4 tales and 5 things

 

Bloody Kitchen Sink Tales, nothing for weeks, and then four of them come along at once, Cabbage, Chestnuts, Lemons, and Potatoes. Some of recipes will not be new for longtime readers here, especially Pasta e patate which I have written about several times, a reflection of how often I make it. Also in The Guardian this week was a piece from Bee Wilson’s New book, First Bite. I generally run a mile from the words diet and detox, even if they have the word No before them. My cautious self though, was glad to have read this wise, scholarly but human piece. Another piece I enjoyed very much was The smell of Loss by Julie Myerson.

I am sorry that I am not writing here more. I could (happily) try to blame The Guardian, but really it is because I am accomplished at procrastinating and then write very slowly. I am also working on my next book, the working title of which is Two Kitchens, one being here in Rome, the other the one we have partly inherited in Sicily. I will be back here soon though, I have things to tell you about.

Meanwhile, I am happy to announce that Luisa, Fabrizia and I are running the second edition of The Language of Food in June at The Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking school in Sicily. You can also look at the time-table here. You might like to read what I wrote last year, and the post Luisa wrote after our first edition, a most glorious week.  It is a big commitment I know, but I hope that some of you may be able to consider it. Please feel free to write me an email if you want to know more.

Lastly and most importantly, Happy New Year, I hope 2016 is as good as can be for you all. Thank you so much for your support this year, for reading and commenting here and over at The Guardian, for buying the book  – the US edition of which is out in less than a month – for reading it and then splattering it with tomato sauce, hot fat or pasta cooking water. I mean it when I say I feel very fortunate.

And the fifth thing, may I suggest boiling a whole orange for Claudia Roden’s Orange and almond cake. Quite aside from the cake it plays a part in, the smell as it simmers is stupendous, the truest sort of aromatherapy, just the thing for these long January days, maybe.

More soon –  Rachel