and oil, served on a base of cookie crumble. Easy, seasonal, delicious and light! Hope you will like it!

Bye for now and talk soon ;-)

RECIPE: LIGHT POACHED PEARS

easy, serves two

Ingredients:

6 small pears

1 cup fruit syrup of choice

1 Tbsp olive oil

1Tbsp honey

2 oat cookies

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven at 180°

2. Peel and core the pears leaving them intact

3. Grease a baking pan, place the pears horizontally, pour over the fruit syrup, a Tbsp of oil and and some honey.

4. Bake at 180° for about 30 minutes, turning the pears every now and then to let them absorb the juice homogeneously.

5. When ready, serve hot over a cookie crumble and top with its juice.

If there is one thing that relaxes me, it's baking. Don't imagine anything complicated or requiring pastry chef skills, I'm referring to simple cakes and tarts able to provide great satisfaction in less than an hour. In my house, the day reserved for baking is usually Sunday.

Like almost every day, on Sundays too I wake up early for my morning run, but when I return home instead of waking Vito up, I let him sleep and make something sweet for breakfast.

In summer I jog earlier than during the rest of the year because I've become addicted to that special light you see only for one hour from dawn, when the hues of the sky go from blue to purple, and finally orange and pink. Besides, the city is empty. It's just me, a few other joggers and some workers.

My typical route is Ruga Giuffa, Greci, the Metropole Hotel and then Riva degli Schiavoni, Riva dei Sette Martiri, Sant'Elena and all the way back, via Piazza San Marco. Sometimes I change path, depending on the wind and my mood, but that remains my favourite.

I have special spots along the trail where I stop for a brief while, jumping on my two feet, with the iPod in my ears, just to admire the view, like when I cross the bridge before Giardini, where the morning light combined with the leaves of the tall trees and the statues creates a magical effect, and at a special corner in Sant' Elena, in front of the yacht club, where I never fail to meet a marmalade cat.

At the weekend, though, I avoid going to Sant' Elena, and that's because I don't want to see the cruise ships entering the lagoon. I'm afraid that no matter what has happened in recent times, until the end of the season things are not going to change from this point of view. So when I see the tug boat going out, I know it's going to get the giant monster, and I start my way back.

In my imagination, that tug boat should be carrying the island of Venice away, detaching it from the Liberty Bridge and sailing it into the Adriatic and beyond, like in the short film 'The Crimson Permanent Assurance' that precedes the movie 'The Meaning of Life' by Monty Python, where a group of angry clerks rebel against their bosses and turn into pirates and sail away looking for financial centres to plunder.

Yes, okay... Maybe I get a little carried away in my day dreaming, but envisioning this scene always makes me laugh! Anyway, going back to more serious business, today I'm sharing a recipe for a simple apricot breakfast cake.

It takes about ten minutes to prepare and forty-five to cook (more or less, depending on your oven). I realise I am using a lot of apricots lately, but in my defence you can't deny that they are absolutely delicious and, also, I find they have good value for money.

I used white 00 flour, but you can replace it with whole wheat or spelt flour. The cake was lovely and moist and pleasantly sweet, I served it with green tea with fresh mint leaves and a little bit of apricot jam on the side. If you don't have any jam, simply wash and slice some apricots, cut them into squares and simmer them in a pan with water and sugar, stirring continuously, until they melt completely and you get a jelly like mixture.

Hope you will enjoy it as much as we did and, meanwhile, we wish you all a happy Sunday!

RECIPE:

APRICOT BREAKFAST CAKE

Easy

Prep. Time: 10'

Cook Time: 45'

Ingredients:

4 apricots

150 gr brown sugar

2 eggs

80 ml oil

80 ml milk

200 gr 00 flour

15 gr baking powder

crushed hazelnuts to garnish

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven at 180°

2. Wash the apricots, slice 3 into small squares and one length wise. Keep aside.

3. Whisk the eggs with the sugar until you obtain a foamy mixture. Add the oil, amalgamate, then add the milk and do the same.

4. Add the previously sifted flour and baking powder and combine with the other ingredients. Now add the apricot cubes and give one last stir.

5. Pour the mixture into a greased baking pan and decorate with the apricot wedges. Sprinkle some crushed hazelnuts and bake at 180° for about 45 minutes.

6. When ready, let sit in the oven for 2/3 minutes and allow it time to cool. Excellent for breakfast served with tea or coffee and some apricot jam on the side.

When people ask me what I like about food, my first answer is always 'the behind the scenes'. Food is synonym of territory, places and people, thus memories. Although globalisation has made available everything everywhere, it is undeniable that each of us links certain perfumes and flavours to specific moments and people. In fact, whenever I have porridge, I think of Ireland.

Oatmeal and porridge (which can be prepared with any cereal) had stopped being popular for a period, in fact my mum sees them as 'the sort of breakfast old people are generally advised to have', but luckily they have come back in fashion! When I told her I have oatmeal almost every morning, I think she was a bit surprised. Anyway, I love it! I love its creamy texture, the fact that it is not sweet and the idea it is really good for me. Besides, it makes me think of my grandmother. I can envision her sitting in the breakfast room, armed with her thousands of tablets, the steel pot of boiling tea kept warm by a hand-knitted tea-cosy, enjoying that small daily pleasure while looking out of the window, trying to spot the fox that prowls in her neighbourhood or the several magpies that visit her back garden in seek of food every day.

What a view her garden is. A nicely kept lawn surrounded by flower beds and a small compost area at the back, where I used to play as a child (incredible how children find beauty in the most strange places...don't you think?).

When I was a wild teenager, going to Ireland stopped being fun for me, as I did not have the same freedom I have always had at home and have always been extremely independent (consider that Venice is a super safe city, while Dublin is huge and not exactly the same). But now I miss it, and I have come to appreciate many aspects of that island and of the Irish. First of all, the love for nature and the breathtaking landscapes. But not just this, the people are so... friendly! Warm people who will always open their house and invite you over, like Neapolitans, always offering you a cup of tea and a scone with raspberry jam.

Then I admire how much arts and culture are supported. One would think in Italy it were the same, but it is not like this... in Italy unfortunately we have a hideous political caste system that like King Midas, spoils everything. The Veneto region, for example, is full of industrial sheds and factories, whereas with regard to Venice... you all know how bad the situation the lagoon is experiencing with this ongoing passage of cruise-ships that has made us one of the most polluted cities in Europe and is literally eating the coasts (18 metres gone in less than 6 years... a catastrophe).

So, when I think of Ireland... I think of bright green meadows, lilies and shamrocks. I think of Sandymount Strand, of the two smokestacks of the Poolbeg Generating Station that my mother calls lollipop sticks due to their white and red stripes, and I think of fairies and magic. I don't know if I ever told you, but there is quite an age gap between me and my husband and I was a bit fearful the first time I took him to meet my family. But their warmth and affection proved me wrong, as every single one of them treats him like a son/brother/friend. They know he loves me and that, although we argue all the time and have huge rows, he makes me happy, and that's all that matters to them. Besides, Vittorio is much easier than me and is enthusiastic about everything. Especially about Guinness and whisky (his favourite: Green Spot).

Then, we love visiting farmers markets and parks. We go in and out museums (all free of charge), buy lots of books and take our time at Saint Stephen's Green, Merrion Square or Herbert Park, just lazing about... and when we feel cold, we go to a bar and warm up with a nice 'cuppa'. Plus, we always visit the National Gallery, with its Caravaggio and... Venice crowning the Lion of saint Mark's depicted by Domenico Tintoretto.

We don't usually have enough time to feel homesick, but to joke we say that if it ever happened, we could just go in front of the river called Grand Canal (which reminds us of our Venetian Canal Grande) and have a nibble at our Venetian friend's place called Piglet.

But for the time being, we can only dream about Ireland (this year I think we'll only be able to go in October, hopefully for my birthday)... so today I'm sharing a recipe for a cold (trust me) summer porridge. Healthy, sugar-free, delicious and creamy to my liking. I caramelised thin wedges of flat peaches and cherries in a pan with some water and chestnut honey (use any honey you like, as chestnut is very balsamic and not for everyone), then I simmered old-fashioned rolled oats and chia seeds in almond milk and topped everything with chocolate chips and almond flakes. I left the oatmeal in the fridge overnight and had it the following morning with extra milk... looking out my window and imagining all the beautiful scenes I have just described.

And you? What is your relationship with oatmeal/porridge? I'm super curious to know! Meanwhile,I wish you a happy Sunday and will be back soon...

XXX

RECIPE

COLD PORRIDGE WITH BAKED FRUIT, CHOCOLATE, ALMONDS AND HONEY

Easy

10-15 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients:

80 gr rolled oats

1 Tbsp chia seeds

2 flat peaches

12/15 cherries

2 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp chocolate chips

1 cup milk (I used almond milk)

1 Tbsp almond flakes

Directions:

1. Wash cherries and peaches. Peel the skin of the peaches, then cut into wedges. Slice cherries in half, remove pitch and keep aside.

2. Heat a pan with some water and when it starts to boil, add the fruit and lower the heat. Add a Tbsp of honey and stir continuously. If needed, add extra water. Simmer for about 6 minutes, or until the fruit becomes caramelised. When ready keep aside.

3. In a small saucepan, add the rolled oats, the chia seeds and the milk. Simmer for a couple of minutes, again stirring all the time. When ready, let cool and put in a bowl.

4. Top with your caramelised fruit, chocolate chips, almond flakes, and pour some fresh milk. If you like add extra honey and serve.

P.N. You can prepare it the day before and leave it soaking overnight in a jar in the fridge, or make it 10 minutes before serving.

You know what is amazing about life? That it just happens. One may have planned every single detail, yet... life itself has the power to oblige a person change their plans immediately, from one moment to the other, whether in the good or in the bad. I suppose it is not a chance that, out of all the female characters I encountered in my readings, the woman that most caught my attention and admiration is Moll Flanders, with her incredible adventures and misadventures wonderfully narrated by Daniel Defoe.

A lot of my female friends, instead, adore Anna Karenina and see her as a brave and strong woman who fought for true love and did not accept her condition of married woman. Yes, okay... maybe it is true, but personally I never liked her and, although the book is simply great, I always thought of her as a spoilt brat who cheated on her husband not with the chauffeur (like Sybil Crawley in Downtown Abbey, my favourite who.. of course, dies young) or one of her servants, but with the most handsome and richest prince in town. Ah.. come on, Anna... what a disappointment. And at the end, after I don't know how many pages... what does she do? She throws herself under a train... Well, I'm sorry but I will never be able to consider her as a positive example of female empowerment.

Whereas Moll Flanders may have started as a poor but very attractive servant, but then her life took her to the highest levels of aristocracy and then back down again to deep poverty, an ongoing rollercoaster of unpredictable events that turned her from an innocent girl into a clever and fast-thinking lady.

I had read both novels during the summer, as this is the perfect season to undertake long readings. Last year was the year of My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, which I loved although I could not identify myself in any of the characters, while this year... to be completely honest, I still haven't found a book able to involve me that much. I am desperately looking for an engaging story, as so far, in this 2019, I've only been able to read essays on art, photography and cookbooks. With regard to cookbooks, my favourite remains Alice B. Toklas Cookbook, which has no photos at all and is filled with fatty recipes I will actually never make. Still, I find it brilliant and tend to give it as a present to all my friends who love to cook (although I cannot figure out why the title is translated in Italian as Baudelaire's cookies, when the poet died ten years before Alice was born... do any of my Italian friends know?).

I reckon the reason for this are the stories behind the recipes. It's an extremely autobiographical book, in which Alice describes her relationship with art collector and writer Gertrude Stein, the dinner parties attended by the most important artists of the time and, more in general, life in France in the first half of the 20th century and during the occupation. Besides, the most famous of her recipes is the Haschich fudge... which, in addition to being delicious, I consider a daring recipe, especially for a woman of those years. But not only Alice was one of the first famous lesbians in history, she was also incredibly clever, hard-working, creative and patient (I have a feeling that living with Gertrude Stein must have been quite challenging). Anyway, Alice's words make me dream of the vegetable gardens in Bilignin and inspire me in so many ways, I really ought to put her in my inspiring-women list too!

I have tried reading other food related novels, but none truly satisfied me. I tried with some gourmet crime stories, but... no, they don't seem to work for me. I did like Chourmo

Another author I love is Japanese artist Haruki Murakami. Although he is not a food writer, it is clear that he has a sort of obsession with food. With this regard, I suggest to have a look at the blog What I Talk About When I Talk About Cooking, entirely dedicated to recipes prepared by Murakami's characters. Anyway, for Murakami what we eat is a sort of reflection of ourselves, what we are and how much we care about our own body, soul and the world around us and...I completely agree with this theory.

As for myself, initially (when I started the blog) my dream was to publish a book. Not an ordinary cookbook, but a sort of contemporary guide of Venice through its food. For a moment it seemed my dream was about to come true, but then -for several reasons- it didn't and, although I was encouraged to make some changes and the publisher has always been extremely nice to me... I never made any change nor looked at the draft again (yes, it's sitting there in a folder of my computer). I didn't because in this moment, the tip of the scale of my love and hate relationship with my native city is bent more on the latter feeling and I need a break. Besides, as stated at the beginning of this post, life just happens and in the last 12 months I have been working a lot more as a photographer and -to be completely honest- I couldn't be happier. I developed recipes and took pictures for some Italian food companies, wrote articles and itineraries for American clients with activities in Italy and met restaurant owners, food and wine producers and... artisans! A lot of these experiences did not end up in the blog because I signed the rights of my work, but I truly enjoyed every single moment and look forward to many more.

Before saying goodbye, I want to share a super easy and fresh summer recipe: a peach and apricot mousse. This creamy dessert is so simple and quick to make that it' s just perfect for bookworms, as it leaves you with plenty of time to read! Hope you will like it and, please, if you have any book suggestion for the summer I am eager to hear it!

Talk Soon!

RECIPE

FRESH PEACH AND APRICOT MOUSSE

4 portions (generous)

easy

Ingredients:

200 ml fresh cream

150 gr ricotta

4 apricots

1 peach

1 teaspoon honey

To decorate:

crushed pistachios and hazelnuts

dried cookies

Method:

1. Prepare your whipped cream: pour fresh cream in a cold steel bowl and whisk. When ready, cover the bowl in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

2. Wash the fruit, peel the peach and chop roughly. Heat a pan, add a little bit of water and let the fruit simmer for about 8 minutes, until it has melted. Let cool.

3. When the fruit mixture is ready, combine with your fresh ricotta and add a teaspoon of honey.

4. Remove whipped cream from fridge and slowly incorporate the fruit and ricotta mixture with slow movements from bottom to top, using a wooden spoon. Refrigerate for a couple of hours and serve topped with crushed nuts and dried cookies.

In these hot days of summer, I enjoy wandering around the quieter and almost deserted areas of my city. From 12 pm to about 5 pm, the sun hits so hard that it honestly takes courage and a lot of good will to even try to photograph Venice without a proper filter. There is hardly any air, but while most of the people complain and suffer our very traditional humidity, I am happy it's finally so hot, as it took so long this year for this season to arrive. Besides, I am a lagoon amphibious and I bask quite comfortably in this climate.

When I'm not teaching, I take advantage of the mornings to do shopping, cooking and photo shooting, and after lunch, when the rest of the world is locked at home with the air conditioning on, I dawdle around town and hop in and out of beautiful palaces to see the external exhibitions of Biennale d'Arte. I am super fond of this event and every year, I cannot help but consider how lucky I am to live in a city so rich in art. Of course, Venice has many problems (too many airbnbs, the impossibility to find a house for residents, cruise-ships, huge masses of day trippers, just to mention a few), yet I feel so grateful to have grown up here and I have faith things will improve at some point.

After all, if we think about it, in the 70s the lagoon was a lot more polluted than today as Marghera -which at the time was the biggest chemical plant in Europe- discharged hot water full of metals and chemical sludge in it, provoking eutrophication, but when it came out measures were taken and the quality of the water gradually improved. In the same years, unfortunately, we started having cruise ships and now it is evident to the entire world that those ships must stay out. A survey carried out by the university showed how in the last 6 years the passage of these monsters has provoked the backing of 18 meters of coast... And even though the president of the port never wanted to meet the researchers, they can't keep exploiting the territory and stealing money with the world watching.

Maybe I'm feeling optimistic because work wise, this year has been unexpectedly positive for me. Or maybe I'm just happy because it's sunny and warm. Anyway, in today's post I am sharing a super easy recipe for cherry plum clafoutis and a few pics of the empty streets of Cannaregio. Yes, because a couple of afternoons ago I was so lucky to have Vittorio with me (the man is working really hard!), so we visited Palazzo Mora and Palazzo Michiel del Brusa' and concluded our stroll buying lots of fruit and veg at the stall in Rio Tera' Barba Frutariol.

As soon as he saw cherry plums he got so excited that we asked for a kilo. Years ago he used to have a bookshop and from the back door he had access to a garden where there was a beautiful cherry plum tree, so in summer he would just laze about out there with his friends and customers speaking about books and life, and whenever they felt hungry they would just stretch out their arm and grab a cherry plum (hey honey, no wonder you closed ... Why weren't you inside selling books?!😜😜😜).

Anyway, my fear of having bought too many plums disappeared the moment we arrived home, as we ate some raw immediately, added a couple to our evening salad and with the rest I made a clafoutis (which was meant for breakfast but finished the same evening) and a sauce to go with it.

Allow me say 'God bless clafoutis'! So easy, yet so delicious. My recipe is really basic, as I only used eggs, sugar, milk and flour. Still... superb! The traditional French recipe uses cherries, but any fruit will do the job. The cherry plums released all their sweetness, which I balanced with the soft acidity of the sauce. Hope you will like it and please let me know!

Bye for now and talk soon!

RECIPE

CHERRY PLUM CLAFOUTIS

#sweet #easy #summer

Ingredients:

- For the clafoutis:

8 cherry plums

3 eggs

100 gr brown sugar

200 ml milk

100 gr 00 flour

a knob butter

- For the sauce:

6 cherry plums

2 Tbsp brown sugar

pink pepper (optional)

water

Method:

1.Pre-heat oven at 180°

2. Wash the cherry plums. Slice about 8 in half, remove pitch, and place on a previously greased baking pan with a sprinkle of brown sugar. Keep aside.

3. In a bowl, whisk eggs with sugar until you get a foamy mixture, then add the milk and finally the flour.

4. Amalgamate well, pour over the plums and bake at 180° for about 40 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, roughly chop the remaining cherry plums, heat a pan, add 2 Tbsp brown sugar, some water, grind some pink pepper (optional) and cook the fruit at medium heat for about 5/6 minutes, stirring continuously.

6. When the clafoutis is ready, serve hot and accompany with the cherry plum sauce.

Today I'm sharing a simple recipe for honey-roasted figs, one of my husband's favourite fruits! To be honest with you, I had never really considered figs until I met him, event that occurred in 2006. We were both working at Osteria Bancogiro, with the old management, and one of the summer desserts on the menu was raw figs served with ricotta from Cansiglio and honey, delicious enough to get me into this highly sugary addiction.

My true love for figs, though, started during my university years. It was at a modern art lesson that I learned that in painting, it is always the elected to sit under a fig tree. My professor was Augusto Gentili (the best!) and he was telling us about "I Santi Gerolamo, Cristoforo e Ludovico" (1513) by Giovanni Bellini, located in the right chapel of the San Grisostomo church (here below, a detail).

Despite its small size, this small church treasures amazing works of art. The painting was one of the last works of Giovanni, quite old at the time, thus he seized the occasion to discuss with his usual mastery a contemporary theme, much felt in the Venice of those years.

The work had been commissioned to Giovanni 20 years earlier by Venetian merchant Giorgio Diletti, who then died 10 years later, around 1503. Bellini was required to speak about the contrast between contemplative and active life and, as it happens in most paintings, the saints were used to refer to actual, living people (there's so much gossiping in modern art... that's one of the reasons why I love it so much!).

Bellini opens the scene with a golden mosaic arch (a clear reference to our Basilica) which separates San Gerolamo, destined to a contemplative life and sitting beneath a fig tree (symbol of vocation and privilege), from the other two saints, closer to the believers frequenting that church. Of course, Gerolamo represents a condition of spiritual perfection, but like all "commons" (what a hideous word) I feel much closer to Christopher and Ludovico, both placed in the physical space of the church, marked by the altar!

What had happened in Venice was that two rich patrizi (Venetian nobles), Vincenzo Querini and Tommaso Giustinian, had given up their civil life to live like hermits in the the retreat of Camaldoli, and the to-be cardinal Gasparo Contarini was calling them back to their active/social life, because 'we must all accept what we are destined for'.

The saints represent three different models: Christopher represents the simple people, Ludovico the institutional role of prelates, and Gerolamo the ascetics contemplation of the monks. It is supposed that the commissioner identified himself in the figure of Christopher, whereas the parish of the church, Ludovico Talenti, in his eponymous saint.

I am personally very fond of this painting and I will immediately admit my passion for saint Christopher, always described as a 'common' but so strong to be able to carry the weight of Christ and with such a kind face and such a toned body that, frankly speaking, any woman would fall at his feet. For me it should be him the one sitting under the fig tree, as I have never believed in 'caste systems' and generally consider people for their actions, rather than for what they may say, think or write. But you know, that's just my bad personality...

Anyway, going back to our figs, I bought ours at the stall in San Lio. They had both green and black figs, but I opted for the green ones this time. Figs are very sweet, yet I find them incredibly versatile and like to use them also in salads, to make crostini with cheese, and for drinks. A super easy drink you may like to try is figs and prosecco. I simply remove the skin, mix the figs with some ice cubes in a blender and finally add prosecco and a mint leaf.

As for today's recipe, it's sweet, quick, easy and de-li-cious! Honey-roasted figs covered with dark chocolate sauce... I like to serve them out from the oven, hot and with a generous amount of dark chocolate sauce to create a little contrast of flavours. It's a little sinful, I know, but after all 'the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it [...]'.

Bye for now and talk soon!

RECIPE

HONEY ROASTED FIGS WITH A CHOCOLATE SAUCE

#easy #dessert #summer

Ingredients:

6 fresh figs

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp honey

the juice of half a lemon

50 gr dark chocolate

Method:

- Pre-heat oven at 180°.

- Grease a baking pan. Wash the figs and slice them either in half or in four lengthwise and place them into the pan.

- Heat a pan, and let the butter melt with the lemon juice and 1 Tbsp honey for a couple of seconds and pour the liquid over the figs.

- Top with some more honey and bake for about 30 minutes at 180°.

- In the meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a water bath.

- When the figs are ready, put in a serving plate. Recover the juice from the pan and combine with the melted chocolate.

