An Edible Voyage

September 2021 Having had the most extraordinary gelato in Florence, I didn’t think there was any point trying to compete in Bologna, but I’ve always found something alluring about ice cream shops and cafes, places that traditionally in the UK close late afternoon, that are open late in to the night.   Maybe it’s feeling a little bit naughty having ice cream at night-time, or maybe it’s that feeling of being able to sit outdoors with a warm breeze, a late night culture meaning there’s a buzzy atmosphere despite it being dark.   So, to avoid competing, I went for something totally different – vegan ice cream in Bolognina, Bologna’s edgy, multicultural northern suburb. Often, whether home or away, I’ll pick the weirdest sounding thing on a menu just to try it.   Sometimes I regret it and think to myself “why don’t I just stick with the nice things sometimes!”, but when I saw wasabi ice cream, there was absolutely no way I wasn’t going to try it.   I like wasabi (exce...

September 2021 Pasta. The epitome of Italy.  Having spent 5 days hiking across the Apennine mountains on the Via Degli Dei, a big bowl of homemade pasta with a rustic sauce was even more gratefully received than usual. And I love the way there is so much more to pasta than initially meets the eye, with both the shape and the sauce being traditionally specific to a region, the shape designed to optimally hold that particular sauce. We ate a lot of pasta over our week of hiking, in fact, we had pasta every night.  And despite every restaurant being a totally different style to the others, in every one I could taste the passion and TLC stirred in by the cook. In Bologna, head north of the main train station to the edgy Bolognina suburb where you will find just as many homely trattorias as ethnic eateries.  Trattoria de Via Serra caught our eye, seemingly blending vibe with homeliness, but sadly it was fully booked.  We landed on our feet though, stumbling across the...

September 2021 Having hiked 166km across the Apennine mountains on the Via Degli Dei, I was in dire need of excellent coffee.  Fortunately, two places in Florence came up trumps, both handily in the city centre and with only a short walk between, it was easy to get my caffeine kick!  First up, Coffee Mantra on Via della Mattonaia serves Gearbox coffee, roasted just down the road in Florence.  The flat white was expertly crafted and there’s also a selection of hand brews on offer. Next up, Melaleuca, an Australian owned café and bakery alongside the Arno River, serving up bagels, avocado toast on sourdough and tortillas, cakes, cinnamon buns and great coffee.  I was really looking forward to sampling beans from another small-scale local Florence roaster, D612 Coffee Roasters, and they didn’t disappoint.  The homemade cold brew was refreshing, flavoursome and exactly what I needed on a warm day, deliciously citrusy served with a slice of orange.  As well as...

September 2021 If there’s one requirement that has to be fulfilled during any trip to Italy, it’s visiting at least one gelateria, and I firmly believe I found the best one in all of Italy.   And not just because I’d hiked 166km across the Apennine mountains to get there! As soon as we stepped off the Via Degli Dei in to the outer reaches of Florence, we had one mission, and one mission only.   Gelato.   Google Maps reliably informed us that there was a gelateria just a couple of minutes walk away.   Unassumingly tucked on a residential street, away from the throngs of tourists and seemingly frequented mainly by locals, it was love at first sight! With all of the Italian classics – Stracciatella, Hazelnut, as well as juicy fruit sorbets and rich chocolatey offerings of various darkness, it was a tough choice.   Rarely do I have two scoops but this felt like a two scoop occasion, plus it meant I could go for the winning combination of pistachio and dark choco...

October 2021  Not one to pass up an opportunity for a traditional food item, I was straight on to researching tigelle as soon as I came across the unfamiliar word.  To my delight, bread being a favourite of mine in every country, injera excepted, tigella is a typical bread of the Emilia-Romagna region.  Traditionally cooked on clay discs called tigelle, cut in half and spread with pesto modenese, chopped pork lard mixed with rosemary, garlic and parmesan, they are now often cooked on metallic plates and filled with cold cuts such as mortadella or prosciutto crudo. In Bologna, I came across a street, Via Calzolerie, with a whole row of hatches selling multiple permutations of cured pork stuffed tigella, rolls and piadina, Emilia-Romagna flatbread.  A particular favourite of mine was the pistachio studded mortadella and squacquerone cheese, a new but delicious discovery for me, it's a soft, creamy cheese from Emilia-Romagna. Find Via Calzolerie just a few minutes walk ...

October 2021 Despite Italy's reputation for excellent coffee, being a flat white sort of a girl, I'm generally not taken with Italian coffee, finding espressos too intense and cappuccinos too weak and frothy.  Pappare, in Bologna's historic centre, did come up trumps with an excellent cappuccino though.  Not only that, the display of croissants was particularly exciting, with white and dark chocolate stuffed charcoal croissants balanced by the nuttiness of sesame, alongside pistachio cream, and vegan dark chocolate and raspberry.  And there was definitely no shortage of filling.  One might be forgiven for thinking there was too much chocolate ganache stuffed in to my croissant as every bite caused another blob too ooze out, but really, can there ever be too much filling?!  They also offer hand brew coffee, as well as savoury pastries, sandwiches, and more substantial brunch/ lunch. Find Pappare on Via De' Giudei. Another coffee that really has to be tried once b...

October 2021 If there's one thing that the Scilly Isles aren't short of, other than incredible views, endless white sand beaches and an abundance of turquoise sea, it's homemade cakes.  St Mary's is dotted with cafes, commandeering beautiful coastal views and hidden along woodland paths, and one could be forgiven for thinking there's a inter-cafe cake competition going on.   Having spent a very strenuous week sampling many of them, I can conclude that Longstone Cafe wins it for me.  Vegan lime and homegrown courgette sits alongside an ingenious banoffee cake - think banoffee pie but with a banana bread base, and the absolute star of the show, the simple but absolutely perfect Victoria Sponge - an enormous wedge of the lightest, fluffiest sponge, filled with strawberry jam and oozing a generous layer of whipped cream. Redruth roasted Cornish Coffee beans are used in the espresso based beverages, with milk steamed well to make a delicious flat white.  In the drink...

October 2021 Wherever I am, I'm all for living off whatever is locally produced or foraged, and if there's a sign for something homemade, I'm sold.  That's why I was a little apprehensive when my friend told me she had booked a tapas restaurant for our first night in the Scilly Isles.  As it turned out, it was a wonderful thing - the fresh from the sea fish I craved with a Spanish twist, and the added bonus of Mediterranean inspired mosaic tables along the beachfront.  What could be better than devouring a large slab of freshly caught flaky hake cooked with white wine, saffron, olives and almonds, whilst the sun warmed my face and boats bobbed on the sparkling turquoise sea mere metres from me? Other fish offerings include chermoula mackerel, and fried cod balls, and there are plenty of tapas classics, as well as twists on classics, to satisfy both carnivores and alternative diets.  Anchovy stuffed tortilla was another highlight for me.  Initially unsure whether...