La Dolce Vita

Sono molto felice perche in tre settimana vado a Naples. A bella citta. Vado studiare la lingua italiana con studente per la institute cultural italiana. Per dieci settimana scorso, studio Italiana. Il corso e trenta ore. E fantastico e mia insegnante e molto buono e buffo. I studenti sono simpatico e studiamo la lingua perche e una bella e anche interessante per la cultural italiana, specialmente cucina! Mia italiana non e buona ma amo imparlando. Questa e mia primo tentativo scrivere una lettera a italiana! Mi dispiace per sbaglio.

I am heading off to Naples in three weeks times to study Italian for a week. For the last 10 weeks, I have been going to the Italian Cultural Institute to study Italian. It has been a fabulous experience and I have loved every minute of it. Why Italian? Well after my slow food experience in Turin, it seems the most appropriate start to the pursuit of a slow(er) life. Big aim – to live in Italy and work for the Slow Food Movement! One can only dream.

In celebration of firsts

Life's most treasured memories and celebrations are firsts - a first birthday, a first kiss, a first grandchild, a first wedding anniversary. There is the first time we fall in love and the first time our hearts are broken. We never repeat our firsts and after that we just have seconds.

As we get older, there seem to be fewer and fewer firsts or maybe they just happen without the cards and celebratory wishes. These are firsts that we hold onto and are often things we only know about.

My firsts include my first taste of coriander. It was pungent and its deep green taste seemed so foreign and exotic. There was my first black truffle savoured and eaten using a recipe from the Mushroom Man at Prahran Market. I still remember the recipe - eggs, cream, orange zest, orange juice, all combined to make eggs on sourdough with truffles. I remember receiving my first cookbook - Green's Cookbook, and the first time I went to a four star restaurant and ordered wine. I felt like a grown up and it was with a man that I loved very much. These different firsts came in my twenties and much later.

This week I experienced another first - snow in London. I woke up on Wednesday morning to discover that overnight an inch of snow had fallen . It was soft and dewy, pristine white and crisp like the day itself.

I ran to Hyde Park making snowballs on the way and throwing them on the footpath. I felt like a child again - it was wonderful. I made my first snowman complete with a hat (courtesy of Helen Kaminski) and even ate some snow. (Note to self: take carrot when wishing to make snowman in the park.)

I wanted to know what it tasted like and it tastes just like snow. It's cold.

Self portrait in Kensington Gardens - I threw snow over myself, so the photograph would look more authentic! Big thank-you to my cousin Kate for sending me my wonderful Helen Kaminski hat from Australia. It has been gratefully worn in Venice and now London.

A Venetian tale

Everything that anyone has ever written about Venice is true. It’s a magical city that glistens in the sunlight and turns into a deceptive maze of streets at night.

Proust wrote of Venice that ‘my dream became my address’. It's true. Venice is a subterranean city where dreams are born in the waterways only to dissolve in the city’s mists that roll in from the sea and cover its islands. It is a city that harbours lovers and is haunted by death.

The way to discover Venice is to abandon yourself to the city. The Piazza San Marco is spectacular but it is in the neighbourhoods beyond this famous landmark that you'll discover all that is unique about this city on water. Explore the labyrinthine of bridges and connected streets and get lost. Maps will prove useless as streets that seem straight on paper turn out to be sinuous lines that resist navigation. Perhaps it’s the endless tides that result in these shifts of the cityscape. How else can you find a piazza one day but not the next?

The only people who know the city are the boatmen, who travel its waters and the inhabitants of San Michele, the centuries old resting place of Venetians. Their ghosts are the spectres of light that you see dance across the water at night.

SEE
From the Basilica di San Marco. you can look out to the piazza, take in the soaring heights of the Campanile and the grandeur of the Palazzo Ducale. Such a spectacle is only rivalled by the inside view of the basilica. This is a church made of gold. Saintly figures stare out, so poignantly human in their expressions and gestures.

Board a gondola and see Venice as the boatmen do. Travel the canals to the recorded sounds of O Mia Caro (or if you are lucky a tenor accompanied by a guitarist) and discover the hidden waterways of the city and abandoned palazzos.

