‘It is not the result of an alchemy but the result of the products coming from vegetable gardens, farmyards, clear skies, fresh and clean water, hands used to rolling out the pasta dough; in one word, the treasure of Umbria. Umbria is the starting point of the journey we take to look for all these products…
Tag: Lemons
Volós Lentil Salad with a Garlic & Lemon Dressing
‘Volós! Anyone for Volós?’ the holiday rep called. ‘Anyone for Volós?’ she repeated. Again and again. For some reason, this caused my son, who must have been 11 years old at the time, to fall to the floor crying with laughter. That memory still amuses him to this day so I repeat it often just…
Umbrian Roasted Carrot & Borlotti Bean Salad with a Honey Lemon Dressing
‘If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our…
Greek Peach and Orange Blossom Spoon Sweets with Greek Yoghurt and Organic Thyme Honey
A friend of mine – a Greek musician named Costas – took me to visit his mother in the mountains of mainland Greece where she attempted to win my heart with spoon sweets and thick Greek coffee. She succeeded in her mission and, today, as summer gifts its bounty of sumptuous stone fruit you are…
Turkish Ezme Salad
Eager to shake off the cold of an early spring evening, we literally fell through the doorway of Asmalı Cavit, a treasured wooden-fronted traditional meyhane (tavern) in the centre of Pera in Istanbul. Here, the raki flows like the waters of the glittering Bosphorus; never ending and always a sight to behold. Our friends are known to the…
Italian Herb-marinated Bocconcini
In spring, the meadows of Parque del Monte Subasio near Spello in Umbria are smothered with a carpet of flowers and aromatic herbs; over 80 specimens of them in fact. It is here that peasants used to come after the harsh winter to forage for seasonal pops of flavour to brighten their soups, stews and rustic…
Kasbah Spiced Sweet Potato Hummus
As the sun dipped down above the High Atlas mountains, the pink plaster walls of the kasbah shone like bronze. The call to prayer from the Medieval Kasbah Mosque fell softly from its glorious minaret, the flickering lights from the Moroccan lantern threw jewels onto our table and, in the streets below, dozens of men and women…
Turkish Biber Salçası and Yoghurt Dip
Whenever we are in Istanbul, I make a point of buying several hundred grams of biber salçası, a beautiful red pepper paste available in both hot (aci) and sweet (tatli) versions which is sold in giant wooden barrels in traditional spice shops. When we get home, I transfer it to a sealed container and keep…
Italian Spinach & Ricotta Malfatti with Sage and Lemon Butter
The word ‘malfatti’ in Italian literally translates to ‘badly made’ which is crazy really because these gorgeous little dumplings from Brescia in Lombardia are a thing of beauty being much more colourful and lighter than the traditional gnocchi you may be more familiar with. I like to eat these throughout the year but they’re especially…
Greek Wild Thyme & Fragrant Herb Honey Polenta Cake
Authentic Greek honey is widely recognised as being a natural product of world-class quality; this is because it’s made by bees that feed upon the abundant, rich and aromatic Greek flora which includes over 850 species found nowhere else in the world. In actual fact, Greece is a country with the richest flora in the Mediterranean basin with…
Cardamom and Dill 