Oh, the smell: Fresh. Inviting. Tasty. Do you remember how it feels when the smell of fresh bread is filling the whole room, coming from the kitchen table? This mouthwatering experience is a sensation that you can have at home almost every morning. You take a fresh roll and your knife. And then comes the sound: The crackle, the splintering—when the sharp steel slices through the crust and cuts the roll in half.

Today’s recipe is my own take on a Sicilian recipe. I am going to be making a fish ragout using tuna steaks that are cut up into bit sized pieces.  It is relatively easy to make but will take about an hour between prep work and cooking.  Of course, it is delicious and worth making the effort! Another thing I really like about this recipe, is that you can substitute different types of firm fleshed fish, I often make it with swordfish steaks that I keep in the freezer.

Bread is a universal staple in all countries. In Spain, the types of bread and traditions surrounding it relate strongly to the rich history of the country. To understand this simple food better, it is best to start with a quick review of the history of Spain and how it has blended international traditions over time. 

This is our staple—a soulful donation.
Complete and submitted, this generous piece of heart.
A doorstep with butter; salted and smooth.
Spread it thickly and dunk it heavily into soup.
And oooo the crust, what a dream, as it crumbles and flakes;
making such a lovely mess!

I have never made a sourdough starter, nor have I ever had an interest in doing so. While I love sourdough bread, everything I’d read in the past indicated that it is a long, laborious process with little promise of success. Why would I bother when my time is precious and I can buy fantastic sourdough from my local bakery? 

Italy can be a wine lover’s paradise! With every region having their own unique varietals and so many small family run wineries, it is not always easy to access these wines in your own country. So how do you bring wine back from Italy?

“ ...sharing tidbits and discoveries, not only stretches out a pleasant social evening but bonds friends together in a very emotional way. In fact, the very word COMPANION comes from the Latin COM  PANIS, or 'WITH BREAD', meaning the person you share meals with – friendship defined by dining.” — Eve Zibart

The “Jeely Piece” song originates in Glasgow, second city of the Empire and power house of manufacturing in Scotland. As more and more people moved to the city to find work, by the turn of the 20th century,  the poorer areas were overcrowded, infested and rife with disease. When the Second World War ended and the government of the day adopted policies to look after the wellbeing of all of their citizens, the slums of Glasgow became an obvious target for new social housing policies.

The idea of traveling gluten–free in Italy might seem like a nearly impossible task (carb city!) but it is actually much easier than you think. Many Italians themselves suffer from Celiacs Disease and it is more and more common to find bakeries and pizzerias offering gluten-free alternatives.

What comes to mind when you think of the Basque culture in Spain? Perhaps its famous locales like the cities of Bilbao or San Sebastián, mouth-watering pintxos (Basque-style tapas), the world-renown wine region La Rioja, or even the lively festival of San Fermín (popularly associated with The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona).

It’s something I wish weren’t true, but I have to admit it: I love carbs. I mean, what’s better than hot, fresh bread? You know what else I love, despite myself? Fat. I think most people do; it’s probably hard-wired and evolutionary. So what actually is  better than hot, fresh bread? How about smothering it with something deliciously fat—like cheese?

What could be more French than the traditional baguette? Even if, it is said, more are consumed in Algeria, a former French colony, than in France itself. The word baguette is, amongst other things, the French expression for a wizard’s wand, a conductor’s baton and a chopstick, the quintessentially traditional French loaf of bread simply taking its name from the shape.

You have probably heard about the wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the most famous of the wine villages in the southern Rhone valley – but you can have some incredible experiences in lesser known places, and for a lesser price, too!

Having lived 25 wonderful years in France, but born in Denmark, there's still one thing missing from my birth country, and that is the rye bread. The tasty rye bread is dense, like the image of brooding Scandinavians. It is dark, like the Danish-produced televison crime shows.

I was considering calling this “When You Love Ravioli But Aren’t in Italy.” If you love stuffed pasta or just want a few ideas of what comfort foods await you on your next trip to Eastern Europe, dive into these…

New Zealand is perhaps not the first nation that you think of when you think of great bread, or even of culinary delights in general. A lot of what is today considered New Zealand food finds influence from other cultures that have come here–most notably the British. That’s why things like fish and chips, meat pies, and lamb roast are all today considered to be quintessentially Kiwi. 

The end of summer vacation in Italia was here. Finito—the endless days of sun and laughter of young and old. Over are the unorganized days spent together with family and friends. It was time to go  home. Back home again, back north, to the other side of the Alps.