At dusk, stand on the bridge opposite the Galleria dell' Academia and watch the sun set over Venice. This view of the Canal Grande takes in the Basicilica di Santa Maria della Salute and the Dogana di Mare. Truly magically.

ART
You’ll need several hours to visit the Gallerie dell’Academia. This gallery houses some of the best examples of Renaissance art. Be sure to find Bellini’s La Tempesta and attempt to solve its puzzling symbolism (room 13). Veronese’s Feast in the House of Levi represents the mastery of this period; a controversial work in its day (room 10). The artist was brought before the Sant’ Uffizio and accused of heresy because of his unconventional approach to his subject of this painting.

No trip to Venice would be complete without a trip to the Museo de Peggy Guggenheim. This Dogess of modern art stated that she wanted to collect a piece of art a day. Her former residence houses a formidable collection of surrealist art. Most striking is the collection of Murano glassware. Intrigued by the qualities of glass, she organised a number of collaborations between Venetian artisans and artists like Chagall, Picasso among others.

In many of the shops throughout Venetian, you’ll find reproduction Fortuny lampshades and fabrics. At the Museo de Fortuny, you can visit the palazzo of this 20th Century designer, photographer and artist. On display are examples of his fabrics as well as lampshades made for the Hotel Excelsior on the Lido in the 1920s but the real highlight is the photographic collection. Look for the 1902 photograph of Piazza San Marco without the Campanile, which famously collapsed the same year.

EAT

Hidden in the neighbourhood of Dorodorso is Do Farai, an osteria that specialises in seafood carpaccio. Order the carpaccio di brancino all’hg and Stefano will create fine shaving of fish dressed with olive oil, lemon juice and wine from a whole fish in less than five minutes. Move onto the spaghetti con nero di seppia and as Stefano tells it ‘you’ll eat like the Venetians do’.

San Marco may be only five minutes way away, but Corte Sconta is a true Venetian secret. You will need to book regardless of the time of year so popular is this restaurant with locals. Follow the tradition of this restaurant and order the selection of seafood appertizers. The scallops are particularly memorable as are the Venetian style Scampi buzara served with fresh tomatoes and apples.

Across the lagoon on the island of Giudecca is Mistra, a shipmakers’ canteen that does a brisk business for only a few euros. At Ai Gatto Nero on the island of Burano, the antipasto degustazione is a three course symphony that begins with sardines and baked scallops and concludes with muscles and pipis. For a more upmarket affair, try Da Fiore, Venice’s only Michelin star restaurant.

DRINK
I’m just wild about Harry and he’s just wild about me; so the song goes. It’s a little clichéd and admittedly overpriced but there’s no better way to celebrate being in Venice that drinking a Bellini at Harry’s Bar. This mid-afternoon drink is the perfect way to people-watch and enjoy the atmosphere of this famous institution.

Cantina do Mori is not easy to find but once found it’s the perfect place to sample ciceti (Venetian term for small bites). Enjoy the dark cavernous feel of this bar with its overhanging pots and large vats of wine and the seafood ciceti inspired by produce from the nearby Percaria market. The Osteria ae Cravate in San Croce is another local bar offering excellent food and service.

The best seats in town are at Café Florian overlooking the Piazza San Marco. Your view will be expensive but regardless of whether it is day or night, you’ll describe the experience and the cost for years to come. If the Florian is full, then the Gran Caffe Ristorante Quadri is just as good.

SHOP
Venice is famous for its Carnivale. Even if you don’t get to this most extravagant of festivals, you can purchase one of its famed masks. Ca’Macana is one of the best known having made masks for Kubrick’s Eyes Mind Shut. For marionettes, try Il Gatto Matto. This store also sells masks richly decorated in Venetian moretti glass; others are inspired by the richly ornate work of Gustav Klimt.

You’ll find the famed marbled paper at one of the outlets of Il Papiro and La Ricerca, but at Legatoria Piazzesi you find something unique. This store first opened in 1828 and paper is still made using the original wooden blocks. For the literary at heart, there are books, diaries and journals, and desk accessories.

