Easter in Umbria is not for those with a delicate constitution. A cheese-egg-meat-wine-chocolate binge starts at 9 am on Easter Sunday with breakfast and ends into a food induced coma sometime at 5 pm. By then, some of the aunties are passing around giant mounds of broken chocolate eggs and slices of colomba just in case you have developed a new appetite. They are ruthless. … Continue reading Bucciotto, a cheese-bread doll for Easter
When I was a child in the late 1960s many homes, including the one of my Umbrian grandmother, didn’t have an oven and took their bread to the bakery for cooking. Easter was an especially busy time, with women preparing Torta di Pasqua, a leavened cheese bread traditionally served for our hearty Easter breakfast. In the countryside, the whole idea of an “egg hunt” had … Continue reading Torta di Pasqua, an Umbrian Easter bread
As you probably know Italians have a long tradition of eating vegan food. You didn’t know it? Well, think about it: spaghetti with aglio, olio and peperoncino is vegan. Minestrone is also vegan. Eating fruit at the end of a meal instead of a dessert is the norm here. And, in addition we have a variety of dairy and egg-free sweets made with olive oil and … Continue reading garbanzo bean farinata with caramelized onions and rosemary
