Monthly Archives: February 2012

Soup Series – Salad Soup

The French have their “bon appétit” and the italians have the equivalent “buon appetito – but, aha!, theer is a catch. People who take their good manners seriously in Italy – let’s face it, I speak of those who come … Continue reading

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How to imbue a Winter salad with a sultriness that’s all about Summer

Salads spell summer and sultriness.  Disappointingly, too many people tend to limit the potential of a salad solely to the health aspect of its ingredients.  I get bored with the ‘health’ hype after a while … meaning, please bear with … Continue reading

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Matriciana – Variation number 4

My son came over for a few days during his university’s reading week recently … and a matriciana is what he wanted when I asked him what he would like for lunch the day he was going back.  As with … Continue reading

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Matriciana – Variation number 3: in memory of Zia Mena

December 2011 This was the month that Aunt Mena died.  She was 87 and she was my mother-in-law’s stepsister and what one would call ‘a character’, a spirited woman, much given to outspokenness when she wasn’t playing coy.  She was … Continue reading

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Matriciana – Variation number 2 with lardo

Matriciana is a very inclusive and friendly kind pasta sauce and can be made in hefty quantities to cater for a large crowd at the dinner table.  As it was, my Matriciana variation no. 2 was for a lunch for … Continue reading

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Matriciana – Variation number 1

I made this matriciana in July of last year. Grated pecorino cheese, plum tomatoes, guanciale, glass of white wine.  Short pasta in the background (no bucatini or spaghetti). I cut the guanciale into stocky strips and cooked them on a … Continue reading

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Getting to grips with the Matriciana

There has been quite a lot of hype in recent years (websites, newspaper articles, blogs and facebook debates abound) over the making of a quintessentially Roman pasta sauce called “alla Amatriciana” or “alla Matriciana”.   Having done some research on … Continue reading

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The Elegance of a Plain Risotto

What do the words ‘summer holiday’ evoke in the average, relatively grown-up person? For me, they kindle up existential magic.  Throughout all my summer holidays at boarding school in England, life donned a special cloak of ‘alive-liness’.  Even boring periods … Continue reading

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Trippa alla romana via a Chinese restaurant in London

Trippa is Italian for tripe.  Tripe was something I did not normally eat — in fact, it always used to surprise me the way friends or relatives got all excited at the prospect of eating tripe.  The very thought made … Continue reading

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Gnocchi on the rocks

In April last year, I wrote two posts on gnocchi … the first appropriately entitled “The trouble with gnocchi”.  I have no problem confessing that I only made gnocchi once the whole of last year.  I did eat gnocchi more … Continue reading

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