Flavours of Italy

My Perfect Indulgent Tuscan Holiday

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:31:00 +0000

At the start of a New Year are you thinking about getting fit and healthy but also where your next holiday might be? Is it really possible to go away, indulge in good food and drink, learn something but also come home more toned and without putting on a pound?

If you think that’s an impossible ask, read on!

I love food. I really love food however I also like to eat in a healthy way and keep fit, so holidays sitting by a pool for days on end don’t really do it for me.

Finding a holiday that fits the bill is always a challenge, especially when you’re looking for a trip that suits single travellers. So when an advertisement for a Flavours pilates holiday appeared on my Facebook page, it looked like it could be just what I was looking for.

Six weeks later I was on a plane to Pisa wondering just what I had let myself in for! I can confidently say now it was one of the best holidays I have ever had and just about ticked every box for the perfect trip.

The surroundings were beautiful, the villa stunning. The hosts more than attentive and very importantly for me a magical pool that used at all times of the day and night to meet my exercise requirements. Even my desire for a room that faced the sunrise was accommodated!

Then there was the food. Our chefs Marco and Claudio sourced as much as they could locally, herbs grew in the garden and ricotta arrived from the farm we could see on the hillside. The ingredients were about as fresh as you can get, and when you get to learn how to cook it with a lot of laughs and fun, well it’s all just even more heavenly!

My philosophy on food is that you can have it all, you just need to control how much of everything you eat, if you learn about food, you gain a respect for it. Sensible eating then becomes easier and smaller portion sizes don’t matter as much. For me I wanted to experience everything so portion control becomes important however this wasn’t difficult in any way on this trip.

Of course the perfect way to also be able to enjoy good food and wine is to have an active holiday so two sessions of pilates a day certainly helps. Our teacher Candice tailored the classes to all abilities, it really doesn’t matter if you’re an expert or a complete novice; what it does do though is ensure you’re burning calories, making enjoying the food and drink so much easier.

When we weren’t in the kitchen or doing pilates, there were also visits to some of the local towns and time to relax in the sun if you wanted it. Our trip had a mix of couples and singles, men and women; we all got on like a house on fire and it was hard to say goodbye at the end of the week.

So I totally enjoyed the food and the drink, learnt to cook a wealth of new recipes, made newfriends and came home more toned without putting on a pound. My perfect holiday!

It was so good I went back in September, I’ll tell you about that trip another time!

If you want to read more about how I lost a lot weight and got fit in the first place and more importantly now it stays off, take a look at my blog Lose Weight & Keep It Off!

Want to have a healthy holiday like Trudy's? Take a look at our Pilates holidays offered in Tuscany and Sicily!

Silver Spoon

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:54:00 +0000

A million Italian Mamas will be delighted at the relaunch of the Italian classic cookbook, The Silver Spoon. Originally published in 1950, it’s still one of the most popular wedding presents in Italy today – you rarely go into an Italian kitchen without seeing a well thumbed copy on a shelf. Originally a tranch of cooking experts was commissioned to collect hundreds of traditional Italian recipes and pair them with recommended (and delicious) wines. There are over 2000 recipes illustrated with specially commissioned art work and photography, For this new edition they have added some special, celebrity recipes (Italian celebrities, of course!) This is the first time the Silver Spoon has been available in English. Our Italian cooking holidays follow their lead in that we always teach family recipes in the region where they originated. It’s been a Flavours tenent since we started in 1998.

UK-based parent site, Mumsnet are currently running a competition looking for your favourite family recipes – the biggest treasure a Mama can pass on. We’re delighted that the prize Mumsnet have chosen to offer is a Flavours holiday. That’s a marriage made in heaven.

OLIVE OIL HARVEST

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:24:00 +0000

Take a rake, a big stick and a large net - and you’re all set. Olives are still harvested traditionally, by hand, throughout much of Italy. And joining in the harvest gives you the chance to experience a real slice of rural Italian life: a raw, vivid, backbreaking – but wonderfully invigorating, taste of Italy.

The autumn harvest has followed the same pattern for centuries. Workers, friends and family all come together to gather in the crop from the small farms. The olive groves, regimented terraced slopes of shimmering silvery leaved trees, rustling and rippling in the breeze, suddenly swarm with activity. The gnarled trees, their trunks knobbly and scared are old and curmudgeonly, but their branches are laden with young, ripening green fruit.

Timing is crucial – you want to harvest the olives when they are on the brink of turning from green to black to get the best quality oil. Then, once picked, the olives need to be taken to the mill or Frantoio and pressed quickly – usually within 36-48 hours before they start to deteriorate and mould develops on the fruit. The olives are generally harvested in Italy from October to December depending on location: in the cooler north the crop ripens later.

Machinery has been developed to harvest the olives, contraptions which shake the trees so that the fruit falls to the ground where it’s collected in nets, but this is only possible on flat, even land. Olive groves tend to sprawl across rocky, inhospitable hillsides where harvesting manually is the only option. Picking by hand takes time, of course, but the advantage is there’s less bruising to the fruit. Stripping the olives from the branches with a special hand rake can be slightly quicker catching the olives, again, in nets on the ground.

It’s tough, hot work even though the sun is weak and watery, but you get a real feel for they way life has been here for centuries. And a sense of camaraderie as you work together, breaking for a rustic picnic lunch, sitting on the hard earth in the olive grove with your fellow-pickers.

Flavours of Italy offers the opportunity to join in the olive harvest on its trips this autumn with availability on the 22-25 October, 26-29 October, 4-7 November, 11-14 November, and the 18-21 November.

Pilates Q&A

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 07:01:00 +0000

Candice Eales is an advanced Pilates instructor who worked at Champneys Health and Spa Resort for five years and is now the director of Sports Pilates UK. She has trained and worked with some of the leading Pilates masters in the world and is an instructor on Flavours' Italian Pilates Holidays.

What attracted you to Pilates?

I come from a dance background so have always been interested in fitness, but have never been a huge fan of the gym. When I discovered Pilates it was the first time exercise made sense!

What is Pilates?

Pilates is the most efficient, and therefore effective, exercise you can do. It works from good posture and alignment, strengthening core postural muscles and increasing flexibility.

What are the benefits?

You start to understand your own body, its strengths and its weaknesses. You gain better posture, often relieving troublesome problem areas. Your body can actually change shape, tight muscles are lengthened and weak ones strengthened, resulting in much better body performance whether you are an athlete or someone who plays tennis once a week.

Are there different types of Pilates?

There is the classic mat, and also equipment-based Pilates, but we should all be teaching from the same principles of the classic method devised by Joseph Pilates. As Flavours holidays are all held in private villas we are not able to offer the major equipment, so we focus on the classic mat exercises. You do also hear of yogalates and power Pilates but these are just variations on a theme and not pure Pilates.

There seem to be so many yoga holidays about why do you think there aren’t as many Pilates?

Simply because although it has been around longer than most people realize, Pilates hasn’t been around for as long as yoga which still has a bigger following.

Is Pilates in yoga's shadow?

No not at all. They are very different, even though they have similarities. I taught at Champneys for five years and guests would often arrive to do my intermediate classes saying that they should be able to do Pilates as they have been doing yoga for x number of years. I would reply that that was great but they still needed to do a Pilates beginners class as you can compare it to playing instruments - you may be able to read music but if you can play the piano it doesn't mean you can play the violin!

Why would you want to go on a Pilates holiday?

Because you have several lessons in a short period so you can really achieve something. At the same time have a wonderful holiday in a beautiful location with like-minded people. Don’t’ book if you don't want to have a lot of fun!

What if you’ve never done Pilates before?

We ask you before the holiday what level you are. Beginners and those who have been doing Pilates for years are equally welcome. There is enough time to work with everyone at their individual level.

So it can give you a good taster of Pilates?

