Join us this month for a fun-packed exploration of Italy, taking in some of the country’s best festivals during the season of Carnevale. We’ll also help you plan summer adventures with travel features on Abruzzo, Capri, Tuscany and Sicily. All this, plus tempting homes to buy, tasty seasonal recipes, news, reviews – and a few Italian cocktails to try at home! […]
How would a father and son, skier and snowboarder team fare for five days on the slopes together? Jon Bickley took teenager Ben back to the Alps to find out… Courmayeur photos courtesy of Jon Bickley After the second time I went skiing with my son Ben, on a school trip to Bormio eight […]
Here are some of the most spectacular mountain peaks in Italy – have you scaled any of these?! Images by iStock 1 The Alps is one of the great European mountain ranges, touching Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, France and Italy with its grandeur. The most significant mountain in the range that sits entirely in Italy […]
Fleur Kinson shares the low-down on different parts of Lombardy to help you decide which area would be perfect for your new life in Italy. Photos by Getty Images Lombardy is the economic powerhouse of Italy, and prices here reflect that, especially in the capital, Milan, which is one of the most businesslike and affluent […]
The stylish region of Lombardy combines romantic Alpine lakesides and elegant little cities. It’s long been loved by foreign property buyers, and with good reason, says Fleur Kinson Lombardy photos by Getty Images With an annual GDP that’s double the size of Italy’s next most productive region, Lombardy has been rightly dubbed the ‘economic […]
Mario Matassa shares his paradise cake recipe – a cake that miraculously improves with age and is better if made one or two days in advance… The name ‘paradise cake’ comes from the fact that the cake is as light as air (like paradise). It has a dry, fragile texture, so is usually filled with a […]
For a festive centrepiece Italian-style you can’t go wrong with roast guinea fowl (faraona ripiena). Mario Matassa gives us the low-down… There are a number of ways to cook guinea fowl, but at Christmas a roast seems almost obligatory. The key to a good roast is to make sure you do not overcook. You might […]
This delicious appetiser is perfect in its simplicity and requires minimal preparation time. Mario Matassa shares the recipe with us… For this crostini dish it is important to find plump prawns and to make sure that the pancetta is sliced very thinly as it has to become crisp just as the prawns are cooked: Serves 4 […]
These golden balls of deep-fried dough smothered in honey and decorated with candied peel make a wonderful centrepiece for the festive table, says Mario Matassa Struffoli, from Naples, are prepared and eaten all over Italy at Christmas. Here’s how to make them: Serves 6-8 Preparation time 30 minutes, plus resting Cooking time 45 minutes Ingredients: • 300g […]
Full of the strong flavours that are typical of the region, this Campanian dish will evoke memories for anyone who has ever visited Naples – Here’s Mario Matassa’s take on ‘reinforcing salad’: Insalata di rinforzo (‘reinforcing salad’) hails from Campania in the south of Italy. Its name refers to its capacity to reinforce the appetite. It can […]