- Amalgamate well, pour over the roasted figs and serve.

Sometimes it's good to detach from the world and find time for ourselves. When I do so, I usually escape to an island and do nothing but walk, wander around and relax. Last Monday I happened to be free in the afternoon, so after lunch I went to Fondamenta Nove and took a vaporetto for Sant' Erasmo.

It was quite hot and the boat was half empty. I stood outside and enjoyed the comfort offered by the lovely breeze. Although those were the hottest hours of the day, the light was soft and the sky clear. As always, the boat passed by San Michele first, then Murano, Vignole and finally Sant' Erasmo. I got off at Capannone, hoping to see the family of geese I had met the previous year, and took the right. Not that there are many options, after all, being Sant' Erasmo an island, one either goes right or left...

I tend to go right for a frivolous reason, and that's just because you get to the bar faster! Its official name is Chiosco Al Bacan, but we Venetians call it Ai Tedeschi... nothing fancy really, just a relaxed place where you can enjoy food and drinks. As for the rest, the island has nothing but crops, villas, a bike rental, a bakery and a supermarket. That's it.

When I arrived, it was so peaceful that I forgot all about my initial plan, which was to buy vegetables directly on a farm, and found myself a spot under the shade of a tree where I sat for a while to read -distractedly- and admire the lagoon and the sight of Venice in the distance. Incredible how well I could see our Campanile di San Marco and the domes of the Basilica.

Before falling asleep, I got up, drank some water from my flask and followed the main road. Besides myself, only a couple of happy visitors and some locals. Along a canal, I saw a family of ducks with mummy duck in the front and about 8 small ducklings right behind her, moving their bottom in that funny way that always makes me laugh! Father duck, instead, was on the far right, maybe keeping an eye on the situation.

I just kept walking and walking, passing by fields of artichokes, zucchini, grapes and more, until I arrived in front of the beehive of Mr Elio Maravacchio. I couldn't see anyone and because of the time I didn't want to disturb, so I just looked at the colourful hives and went back.

To be honest, once there it was so hot that I gave up the idea of shopping on a farm and carrying heavy bags all the way back. Consider that there are only 2 vaporettos every hour, so I could either run hoping to get the next one or... take it easy and let life follow its course. And that's what I did. The sound of the wind kissing the leaves of the trees was just too nice and too soothing to be spoiled, besides... it was doing me good. While walking, I tried to imagine how it could be to live in a nice and big villa in the middle of nothing, where if you need food you don't go to a supermarket or to a green grocer but directly to your family field...

Of course, you'd need to have a boat to live in a place like Sant' Erasmo. At least, I tend to get a bit claustrophobic if I think I can't leave a place whenever I feel like it, but maybe it's just me...

As for myself, as previously mentioned, I had given up the idea of buying my veg there, but I still wanted to bring home greens from Sant' Erasmo, so when I arrived back in Venice I went to the i&s stall in a side calle of Strada Nuova, which is the direct sale point of the organic farm i&s, and got my greens there. Among other things, I bought lots of datterini tomatoes (are they called plum tomatoes in English? According to Wikipedia it's date tomatoes, but some foreign friends told me they never heard that name...) and am going to share two recipes featuring this marvellous ingredient: the first one is a simple bake of tomatoes stuffed with a sun-dried tomato pesto (addictive!), while the second one a vegetarian black rice salad dressed with pesto and served with raw veg and herbs. Two easy recipes to welcome summer. Let me know if you like them!

By the way, if you are interested to learn more about Sant' Erasmo, have a look at my older posts:

- Discovering Venice's Farms: a day in Sant' Erasmo

- A Visit to Sant'Erasmo and a Pumpkin Pie Recipe

RECIPE 1

GRATIN TOMATOES WITH RED PESTO

#vegetarian #easy

serves 2

Ingredients:

500 gr datterini tomatoes

15/20 sun-dried tomatoes

a tiny amount of finely chopped garlic (optional)

1/2 finely chopped fresh chilli

e.v.o. oil

basil to garnish

Method:

1. Roughly chop the sun-dried tomatoes. In a steel bowl, combine them with the garlic, the chilli and a good amount of oil (the oil should cover the tomatoes) and mix with a hand-blender until you get the consistency of a spread. It won't be completely smooth, so don't over blend it.

2. Pre-heat oven at 180°. Wash and slice the datterini tomatoes lengthwise and press them a little over a bowl, so you can re-use their juice later.

3. Grease a baking pan, place the tomatoes and gently stuff them with the sun-dried tomato pesto.

4. Pour a few drops of oil into the bowl with the tomato juice, mix, pour over the stuffed tomatoes and bake for about 25 minutes.

5. When ready, serve with your main.

RECIPE 2

BLACK RICE SALAD WITH RAW VEG AND SUND-DRIED TOMATO PESTO

#vegetarian #easy

serves 2

Ingredients:

160 gr black rice

10/12 datterini tomatoes

1/2 cucumber

2 small peppers (yellow, red or green)

2 Tbsp sun-dried tomato pesto

basil and mint to garnish

olive oil

salt

Method:

1. Bring a pot of water to the boil, add a pinch of sea-salt and cook the rice for the time indicated on the pack.

2. In the meantime, wash your vegetables, chop roughly and keep aside.

3. When the rice is ready, drain and let cool.

4. In a bowl, combine the rice with the raw vegetables, two table spoon of sun-dried tomato pesto, fresh mint and basil leaves and serve.

Cookies call for memories. Memories and coffee I'd say. Do you know the song by The Verve called Sonnet? It starts with a verse that goes: 'My friend and me, looking through her red box of memories...Faded I'm sure But love seems to stick in her veins you know [...]', well I really like that song, although our box of memories is brown. Well actually, it's not even a box: it's a vintage light brown leather briefcase, belonging to my husband and containing photos dating back to the early 20th century. He inherited it from his parents and, to joke, we call it the 'suitcase of horrors' because there is a series of pictures of some relatives of his who had emigrated to Australia that resemble characters from the movie Shining, like the twins and Jack Nicholson himself... Amazing!

We don't look through that case often, but when it happens it is usually on a Sunday morning, when we're both at home and can relax with lots of coffee, cookies and fruit. The recipes I'm sharing today, in fact, are both perfect for this type of long and easy breakfast: oat and spelt cookies with chocolate chips and pistachios and baked peaches and apricots.

The photos range from wonderful black and white family portraits to early polaroids and the subjects are mainly life memories and landscapes, many of Venice. The latter are among my favourite because I can see what has changed and what has remained and mostly, I just love to see what people used to wear, their hair styles, the fashion and so on. Besides, these old photos have a special feel, because, even though I don't know all the people depicted, they allow me to imagine other worlds, other times and other people's life. Like reading a book.

Sometimes Vittorio becomes the narrating voice. He picks out a particular photo and starts telling me all about the person in it or about the specific day the picture was taken. I reckon his favourites are the ones with his mother and his aunt. His mother was called Ernestina, abbreviated as Tina, and used to work at home as a seamstress, whereas his dad was a traffic policeman in Venice (how absurd does this sound, ah?). It warms my heart to hear him speak because I can see how proud he is to remember that his mum was a feminist for her days, the sort of woman who only cared about what is truly important in life.

She was from outside Modena and, compared to the women in Venice, she was definitely a feminist. She used to wear trousers, wander around the countryside on her bike and earn her own money (never a lot, but anyway...). Then, she met Gastone, Vito's father, and loved him so much that she had to leave her home town and move to Venice because... well, Vito had decided to come to the world before she had the chance to get married. The rest is history: first came Vito and then two other brothers. Initially they lived in Santa Marta, a poor area in Venice, then -when Vito was about 13- they moved to Mestre (a fact that has traumatised my husband for life, as he is really allergic to that monstrous city).

Every time we look at those pictures, he just can't help underlying that even when he was forced to move to Mestre, he kept going to school to Venice and having friends in Venice. He studied humanities at a school run by priests called Cavanis, between the Zattere and Accademia, which was originally founded by two brothers with the purpose of offering free education to poor children. Of course, the school underwent many transformations over time and it has become private and quite expensive, but when he was a kid, it still offered free education to talented students. Well... I'll let you imagine how proud he feels when he thinks of those years, when he was among the poorest in his class but also one of the best students. Not that his superior intelligence has helped us economically in any way... I mean, we're not poor but...well, we're definitely far from being rich!

Anyhow, even if I tease him, I enjoy listening to these stories. Besides, there are lots of pictures with him as a small kid all dressed as a saintly altar boy, looking so pure... when I know that he then became a total lefty and militate for a party that was called Proletarian Democracy. How funny life is! Ironic, don't you think? There are a couple of photos that have become special for me, also because... even if I won't tell you how many years have passed, I can still recognise him and his curious eyes in the face of that small boy. One I truly love is with him wearing a fancy hat and black coat eating candy floss along fondamenta alle Zattere. It was taken on a 21st of November, the day of the feast of Madonna della Salute, and he and his family were on their way home after having lit a candle to thank the Virgin. One thing is sure, after all these years he still carries the same appetite!

Speaking of appetite, I'm sharing two easy recipes: the oat and spelt cookie is mine, while the baked peaches and apricots is Tina's. Simple food, easy to make... yet delicious! Oh, by the way, Tina would also add cocoa powder to the fruit, so... feel free to do the same and don't forget to let me know if you liked them! Bye for now... and talk to you soon!

RECIPE

OAT AND SPELT COOKIES WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS AND PISTACHIOS

Prep. Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

(for about 10/12 biscuits)

1/2 cup organic oats

1/2 cup spelt flakes

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup crushed pistachios

2 Tbsp brown sugar

25 gr apricot jam

25 ml milk

30 ml olive oil (or seeds oil)

40 ml honey

Method:

1) Preheat oven.

2) In a bowl mix flour, oats, spelt flakes, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, baking powder, chocolate chips and the crushed pistachios.

3) In a small cup, blend milk, oil, jam and honey. Use a fork to stir well and make sure the honey is well amalgamated with the other liquids.

4) Add the liquid to the dry mixture, mix well and, using your hands, form small balls of dough of about 2 cm diameter and press gently on a previously greased sheet of parchment paper.

5) Brush with egg wash, sprinkle some brown sugar and some pistachios and bake for about 15 minutes at 180°.

RECIPE 2

BAKED PEACHES AND APRICOTS WITH BUTTER AND A COOKIE CRUMBLE

Ingredients:

3 white peaches

4 apricots

2/3 cookies

butter

cocoa powder (optional)

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven at 180°

2. Wash and dry the fruit. Slice in half, remove kernels, peel peaches and put in a previously greased shallow baking pan.

3. Top with cookie crumbles, add a knob of butter to each half and bake for about 30 minutes.

4. When ready, serve warm and if you wish, sprinkle some cocoa powder.

Hello friends! Before we delve into today's recipe, a delicious tart with nectarines, apricots, ricotta and jam, I feel I owe some of you an explanation. A lot of you probably started reading this blog because it was focused on Venice, its food and its people, but you will have noticed that recently I am sharing a lot less 'tips' and 'adventures' and a lot more recipes. Just for you to know, I haven't stopped writing about Venice, my city, which -despite the hard moment it is going through- I still love. It's just that like all other people on this planet, I need to make a living and I was receiving a bit too many offers from tour agencies asking me for food tours and local hotels and restaurants wanting me to advertise them. So, because this in NOT what I want to do, I entirely switched to photography and recipes.

I keep my Venice Food Guide updated and update individual posts whenever a place I spoke about closed or changed management. Then, I have to say that many of the new places do not interest me as they all seem to offer the same things: crostini and spritz to go. By the way, in Italy we never take anything to eat or drink 'to go', we are known throughout the world for the art of hospitality; sharing a meal has its own ritual, it's meant to be done in company in a relaxed way, seated at a table, while having a nice and intense conversation! And also, the new place I liked I wanted to tell you about... has closed already! The sign on the window says 'closed for renovation' but the local paper reported that the manager fled somewhere no one knows about, leaving staff and suppliers with no news (nor money...), in fact if you pass in front of it, the tables are still set, with an apron still on a chair... This is funny because it happened to one of my preferred Dublin restaurants too: The Farm. From one day to the other, gone... with no clear explanation.

With this said, I am also eating out a lot less and -anyway- tend to go to my favourite places, which remain the vegetarian eatery Fiumefreddo Bio, the tea house sullaluna and Caco Nero in Dorsoduro. One place I might take you to soon is Salvmeria in Via Garibaldi, which has recently changed management and is now run by Giorgio and Bruno of the fish restaurant Osteria alla Frasca (another of my favourites!).

So, for the summer expect more visits to islands, farms and producers and lots and lots of recipes and if you are visiting and have any doubts or need advice, just drop me an email and I shall be happy to help. I will also be visiting a lot of museums and exhibitions as the Biennale d' Arte is on and ... well, it's what I love to do!

Last week my husband was away for work and I seized the occasion to relax at home (wow... honey I love you, but... what a magical silence there was!) and visit a couple of exhibitions. I totally fell in love with the one dedicated to Arshile Gorky at Ca' Pesaro, simply wonderful. I even cried a little while watching the short documentary about his life. So when Vito returned, we went together to see it again (yes, I am the sort of weirdo that visits the same exhibition over and over...). If you have time, I strongly suggest to go as the retrospective is magnificently organised and gives you a clear idea of his work, inspiration and of the America of the time. I'm not sure how clear the story of his death is, but anyway... go! Besides, in the side room there is also an exhibition by contemporary American sculptor Barry X Ball, who reinterpreted the works by Medardo Rosso you can see in the permanent collection on the first floor. I thought that was brilliant too, although I have to admit that I much preferred his operation at Ca' Rezzonico some years ago. Still... incredible and definitely worth seeing!

Afterwards, Vito and I wandered around some external pavilions (really enjoyed some of the works Ca' Tron) and finally sat down for a cold beer at Imagina Cafe in Santa Margherita. The tart, instead, I had made in the morning, while he was still in bed recovering from a tough week of intense work. I had done all the fruit shopping the previous afternoon exactly to bring a bit of joy and colour to our table and decided to make this tart because it always works! I used nectarines, apricots, ricotta and jam, so there was no need to add sugar to the dough. I just added a bit of brown sugar and egg wash on the crust to make it golden and crunchy, but that's really it. The recipe is super simple and I consider it a guilt free dessert, perfect for breakfast but also as an afternoon snack. Ours is already gone, as we ate it in less than 10 minutes ... so, I hope you like it too and am curious about your feedback!

Bye for now and let me know.

RECIPE

NECTARINE, APRICOT, JAM AND RICOTTA TART

#easy #summer #sweet

Ingredients:

- For the base

250 gr 00 flour

100 ml water

80 ml olive oil

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 Tbsp brown sugar

egg wash

- For the filling

1 nectarine

2 apricots

the juice of a lemon

40 gr ricotta

30 gr apricot jam

1 Tbsp chopped hazelnuts

Method:

1. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt. In a jug, amalgamate well water and olive oil.

2. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and work the dough with your hands. Form a ball, wrap in cling film and leave it in the fridge for 4 hours (if short of time, 20 minutes in the freezer will do).

3. In the meantime, wash the nectarine and the apricots and chop finely. Put in a bowl, squeeze over a little bit of lemon juice and keep aside.

4. In a cup, mix ricotta and jam and keep aside.

5. When the dough is ready, roll out and pre-heat the oven at 180°.

6. Grease a sheet of parchment paper, put the dough on it and with the back of a spoon, spread the ricotta and jam mix. Now add a layer of nectarine wedges, a layer of apricots and sprinkle with chopped hazelnut.

7. Fold up the crust gently, sprinkle some brown sugar, brush the egg wash and bake for about 30 minutes. When ready, let cool and serve.

Although still spring, it seems like summer already. Considering how fast the temperature changed, I want to share a couple more spring recipes before we switch entirely to nightshades, tomatoes and raw food! And... in addition to the recipe, I'd like to share some personal thoughts on photography in general and food photography in particular.

But first things first: the recipe is a simple rustic sandwich -perfect for vegetarians- with a mix of greens such as asparagus, chards, agretti, broad beans, black olives, mint and a lemon and oil dressing. Easy to make, healthy and flavourful. I used rye bread (in Venice, my favourite places for specialty breads are Colussi il Fornaio and NaturaSi in Rialto) and bought the greens at the fruit and veg stall in San Lio. Lately, in fact, I've been doing most of my shopping in the afternoon, as -stupidly- I filled myself with things to do and even picked up an extra job for the summer, so... I'm always short of time and in the evening I tend to collapse early on the couch...

Anyway, maybe that stall is a little pricier than other stalls at the central Rialto market, but I have to say that the quality of the ingredients is excellent and when it comes to food, I'd rather spend a little more but be sure it comes from Italy and was produced sustainably. Besides, the boys are always very helpful and give me excellent advice! Last but not least, this week is also the 'Zero Waste' week, so I have committed to not buying anything that is wrapped in plastic (the absurdity of organic veg in supermarkets is that... it always comes in a package. Ironic, ah?). Not that plastic is bad in itself, in fact... (please don't hate me) vegetables preserve better inside a holed plastic bag in the fridge, as it holds humidity. But with the boys I can recycle, bring my own bag, and so on... whereas at the supermarket it's just terrible (besides, I don't want to buy Spanish strawberries, Mexican avocado or Egyptian artichokes when we have excellent products in our near surroundings).

The offer at the supermarket, anyway, is also quite limited, as they seem to have more or less the same things throughout the year and I've started seeing strawberries in February (ridiculous!). Then, agretti, a special Mediterranean type of opposite-leaved saltwort, are impossible to find at supermarkets and I definitely don't want to renounce to this special delicacy, so tasty and unique! As for asparagus, I bought the cheaper and thinner ones we normally use to make risotto and some incredibly sweet baby chards. Mint and lemons I already had at home, while the broad beans came from an organic store (not fresh, but in a glass jar). All super colourful food to add a little bit of joy to our table!

Because I tend to photograph everything we eat, I considered colour combination too, but... as my husband says, taste always comes first. A recipe has to be tasty more than pretty and one thing I am noticing about food photography is that it mainly revolves around highly fat and sugery foods. I follow some plant-based photographers to study how they work, but in the end -maybe because I'm Italian and into savoury foods- it seems that ingredients are chosen for their colours rather than for their taste and that often the same recipe features ingredients from different seasons (like aubergines, a summer nightshade, with pomegranate, which is a November fruit...) ... and this is really against my principles.

Speaking about photography, in the last months I have stuck to one precise style for my blog (the one that most represents me and the way I see life...) and used my other photographs for stock agencies. Honestly I don't feel I could teach photography to anyone, rather I can share some little 'secrets' of mine. The first thing is that I am addicted to my tripod. For dark food photography, I mainly use natural side light, a reflector and close the shutter to f22. I use 100 or 200 ISO, therefore having a tripod is a must, as the exposure time is relatively long and if I shot free hands the images would inevitably be blurry. More difficult when it comes to action shots, because the minimum time really should be 1/125 ... so either I increase he ISO to 400/600 (something I am never happy to do) or ... choose specific actions. Slicing veg or pouring drinks are okay even with lower ISO and longer exposures, but if you want to sprinkle breadcrumbs, parmesan or add icing sugar/cocoa powder to a cake... there is no way you can achieve that type of photo with a long exposure time. You can always consider using artificial light and fixing the image in Lightroom later on. Personally, I have the fortune I can work mostly with natural light... but it's not always like that, so I suggest to follow a super talented Australian blogger and photographer called Joanie Simon. Her blog is called the Bite Shot and is entirely dedicated to photography education, plus her YouTube channel is amazing (thank you so much Joanie, you are the best!!!).

I believe one can really learn a lot from her. As for myself, I am a self-taught photographer and I learned (and am still learning) through experience. A dear friend who is a professional photographer for important luxury brands has helped me a lot and the greatest lesson for which I will always feel grateful is to try get the best image when shooting. I'm not saying to forget post-production, but post-production is an extra job and requires time, so... if photography is your primary source of income you must charge for your time. I use Lightroom and/or Photoshop only to straighten pictures (I seem to have a problem in seeing things straight... despite using a grid...) and adjust the lighting a little, but really... I'm not a post-production magician and would love to learn more.

With regard to the gear, many wonder if having a good camera makes a difference. Well, yes. It makes a huge difference... unfortunately I don't have a super camera, I am currently using a Canon Eos M50, which is generally considered an entry level camera. Still, I find Canon Eos cameras, in general, great for food photography and colour. Besides, I think we should all try to make the most of what we have, push ourselves to the limits and then make investments! More important than a super expensive gear is a sensitive eye and having a story to tell! Anyway, going back to technicalities, I have the basic light stands, booms and lights (an affordable yet great kit at this link), I love wandering around second hand markets, ceramic shops and for my backdrops I use three main suppliers: Kate Home backdrops, FoodPropsLover and Capture by Lucy. [please consider than on my website you only see my personal style, but I also take different and brighter pictures for agencies which are totally different].

As for the setting, I believe each of us has his/her own personal way of seeing things. My references are mainly in the fine art and still life world and a book that I found incredibly interesting and would recommend to anyone is 'Food in Painting' by Kenneth Bendiner. It was enlightening and eye-opening and it has given me lots of inspiration. Of course, commercial and product photography is another different story and in that case have a look at the Food Photography and Lighting by Teri Campbell, as it goes through every aspect in a very practical and clear manner.

With this said... I am curious about your approach to food photography too and would love if you shared some tips/opinions. For me it is very important for the scene to look as natural, homey and warm as possible, what about you? Or -if you are just an image consumer- what type of food pictures do you prefer and why?

let me know and let me know if you liked the recipe too ...

Have a great weekend and talk to you soon!

RECIPE

RATATOUILLE WITH ASPARAGUS, CHARDS, AGRETTI, BROAD BEANS AND MINT

#spring #easy #vegan

serves 2

Ingredients:

4 slices of rye bread

200 gr green asparagus

200 gr baby chards

200 gr agretti

100 gr canned broad beans

6/7 black olives

2 crushed cloves of garlic

1 organic lemon

salt

black pepper

olive oil

8 mint leaves to garnish

Method:

1. Wash all the vegetable well under fresh water. Dry, chop thinly and keep aside.

2. Rinse the broad beans under fresh water to remove any extra salt, then chop grossly with the olives and keep aside.

3. Heat a pan, add a little bit of olive oil, the crushed cloves of garlic, the black olives and when the oil starts popping, the rest of the vegetables.

4. Cook for about one minute, sprinkle some water with the tips of your fingers and lower the heat. Cook for another 7/8 minutes.

5. In the meantime, toast the slices of bread.

6. When the veg is ready, let cool a little and then in a bowl dress with some olive oil, half squeezed lemon juice, some grated lemon zests (optional) and mint leaves. If you wish add a pinch of salt and pepper.