I believe you get more than a taster - you really get into the method. We go over all the principles and basics, making sure that you truly understand the core work. Everyone goes home at the end having moved up a notch - and it's a good way to balance out all the wonderful cooking, eating and drinking!

Would you like to join us for an invigorating Pilates holiday in a beautiful Italian landscape? Check out our Pilates holiday options online or order a brochure to see next year's planned trips!

Arborio Rice: An Italian Storecupboard Staple

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:19:00 +0000

Think Italy and food and the first thing that springs to mind will, no doubt, be pasta. However, dig a little deeper and picture the menu in an Italian restaurant and alongside the spaghetti carbonara and lasagne you’ll usually see a risotto dish. Rice as well as pasta is quintessentially Italian.

It’s thought that rice was introduced to Sicily by the Arabs and arrived in northern Italy in the 14th century, possibly brought in by traders from Genoa and Venice. In the Po Valley north-east of Turin, it thrived in the flat, wet and humid conditions and soon became a staple food. Today the main rice-growing areas are Piedmonte, the Veneto and Lombardy.

At one stage there were around 40 different varieties grown, however, when we talk about Italian rice we usually mean Arborio or risotto rice. In Italy there are four varieties of rice used for risotto: Arborio, Carnaroli, Baldo and Vialone Nano. However, outside Italy Arborio is the most commonly found.

This short-grain rice is plump, firm, chewy - and creamy when cooked. This is because of the starch content: as you stir the starch is broken down and released creating a creamy consistency. (You should never wash risotto rice as you’ll rinse away some of the starch). Risotto should be slightly al dente – with a bite, like pasta. Arborio rice is, crucially, able to absorb a lot of liquid yet still retain a crunch. You don’t want mush – although in parts of Italy they prefer their risotto soft and soupy...

Risotto is an incredibly easy dish to rustle up. The basic ingredients are always the same. You start with soffrito (sauteed onions and garlic). Then add the rice to the pan and lightly toast it with the mix. Add a splash of wine and then gradually ladle in a good broth or stock plus any additional ingredients for flavour. To finish grate Parmesan on top.

In Italy risotto is generally served as a first course and they tend to keep it simple. You can’t beat a good Risotto Parmigiano. However, there are also regional variations. In the Veneto they love their seafood risotto. In Milan they add saffron for Risotto alla Milanese. In the spring Risotto Primavera with zingy fresh asparagus and peas is a perfect light dish. Mushroom risotto is moreish, or add Italian sausage and beans for hearty comfort food. Risotto is nothing if not versatile. The most intriguing recipe I’ve found, however, is one for strawberry risotto with balsamic vinegar. A pink concoction it’s not sweet, apparently, but has a fruity sourness - perfect for summer.

Olive Oil

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 08:48:00 +0000

Olive oil is good for you. That’s old news, of course. We all know that olive oil is an intrinsic part of the healthy ‘Mediterranean diet’. But there seem to be so many claims for its powers that it can often seem more miracle cure than kitchen essential.

It’s a ‘good’ fat, bursting with antioxidants and high in monounsaturated fatty acids. Studies have shown that it can protect against heart disease and raise HDL – the good cholesterol levels which help to unblock clogged arteries. In a study back in 2005 taking eight teaspoons (40ml) of extra virgin olive oil for just two days was shown to increase the elasticity of the arteries. It’s also claimed it can help to prevent strokes, colon cancer, breast and skin cancer… along with staving off the ageing process. It’s no wonder stories circulate of Italian grannies swearing by a medicinal teaspoon a day.

Scouring the internet I found one website touting 101 uses for olive oil, Olive Oil Only www.oliveoilonly.org (although they’re only at number 13 so far…). A link from there will take you to another site, www.thepassionateolive.com. Carol Firenze’s book, The Passionate Olive also lists 101 things to do with olive oil. It’s a growing trend.

Thomas Jefferson was a firm advocate claiming ‘the olive tree is surely the richest gift of heaven,’ while Homer called it ‘liquid gold’. Greek athletes used to rub it over their bodies (it’s a great moisturiser too). Anyone cutting down an olive tree in Ancient Greece was sentenced to death or exile. Olive oil, even then, was used in medicine and cosmetics, infused with herbs.

Most of us also know that there are different grades of olive oil, however. The health benefits come from the crème de la crème - extra virgin olive oil. This is the oil from the first cold-pressing: essentially the ‘fruit juice’ of the olive. Virgin olive oil is made the same way but has a higher acidity, while plain old olive oil comes from the second pressing or the chemical extraction of the olive mash. Some people find the extra virgin olive oil too strong for cooking, overpowering the other flavours. Which is when the blander olive oil comes into its own.

So how do you choose your olive oil? It’s down to personal preference and taste of course. And price. The best extra virgin olive oils come with a hefty price tag. There are around 30 different types of olives grown in Italy alone, each with its own characteristic, their flavour influenced by a number of factors including soil type, weather and terrain. For instance Tuscan oils tend towards the rich, green and fruity, Sicilian oils can be nutty and spicy while in Umbria you get full-bodied, leafy oils which pack quite a punch.

As far as cooking goes – save your extra virgin olive oil for drizzling on salads or using in dressings. Swap it for butter in mashed potato – or more unusually try it with toast and jam… And don’t forget the teaspoon a day.

Eat your way round Tuscany

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 23:12:00 +0000

Ask Aoife. Forget Ask Jeeves, or even Google – when it comes to restaurant recommendations I ask Aoife.

Aoife O’Riordain is another travel writer who worked at the Independent – but she should be a food writer. Her other passion is Italy. So before flying to Tuscany last week the first thing I rooted out was her last feature on Florence. And after dumping our bags at quirky Casa Howard, our B&B, my boyfriend and I flip-flopped over the river Arno for supper. For that ‘dining with the locals’ experience she had name-checked Trattoria Cammillo (Borgo San Jacopo 57r, 00 39 055 212427, closed Mondays).

This atmospheric neighbourhood restaurant is crammed with locals in three higgledy piggledy little dining rooms. A rich pungent rabbit macaroni and a creamy sea bass ravioli started the holiday perfectly.

I texted a thank you for the tip. “Where are you eating tomorrow?” she fired back. “You should try Cibrèo, but go early.” And so it began.

According to my guidebook Cibrèo (8/r Via A. del Verrocchio, 00 39 055 234 1100) in Santa Croce was split in two, the more formal restaurant full of tourists and three times the price, the little trattoria buzzing and full of locals. You share cramped tables and you can’t book. We ate with a German couple and two New Yorkers working in Hollywood. The waiter squeezed onto the table with us to explain the menu. It was pure theatre.

Cibrèo gives you a gourmet take on traditional homespun Tuscan dishes and injected a bit of pizzazz into Florence’s food scene when it first opened. Soups are a speciality. I slurped the spicy fish soup, my boyfriend the traditional Tuscan vegetable - more of a thick stew. Then for mains, pigs cheek, dark and rich. The trattoria had bags of atmosphere and a dollop of Italian chaos.

After a couple of days in Florence we were moving on to Fortezza de Cortesi a rustic old farmhouse B&B, dripping with climbing roses outside San Gimignano for a few nights. Just down the road in the little town of Colle di Val d’Elsa Aoife had another two favourites: Arnolfo, with its two Michelin stars and Officina della Cucina Populare (via Gracco del Secco, 86; 00 39 0577 921796; www.cucina-popolare.com) - funky, contemporary shabby chic and exciting flavours.

“You’re my pawns,” Aoife texted as she moved us around the Tuscan chessboard.

We sat outside on the quiet street as the restaurant was packed. I had the Pecorino cheese flan with slithers of pear and drizzled with honey, followed by a rich ricotta and chard tortelli with butter and sage sauce. Iain tried the local speciality Pici, a thick spaghetti with suckling beef ragu. For dessert, spelt and ricotto pie with dried fig ice-cream.

In Greve in Chianti: ‘Go to Mangiando, Mangiando on the main square.” We did. And had one of the best spaghettis vongoles I’ve tasted under the jaunty yellow awning.

