Macaroons of My Dreams

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I suppose the only proper way to celebrate Macaroon Day (May 31) would be with the most wonderful macaroons you could lay your hands on.

Now, it just so happens that the most wonderful macaroons you could lay your hands on (and I brook very little debate or argument on this) is a particular bakery in Rome – specifically the bakery with no sign on the door at the corner of on Via del Portico d’Ottavia (on the corner across from the school). I don’t know the actual name of the place. Few people do and there’s no sign any way. *

All you need to say is ‘the burnt bakery’ or the ‘bakery in the ghetto’ and everyone knows where you mean. This is it, in all its signless glory (and possibly the one and only time I have seen it without a line winding out the door.

And the macaroons? DIVINE.

*a bit of research reveals the name is either Antico Forno del Ghetto or Pasticceria “Boccione” Limentani but I can almost guarantee no one will ever call it either of those in conversation and you will never need to know the name.

Bite-Size Trip Down Memory Lane

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I was digging through some old pieces I’d written a lifetime ago and I came across this bit from 2009 – which I think I still rather like:

“Street food is more than just a tasty morsel eaten on the run. It’s great food plus the thrill of the hunt. It’s the absolute bliss of realizing you’ve reached the corner of Broadway and 17th just as the Wafels & Dinges truck has pulled up. If you think ‘bliss’ is laying it on a bit thick, this is because you have not had a dessert waffle from Wafels & Dinges.”

Nuts to That! A Celebration of Peanut Butter

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Tomorrow – the 24th of January- is perhaps my favourite food holiday of the year.

Peanut Butter Day!

Yep, a whole day devoted to just peanut butter! I’m seeing parades with beige banners, complete with majorettes tossing their batons whilst smiling through clenched jaws because their teeth are stuck together with the ol’ pb, and Peter Pan scarfing contests. The works. Continue reading “Nuts to That! A Celebration of Peanut Butter” →

Musing on Great American Pies Month

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February is, apparently, Great American Pies Month. It may or may not surprise you to know that it appears to have been the brainchild of Crisco brand shortening.

But ignoring the brand behind the idea, the idea of a Great American Pie got me thinking. A ‘great’ pie would be a well-made, delicious pie no matter what the cultural origins. So what makes a pie an American Pie (movie notwithstanding).

Continue reading “Musing on Great American Pies Month” →

Getting Ourselves Sorted After Being Hacked

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After a very disruptive hacking of our previous website, we’re working hard to get a shiny new site up and running. We even managed to save some of our favourite posts – which we are restoring this week.

But hey, we can restore that stuff and keeping talking about our favourite things. Namely, what we eat & where, how we cook it, why we cook it that way. We can still be asking questions, seeking suggestions, making declarations (both grand and silly) and exploring food history, sharing ideas and recipes all while putting things right.

People sharing a meal, photographed from above

So, enjoy the classic posts we’re restoring and keep up with us in real time over on Facebook or Twitter (come on, no one calls it X do they?).