What it takes to be a true artisan We visited Romano dal Forno in Valpolicella to discover the genius behind one of the world’s best Amarone only to discover an even better wine. From our visit we concluded that a true Amarone artisan needs ingenuity, perseverance, dedication, conviction and passion…with a touch of insanity. Romano dal Forno…
The Valley of Many Cellars
In a lovely little valley studded with villas and vast estates, some of the best wine in Italy is produced. Valpolicella is a mixture of Greek and Latin and means valley (val) of many (poli) cellars (cella). It sits in an enviable position in Veneto to the east of Lago di Garda, protected from the worst…
Cellar Visit: Coffele in Soave, Veneto
We made a visit to Soave in Veneto on a friend’s recommendation to visit the winery of Coffele. Coffele has two cellars, first the mid-nineteenth century Castelcerino vineyard in the Classico zone of Soave, 7 kilometres south of the village of Soave, and considered to be one of the finest in Soave. The other is…
The Italian Lake District: Lago di Garda
We visited the picturesque town of Sirmione, which is located on a peninsula jutting 4 km into the southern part of Lago di Garda and is complete with a lakeside 13th century castle entrance to the old town. The town was called “heaven on earth” by Maria Callas and is famous for its thermal springs. Today there are…
Why do people from 180 countries come to a village in Lombardia on the same day every year?
Every year around the 24th of June, people from 180 countries around the world convene at Solferino, a tiny town of 2,000 inhabitants south of Lake Garda in Lombardia. Solferino is surrounded by farmland and has a beautiful Mantuan square, Piazza Castello (so named because there used to be an 11th century castle here). The…
A sommelier’s guide to how to order wine
Ordering wine at a restaurant can be a daunting task, particularly if there are a lot of choices or the wines are unfamiliar to us. Our lovely sommelier friend, Kimberley Drake, has kindly written a few words of advice for us. A sommelier’s guide to ordering wine at a restaurant: Ordering wine can feel like…
Cellar Visit: La Montina in Franciacorta
Upon arriving at La Montina winery you find the 17th century Villa Baiana in front of you, once home to the estate’s founder, Benedetto Montini. Montini, a noble from Brescia and a descendant of Pope Paul VI, built the estate in 1620. There is a life-sized statue of Pope Paul VI in the cellar…
Cellar Visit: The King of Franciacorta: Ca’ del Bosco
The name Ca’ del Bosco, means “house in the woods”, as the land the winery currently sits on was a small house in a chestnut forest purchased by Annamaria Clementi Zanella in the mid-1960’s as a holiday home. Her son, Maurizio Zanella, turned the small house into one of the most technologically advanced wineries in…
Franciacorta: Champagne’s younger sister
Franciacorta, located to the west and south of Lago d’Iseo in Lombardia, is a sea of neatly arranged rows of green covering 6,000 hectares. It is a peaceful oasis in which grows Italy’s answer to Champagne. Great wine is often grown in areas of great beauty and Franciacorta is no exception. There are 80…
The Italian Lake District: Lago di Como
We spent a few weeks wandering along Lago di Como, Lago d’Iseo and Lago di Garda. We drove through fields of corn and rice, forests and vineyard after vineyard. Throughout we found a patchwork of wineries and farms. We started from Milano stopping off at Tarantola restaurant hidden in the woods. The woods themselves…
Taste the real Sardegna: Gastronomic adventures
Many people flock to Sardegna for the perfect blue skies and spectacular coastline, opting for seafood in the Mediterranean heat but I think this is a mistake. They are overlooking the tradition of this pastoral island and the unique culture of the Sardinians. We stayed at a farm hotel (agriturismo) near Alghero called Sa Mandra,…
Happiest sheep in the world?
Sardegna may be home to some of the happiest sheep in the world, thoughtfully grazing overlooking some of the most spectacular coastline in the world. This is reflected in the cheese. The morning we went to the farm of Sa Mandra in Alghero, they were churning the ewe’s milk to make ricotta. First they put…
The idyllic family holiday destination
We took the boys and my father on a tour of northern Sardegna and found it to be, like many places in Italy, extremely family friendly. The location was potentially even more appealing to us because living in a large metropolis like Hong Kong, we were sensory deprived. Our ears were full of the sounds…
Sardinian winery visit: Tenute Soletta
Wine as an industry in Sardegna is relatively new and dates back less than 30 years. Previous to this there was no science behind what was served with meals, whatever grew on the land was made into wine. Today a whole generation of winemakers have emerged using soil analysis and modern techniques to create export…
Scotland’s more exotic cousin?