We went off piste a couple of times. We found a lovely little enoteca in Radda, La Bottega di Giovannino which started life as a food shop in 1965 and is now a cosy little wine bar. And at the winery and monastery Badia a Coltibuono, also in Chianti we had a lovely lunch: gnocchi di ricotta ripeni di cozze su guazetto di mitili (ricotta cheese and mussel dumplings on a mussel veloute) followed by a selection of local goat and sheep’s cheese with rhubarb chutney washed down with the monastery’s organic Chianti Classico Reserva 2007.

Aoife’s piece de resistance, however, was Locanda Borgo Antico. Partly because we couldn’t find it. “Off the beaten track, outside Greve, in Dimezzano,” she told us. It wasn’t in my guidebook, on our map or on the sat nav. “Are you sure?” I quizzed. “You doubt the oracle?’ came back at us.

“It’s outside Lucolena, in a little clutch of houses hidden among the trees.” We found Lucolena on the map so set off in the car to hunt it down. The terrace overlooking hills blanketed with chestnut woods was picture-perfect, the restaurant an old farmhouse, again full of Italians – not a tourist in sight. “Have the pappardelle with wild boar,” Aoife texted. It’s delicious.” It was. (00 39 055 851024; www.ilborgoantico.it)

Lucy Gillmore was the Deputy Travel Editor at The Independent and is now a freelance writer based in Edinburgh.

Pastastic

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Mon, 02 May 2011 21:20:00 +0000

Matt Wade, was a journalist based in Dubai when he got an invitation to a press conference on Lake Como in Northern Italy. The event organiser was Laura – now his wife. Marrying into an Italian family resulted in a newfound passion for pasta and a culinary career change…

What inspired you to write a cookery book?

Pastastic - The Recipe Book was really the next logical step after my Pasta Recipes Made Easy website had reached a couple of hundred pages. It is a shareable, easy-to-print version of the recipes, and a digital e-book.

But you don't classify yourself as a cook?

No not really. I do cook, but in terms of my skill set and speciality, it's really all about the pasta. I wouldn't dare call myself a chef as that implies a well-rounded set of kitchen skills. For me, pasta is my niche and the more I learn about it, the more I want to learn (and discover there is to learn).

Why do your site and book just focus on pasta?
A bizarre mix of reasons. Aside from always having loved pasta, at the time (early 2008) I wanted to create a niche website. As an ex-magazine editor, the publisher part of me just loved the idea of creating and uploading interesting content with the aim of creating a little niche club and gaining lots of traffic. Therefore I needed a topic. The ongoing brainstorm I had over this question actually occurred the year after my wedding when I was in the kitchen more than ever before. Once my mother-in-law, mamma Marisa introduced me to the easiest pasta dish known to man ('breakfast pasta'), I knew I'd found my calling!

Which part of Italy is Mamma Marisa from?

My wife's family is originally from Naples in the south and they still regard themselves as Neapolitans, however they have lived in Rapallo, Liguria (close to Italy's north-west tourist hotspots Cinque Terre and Portofino) now for many years. This, and the fact they have friends right across Italy, means I've been able to learn a great mix of pasta dishes: from Genoan pesto to Neapolitan ragu and spicy Sicilian dishes.

Are there any regional specialities in the book?

There are, from all kinds of regions too! The two Ligurian dishes I would point to first and foremost are traditional basil pesto, which is stupidly easy and tastes lovely and fresh smothered over pretty much any pasta, and a dish called La Genovese. This is effectively a kind of onion-only ragu and actually has a combined Ligurian and Neapolitan history. It's not quick to make, but all you really do is chop and stir, so it's not difficult at all. And it’s lip-smackingly delicious!

What was the first thing Marisa cooked for you?

'Breakfast pasta'. I turned up unannounced for lunch one day, and with nothing in the fridge Mamma Marisa got creative. She chopped a little leftover medium-hard cheese into chunks and dropped these in a mixing bowl. Then she popped some tagliatelle in a pan and melted a little butter in another. With these ready, she added everything to the bowl, stirred it through and served it with a fried egg on top. I can't tell you how tasty that dish was (I'm salivating now just thinking about it). "Even I can manage that!" I thought, and I was off. Since then the dishes I've learned have come sometimes from recipe's hand-written recipe book, sometimes direct from my wife, and often as not as a result of their shared knowledge.

What’s your favourite dish?

For me it's probably 'pasta alla norma'. Everyone should try this vegetarian winner at least once. It's basically short pasta shapes with a tomato sauce containing fried aubergine strips. This was the dish that really introduced me to the taste combination of soft, sweet, fried aubergine and rich tomato sauce. It's simple, but as with lots of Italian cuisine that isn't in any way to its detriment.

What's your most memorable meal?

That would be our 'make do' dinner the first night of our honeymoon, at Villa Pitiana near Florence in Tuscany. When we arrived after a long drive from the north they had mislaid our restaurant reservation, but the chef had some leftover bits of food in the kitchen. One glass of full-bodied chianti and plenty of "Can you believe we're married?" chat later and the chef walks back in with two dishes of fresh green tagliatelle coated in a glorious wild boar ragu sauce.

Are there any really unusual dishes in your book?
La Genovese is not that well known outside Italy, or at least I've never seen it offered in any restaurant. There are also several Sicilian dishes which are unique to a friend of Marisa's who helped teach them to me. The book also includes one pasta-free recipe, which is so tasty I just couldn't leave it out. This is aubergine parmigiana which is similar to lasagna only with fried aubergine slices where the pasta sheets should be. It takes an age to make but the taste is glorious.

What would you recommend for someone wanting to whip up an easy dish?

A good starter is pasta with ricotta sauce. It's creamy thanks to the soft cheese, it's calorifically sweet (and therefore seriously moreish), and in making it you'll learn the basics of how to whip up a great Italian tomato sauce.

And for a dinner party?

That would be my new favourite - fresh open ravioli. I recently made this using spinach pasta dough, for a glorious green colour, then filled them with butter-fried wild mushrooms.

So is fresh pasta really better than dried?

No doubt! Fresh pasta is more succulent, it holds the sauce better, plus there's no chance of any preservatives being in there. The process of making it really isn't tricky either and there are numerous dough variations you can experiment with once you've nailed the basics, using different flours like chickpea or buckwheat, adding ingredients into the mix to colour your pasta and so on.

What’s your top tip?

I have three! The first is to always drop plenty of salt in your pasta water. For four people I use a full handful. The second is to use a lotof water when boiling long pasta (this helps to avoid sticking), and the third is to avoid that very British, I think Jamie Oliver-inspired disease of throwing a ton of garlic into every dish. It's really not the Italian way - for some seafood dishes yes, but often as not meat and veggie dishes do without it.

http://www.pasta-recipes-made-easy.com/Pastastic-The-Recipe-Book.html

Learning Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:10:00 +0000

My first ‘learning’ holiday was a Spanish language course in Valencia. I was sixteen and homesick. Then I met Enrique, a tall, blonde train driver. We drank sangria and stayed out until 7am. I didn’t learn much Spanish, but I was still at school – learning and holidays were mutually incompatible.

It was another fifteen years before I tried putting them together again. I enrolled on a salsa weekend, this time in Barcelona. We practised the steps in a studio in the morning and whirled around the dance floor, fuelled by tapas and rich red Rioja, at night.

My first cookery course was in Cornwall. An editor at The Independent sent me to Rick Stein’s school - as a joke. I had set fire to my kitchen making teriyaki salmon for my book club friends. I dragged my heels thinking I would hate it, but was immediately hooked. It was the perfect pint-size package: the setting, a little Cornish fishing village, the group gregarious, the food gourmet – and the wine flowing. I skipped home with a folder full of recipes and a passion for Padstow.

