Dark chocolate and coconut bites
Posted: February 14, 2012 Filed under: General, Regional Cuisine, Tuscany | Tags: bounty bar, broken cake, chocolate, chocolates, coconut, dark chocolate, food, Italian Food, italian recipes, italy, leftover cake 1 Comment »Morbidosi al cioccolato fondente e cocco
You might be wondering what I did with the leftover spongecake after making my Valentine’s day cupcakes… I hope that if you made them you didn’t throw the sponge out because in this recipe I use it to make soft chocolatey bites – I really hate to waste food, so I had to invent something for the spongecake, and chocolate and coconut is the Italian boy’s absolute favourite combination. In fact, he thinks that dark chocolate bounty bars are the best thing in the known, and perhaps the unknown, universe. As they say here, ne vado ghiotto… which basically means “they turn me into a glutton”! I think we all have things that do this for us (nutella, anyone?) and can relate, so as you can imagine these made him happy.
inspired by the dark chocolate bounty bar
As an aside, chocolate is quite a big deal in Italy, and aside from well known commercial names like nutella and ferrero rocher Italians also produce some of the world’s finest luxury chocolate. Tuscany, in particular is well known for chocolate, including Amadei, winners of various awards over the years. I first tried Amadei at the Italian boy’s house and fell in love with it, but I don’t eat it often as it is pretty expensive.
Baked Mediterranean Swordfish
Posted: January 5, 2012 Filed under: Regional Cuisine, Tuscany | Tags: Fish, healthy, Italian, Italian Food, Mediterranean, oven, Recipes, Seafood, swordfish, tuscany Leave a comment »Pesce Spada alla Livornese from Tuscany
I remember the first time I tried swordfish, on holiday in Spain with my parents. I was very young, and the idea of a fish with a “sword” attached to its face was fascinating to me, and I spent the rest of the holiday trying to catch a glimpse of a living one.
Swordfish with tomatoes, capers and black olives
This recipe shows off fresh swordfish at its best. It is quite a strong, meaty tasting fish and can take stronger flavours than some other seafood without being compromised, as this recipe demonstrates.
Italian birthday party
Posted: December 18, 2011 Filed under: General, Regional Cuisine, Sicily, Tuscany | Tags: history of tiramisu, Italian birthday, Italian Culture, Italian Food, pasta bake, tiramisu 4 Comments »Happy birthday Domenico!
Nobody's fooled by the single candle. We all know how old you are!
Domenico is one of my oldest friends in Italy. He was the first of my boyfriend’s group who I met when I first went to Milan to look for a flat for my stint at the University there, and he took us round the city on our search for somewhere for me to stay for 6 months. My Italian was verrrrrrry bad at the time so this was something of a lifesaver!
Yesterday was his birthday, and we all went for dinner at his house. Italian events, pretty much without exception, revolve around food; so we ate until we couldn’t move and then ate some more.
