Top 10 (or so) Gourmet Corners of Siena

Lately I have found more and more people who have stopped in Siena having even skipped Florence, which is quite surprising being in the classic triangle of "Venice - Florence - Rome". I am delighted to hear that many find Siena prettier than our neighbour guelfa.

Without sounding over-biased, there are certainly smaller hoards of tourists (or at least they manage to blend more with the bricks and the locals)  and the atmosphere is pretty unique. So I thought to compile a list of the best gourmet places which might help all those of you who would like to go back or are planning a trip soon to Siena.

Just in case you doubt my local nose and taste-buds living 600km away from it, I have done my thorough research and checked with a few affecionados who know everything about Siena, where to get the best ham and cheese, where to eat the crunchiest pizza or where to sip the best Vin Santo with a couple of cantucci.

Relaxing with some Norfolk cake

As soon as I see some sun and I feel like resting and unwinding the image of Norfolk with its golden deserted beaches springs up to my mind. What I love of that place is the peace and quiet you can always find. You could walk for hours without meeting a soul and even when you do a mild nod and gentle smile are enough.

Inevitably our number 1 destination is always Wells-next-the Sea. There is still an old fashion atmosphere in that village with its traditional butchers, bakers, and shell shops along the main (and only) road. And the line of children fishing mini crabs with their tiny strips of bacon.

My ABC of Travel

Mette of Italian Notes has kindly asked me to participate in the "My ABC Travel" Series. Being so non-technical it took me three rounds of emails to understand what I was supposed to do. But here it is!

The interiors of Rome

Rome is famous for many things and I don't need to list them. But one thing some people might not be familiar with is its offals, also called "quinto quarto", the fifth part left from the four parts of the animal thus everything else other than the front and the back. These include tripe, lungs, hearts, liver, tail, brain and tongue.

 

(I would like to reassure vegetarians who by now have been taken by convulsions that other type of dishes are also available in Rome like artichokes and courgette flowers - see one of my previous posts. So don't feel disgusted and give up with the idea of eating in Rome!) .

Christmas in the land of the fairies

"And another Christmas is over" as my grand-mother would have said. I always feel quite sad about it. Our tree looks so nice that I might be considering the idea of keeping it till Easter (in my sister's style). But I guess it would simply be wrong - and very weird.

On the contrary of most English people who take their decorations down today, we celebrate the 6th January being Epiphany, the day the Three Kings, who got slightly lost or were very slow, arrived to the manger and gave their gifts to Jesus. In some parts of Italy in fact this is the real day when presents are exchanged - whilst Christmas is only dedicated to food and drinking.

 

A Danish scent of cinnamon

First of all: a belated Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you had a good time eating, drinking, and dozing off. We cooked non-stop for almost a week and everything is now gone! 


The cooking marathon though was only one of the reasons why I disappeared just before Christmas. We also went Copenhagen and soaked up its festive atmosphere and met up with my friend Mette of Italian Notes who cooked a wonderful Danish Christmas meal just for us! But more about this at my next post. 

A Scottish Christmas carol

Dear readers,

I am still alive. I  had not been kidnapped by aliens or lost the use of my hands. Simply far too busy and with so many things to prioritize. Tut, tut, tut....blog writing = top priority. I know, I know but the reality is that these wonderful little posts don't pay the rent or buy Christmas presents - unless you, devoted readers, wish to make a donation....;-D

But I am now back ready to face Christmas and the Italian invasion, as well as presents, turkey, crackers, puddings....and so on and so forth...

If English food is neglected, Scottish food is practically unheard, with the exception of salmon, haggis, and whiskey, which is a real shame as Scots culinary traditions are lost in the midst of antiquity. I admit it, it is all rather heavy but would you not go for a juicy and fatty piece of meat rather than a Mediterranean tomato grilled with herbs that might well refresh you and help your tan but won't warm up your freezing bones?

 

This cake, "Clootie Dumpling",  is a variation on the most known English Christmas pudding - or who knows, perhaps it went from North to South rather than the other way round...after all weren't English invading its northern cousins?

Warming up in Montpellier

My first impression of Montpellier, at least based on what locals kept repeating to me, was that "there are no traditional dishes here" . And so for some time I gave up looking for one to report to you. But then I decided to go a bit beyond the city and explore the villages around it. After all it is a big place and traditions do get lost - it would be  a bit like asking what the typical dish in Paris is!

A Skink in Cullen

One of the things that fascinate me the most are the names of dishes. They don't simply describe what you are eating but tell you how they are cooked, where they come from, who was behind their original recipe. Most Scottish dishes have ancient origins - despite many of you  probably think there are no culinary traditions there! 


And a lot of the names derived from Gaelic give something magical and distant. 

Autumn has made its appearance and a blanket of multi-coloured leaves have carpeted the road just outside the cottage. However, to my surprise, the weather has been really good. And so a day at the beach could not be missed. The sun is still warm enough to sit on a bench and doze off wrapped up by a pleasant touch. 

The oriental origins of Churros

It might be the Autumnal chill that is now in the air, the dew of every morning, the days that are gradually shortening up but every night I feel the need to melt under my tongue a nice and chunky piece of dark chocolate. Or even better! to lick the spoon of that silky dark coat that only hot chocolate can create.

But rather than having a simple cup of cocoa, and limiting the calories, what could be better than a crunchy, lightly greasy and sugary churro generously dipped in chocolate?