Since then I’ve learnt how to make organic cosmetics in France, bread in Cumbria and pizza and pasta in Italy. I’ve done tai chi in Umbria and learnt how to be a mahout in Thailand.

And I’m not alone. A Mintel report published in August 2009 highlights the growing trend for learning holidays and our changing tastes as far as overseas travel goes. We no longer want to just flop on the beach - we crave new experiences and want to come home with a new skill. It might be a niche market, but it’s one that’s expanding rapidly.

But why do we feel the need to learn something on holiday? By definition a holiday (or holy day) is a time of rest. Do we really need our free time timetabled? Have we lost the ability to amuse ourselves? Or even to relax. Check out the growth in yoga and spa breaks too.

In the Guardian last month, Dea Birkett railed against this ‘new wave of foreign travel anxiety’ – the fact that you’re made to feel guilty if you’re not combining your holiday with saving turtles or embarking on a programme of self-improvement.

However, if you enjoy painting or you’ve always wanted to pick up a brush, what could be lovelier than setting up your easel on a Tuscan hillside surrounded by rippling fields of wildflowers? You love Italian food but never seem to have time to learn new recipes or techniques. You can’ t cram in that Pilates class at home…

We’re all so used to multi-tasking that it makes sense to combine a couple of interests on holiday, or use the time to experiment with something new. After all it’s not like being at school – the classes are fun and relaxed and there’s plenty of free time. A learning holiday just gives a bit of structure to your days and allows you to go home feeling that you’ve spent your time well.

It’s also about immersing yourself in a different culture, of course, rather than just skimming the surface. And how much more fulfilling is it to tuck into a plate of pasta that you’ve created with an Italian chef in an old Tuscan villa than sitting down to that same dish in a local restaurant - knowing that you’ll be able to recreate it back home for your friends?

Parmesan

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:51:00 +0000

“Parmesan?” A huge slab of cheese is brandished over your plate of pasta as you’re about to tuck in. Say ‘when’ and you’ll get a generous coating – or tentative sprinkling - of rich, tangy Italian cheese. I like my Parmesan in thick buttery-yellow slivers. I want to taste the graininess, the crystalline texture. I love a pungent, crumbly mountain, not a light dandruff-style shower.

Often called the ‘king of cheese,’ Parmesan is not simply an accompaniment to carbonara, of course. It gives depth and richness to soups, stocks and risottos, it’s a vital ingredient in pesto, while a few shavings jazz up any salad. Rocket and Bresaola without Parmesan? Unthinkable. It can also be eaten in chunks with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar – or honey. As a dessert it’s delicious with fresh figs and caramelised walnuts or juicy pears.

Parmesan is, arguably, the most famous cheese in the world. If you delve into its history you find literary references to piles of grated Parmesan in Boccaccio’s Decameron back in the 14th century, while Samuel Pepys is said to have frantically buried his Parmesan to save it from the Great Fire of London.

Of course there are plenty of pretenders around. Pale imitators. While the usual territorial squabbles meant that eventually it gained PDO – protected designation of origin. Now only cheese produced in Reggio Emilia, Parma, Modena and part of Bologna can use the name Parmesan in Europe. Look for Parmigiano-Reggiano stamped on the rind along with the date.

Parmesan is a granular, hard cheese, made from cows’ milk and matured for a minimum of 12 months. The cows eat only grass and cereals and are given no antibiotics. The only additive is salt. The cheese spends 20 days in a tank of brine, saturated with sea salt.

As for maturity, Giovane is the youngest (and cheapest option for cooking), Vecchio is between 18 months to two years old, while Stravecchio is matured for two to three years. This is often thought to be the best ‘table cheese,’ wheeled out after dinner. The most expensive Parmesan is Stravecchione, which can be up to four years old. As a rule of thumb, the older the cheese, the more complex the flavour: true Parmigiano-Reggiano has a vibrant, nutty taste with a hint of fruit.

When you’re buying Parmesan, never opt for ready grated cheese as it loses its flavour incredibly quickly. And as for those tubs of powdery Parmesan, they’re a culinary crime. If possible always go to a cheesemonger or deli and watch as your chunk is cut from a whole cheese or ‘wheel’.

Other interesting facts about Parmesan: Italian mothers used to give the Parmesan crusts to their children to chew, as they have a high calcium content. A whole Parmigiano was traditionally hollowed out for special occasions in Italy and used as a serving bowl. And, in Italy, Parmesan is thought to be an aphrodisiac…

Forget Panettone…At Easter it's all about Colomba Cake

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:38:00 +0000

I have a cake craving. I am fantasising about Colomba Pasquale (Easter Dove), a soft, sweet, traditional Italian treat. Like panettone – only better, some say. A pigeon-shaped pastry; a moist, buttery, bready cake topped with a sugary almond icing. Fluffy, moreish and melt-in-the-mouth.

It was a Milanese baker Angelo Motta, who popularised panettone at the beginning of the 20th century, who created the Colomba Pasquale. Instead of the dome or cupola-shape of the traditional Christmas panettone he turned it into a dove of peace for Easter. (Pedants might say it looks more like a doughy four-leaf clover.)

As well as the shape, he changed the recipe, taking out the raisins and adding a little something extra – amaretto. The rich, springy sponge is pricked with cubes of candied orange peel and topped with crunchy sugar and almonds.

I google Italian delis in Inverness. Then drive into town. “I’ve ordered them,” says the man in the little Crown Deli. “But I’m still waiting. It might be tomorrow, it might be another week...”

“Are you going to London? Princi’s bakery in Soho is sure to have them,” he adds helpfully - if a little randomly.

I’m not going to London.

I pick up some pancetta, a leek, still specked with soil, fresh cream and a big bag of organic pappardelle pasta. Supper.

“Try Valvona and Crolla.” I am going to Edinburgh. Sometime soon. I check the website. They’ve had their delivery – and stock three different types: Colomba Sovrana (with sultanas, citrus peel and whole almonds), Colomba Cioccolato (with sweet Italian chocolate, no candied fruit) and Colomba Antica (rich in candied peel with a hazelnut and almond icing).

I google again, becoming slightly obsessed by all things Colomba-shaped. Luigi’s in London (which stocks Truffle honey - I’m momentarily sidetracked) offers mail order (www.luigismailorder.com).

“We deliver as far as the north of Scotland.”

“That’s good – I’m in the north of Scotland. Have you had your delivery?”

“ They came in ten days ago and are flying off the shelves. It’s such a small window. We stock panettone all year now – not just Christmas – but we only have Colomba cakes in the run up to Easter.”

“Classico or chocolate? Which is the most popular?”

“Definitely Classico – but only because not many people have tried the chocolate…”

I could, of course, try making my own….

I google again and find a recipe. To create the light, fluffy texture the dough needs to rise over and over again. It takes forever. It looks far too pernickety. What are delis for, I think, as I pick up the phone and give Luigi’s a call…

Memories of Florence

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 18:07:00 +0000

It was love at first sight. Clambering with my backpack off the train from Rome, Florence dazzled. Inter-railing around Europe for the summer, along with every other student in the world, or so it seemed, I was dog-tired, dirty and drained. I just wanted a gelato and a cold shower. But that first rush was intoxicating. Dizzying.

Rome was like a pressure cooker; a Mafia trial in full swing, the dust-caked streets prowled by police with machine guns. We had been sleeping on mattresses on the floor of a dingy pensione with ten strangers. I had heat stroke. My brain was fried. We bolted north.

Emerging into Florence’s cobbled streets was like waking from a Francis Ford Coppola nightmare into a Merchant Ivory dream. I might have been in flip-flops but I floated around Florence like a wide-eyed Helena Bonham Carter.

I have hazy memories of that first trip… After weeks of culture overload the Uffizi was museum perfection. Like the ‘three bears’ it wasn’t too big or too small – it was just right. I remember gazing at the Botticellis: the Primavera and the Birth of Venus. Enraptured.

