Food & drink
An evening with Gennaro Contaldo at Cucina Caldesi proved entertaining as well as useful. One of Gennaro’s rules is to always use seasonal products so, around about now, that includes the pumpkin – three of them in fact: The pumpkin is a member of the plant genus Cucurbita L. and includes squashes, pumpkins, courgettes and…
October 2015 Winning ‘Best Honey in London’ has made me very proud. Not that it’s been especially easy to get to this point. After doing my training with Capital Bee towards the end of 2011, I finally got my hive and bees in May 2012. The hive is in Cordwainers Garden, the community garden that…
A recent story about tiny sea snail teeth that were stronger than titanium reminded me of the time I met a Sardinian woman who harvested ‘bisso’, strong silk-like fibres secreted by a marine bivalve mollusc, known as pinna nobilis or ‘fan mussel’. Chiara Vigo is an interesting woman; a descendant of 30 generations of bisso-weavers,…
I was invited by Visit Devon to discover its food and drink delights, which included first-class wine and champagne, the freshest fish, and all manner of blueberry products. Some of the places visited: Yelverton’s Wildflower restaurant in the Moorland Garden Hotel Commodore in Instow Le Bistro Pierre Blueberry Brothers Eastcott Vineyard in Okehampton Pebblebed Vineyard…
On my latest visit to Devon I discovered a vibrant craft scene that includes ceramics, blacksmithing, and glass-blowing, along with an incredible range of food and drinks. Read about Devon’s quality wine, beer and gin, organic edible flowers, jams, fresh fish and chilli, in my article for ‘Discovering Devonshire Delights’ for Foodtripper. Some of the…
Casablanca Or Dar El Beida in Arabic, means ‘white house’ – a reference to the low-rise white-painted buildings that cover the landscape. But it’s a much-changed landscape today. The biggest city in Morocco is the busiest port in North Africa, a techno city decorated with hoardings advertising Samsung, Galaxy, Zara and Uniqlo… Markets in Morocco…
Milan’s EXPO Set to be the biggest ever, the theme is ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’. With 140 participating countries, it will be the biggest event on nutrition in the world. Here are some facts: 1 million square metres: the site will be equivalent in size to the 8th largest city in Italy 250,000:…
A day in Rimini, with Federico Fellini 15 October 2013 With over 15 kilometres of sandy beach, it’s little wonder that Rimini is one of the most popular resorts in Europe. From June to September much of the beach is covered by serried ranks of coloured umbrellas…
Look beyond the package tours (and there are plenty of them), and Sorrento really has something to offer the modern traveller. You just need to know where to find it… Grand (hotel) tourism Once the leaping off point for every 19th-century traveller’s Grand Tour, Sorrento was as glamorous a destination as any along the Amalfi…
8 August 2013 My sister Marian, who has lived in Italy for over 30 years, has adopted many Italian ways, not least the dedication to preparing and cooking exquisite food. She thinks nothing of spending an afternoon shredding basil leaves and pounding them, with a pestle and mortar, together with pine nuts, Parmesan and Pecorino…