Category: Italy
Four favourite Venetian restaurants revisited
December 14, 2018
A four night stay in November was prompted by the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Jacopo Tintoretto’s birth. This in turn triggered the question “where to have dinner?” Instead of seeking out new restaurants, we decided to revisit four that we have tried before. For the first evening we wanted somewhere lively and […]
Tintoretto’s 500th anniversary, and Venice today
December 7, 2018
Feasting on Tintoretto Venice is currently celebrating the 500th anniversary of the painter’s birth, in 1518 or 1519. Almost all his major works remain in his home city, spread among 29 locations. I imagined that the exhibition The Young Tintoretto at the Accademia was going to be a rerun of the one at the Musée du […]
Nervous of a Soggy Pickle
October 6, 2018
Giardiniera, or Garden Pickle. Giardiniera is a typical Italian pickle. On holiday, I sometimes buy a commercial version from the supermarket, to eat with a picnic. It consists of little chunks of crunchy vegetables in a sharp, vinegary brine; something like piccalilli without the mustard. At Trattoria Anzolo Raffaele in Venice, Luigi makes […]
Argala: in praise of bitterness
September 28, 2018
Childhood friends Enrico and Piero started making pastis in 2005, in Piero’s grandmother’s kitchen. Pastis is a drink associated with the south of France, so when they entered it in a competition, it was a bit of a joke; they live in Piemonte, on the wrong side of the Maritime Alps. It wasn’t their intention to create […]
A drinking game in Sardinia
September 13, 2018
“Find the oldest vintage rosé” Noticing the poor stock rotation in the local supermarket led to my invention of this little game (and the winner was. . . . 2007! from the highly regarded Cantina Mesa). I also noticed this example of sophisticated Italian label design: I stocked up with […]
Alghero, Sardinia: “The Food Stuff”
September 11, 2018
First night: La Bifora I picked a B & B for our first night in Alghero based on its convenient location, as we planned to drive to our self-catering holiday accommodation the following day, after stocking up at the market. By the time we arrived, we were ready for dinner. The owner of the […]
“Call me a taxi”, a Postcard from Alghero
September 5, 2018
I have a confession: Does anyone else dislike driving overseas? There’s the de-skilling effect of your expensive hire car having a manual gearbox, when you’re used to an automatic. Driving in an Italian town is like a stressful video game, played in a real car, in hot and humid conditions. You’re proceeding cautiously along […]