In Via Padre Cristoforo Chiantini, San Sano 53013 Gaiole in Chianti you will find a curious statue of a frog gulping down wine. Even more curiously, the statue owes its existence to a television programme. In the 1967 programme Tappabuchi, a word that might be translated as “stopgap”, the...
One of the many books I am re-reading at the moment is The Physiology of Taste by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826),a lawyer, who was mayor of Belley, France until he fled to the United States after the Revolution in 1793. On returning to France he was appointed a judge in Paris,...
If there is one legendary group of individuals in history who have inspired the imagination of many and have had grow around them myths, speculative theory, orthodox academic examination, and fiction, it must be the Knights Templar. Much has been written about them (including Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci...
Palazzo Penne, built in 1406 for Antonion Penne, the private secretary of King Ladislas of Anjou, is a rare example of the architecture of this period with its blend of Catalan (doorway) and Tuscan (façade bosses) elements. The renowned Antonio Baboccio was probably the designer. Penne’s influence at court was...
Standing on the steep main road that runs through the hills above Lucca, Tuscany, the town of San Gennaro is not far from Collodi (which provided the writer Carol Lorenzini, author of The Adventures of Pinnocchio, with his penname). Re-built in the 12th century, the church of San Gennaro...
I was going through a pile of books a friend returned to me and I came across a copy of The Flanders Panel. It was clearly mine but I didn’t recall having read it, so, as I was on a break I decided to settle in for a read,...
The Portinari Chapel was built in the years 1462-1468 for the Florentine banker Pigello Portinari, the Milan agent of the Medici Bank. It is considered to be a masterpiece of the Lombard Renaissance and its frescoes, by Vincenzo Foppa, recount the life of the Dominican St Peter Martyr...
Most people are not even aware of its existence, and even those who do know it sometimes do not see the pentimenti in this unfinished work. The Rondanini Pietà is the last known work by Michelangelo, carved when the artist was 90 years old and approaching death. This final...
I’m an unabashed fan of Tessa Kiros’ cookbooks all of which are within easy reach in my library. If you haven’t discovered her, then you must and to assist you with an initial choice I decided I would share her glorious cookbook Venezia – food & dreams (published by Murdoch Books,...
In the Bolboli gardens – near the entrance to the left of Palazzo Pitti – one encounters a curious fountain showing an overweight male figure astride a tortoise. Setting aside the tone of playful burlesque which was such an integral part of Florentine Mannerist architecture, one might read...
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.