Giacomo Rizzo is the place for specialist pasta. Some are simply for decoration (surely) but the more traditional funghi, seppia and pomodoro are excellent buys to take home. Another stop on your food trait is Antica Drogheria Mascari for porcini mushrooms, lemoncello, chocolates, teas and sweets.

SLEEP
Formerly the residence of the Doge of Venice, Andrea Gritti, the Palazzo Gritti is the most luxurious hotels in Venice. Its rich furnishings are what you would expect of such an elite residence that has attracted guests such as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Princess Grace of Monaco. Recognised as a world-class hotel for its elegance and discreet service, this hotel with its view onto the Canal Grande is the hotel to be pampered.


Situated close to the Museo de Peggy Guggenheim, the Ca’ Pisano was the first design hotel in Venice and has a reputation for outstanding service. Its modern design in a sixteenth century palazzo will appeal to those with a modern sensibility.

Hotel Al Sole is one of the many converted palazzos that you will find throughout Venice. It’s location across a canal in San Croce and its picturesque courtyard makes it an ideal place to stay.

ISLAND HOPPING Venice is famous for its glassware and lace, so a day trip to the island of Murano and Burano to see these centuries old craftsmanship is a must.

The reputation of Murano glassware is well deserved. You’ll find the normal array of tourist items, moretti jewellery and reproduction goblets, but also some spectacular modern pieces. The best showrooms are Venini and Barovier and Tasso. Most showrooms will ship anywhere in the world.

Burano is a quiet and picturesque island celebrated for its brightly coloured houses and lace-makers. Each woman specialises in a stitch and it’s possible to watch this intricate and painstaking work in many of the local shops. Try La Perla and Martina for specialised homeware.




MUST DOS
Away from the tourist hordes, the neighbourhoods of Venice offer the perfect opportunity to sit at a café Venetian style.

Grab a mid-morning coffee at one of the city’s many pasticceri. The Café Toletta is typical of these small shops. With no seats or tables, this is the closest that Italy gets to fast food. Do as the locals do and order a café and perhaps a pantoza from the dolci and pastries on display.

The Campo San Margherita offers a lively spectacle of a fresh vegetable, fruit and fish market and by 12 noon, the outside tables are full. It is easy to understand why Italy is the home of slow food. Linger over your café for an hour; grab a midday ciceti at one of the many cafes or a gelati from Gelateria Igloo. Stop at look at Vinaria de Oro, where local residents buy their bulk wine. While you are there, visit the Scuola dei Carmini to see the ceiling paintings by Tiepolo.


Beyond the Rialto bridge and tourist shops, you’ll find the Pescatoria and fruit and vegetable market. Here is the place to buy dried porcini mushroom and dried tomatoes to take home. For a lesson in how to prepare artichokes, the local vendors trim, cut and slice these extraordinary vegetables ready to take home.

1st freelance gig in London

Although things have been very hectic with work, I submitted my first freelance piece for the website, All in London. "First rate" was the response and here's how you get paid. I won't be going anywhere on the proceeds but it's a beginning.

It's a piece on how to keep your New Year's resolutons in London.

So you’ve survived the silly season. You bargain shopped at the post-Christmas sales, you’re back on speaking terms with your family and your work mates have stopped ribbing you about that unfortunate incident with your boss. With 2007 in sight, you’ve been planning your New Year’s Eve, juggling invitations, and hoping that this year’s party will be better than last’s.

When the clock climes midnight, most of us will make some type of New Year’s resolution, fuelled by some bubbly and the euphoria of the moment. The passing of one year to the next only occurs once a year, so why not celebrate. The revellers among us will come up with some of the tried and true resolutions, those that make the following top ten list. Others armed with a bottle of vintage bubbles, pen and paper, will scribe their reflections into the night.

Such heady optimism rarely translates into reality. Our resolutions are often forgotten or dismissed as too hard in the light of New Year’s Day. So if you want to get over the 02 January hump, here are some suggestions that will take your resolutions well into the New Year.

Go to www.allinlondon.co.uk/life (for the full text).

