The body naturally craves different foods during the seasons and these food choices will protect us from the effects of seasonal changes. Cooking methods also play an important role in seasonal eating. We naturally crave hot soups in fall and early winter. Winter is a cold and dry season – soup is warm and moist. Eating cold, uncooked foods during fall and winter can put stress on the body; it…

Italian Butchery and Sausage Making Course with Mushroom Hunting & Wine Tour, 25-30 October 2012…

Soy Sauce, or liquid salt (street name) is a popular, heavily used condiment with a long and ugly rap sheet. To focus on the negative aspects of soy sauce, would negate the purpose of this recipe. Instead, let’s take the main reasons people use it:

-flavour enhancer

-colour enhancer

-as a marinade

-balance flavours

-dipping sauce

-base for salad…

Mushrooms have long been a “love it” or “hate it” food. Their culinary history is steeped in both truth and fiction, but one thing is for certain, they are definitely magical. Here is a brief overview of why they should be a part of your diet. As with all fruits and…

Here is a staple part of my weekly meals. I try to make it more when organic avocados are seasonal. No matter how you have made it in the past, I invite you to try this recipe just once. You will be hooked. You do not need to eat this with chips. It is an amazing accompaniment to seafood, a topping on spicy chili, a side to roast chicken. You get…

What better way to spend a autumn afternoon but foraging for wild mushrooms in the woods, returning to a warm kitchen, cooking local recipes with a glass of Montepulciano and sharing a meal at the end of the day.  During a recent cooking class at the slow-food inspired La Tavola Marche, students hunted for mushrooms, topped their plates with truffles & made pasta from scratch all in a half-day hands-on cooking class in Le Marche,…

Some serious bragging rights come along with mastering the art of charcuterie in Italy.

Last week we made our yearly pilgrimage to "Vittorio's Meat Laboratory" along the…

To be honest, it’s not my favourite time. In fact, I find it really rather depressing.

Autumn

The heating is on again (and it seems to suck down oil at an alarming rate), the days are getting shorter and the garden looks a mess. There…