7. Finally, top the slices of toast and serve.

Anyone into food and visiting Venice will have surely heard wonders about our purple artichokes. These delicacies grow all around the lagoon, also in the area of Cavallino - Treporti, but it is the island of Sant' Erasmo that is traditionally associated to these special green and purple babies and that gives the name to the protection presidia.

Every year, in fact, the inhabitants of Sant' Erasmo organise a feast to celebrate the produce of spring. All Venetians, either by vaporetto or private boat, reach the place looking forward to getting merry drinking salty lagoon wine and to eating the first risotto with carciofi and raw castraure salad with grated parmesan. Unfortunately this year the feast had to be postponed three times until it was finally cancelled, due to the bad weather. The good news is that, anyway, there are plenty of artichokes!

I haven't yet been to Sant' Erasmo this year, but I will soon and I suggest you do the same. Try to avoid the weekend, as now all the islands of the north lagoon seem to attract big groups of tourists and day trippers, so -sorry to say- it spoils all the magic of being immersed in a peaceful and quiet country location, besides... the queues at the vaporetto stop are endless and tiring, especially if you are not used to our humidity. Anyway, Sant' Erasmo is magical. There is nothing really except nature, crops, vines, geese, hens, a couple of roosters and my all time favourite beehive (for more info on Sant' Erasmo, please see my posts: 'A visit to Sant'Erasmo and a Vegetarian Pumpkin Pie' and 'Venice Excursions: Sant' Erasmo') .

In addition to loving the island, I am also extremely passionate about artichokes! When the season starts, Vito and I consume great quantities of these greens. Raw, sautéed, in a soup, with pasta or rice... all recipes just seem to work.

If you ask me, artichokes have the taste of love. Yes, because only if you have the patience and care to remove all the outer -and quite hard- leaves, you get to enjoy the sweet flavour of spring. Artichokes, just like love, require effort, time and attention. Once cleaned, to avoid them oxidate, you must leave them under water and lemon, and to enhance their taste more, you must know which spices work and which don't (garlic, black pepper and parsley are always a certainty!).

So, in today's post I'm sharing three super simple recipes for artichokes suitable for vegetarians and super quick to make. Hope you will enjoy them and let me know!

RECIPES

RECIPE 1

SAUTEED ARTICHOKES

#vegan #easy #quick

serves 2

Ingredients

12 baby artichokes

1 lemon

2 cloves of garlic

a Tbsp taggiasche olives

e.v.o. oil

black pepper

Method:

1. Remove outer leaves from artichokes, wash under fresh water and slice in 6 pieces.

2. Heat a pan, add oil, the crushed cloves of garlic, the olives and when the oil starts popping add the artichokes. Cook for about 30 seconds, then lower the heat, sprinkle some drops of water with the tip of your fingers and squeeze the juice of half a lemon.

3. Let cook at low/medium heat for about 8 minutes, then serve with some toasted brown bread.

RECIPE 2

FARRO SALAD

#vegan #easy #spring

serves 2

Ingredients:

150 gr spelt

8 small artichokes

1/2 a can of lentils (about 120 gr.)

8 capers

6 black olives

2 cloves of garlic

parsley to garnish

salt

pepper

olive oil

Method:

1. Bring a pot of water to the boil, add sea salt and cook the spelt for the time indicated on the pack.

2. In the meanwhile, discard the outer leaves of the artichokes and thinly slice lengthwise. Put in a bowl under water and lemon and keep aside.

3. Wash the capers under fresh water, removing the salt, then remove pitch from olives and keep aside.

4. Rinse the lentils. Heat a pan, add the two crushed cloves of garlic, the capers, the olives and the lentils, stir and let cook for about 30 seconds, then add the artichokes, stir again and lower the heat. Remove garlic and cook for about 7 minutes, sprinkling some drops of water when the pan seems to be getting dry.

5. When the spelt is ready, drain and add to the pan. Amalgamate well and let cool.

6. Put the salad in a bowl, dress with olive oil, black pepper and some roughly chopped parsley.

RECIPE 3

CROSTINI WITH MARINATED FETA, ARTICHOKES AND MINT

#easy #vegetarian #spring

serves 2

Ingredients:

4 slices of bread

8 small artichokes

100 gr feta cheese

1 lemon

8 mint leaves

1 garlic clove

black pepper

olive oil

Method:

1. Remove the outer leaves of the artichokes and slice thinly lengthwise. Put in a bowl under water and lemon and keep aside.

2. Slice the feta cheese into small cubes and put in a shallow bowl with ground pepper, mint leaves and olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the fridge.

3. Heat a pan, add a crushed clove of garlic and when the oil starts popping add he artichokes. Stir, sprinkle some water and lemon juice and lower the heat. Cook for about 7 minutes.

4. Toast the slices of bread and when ready, top with the marinated feta and the sautéed artichokes. If you wish, add some extra mint and serve.

This spring is totally crazy! Cold, rain, wind, a couple of hot sunny days, but then... a total nightmare! Even at the market there are products from different periods that are actually all in season... Unfortunately though, for what regards fruit, this weather has made it difficult for it to become ripe. Anyway, the other day when I did my food shopping at the stall in San Lio, the dominant colour was green, so I gave in to temptations and bought a big bag of leafy vegetables.

Among the seasonal herbs, the bladder campions (in Italian, carletti) looked delicious, so they were my first choice, then I got some chicory, a couple of leeks and other greens for the week like artichokes, asparagus, zucchini and a variety of radicchi.

In today's post, I'm sharing a recipe for savoury pancakes with herbs and a side of sautéed greens. I decided to make pancakes because speaking with Vito I discovered he had never tasted them, so I thought it would have been nice to fill this gap. Then, the choice fell on a savoury variant simply because neither of us has a sweet tooth.

Anyway, going back to our pancakes, allow me say they were really nice. The addition of chopped bladder campion in the dough added a fresh taste and the next time I might also add a few leaves of chopped basil. I used the basic pancake recipe, with whole wheat flour, eggs, milk, baking powder and salt and finally got to try the pancake pan I bought last month! I prepared the dough first, so while it was cooling in the fridge, I made the side dish.

One of the simplest yet always perfect recipes for sautéed leafy greens is with oil, garlic, fresh chilli, capers, anchovies and lemon zests. All ingredients that are ever present in my pantry and that I used in today's side too. I washed the veg well, roughly dried it out, chopped it and then, in less than ten minutes, the pan did the rest. What ended up in my pan was a mix of chicory, leeks, bladder campions, but you can use whatever green you have available at your farmers market at the moment, it always works. [ If you are not into anchovies, to get that extra saltiness you can use sun dried tomatoes or olives, possibly black.]

When I served the pancakes and the side, I was a bit anxious about Vito's feedback, but -as always- he appreciated the food and ate everything. In the fridge there was some leftover tzatziki from the previous evening, so we spread a little bit on our pancakes and it was simply perfect. An easy, quick and tasty solution for a spring meal. Let me know if you like it!

RECIPE

SAVOURY PANCAKES WITH SPRING HERBS AND A GREEN SIDE DISH

#easy #quick #spring

yield: 15 pancakes

Ingredients:

- For the pancakes:

200 gr whole wheat flour

250 ml full fat milk

2 eggs

a pinch of salt

3 Tbs chopped bladder campions

2 teaspoon baking powder (or soda)

2 teaspoon seed oil (or 2 knobs of butter)

- For the side dish:

1 wild chicory bunch

2 leeks

bladder campions (or other spring herb)

2 cloves of garlic

3 anchovies

1 fresh chilli pepper

1 teaspoon capers

lemon zests to garnish

Directions:

- For the pancakes:

1. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt.

2. Ina separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, add a pinch of salt and about 3 Tbsp of chopped bladder campions.

3. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture, amalgamate well, cover in plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

4. When the time has passed, heat a pancake pan, add a few drops of seed oil (or a knob of butter) and with a scoop pour a little bit of the dough onto the pan. When bubbles start to form on the top, turn and cook on the other side for a few minutes. Repeat until you have finished the dough.

- For the side dish:

1. Wash the vegetables and chop roughly.

2. Heat a pan, add a few drops of olive oil, the crushed cloves of garlic, the finely chopped chilli, the capers, the anchovies and the veg. Stir and let cook for about one minute at high heat. Then lower the heat and cook for another 7/8 minutes.

3. When ready, grate some lemon zests and serve with your pancakes.

At last, winter has left the lagoon. Yes, okay, maybe we haven't actually seen spring and brutally moved from heavy jackets to vests, and yes, okay... maybe it's more humid than sunny... but at least the cold has disappeared and I can't help but feel delighted. It's been the longest winter I can remember and I promise this year I will never complain about our typical summer 'afa' (mugginess)!

Saturday was truly marvellous. I was at work (in a photographic gallery I want to tell you more about soon - if curious, see some of Marco'spics here), with the door wide open and a gentle breeze to bring me comfort. This gallery (it is one of five), is located in Rialto in Calle degli Spezieri, exactly in front of Mascari, the oldest specialty foods store in Venice, so before I started Vito and I seized the occasion to do some shopping and get some fish, greens and spices for our Sunday tidbits. The plan was for me to cook and take my usual photos in the morning, have an early lunch and then wander around some of the many external pavilions present at this art Biennale. I had expressly asked Vito to buy fresh sardines and plenty of fresh veg that we could eat raw, simply sliced and dressed.

Unfortunately not all produce is as it should be, as we had a particularly dry and long winter and then a concentration of heavy rain and hail in May... Fruit especially has been suffering. The apricots are as hard as rocks, whereas oranges -my favourite winter fruit- are still exceptional! As for veg, this is the period of the purple artichoke in Venice (see my previous post on Sant'Erasmo), but the traditional yearly feast had to be postponed for bad weather twice and then was definitely cancelled (but there are plenty of artichokes, so don't worry!).

Anyway, on Sunday we did more or less what we had planned. In the morning I made a revisited version of sardines in 'beccafico' style, which is a traditional Sicilian recipe that comes in three main variants (one typical of Palermo, one of Catania and one of Messina). On Wikipedia I read that the name derives from a bird that used to be eaten filled with its own entrails and interiors by the upper classes, recipe that the poorer tried to imitate using their simpler and cheaper raw materials, thus sardines and breadcrumbs with sultanas and pine nuts. Well, I don't know what you think, but to me.. the poorer dish sounds much more delicious and inviting than the 'posh delicacy'!

There are lots and lots of versions of this recipe, mainly because the basic concept of Italian cuisine is that 'one does with what he has available', and mine is very very basic and super quick. For the filling I replace breadcrumbs with crushed taralli, a sort of round breadstick made with live oil and typical from Apulia. I find that taralli result crunchier and less greasy, so they are one of the ingredients you will always find in my pantry (last year I even made a cake with chocolate and taralli, let me know if you'd like the recipe). To add freshness I replaced the traditional laurel leaves with mint and added some lemon zests in the filling and topping. As for raisins, I used the Greek ones from Corinto, thus darker and smaller than the Sicilian ones. In America I think you call it Thompson Seedless variety, from the name of its first grower. Personally, I love all types of sultanas, but I find that these ones are better for this sort of recipe due to their small size.

The sardines, then, were caught in the Adriatic. To be honest with you, we don't eat as much fish as we used to do in the past. I gave up meat last September for environmental reasons and when we buy fish we make sure it comes from Italy (except anchovies...) and in a sustainable manner. By the way, one of the best exhibitions I've seen so far in Venice is the one by amazing Joan Jonas called Ocean Space, which revolves around life under water, what we have been doing to our see and how much damage we have caused. Unfortunately I am a very impressionable individual and because I am involved in the food industry and have been reading so much about it, I have to deal with all my worries when I do our food shopping. Being just two in the house makes it easy to shop local and fresh, still... I realise there is a lot of work still to do, especially for what concerns plastic consumption. Anyway, I don't want to bore you with these thoughts, it was just a way to explain why lately my recipes are mainly vegetarian ...

Going back to us, the butterfly sardine recipe takes only a few minutes. Vito cleaned the sardines for me then I did the rest and, allow me, they were very flavoursome! We accompanied them with a side salad with lettuce, marinated red onion and capers, some toasted bread and ... that's it! After lunch we went to an elementary school just behind our house to vote for the European elections and then we wandered around some external pavilions. A simple yet wonderful Sunday!

Hope you had a great weekend too and speak to you soon! Meanwhile, have a great week!

RECIPE

BUTTERFLY SARDINES WITH BREADCRUMBS, RAISINS, PINE NUTS, LEMON AND MINT

Easy

Prep. Time: 15', Cook Time: 10'

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/2 kg sardines (approx. 30 sardines)

5 taralli ( or 3 tbsp breadcrumbs)

2 tbsp pine nuts

2 tbsp raisins

10/12 mint leaves

1 organic lemon

e.v.o. oil

Method:

1. To clean the sardines, rinse well under fresh water to remove any scales and start by removing their head, with your thumb scrape out the entrails and rinse again. With your thumb, gently press to separate the bone from the skin and extract it delicately.

2. Crush the taralli and roughly chop with raisins and pine nuts.

3. Grate some lemon zests, chop the mint, and keep aside.

4. On a flat surface, place the sardines skin side down on a piece of parchment paper, pour a few drops of oil and then cover with part of the mixture, the lemon zests and some roughly chopped mint.

5. Pre-heat oven at 180°. Roll the sardines starting from the side of the head. Once rolled, gently press to make sure they stay together.

6. Put in a pan, sprinkle the remaining part of mixture, squeeze some lemon juice, pour a few drops of oil oil and bake for 8/10 minutes at 180°.

7. Serve hot out of the oven. Delicious!

Sunday mornings have become my favourite moment of the week. There were times when I was never home on a Sunday: no sleeping late, no brunch, no family lunch or whatsoever. So now, whenever I have the day to myself, I just feel very very grateful! Usually Vito stays in bed a little longer and gets up when I return from my morning run to make me tea, toast and citrus juice, then we get dressed and go out to buy papers and supplements, relax in a cafeteria and visit an exhibition or have something to eat with friends. Simple Sundays that carry a magical allure of their own, when time seems almost suspended in a cotton-coated atmosphere.

Last Sunday, things went a little differently. Vito had worked on Saturday night, so when I returned home I just let him sleep and took advantage of that time to reply to some emails. I wanted to make a special breakfast, so I looked at the cupboard and pulled out some basic ingredients to make a sort of galette.

Well... the name galette is misused, as mine was made with simpler and lighter ingredients and recalled a French galette only because of its formless shape, still.. it was delicious! As you surely know by now, not having a sweet tooth, I tend to make easy cakes that are never overly sweet and often sugar-free! In fact, no added sugars in today's recipe, but just the sweetness of honey and, of course, of the key ingredients: strawberries and peaches.

When it comes to galettes, I believe that really anything goes for the filling, but I opted for these bright and happy ingredients to bring inside the house the colours that the season isn't yet showing us. Yes, because the weather in Venice has never been as hideous as this year! It's almost the end of May and it's cold, wet and windy... so, being Italian and used to the sun, we all feel kind of desperate and need to cheer ourselves up with food! People are trying to be ironic about the situation, I even read some funny comments on social media like 'So, on the 25th are we going to unwrap Christmas presents?' or images with flying penguins and captions saying 'It's finally spring: the first swifts are in the sky'... but the reality is that we are all so worried! I don't know if this is due to climate change, but it is a little scary and makes me realise how much work there still is to do.

Anyway, going back to our tart, I used fresh strawberries and peaches in syrup (still too early for fresh peaches). For the bottom layer, I opted for ricotta and yogurt, mostly because ricotta looses a lot less water than other dairy products and I consider it ideal when making pies and tarts. For the shortcrust, I used my usual butter-free recipe and added a little bit of honey to give it a sweetish taste. Personally, I am thrilled with this shortcrust recipe as it's always a win-win and so easy and quick to make that... well, it's becoming a habit! Sometimes I make the dough and simply hole it with a fork, sprinkle sea salt, rosemary and oil, cut it with a round cookie cutter and prepare savoury crackers...

Whereas, with regard to strawberries, I have to admit I don't buy them that often. Although right now all supermarkets have them on offer, the really tasty ones that have been hand-picked and are sold exclusively at fruit markets.. are actually quite expensive. Anyway, whenever I hear the word strawberry I can't help thinking about two things: the first is the Beatles' song 'Strawberry fields forever' and the second is the movie 'Wild Strawberries' by Ingmar Bergman.

One afternoon I was home alone and was looking for that movie on YouTube and, by chance, I discovered that Bergman had also directed a Swedish television drama called 'The Venetian',based on an anonymous 16th century Italian play titled 'La Venexiana'. Well, I was so curious that I started seeking this show online, trying to see if I could find at least one episode, but I only found a short part in Swedish. But, because I don't like to give up, I think I'll try ask the staff of our Casa del Cinema, the lovely Cineteca Pasinetti in San Stae (our film library)... in the past they were always able to help me, besides, I am very attached to that place!

The plot is about a man from Milan who arrives in Venice for Carnival and meets two flirtatious women... then, I don't know what happens, although I have a feeling I'm missing the best part! Anyway, because I am sure I arose your curiosity too, I'll keep you posted!

Going back to where we started, thus my shapeless galette, first I prepared the base combining flour, water, olive oil and honey in a bowl, then I wrapped the dough in film and let it sit in the freezer for about 20 minutes and once ready, I simply rolled it out and stuffed it with a ricotta and yogurt mixture, peaches in syrup and strawberries. I didn't add any extra sugar as fruit is already sweet and, anyway, the peaches were in syrup so they already had a lot of sugar! When Vito woke up, first he had his usual coffee and then, after a while, we enjoyed my fruity tart with some steaming hot green tea and a side fruit salad. The perfect breakfast for our lazy Sunday!

Let me know if you liked the recipe and please feel free to suggest/share your favourite fillings.

Talk soon! XXX

RECIPE

LIGHT & RUSTIC FRUIT GALETTE WITH RICOTTA, PEACHES AND STRAWBERRIES

#easy #light #vegetarian

Ingredients:

- For the shortcrust

250 gr whole wheat flour

100 ml water

60 ml olive oil

15 ml honey

a pinch of salt

- For the filling

125 gr rsh ricotta

2 tea spoons yogurt

1 can peaches in syrup

a small basket of fresh strawberries

Method:

-For the base:

1. In a jug, pour water, oil and honey and amalgamate well. Place the flour in a bowl, add a pinch of salt, the liquid ingredients and with your hands work the dough until its well combined. Form a ball, wrap in cling film and let sit in the fridge for abut 4 hours. If you are short of time, leave in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

2. When ready, sprinkle some flour on a flat surface and roll out the dough. Pre-heat the oven at 180°, grease a pan, place the dough and fill.

- For the filling:

1. Wash and hull the strawberries, then slice with the peaches in syrup and keep aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine ricotta and yogurt.

3. Spread the ricotta and yogurt mixture on the base, then cover with a layer of sliced peaches followed by a layer of strawberries. Gently fold up the crust and bake for about 30 minutes at 180°.

4. When ready, let cool for about 10 minutes outside the oven and serve.

In summer, it is excellent served with iced mint tea.

Dear friends,

I apologise it has been so long since my last post, but a couple of new work opportunities have kept me busy. Besides, the weather has been hideous and I haven't taken many new pictures of Venice nor have had the time to wander around the lagoon. As you surely know, the Biennale d'Arte has started and I can't wait for June to explore not only the main exhibition areas, but also the numerous external pavilions! I also hope it will get warmer soon as I am still wearing woolen jumpers, something which is definitely NOT normal for Italy in May!!!!

Being meteopathic, I can't hide that my mood has been negatively influenced by this strangely cold temperature and that I am starting to get sick of waiting to go to the beach or simply enjoy a stroll in the sun. The other evening we even turned the heating back on for a couple of hours, so humid it was! But, considering there is nothing practical I can do, I just have to accept this situation and find other ways to spend my free time, like reading books and visiting museums.

Thank goodness Vito always provides me with lots and lots of magazines and supplements on food and art, the most interesting of which was the special edition of Internazionale dedicated to food (see some articles here). I have already mentioned that magazine in my previous post, I also made the perfect Rachel Roddy orange, ricotta and olive oil ciambellone, took some pics and even drafted a blog post with her recipe and some thought on her article, but then I thought the photos had a wintery mood and decided not to post it (but.. if the weather won't change soon, I'll likely publish it this weekend!).

In the magazine, there was the advertisement of a book called 'Cibo' by German author Helena Janeczek. The title means Food and, of course, as soon as I saw it, it arose my curiosity, so I bought it and am currently reading it. I'm finding it quite fun, as it focuses on the relationship between women and their body and food, but in a very easy-going and lighthearted way. Personally, although I have never suffered either from bulimia nor anorexia, I recognise myself and most of my girlfriends in what she says. The protagonist, in fact, is a round woman -very knowledgeable- who wants to improve her looks and starts going to a beauty centre, where she meets Daniela, the beautician that will take care of her and become her friend and confidant.

The two women are very different in terms of background, interests and culture, but they become allies and share the same mission: loosing weight. Through their life events and memories, food is described and seen in many different ways. For the protagonist, food is mostly linked to childhood memories and has a deep value, whereas for the beautician food is a friend and enemy (she suffers from bulimia). She is constantly on a diet, exercises every day and feels strong if she 'resists temptation', but then... when she has her low moments, she devours the whole house in only a few minutes and feels sick and bad.

Personally, I know these situations are real and diffused in our society. When I was at university, I remember a girl in my course who started following the Duncan diet, until she was recovered in hospital for kidney deficiency. I remember her well, as she was clearly unhappy. She didn't like herself, thus she did not accept herself. She would have been nice, but her dissatisfaction made her nasty with others and apparently closed. She avoided all sorts of carbs and the few times I tried telling her that I live on carbs and that if she wanted to improve her looks, the best thing would have been changing lifestyle rather than following a drastic diet for a way too long period, she just replied that I didn't know anything, that I am naturally slender and have no idea of the efforts she was making to stay in shape.

I never told her that, yes, maybe I am naturally slender, but also... in general, I lead a relatively healthy lifestyle, run almost everyday, eat a mainly plant-based diet and when I have what she called 'cheat days', I just enjoy an ice-cream or a pizza or whatever I feel like having, whereas she was eating only bad proteins, foods with no minerals nor vitamins and on cheat days empty the entire house. I knew she had a serious problem and just felt very sorry for her. Aware that I could't help and that, in a way, she kind of hated me for being slim with no effort... I just stopped seeing her once university ended.