Then there was the leather: the stalls in the Piazza San Lorenzo piled high with bags and belts, the air heavy with hide. I haggled – and left Florence with a real Italian leather handbag crammed in amongst the old T-shirts and shorts.

Church bells ringing out across the city mingled with the whine of scooters. The squares were sprinkled with cool incense-infused churches. The Ponte Vecchio arched over the dreamy green Arno… Once the domain of butchers who threw the remains into the river until Cosimo de Medici had them evicted, this 14th-century bridge is now lined with jewellery stores. And Brunelleschi’s famous dome soaring above the terracotta roofs – behind which was Il Papiro, a little store selling Florence’s ornately patterned paper...

Another hidden gem was Alice Atelier in Via Faenza, a tiny back street near San Lorenzo market - an Aladdin's cave filled with papier mache masks. Like a character from Hans Christian Anderson, an old man crafted intricate masks for Italian theatre and cinema, and the Venice Carnival – using techniques dating back to the 17th century.

I’ve been back again and again, of course – and rub the nose of the wild boar near the 16th-century Mercato Nuovo every time. Stroke the statue’s nose, they say, and you’ll be sure to return to Florence…

And I’ve bought more handbags, along with hand-made leather gloves in every shade imaginable from Madova – Italian glove-makers for almost a century.

And Rome… I love Rome too now. That first crazy claustrophobic trip is filed under bad first impressions. Florence, however, will always be one of the few places that lived up to the fantasy, the E.M. Forster dream. And somehow becomes more magical with every visit.

Balsamic Vinegar - Classic Italian Ingredients for the Storecupboard

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:37:00 +0000

Drizzle is one of my favourite words. Not as in ‘rain,’ obviously. Drizzle in that sense conjures up interminable dreariness. It’s the worst kind of rain – damp, undecided, never-ending. It’s a dark, dour, dank Monday morning hiding under the duvet. A torrential downpour, a violent thunderstorm, at least has passion and power. Drizzle is just so lacklustre, depressing and half-hearted.

In chef-speak, however, ‘drizzle’ is sexy. It has an almost hypnotic quality. Somehow it’s the only word to perfectly capture a rich, glossy, gloopy flow. In the context of the kitchen it is sensuous, almost erotic.

You drizzle balsamic vinegar. You don’t pour one of the priciest and most highly prized Italian delicacies. Balsamic vinegar should be used sparingly. It should be slowly and lovingly drizzled.

The balsamic vinegar and olive oil salad dressing craze which hit this country a decade or so ago is a bit of red herring. Dousing our rocket and Parmesan salads with the darkly shiny mixture we cast off the iceberg lettuce and Thousand Island era with a cosmopolitan shrug.

The supermarket staple most of us were using, however, is not real balsamic vinegar. True artisan balsamic vinegar - Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena or Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia - has been made in Italy since the Middle Ages and will be marked with 'tradizionale' and the DOC label.

It’s made from a reduction of pressed sweet white Trebbiano or Lambrusco grapes. The thick syrup or ‘must’ is then aged for at least 12 years in a series of wooden barrels. The casks are made of different woods - chestnut, acacia, cherry, oak, mulberry, juniper and ash - each adding to the character of the concoction. The flavour intensifies and becomes more complex over the years until you’re left with a rich, sweet, viscous, concentrated condiment.

The bottle will denote whether it’s a 12, 18 or 25-year vintage. Some have been aged for over 100 years - which is why they are so expensive. A 100ml bottle can set you back over a hundred euros. Thankfully, a little goes a long way.

The more affordable mass-produced 'aceto balsamico di Modena' is usually a blend of ‘must’ and wine vinegar coloured and flavoured with caramel. It’s not cask-aged so the flavours are not as strong. At the bottom of the scale you’ve got plain old ‘balsamic’ vinegar, which is simply wine vinegar with caramel and thickeners - fine for a salad dressing – but lacking the intensity of the real thing.

The Reggio Emilia vinegars can be differentiated by the colour of their labels: red for the 12-year vintage, silver for 18 years and gold for 25. The flavour becomes more tongue-tinglingly rich and sweet the older it gets. The Modena vinegars are colour-coded by cap (cream for ten years and gold for 25 years plus).

How best to savour it? Drink it. In Italy they sometimes sip the black velvety nectar as a digestif. And drizzle, of course. Over desserts, ripe strawberries, rich vanilla ice-cream, on chunks of tangy Parmasen or tuna or beef carpaccio.

Rise of the Single Traveller - Going it Alone

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 11:18:00 +0000

Going on holiday on your own: it used to sound, well, frankly a little sad. No friends? No partner? And then there was the dreaded single supplement – to add insult to injury you had to pay more for the privilege. However, perceptions have, thankfully, changed over the years.

They’ve had to. As there are more and more single travellers out there. Statistically it’s a growing market. According to the Office of National Statistics around a third of households in Britain are now occupied by just one person. And in 2009 Lloyds TSB forecast that over the next decade the number of single-person households would increase by two million. Research by the Halifax, meanwhile, showed that the proportion of single women living alone jumped from 9.8 per cent in 1983 to 21.7 per cent in 2002. Everyone was quick to start talking about the Bridget Jones’ generation.

However, although Bridget did occasionally mope alone in her flat with a bottle of Chardonnay, she was generally looking for some fun.

Travel companies have, of course, finally cottoned on. Many have started offering incentives, scrapping the single person supplement, while adventure companies usually offer the opportunity of sharing with someone of the same sex to avoid an extra charge. There are also many specialist singles holiday companies out there now.

But for those who still feel a little apprehensive about broadcasting their single status to the world an activity holiday is the perfect foil. Whatever, you fancy doing, there’s probably a travel company that offers it, from tried and tested cookery holidays, to yoga, pilates and even belly-dancing. You can try something new, or spend a week doing something you love, with likeminded people. And make new friends along the way.

I’ve travelled extensively on my own because of my job. Sometimes, of course, I’ve had boyfriends or friends to go away with. But because I’m a travel writer there have been plenty of times when I’ve had to go alone. And it’s those trips that have often proved the most memorable – for the adventures I’ve had and the people I’ve met along the way. When you’re not in your comfort zone you’re more open to new experiences.

Cookery holidays are some of the best ice-breakers. I’ve laughed more with strangers – who later became friends – around a stove than I would ever have thought possible. And even grew to enjoy cooking! Especially learning to make pizza and fresh pasta in Italy. There’s something warm and all encompassing about an Italian kitchen – like being wrapped in a big, welcoming hug. Add a communal meal under the shade of some olive trees, a few glasses of good Italian wine as you tuck into the dishes you’ve made with your new friends and it doesn’t get much better.

Going away on your own can be liberating and a real adventure. And, ultimately, you’re not on your own, of course, on a group holiday.

Parma Ham – A Classic Italian Ingredient for the Storecupboard

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 20:10:00 +0000

Prosciutto di Parma. Somehow it sounds so much more romantic in Italian. Farmers in the countryside surrounding the little town of Parma (which will forever be synonymous with ham) have been air-drying pigs’ thighs for over two thousand years.

Prosciutto – ham in Italian – originally comes from the Latin perexsiccatus which then morphed into the Italian prosciugare – to dry. Parma ham is a prosciutto crudo or raw ham: the hind leg or thigh of a pig that has been dry-cured with salt for a couple of months then washed and hung in a dark, well-ventilated room to dry and aged for up to a year and a half.

In the UK we often use Parma ham as the generic term for prosciutto. However, although Parma in Emilia-Romagna has PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status for its ham– it is by no means the only area to produce mouth-watering prosciutto. Some claim that the prosciutto from San Daniele (Fuili) is better – it’s certainly more expensive - and you can get air-dried ham in Piedmont too, the Veneto, Umbria and Tuscany…

So what differentiates them? In Parma production is on a huge scale but, of course, there are still small producers. And every farmer has his own method. The breed of pig influences the flavour, the diet it’s fed (San Daniele pigs eat a lot of acorns) the temperature and altitude when it’s cured.