As for my own resolutions for 2007, well top of the list is to do more writing.

The festive season: Christmas 2006

A Boxing Day recovery after a fabulous meal by first time Christmas cooks – Juliet and Ian.

With no public transport in London, I walked from Kensington to Battersea, stopping off to admire the Thames on what was a very mild winter’s day.

On arrival, I was promptly given a glass of champagne and the day only got better from there. I inspected the turkey that had been lovingly dressed in stripy bacon and then happily settled into the role of guest.

Presents had arrived from Australia – a smashing Helen Kaminski hat from Kate, some beautiful earrings from Chris and Gerard, and even a Santa sack full of games and Australia fare. I was touched and overwhelmed.

Lunch was a leisurely affair – a day of eating and drinking.



The turkey was presented with roast potatoes and parsnips (cooked in goose fat), brussel sprouts and carrots. There was bread sauce as well as cranberry. The wine was from Coonawarra from the Majella winery – a very nice, peppery shiraz. We followed with a piece of pud (well two servicings actually) served with brandy butter and cream. Very extravagant but delicious.

It was such a wonderful family day. One that began with a call to Melbourne where I spoke to my Mum and Dad, Finn, Stephanie and Andrew, my grandmother, John and Sue and then another call to Joan and Brian.

Here's me looking a little festive.
It's been a big year. Next stop on the food tour will be Venice.

London foodblog

So, what’s a girl to do when she arrives in London and wants to find like-minded foodies to discover her new city with. Well, she sets up a food group doesn’t she!

The idea for the London food blog started with an idea back in Melbourne. The dilemma of any self-respecting foodie is finding out where to eat. You’ve arrived, found your hotel and unpacked. Next item on the agenda is: where do the locals eat? Thus starts your epicurious adventure.

The tourist menus, including those two for the price of one, hold no interest. Nor do we feel inclined to book into a Michelin star restaurant, however tempting. We aren’t denying that a world trip exclusively devoted to eating at the world’s top 100 restaurants wouldn’t be a good thing. No, the joy of travelling is discovering local places – a fantastic deli, a specialist food store or restaurant much loved and frequented.

So who are we? The London food blog is a group of hungry writers, wine enthusiasts and the food curious that like the idea of exploring the city they live in. Some of us are from the Isles and others of us are foreigners who arrived and just want to stay. Our quest is to produce a local local’s guide to London eating as we follow our noses and our stomachs to explore the celebrated, hidden and recognised food haunts of London.

Stay tuned in 2007 for a new horizon of culinary adventures.

Eating London: my first visitor

My dear friend Jane arrived from the Netherlands several weeks ago to spend her first weekend in London. Her arrival gave me my first opportunity to play tour guide. I picked her up at Liverpool Station with the inspired idea of taking her to the Spitalfields organic market. I had vision of cooking an organic dinner to share with my friend, Lani. Unfortunately, the market was closed for renovations. Not deterred by this first setback as a tour guide, I embraced the role with enthusiasm.

A ride through London on a double-decked bus offered a view of London not normally seen on my daily meanders. Although cold (and I stress cold), it was a real highlight of the trip.

We took a boat down the Thames and lunched courtesy of Harrods food hall – a delicious omelette filled with salmon dressed with dill accompanied by a mushroom and green bean and a chicken and mango salad.



Dessert was courtesy of the Queen’s chocolatiers – Charbonnel & Walker.

A trip to Liberty proved another opportunity to lunch as well as do some wedding dress research for Jane. My roast vegetable salad was all elegance – beautiful presented and served with a chestnut salad with maple cider dressing. Jane ordered a duck salad.

To continue the indulgence of the previous day, scones were ordered with a selection of specialist jams - rose petal jam, organic gooseberry and strawberry preserves, and clotted cream (my first taste of this celebrated English produce).

Autumn and things Italian

It’s autumn in London. The days have become shorter and my early morning strolls in Hyde Park begin in semi-darkness and end with a very reluctant sun peering through the sky.

