These little mouthfuls of delight are one of my favourite items for a tapas or mezze and although they take a little bit of work, they are certainly worth the effort and when offered warm drizzled with a little extra olive oil, I can assure they don’t last long....
Francesco I de Medici (Florence, 1541-1587) commissioned a special Studiolo within the Palazzo Vecchio. The decoration was in part the work of the most famous Mannerist painter of the day, Giorgio Vasari, who was commissioned to oversee the entire project (1570-72), with the assistance of humanist scholars Giovanni Battista...
In Via Sant’Ignazio, Rome you will find a spectacularly beautiful library – the Biblioteca Casanatense – which was founded by the Dominican friars of the Monastery of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome at the request of Cardinal Girolamo Casanate, and then inaugurated in 1701 in a structure...
Santa Sabina Basilica, on the Aventine Hill, dates from the 5th century, and it is one of the oldest churches in Rome, although it has frequently undergone major conversions since it was built. In the atrium, by virtue of a small oval window opening into the courtyard of a neighbouring convent,...
In Room V of the Pinacoteca Museum, the Vatican you will find the undated Pietà (above) by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553). Lucas Cranach the Elder was perhaps the best-known German Renaissance painter after Albrecht Dürer, and this panel is one of the few works by non-Italian artists in the Pinacoteca. The art-loving...
(The Return from Rome of Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga – 1474) On the walls of the Camera degli Sposi in the Ducal Palace at Mantua, Andrea Mantegna (c.1430-1506) painted some life-size informal portraits of the Gonzaga family. In this portrait (c 1474) almost as a curtain has been drawn back, we...
Tradition has it that on the 6th July, 1484, a child saw the image of the Virgin and Child painted on the walls of the Prato prison begin to move. After the phenomenon was repeated a number of times, the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Carceri (“of prisons”) was...
Callian, a magnificent village typical of Var, forms a spiral pattern around a private medieval chateau, rebuilt in the 17th century. One of the edifice’s two towers boasts a clock that gives it its name. At the base of the tower, there is a door with a decorated...
This is an absolutely wonderful pasta dish which combines the seemingly unlikely pairing of chorizo and mussels but it is certainly one of my favourites – a combination of Spanish and Italian flavours – so Mediterranean. This recipe comes from José Pizzaro in his book Spanish Flavours. I have made...
This recipe is a request from a dear friend, so here it is. I know a lot of people find souffles a little daunting, and I have had my fair share of failures and a quick resort to the pantry for a substitute, but these are really a delight...
Welcome to my love affair with the food, wine, history and culture of the Mediterranean, past and present. Here you will find not only recipes, drinks and fabulous products, but the history of the food and culture of the Mediterranean.
My purpose is to get you to explore and experience new tastes and along the way to immerse yourself in the wonderful history of this diverse and wonderful region – from Venice to Istanbul, Rome to Dubrovnik, Athens to Crete and all places in between and in the surrounds. Be prepared to be surprised, delighted and enthralled as you take this trip with me.
