Sixtus IV, the successor to Paul II, would doubtless, if he had the opportunity to comment today, prefer to be remembered for transforming Rome from a medieval city to a Renaissance city, with the jewel in the crown being the creation of the Sistine Chapel, which was built...
In conjunction with my D.H. Lawrence poem about pomegranates, I thought I would share a little of the Greek myth of Persephone and her link to the pomegranate. Zeus and the goddess of crops and harvest, Demeter, had a daughter who they named Persephone. One day while she was collecting...
Alfonso Quijano, a member of the minor nobility form a little village in La Mancha, has read too many books on chivalry. He imagines that he is a knight too, and he sets out on a crazy quest. The powerful novel El ingenioso Hildalgo Don Quixote de la...
Table manners at the end of the Middle Ages were appalling.Everyone ate out of the same pot. Meals were served in one large chunk, from which everyone present cut a piece fro themselves. Poultry was not carved up before being put on the table. and people pulled even...
Here is a little history about Dom Sebastião, the sixteenth king of Portugal….. Dom Sebastião, born in Lisbon 20 January 1554 was the sixteenth king of Portugal and the seventh of the Avis dynasty. He was the son of Prince Dom João, who himself was the son of...
The importance and the ambition of the Neoplatonic Academy are still not fully understood. Founded in Villa Medici Careggi in 1459, on the initiative of Cosimo de’ Medici, its purpose was to study the great traditions of thinking and spirituality – Judaism and the Kabbalah, Christianity, Platonic and...
Leo V or Levon V (sometimes referred to as Leon VI, 1342-1393), of the House of Lusignan, was the son of John of Lusignan and Soldane, daughter of George V if Georgia. Last sovereign of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, he governed from 1374 to 1375. His reign...
When on 25th December, 1476, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan was murdered in the Church of Santo Stefano, few of his subjects or indeed his close family circle would have mourned his death. He had made many an enemy and those that did not directly hate him, loathed...
If Guiseppe Verdi and the Duchess of Parma were alive today, and they strayed into the Via Soziglia in Genoa, the would certainly recognize one store, that of the confectioner Pietro Romanengo, famous for over 200 years for the most exquisite specialties. Pietro Romanengo’s history began in Genoa...
The Hapsburg Emperor Charles V (Carlos I) of Spain ruled over an empire over which it is said, the sun never set. In the 16th century, his ships bought gold and silver from America to Seville, making Spain the superpower of Europe. The conquerors of the ‘new world’...
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.