There is a depressed greyness to this new season despite the bursts of autumn sunshine. Some days it is bitter and I have become fascinated by the thickness of people's shoes and the down coats that mark the new season's wardrobe. My Melbourne winter coat, so cosy back home, does little to shield me from the sweeping winds that haunt central London on its most autumn days.

Regardless of the weather, I always head towards the Italian Water Gardens to look out, across the balustrades and ordered formality of gushing water. The air is cold and even the ground is covered in the frost from the night before – it’s beautiful.

With autumn on my mind, I am inspired to cook an Italian beef ragu to warm the belly and embrace the depth and flavour of London’s cooler weather.




The recipe is easy enough – beef, garlic, celery, carrots, tomatoes and porcini mushrooms. Cooked for seven hours and served with a soft polenta, it’s the perfect way to celebrate the start of winter.

Gastronomic delights: a photo essay of the Salone du Gusto

Although a week has passed since my return from Italy, I remain passionate and excited about what I saw, tasted and savoured over my extravagant weekend in Turin.

So what impressed me?

The freshness of everything I tasted and sampled.

The artistry of the produce.

The commitment to retaining traditions of eating and the hertiage of food communities.

The ethics of eating and the concern for biodiversity.

The quality of the food.

The size of the Salone and the number of people who attended.

And finally, the Slow Food Movement itself - such an achievement. In a world that continually urges us to go fast, this is a movement that says go SLOW.

Sweet nothings in Turin

Not only is Turin home to the Salone du Gusto, it is also a city celebrated for its cafes, confectionery and chocolate. Saturday morning provides the perfect opportunity to explore the piazzas of Turin, so I head off in search of sweet pleasures.

First stop is La Stratta in the Piazza San Carlo. Long recognised as a master confectioner, the techniques of making sweet nothings has remained relatively unchanged for the last one hundred and fifty years.It’s easy to spot – the tourists clutter its doorway and stand mesmerised by the jewel-coloured boxes and sumptuous display of chocolate and sweets. Never has the saying “food for the eye” been more apt. Inside, the decadence of the window continues into a gilded and mirrored interior. The walls are lined with boxes of different shapes and sizes decorated with either Art Deco styled prints of Puccini Operas or maps of Turin. The boxes alone are worth having.

Walking further along Via Roma and Via Guiseppe Garibaldi gives me the opportunity to take in some of the local architecture and all importantly to do some tasting of Turin’s famous gelati. Chocolate is the theme of the day as I sample Baci with pear.

But it is Il Biceri that I am seeking – a chocolate shop that I have read about on the outskirts of Central Turin. With map in hand and sheer determination, I make my pilgrimage to what has been described as one of the best hot chocolates. I come close to not getting there – the frustration of my tourist map almost gets the better of me. But persistence is my second name and I smell my way to Il Biceri.

It is quaint café, small with a few lonely outside tables because of the cold. Inside, people stand waiting as those who have been lucky enough to have a seat cuddle their chocolates impervious to the crowd. These are hot chocolates to be savoured. I order at the bar. I say si to a question that is more Italian than English and await my pleasure.

My chocolate arrives, topped with cream. I sit nursing it; first allowing the cream to dissolve in my mouth before dipping my spoon further in to taste the chocolate. It is wonderful.I slowly stir the cream into the chocolate watching it change colour before taking my first sip. It is rich, luxurious, heavy. I sit like everyone else does. Impervious to everything except making it last.

Dinner will be small tonight or so I tell myself as I head back to Roma Gia Talmone near my hotel. My feet are killing me but the promise of a small buffet with a glass of champagne is too good to resist.

And besides, I am here to eat. To taste, smell and savour the slowness of Italy. And so I do.

Congratulation to Jane and Edwin

My gorgeous friend Jane has just become engaged to her Dutch boyfriend, Edwin. Jane left Melbourne in September this year to follow her heart to the land of wooden shoes. She is deliriously happy and I'm thrilled that she has found someone so wonderful.

She came, she saw, she ate

A journey of a lifetime – three days in the glorious city of Turin to eat, drink, taste, smell and indulge in all the delights of being a self-confessed foodie.