Personally, I enjoy food and see it not only as a source of fuel/vitamins/minerals/etc., but also as something that brings people together and creates memories. What interests me most about food is its link with its territory and its people and, over the years, I believe I have been able to establish a very positive relationship with food! I am never 'on a diet', as my everyday diet revolves around grains, seasonal (and local) greens, lots of legumes and sometimes fish, eggs and cheese. I stopped eating meat last September, but not because I believe it's bad for people, but only for environmental reasons (and I don't think badly about people who eat meat and would never dream of telling another person what to do!). Besides, being involved in the food industry, if a company required me to develop recipes and or take pictures of meat dishes, I would do it without hesitation.

With this said, I have a feeling that the society we live in forces women (much more than men) to focus exclusively on our physical look, imposing unreachable models and establishing an ideal look we should all aspire to. Well.. the thing is that we are not all the same, some of us are tall, some are short, some are slender and some are stout. It is functional to beauty industries to have unhappy people ready to spend all their money on useless diet and exercise plans, while if we all just lived a healthier lifestyle that does not imply deprivation or sense of guilt, we would all be happier and look much better. I don't even believe in cheat days. I mean, if I crave an ice-cream on a Monday evening, I'm not going to wait for Saturday before eating it... I just enjoy it and -honestly- I don't see why I should feel guilty and stressed about it. I stick to the old saying 'a little bit of everything in moderation' and try to eat local and seasonal whenever possible. That's all!

Last but not least, I also believe that good, healthy food tastes exquisite and it should never be experienced as a sacrifice! The recipe I'm sharing, in fact, was truly delicious! Simple, fresh and flavourful, made with fresh peas, spring onions, edible flowers, green leaves, mint and a goat's cheese from Vicenza called Venetico, which resembles Greek feta but is made only a few km away (by the way, if you want to buy it, you find it in venice at the Monday Farmers Market in Santa Marta). I sautéed the peas in the pan with some anchovies, capers and red spring onion, meanwhile I marinated the Venetico in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil, pepper and fresh mint leaves and then I assembled the salad adding some lettuce, a bunch of edible flowers (a gift from a friend who grows them) and served it with toasted brown bread and -Italian friends, please forgive me- a cup of hot green tea. I give you my word that it was lovely, filling and in no way sad and I hope you will like it as much as we did!

I'm also curious to know, if you feel like sharing your thoughts, about your relationship with food or if you have dealt with people who experience it as a problem and what you think about it. Meanwhile, I wish you a lovely day and will be in touch soon!

XXX

RECIPE: SALAD WITH FRESH PEAS, MINT, FLOWERS AND GOAT'S CHEESE

Serves 2

Ingredients:

500 gr fresh peas

500 gr green salad

1 medium spring onion

2 anchovies

1 teaspoon capers

8/10 edible flowers

mint leaves

100 gr goat's cheese

1 lemon

olive oil

pepper

Method:

1) Shell the peas and keep aside.

2) Clean and roughly slice the spring onion, heat a pan and before the oil starts popping, add anchovies, capers and onions. Stir, lower the heat and add the peas. Stir again, sprinkle some water and let cook for about 20 minutes.

3) In the meantime, cut the cheese into small squares and put in a bowl with some mint leaves, pepper and olive oil and leave marinating until before serving.

4)In a bowl, combine salad, sautéed peas, goat's cheese, flowers, a few extra mint leaves, and dress with etra virgin olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice.

Serve with toasted bread.

One of the first things Vito did as soon as we landed in Venice, was to look for a newspaper stand and buy his daily and weekly magazines, a real addiction for him. Of all the magazines, right now, his favourite is Internazionale, which gathers different articles from papers around the globe and, differently from the main Italian newspapers (way too Italy-centred), offers a lot of insights on what is happening around us. Anyway, when he was picking the magazine up, he noticed it came with a special supplement entirely dedicated to food, so he bought that too and made me a little gift! I have to say I am very grateful, as I read the entire thing the same evening, so good it was, and in today's post I wish to discuss a particular topic with you, which is: hosting dinner parties.

But let's start from the recipe I am sharing: a coffee scented citrus cream with a crumble topping. I made this dessert for two reasons: the first is that I wanted to make something that recalled my two home countries (Italy with the coffee and Ireland with the crumble), while the second is that it is a dessert, the dish that concludes a proper dinner. Yes, because in the last months Vito and I have rediscovered the pleasure of inviting friends over for a lavish meal (typically, Sunday lunch) and, while he prepares starters, sides and main courses, I am the one in charge of the dessert.

Consider that, because neither of us has a sweet tooth, I always test the recipes beforehand (in fact, the ingredients below are for two people) and tend to use small amounts of sugar. My desserts are never overly sweet and, in general, they are really easy to make, ideal for lazy bachelors and busy business women alike!

Anyway, going back to us, inviting people for dinner is a real art and has its own, quite sophisticated, patterns. I fell in love with the articled titled 'The art of the Dinner Party'by Gabrielle Hamilton, published on The New York Time Magazine back in 2017 (do read the article if you have time, it is really brilliant). Mrs Hamilton describes the thrill she used to experience as a child when from their staircase, she could glimpse moments and conversations happening at the dinner parties hosted by her mother. All that intense and strongly felt adult talk, the relative rite of the order of the courses, and the arrival of spirits and drinks. Dinners where the food was important, but not nearly half as important as the people and the conversations taking place. Parties that seemed so exciting to her that, as soon as she grew up, she started re-proposing.

How funny I found the description of her first attempts, with young guests who would often get drunk before the second course, or keep leaving the table to smoke or do something considered 'cool'. But it was the description of the dinners she hosted as an adult, after she had finally bought her first Le Creuset (still a dream for me...), that made me think a lot. Yes, because when she was finally fully adult, had proper pots and pans, cutlery, linens and had mastered the art of cooking... her guests always appeared with objects she describes as monsters: cell phones. Yes, you've heard me, cell phones, mobiles, illuminated screens... so powerful to gradually destroy people's ability to describe emotions, facts and adventures with words.

How true this is, especially nowadays that cell phones have become an extension of our own bodies, objects we desperately need for work and other essential aspects of our life. According to Mrs Hamilton, people would grab their monster to show their friends pictures of the last vacation, of their children and so on. No more metaphors, no more detailed descriptions, no more hyperboles nor allegories. Images had started replacing words... Of course, she didn't give up in front of technology, she just adapted her art of invitation and chose better guests, such as her usual perfect friends and some outliers, like the new neighbours, and some colleagues she never really had the chance to get to know further.

One thing I totally agreed with was the part on the perfect guest, which for her and for me too, is a person that arrives 10 minutes after the established time, bringing a bottle of wine and his/her good company. A guest has to do nothing but enjoy your food and chit chats, no one is meant to help with the dishes or cleaning up and no one would expect such a behaviour from them. Guests are guests and it is the pleasure of the host to take good care of them. In my house, if a friend offers to help, Vito replies that if they want to help they just need to stay seated and enjoy the food! He is very clear about this and I agree, because this is exactly how I'd behave if you ever invite me to your house.

Fortunately enough, in our case, our friends hardly ever take out the phone. In Venice (despite all the hideous and terrible things I read about Italians) people work very very hard (sometimes 12-14 hours per day!), thus as soon as they have the chance to detach... they do so! More than the food, the most important ingredient is a good quality wine, because after one or two glasses, it's just so much easier to forget about our worries and fears, at least for the time spent together. As for us, although our house is tiny, we do our best to make our friends comfortable and it makes us happy to cook for them and see how much they appreciate our recipes. Vito goes to market on Saturday morning very early, to get the freshest fish and veg, which -though- he cooks just before our guests' arrival, while I make the dessert the evening before.

This coffee scented citrus cream with a crumble topping, in fact, will be the conclusive dish this Sunday and I hope our friends will enjoy it as much as we did. I hope you will like it too and I would be happy to receive some feedback both on the dessert and on the art of the dinner party. What type of guest do you prefer? Are there any behaviours you hate? Do you expect people to help you or rather have them seated and relaxed? Let me know... because I'm very very curious!

RECIPE

COFFEE SCENTED CITRUS CREAM WITH A CRUMBLE TOPPING

#easy #quick #dessert

Allergens: milk, eggs, flour

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

- For the crumble:

150 gr white flour

50 gr brown sugar

100 gr salted butter (room temperature)

2 tbsp chocolate chips

- For the cream

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons potato flour

the juice of half an orange and half a lemon

200 ml whole milk

- For the filling

4 savoiardi biscuits or similar

a cup of cold coffee

Method:

- For the Crumble:

1. Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees.

2. With a fork, soften the butter

3. In a bowl, combine flour and sugar. Add the butter, cut into small squares, and mix with your hands, until you obtain a crumbly mixture. Add the chocolate chips, grease a shallow pan and bake for about 25/30 minutes, depending on your oven.

4. When ready, set aside and let cool.

- For the cream:

1. Squeeze half an orange and half a lemon and keep the liquid aside. Grate some lemon zests.

2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, add the milk, the potato flour, the lemon zests and pour the mixture into a small pot. Cook at a low heat, continuously stirring, until the cream starts becoming dense. At that point, remove from heat and keep stirring for another couple of minutes.

3. Add the citrus juice, stir, pour into a bowl and let cool.

- For the filling:

1. Prepare a mocha of coffee for two and let cool.

2. In a shallow dish, place the Savoiardi biscuits (or similar cookies) and pour over a good amount of coffee.

-Assembling:

1. Start filling your glass with cream, then add the soaked biscuits, another layer of cream, another layer of biscuits, and the final layer of cream.

2. Top with a little bit of crumble and serve.

As some of you may know, my mother is Irish, born and bred in beautiful Dublin, therefore I tend to go relatively often. This, in fact, is already the third post dedicated to this wonderful city and I have to confess I wasn't sure about how to approach it. In the end, I decided to simply share what we did during this brief stay and invite you to have a look at the two previous posts for more tips and ideas, also because every time we did something different. (Link: Dublin 2018, Dublin 2017).

In general, the weather is variable (yes, you really get the four seasons in a day), people are friendly and the beer is good. But in addition to these true common places, Dublin has a lot more to offer. Whether you are into art, sports, food, or nightlife, the city will be able to satisfy your whims.

As for us, we were staying at my nana's house, so in the evening we ate at home and wandered around during the day. We were very lucky with the weather, as it was incredibly sunny and warm and it actually never rained! We also spent quite a good time in our neighbourhood and in the nearby neighbourhood of Sandymount, where my grandfather used to have a greengrocer's (now a bookshop), so ours was an extremely laid-back and relaxing vacation and I miss it already.

WHERE WE ATE

Located in Wicklow Street, in the heart of the centre, Cornucopia is one of the first vegetarian cafeterias to have opened in Dublin. There is no table service, first you decide what to eat and then you take a seat. Although the ground floor is lovely, I suggest going to the first floor, where the room is illuminated by a beautiful light. I had hummus with a green salad with samphire, a mayo dressing and toasted flatbread , while Vito had cannelloni and two sides of veggies. Very good value for money.

Super cosy cafeteria at two minutes from Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Friendly environment, beautiful design and exquisite food, with plenty of vegetarian options. The two pups are the two poached eggs that appear in almost every dish. I had roast potatoes, poached eggs and kale, served with a cream and white wine sauce that was simply to die for, while Vito had avocado on toast, poached eggs and chorizo. Lovely!

Bright and spacious cafeteria offering delicious food at great value for money. I immediately fell in love with the design and the atmosphere: a variety of wooden and metal tables, sofas, couches, old and contemporary furniture and lots of books and beautiful objects. The food was delicious, with most of the greens grown locally. Vito had overnight fennel and garlic braised pork with a caper mayo, while I had avocado on toast with pickled red cabbage and two side salads, one green and one with grains. After lunch we enjoyed a coffee, leafing through their selection of books. Lovely experience and will definitely go back.

WHAT WE DID

The Irish Museum of Modern Art, located in Kilmainham, is housed inside the former Royal Hospital, in a space that alone is work a visit. The entry is free of charge, with the exclusion of temporary exhibitions, and part of the works showcased are from their own education and community department. In addition to all this, the grounds, huge and made for finding peace.

Trinity College & City Centre

Trinity College stands out in all its glory in the middle of town and a visit to the old library is highly recommended. It is nice also to simply walk around the greens. Grafton Street is literally one minute away, and from there you can explore Saint Stephen's Green park, the town, Powerscourt Town Centre, and reach Temple Bar (remember that on Saturday morning there is a farmers market offering local street food). At a 10 minute distance, Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library, one of my preferred museums and cafeterias. Last but not least, in town, I enjoy buying food at Fallon & Byrne, while my husband's favourite is Sheridans Cheesemongers.

Don't forget to cross the River Liffey and visit the north too, with its post office in O'Connell Street and the shops around Henry Street.

The National Gallery houses the national collection of Irish and European art and, like all other museums, the entry is free of charge. Of course, being Venetian, I never fail to stop in front of the paintings by Veronese and Tintoretto, but many are the masterpieces, among which a Caravaggio. The museum also offers a lot of free guided tours and family-friendly tours.

Saint Patrick & Christ Church

The two most important churches in Dublin, with Christ Church being the elder and the seat of the Archbishop of Dublin. Strange but true, both are protestant churches.

DAY TRIP TO HOWTH

Howth is a charming fishermen village at one hour train from Dublin, well worth a visit. The perfume of the sea can be perceived as soon as one steps out of the train, and the sight of the landscape immediately pays off the effort of the journey! Vito and I enjoy walking along the piers, hoping to see a seal appear from the water, obviously looking for food...

Howth Market

Just in front of the train station, this small market hosts food stalls and stalls of local artisans. In one place I bought a loaf of whole grain bread with walnuts and dried pears (really good!), in another a couple of cookies and in the cupcake stall, I fell in love with the decorations. Cute market!

For lunch we stopped at Beshoff, the one along the pier. The space is very big and divided in two main areas: the proper and fancier restaurant, and the market with a smaller kitchen, where we ate. We started with local oysters, accompanied by a vinegar, lemon and red onion condiment, then Vito had sautéed cockles with aioli and I had John Dory and scallops cooked in a spicy red pepper and orange sauce. Delicious!

The Castle

After lunch we had a walk around Howth Castle, where I couldn't help notice the gorgeous shed where until a while ago they used to organise cookery classes.

So, this is more or less how we spent our holidays: in a very easy-going and relaxed way. Five nights and four days to recharge the batteries...

Hope you enjoyed it too and talk soon!

Spring is blossoming. Finally the temperature is getting warmer and during the day being outside and allowing the sun kiss our chins is just amazing. I too feel the birds and the bees and whenever I can I head to Sant' Elena, hope to find a free bench, possibly under the sun, and read.

In fact, this is more or less what I did the other day. I left the house latish, around 10 am, and went on my mission. From my house in Ruga Giuffa, I went inwards passing by Chiesa dei Greci and Salizzada Sant' Antonio, reaching Riva deli Schiavoni at the height of Ca' di Dio, where the big groups of tourists don't seem to arrive (at least for now). Although this is the route I follow almost every morning when I go jogging, I never seem to get tired of it. On the right the usual sight of San Servolo, and in front of me water and stones. Crossing the bridge I resist the temptation of stopping at Gelateria Pinguino, and go straight to Via Garibaldi to do some food shopping.

I love Via Garibaldi, as it resembles a small little world of its own, in the sense that there is a strong presence of locals and many shops addressed to them (although, I have to admit that in the last three months quite a few new bars and eateries have sprouted from nothing). When there, I usually shop from the boat, not only because the veg is delicious, but also because one of the two green-grocers is the father of a girl who was in the same class as me in elementary and middle high school. Anyway, I bought a variety of tomatoes, a couple of leeks and a few more things, then I went to Caffe la Serra to collect the paper bags for recycling and drink a quick coffee standing.

Caffè la Serra is managed by a co-op and it's a place I go to quite often. Divided between green-house and cafeteria, I find it extremely relaxing. They also organise concerts and workshops and occasionally host exhibitions, the latest being the one showcasing the watercolours by Venetian artist Luigi Divari.

Once finished the coffee, I walked through the Giardini park, inhabited by half-hidden statues, and finally arrived in Sant' Elena, where I was so lucky to find a free bench! Before reaching it, I stopped at the open bookcase shaped as a small house and hanged on a tree, to see if there were any interesting books I could bring home. I don't know who built it, but this outdoor book crossing is really nice and the last time I came I found a crime story by Rex Stout for dad and Carofiglio's latest book for Vito, which I was very happy about.

I relaxed for a while and then walked around the island. Excluding the area around the church, most of Sant'Elena was built in the 1920s. I would describe it as a quiet residential neighbourhood immersed in the green, excellent location to see the sunset and perfect for people with kids and/or dogs. In the park there is a playground, a small basketball court and other training equipment.

Once home, I started preparing lunch. Two simple and quick recipes with tomatoes: bruschette to start and a soup as main. For the bruschette I used a whole wheat bread with a hard crust and sufficiently sturdy to hold topping and dressing. In general, whether white or black, opt for breads like the Italian ciabbatta or any type of sourdough loaf, rub with garlic and toast. In Venice, my to-go spots for bread are NaturaSi in Rialto, or the bakeries Emilio Colussi in San Luca and Crosera close to Campiello Widman. For the dressing, I combined some olive oil with the juice of half a lemon, and that was it.

As for the soup, I used organic canned beans, because...unfortunately, my relationship with dried legumes is a total failure. So it's either fresh or canned, and most organic types have no added salt or sodium, so it's sufficient to wash them well. If you prefer to use dried legumes, don't forget to leave them soaking overnight and cook the soup more (about 50/60'). The recipe is extremely basic: leeks, tomatoes, beans, fresh chilli and some fresh basil leaves to top. For the stock, I usually have some in the freezer, but if I don't I just add water (as I'm totally against stock cubes!), the vegetables will release all their flavours, thus there is no risk for the soup of not being tasty. We enjoyed it warm, but in summer it's excellent also served cold and accompanied by a good glass of wine.

A lovely lunch, perfect conclusion to an easy-going morning spent wandering in the park. Let me know if you like it!

TWO RECIPES WITH TOMATOES

Easy, Vegan, Summer

SIMPLE BRUSCHETTE WITH TOMATOES

Ingredients:

4 slices of bread

250 gr small tomatoes (cherry or datterini)

1 organic lemon

1 clove of fresh garlic

basil leaves to garnish

olive oil

pepper (optional)

salt

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees.

2. Slice the bread, rub some fresh garlic on the top (remember to remove germ from garlic) and toast in the oven for about 6 minutes, or until it's golden and not burnt.

3. In the meantime, slice your tomatoes horizontally and place in a bowl, then combine in a glass some olive oil with the juice of half freshly squeezed lemon and dress the tomatoes.

4. When the bread is ready, put on a plate or wooden board and top with the tomatoes. If you wish, add a pinch of salt, pepper and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

BORLOTTI BEAN, TOMATO AND LEEK SOUP

Ingredients:

1 can of organic borlotti beans 400 gr/240 gr)

350 gr of small mixed tomatoes of choice (I used tiger tomatoes and datterini)

1 leek

1 fresh chilli

1 clove of garlic

1 lt veg stock

a pinch of sea salt

olive oil

basil leaves to garnish

Method:

1. Wash the vegetables. Roughly chop the leek, removing the harder top part, then slice the tomatoes in half and rinse the borlotti beans under fresh water.

2. Heat a pot, add a few drops of olive oil, a crushed love of garlic and some roughly chopped chilli. When it starts popping, add leeks and tomatoes and stir. Lower the heat, cover the pot and let cook for about one minute.

3. Now add the borlotti beans, the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. When the water boils, add a pinch of sea salt and let simmer for about 30/35 minutes, giving the soup a stir every once in a while.

4. When the soup is ready, let cool, garnish with basil, add a few drops of oil and serve.

Seated in the comfort of my home, I glimpse at the bookcase, undecided about what book to read. I don't want to start a new novel or essay, I just want to lazily leaf through a book I already know, so I grab 'Understanding a Photograph' by John Berger. This time, it is the chapter 'Appearances' to catch my attention, as it makes me think over my photography and photography in general.

The ingredients of photography are light and time and the act of photographing can be described as the one of capturing a moment. A photograph isolates and registers a specific interaction between light and time, disconnecting it from the normal flow of life. In itself, photographs don't have a meaning. According to Berger, in fact, 'meaning is not instantaneous, as it is discovered in what connects. [...] Certainty may be instantaneous, doubt requires duration; meaning is born of the two. An instant photographed can only acquire meaning in so far the viewer can read into it a duration extending beyond itself. When we find a photograph meaningful, we are lending it a past and a future.'

Photographs are irrefutable proofs of disconnected events that happened in a certain time and place. Yet they do not always tell the truth. Their nature is ambiguous, because they are at the same time a trace naturally left by something that has passed and man-made cultural constructions. [..] The photographer chooses what to include in the frame, the camera settings and so on, but he cannot intervene between the light and the imprint it makes on the film. It is said that cameras cannot lie because they imprint directly, but we are surrounded by publicities, which are consumerist lies. The camera can bestow authenticity upon any set of appearances, however false.

Let's take the pictures in this post. I have associated photos taken outside my house to the pictures of the recipe I'm sharing today: a vegetarian asparagus and zucchini tart. The pictures were taken in different days (but you see them at the same time). The first ones, on a sunny afternoon spent with my brother in Castello, visiting the peaceful cloister of Sant'Elena, the latter on a grey morning spent at home cooking. I chose to combine them because I believe that together they covey the simple, homey and warm atmosphere I want to recreate and share with you. In a way they represent the way I like to experience the world.

In themselves, they don't mean anything. But maybe you know Venice, or have been reading this blog for a while and kind of know me, hence you too add meaning to these pictures and envision a story. My hope is that when you see them, you feel transported into a cosy and friendly dimension and can appreciate the very normal aspects of this marvellous city I happen to live in, and possibly enjoy my recipes in your home, wherever it may be.

Anyway, going back to the pictures, if in the first case, I only chose where to go, what to frame and camera settings, in the second case I set a scene, used tripod and self-timer. What's sure is that the food in my photos is always real and I can give you my word that this tart was delicious. We accompanied it with a side radicchietto salad and some white wine, and I suggest you do the same.

Bye for now and buon appetito!

ASPARAGUS AND ZUCCHINI TART

Vegetarian, Easy, Spring

INGREDIENTS:- For the base:

250 gr whole wheat flour

100 ml water

70 ml e.v.o. oil

a pinch of salt

- For the filling

4 organic eggs

50 gr fresh ricotta

a little bit of milk

1/2 a batch of asparagus

3 small zucchini

METHOD:

- For the base:

1. In a bowl combine flour, water and oil, add a pinch of salt and knead using your hands. Form a ball, cover in plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for 4 hours. If you are short of time, just pop it into the freezer for 10 minutes and another 10/20 in the fridge.

