Grown around – and even on – the slopes of Mount Etna, the grape varieties that thrive in Sicilian soil make some of Italy’s finest white wines. Paul Pettengale investigates… Wine has been a way of life in Sicily for thousands of years. When the Greeks inhabited the island around 1500BC, they brought with them […]
Le Marche is on the eastern side of Italy, east of Umbria, between the statuesque mountains and the inviting sea… The region is split into five provinces: Pesaro-Urbino, Ancona, Macerata and Ascoli Piceno, and the very recently instituted Fermo. It is easy to get to both the mountains and the sea, which is very appealing […]
Take a look at the latest Italian products you can find on the market this summer… Give your kitchen a dose of rustic tidiness with this new range of wooden storage crates from T&G Woodware – we especially love the bottle holder idea for oils and balsamic vinegar. This new Baroque range of storage solutions […]
Here we have a selection of some of the best Italian recipe blogs, offering some delicious ideas and fun anecdotes… WWW.TAVOLATALK.COM As well as a large selection of delicious recipes from all over Italy, this informative website also features posts on current trends and ideas in Italian cuisine. Blogger Toni Lydecker, who splits her time […]
The hot climate of the heel of Italy is perfect for crafting rich, robust red wines. Paul Pettengale heads south to discover some of Puglia’s finest… The wines made from grapes grown in the far south of Italy in the region of Puglia were once widely denigrated, and with good reason. Most of what was […]
We review a book on learning how to make authentic Italian fodder, a new pasta cookbook by Gino D’Acampo and two new releases from young fiction writers… Pizza Pilgrims: Recipes from the Backstreets of Italy by James and Thom Elliot, HarperCollins, £20 (hardback) This is the story of James and Thom Elliot, two brothers who […]
With such a multitude of classic pestos adorning the supermarket shelves, it’s important to choose the best for your store cupboard. Here are our favourites… Simple and versatile, the humble jar of pesto is a staple ingredient of Italian cooking. It originated in Genoa, the capital city of Liguria in northern Italy, and has since […]
Umbria is known as the ‘green heart of Italy’, thanks to the fact that more than 30 per cent of the region is made up of woodland… This is a tranquil and historically rich region, landlocked on all sides by Tuscany, Lazio and Le Marche and situated right in the middle of Italy, although the […]
Take a look at the latest Italian products that have caught our eye… For food lovers who want to take their passion to the next level, designers have come up with this unusual Parmesan cheese lamp. Yes, that would be a hanging ceiling lamp that looks exactly like a wheel of Parmesan. It is […]
Once a little-known region in terms of wine making, Friuli is now leading the world in the crafting of fine whites. Paul Pettengale explains why… The last time we dedicated a Drink Italia! column to the white wines of Friuli-Venezia Giulia was back in 2008. “It produces white wines that are not only considered to […]