On his return to Lisbon after discovering the sea route to India in 1498, Vasco da Gama proclaimed “Somos a gente do mar” (We are the people of the sea). Using small, light, high-powered caravel sailing ships based on an ancient Mediterranean design, 15th and 16th-century Portuguese explorers voyaged the...
Here is a little about sidra the cider of Asturias, Spain….. “The Asturians have a drink they call zythos which is made from fermented apple juice”, so wrote the Greek geographer Strabo in the first century B.C. Even the Celts had cultivated applies in this northwest region...
L’Église Saint-Michel-Du-Gast in Roquebillière has an impressive collection of esoteric, Masonic, Templar and Hospitaller symbols. Transferred to the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem in 1141, it was reconstructed in 1533. On the wall below and to the right of the clocktower, a 666 is preceded by a recent...
Bartolomeo Boldo,a doctor of medicine, wrote this of the artichoke in 1576 – “The Artichoke has the virtue of provoking Venus in both in both Men and Women and for Women of making them more desirable and helping Men who are in these matters rather tardy.” Albeit its supposed aphrodisiac...
In general, the Supreme authorities in the Catholic Church have not been conspicuously hostile to sensual pleasure, or even ascetic in their culinary habits. Whereas, at the beginning of the 13th century, Pope Innocent III was still advocating spartan living, and insisting that only one main dish was served...
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is recognised as the greatest master of Roman Catholic church music. His name was originally Giovanni Pierluigi – Palestrina, the name by which he became known, is a small town near Rome where he was born. He began his musical training ay the age of...
In Via Manzoni in the Fashion District of Milan you will find an outstanding private museum, established by nobleman Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli, which was opened to the public in 1881. The museum, a singular example of a late 19th-century aristocratic Milanese residence, contains Poldi Pzzoli’s fine collection of...
Cézanne’s work is inextricably linked with the landscape of his native Provence, and above all the countryside around Aix-en-Provence. While still at school, the young Paul had drawing lessons, which helped him decide upon a career as an artist. In the 1860s and 70s he moved between Paris, L’Estaque...
The wonderful town of Pula lies near the tip of the Istria peninsula in Croatia and today is Istria’s largest port. Importantly, Pula’s Roman legacy can be seen throughout the town, with the most impressive and most obvious example being the 1st-century amphitheatre which is located just back from...
There are no written records from the people of northern Europe of 2,500 years ago so we are dependent on what they left behind to help us understand the society of early northern Europe. This is a little about a spectacular pair of wine jugs which give some...
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.