2. When dough ready, break in half and roll. (You won't need the entire dough, so use the rest to make a second tart or simple crostini with herbs like rosemary).

3. Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees, grease some parchment paper and, with a fork, apply some small holes on the short crust (so it does not bloat in the oven!).

- Filling:

- Chop asparagus and zucchini lengthwise, heat a pan, add oil and a crushed clove of garlic and when it starts popping, cook the veg at low/medium heat for about 6 minutes.

- In a cold steel bowl, break 4 organic eggs, add a pinch of salt, some pepper and whisk. Then add the ricotta, less than half a glass of milk, the veg and whisk again.

- Pour the filling onto the dough and bake for about 30/35 minutes.

Serve with a side of radicchietto salad, a glass of white wine and some slices of toasted black bread. Delicious!

I remember a couple of years ago at a wine bar in Fondamenta della Misericordia, a dear friend wanted me to taste his prosecco -a fully natural wine-, when another man standing next to us started teasing him, saying things like 'It took us so long to obtain this clear, sparkling prosecco... and now you want to return to nature and make us drink matte wines full of yeasts that taste bad'. My friend, a real gentleman, replied with a kind smile and then looked at me straight into the eyes and, at low voice, confessed that for that type of attitude he was finding it difficult to sell his wine in his own local area, whereas the most interested markets were London, New York and Sydney. Of course he was happy about the success his label was having in certain niche markets abroad, but at the same time he couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed, as he had made that wine with his own people in mind, exactly to allow farmers and workers to drink a healthy table wine, without chemicals or other additives.

So, what exactly is Natural Wine? The term is a bit controversial and it raised a series of discussions, but in general it is used to refer to wines obtained by organically grown grapes and through a chemical and preservative-free process. It differs from organic wine, as in the latter the ingredients must be organic, but then the process can see the addition of chemicals and sulphites. To produce natural wine, instead, the grapes used are only the native ones, the harvest is manual and the fermentation takes place inside the bottle, using exclusively the yeasts of the vine or naturally present in the producer's canteen. To produce fizzy wines, the only sugar employed is the one of the grapes. (To learn more, see my post 'Prosecco Making: Costa di Là' post).

In Venice there is an increasing attention and sensitivity toward this type of agriculture and farming methods. A key role is played by the association Laguna nel Bicchiere, founded in 1993 by high-school professor Flavio Franceschet, who started a series of local vine recovery operations, combining them with educational programs aimed at the safeguarding of the territory and at involving the local population in such virtuous practices (read my 'Venetian wine and crostini with mushrooms for the aperitivo' post). The association has grown a lot over the years, but the spirit has never changed. I feel grateful that so many volunteers get together and literally dirty their hands with soil to maintain the environment, the meetings are tiring -because they all work hard- but fun and often end with a picnic lunch, for which everyone brings something from home (Have a look at Laguna nel Bicchiere's website in case you'd like to support/become a member).

Anyway, with this said, I gathered a short list of places where it's possible to drink natural wine by the glass, standing and rigorously accompanied by a nibble. I did not include the restaurants that offer natural wine, but be aware there is a circuit and the ones I like the most are: Anice Stellato, CoVino and Osteria Trefanti. I want to specify -once again- that this is a personal blog and I am including the places I am aware about, so... if you think I left someone important out, just drop me a line and I'll be happy to go check out your recommended location.PLEASE NOTE: Most of these places DO NOT serve spritz. I know that spritz is sold to the world as the most typical Venetian aperitif, but the concept and the ingredients used for making spritz are opposite to the concept of natural wine and landscape preservation, therefore... I agree with them! But now, let's start drinking. I've divided the list between left and right side of the Canal Grande.

LEFT SIDE OF THE CANAL GRANDE

Adriatico Mar Address: Dorsoduro, Calle dei Preti o del Pistor 3770 Phone: +39 041 47 64 322

Cosy wine-bar with a great selection of wine, freshly made cicheti and small dishes. The managers, Francesco and Siria, pay great attention to the environment and have carefully selected their suppliers, in fact us lucky ones who live here get to savour different products during the year. Right now I'm in love with their citrus and with the herring, but in general the food is always excellent. All wine is natural and the same is true also for liquors and spirits, while the food is organic. In the picture above, my vegetarian lunch with organic eggs from Donna Gnora farm, kale, asparagus, fresh peas, agretti (OMG... so good!) and green apple. Highly recommended.

Address: Dorsoduro, Calle San Pantalon 3778

Phone: +39 041 47 64 914

Both restaurant and wine-bar, Estro has acquired quite a reputation in Venice and beyond. The wine list is selected with great care and they take part to all natural-wine events. Excellent spot both if you want to have a glass of wine and a cicheto standing or prefer to sit down for a proper meal. Like at Adriatico Mar, here you will see some watercolours by Luigi Divari, a local artist who has been depicting fish and fishermen of the lagoon, simply wonderful...

Cantina Arnaldi Address: Santa Croce 35 Phone: +39 041 718989 I love love love this wine bar so much I recommend it to everyone! Katia and Andrea, the managers, are wonderful and the staff is always so kind and helpful that I have elected Cantina Arnaldi as my top favourite! Natural wine, beautiful wooden interior, delicious cicheti (some of the cheese and of the cured meats are produced by Katia's aunt) and small dishes for a light lunch/dinner. Super!

Address: Santa Croce 1503, Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio Phone: +39 041 524 02 22 A guarantee of quality and relaxation, this cosy wine bar with a beautiful terrace overlooking Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio is a great place for quality wine and snacks. The bread is homemade, the cured meats and cheese are sourced locally by Stefano (I love imagining him in his car, wandering around the region, stopping at different farms and tasting everything... tough life, ah?) and the wine chosen with great care. Excellent. I suggest calling them if you wish to sit down, as it is always very busy and as soon as spring hits... everyone aims at their terrace, where the shade is offered by the trees!

RIGHT SIDE OF CANAL GRANDE

Address: Cannaregio, F.ta della Misericordia 2497 Phone: +39 041 275 00 44

In only a few years, Vino Vero has become quite a reference point for the natural wine world. The name of the wine bar derives from one of the Italian definitions of natural wine and their popularity has grown so much they are opening soon another bar in Lisbon. The location in F.ta della Misericordia is bright and illuminated with natural light. The terrace outside overlooks a side of the San Marziale church, where some years ago a group of artist projected videos, and I personally think it's very fancy, with the wooden tables and the comfy dark green chairs. No table service, here you will find a wide variety of natural wine labels and delicious cicheti.

sullaluna Address: Cannaregio, F.ta della Misericordia 2535 Phone: +39 041 722 924

Well... those of you who kwon me are aware I adore this vegetarian teahouse and bookshop. The owners, Francesca and Rodolfo, are knowledgeable and kind and work very hard to protect the environment and are highly focused on educational activities for children. In addition to this, they also produce a very high quality prosecco calledLunatico, exactly because it follows the cycles of the moon and is produced with no addition of chemicals nor preservatives. At sullaluna, you will find a selected variety of natural wine labels, their own prosecco and an inviting offer of small organic dishes. I suggest to go there in the evening for a reinforced aperitif and, personally, I would sit outside and accompany my wine with a selection of cheese.

Antica Adelaide Address: Cannaregio, Calle Priuli 3728 Phone: +39 041 52 32 629

Both restaurant and wine-bar, in this friendly osteria you will be able to taste natural wine and yummy nibbles. Ask Alvise for recommendations on your wine, I'm quite sure he will make you try a variety of types....

Address: Cannaregio, Calle della Misericordia 367/A Phone: +39 041 71 60 37

Close to the train station and slightly hidden, at Al Cicheto the Salin brothers Simone, Matteo and Marco will welcome you with a glass of natural wine and tempt you with their cicheti. I suggest trying the polpette (fried meatballs).

Address: Castello, Calle Lunga Santa Maria Formosa 5183 Phone: +39 041 523 0744

A place that doesn't need any advertisement, Mascareta has been for many many years a reference point for natural wine lovers. Great place for wine and nibbles (but you can also sit down for a proper meal) and.... allow me get off topic, I highly recommend trying their gins!

So, I think this natural-wine wandering will keep you busy... and merry! Enjoy and let me know...

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Spring, what a glorious season! After the darkness, the cold and the dull days, finally flowers start to blossom, people take off their jackets and the sun is warm again. I am thrilled about the new season, as if it were for me we could banish winter and cold temperatures forever. Besides, spring and early autumn are the best periods weather-wise in the lagoon, as winters are way too cold and foggy, while summer months can be harsh (last year August was fierce...). Whereas now, it's warm during the day, chillier in the evening and the sky blue and clear. Just how I like it...

Last Saturday I had planned to visit the photography exhibition at Casa dei Tre Oci in Giudecca, but then speaking with my husband it came out that he had never been on San Giorgio's tower bell, so -considering that he's always reminding everyone he's a true Venetian born in Santa Marta- I had to fix that gap! So, we took a vaporetto from San Zaccaria Monumento at about 9:30 and went on our mission. San Giorgio is always stunning, although now -like other parts of the city- it is extremely deteriorated and needs interventions. [if you are curious to learn more, I loved the article on San Giorgio by Katia The Venice Insider]

Anyway, the San Benedictine church designed by Palladio is a real marvel. Before exploring its interior, we paid the 6-euro ticket, hopped onto the elevator and went on top the tower bell. From there, the best view of Venice, much better than the one from San Marco's square (cheaper ticket, better view...). We were lucky because it had rained two days earlier and we could see the mountains just behind Venice. Vito seemed enthusiastic and we moved around the bell for a good while pointing at this and that and commenting on how well we could see everything. We took our time, then we left and, after admiring the two Tintoretto paintings placed at the sides of the main altar, we proceeded towards Giudecca.

We got off at Zittelle, the first stop, and walked in search of the sun. We turned left after Ponte Longo and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere around Campo Junghans. The building used to be a factory and if I am not mistaken, it was the first clock factory in Italy. It was turned into a residential area with a theatre between 2005 and 2008 and now it is lovely and quiet. We sat at the bar (which is also a pizzeria and self-service restaurant), leafed through the papers and ordered drinks. After a while, I left him there, so immersed in his supplements he seemed, and wandered around to take pictures until it was about time for lunch.

We had booked at Trattoria Altanella, a traditional restaurant that has been open for at least 3 generations. I went there for the fist time two years ago, then I returned with a group of British designers and another group of lovely people working in the fashion industry (once or twice a year I help organise an incentive tour of Venice for a fashion company based outside Padua) and they all loved it. Personally, what I really like are the interiors and the terrace overlooking the Ponte Longo and the Canale della Giudecca. It has the right and most authentic feel of Venetian trattoria, with nice wooden interiors, a marble bar counter, lots of painting covering the walls and a short menu featuring few but good and fresh homemade dishes.

Although still not hot, we sat outside (as everybody else did...) at the front table, the one with the best view. We drank some house white wine and, while nibbling on bread and addictive crackers, we discussed what to order.

To start, Vito asked for baccalà mantecato with polenta, while I opted for a mixed dish of boiled fish. His creamed cod was delicious and the portion generous, I could feel there was no milk and this is a very good sign. As for my starter, it had a taste of octopus salad, two canocie (mantis shrimps), boiled schie (grey shrimps), boiled squid dressed with a few drops of olive oil and two prawns. Yum...

We then continued with a second course each. Vito had a nice frittura mista, which included a mix of local fish like sardines, sole, grey shrimps and calamari. In fact, I must tell you to distrust the places where a frittura contains only calamari rings and prawns, which most likely are frozen (otherwise it would cost you a fortune!). He loved his dish, as it was exactly what he wanted and I never make it at home (I know it's strange, but I'm not that fond of fried food...).

As for myself, I ordered the stuffed calamari! I had been dreaming about them for almost a year, because the last time I went I had another dish, which was delicious, but I confess that when the girl next to me was served those babies I felt extremely envious. Well, let me tell you they were superb: stuffed with their own tentacles, chopped and ground, fresh ginger, breadcrumbs, garlic and some parsley and covered in a slow-cooked tomato sauce. Amazing! If you go, you must try them (another must, in my opinion, are their gnocchi al nero di seppia).

I was satisfied and just wanted to enjoy the view for another while, so we did... but I was unaware that the owner (who knows my husband) was about to offer Vito a grappa tasting... How could he refuse?! I think he drank three, then when they were about to bring him a fourth one I opposed and said I had no intention of going straight to bed from there! We laughed and the owner brought us some buranei biscuits shaped as S, rigorously homemade and super tasty.

When we got up to pay, I think he was afraid I was going to get angry at Vito, so he offered us a slice of their jam tart. The tart is special because both base and jam are homemade and the jam is prepared with uva fragola, the small and sweet strawberry grapes. Did I like it? Oh yes. Was I going to get angry? Impossible, all that sugar made me a lot sweeter!

From there we went for another walk. I wanted to revisit the gorgeous Villa Hériot but unfortunately it was closed. So we just wandered around until the sun went down and we crossed the canal to return to central Venice, get a few things at the supermarket and go home.

I love Giudecca and I would advise anyone seeking peace to visit it. My father was born there when the island was a lot poorer, now it's a good mixture of local families, university students and enlightened foreigners. Every year there is an art festival in September, then there is a beautiful cloister called Ss. Cosma e Damiano where local artisan make the most beautiful objects and jewellery, an awesome museum, some art galleries and a Marco Polo bookshop. Do I need to add more?

I hope I gave you some inspiration and that you will have the time to explore this amazing place. It is quite likely that Vito and I are going back next weekend and we want to take my father to another easy going trattoria we saw the same day and made us curious. We want to take dad not only because he is from the island and I am sure he would really appreciate experiencing it with us, but also because... yesterday I was visiting Joan Jonas' exhibition in the ex church of San Lorenzo and my camera died on me. I felt so desperate I didn't know whether I wanted to cry or slam my head against the wall. Anyway, when I asked dad if he could help me and pay half of the new camera, he said he'd cover it. I am so grateful (also because I have a new job to do today so...) and lucky to be surrounded by people who always help me and support me.

So... thank you daddy and, with regard to all you other guys: enjoy Giudecca and try Altanella. You will love it!

Trattoria Altanella - map

Address: Giudecca, Calle delle Erbe 268 Phone: +39 041 522 7780

This post is dedicated to my favourite shops in Venice. I have carefully selected the craftsmen and/or resellers that I consider the most virtuous and guarantee high quality products, all rigorously made in Italy and often handcrafted. The lists follows my personal tastes and likings, therefore I do not want to present it as an omni-comprehensive guide of all the good there is in Venice, but rather as a personal selection of some of the best contemporary housewares, jewellery, clothing and book stores we have.

CASTELLO:

map) | Castello - Fondamenta Sant'Anna 998

Small shop located in Castello co-managed by glass artist Alessandra Gardin and potter Daniela Levera. Here you will find elegant and contemporary jewellery with glass beads and mixed media and refined ceramic jars, vases, cups and bowls, all characterised by a warm and cosy feel.

website) | Castello - Viale Garibaldi 1257

Open to the public only on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am. to 5 pm, this is the local association of Venetian potters. During the week it is possible to attend introductory and/or advanced workshops, whereas at the weekend the potters showcase their beautiful productions in the garden. I highly recommend stopping by, as the place itself is magical and the items absolutely stunning.

website) | Castello - F.ta San Gioacchin 494/A

Not an ordinary shop, this contemporary glass jewellery gallery is run by Cosima Montavoci, Venetian artist recently returned to the lagoon. The atelier is open by appointment only (don't hesitate to contact her) and for the launch of new collections and art performance or events. Please browse through her website, as her production is varied and quite diversified, ranging from beautifully designed body parts (on show at the Milano Fashion Week) to elegant and timeless pieces in mixed medias.

website) | Castello - Calle del Pestrin 3876

Talented potter Alessandro Merlin creates unique pieces with a quite recognisable style. Cups, ovals and dishes of all sizes, hand-decorated with stylised figures of crabs, octopus, fish and human body parts. Witty, imaginative and elegant.

website) | Castello - Salizada dei Greci 3459

Potter Ilaria Rigoni gives shape to bright and colourful objects for the house, all characterised by a shiny, vibrant and joyful feel. In addition to her stunning ceramics, you will also find bookmarks and small prints with stylised drawings of Venetian monuments and places and lovely bags for women.

Facebook) | Castello - Salizada Sant'Antonin 3478

One of my favourite stores in Venice, offering dresses and accessories which are handmade by the female prisoners of the jail in Giudecca. The dresses have tight corsets and balloon skirts, then I also love the silk tops and the bags in different fabrics, shapes and size, ideal both for special occasions and for an everyday use.

website) | Barbaria de le Tole 6479A

A lovely marbled paper studio, which opened about a year ago and where you will probably see either Federico or Isabella at work. Here you can find handcrafted marbled paper sheets, panels, diaries, agendas, objects for the house and office and really cute jewellery.

SAN MARCO

website) | Merceria San Salvador 4850

Tiny yet amazing atelier of unique and imaginative objects for the house in handcrafted steel. The artists behind these creations are called Maddalena Venier and Alessandro Salvadori, who share a workshop on the island of Giudecca and give shape to almost indescribable universes populated by whales, birds, cats, leaves, petals, boats, ships and more. In addition to the refined and feather-weight sculptures, I strongly suggest to look at the jewellery, light and contemporary, and the lamps. Highly recommended!

map) | Piazza San Marco 54 & Calle della Mandola 3648

This is the place to go if you are looking for high quality Made-in-Italy leather goods. Bags, belts and accessories in different skins, all realised by small Italian manufactures. I would also advise to stop by for quality (yet affordable) gifts for friends and suggest asking for the small purses and cases for glasses with the disegno veneziano, an ancient Venetian stylised decoration, the drawing of which is deposited in the nearby Marciana library.

Instagram) | San Marco - Calle dei Fuseri 4459

Sophisticated and sought-after clothing shop offering Made-in-Italy and a few Made-in-Switzerland clothes in quality leather, wool, silk and pure cotton. The style is at the same time urban, elegant and modern, for women who want to be stylish without giving up comfort.

Instagram) | San Marco 4773

A quality shop that has been offering for years fancy sunglasses, bags, clothes and other original accessories that result elegant and timeless and that are incredibly comfortable to wear. The shop on the street seems quite small and cosy, but once you step inside you will be taken to another room on the first floor, with white wooden beams, a white parquet floor and beautiful lamps. Love it!!!

Nina Boutique (website) | San Marco - Campo Manin 4231 + Dorsoduro 3130

The shop alone is a good enough reason for a visit. With its country chic furniture, its warm and classy atmosphere, the plants hanging from the ceiling, the wicker baskets filled with clothes and the private patio overlooking the canal, this shop is really unique. Quality fabrics for elegant clothes and accessories.

map)

It doesn't happen everyday to meet an impiraressa (bead-stringer), therefore Venetian Dreams is the right choice if what you are looking for are outstanding and elegant pieces of jewellery that combine the traditional art of bead threading with a timeless style. If you allow me make a suggestion, ask for the corals! Marisa Convento used to have a shop in central Venice until a short while ago, but for many reasons she chose to close it and seek new adventures. You can purchase from her online or (recommended), when in Venice, contact her to meet up and don't forget to ask about her private workshops!!!

map) | San Marco 3535

One of the oldest artistic ceramics shops in Venice, with pottery arriving straight from Bassano del Grappa. I used to go there as a child with my mother and I still go there occasionally! The most notable collections are the ones with decorations of fruits, greens, fish and mollusks, while my favourite is the simple white '700 Veneziano. Beautiful.

website) | San Marco 337

My absolute favourite bookshop, where it's possible to find books in several languages that range from contemporary novels and essay to photographic coffee table books and with a very interesting and well curated section on Venice. Great choice of books also for children of all ages.

website) | Calle della Mandola 3637

My second most used bookshop! Here you will find lots and lots of piles of second hand books, untidily organised in sections. In this spot I found old editions I couldn't find anywhere else and believe its art and cinema sections are super rich. Well worth rummaging through the old Venice books too.

website) | Calle della Mandola 3717/D

Sumptuous independent bookshop specialised in antiquarian and rare publications and engravings. The bookshop also publishes the online magazines InTime and Venice Review.

DORSODURO

website) | Campo San Barnaba 2762

Opened in 2001 by Francesca Meratti, this fantastic shop gathers high quality housewares and designer jewellery. Absolutely worth a stop.

website) | Dorsoduro 3220

Irresistible shop showcasing the work of Venetian design brand Danghyra. Elegant cups, bowls, carafes, tea and coffee sets, vases and objects for the house in the finest materials, such as ceramic, platinum, copper and 24k gold. Bright and vivid colours, a large use of gold and silver finishes and a contemporary feel.

website) | Dorsoduro, Calle Avogaria 1621/a

Elegant showroom of some of the works created by the architects members of the Kanz studio, founded in Venice in 2014 by Antonella Maione and Mauro Cazzaro. Here you will find minimalist and refined objects for the house that range from teapots, cups and glasses to fancy chairs and mirrors.

website) | Dorsoduro, Calle Larga Ca' Foscari 3856

Beautiful artisan shop specialised in knitwear. Unique clothes that combine quality to accessible costs. Excellent fabrics and a style that will take you back to the 30s.

website) | Dorsoduro 3284

Absolutely wonderful ethnic shop where in addition to dresses, jackets, skirts, shirts and tops you can also find all sorts of objects for the house, like stools, small tables and chairs in natural materials, jewellery and even books! Love the atmosphere and also love the big fat cat that sleeps on the front window all day (please, don't knock!).

Facebook) | Dorsoduro 3750

This is definitely the to-go shop if you are looking for quality rain boots (here used for acqua alta) in natural materials. This cosy shop has recently widened its offer and now you can also find sneakers, sandals and other unique footwear.

website) | Dorsoduro 3749

Lovely boutique where you will find refined clothes for an everyday use. A country-urban style, ideal for women who lead an active life but still want to look good, in an elegant and under stated way. Right now I'm in love with the linen summer dresses and bags.

website) | Dorsoduro - Santa Margherita 2899

Independent bookshop focused on alternative editions and smaller publisher, with a well selected choice of illustrated books and very well known in the city for the several events, workshops and presentations open to the public. You may also find small and curious objects which would make lovely presents, like the futuristic magnets.

website) | Dorsoduro 3474

Tiny and out of the beaten track bookshop with second hand books, vinyl records and a lots of comics. The place is ideal for those who enjoy rummaging and for anyone into Andrea Pazienza and all the cartoonists from Bologna published on Frigidare (so so so cool!!!!! My favourite characters... Ranxerox and Lubna).