This has been a journey long in the planning, ever since I read about the Salone du Gusto and the Slow Food Movement several years ago. I admit that my descriptions leading up to my arrival in Turin have long verged on the religious. I have written and spoken to whoever would listen of this pilgrimage of the senses. Where else could you discover in the one place such a celebration of food cultures and traditions, regional produce and artisan food at its very best? .

Was I disappointed? No, it was one of the most extraordinarily events I have ever participated in. (Similar to the Tunick Spencer Melbourne photo shoot.) I return to London, committed to eating good food, supporting culinary arts and traditions and celebrating slowness.

So how or where to begin? Firstly, I need to describe the scale. Home to the Salone du Gusto for the last four days has been the Lingotto, the old Fiat factory and now convention centre in Turin. It is as you can imagine a large open space, which for the purposes of the Salone is divided into three major Pavilions.

The International Market as it is known is the showcase for over one hundred producers from German beer makers exhibiting together under the name of Slow birra to a consortium of producers from English, Scotland and Ireland as Food from Britain. Following your nose or stomach as it may be, you move to the Italian market – a series of food lanes with over 600 stores. Pavilion three is devoted to the Presidia and

Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. The scale of this project dispels any thought that Slow Food is simply food-porn. The SFF assists producers to preserve threatened varieties of produce and food traditions such as that art of Italian black bread.

Slow food isn’t simply about regional food but preserving those traditions in a way that sustains cultural heritages. The same project also assists international producers from places as distant as Ecuador, Palestine, Brazil and India.

The scale was overwhelming as were the crowds. On Sunday, there was a crowd of 70,000 people – all eager, buying directly from producers, tasting food and discovering new things.

Day one
I arrive at midday and I spend the first hour walking around in circles. I’m not lost; I just have no idea what to do first.

The first store I am drawn to is Backstube Mack – an artisan bakery. The loaves are covered in seeds and herbs and the crowd around the stall indicates that the bread is good. It is. I want to buy a loaf but get swallowed by the crowd and pushed in the direction of the Food from Britain. Here I am reacquainted with the produce of the Scottish Larder– haggish, oat cakes, shortbreads. Duchy Originals is another popular stall, especially with the Italians, and I probably stay to long tasting the different short-breads.

Sampling becomes the theme of the day – sausages, cheese, bread, olives, chocolate. I simply follow the crowd – excited, overwhelming, eager. I walk without a plan except the real desire to discover everything.

I emerge from the International Pavilion into the Italian market. First stop is Via dei Dolci e degli spiriti (lane of sweets and spirits). The first thing I taste is pannatone – the pastry is a whisper of golden folds laced with fruit. The texture is so light and tastes nothing like the pannatone that I buy for Christmas. I am rapturous and try to speak my enthusiasm to the woman store-holder. There is so little left of my year ten Italian that I end up gesturing wildly with a wild look of pleasure on my face. I have always thought that the appreciation of food is an international language.

What astonishes me over and over again is the freshness of the produce. The sharpness, the clarity and I dare to say it - the fecundity of the produce. I appreciate with new awareness the Slow Food movement concern with food miles. I embrace the philosophy of knowing the origins of what you are eating – where it is grown, who grows it and how far has it travelled.

I also am held in rapture but the diversity of the cuisine – regional variations and again the artistry of the food. I feel like a child when I look in detail at the Sicilian desserts of Patisserie Alba – the prickly pears, peaches, and lemons, all shaped from marzipan look life-like.

Dark chocolate richly decorated with preserved lemons, pistachio nuts and lavender again speaks of the artistry of food making. The dark cocoa has the qualities of silk as I slowly savours it taste and texture. This is real chocolate, not the chocolate that has been tampered with – diluted and ruined by copious amounts of powdered milks and highly processed sugar.

.
Still in the via dei dolci, I am drawn to a store selling tartufo bianco – a hazelnut dessert, so rich and laced with the freshest of hazelnuts
I leave with a sample of coffee beans dipped in dark chocolate. I appear to have been here for hours.