Parma ham, for example, is known for its sweetness, Tuscan ham for its saltiness.

Of course, purists will say you should, if you can afford it, buy a whole ham. Don’t buy pre-packaged slices. But not all of us have a handy larder in which to hang a slab of pig.

If you do, or even if you just buy sliced Parma ham from your local deli, there is so much more to prosciutto than the (admittedly heavenly) restaurant staple, Parma ham and melon. Wow your dinner guests with Parma ham wrapped around grissini or bread sticks with their aperitifs. Or toss it into a creamy pasta sauce, on top of a homemade pizza or jazz up a sandwich Panini. Or crisp in a pan and use as a garnish on soups.

Or keep it simple. An old breadboard, a slab of Italian cheese, fresh figs, a bottle of Chianti and wafer-thin slices of prosciutto di Parma. The perfect impromptu summer supper.

www.prosciuttodiparma.com

My Most Memorable Dish – Parma Ham and Melon in Tuscany

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 10:02:00 +0000

It might sound a little maudlin, but who hasn’t fantasised about their Last Supper? Whether it’s dinner party chat or an ‘If you were on Death Row’ party game, we’ve all relived our favourite meals with friends at one time or another. At EAT, Newcastle’s annual foodie event last year, Simon Preston, the festival director created an ambitious tour de force: the Pearly Diner. Guests pre-ordered their very own Last Supper with the promise that whether it was rare roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, steak frites, or the ultimate artery-blocking fry-up that is what they would be served on the night.

My choice is always the same: Parma Ham and Melon.

Not, of course, the tasteless, watery honeydew topped with a couple of slices of limp, curled-up-at-the-edges ham you’re likely to wind up with if you’re misguided enough to order it in the little trattoria on the high street - but Parma ham and melon in a rustic restaurant in Italy.

It’s the one dish I can eat until I, literally, can’t swallow another mouthful. I never tire of the subtle mix of sweetness and saltiness. And of course it’s testament to the fact that it’s all down to the raw ingredients. There’s not much cooking involved.

And the place where I tasted the best Parma ham and melon in the world? I can’t tell you.

It was somewhere in Tuscany, about ten years ago, while holidaying in a crumbling old farmhouse in the hills above Lucca with my parents and my then-boyfriend. In the visitors’ book we read rave reviews about a local restaurant slightly off the beaten track so we piled into the car to search it out. I remember that it was nothing special from the outside – and a little gloomy inside.

There was an Italian mama. And an old man watching an Italian soap opera, his shirt unbuttoned to the waist. There were hams, hundreds of them, hanging from the ceiling. We were the only customers. She spoke no English. We had just a few words of Italian. It didn’t matter - as there was no menu anyhow. She gestured for us to sit. And brought out the first course: plates piled teeteringly high with the sweetest, most succulent melon I had ever tasted, topped with a tumbling mountain of rich red ham. It was melt-in-the-mouth heaven.

The second course, mounds of moreish mushroom tagliatelle, I could barely touch. The third, half a cow: giant (think Argentinian sized) steaks – forget it. Even the boyfriend, a big burly Aussie called Moose, clutched his belly and had to surrender. Good honest country cooking – Tuscan style. That meal, more than ten years later, is still the one that I will never forget.

A Venetian Aperitivo

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:40:00 +0000

It might be the birthplace of the Bellini but to look like a local in Venice you have to sip a Spritz. Pop your head through the door of Harry’s Bar just off Piazza San Marco, catapulted to fame by Ernest Hemingway and his cronies back in the 1930s (www.cipriani.com). But as the tourists wait patiently for the tiny, overpriced champagne and peach puree cocktails – slope off to find a tiny bacaro and join the locals propping up the bar.

There are four main types of Venetian Spritz and everyone has their favourite. There’s Spritz al Bitters (Campari), Spritz con Cynar (artichoke aperitif), Spritz with Select (Select Pilla) and Spritz a l’Aperol. The mixers are all amari or Italian bitters. Artichoke might be the distinguishing ingredient of Cynar, but it’s made up of a medley of herbs. Aperol, meanwhile, is a lurid orange concoction containing rhubarb, gentian and bitter orange.

To make a Venetian Spritz you clunk a few chunks of ice into a glass. Add two parts dry white wine, a dash of sparkling water – or squirt of soda water, then one part bitters mixer. Traditionally, with the Aperol or Select you garnish with a slice of orange, with Campari or Cynar a twist of lemon and a green olive. For a bit of extra pizzazz some bartenders use prosecco instead of white wine.

Then sip with tapas-style cicchetti standing up at an old wooden counter in one of the bacari peppered throughout the city or recline as the sun goes down on a terrace overlooking the Grand Canal or the lagoon. And savour the wonderful mouthy mix of gently sparkling sweetness, bitters, and citrus notes.

Lost in Venice

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 18:14:00 +0000

Venice in summer? You must be mad, they tell you. It’s swamped with tourists - and the stench from the canals…puh!

I’ve fallen in love with Venice in every season – even when the rain has been sheeting down and we’ve had to teeter across Piazza San Marco on raised wooden walkways. In July, as the sun burnt mercilessly through the early morning mist on the lagoon, I jostled through the camera-clicking crowds – and sniffed. Nothing.

And it’s surprisingly easy to escape the throng. While tourists tramp the well-trodden trails, swarming like pollen-drunk bees, veer down any of the little alleyways and lose yourself in the watery labyrinth. The muffled silence of the dank passageways plunges you back in time. You’ll stumble upon hidden gems, secret gardens, tiny neighbourhood shops, as all around you water laps soporifically against the stones.

Meander mindlessly, crossing little bridges, until you come across locals spilling out of a rustic bacaro or bar. Stop and join them for cichetti – tapas-like snacks eaten standing up at the bar with an ombra, or small glass of wine. Venice is one of the most expensive places in Italy to eat, they sniff. Not if you follow the locals.

And forget about the wallet-mugging gondoliers gliding through the canals and cross the Grand Canal by traghetto. For a handful of loose change these public gondolas punt businessmen in suits, teenagers on their iPods, women laden with groceries – standing room only - across the Grand Canal.

As for the water taxis, they cost the earth – so take the bus. Hop on a vaporetto or waterbus. These ramshackle old boats zigzag down the Grand Canal, Venice's high street, past crumbling palazzi dating from the 12^th to the 18^th-centuries. The trip from Piazzale Roma to San Marco takes around half an hour and, at night, when the canal is floodlit, the architectural extravaganza is even more magical.

How to make the Perfect Espresso

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 13:25:00 +0000

It’s partly down to the quality of the beans and the grind. You can judge an espresso by the crema… I am a barista - well, of sorts. When I moved from London to Scotland, I took a break from journalism and spent one sultry summer running a tiny clapboard tearoom in a Perthshire glen. Which served illy coffee.

Anyone serving illy coffee has to be illy-trained. So the illy man came in his van to teach us about Italian coffees: from how fine to grind the beans to how to clean the coffee machine each night - and, of course, how to make a cappuccino, latte, espresso, macchiato and Americano. He had props too: a tray of beans.

The illy beans, 100 per cent Arabica, were dark and shiny and uniform. He caressed them, sniffed them, sprinkled them lovingly back into the tray. The ‘other’ high street brands looked like a motley bunch; mismatched colours, strange shapes and sizes; mostly a mix of Arabica and Robusta beans. One reason coffee can sometimes taste burnt, apparently, is that the beans have been roasted too long to mask the fact that they are ‘inferior’.

Then for the fun part: frothing the milk for the cappuccino. You have to get the angle just right, cupping the stainless steel jug so you can also gauge the temperature. Burnt milk? Illy man sucked air through his teeth. Start again. Suddenly something clicked and I had a jug of thick, frothy - perfect - milk.