SANTA CROCE

website) | Calle Longa 2156

It's very unfortunate that I am not very wealthy, because I would spend all my money for a new wardrobe in this amazing shop. The clothes and accessories are contemporary, minimalist and made with excellent fabrics. The only apparently casual and understated style I love.

website) | Calle Longa 2137

Located just in front of the above mentioned Slash, this isn't only a flower shop, but rather an artistic place where floral designs are matched with sought-after objects and rare findings. Manuela and Paola work very hard and are clearly sensitive to beauty, so you will find contemporary vases, objects of decor and other artistic items.

SAN POLO

website) | Campo San Toma' 2865

Gallery managed by Elena Rizzi, who carefully selects unique jewellery and accessories created by international designers. The white walls and wooden beams add brightness to a space where art and fashion meet.

website) | San Polo, Calle Moro 2659/A

A little bit hidden, in this tiny boutique you will be mesmerised by the unique clothes in high quality fabrics, all characterised by an ultra-contemporary and slightly arty feel.

website) | Sottoportico degli Oresi

Stefano and Daniele are two brothers who inherited a huge amount of beads from their grandfather, who used to work in Murano, and have become known worldwide for the way they re-interpret the traditional bead-threading technique. Elegant and timeless pieces of handcrafted jewellery, made of glass beads and other mixed media. Beautiful.

website) | Calle del Perdon 1311

Independent publishing house specialised in artistic and illustrated books and paperbacks, both in English and Italian. A hidden gem where you will find the most unique and unexpected reads.

CANNAREGIO

website) | Fondamenta degli Ormesini 2799

Bright shop with lots of artworks made by Brazilian Japanese Nelson Kishi, known in Venice because he goes around the city to sketch his aerial drawings from unexpected spots, and Robin Food, whose paintings I absolutely adore. Her paintings are realised with the Ukiyo technique and have warm and bright colours; I'm particularly fond of her stylised trees and leaves.

website) | Calle dell'Oca 4231

Interesting lab specialised in the production of oars for gondolas and other boats, here it's possible to buy wooden jewellery and small decorative oar sculptures.

website) | Fondamenta degli Ormesini 2681

One of the best places if you are looking for artistic prints, etchings, watercolours and linocuts. Arianna has also started offering workshops and I suggest to follow her blog too, as she shares curious insights on her art and on living in Venice.

external link) | Calle del Fumo 5306

trailer on YouTube.

Facebook) | Cannaregio - Fondamenta della Misericordia

Bookshop and vegetarian teahouse specialised in illustrated books for children and adults, cookbooks and illustrated biographies. I suggest to keep an eye on their Facebook page too, because they often organise workshops for children, tasting events for adults and meetings with the authors.

I hope I gave you a little inspiration and now there's really nothing left for me to do than wish you happy shopping and in case you are looking for advice on where to eat, check out My Venice Food Guide.

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When I think of Venice, the first image that comes to my mind is not the one of fancy palazzos, but rather the one of welcoming homes with casual kitchens and a mocha always ready on the stove. The elegant facades we see today are the fruit of centuries of great men, who turned this unhealthy marshland into a miracle. But our real nature, the one of us living in the islands, is simple and it is the one of the people of the sea.

Our food too is simple. Yes, of course, nowadays we are all a little bit more fussy and with our own peculiar tastes, but in general, the basic concept is: fresh ingredients, little preparation, great taste. With fish and veg as our main staples, we don't really need to do much.

As for sweets and desserts, it is often said that Venice is not exactly famous for its cakes, but I have to disagree. Leaving aside rich desserts like tiramisù or mascarpone served with mostarda (sweet fruit pickles) and baicoli (super dry biscuits), if we just focus for a moment on our tradition of biscuits, we realise how many recipes we have! Biscuits were among the first baked goods made to take away, made as long lasting sources of food for the husbands fishing out in the sea, who sometimes could stay away for entire days and nights.

It is not by chance that the most famous island for cookies is Burano. Empty in winter and over crowded in summer, this dream island is responsible for many traditional recipes, both sweet and savoury. Among biscuits, the most known are Buranei (which literally means from Burano), divided in two types: the esse, shaped as an S, and the bussolai, exactly the same but with a round shape (to be distinguished from the bussolai chioggiotti, which instead are savoury round bread sticks made with lard). I don't know if you have ever tasted them, but I find them particularly dense. Made to last over time, Buranei are thick and heavy in weight, perfect dipped into sweet wine or grappa. I hardly ever make them, but if you ask me, they are one of the best gifts from the lagoon one could take home, as they have what today we'd call a long shelf-life, even though made without preservatives (because -of course- you are going to buy them from one of our bakeries, and not at the supermarket!).

I'm not a big fan of Buranei, whereas I absolutely adore the Biscuits of Fishermen, definitely more flaky and, also, with fancier ingredients like raisins, pine nuts and hazelnuts. I'm not sure that the original recipe is Venetian, as it is found in many fishermen towns in Italy and, also, in the plains outside of Florence and in the region Marche. Even Pellegrino Artusi, one of the first Italian cookbook authors between the 1800s and early 1900s, reports a similar recipe, precisely number 569, although he uses margarine while we use butter (I never use margarine and suggest you avoid it too). Every place has its own little variations, like the use of candied fruits or other dried fruits, but more or less the idea behind it is the same.

In Venice I suggest you buy them from Emilio Colussi - Il Fornaio, next to Campo San Luca. They have the huge ones or the smaller ones, which cost 0,70 cents each and are definitely filling. I generally buy a tray of the smaller ones and I have to thank the bakery for the recipe I'm sharing!

Sometimes I like to envision the men at sea, chatting nonsense while unwrapping their cookies from the cotton napkin, with in front of them nothing but the blue of the sea perfectly merged with the colours of the sky. As you probably know, going out in the sea in times with no radar or cellphones, was always a risk, especially in the colder months when the thick fog made it impossible to see anything. One of the theories for the colourful houses, in fact, is that the women were tired of sleeping on their own and not knowing where their husbands were, so they painted the outside walls of their homes in bright and luminous colours so that the men could recognise them even in foggy days...

I don't know whether it's true or not, but it sounds lovely... and it is this homely dimension that makes my heart melt when I think of Venice and its islands. Not an unreal and unreachable world of magnificence and richness, but a simple world of cosy sitting rooms, friendly kitchens and lively campi and campielli. The same dimension I like to recreate in my own house, simple and warm, where some delicious cookies and a cup of coffee are enough to keep us happy and make our day...

After all, who needs more when we get to be on a small boat, in the middle of the lagoon, with a batch of yummy biscuits ?!

RECIPE: THE BISCUITS OF FISHERMEN

INGREDIENTS (for about 25 small biscuits)

300 gr Italian 0 flour

2 eggs

120 gr sugar

100 gr butter

75 gr hazelnuts

50 gr crushed almonds 50 gr pine nuts

50 gr raisins

8 gr baking powder

a small glass of rum

a pinch of salt

METHOD

The night before: put your raisins in a small jar with rum and leave them soaking overnight

1) Pre-heat the oven at 190°

2) Whip two eggs. Keep aside.

3) On a flat surface, combine baking powder, sugar, salt, softened butter and knead.

4) Add to the mixture the whipped eggs, the previously soaked and squeezed raisins, the hazelnuts, the pine nuts and the crushed almonds and continue kneading with your hands.

5) Grease some parchment paper and put on your baking tray.

6) When the dough is sufficiently soft, shape about 25 small biscuits (with, more or less, a 4/5 cm diameter) and dispose separately on the tray. Either use your hands or two teaspoons.

7) Bake for about 20/25 minutes.

The first thing that is taught when studying the difference between Florentine and Venetian Renaissance is that the first is line and drawing, while the latter is light and colour. In such case, the Venetian painters of the time must have chosen perfectly clear days with magical dusks and dawns, because actually some days the light in the lagoon can be so harsh to make my fair eyes cry. It's not that it isn't sunny, it's just that the sun is hidden by a thick layer of humidity, so the light results thin and the feeling is the one of walking in a ghost town.

But Venice is so beautiful that it is appealing even in these dull days, and not only to the eyes, but also to the nose, with a pleasant odour that reminds me of dew. Yes, okay, maybe taking pictures may be a little more complicated, but... who cares? After all, I embrace the praise the imperfections philosophy and I appreciate images that tell me a little something of the real world too!

With Carnival over, the city is now calm. Not that I found it particularly crowded for the feast, it was only at the weekends that locals and visitors alike experienced moments of panic, but for the rest it seemed more or less like usual. The truth is that Carnival as we know it today was launched in the 80s exactly to make people come to Venice in a cold and foggy period, to fill hotel rooms and make the economy go round. Before that everything revolved around Fat Tuesday and Thursday and the only ones wearing costumes were small children, with the boys disguised as cowboys and the girls as princesses. Then came the 80s and things changed.

My husband worked very hard in this period, as he was in charge of the costume atelier of Antonia Sautter's Doges Ball, one of the most exclusive events in Venice and in the world. So, yesterday that he was home in the afternoon for the first time after a full month, he just wanted to relax, go for a short walk, do some shopping and then lie on the couch, while watching his Crozza Italia, reading the papers and eating comfort food. I was looking forward to spending some time together, as I was missing him. Besides, I love our afternoons spent doing nothing...

As you know, we live in a side corte of Ruga Giuffa, so for our walk we decided to go towards Ss. Giovanni e Paolo. The first destination was the historical pastry shop Rosa Salva, where we bought four pastries to take home: two croccantini with chocolate and two with pistachio. From there we went to Panificio Crosera to buy some bread and then proceeded towards F.Ta Nove to enjoy a walk with a view! Excluding the F.Nove vaporetto stop, it is always quiet and peaceful here.

Then we just kept kept walking along the fondamenta, crossing the different bridges and stopping to look at one of the few squeri still operating (shipyard for gondolas), until we reached our destination (the Coop supermarket...) and bought all the essentials like coffee for the mocha, olive oil, pasta and other small bits.

It's funny that, although according to Vito he is Epicurean and I am Naturally, I sometimes buy the cheaper olive oil with mixed grapes from the EU (just because it's cheaper and I use it to cook and not to dress salads or make hummus, etc.), while when I'm with him he reprimands me if I even look at it, reminding me that he wants to buy 100% Italian (possibly organic and unfiltered....) because at least he knows the disciplinary laws the production has to respond to... and I just obey and put it in the trolley!

And I can't even complain... because as it is said, birds of a feather flock together!

Anyway, with the shopping done it was time to go home and switch to our comfy tracksuit mode! We took the long way and passed behind San Lorenzo, where the scientific high school is. Once home I put on a mocha, heated some milk to make a nice foam for Vito's cappuccino, while for myself I just heated some water (dear Italian friends, I know you disapprove of this ... but please, forgive me!!!). I also noticed that the pink flowers we had bought in Santa Maria Formosa on Saturday were fading, so I separated the tops from the stems and wrapped them between two old sheets of paper, leaving them inside an old book to dry.

Finally, we unwrapped the pastry tray, armed ourselves with spoons and napkins and sat on the couch. I realise it may not seem fun, but for me... these days are perfect! Each of us has different priorities in life and right now... mine is to focus on my affections and enjoy the small things that the everyday has to offer.

With love,

Nicoletta

There are stories that deserve to be told and people that deserve to be met. Marisa Convento is both: a wonderful person with a lovely story. Here in Venice she is known also as the queen of impiraresse (bead-stringers), as she is practically the only one still practicing this ancient profession, which used to be the most widespread among Venetian women until the first half of the 20th century.

In the past, in fact, in the same way in which in other cities women, who could not work outside the house, helped with the family income as seamstresses, in Venice they would string beads, sent to their homes by the factories located on the island of Murano. Imagine groups of women of every age sitting in the calli and corti outside their house, or in the kitchen, all with their sessola (concave wooden container box for tiny beads, called conterie) on their knees, gossiping away while crafting precious jewellery.

Marisa learned the profession relatively late and in a very particular way. She had always been fascinated by this female world, so at the end of the 1990s, she bought a huge amount of conterie from a glass factory that was closing and wanted to delve herself into this craft. She had then the fortune to meet an elderly Venetian impiraressa who had moved to Padua to the same condominium of her mother-in-law and proved kind enough to teach her the basics, while the rest came with experience and ongoing practice.

In the early years, Marisa used to work as a reseller for Tessuti Bevilacqua and would sit down and use her hands to craft necklaces, earrings and more whenever she had some free time. It was at age 45 that she decided to make the step and turn her passion into a real profession and so, Venetian Dreams was born.

Her laboratory is her world. Located in Calle della Mandola, it exudes life, emotions and memories. On the walls her numerous collections of beads from all over the globe (my favourites, the matte African ones) and her beloved butterflies, many bought and many received. Books, spices, pearls, and fabrics everywhere, and her dog's bed just behind her desk. In this space, she spends most of her time, armed with patience and a good pair of glasses.

I met Marisa on the street about a year and a half ago. I remember we were crossing what we Venetians used to call Ponte dei Giocattoli, when she stopped me and encouraged me to continue with the blog and that she really liked the name (while usually -and rightly- people think it's complicated...). She seemed sweet and strong at the same time and her openness and energy positively impressed me; I could feel I had just made a new friend.

Anyway, going back to her atelier, the hours spent threading beads proved well used, as she has been asked to participate in many fashion events and has acquired quite a reputation in town and, also, in the world. Of all her pieces, my favourites are the corals. If I'm not mistaken, corals were among the first designs she learned. She makes them of different sizes, both incorporated into the jewellery and as objects of decor.

Marisa's jewellery is characterised by intense colours and the combined use of Murano beads, Burano lace, and other fabrics and metals. The style is elegant and timeless and if you decide to visit, in addition to the corals, I suggest to ask her to show you the pieces inspired by butterflies. I saw the pictures of the fashion show 'Madama Butterfly' held at her atelier on the occasion of the Venice Fashion Week 2018, with models featuring kimono dresses by Sartoria dei Dogi matched to her jewellery, and everything looked amazing! Marisa also offers workshops, both for privates and families, so don't hesitate to contact her for more info.

ust ring the doorbell and let yourself be carried into her world, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Address: Calle della Mandola, San Marco 3805/a - map

Contact: (+39) 041 523 02 92

Lido, my to-go-island whenever I want to relax. In between the lagoon and the sea, this long and narrow limb of land perfumes of saltiness and seaweeds. Maybe some may not like this odour, but on me it has a magical effect, as it triggers both my energy and imagination. Besides, my body is starting to feel spring and craves sunshine and vitamin D, so yesterday I hopped on a vaporetto and headed to the place where I was born.

I had time, as a couple of jobs I was supposed to do have been moved to mid March and it is my husband the unlucky one who has to work every day -and night- in this period of Carnival. So I decided to walk from the centre to Malamocco. It's a very long walk, but I have good legs and a lot of will. Once the vaporetto arrived at Lido, I crossed the Gran Viale -stopping for a quick coffee and croissant at Canton del Gallo (their pastries are superb!!!)- and reached the structure called Blue Moon, from where you access to the beach.

Along the shore, couples walking their dogs, small groups of friends and people on their own, just like me, jogging or simply enjoying the first signs of the new season. Normality, absolute normality. The Lido, a place we kind of take for granted here, but that I have come to appreciate as a place of peace and wilderness. I arrived at the height of the Hotel Excelsior, testimony of a glorious past now forgotten, then I left the beach and proceeded along Lungomare Marconi, where I met a friend of my mum's, until I arrived at the foot of Murazzi.

Murazzi is the beach with little sand and a lot of stones. It's a public space, no private huts or whatsoever, and it's one of the most loved locations by the local inhabitants. Consider that, after all, we are Italians and we need the sun, don't blame us... it's in our veins! So, be it winter, spring, summer or autumn, as long as the sun is shining... you will see people walking, cycling and doing all sorts of outdoor sports here. My father used to jog jumping from one stone to the other, to improve his reflexes... brave man! Personally, I would never do it and neither his friends!

On Murazzi you will also see some self-built wooden huts, which -though- are not legal and every now and then get removed by the local police. Sorry, but I've never been able to understand this fact: we live in a country that gives parliamentary immunity to Salvini (whose party stole quite a significant amount of tax money), but that punishes passionate locals that collect woods, keep the beach clean (yes, they voluntarily pick up all the plastic bottles and other rubbish, without anyone asking...) and use their skills to create beautiful huts in 100% natural materials... weird, ah? Anyway... I suppose that like the song says, it's a mad mad world we're living in.

From Murazzi, you will have the sea to your left, while to your right you will see houses alternating with green areas. The further you go, the more vegetable gardens you will see. You will also encounter the soccer and five-a-side courts, the swimming pool, the tennis court and more. Lido, in fact, is the island of sports, so many the gyms and activities available. I'm also planning to take you soon to the horse riding area, I'm just waiting for the temperature to get a little warmer!

I kept walking and walking, until I turned before Malamocco and walked through the fields. I wanted to take some pictures next to a small canal, but while I was going there crossing the high grass, a gigantic nutria jumped out of a bush and I almost had a heart attack!!!! Sorry, but I fled fast and had no intention of going back there, so big that animal seemed to me... I opted to proceed along the street, until I reached the old town of Malamocco (once called Matamauco), first seat of the Venetian government.

Differently from the rest of the Lido, where the houses are of all styles (modern, mountain-like, liberty, and so on...), Malamocco looks like Murano or Burano. It's a small Venice in the middle of the Lido! The walls of people's homes are of the colours of the rainbow, there are three small osterie where the local pensioners meet up to chat in front of an ombra and a nibble and you can see the old signs of past activities. Arches, porticos and narrow streets that sometimes are called calle (and not via) make this ancient little world shine of a unique and light.

I had a walk around and, of course, I kept meeting people. Beware that here people are eager to speak to you, so be ready to make friends! I was looking for a way to say that tourists should stop trying to do what the locals do, then my friend Marjorie of OG Venice shared this brilliant piece entitled 'Stop Telling Me To Travel Like a Local' posted on Bonappetit.com (which I suggest you to read) and thought the concept had been expressed perfectly. In fact, throughout the day, people kept speaking to me. While on Murazzi, an elderly man from Venice, when he saw I was photographing the huts, started telling me about them, about how he builds them and of the times the police arrives to pull them down. Then in Malamocco, when I stopped at Trattoria Scarso, another man (who thought I was a foreigner) started chatting to me, curious about what I was doing in Malamocco, and then ... well, you see the hand holding the glass of wine in the picture below? Well... it's of a girl I met that day called Francesca, who proved so nice to be my hand model despite she never having seen me before!

So, what I can say is that if you are not a first time visitor and have time... just explore and be open to whatever possibility life reserves for you. Who knows what could happen or who we could meet? Maybe you could even fall in love and move here forever... wouldn't that be great?!

Anyway, going back to my day, as already mentioned, after all that walking and talking, I was hungry! So I went to Trattoria Scarso. In this osteria it's possible to either sit down for a proper meal or to have a quick cicheto, so I opted for the latter and sat outside. I drank a glass of wine and ate two grilled squids (yum!!!!) and a huge slice of polenta with baccalà mantecato (creamed stockfish). In case you are curious, I spent 8 euros for everything. The place is not fancy, but I like it. It's authentic, with an inside room and a beautiful garden where in summer it's just lovely to have dinner. The area for cicheti is the one where the bar is, and it's also possible to sit without paying table service, and the same is true for the tables outside, just in front of the bar.

I was happy! I wandered around another while and met another old friend. After some more chats... I took a bus and went back to Lido. The weather was changing and the wind getting chilly, but I know spring is behind the door and I am ready for it!

This was more or less my day and I do recommend to head as far as Malamocco if you have time! I will write more about it in the coming warmer months, in the meanwhile I wish you a lovely weekend!

Cheers, Nicoletta

'Venice, the Moon and You' was the title of a famous movie by Dino Risi, but in my case it would be more appropriate if it were called 'Venice, the Carnival and Myself', as I have a love and hate relationship with this feast. Yes, because on the one hand I love to see all the elegant costumes, the people capturing the moment and the children's eyes shimmer with amusement, but on the other... Carnival weekends scare me, as the city gets way too over crowded for its physical capacities. For example, last Sunday -while I was happily on my own admiring the sea in Alberoni- the local police tried to divide the flows and for a good ten minutes Campo Santa Maria Formosa was so studded with people it seemed almost impossible to move. I saw the pictures and it looked scary!!!

Anyway, week days are safe! Yesterday it was also lovely and sunny, so I decided to stay out all day. I had a couple of things to do and had to go towards Via Garibaldi as Daniela Levera, my ceramist, has just returned from South America and brought me two marvellous pieces made by a friend of hers I was eager to see and finally touch with my own hands (did you see the pic on my Instagram? Aren't they just beautiful?!). I should have also brought the papers to Cosima of Sunset Yogurt, as we were on the same page of the column Venetians I was telling you about in the former post, but I have my head in the clouds and I forgot!

Because I was going to Via Garibaldi, my husband suggested to go to his friend Silvio for lunch. What a good idea! I have already mentioned the osteria many times (like in the Via Garibaldi post), but I had never actually taken you inside. The place is called Ai Nevodi and I love it. It's a traditional Venetian restaurant where it's also possible to have cicheti standing and -of course- lots of wine! It's the sort of place where I feel at home, as it welcomes everyone with no distinction, from neighbourhood pensioners to Asian tourists, from the young to the elder. Besides, last Thursday this osteria was listed with some other of my favourites in the R-Food supplement of La Repubblica and I wanted to compliment them!

Ai Nevodi is managed by Silvio's son, but he wasn't there when I arrived. This detail wasn't a problem at all, on the contrary, his father took very good care of me! Silvio has been in the food business forever. I met him years ago when he used to manage another restaurant called La Valigia and I still remember his dentice mantecato (creamed snapper) and the spaghetti ai cannestrelli (spaghetti with queen scallops). The man is a real professional and sure knows how to make people at ease. Plus, he is a good friend of Vittorio's and has always proved extremely kind to him. In short, Silvio is the sort of Venetian who, when you ask him for a glass of tap water, gives you a full bottle to take away with you, so generous he is.

As soon as I saw him, I quite straightforwardly told him I wanted to take some nice photos of the food and asked if I could go a little earlier than the usual opening time and sit next to the window, so to have more natural light. Needless to say, he replied I could go whenever I wanted and do whatever I wanted, so I left for a couple of minutes to go and collect my new purchases, and returned. Immediately he served me a glass of red wine, a Cabernet Mosole (really good, round and with a full body!), then he handed me the menu and helped me study it.

