The second lesson of my cooking course was about soups and risotto. During the class my teacher Gabriella prepared some wonderful lentil, bea and onion soups and a risotto with radicchio from Treviso (a very traditional radicchio from the North east of Italy). At home I made the lentil soup, a very simple and good recipe that I write here below. I also made the risotto with radicchio, another simple dish, which my family appreciated very much. Indeed, we were so hungry and it was so good, that I forgot to take pictures...Don't worry, I will do it again soon (stay tuned...).
Lentil soup
(the recipe is taken from my class cookbook written by Roberta Molani)
300 g soaked lentils
50 g bacon cubes
3-4 little potatoes
1/4 onion
1/2 celery stick
1/2 carrot
1/2 hot pepper
1 chopped garlic clove
2 tablespoon tomato paste (diluted with water)
1 sprig of rosemary
2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
salt
pepper
Brown the fat mirepoix (chopped mixed of celery, carrot, onion, garlic and bacon) with 2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil; add lentils, rosemary, hot peper, peeled potatoes and tomato paste. Fill with hot water to level and cook for 30-40 minutes after boiling, add salt and pepper at the end. Regulate with hot water during cooking if necessary.
I do like cheesecake. I discovered it many years ago in my first trip to US and immediately became addicted to it. I like the creamy texture, the “melting in your mouth” rich soft bite, accompanied by the crusty base usually made with digestive biscuits. I learnt there are many different styles around the world, and it seems cheesecakes are popular in quite all the countries, each one using a different cheese (in Italy we commonly use ricotta or mascarpone). Indeed, this type of cakes has very ancient origins, dating back to Ancient Greece and Roman Empire. Each time I travel to US I look forward to my “cheesecake moment" and this happened recently while I was in New York too. Here I enjoyed the New York style cheesecake, which relies upon heavy cream, usually made with Philadelphia or cottage cheese, eggs and egg yolks. The taste is rich and smooth, sometimes with a fresh hint of lemon.
A White Chocolate Macadamia mini cheesecake that I found in a famous bakery in the City (Magnolia bakery) was my “little happy thing” in the sadness of the last days of my trip. It was mid-December and one of the first chilliest days of the year, those days when the cold wind cuts your face and it is impossible to stay without gloves and hat. Despite the unfavorable weather conditions, I wanted to take as many pictures as possible, and having to remove my gloves to hold the camera, I nearly had my hands frozen. After peeping all the goodness exposed at the bakery windows, as a refugee with ice sticks instead of fingers (brrrr), I entered that sugar paradise. WOW, a rainbow of all kind of treats appeared at my sight: cupcakes, muffins, pies, cakes, cookies, and yes, cheesecakes. I ordered my mini cheesecake that the clerk packed in a nice little box, like a gift. I also ordered a hot chocolate with cream and begun tasting my cake with great satisfaction. I still remember the moment the liquid chocolate sip encountered the solid smooth bite of the cake, ah cheesecake mémoires!...
The mini cheesecake happened to be not so little, being so tasty and thick, so I left half and finished it the day after. It was the last “good little thing” of my trip to New York and when I think of the sad day of my departure I remember its sweet taste and the bitterness of my last look on the Manhattan skyline from the taxi to JFK airport. As a coincidence, during my flight back home I listened to some music offered through the inflight entertainment system, and my “flying home” soundtrack consisted mainly of the best of A- HA (the Scandinavian band from the 80’s). I almost cried listening to one of their master works, the song Manhattan skyline, which says “We sit and watch umbrellas fly, I'm trying to keep my newspaper dry, I hear myself say, My boat's leaving now' ...so we shake hands and cry. Now I must wave goodbye, Wave goodbye…”
Anyway, the melancholy of the departure is now “flown” away and since my trip to New York was so magic for all I experienced in three months, to recreate that intense atmosphere, I decided to bake a white chocolate cheesecake, that I dedicate to the City, together with a poem I wrote while I was there in a bar sipping my cappuccino.
But first the recipe, then the poem.