Lattes: less froth, long glass. Macchiato: an espresso with a dash of milk. Americano? Basically a watered down espresso.

The story goes that the Americans GIs during the Second World War, used to a weak drip-filter brew at home, couldn’t handle strong Italian coffee so always added water: the Americano was born. We’re laughed at too, of course, for ordering milky coffees in the afternoon. After breakfast an Italian will only ever drink espresso.

So how do you make the perfect espresso? Illy (www.illy.com) says with water at 194 degrees F and the powder of 50 beans. The grind is key: too fine and the water can’t seep through the puck, too coarse and the water will flow through too quickly. A good espresso shouldn’t taste bitter or burnt and shouldn’t be watery. You should wind up with a 25ml syrupy shot, topped with a layer of perfect golden crema or foam - thick enough for a spoonful of sugar to balance on top before sinking slowly into the inky darkness below.

An espresso on the go, at the café counter, is an intrinsic part of the Italian day – a smooth, velvety, aromatic moment of perfection.

Lucy Gillmore was the Deputy Travel Editor at The Independent and is now a freelance writer based in Edinburgh.

Parlo Italiano - why I love the Italian language

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:51:00 +0000

Perhaps it’s an occupational hazard – or perq – but as a writer, I’m preoccupied with words. So it’s not surprising that one of the things I love best about Italy is its mellifluous, musical, euphonious language. Every letter pronounced. Every syllable rolled lovingly across the tongue. Every nuance explored. For instance the Italians have two verbs meaning “to play”, because they realised the necessity of differentiating between playing a game (giocare) and playing a musical note (suonare).

Italian words have a lavish soul, and that speaks to my love of excess. What a delight to wrap my mouth around words such as strofinaccio (towelling), le soppraccilia (eyebrows), il lustrino (sequin), or even che cosa (what)? I love eavesdropping whenever I hear Italian spoken – not because I understand more than a word here or there, but because the sound is endlessly pleasing.

It’s not just the words, but they way that they are delivered, that gets me every time. At my first language lesson at Edinburgh’s Italian Institute, the teacher asked us to repeat after her. Tiny, mewling sounds came out of our mouths and she laughed. What a bunch of uptight Brits, she teased (never mind that I’m actually American, the description fit). “You can’t speak Italian without moving your mouth,” she insisted. “And if you can use your hands, as well, that’s even better.”

Long before I owned so much as a phrasebook, I enjoyed lengthy conversations with locals wherever I travelled in Italy. The art of mime is not dead there, nor is it denigrated. If you just show willing, an Italian will fight tooth and nail to be understood, offering up words in any other languages that might appeal to you, acting out the main points of his thesis – anything to facilitate communication. That’s because the Italian nature is inclusive, not exclusive. What’s not to love about that?

Lee Randall is a feature writer for the Scotsman and a lover of all things italian.

Why I love white truffles

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 12:49:00 +0000

Gastronomically, November means several things in Italy: game, chestnuts, olive oil and truffles. The countryside around our house is full of grappa heartened hunters taking pot shots at anything that moves, while chestnuts and olives both involve some labour intensive (and lets face it, tedious) preparation. So for me, truffles are the highlight of the month.

I love their aroma, rather memorably described by New Zealand truffle expert Gareth Renowden (www.limestonehills.co.nz) as reminiscent of ‘old socks and sex’; I think there is also a tang of garlic mingled with the heady whiff of feral fungi. White truffles are high maintenance mushrooms: they have a short season when they’re ripe, they don’t like being commercially cultivated and go off rather quickly – and all these factors make them expensive. You won’t find them in the supermarkets.

So getting hold of some decent specimens is a food-lovers excuse to don their Indiana Jones hat and set off on an adventure: go on a truffle-hunting weekend or track down a reputable supplier (www.trufflehunter.co.uk). And there is no better way to experience Italians’ love of food than to visit one of the truffle fairs that take place during winter. Alba (www.fieradeltartufo.org) and Acqualagna (www.comune.acqualagna.ps.it) are the famous ones, but small towns like Cingoli and Montefortino in Le Marche also have them.

Take your treasure home with you, and without further ado gather a select few of your truffle-loving friends round for some tagliatelle: just toss plenty of butter and grated Parmesan in with the pasta before grating the truffle over each serving. It will be heaven on a plate.

Author profile:

Vicky Bennison (www.vickybennison.com) writes about the food, people and producers of Spain, Greece and now Italy, where she has a home. Her most recent book is Seasonal Spanish Food, co-authored with Jose Pizarro, and she has written 3 books in The Taste of a Place series. (www.thetasteofaplace.com)

Out of the Ash and into a Flavours Experience

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:42:00 +0000

Our Flavours Group - Lynn, Elizabeth and Christine
Flavours Host - Emily Isles
Flavours Chef - Sunshine Manitto
Flavours Team in Edinburgh/Blogger - Louise McIntosh

Tour Date - 1-4th May 2010
Location - Villa Maria, Tuscany, Italy.

Saturday 1st May 2010

I arrived with the ever-smiling, Emily, Flavours host extraordinaire, into Pisa airport. The Flavours group were all smiling as we piled into the taxi. I tried to not show that I was apprehensive as it was my first time in Italy. I needn't have worried though as Emily was a natural and the group embraced the experience and from the offset there was a lovely atmosphere.

As we drove through the Tuscan countryside the group chatted excitedly in the back getting to know one another. Lynn and Liz were cousins while Christine decided to travel by herself courtesy of her husband who was at home looking after their children. We do have a lot of clients who come on their own to make friends and have an interesting experience.

The journey flew by and soon we arrived, up a cobbled road with rustic buildings all around to Villa Maria. It was even more beautiful than the pictures I had seen. Fragrant lemon trees stood either side of the door and Sunshine our Italian chef was waiting for us. I've never seen anyone smile so warmly.

Once we were all settled in our perfect rooms we sneaked back downstairs for a bottle of Prosecco on the terrace, looking over the Tuscan countryside. Sunshine created a stunning array of antipasti dishes, the perfect indulgence. Then, before we knew it we had our aprons on and rolling pins at the ready and the cooking table had been transformed into a work table with chopping boards, knives and flour. It was an exciting prospect. Christine, Liz and Lynn were enthusiastic from the word go and we all piled in which was the perfect recipe in my book.

Can i just say, I'm not a cook. Sunshine was very patient with us and I was amazed how much I could learn in a short time.

First Day Dishes

1) Zuppa di Cereali Toscana - which is a nutritious Italian bean soup,
2) Rosticciona Stufata Con Olive Nere A Pinoli - Pork ribs, black olives and pine nuts.
3) Tiramisu - the first one I'd ever tasted and the whole group enjoyed it. Surprisingly light and fresh.

Sunshine was a typical Italian - his enthusiasm and passion for food fired us up. After dinner (amazing!) and some more wine, it was lights out.

Sunday 2nd May

Next morning our aprons went on again after breakfast and we got stuck into making Bolognese sauce with sausage meat, garlic, onions and fresh herbs including rosemary, sage and bay leaves. We even made our own pasta and then got to eat it for lunch. We left Sunshine behind and headed in our private transfer to San Gimignano.

In town it was raining but we walked up the tiny street, littered with quaint little shops selling everything from leather handbags, to colourful pasta. I immediately noticed the elegance of Italian women but kept getting distracted by the amazing aromas coming from the coffee shops. I found a journal shop, hidden, quietly at the top of the hill. A tiny shop that smelt of leather. The biggest journal was the size of a chopping board - a writers dream!

After an hour of shopping it was time for our wine tour. The lady running the tour owned Al Quattrorsi Shop & Events, a beautiful shop (http://www.marronaia.com/.) She was full of amazing and interesting facts, like that Giamignano has a population of 3000 people and of them, 92 families have winery farms.

As we emerged from the tasting it was torrential rain, unusual for May, and we hopped into the transfer car and back to the Villa for some tea. Sunshine of course, was waiting and dinner was on the way.