I didn't know what to choose, as everything seemed so very inviting. From spider crab to sardines, from octopus to scallops... I would have eaten everything! The article on La Repubblica was about cicheti and at Ai Nevodi they had chosen the crostino with baccalà, so I wanted to try it too. But... I didn't simply get the crostino, I was actually served a proper tris di baccalà, a small taste with the three varieties: creamed, in red and alla vicentina. Oh my, was it tasty! It had been a while since I had baccalà alla vicentina and, dear friends, let me tell you I found it exquisite, soft and warm enough to feel it melt in my mouth... pure pleasure! I tough the plate looked beautiful and the red, yellow and green colours reminded me of the walls of the nearby calli.

After that I was expecting a second course, but Giovanni, one of the staff, brought me a dish of bigoli in salsa (buckwheat pasta with anchovy and onion sauce). He smiled at me and said that by mistake the chef had made an extra portion, then he asked me if I appreciated it? Of course! Well, thank you! It was delicious!!! Bigoli in salsa is one of my absolute favourites and I recommend you try it at least once in your life. Nice and creamy, with the bigoli perfectly enveloped by the sweet and savoury cream, with a pinch of black pepper and some paprika... wow!!! Amazing...

The portion, as you can see, was generous and I was starting to feel satisfied, but when I saw my octopus I understood the game had just started. You know, when the game gets tough... the tough gets going, and I was ready for it! Just look at its texture: boiled first then grilled, the octopus was tender in the inside and nice and crunchy on the outside. Surrounded by a colorful garden of vegetables, it would have been enough on its own. Let me add a little note on octopus dishes in general. I hate it when you go to a restaurant and order, let's say, grilled octopus and they serve you one nicely plated tentacle. Well, this was not the case, no risk of leaving Ai Nevodi feeling hungry because it was a lot of food I had!

It was served with a fresh salad with cherry tomatoes, a baked aubergine, zucchini, bell peppers, Brussel sprouts and some condiments on the side. Delicious! I took my time, relaxed and savoured every bite. Silvio would have liked to offer me a coffee and a dessert, but I wanted to try the new Che Bon coffee bar that had just opened (like a couple of hours earlier...) next door, so I asked him for the bill. 'What bill?' he asked, 'go away' he said 'and come back with your husband, it's been ages since I've seen him'. I was a bit embarrassed, but extremely grateful. Silvio is just like this: generous. He didn't do it for interest, but just for kindness. Anyway, just to give you an idea, the dishes range between 14 and 24 euros, the fish is fresh, the quality good and the atmosphere perfect (at least, if what you are looking for is a friendly place where locals and foreigners merge happily together)!

So, at that point I tried the new bar and ... yes, I think I ought to go back and take more pictures! I just drank an espresso and tried a mini frittella with custard. The girl behind the counter was very friendly and wanted me to try the Venetian type, at which point I asked if she could wrap it for me to take home. Perfect conclusion to a perfect lunch. From there I went back towards the centre, the city was calm and I passed by San Marco to see the elegant costumes and then went to say hi to my husband who was at the Bauer working. I brought him the pastry, had a brief chat with some of his colleagues and then proceeded on my wanderings.

A perfect day spent with nice people, eating delicious food and enjoying my city in a way I had almost forgotten. Wonderful...

Hope you enjoyed the post and highly recommend trying Ai Nevodi! Stay tuned, because there's more to come...

Love,

Nicoletta

Ai Nevodi Address: Via Garibaldi, Castello 1788, 30122 Venezia (VE) - map Phone: +39 041 2411136

What an amazing day. It was last Friday, the day before the beginning of Carnival, the city still calm and the sky so clear it would have been a sin to stay home. To do myself some good and savour the last moments of peace before the storm, I decided to head to Cannaregio and simply wander around. Besides, it had been a while since my last time at sullaluna, that lovely teahouse and bookshop I have already told you about (see previous post), and I was kind of missing it.

When I arrived at Fondamenta della Misericordia, the sun was so hot that I took off my jacket. A man was sitting on the front steps of the Scuola Grande reading the papers, while the various osterie and restaurants along the fondamenta were about to open. My initial plan was to go as far as the ghetto and buy some almond biscuits at Panificio Giovanni Volpe (the only kosher bakery in Venice, highly recommended!), but then I got distracted taking pictures and completely forgot about it.

I turned right after the restaurant Rioba, crossed the bridge that leads to Campo Do Mori and turned right again to go towards the Abbazia. I don't know exactly what it is about that place that makes it so magical, but every time I go I remain enchanted and think it is an outstanding location for any sort of photoshoot. Anyway, before I was able to reach out for my camera, my phone rang. I didn't know the number and when I replied on the other side there was Carlo Mion, a journalist of the local newspaper La Nuova Venezia.

Mr Mion is a crime reporter based outside Venice, and a couple of years ago (in 2016, if I'm not mistaken) he started a weekly column dedicated to and called Venetians. Every week he features three stories of people who were either born or -anyway- live in Venice, a sort of story of Venice beyond tourism. So, he asked me if I was free on the same day to meet and a have a brief chat. How nice! We agreed to meet at 1 pm in front of the Scuola Grande, so considering I still had time, I proceeded with my explorations, until I started to feel hungry and went to sullaluna.

The place was bright and luminous as always, with its strong atmosphere of peace. What I love about that teahouse and bookshop is that its owners have opened it with the intention of doing something for the city. In fact, it organises a lot of workshops for the local children and it is clear from the high quality choices of both the ingredients and the books/educational activities that the target audience are families and all individuals looking for peace, relaxation, organic produce, good reads and even better company.

Most of the illustrated books are for children, then there are lots of inviting -and carefully selected- cookery books and biographies. I have to say that I bought quite a few presents here, but that day, though, I didn't want to buy a book, so I just brought a new supplement of La Repubblica called Live, about food, health and beauty. I don't know if I ever told you, but my husband has a fixation with newspapers. Even though he has no time to fully read them, he buys them everyday and at the weekend (thus, Friday, Saturday and Sundays!!!), in addition to his usuals, he buys additional supplements and papers (my favourite being La Domenica del Sole 24 ore and his La Lettura of Corriere della Sera). So, it was him who got me the supplement, which I really enjoyed.

I was served by a lovely woman named Elena, an ever smiling blonde who always makes me feel at home. I sat on the longer wooden table, with another girl from Northern Europe who was happily savouring her ricottina. I asked for a green tea first, then I ordered a pumpkin and leek soup, served with toasted organic bread. Not only was it beautiful, it also tasted exquisite! I was afraid it was going to be overly sweet, but instead it was just perfect. That small teahouse may have a short menu, but all that it offers is amazing and you can be sure that whatever you choose, you will land on your feet. As previously mentioned, all produce is organic and, whenever possible, the veg arrives straight from the nearby island of Sant'Erasmo. The cakes and biscuits too are delicious, besides there are lots of gluten-free and vegan options for those who need to follow certain dietary restrictions. As some of you may know, I'm more on the savoury side, so I highly recommend trying the torte salate (mini savoury pies) and the quiches.

I was feeling fulfilled. Sitting in a beautiful place on a beautiful day, leafing through my supplement, eating, drinking and taking pictures. I took my time, but when I glanced at the clock I realised I had to get a move on, so I paid and left.

My meeting with Mr Mion was incredibly pleasant. We sat kissed by the sun and he proved to be a kind hearted and curious man. I appreciated that he immediately admitted to be campagnolo (from the countryside, thus not Venetian). We spoke about general things and he gave me lots of hints on people to contact and possible posts I could write. For him, this Venetians column is a very positive fact, which not only has allowed him to focus on something different from crimes and murders, but has also put him in contact with loving and kind people, whose names won't be written in any history chronicle, but that represent the core of my city. So, even if you speak a poor Italian, I invite you to browse through his Facebook page and look at the faces of the real and authentic individuals that compose our community, the people I love the most ...

Anyway, going back to us, I hope I gave you some inspiration on how to spend a lovely and easy going day in Cannaregio, with a stop in a homely and welcoming place like sullaluna.

Bye for now and speak to you soon!

XXX from Venezia

There are doors that once opened unfold worlds of unexpected imagery, and this is what happens when one steps into Sunset Yogurt, the new contemporary glass jewellery gallery located in fondamenta San Gioacchin, in Castello. It will be immediately clear that this is no ordinary shop, but rather a space where art, debate and performance merge together to give shape to beautiful, unique and witty pieces of jewellery.

The person behind this project is Venetian artist Cosima Montavoci, who recently returned to Venice after 10 years in Amsterdam, where she graduated at the Gerrit Rietveld Fine Art Academy, always investigating new communication paths for her preferred matter: glass. Her initial training, though, took place no less than on the island of Murano, inside a furnace, thus in a very macho and not exactly female-friendly environment, where she resisted for over six months. Acquired the techniques, she fled abroad to experience the world and perfect her art.

Her work is inspired by the people and events around her, in an ongoing dialogue with the surrounding reality. Cosima believes in the beauty of imperfection, in the uniqueness of every individual and handmade artefact. Every piece is made from scratch and the human body is the starting point of her research, dissected and objectified, explored and transformed, to convey new messages and sometimes combine with other medias, such as stainless steel, leather, resin and more.

The gallery is located inside a former butcher shop and she wanted to respect its original destination, not making any drastic renovation, but only brightening up the space. On the occasion of the opening, in fact, a meat tartare was served during a performance.

The furniture is minimal, with both vintage and contemporary objects, most rescued from an old attic in Amsterdam, like the curvaceous dummies that guard the space when she's away, respectively named Ramona, Veronika, Linda and Betty.

Speaking about the jewellery, it stands out with elegance. The intense colours and the finely shaped designs result in timeless pieces able to enhance the personality of those who wear them. There are several collections and each is so unique that I invite you to browse directly on Sunset Yogurt's website. Personally, I fell in love with Alex's human face stud earrings and necklaces, which explore the concept of beauty in a sophisticated and charming manner, but also have a crush on Thingness, where the protagonists are human body parts (soon on show at the Milano Fashion Week). My mother, instead, was immediately attracted by the strikingly shiny red beads that compose the Petra collection and by the daisy-shaped necklaces of Margherita, although for herself she would choose a piece from the refined Black & White series.

The gallery is open by appointment only and for the launch of new collections and special events, many of which will take place in concomitance with the Biennale d'Arte. In consideration of the space itself, food too will be a key element of the soirées. I can't really tell you more because the projects Cosima is working at are quite a few and in collaboration with other artists, but if you wish to stay up to date on what's going on, I suggest you follow her Facebook/Instagram pages or subscribe to the Newsletter.

By the way, here I have spoken exclusively about Sunset Yogurt, but Cosima is active on more ends and has exhibited sculptures in mixed media. Particularly interesting were the From Dust to Dust and the Organic Memory shows, both realised in Italy. As for Sunset Yogurt, after being selected at the Sieraad Art Fair in Amsterdam in 2016 and being featured on Glamour UK in May, June and July 2017, the next step is the Milano Fashion Week. And -of course- her very own events!

Personally, I feel enthusiastic about the fact that a young woman in her early 30s has chosen Venice as the place to launch her art and I am already looking forward to participating in the next events!

Finally glass exceeds the sphere of craftsmanship to enter and communicate with the world of art, intended as live discussion and reflection on what is happening around us. Beautiful objects crafted by hand with the sensitivity that only a female eye (and hands) are able to create. Please, don't hesitate to contact Cosima to visit the atelier and remember to keep an eye on her events, I promise you won't be disappointed!

Fondamenta San Gioacchin, Castello 494/A

Contact: +39 3703689211

I don't know if these are the first signs of 'ageing' and acquired wisdom, but over the last years I seem to find great pleasure in small and simple things. Almost every morning, I wake up before dawn, have a first breakfast by myself and head out to jog while the city is still sleeping. When I run, I follow two main routes, but the most frequent is Riva degli Schiavoni, Riva dei Partigiani, Sant'Elena and back, never failing to pass by Piazza San Marco. At that time it is marvellous, especially if I get to arrive soon enough to assist the moment when the lamps switch off and the soft morning light illuminates the stolen marbles, stones and statues that populate the square. During the day, particularly from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, I hardly ever walk along Riva degli Schiavoni, too full of huge groups of 20, 30, 40 + people that arrive by boat, invade the city for a couple of hours, and leave in the evening (not seeing the best that Venice has to offer...).

During the day, in fact, I live like an outsider. I wouldn't want you to think that this fact is a problem for me, because it isn't. I've never been a socialite, I have my very good friends that I'm always happy to see, my students (who -although sometimes drive me crazy- I just love), my family, my brother, now 16 years old and really handsome, and -of course- my husband. Besides, as you may have already heard me say, in Venice one is never really alone, as we all know each other and the moment we step out of our door, someone will offer coffee. Let's say it, one really has to search for peace, but thank goodness, the city offers plenty of beautiful spots where we can recharge our batteries. Residential areas, maybe not as fancy as Rialto and San Marco, but that shine of a magical light of their own, given by the faded hues of the walls, the unique textures of the old wooden window blinds and the colourful laundry hanging from the houses.

This is my Venice, the Venice of the simpler people. A city of dark narrow calli and hidden corti and campi, a city of rotten benches and crumpling walls, of sincere smiles or grimaces (depending on the mood of our interlocutor), and -the bast part- of inviting aromas coming from private kitchens and osterie. Last week I was so lucky to have two free mornings and, both days, the weather was amazing. On Thursday, I slept longer than usual and when Vito kissed me goodbye and left for the office, I decided to treat myself to a special day. I didn't want to cook, but just enjoy the sun and wander around, as if I were a visitor willing to get lost. Because -using Heraclitus' words- If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.

So I went towards Celestia, which until a few years ago was seen by us Venetians as a place with cheap housing for workers and lower classes (although now, some families are evicting old ladies to make a profit and transform their properties into airbnbs...). To go there I passed in front of Laboratorio Occupato Morion and under the colonnade in San Francesco della Vigna. By the way, have you ever visited that church? It is absolutely breathtaking and I highly recommend to go and walk around the cloisters. Then, it is a 5 minute walk from the church to Campo della Celestia. The place has nothing, only two benches and one of the two State Archives we have in the lagoon. When I arrived, there was an elderly lady sitting on the bench under the sun, so I sat on the other, which was half in the shade but still resembled perfection. It was then that I realised I had my camera, but hadn't brought anything to read...

After a couple of minutes, I proceeded towards Campo Santa Ternita, got really lost (yes, you heard me... I took the wrong calle) until I remembered the way and reached Campo Do Pozzi, San Martino and Arsenale. Sometimes it seems to me that I always take the same pictures, that the web is filled with images of Venice... but then I remember the movie Smoke, with super sexy Harvey Kietel (nicknamed by my mother call of the wild...), the scene when a client of the Tobacco shop recognises his wife (gone in heaven) in a picture. Precisely, in one of the pictures that Kietel would take every morning at the same hour, from the exact same place, thus in theory all identical. But the reality is that no day is like another and every photo says something unique. Representations of how the photographer sees the subject and the world.

Anyway, at that point I decided to buy some jam-filled cookies, a light-hearted magazine and go home for a second breakfast. I know some of you will find this a little arguable, but I made myself a drink with a base of dark cocoa powder, hazelnut milk and coffee. Fatty, nutty and delicious. The cookies, instead, I got at the supermarket. Normally I would go to Panificio Emilio Colussi, which is the best when it comes to biscuits and fresh pasta, but last Thursday I didn't feel like going to the centre of town.

Once home, I took my time and laid the table as if I was expecting a guest. I watered the plants and changed carafe to the flowers Vito had bought on Tuesday in Campo Santa Maria Formosa (every Tuesday and Saturday morning there is a wonderful couple from the mainland that sets-up a small flower stall, just next to Codussi's tower bell and the not so-ugly Mascaron, from which the name of the restaurant). Then I leafed through La Cucina Italiana, getting some inspiration for my recipes, until the door bell rang and the postman delivered my new ceramics bought on Etsy! I know and realise that global platforms like Amazon and Etsy are spoiling the business for small producers, but some things I cannot find anywhere else. Besides, they returned the pleasure of receiving post (which otherwise would only be made up of utility bills!).

After unwrapping my beautiful purchases, I cleaned up and went out again, this time to meet a dear friend and have a small bite and a glass together, but mostly to chat. An easy day doing nothing but unwinding.

So, if you ask me, even doing nothing special can be amazing in a city like Venice. And remember that beauty or ugliness are often in the eyes of the beholder and that even when life keeps challenging you, we can decide to look at the world with shimmering eyes...

Have a great week and talk to you soon!

Some of you may have noticed that I have been writing a little less about Venice lately, and this is because it has been a period of thoughts and meditations (and a lot of work too...). I have always wanted to keep the blog as a positive space where I could focus on the pros of living in Venice, but the reality is that the city is changing and I am not sure I like what is happening.

It's not a novelty, it's years that Venice is going through radical transformations, but the speed with which these are happening now is scaring me. I had to change my Food Shopping in Venice post at least three times, because some of the places mentioned have already closed (like Le Perle del Mare in Rialto), and consider that my blog is two years old today, thus relatively 'young'... Consider also that while small shops have closed, big supermarkets have opened. Right now, the fish stalls in Rialto are 5 and the plan of the administration is to transform the Loggie into a small centre with the museum of trade and quality restaurants. Of course, I am happy if this will give the opportunity to those few fishmongers to survive and maintain the service for locals too, but... it also highlights how much tourism has become like a terrible drug that is killing this place. I'm a bit doubtful also because the funds are coming from private investors, and I have personally never heard of privates investing money to help local communities and, anyway, the target audience and the type of service is certainly not addressed to the local population... Sometimes I wish Brugnaro had the same plans for Venice as the ones he has for Mestre and Marghera, where the funds invested -though- are public (I'm sure you can grasp my opinion between the lines...).

As for Vito and myself, next year our rental contract expires and to be honest with you, if our landlady decides not to renew it or to increase the rent... I have no idea what will be of us, and sometimes it feels tiring to constantly live in a state of precariousness. But I have hopes and, even if I confide in our landlady's intelligence, I am starting to think of a plan B because one never knows in life. What I know, for sure, is that I want to stay.

I want to stay because Venice is my home and there is no place like it. So many people have asked me how I can cope with the fleets of tourists in the summer (well, throughout the year now) and how I can accept passing from creative jobs to low skill jobs when needed, just to stay here and pay a high rent for a tiny apartment. How can I make them understand that, for me, despite all the limits, the quality of life in the lagoon is so high that it would take nothing to make it better? Venice is a city with plenty of potential, if you ask me, I see it as a second seat for some sort of European governative agency, for international artists and important congresses. With the extended wifi service called Venice Connected and the third most important international airport in Italy, we have all the right cards to play, we just need the will and an administration with a long-term plan focused on the lagoon (and not just the mainland...).

In what other city can one walk everywhere? A city with no cars, where kids can run freely in the streets without risks, where I -and all other women- can jog at 6 am in the morning without fears, with art and history at every corner and a unique and very solid social tissue, made of people that walk the same streets and all know each other (and each other's business...a lot of gossip going on here!) and help each other, a place where one never feels alone, because you just need to step out of the house and you will hear someone call your name and invite you for a coffee (or a spritz...). In Venice, everywhere I look I see beauty. I see beauty even in the fading window blinds and cracking old doors, in the old signs with stylish fonts emerging from the walls, which remind us of what there was once (like in the picture above, with the sign PLIP -the old milk factory located in Mestre- just next to one of my husband's favourite cheese shops, the only one where he buys the formaggio Friulano). I could continue forever listing what makes living here so special to me, but I'm sure those of you who have been reading me from the beginning know them well.

Look, the other morning I was finally free and felt blessed because the weather was lovely. Still freezing cold, but sunny and with a sky so clear that it almost felt as if we could touch the Dolomites. Vittorio was working, so I decided to do some shopping in the neighbourhood and pass by his workplace to say hello. I crossed Campo Santa Maria Formosa, Campo Santa Marina, Miracoli and had a coffee with him at Caffè Brasilia in Strada Nuova. When he returned to his duties, I went to buy our greens in the stall in Rio Tera' Barba Frutariol and then decided to proceed towards Campo dei Gesuiti and have another coffee at We Crociferi, just to do myself some good. It may sound silly, but these are the small things that make me happy, sitting in a beautiful cafeteria, surrounded by students, locals and foreigners, sipping my coffee and leafing through the papers.

From there I took the longer way, walking along F.ta Nove and then stopping for bread and frittelle (Vito's weakness) at Crosera bakery. That area is wonderful for me, it's incredible how it is always tranquil and peaceful, even in the warmer months. A beautiful residential area.

When I arrived home, I decided to cook tagliatelle. I will immediately say that I bought the tagliatelle at the supermarket (I got the Integrali ViviVerde Coop ones). I do love to make pasta, but I don't have the machine for cutting tagliatelle and the last time I tried, the flavour was delicious, but the shape recalled more the one of maltagliati(which literally means poorly cut). I did make the pesto though! I don't know if I can actually call it pesto, maybe it's more like a thick cream/dressing, in fact I sautéed the black cabbage in the pan with garlic, dried tomatoes and chilli, then I blended it with walnuts and olive oil in the mixer. DE-LI-CIOUS !!! For inflammation reasons, I'm drastically cutting down dairy, so my version is great for vegans, while Vito added a great amount of parmesan to his!

I enjoy cooking in the morning because I do all my cutting, chopping and blending at the table. My house, in fact, may be tiny, but... what a view I have from my kitchen window! I can see the cupolas of San Zaccaria change colour in the different hours of the day, the cosy corte del pozzo roverso (court of the upside down well) beneath my house and I understand how windy it is looking at how much the tree branches are moving. It is in front of this view that I enjoy my simple dish of pasta, so... I hope you'll like it too and buon appetito!!!

RECIPE:

CREAMY WHOLEWHEAT TAGLIATELLE WITH SPICY BLACK CABBAGE

Level: Easy

Prep. Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 6/8 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients

180 gr whole wheat tagliatelle

1 black cabbage

2 dried tomatoes

5/6 crushed walnuts

1 chilli pepper

1 crushed clove of garlic

extra virgin olive oil

parmesan (optional)

Directions:

1. Wash and finely chop the black cabbage. Heat a pan, add oil, garlic, chilli and roughly sliced dried tomatoes; when the oil starts popping add the black cabbage. Give it a stir, remove garlic, lower the heat and with the tips of your fingers, sprinkle some water onto the pan. Cook for about 6/8 minutes at medium heat, adding water whenever the pan seems to be getting dry.

2. When ready, let it cool and then blend it with your crushed walnuts and a good amount of oil. (optional: if you wish you can add some grated parmesan to your sauce now.)

3. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add a pinch of salt of the tagliatelle. Cook the pasta one minute less than the time indicated on the pack.

4. When ready, drain the pasta and finish cooking it in the pan with a little bit of its cooking water and the black cabbage sauce.

