Everyone has their ideal Christmas dinner in mind, usually featuring a statement dish. The choice between turkey, ham, roast beef or goose as the pièce de résistance often is less of a question than if to cook them differently this year or spice up the side dishes. While I adore roast turkey, if I get…
Susumelle- Italian gingerbread from Calabria
Many of us have holiday baking on the cards for this week. One to add to your repertoire are Susumelle, deliciously spiced gingerbread biscuits dipped in chocolate. Pop one in your mouth and the flavour is the epitome of Christmas. They are easy to make and last for ages in sealed tin. I let the children weigh…
Where in Italy is a great place for families to spend the Christmas holiday?
Venezia (Venice) has many names and faces. It is known as the city of romance, a UNESCO city of culture rich with breathtaking architecture and art, the City of Water with its canals crisscrossing the city, the City of Masks as shops display the city’s characteristic carnival masks year-round, as where the orient meets Europe…
My favourite foodie presents from last Christmas
Typically I slowly hoard Christmas presents all through the year. Meanwhile my husband spends 363 days of the year in denial that Christmas is always on December 25. I predict that in 9 days from now, he will be amongst the crowds of shoppers desperately trying to remember who and what to buy for. This year…
Our family’s favourite Christmas dish
There are a few evocative Christmas foods that elicit childhood memories from a simpler time. Christmas and childhood are intertwined and that festive feeling of families coming together to celebrate the season is one that no child forgets. For some people Christmas means roast chestnuts, roast turkey, goose or beef, traditional cakes, tarts and puddings…
One good reason to eat lasagne today
Today is la Befana in Italy, otherwise known as the Epiphany. It marks the last of the 12 days of Christmas which begin on December 25th (Christmas Day). It is also a feast day to commemorate the visit of the Three Wise Men (Magi) to bring gold, frankincense and myrrh to the birth of Jesus…
What do Italians eat for Christmas?
Italian holiday foods are often symbolic as well as delicious. Dishes served on the day before a religious festival such as Christmas Eve, known as La Vigilia, are meant to purify the body before the rich holiday foods. The Christmas season starts in Italy on 6 December with the birthday of Saint Nicola…
My top 7 foodie wish list for Christmas
1. Maria Grammatico’s Bitter Almonds cookbook We visited Erice in Sicilia this year after being told by many Sicilians that one of their best pastry chefs lived there and was named Maria Grammatico. Eastern Sicilia is the most famous for the pastries as it the Arabs, who introduced their art of pastry to Sicilia, had…