Everything is alluring and ready to be sampled. I taste for the first time Pastiglie Profumate – a confectionary that looks like wedding confetti and comes in the flavours of violet, rose and aniseed as well as Confetti di Natalie that has the texture of coral and the taste of cinnamon.

Further along, I purchase a fig ball made from compressed figs wrapped in fig leaves. I’m sure I can make something from them at Christmas.

And finally, there is a cunessi di rhum A dessert that is so profane that I almost lose consciousness. I feel heady, start to swoon as I taste the rich complication of rum and a rich cream chocolate. It is a dessert “to lose yourself in”. I do. .

Overwhelmed, fatigued and feeling deliciously good I declare Day One a success and walk home to my hotel via Platti (but that’s another story).

More reports to follow,including eating and drinking in Turin

All things slow

With the Salone du Gusto beginning next week, my mind has turned to all things slow.

Salone due Gusto is a four day global food village held every two years in Turin Italy. It is the stuff of dreams for any gastronome. Over four days, devotees of all things slow can savour, taste and contemplate their way through taste workshops, lectures and master classes celebrating food philosophies, tastes and ideas.

The salone is a highlight of the Slow Food calendar, a movement that started as a small gathering of friends and is now a global concern addressing issues of sustainability, regional cuisine and food traditions, education and biodiversity.

The highlight of the Salone du Gusto is the commercial produce market. A culinary journey that takes you from the Scottish larder to the sushi trains of Japan. Pavilion 1 is an international market place held in conjunction with branches of the Slow Food Movement. The ‘Buon Paese’ in Pavillion 2 is a taste journey through Italy. You can wander down lanes of oils, cheeses, sweets, cured meats, sweets and spirits as you would through a hillside Medieval town. Pavilion 3 is devoted to Slow Food Presidia and will feature 300 stalls selling products from across the globe from yak milk cheese made by monks from the Tibetan highlands to cured goat meat from Cyprus.In 2004, over 600 exhibitors from 80 countries participated in this event.

The theme of this year’s salone is "good, clean and fair" taken from Petrini’s book on the principles of a new gastronomy. In this Petrini’s response to the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Project, he sets the challenge of responsible gastronomy recognising the impact of eating upon the environment, agriculture and biodiversity. Good describes the sensory experience of food – tastes, memories, feelings. Clean is respecting ecosystems and the environment. Fair is about social justice.

For Petrini, gastronomy is not simply the appreciation of food and our cultural heritage but taking responsibility for food production and its impact upon ecosystems, biodiversity and the environment.

This year as the Salone du Gusto celebrates its tenth year it will be closely linked to Terra Madre, a meeting of international food communities, and the Ark of Taste, a catalogue of foods and produce under threat of extinction. Over 750 products currently form part of the Ark.

The best of British

It's a typical London Sunday - wet with pockets of sunshine. The suggestion of winter is all too great so I decide that the best thing to do is bake a crumble. It’s that warm comfort food that reminds you of childhood and speaks more about the seasonality of food that anything else.

I use the pick of the raspberries from the market and the new season’s apples. The recipe is simple – 6 large Cox apples and 250 g of raspberries. The crumble is made from flour, butter, orange juice with a sprinkling of sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Cooked for 25 minutes. Simple, …well almost. I’m still getting used to the oven and I burn the top just slightly. The perfect excuse to have the crumble with cream.

A gourmet Saturday

The day began with a market and ended with a stroll through Notting hill and an expected find.

Nottinghill Farmer’s Market is in full swing despite the inclement weather and the early hour. It’s bustling. Dogs, children and parents armed with baskets and bags compete for space in the narrow aisles that separate the store holders. The fare is mostly organic – breads, game, meats, fruits and vegetables, and with most of the storeholders being regulars, its easy to get to know these local producers. Twelve Green Acres farm offers some of the best pork pies and organic and gluten free sausages. Pigeon breasts and mallards as well as pheasant pies can be brought from Manor House Farm. From the Muck and Magic Farm you can buy Suffock potatoes still covered in soil – the perfect companion with their Tamworth Pork or Norfolk Horn Lamb. You’ll also find Dave and Rose’s Hurdlebrook yogurt made from Guernsey A2 milk. This is slow food at its best – low food miles, local producers.

