Italian Gourmet Traveller, living in Dubai.
Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. La torta della nonna (the Grandma’s Pie) is one of the most popular recipe of my sister. Often I ask her to make this dessert for our sunday lunches and… not a crumb remains! Ingredients for the pastry – 300g sifted flour 00 – 150g of sugar –…
Gnocchi (dumplings) are a typical Italian dish that usually is prepared for the Sunday lunch even if in Rome it’s traditional to eat potato Gnocchi on Thursday! You can eat Gnocchi with many different sauces but the ‘Ragù alla Bolognese’ is always one of my favorite. Making potato gnocchi is easier than you think! In…
Where I come from, south of Italy, September and October are the best months to collect mushrooms and snails! Both are a dish that we can’t wait to eat after the summer :) Have you ever eat snails? If you are travelling in Italy in autumn and if you want to pick snails up from the…
The Tiramisu is one of my favorite Italian desserts! Although it is a very easy recipe, it is important to take care to some details when you are preparing it. There are as many different Tiramisu recipes as there are Italian families, each with their own little secret. Here I share with you the secrets…
This yummy recipe was taught to me by a Turkish friend. Try it… will be love at first bite! The Saksuka Tarifi is also a perfect dish for vegetarians: without meatballs it doesn’t loses its goodness ;) Ingredients for 4 people – 2 medium eggplants – 8 long green peppers (or 2 classic peppers) – 4 medium zucchini…
One day I went with my Turkish friends to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. After the visit I couldn’t miss the opportunity for us to try the food at Dolmabahce: a Turkish restaurant which defines itself as the “home of authentic Turkish cuisine” – so I suggested going there for dinner. THE…
Everywhere in the world – except that in Italy and France – the typical breakfast is salty: eggs and bacon are the common foods in almost every country for the most important meal of the day. Dubai is full of places which serve this kind of breakfast until mid afternoon. I often enjoy this type…
These potato fritters have a soft heart and a crispy crust and are also good cold! My mother often prepare these fritters during the summer, before going to the beach. They are the perfect accompaniment for aperitif or side dish to a larger meal. Ingredients for 2 people – 5 medium potatoes – 1 egg – 50g fresh cheese…
Busaba Eathai was my favourite Thai restaurant when I lived in London, and now it’s opened in Dubai. Wow!! It is a casual but sophisticated restaurant chain, with low-lighting which make the ambiance quite dark. I went there with two friends and my expectations about the great food were confirmed and all were greatly impressed…
As its name suggests, Casa de Tapas is a Spanish restaurant. Its Friday brunch menu offers classic Spanish dishes from Andalusia to Galicia. In all honesty, I hadn’t read many reviews about Casa de Tapas before going there. One of my friends had invited me and I accepted. So I just went along to enjoy…
I have heard a lot about the Bubbalicious brunch at the Westin Dubai. It is really famous in the city, and I went with high expectations when a friend of mine decided to celebrate his birthday there. THE AMBIENCE I really liked the dress code for Bubbalicious which is smart casual. The brunch is suitable for…
Actually, for all expats who live in Dubai the Friday Brunch is a very serious thing. At the beginning I didn’t understand why it was so attractive. I mean, of course I love the Brunch time on the weekend but I didn’t understand why people were so excited to go there. But it didn’t take much…
Parmigiana is a typical summer dish from Southern of Italy. The classic Parmigiana is baked in oven and in some recipes it contains even more ingredients, such as boiled eggs and ham. Personally, I prefer this version because it is “lighter”. My mother taught me to make the cold Parmigiana and I find it delicious. Ingredients for…
The original italian recipe for these meatballs (or Polpette, as we call them in Italy) use coarse minced pork meat but in this case I used normal ground beef. This version is perfect for who has no time to goes at the butcher to buy coarse mince or for who doesn’t eat pork meat. Both are…
Why eat a simple salad when you can have a special one? Often, when I want to impress my guests but I do not have much time to cook, I prepare this Unusual Salad. It is easy, healthy and how we say in Italy “da leccarsi i baffi” (it means ‘to lick your mustaches’). You can eat…