Italy

This is Sicily. Food comes not in prissy quarter-platefuls, but in heaps appropriate for mountain men. To finish a meal of chick pea soup, followed by two types of pasta, roast lamb with rosemary-flavoured potatoes, and a ricotta cassata for dessert, requires removal from the table by winch. You could of course cut some corners by living solely on ricotta and an espresso, seemingly the staple food of Sicily, but why miss out on local anchovies, capers, gelati, and those delicious marzipan cakes made by the good Benedictine nuns from La Matorana?

My family and I are driving through the countryside dotted with ancient olive trees as far as the eye can see. As the Adriatic Sea rises directly in front of us, I think of nothing beyond the beauty of this place. The trees, dating back to the 17th century, are gnarled and knotted like the overworked hands of an elderly woman. The green of their leaves offset the blue sea backdrop — magic. We are in Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot.
 

Perugia, a medieval walled hill town in the heart of Umbria, is the home of Baci Perugina - those scrumptious hazel-nut filled chocolates, wrapped in silver foil with a love motto inside. When I was a student aged 16 at l‘Universita per gli Stranieri the family that owned the Perugina factory was the biggest employer in the town. Every bar had a huge bowl of Baci to tempt you while you drank your espresso. Every house had a stash of them. You gave them as a gift when you went to visit. Children were bribed with them.You could, I recall, smell chocolate wafting in the air.

While visiting friends in spectacular Monte Argentario, an island connected to the Italian coast by a casueway, we were all invited to dinner by the lovely Italian family who lived next door. After a delicious and elaborate meal, our host placed on the table a beautifully wrapped black package with a gold scripted logo A.Ferrini. It was clearly inspired by the aesthetics of a bygone era of grandeur and decadence. Upon unraveling the package, I was surprised to see little elegant cakes that resembled little muffins; a very small base and a large top sprinkled with sugar.