The organic fruit and vegetable store reveals a rare sight - boxes of organic Cox and Braeburn apples. Much has been made in the media of declining number of English orchards. You’ll be hard pressed to find British apples in local stores despite talk of supermarket campaigns to buy British. Local producers can’t compete with imported ones. Looking around the market, it’s clear that the seasons are changing. Most of the berries have gone, although there are a few punnets of raspberries and strawberries to be had, but it’s the new season’s vegetables like kale and leeks that everyone seems to be buying.

Baked goods seem the perfect choice on a day that has a crisp bite in the air. Celtic Bakeries offers traditional soda breads and I overhear that the Californian sourdough is today’s bread of choice. By 11.00 am only a few loaves are left. Dark Sugar Cakes with its sweet indulgences of blueberry and almond tarts, sacher tort and lemon and almond polenta cake are an favourite. The popular mushroom man is the only local missing from the market today. His mushroom baguettes filled with oyster mushrooms cooked as you wait with garlic, parsley and parmesan cheese are wonderfully good.

Being so close to Portobello Road, I can’t resist the temptation of do some antique shopping. It’s easy to be tempted. I feel oddly inclined to buy a silver teapot and partake of the English tradition of elevens. It’s the memory of Brasso (and elbow-grease) that stops me from buying one.

Feeling the need to escape the crowds, I disappear down Westbourne Crescent and into a Still Too Few- a curious antiques store. From the outside, it appears to specialise in glass but at the back is a woman who specialises in kitchenware. I pick up some old editions of Elizabeth David. It’s an odd synchronicity as at the far end of the store is David’s kitchen dresser brought at auction after her death. The dresser is solid and imposing and I can imagine it stacked with books, china, wooden spoon and utensils. In a newspaper article displayed to the left of the dresser is David photographed, the dresser behind her.

With David in mind, I head for Books for Cooks, the famed specialist bookstore. The sky decides to open and so I opt for a simple lunch inside – minestrone served with pesto and courgette and pesto bread. It’s a warming lunch, perfect on this now rainy day.

In search of the mushroom man

His signature is everywhere. There are the cookery books and the food stores and of course the Neal Street restaurant. Yes, Carluccio’s.

A dinner with a work colleague from Australia is the perfect excuse to investigate the man behind the mushroom. Well sort of. With over twenty Carluccio’s in London, it’s hardly surprising that he’s not there. If he is anywhere, it is likely to be at his restaurant rather than this Italian eatery/ cafe in South Kensington opposite the tube station.

Carluccio’s is safe Italian eating – a gesture towards regional cuisine gentrified to the tastes of London. With its modern stylising and adjoining food store, Carluccio’s is yet another example of food branding. It’s the lifestyle, not the food that you are eating.

Dinner begins well with a fresh and delightful Antipasto di Verdue to share. The pesto has all the favour of a warm summer’s day. The peppers are perfectly chargrilled and the aubergine dip - smoky and enhanced by the inclusion of pine-nuts. It’s the quality rather than the selection that is standout. I select the Silvium (rosè) from Botromagno, Puglia and and “J” orders the Nero D’Avola from Mandrarossa, Siciliy that he describes as “intense and rich with subtle tannins”. I believe him – the wine is good; although again, safe.

Mains prove disappointing; although that said, the wild mushroom risotto is cooked to perfection and the mushrooms retain all their distinctiveness despite a heavy use of cream. The Penne Giardiniera that looked so promising when it was served to the table next to me proved bland. The pasta was cooked just so so and the sauce failed to emerge from an overuse of garlic. The courgette simply wilted in response to it over-powering cousin in this dish. The deep fried spinach balls would have been better on the anti-pasto palate. Disappointing.

To compensate another glass of red was ordered as was dessert: a Sicilian inspired cassata served with a pistachio cream. Very light and delicate in favouring, it was a delight.

Carluccio's is reliable and dependable but for something special, go elsewhere.

One Old Brompton Road, LondonSW7 3HZ
Tel. 020 7581 8101 Fax. 020 7581 2499