5. Top with extra walnuts or parmesan and serve.

It was a couple of weeks ago, while re-reading 'The omnivore's dilemma'by Michael Pollan, that I realised how much my relationship with food is influenced by the times I'm living in. In the first pages, Mr Pollan speaks about the sudden disappearance of white bread from the shelves of American supermarkets and sees this phenomenon as one of the first signs of the power of food industries in influencing our dietary choices. It was the beginning of the carb phobia era, followed by the one of sugar and then fat. People started replacing the name of real food products with terms like carbohydrates, proteins, omega 3 and so on, following trendy diets, and buying nutritiously poor products erroneously considering them healthier.

The same thing happened in Italy, although with different times and in a very unique way. This story (or should we speak about history?) has been brilliantly described by journalist Paolo Mieli in his food documentary 'Pane e Politica', aired on Rai Storia (the title means Bread and Politics). I have to thank Vito for making me watch this program, as I found it informative and engaging at the same time and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to share some curiosities with you, who probably don't all understand Italian. As the name of the documentary suggests, a great part of the documentary is focused on the relationship between food and politics, introduced by Orson Welles during his visit to Italy, when he invited Palmiro Togliatti (at the time, head of the Italian Communist Party) to ask him why his party refused the Marshall Plan and convince him to change his mind. I'm not going to talk politics, instead I want to tell you a little more about our cooking programs!

Differently from America, in Italy it was only at the end of the 1950s that the country had an economic boom. Before that, Italians were poor and hungry, a population exhausted by the war. While in America the first supermarket opened in 1930, in Italy we had to wait 1957 and it is not by chance that one of the founders was no less than Nelson Rockefeller, with the Italians Marco Busnelli, the Brusotto brothers and the Crespi family. It was the beginning of the consumer revolution. 1957 was also the year of Carosello, the first space for advertisement on the telly. Please note that very few people had a television (only at the end of the 70s it became a normal fact), so those who had one would host friends and neighbours and watch shows together. Initially television was a social fact.

Programs started in the afternoon and had to be educational. In fact, although Italy has been united since 1861, in every region (and every province and every municipality) people spoke their own dialect and had their own traditions, thus the first aim of television programs was to unify the country. A fantastic show I must mention was 'Non è mai troppo tardi', presented by Alberto Manzi, in which he taught to read and write to the nation! With regard to food, Italians spoke like they ate, thus... in dialect! So, new cookery programs started taking place, shaping our dietary habits and trying to provide people with a trait d'union. Initially, the protagonists of such shows were warm and welcoming women, used to cook with love for their family and friends. These warm housewives were always sided by a knowledgeable male host. For example, Colazione allo Studio 7', with Luigi Veronelli and Delia Scala first, then Ave Ninchi, became extremely popular because in addition to the re-discovered recipes, it included interviews with farmers, breeders, fishermen and insights into our territory.

It was a great show and people loved it. The only negative consequence was that people started associating haute cuisine with men, and 'everyday cooking' with housewives (so wrong!). From that moment on, men were seen as gourmets and connoisseur, whereas women were relegated to the home. We can see how the female role started to change in the show 'Sale, pepe e fantasia'(salt, pepper and imagination), where Wilma De Angelis frankly admitted to be hopeless at cooking, but brilliant at presenting. A working-woman, quite able to extricate herself around the cookers... and showing branded products. We are at the end of the 1970s, when most families did own a television and thus tv viewers were considered prospect consumers!

With the 80s, the relationship with food changes further. It was Rosanna Lambertucci with her program 'Più sani e più belli'(healthier, prettier) who associated food to beauty, providing tips and advice for being healthier and looking better with the right diet and exercises. Consider that this woman still sells books and is considered an important food writer in my country (can you believe that?!?). Thank goodness in the year 2000, Antonella Clerici started a super popular program called 'La prova del cuoco'(still on!), re-introducing the warmth that only a woman can have in the kitchen. By the way, the format was the one of the British 'Ready, steady, cook', but adapted to our culture. Antonella has recently left the program, which is now presented by younger and sexier Elisa Isoardi, but I have to say that with her gone, the show has a totally different flavour.

In general, with the advent of social media and an ever more competitive society, men have been put at the centre of attention again. No more housewives or working mothers at the stoves, but muscular and strong (sometimes rude) males. Food becomes a show in itself, it must be spectacular and beautifully plated. Suffice to think about cookery competition shows like Masterchef and company. The act of cooking seems to have lost the genuine, pure love for local, seasonal food. Social media have also started the phenomenon now named food porn. Just log into your Instagram and look at all those beautiful pictures, in which ingredients are often associated for their colours rather than for the final taste!

I am myself a victim and a perpetrator of this image-focused world, and I cannot help notice that a huge part of food photography consists in either fake foods (no, the ice-cream isn't really melting ... and btw, it's not ice-cream at all) or mouthwatering and fattening foods, mainly cakes with colourful frostings, burgers of all types, and dripping cheese. What's funny is that this obsession with food and food images is taking place when most people seem to be constantly dieting and when inviting different friends for dinner can become a daunting experience (maybe one is vegan, another follows a paleo diet, and so on...).

As for myself, I like to think that I follow a flexitarian diet and practice natural cooking, which for me means: eat local whenever possible, eat the seasons, eat the rainbow. As my grandmother used to say, 'a little bit of everything in moderation, mainly greens and grains'. So, before saying goodbye, I want to share a very simple recipe with seasonal ingredients: carrots! Because I have been speaking about pretty foods, I opted for the so-called rainbow carrots. I chose them because in addition to being beautiful, they are also healthy and exquisitely tasty! So, buon appetito and let me know if you enjoyed the post.

RECIPE: ROASTED RAINBOW CARROTS WITH HONEY AND LEMON

Level: easy Prep. time: 5 minutes Cook time: 50 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

6/8 rainbow carrots

3 teaspoons honey

1 lemon

extra virgin olive oil

mixed seeds (I used pumpkin and chia)

salt (optional)

pepper

Directions:

1) Pre-heat oven at 200°.

2) Squeeze the lemon juice and combine with the honey and the olive oil.

3) Peel the carrots and slice lengthwise, put in a baking pan and cover with the liquid.

4) Bake at 180/200° for about 50 minutes. When ready, grind some pepper, top with seeds of your choice and serve.

Excellent with roasted curried potatoes and my special chickpea hummus.

Believe or not, another year is about to end and in less than a week we will all be celebrating Christmas with our families and friends, eating pantagruelian meals and unwrapping presents. A yearly rite that fills the air with a positive sense of love and gratitude and that has the power to make people more sensitive and thoughtful than usual.

I really like Christmas, although at moments it also makes me feel a bit melancholic and I can't help think about what I'm about to leave behind and what will come next. Obviously, nothing truly changes on the 31st of December, it is us who give a symbolic value to this date, but I find it essential to, at some point, draw a line and consider what we have achieved, learned and experienced and look deep inside ourselves and decide what we want to keep, what we want to discard and the direction we wish to embrace. A sort of excuse to stop for a moment and listen to our inner self, and maybe make decisions that will make us happier or even change our life.

What strikes me is how fast time goes and how many things actually happen, things I don't seem to notice in my everyday life. Every year I get to know -and accept- myself more, but every year I also discover something new about myself, a passion, a weakness, a personality trait I had no idea was there and could be so strong. Every year I also get to know -and accept- my dear ones a little more, and whenever I think of them and the moments spent together, my heart melts.

Maybe it's Lucio Dalla's song playing on the radio that's making me so emotional, but anyway, while I ponder all these thoughts, I'm sitting in the kitchen, with a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other, ready to draft my new year's resolutions. I'm waiting for the water to boil so that I can cook two generous portions of ravioli stuffed with ricotta and artichokes, today's recipe.

I'm making ravioli for Vito, as it is traditional for him to have fresh pasta in this period of the year (his mother was from Modena and would make tagliatelle and tortellini, but the latter are way too complicated for me and I don't have the machine for tagliatelle, so I'm sticking with simpler vegetarian ravioli!).

Ive always seen fresh pasta as a festive dish, as it takes time and I don't make it that often. But pasta-making is actually a lot easier than it seems and it's a real stress-releasing activity, which I would recommend to anyone in need of doing something creative and rewarding. Not only do you use your hands, you also get to taste the result of your hard work. My tip is to use one egg every 100 gr of flour and add one yolk at the end, and also it's important to knead the dough well and with energy, but being careful not to 'heat' it (spoiling the whole thing...). White 00 flour is soft and ideal for this preparation, but if you prefer using a whole wheat/spelt or rice flour the proportions remain more or less the same. Add warm water if it seems too dry, or add flour if it feels too sticky.

Anyway, going back to our resolutions, I'm keeping mine realistic and achievable. The plan is to draft two lists, one private and with extremely specific goals, and another more general, which should function as a memorandum and will look more or less like this:

1. STAY FOCUSED ON YOUR GOALS

Invest and believe in yourself and don't let external factors get in between you and your objectives.

2. DON'T BE AFRAID TO SAY NO

If you don't want to do something, then don't do it. Full stop.

3. LEARN TO GIVE THE RIGHT IMPORTANCE TO THINGS

Sometimes taking a distance from something/someone can be the best thing we could do, and we should not allow other people's negativity influence our mood and spirit.

4. LEARN TO UNWIND

Learn to appreciate doing nothing, relaxing far from electronic devices, social media and other distressful apps.

5. NURTURE IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS

Make time for the people you care about and want in your life and water the plant of love everyday. When it's time to argue and confront opinions, do it, but when it's time to make peace... make peace!

Five simple guiding principles for the coming year, which I'll print and stick on my fridge. What about you? Do you have any particular ritual or practice you do every year? Please let me know, I'd be happy to learn about it!

RECIPE: RAVIOLI STUFFED WITH RICOTTA AND ARTICHOKES

Level: Easy/Medium

Prep. Time:

Cook Time: 8'

Ingredients (for 22/24 ravioli):

- Fore the pasta

250 gr. 00 flour (or you can replace it with whole/spelt/rice flour)

2 free range eggs + 1 yolk

a pinch of salt

- For the filling:

5 artichokes

130 gr fresh cow's milk ricotta

parmesan (optional)

a pinch of salt

black pepper and sage to garnish

Directions:

PASTA:

- On a flat wooden surface, put almost all the flour and make a whole inside. Add the previously mixed eggs and yolk and amalgamate well. When the flour has absorbed the liquids, use your hands to knead the dough. Work the dough with energy for about 10 minutes, pulling it in all directions (without tearing it!!!!). It has to be elastic, so in case it seems too sticky add a little bit of flour or if, on the contrary, it seems too dry add a few drops of warm water.

- When the dough is ready, form a ball, cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature and out of direct light for about 30 minutes.

FILLING

- Remove outer leaves from the artichokes, wash and slice thinly. Heat a pan, add oil and a crushed clove of garlic and simmer the artichokes for about 8 minutes. When ready, let cool and, using a hand blender, turn into a cream. Add the ricotta, some grated parmesan, a pinch of salt, pepper and keep aside.

RAVIOLI

- Roll the pasta until it's a little less than 1/2 centimetre. It has to be thin but steady.

-Cut into long rectangles and with a cutter make the shape you wish (I opted for circles).

- With a teaspoon, put some filling at the centre of the circles, then close the ravioli making half moons and sealing the outer part pressing gently with your pinky fingers.

- Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt and cook the ravioli ad medium/high heat for about 7 minutes. When ready, drain and pass in a pan with a few drops of cooking water cooking water, dress with olive oil, pepper, sage and serve.

With Christmas round the corner, in Italy it's all about yeasted cakes. Right now, traditional cakes like panettoni, sweet focacce and pandori occupy entire bakery shelves and spread a layer of dough-scented midst in the streets. Their fluffy and doughy perfume has a sort of hypnotising effect on me and as soon as it enters though my nostrils, it starts obsessing me for the whole day. To be honest with you, I have never dared (and probably never will) making one of these traditional cakes at home: I don't have the necessary spaces and equipment. Besides, although making our own sourdough is easy, I don't do it because of the re-fills and because I lack a proper space for it. Still, all this 'floating sweetness' is making me feel inspired and for this reason, I decided to challenge myself anyhow and try make a bunch of yeasted pastries.

For the challenge I chose to a slightly easier version of Kranz pastries, among my all-times favourites. Having a small oven, instead than making a big wreath, I opted for smaller, single portions pastries. I had already made them a couple of times before, although in general I buy them (and in Venice, the best ones are to be found at Pasticceria Dal Mas and Crosera). They come in different versions, some have chocolate, others raisins and in certain places you can even find them with pistachio cream and crushed pistachios (so good....). Super luscious, they are simply mouth watering and pleasingly rich in taste.

I used to see them as impossible and super difficult to make, until I saw a cookery program and watching the procedure I realised that the recipe was totally doable and even fun! My version is with dark chocolate and peach jam. It's not difficult, the only thing is that it takes time because the dough needs to rest overnight and then another hour to rise, but it's so cold that I don't mid spending the afternoons at home, so engaging in a longer-than-usual recipe is a great activity in this season!

By the way, I had always heard that the origin of these pastries was Austrian,so I looked for additional info online, but couldn't find anything. Then, the other day, I bumped into an online article by Gianni Tose of the blog Corpo, Anima e Frattaglie (read here) that suggested that the pastry we call Kranz is a reinterpretation of an Austrian braided bread that became popular in Lombardy and Veneto during the Austro-Hungarian occupation. He then continues explaining that the word kranz in German means garland/wreath/crown, thus it's too generic to refer to a specific cake. Thus, it is quite likely that the word kranz was part of the name of the Austrian sweet braided bread, possibly the Hefezopf-Hefekranz. This traditional bread comes in two shapes: like a braid (zopf) and like a wreath (kranz), therefore the Italians chose the name kranz abandoning its original meaning and adding puff pastry in the preparation.

I don't know about that, but it is very plausible! After all cooking is all about being inspired, adding our own and trying new things. I hope you will enjoy my version, it's quite basic but feel free to add chocolate chips or crushed nuts of some sort. Let me know and happy breakfasting!

RECIPE: CHOCOLATE AND PEACH JAM KRANZ

Level: Medium/Difficult

Prep. Time: 30' + overnight rest + 1 hour rise

Cook Time: 30/40'

Portions: 4 mini cakes

Ingredients:

- For the dough:

500 gr 00 flour

100 gr sugar

2 teaspoons brewer yeast

3 organic eggs

grated lemon zests

120 ml water

150 gr butter

oil

-For the filling

3/4 spoons of peach jam

130 gr melted chocolate

- For the syrup (optional)

130 gr sugar

80 gr water

Directions:

Day 1

1. The previous day, in a bowl combine flour, sugar, yeast and lemon zests and work in a mixer for about a minute, then add the eggs and the water and continue at low speed for 5 minutes.

2. Add the butter cut into small squares and keep working for about 10 minutes, until you obtain a nice and smooth dough. When ready, cover the bowl with cling film and let it rest in the fridge overnight.

Day 2

3. The following day, melt the chocolate in a water bat. When ready, put into a bowl, add the jam and amalgamate. (Be careful not to let the chocolate cool and turn hard again!!!!)

4. Remove dough from fridge and divide in four small balls. Sprinkle some flour on a piece of parchment paper and roll the four doughs trying to give them a rectangular shape.

5. Now spread the melted chocolate and jam filling on every piece, without covering the borders. Roll lengthwise, cut in half and twist the two parts together forming a circle.

6. Cover the pastries in plastic wrap and let rise for about one hour at room temperature and out of direct sunlight.

7. Pre-heat oven at 200° and when the doughs have risen, brush them with some egg and bake for 30/35 minutes at 180°.

8. For an extra glow, prepare some syrup heating in a small pot sugar and water. When the sugar has melted, brush the warm pastries with the syrup, let cool and serve.

Radicchio, one of my favourite veggies. The word radicchio is used to refer to a variety of bitter salads, although the most iconic and representative are the red/purplish ones from Verona, Chioggia, and Treviso. I also like the 'variegato' from Castelfranco, obtained from the hybridisation of the rosso di Treviso and escarole endive (yum...so good!).

I have to confess that until about 10 years ago, when speaking with my English friends, I would call it red/wild chicory. Then, one day, I watched for the thousandth time the movie "When Harry met Sally" and couldn't help notice that in one of the initial scenes, when they are in four at a restaurant, Meg Ryan orders some raw radicchio for her starter (watch scene)! How funny! I have to thank America's 'girl next door' if I learned that you guys call it just like us, but with a different pronunciation!

Anyway, I read that this crop was already cultivated in Treviso in the 16th century and was originally used to feed animals. The costume of 'eating flowers' was introduced eventually and comes from the Orient, probably like the plant itself. It is not by chance, in fact, that in the Veneto people would refer to radicchio using the definitions 'edible flower' or 'winter rose'. The one from Verona is long and with large leaves, the one from Chioggia is round, while the one produced in Treviso can be either precoce or tardivo. The precocious variety is picked in September directly from the fields and doesn't imply any particular extra work, while the tardive variety is picked in November, tied in bunches and left with the roots in tanks filled with spring water at a constant temperature between 12 and 15 degrees, to facilitate its re-growth, which ends 15/20 days later when new shoots start sprouting (source: www.gustomio.it).

Many are the recipes with this ingredient, mainly savoury. A few of my favourites are radicchio passed in the pan with oil and garlic and topped with a soft cheese like stracchino and anchovies, or risotto with chicken livers and tardive radicchio (rigorously made with chicken stock). While among the sweet recipes, if you come to the lagoon, you really ought to try the torta chioggiotta, made with radicchio, carrots, almonds and, of course, butter and eggs. A real comfort -and super filling- dessert!

I wanted to try use radicchio in a sweet recipe too, but I opted for the one from Verona. To avoid enhancing its bitter taste, I simply chopped it, without cooking it, and thought of combining it with dark cocoa and cherry jam. I used full fat milk and olive oil and the result was a lovely and moist cake, ideal for breakfast. The cherry jam was just right, as it's sweet and slightly acid at the same time, giving a good balance. Overall, this radicchio cake was easy to make and quite light, as I didn't add a lot of sugar. So far I've made it twice and, in addition to my husband, I brought one to my mother's house too, so to have more feedback. Everyone enjoyed it (I know we shouldn't ask our family... but I assure you that my brother is extremely honest and I totally trust him), so I hope you'll like it too. But please, do let me know what you think!

Bye for now and have a great weekend!...

RADICCHIO, DARK COCOA AND CHERRY JAM CAKE

Prep. Time: 10'

Cook Time: 30/35'Yield: 8 slices

Level: Easy

Ingredients:

220 gr whole wheat flour

30 gr brown sugar

10 gr dark cocoa

10 finely chopped almonds

10 gr chocolate chips

15/16 gr baking powder

1 radicchio di Verona

220 ml milk

30 ml olive oil

3 spoon cherry jam

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven at 200°

2. Wash, dry and finely chop the radicchio and the almonds.

3. In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, chocolate chips, radicchio and almonds and mix with a wooden spoon.

4. In a small jar, amalgamate milk, olive oil and the cherry jam using a fork a fork.

5. Pour the liquid mixture onto the dry mixture and stir well until you get a soft (but not too liquid) and elastic dough.

6. Put the dough in a baking pan and let cook in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Excellent served with extra jam on the side and topped with extra cocoa powder. Great both with coffee or a glass of sweet wine (try the red Recioto della Valpolicella!).

In days like these, I tend to become even lazier than usual and once I return home, it becomes difficult for me to go out again. And please note that the word difficult here is actually a synonym of impossible... Food-wise, one of the dishes I turn to the most in this period, is definitely soup. I usually make a lot of stock in advance, separate it in plastic bags and store it in the freezer. I don't have a specific recipe for the stock, I just throw in a pot the veg I have (typically onions, carrots and celery), bring to a boil, add a pinch of salt and let cook for about one hour and a half. The times I don't have any ready-to-use stock at hand, I just do without. I never use stock cubes, as I find they spoil the good taste of real veg, and I advise you to do the same!

The recipe I'm sharing today is one of my favourites, very simple and easy to make, perfect also for vegetarians and vegans (as long as they don't top it with parmesan cheese...): a bean, fennel and potato soup served with crunchy crostini. Soothing and comforting.

I used borlotti beans from the small town of Lamon, in the province of Belluno. I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago, when the beans were still fresh, whereas this time I had to use dried beans, bought at the Rialto market from the corner stall in front of the Pescaria (the best in Rialto for herbs and legumes).

I've never been to Lamon, but beware that the product is a local delicacy and there is even a Consorzio di Tutela (Protection Cooperative) that guarantees the production methods are ecological and 100% natural and that the crop is fertilised using only 'mature' manure. In Venice, at the times of the Serenissima, borlotti would arrive in sacks via river and were called the 'meat of the poor'. Beans have always been greatly appreciated by us lagoon people and the proof of the pudding (although it would be more appropriate to call it the proof of the bean) is that, in in any osteria, two must-haves are the insalata di fagioli e cipolla condita con aceto (bean and onion salad, rigorously dressed with vinegar) and the iconic pasta e fagioli (bean and pasta soup), which in Venice is soupier and more liquid than in other towns. Delicious....

Anyway, going back to my soup, Vito and I both loved it. Mild and with a nice and fresh aftertaste due to the red onion, more aggressive than its white and golden sisters. Although I used chilli, my husband didn't find it sufficiently spicy (he likes really super-flavourful foods...) so I ground some black pepper, but it's definitely an optional ingredient.

With this said, I'll go back to my couch and say goodbye for now. Hope you will enjoy the soup, let me know!

RECIPE:

BEAN SOUP WITH POTATOES AND FENNEL

Prep. Time: 5'

Cook Time: 40/45'Yield: 2

Ingredients:

1/2 kg fresh borlotti beans*

2 small red potatoes

1 fennel

1 red onion

1 dried chilli

2 cloves of garlic

2 slices of bread

1 rosemary stick

veg. stock

extra virgin olive oil

*If you use dried beans, leave them soaking overnight and cook the soup for 50/60 minutes instead.

Directions:

1) Shell the beans and keep aside.

2) Peel onion and potato, wash the fennel and chop the vegetable roughly.

3) Heat a pot with some oil, the crushed garlic cloves and the chopped chilli. Remove the garlic, add the rest of the greens, the beans, stir, cover with vegetable stock and bring to a boil.

4) When it's boiling, add sea salt, lower the heat and let simmer for about 40 minutes. Add stock if needed.

5) In the meantime, cut your slices of bread into small squares, put them on a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle them with some salt, rosemary and olive oil and toast in the oven for a couple of minutes, until golden.

6) When ready, mix a little bit (but not entirely) with a hand-blender to add creaminess, top with hot crostini and serve. If you wish, grind some black pepper.