Exploring Trieste’s food and coffee culture

| Eva

The easternmost major city in northern Italy, Trieste lays on that thin stretch of Italian coastline squeezed between Slovenia and the Adriatic sea. Given its geographical position, Trieste’s food culture features layers of influences from the various worlds that converge there. The fishing tradition, the main element of the cuisine of a port city, is enriched with elements from the Slavic and Balkan as well as the Habsburg traditions. This makes Trieste’s culinary identity quite peculiar and unique in the rich panorama of the Italian cuisine. Continue reading →

Sweet potato gnocchi with brown butter

Sweet potato gnocchi with brown butter
| Eva

In Italy gnocchi is a Thursday business. I don’t really know where that originates from, but there’s a saying that goes “giovedì gnocchi”, which translates as “gnocchi on Thursday”. Like Thursday is the day dedicated to this kind of meal. Not just your regular pasta (a feature for any other day of the week): Thursday is for gnocchi. After experimenting this sweet potato gnocchi recipe (and failing it, I have to admit it), I think I know now why it’s giovedì gnocchi. It’s such a hassle that you need the whole weekend to recover! Just kidding, once I got the hang of it I was pretty happy with the result. Continue reading →

Quinoa salad with roasted cherry tomatoes, feta and pesto

Quinoa salad with roasted tomatoes, feta and pesto
| Eva

Quinoa salad is a very nice meal option, and the one I’m featuring in this post can work as starter, main course or even snack. It’s packed with things that are both tasty and good for you, like olive oil and cherry tomatoes, plus it’s completely vegetarian! Switch the feta for a non-dairy cheese substitute and this salad will easily turn vegan. It is my go-to option when I have vegetarian guests, they usually really love it.

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Leek mascarpone pizza bianca

Leek mascarpone pizza bianca
| Eva

Leek mascarpone pizza is the answer to the question “What is your favourite pizza?” lately. Of course my heart will always beat for Quattro Formaggi, especially when I’m in Piemonte. But when I get to make my own pizza at home (and it happens oh so often) leek mascarpone is one of my top choices. I actually like it so much I’ve been making it regularly for months. My life is boring, but it tastes amazing.

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A fondue dinner at Romme Alpin’s Toppstugan

Fondueafton at Romme Alpin Toppstugan, a meat fondue dinner in Dalarna Sweden
| Eva

Fondue dinners are a popular feature at ski resorts in Sweden. The alpine dish well suits the snowy atmosphere of Sweden in winter, especially when served in a skiing context. As you enjoy your fondue bourguignonne surrounded by the beautiful landscape of the Swedish winter you’d swear you’re in Switzerland. Very close to where I live in Dalarna there is the ski resort Romme Alpin. Their Toppstugan restaurant offers fondue nights (known as fondueafton) throughout the season, starting right after the restaurant stops serving Julbord, aka traditional Christmas dishes, a typical Advent menu. Continue reading →

Vanilla butter biscuits

vanilla butter biscuits recipe
| Eva

There was a time in my life when I was being paid to teach a bunch of kids how to cook. Best times ever. I believe in the power of creativity and I think that humans should be trained in the kitchen from an early age. One of the highlights of my days as a teacher was definitely making biscuits. I’d tell my pupils to bring cookie cutters to school the following week and nearly all of them complied. This is how looking forward to my lesson biscuits they were. Continue reading →

Swedish meatballs with cream sauce

Swedish meatballs in cream sauce
| Eva

Remember the Swedish Chef from Sesame Street? It’s a character I didn’t know as a child, but discovered late enough to fully appreciate it. After all, he is Swedish and he cooks, and I love both qualities. In one of his best gags he discovers that  Swedish meatballs bounce. I wonder how the Swedish people react to this desecration of their national dish (I should ask around), but I can see a sense in this silly gag. Swedish meatballs are very firm, and I have the feeling this could have been what made the creators of the Swedish Chef come up with this scene. Continue reading →

Zupa Pomidorowa, the Polish tomato soup

Zupa pomidorowa, Polish tomato soup. With its sweet and sour taste it is a classic of the Polish cuisine
| Eva

Zupa pomidorowa translates from Polish as tomato soup. If you ask me, that name’s just a mere description. That soup is so much more. Zupa pomidorowa is one of the most traditional soups in Polish cuisine. The culinary tradition of Poland is rich in soups, as a kid I did not love all of them. I loved very few soups, actually. But this one was my favourite. It has such a unique flavour, different from any other soup I knew.

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Rose macarons with rose preserve buttercream

Rose macarons with rose preserve buttercream
| Eva

Rose macarons. Made with actual roses, the flowers. This was my highest ambition when back in the summer last year I made a rose petal preserve. My mom suggested mixing it with strawberry jam and using that as a pie or brioche filling. She draws her inspiration from the Polish tradition of using rose petals in baked goods. As we experimented with the fragrant flowers, my mind was racing in the opposite direction, conjuring up the thought of rose macarons.

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Irish food bucket list: while in Ireland eat like the Irish

Irish food: an ode to some of the best meals I had in Ireland
| Eva

If you think that the only Irish food out there is potatoes, in this post I will try to change your mind. Please stay and read on. I spent a week travelling around Ireland and there hasn’t been one time that I wasn’t happy with what I ordered. And even if we have to narrow it down to the potatoes, they were delicious. But there is so much more. Ireland is a famed producer of beef and dairy, and while in Ireland I had really delicious meats and dairy products.

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