I have to say we got quite squiffy that night and there were some tales told - enough said. Around midnight everybody headed off to bed.

Monday 3rd May

We woke to the beautiful Tuscan sun and with breakfast out of the way, we made our way to Lucca. Sunshine is from Lucca so he was especially enthusiastic. We had lunch at his friend's restaurant and Lynn, a big fan of risotto, was over the moon when that and asparagus were dished up. We had steak and a beautiful, light, citrus mousse for pudding. Feeling full, we headed into the streets of Lucca. Emily translated when required and guided us around the streets. What a wonderful place Lucca is, full of life and the Amphitheatre was definitely a treat.

After a few hours it was time to head back, through the beautiful countryside, where there seemed to be very little sign of life, the public holiday kept people indoors with their families. We were glad to get back into the kitchen and get cooking again. The last night we made:

A pasta, truffle butter, and sausage dish.

Guinea Fowl with mushrooms (picture to the right).

Almond Biscotti (biscuits).

All three girls were up for having a go and chopping the guinea fowl but none of us found it easy and in the end Sunshine saved the day. Lynn's attempt at pasta turned out well but not as good as her first, Liz and Christine became pros and I required help and lots of it! The girls put a lot of energy into all of the courses and asked lots of questions. This really helped us bond as a group. That evening, we chatted for hours and it turned out that everyone had come with different expectations and for different reasons. Christine's husband had bought her the break as a gift. This was the first time she'd been away without her young children. Lynn had our Flavours brochure in her drawer for 7 whole years and eventually booked the trip that she'd dreamt of. Liz decided to join Lynn on this adventure and isn't shy of travelling. We weren't a group you'd naturally choose to put together but everyone got on really well.

The next morning we packed and heading to the airport, saying our goodbyes to the lemon trees, Villa Maria and Sunshine. We were all going on very different journeys from that point on. Liz was planning a flying extravaganza, I'm sure she said 25 flights over the next few weeks. Christine would be met by her family at the airport, a lovely picture and Lynn I do hope you got your dream house. If you did please send us a photo and update us. Emily was heading off to see her partner in Milan for a few days, Sunshine was heading home with his family and I got on the plane from London Stansted to Edinburgh crying, the trip had just hit me so suddenly and I just thought, "What a wonderful experience a Flavours holiday is".

Lynn Barnett posted us feedback.

Sunshine was a great chef and teacher. Good interactive lessons and learned new skills.

The trips were very relevant and informative.

Food: Memorable dish: Loved the potato Tortenlini and ragu. The Chestnut Cake with chocolate sauce...HEAVEN.

Wines: Loved them ALL!!

Value for Money: Yes

Staff: Emily was fabulous, very friendly and helpful and did a marvellous job translating for Sunshine.

We've taken on board all of Lynn's comments and appreciate such feedback. Thank you.

This is the end of this Flavours Holiday, many more to go.

Louise xx

Syracuse

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:01:00 +0000

Against the incredible backdrop of the sea the open-air amphitheatre at Syracuse is becoming a must- see for Flavours clients in Sicily. The city is famous for its rich Greek history and association to mathematician, inventor and scholar Archimedes. It played an important role in ancient times as one of the top powers of the Mediterranean world and was described by Cicero as ‘the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all’. In its day it had a population of over 300 000. Now it houses only a third of that number but its proud 2700 year history is openly on display at every turn. There are ancient ruins to ramble through and the pretty harbour is one of the most picturesque seaside areas that we know.

Today Greek tragedies are still performed from May to July in the Amphitheatre but you don’t have to be a Greek classical scholar to be inspired by the beautiful surroundings and the real sense of history in this fabulous location, which seated a huge audience of 15000 people at its height when gladiator slaughtered each other to amuse the masses.

Local food delights include cheese made in Ragusa, almonds and wine from Avola and Pachino for cherry tomatoes as well as Sicily’s famous chocolate from Modica. Though it’s the multicultural influences that strike our clients most – Sicily has always been a truly international place from Arab invaders to Normans, the Greek and the Spanish - every visitor has left their mark on the region’s cookery and a day’s visit to Syracuse, as one of the region’s larger historic settlements really illustrates all those influences.

To visit Sicily with Flavours go to www.flavoursholidays.co.uk

The Salentine Peninsula

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:23:00 +0000

At Flavours we have been blown away by the reaction of our clients to locations in Puglia, particularly those along the Salentine Peninsula. Only 40km south from Brindisi, the beautiful baroque town of Lecce is a place to linger, with some incredible Roman remains and a wealth of fine architecture. South of Lecce the Peninsula begins with its rugged landscape set against an incredible coastline which, on one side is framed by the sparkling Adriatic Sea and on the other, the Ionian Sea.

This is farming country, not so mountainous as elsewhere in Italy. There are beautiful olive groves where we often take our guests on tastings at the press. The landscape is littered with a system of ancient stone walls which delineate the fields and give the countryside here the feel of centuries of continuous care. Maps of the region date back to the 5^th century BC and also, interestingly confirm that there was a good deal of Greek influence in the region of Apulia as these very ancient documents are written in part in Greek.

More importantly, some of our favourite wines come from this region! Not least are those of the Negroamar grape. This name means "Bitter Black" produces deeply-coloured and brawny wines with strong hints of tropical spices. It is among the most planted red grapes in Italy and notably, it is the base for the Salice Salentino and other big, flavourful reds produced all along the Salentine peninsula. Wineries still operate mostly on traditional lines and grapes are picked in September by hand. Naturally our staff have their favourite, where they take guests to taste the absolute best that the Salentine Peninsula has to offer.

If you'd like to visit Puglia with Flavours then go to www.flavoursholidays.co.uk

Spices in Italy

noreply@blogger.com (FlavoursofItaly) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:49:00 +0000

Spices have been used in Italian cookery since before Roman times. Historians recreating Roman recipes report that if anything, cooks in the ancient world used these exotic flavours to excess, drowning the flavour of other ingredients. In Rome itself, Indian pepper was so important that it became one of the five `essential luxuries` on which the foreign trade of the empire was based - in fact it was the most important because it transformed the food of the everyday life. At one time the price of just 12 ounces of pepper was equivalent to £250 in today’s money.

Over time tastes refined and the selection of spices available to Italian cooks expanded even if they did not become an affordable addition to the kitchen for many hundreds of years. In Medieval Europe Venice was a huge, seafaring and trading power and it was here, in the North that they held a monopoly on the spice trade. However other principalities in Italy bought their spices from Venetian merchants and use of spices was widespread. In particular, Florentine money, made in banking by the Medicis, meant that there was a lucrative spice trade all over Tuscany. The Venetian monopoly lasted until the early 16^th century when Portuguese explorers like Vasco da Gama sailed to India and gave their Northern neighbours some competition.

Spices remained incredibly valuable during this period – nutmeg, for example, was worth more than gold. The idea that medieval and Renaissance cooks used spices to cover the taste of rotting meat is a myth – after all, to sprinkle on ruinously expensive and luxurious condiments simply to cover up the flavour of common cuts would be madness. Only the richest noblemen could afford spices for their kitchens, and these households could easily afford fresh produce for their cooks to work with.

Today Italians use spices throughout the year though there are huge regional variations. Coriander seeds are a common addition to pork dishes and use of pepper and nutmeg are widespread all over the country whereas ginger is rare except in the south. Whichever dish you choose to cook today, a few pennies will buy you a copious supply of spice except in the case of saffron, which has kept its allure and if not the hefty price tag of a bygone age, can still be considered a luxury. The precious golden threads are the world’s most expensive spice by weight. Saffron is still produced mostly in South East Asia so the spirit of the Venetian spice route lives on. It is used most famously in the classic Italian dish Risotto Milanese, which was created to celebrate a noble wedding in the 16^th Century.

At Flavours we pride ourselves on our knowledge of local, Italian recipes in all our locations.