A First Taste of LA at The Taste LA

I once had a dream, a marvelous dream that anyone who lives and eats in LA would appreciate. It starts out with me strolling down the city’s busy streets, moseying along and taking in all the unique sights, sounds and smells that only LA can produce when suddenly I am stopped dead in my tracks, caught by a most catching aroma. Fresh bread.

As an Italian, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York,  the epicenter of bakeries, the smell of fresh bread for me is unmistakable. It hits you like a big, fat hug from your nonna or favorite aunt Marie who’s trying to kiss you, wipe something off your cheek and get you to eat something because you’re too skinny all at the same time and no more than four seconds in the door. In short, warm, nostalgic and inviting. Continue Reading…

Frenchie and the Balagne Seafood

Summer checklist: Eat local food - check! / Sleep - check! / Hike - check! / Picnic on top of a mountain - check! / Make jams - check! / Rest and sun in the mountains - check! / Drive with the windows down - check! / Walk barefoot in the grass - check!

Go to the beach… <gasp!> How did I forget about the coast? Busy beaches, fine white sand, seafood and blue waters… how?

Car loaded and packed for a beach day. The call of the sunny, beautiful and famous northwestern Corsican region of the Balagne already enchants and hypnotizes us like the song of a mermaid as we drive down the mountains, pass the undulating plains until the small hamlets full of artisans and olive orchards become visible with panoramic views of the deep blue Mediterranean Sea as a backdrop. Continue Reading…

Frenchie and the Magical Corsican Dessert

Have I told you yet about a dessert called fiadone? No, of course not! I was too busy babbling about frittatas, roasted wild kid and nightly cows eating fresh figs. So I shall tell you about this baked tasty cake, which is by far the most famous and best-known Corsican dessert. But then, there’s also the fig jam I need to mention. Why, oh why must the produce here be so wonderful and unique? Pourquoi? I need a 6-month extension to this vacation so I can properly try everything and fully understand how the Italians, Greeks and Phoenicians influenced the superb Corsican cuisine. One can only dream…

I hear the prolific fig tree in front of the house is becoming an issue. The ripe figs fall and burst spreading their gooey sweet mess on the ground. During the night, the wild cows come down from the mountain to eat the plump fruits still attached to the tree leaving nothing for us but chewed up leaves and branches – and I heard them in the dark of the night with their clapping hooves and demure chewing! This can only mean one thing: fig jam! Continue Reading…

Livorno, A Tuscan Melting Pot

At the hint of summer’s arrival, when the days grow longer but unbearably hotter, city-dwelling Tuscans flee to cooler places. Usually, the plan is an easy, breezy escape to the sea where working on a tan and eating copious amounts of fresh seafood are involved. One of the favourite areas is the Etruscan coast, a beautiful part of Tuscany with pretty beaches, untouched nature and, more importantly, fantastic food.

It begins at Livorno, a port city that is widely overlooked, and runs a good 60 miles to Piombino. While the rest of the coast is dotted with beaches, inviting coves, medieval villages, vineyards and olive groves, Livorno is one of those places with a rough-around-the-edges exterior but a down to earth interior. Continue Reading…

Frenchie and the Corsican Village Food

6:30 am on the dot. Feeling so tired from yesterday’s drive on the Corsican mountain roads. The pale and transparent morning light comes through the shutters and brightens up the bedroom slightly. Surrounded by calmness while laying in bed. The rooster just crowed. The donkey just hee hawed. I open the shutters to discover for the first time a magnificent rugged view of the village rural roofs and discern the wonderful rebellious mountainous landscape in the background. And here’s the sun!—warming land and people. Today will be a slow day. Today will be a lazy day. Yes, today will be a Corsican food day!

Continue Reading…

Frenchie and the Corsican Secret

If you ever go to Corsica, chances are you will spend most of your time exploring the treasures of the coast, rolling around on the island’s perfect sand beaches and tan until your skin gets to a shade of brown no one will ever be able to properly identify. This is the typical Corsica: what tourists have in mind and want to do. But the Corsican soul and heritage does not limit itself to just the coast and it has many mystical secrets – one of them I am about to reveal. Continue Reading…

“Prova Bikini” (The Bikini Test)

Only a few weeks ago we got the better of freezing cold,  loads of snow and  slippery ice in a country which seems never ready for the winter season.  Some  even gained victory over tire chains, experiencing the thrill (and the neighbor’s deep respect) of having them properly fixed around the wheels. We should all be feeling proud and real winners.  A Northerner probably does, because normally nothing else terribly difficult will happen for the rest of the year. Not so Italians. Their next trial just about to turn up is called “bikini test” or prova bikini, a merciless day of reckoning, thorny for at least fifty percent of the population – female and male. Continue Reading…