Before coming to Sardegna, I had always heard of the pastoral heritage of the island influencing the meat-laden cuisine, leading to a vision of a tropical Scotland in my mind. I had not expected the raw beauty of the arid vegetation, called the macchia mediterranea, contrasted against some of the most striking coastline in the…
Follow these 19 rules to bake cakes like a pro
Ingredients: Temperature: The ingredients must be at the proper temperature indicated in the recipe. Cold eggs can cause the batter to separate (to warm cold eggs, place them in warm water for 10 minutes). Cold butter will not combine well (to warm butter, place the butter between two sheets of parchment paper and roll with…
Food for thought: How to make more hours in the day
Do you feel like you are always on the back foot, trying to catch up with life? Are you letting things slip, like forgetting to pay a bill, buy a key ingredient for dinner or give your son the materials he needs for his school project? Do you feel like your family is never eating…
Follow these 14 rules to bake bread like a pro
Why is bread from a bakery so much better than bread baked at home? Ever used a recipe to bake bread only to find that it looked nothing like the picture? Imagine if you could bake bread using flour, water, salt and yeast and come out with consistently great bread, no matter what season….
How to make perfectly moist cakes every time without an oven
A friend told me that she was baking cakes in her rice cooker because she didn’t have an oven. It is relatively common in Asia to not have an oven and I thought this a poor substitute. I imagined the cakes to turn out burnt and hard on the bottom and undercooked and still liquid…
How much do you know about Easter?
Tradition Easter is a traditional religious holiday to celebrate the day that Christ rose from the grave after the crucifixion. During the Easter week there are religious processions throughout Italy, often with participants wearing traditional dress and carrying palm fronds or olive branches (a reference to the palm branches a symbol of goodness and victory…
Ten years ago today, I made a mistake
Exactly ten years ago today, my grandfather passed away. I was working on an important banking deal at the time and was on a business trip in Europe when my father rang to say I may want to consider coming back. He said that there was no immediate need to rush back so I booked…
Is homework harmful to children?
It can be, but not entirely for the reasons you might suspect. After hearing about how my friend’s six year old child studies for 6 to 8 hours after school everyday and knowing she is not in the minority, I was interested in how this work load is going to affect my children’s generation. Child…
Skiing in Courmayeur
I went skiing in Courmayeur, Valle d’Aosta, one of my favourite places to ski for many reasons but mainly because I love the food, the village (see below for recommended places to visit), the people, the variety of ski runs, and the breathtaking views of Mont Blanc. The village is very Italian in that most…
Top 10 misconceptions about wine
1. Wine is expensive. Actually most wine is inexpensive. When I was in university in Italy, beer was more expensive than mineral water. Mineral water was more expensive than wine. So wine was cheap. You can guess what calculation most people on a student budget made. Wine is similar to clothing, in that most clothes…
Show me a proud farmer
When I finished my undergraduate degree in economics with honours my father beamed with pride. When I announced a few months later I wanted to cook in a restaurant and go to cooking school, to say he was crestfallen would be an understatement. While Asian parents can sympathise with him, Westerners do not automatically understand…
Have any grasshopper sauce in your cupboard?
I often have an internal disagreement between my head, which tells me it makes most sense to buy local products which are fresh and support my local community, and my stomach, which wants to eat a different cuisine for every meal. This week, I may have met someone who can help me achieve the twin…
AsiO Gusto – the first international Slow Food festival in Asia
AsiO Gusto I had the good fortune to attend AsiO Gusto, Asia’s first Slow Food conference, in Korea. Being the first conference, I had relatively low expectations but wanted to see how food professionals in the 40 participating countries in Asia and Oceania viewed their role in relation to the Slow Food movement. What…
Why is Champagne expensive?
I thought I loved Champagne before I was properly introduced to it. Now knowing the complexity of its production, I have a deeper respect and value it even more. I managed to secure an invitation to a Champagne blending master class hosted by the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne and taught by Mr. Stanislas Thienot…
A Gastronomic Tour of Tuscany and Umbria
Our little corner of Tuscany near Lucignano had many perfectly distanced options for morning jaunts with small children, ensuring sightseeing and meandering lunches at authentic local trattorias for the adults and gelato and short car journeys guaranteeing a timely return for nap time for the children. Having congratulated ourselves on a nice morning out, we…
Best Wine in the World? A Visit to Ornellaia
Ornellaia Cellar Visit Driving along the cypress tree-lined road towards Ornellaia, we passed winery after winery. With each one a gleeful sound would arise from my husband seated next to me in the car. We are in Bolgheri, a relatively new wine area in Tuscany previously known for potatoes, and a virtual Disneyland of favourite…
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