Italy in a book Elizabeth Minchilli is the author of eight books on the joys of Italian life. Her latest book is Eating my way through Italy, of which I was sent an advance copy to review. Minchilli’s passion for Italy led her from her native United States, where she studied architectural history, to Italy in 1987. She writes on architecture, design, food and travel for a variety of publications. This book is way more than a ‘recipe’ book: it is…
Chocolate from Cambridge The Cambridge Confectionery Company are a family business from Cambridgeshire known as Calico Cottage. Having been established since 1989 manufacturing in-store fudge-making systems, they branched out in 2012 to re-pack and bespoke label confectionery for the impulse and seasonal markets. Currently the range is offered through a number of retail partners; Tourist Attractions, Garden Centres and High Street Stores including, in London, Fortnum & Mason. We have tried a number of their chocolates and fudges and found them to be really…
A long standing love affair with tea A few years ago I discovered with a fair amount of surprise that for years I had been pronouncing the name of my favourite tea brand wrongly. Indeed, insteading ‘tuinings’, Twinings is pronounced ‘tuainings’. The fact I had been so wrong about it did not deter me from continuing to be a fan of their products, particularly the classic Earl Grey and their patent, beautiful Lady Gray which I am gutted they now…
Pasta mon amour I love pasta, no secret. This blog is entitled to it, and I am from Napoli, where pasta is a staple of pretty much most meals (right, maybe not breakfast). I usually prefer to cook or even make my own pasta, and I feel that is a bit of a waste for me to order pasta in a restaurant because it is such an easy task for me to do at home. There’s so much more to…
Seggiano is the name of the small hilltop village on Monte Amiata in southern Tuscany, where Peri Eagleton and David Harrison have farmed organic olives since 1985. Twenty years ago they started selling their local Olivastra Seggianese extra virgin olive oil and a selection of wonderful artisan foods from small family food producers. Their brand is SEGGIANO, named in honour of the village where the story started. Their product range is pretty extensive with some very good options from savoury…