Category: Savour the Flavour
Valentine’s Day Delight or Daily Coffee Side? This Pear and Almond Chocolate Cake is a delicious and versatile dessert that works wonderfully as an indulgent dessert to finish a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner AND as a side for your daily coffee(s). This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure for more information. Thank you! To the Italians, it is in most cases the latter, but that does not mean this pear and almond chocolate cake cannot make a perfect special...
How the Walnut Snails Recipe Made It to Mom’s Recipe Book Mom’s walnut snails recipe is an adaptation of the Nussschnecken desert which is basically a sweet bun of Saxon origins, filled with nuts and cinnamon. Schnecken is the German word for snails, which suggests the unique shape of this finger-licking delicious walnut filled treats. Given Transylvania’s Saxon heritage, our cooking and especially baking have seen a tremendous German influence over the centuries. When I was a child, mom’s best friend was a German lady who used to bake weekly. She would always invite us to keep her company while she was dancing...
A Romanian Salad, French in Name and Historically Having Almost Nothing to do With What’s in the Title! If it sounds a tad confusing, here’s the disambiguation: Romanians like many things but absolutely LOVE food; therefore, they create dishes that everybody loves to try and often become traditional foods for holidays. A beautifully looking festive beef salad is an appetizer always present on the Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Easter festive table! This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. Please read the full...
Twelve Days Of Christmas “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me” the idea to bring together a few of the most famous Christmas treats from around the world. This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure for more information. Thank you! Christmas is indeed the most wonderful time of the entire year. It is a time of reflection and remembering why we even celebrate Christmas in the first place. A time for being grateful for...
A Tradition In Name Only As a migrant who settled in the UK, of course, I got to learn and appreciate local traditions. But I remember staying away from mince pies for several years. The reason? I did not get why a meaty thing would be placed in a pastry sheet and have sugar sprinkled on top! My prejudice wilted when I decided it was time to do some research and get to the bottom of the story! This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra...
A Culinary Delight with A Long History A Word About Romanian Cozonac Romanian Cozonac is a beautiful festive delight I grew up with as a child in my country of origin. Each major holiday mom would bake the best treat there could be. Be it Christmas or Easter, our house would smell wonderful, filled with delightful flavours escaping from the oven. And I would wait impatiently for the festive dinner to finally savour the best treat created by humankind! This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no...
The Bread of Toni As is the case with everything Italian, the nation’s Christmas traditional dessert, Panettone, has its history that goes back to the fifteenth century. This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure for more information. Thank you! A legend has it that one Christmas Eve, while the entire court and guests of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan were sat at the festive table, disaster stroke in the kitchen. The cook managed to burn the dessert accidentally! Mamma...
Sweet Pockets Cheesecakes in any form and shape are widely present in international cuisine. The sweet cheese pies I will talk about today are a traditional Moldavian recipe from Northern Romania. This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure for more information. Thank you! This recipe, as many on this blog, is from mom’s recipe book that was filled with delicious dessert ideas she collected from her friends. If she liked a cake when she was a guest in their...
The Taste of Childhood I was eleven years old when I made my first biscuit salami. In the good old days, the parents would go to work, and the children would spend the three months long summer holiday at home doing whatever they wanted. This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure for more information. Thank you! We would mostly go outside to play with other kids (we had a key we wore on a necklace), come back for lunch...
Cannelloni With Spinach and Ricotta – The Best Italian Sunday Meal Cannelloni are, in essence, pasta tubes filled with ricotta and spinach or cooked mince meats. Although Italy’s history of pasta goes back to the 4th century BC, cannelloni seems to be a bit younger. Their origin traced around the 8th century CE, in the Etruscan times. There are mentions of this dish in Toscana and Campania around the same time, even if there is some distance between the two regions. This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will receive a commission if you purchase through my links...
A Symphony of Scents and Flavours Disclaimer: This recipe contains allergens! Please use suitable substitutes if you have a nut allergy! The “welcome home” favourite in mom’s recipe book was always an impressive upside-down apple cake with whipped cream. I can’t call it pie or tart because it is not; it is a soft sponge over whole apples filled with nuts and spices (we don’t have any food allergies). This post may contain affiliate links, which means I will receive a commission if you purchase through my links at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure for more information....
Baked Greek Pita Bread There is no more straightforward recipe to bake nor yummier than pita bread! With origins going back to the Middle East’s first farming settlements, pita can be considered a prehistoric bread type. Our ancestors used to bake this flatbread directly on the fire. Later, the stone ovens came into use. Today, we bake it in the oven or fry it in little oil, depending on how much time and effort we invest into preparing pitas. In time, the method has changed, as has the name. Apparently, as its use spread through the Mediterranean, it became pizza in...
A Greek Dish With International Influences Greek moussaka (or light Greek moussaka for those who don’t care about the heavy béchamel sauce) is a must-have dish if you travel to Greece, just as it is proper to try Greek coffee or wine. The flavours are unique! As you sit on a tavern terrace and (preferably) enjoy a fabulous sea view, remember that the stress is on the last syllable when you ask the waiter for moussaka. Original from the Levant and updated by adding a posh French sauce, moussaka is known as a Greek dish, cooked with variations in most...
A Gastronomic Tribute to Homer’s Mythical Heroes and Feta Cheese It is impossible to visit any part of Greece without eating at least one traditional Greek Salad. I’ve had my fill almost everywhere, but I liked it better in Santorini. Not because the recipe was any different, but because the company was excellent! I was spending one afternoon idling around the streets of Santorini with my then my boyfriend Hotass (not his real name, just a nickname he acquired on a funny occurrence!) We stopped at a tavern for dinner in the evening while admiring a fabulous Mediterranean sunset over the...
Rustic Ciabatta: Our Daily Bread from the Eighties Bread might be one of the oldest foods created by humans, but people will always invent new varieties, especially the French or Italians. It is the case of rustic Italian ciabatta, our daily loaf from the eighties, which at nearly fifty is one of the youngest assortments of bread that found worldwide fame in just a few years from being invented. How has the delicious slipper-shaped bread with a smooth, crisp crust and porous, slightly humid interior come to be? It seems we owe it to the Italian rally pilot turned miller,...
A Finger-Licking Delicious Italian Dessert I had the idea to make a classic Tiramisù after reading this book: Every Day Is A Holiday by George Mahood. The author, a family man, had an epiphany that people invented or created many holidays connected to something meaningful. The entire calendar, all 360 days of it, consists of something significant enough that deserves recognition. So, Mahood celebrated something every day for a whole year. Anything is worth revelling, from Zombie Day on the first of January to Oopsie Daisy Day, Awkward Moments Day, Work Naked Day, No Diet Day and everything in between. The book...
An Amalfi Coast Special Release the well-known aphrodisiac power of seashells in this easy to make spaghetti with clams recipe that will make your dinner special! Date night, a memorable Valentine’s Day meal or even a regular easy dinner would become notable when you add a touch of Italian cuisine magic! The truth be told, no Italian food can go wrong, but you can make it just a bit more particular by adding ingredients that work wonders to a relatively simple dish. Imagine the sparkle this dish can ignite on Valentine’s Day! To many, pasta with clams does not even...
Simple Is Beautiful and Delicious! As the name implies, the fresh, delicious and effortless Caprese salad originates from Capri – Mediterranean’s most fascinating island, just a short boat ride from Naples. It might seem a humble dish, but it is one of Italy’s favourites. And we love it too! The Italians take pride in considering it a homage to their flag: green, white and red served on a plate. Caprese is ready in minutes and brings the unforgettable taste of a holiday in the sun. It is perfect as a main or side dish served with garlic bread or pita....
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