White chocolate cheesecake
(the recipe is taken from the Italian blog ilmondodiadrenalina.blogspost.com)
300 g chocolate shortbread cookies
80 g melted butter
400 g Philadelphia light
150 g sour cream (you can make it mixing 250 ml liquid cream with 3-4 tablespoons Greek yoghurt and let the compound rest at room temperature for at least two hours)
1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
2 lightly whisked eggs
300 g white chocolate
Powder bitter cocoa
Wrap a cake mold (20 -23 cm) with baking paper, both the bottom and the rims (to let the paper stick better you can butter the cake mold first). Crumble the cookies to dust and add the melted butter. Pour the compound in the mold and press it to let it thick well. Put the cake mold in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 150 ˚C. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie while stirring till it gets a smooth and homogeneous cream and let it cool a little. Work the Philadelphia cheese with a fork, add eggs and stir till you obtain a smooth compound. Then add sour cream, vanilla extract and the melt white chocolate.
Pour the obtained cream in the mold and bake the cheese cake for about 45 min. Leave the cake in the turned off oven for 10 more minutes with door half-open. Let it cool and leave it in the fridge for at least two hours (better if a whole night). Before serving sprinkle with powder bitter cocoa.
Again class assignements. This time is not about writing, it is about cooking! Yes, I'm doing a course of basic cooking (http://www.peccatidigola.info/) and our first lesson was about sauces, as a key ingredient of many recipes. We learnt to make besciamel and to use it in savory tarts, souffles etc. My homework was trying to copy the fabolous zucchini tart my teacher Gabriella prepared at the class, and I have to say, mine was even better! Only because the teacher's one was so "perfect", while the one I made has those little signs of unexperience that makes it a little bit more roughly homemade...To be honest I have to tell I also tried to make my first cheese soufflé and although the taste was good, something went wrong with the baking procedure and as soon as I took it out of the oven it suddenly deflated. My teacher told me it could be my oven not working properly or the fact that I used a casserole too big that didn't help the souffléto inflate well. So here you have the recipe and the pictures of the zucchini tart, while the image of my failed souffléwill remain in my camera (sigh).
Zucchini tart
(for six people. The recipe is taken from my class cookbook written by Roberta Molani)
300 g brisé dough
300 g Mornay sauce (without cream)
1/2 kg zucchini cooked in butter with chopped garlic and parsley
First make the Brisé dough with
300 g flour (I used 200 g white flour and 100 g whole wheat flour) 150 g butter salt 70 g cold water
Sift flour and add a good pinch of salt and cold butter in pieces. Work the butter and the flour with your fingertips till you obtain a compound similar to grated Parmesan. Bind with cold water working the dough as little as possible in order to avoid the butter to get too hot. Cover with a protective film and put in the fridge to cool for at least 20 minutes.
Prepare the Mornay sauce with
50 g + 50 g butter
50 g flour
1/2 l milk
50 g greted Parmesan
The Mornay sauce is a just made besciamel sauce added with 50 g butter, 50 g grated Parmesan and 50 g liquid cream (I didn't use the cream to make it lighter).
To make besciamel you have to start making a blond roux: melt 50 g butter in a kettle with a deep bottom and add 50 g four stirring with a whisk for 3-4 minutes over a low flame till the compound will smell of biscuit and get "blond". At this point add the room-temperature milk all together always stirring with the whisk bringing the sauce to the boil. Add salt, pepper and a touch of nutmeg. When the besciamel starts boiling, cook at the lowest flame covering the kettle for at least 10 minutes.
Now that you have the Mornay sauce and the dough you are ready to "build" your tart:
Roll the dough on a baking pan (greased with butter and sprinkled with grated hard bread). Riddle the bottom with a fork and bake in oven at 180 ˚C for 20 minutes. In the meantime mix the hot cooked zucchini with the Mornay sauce. Take the pan out of the oven, fill it with the zucchini compound and put the pan again in the oven for 20 more minutes till the surface gets golden. Remove from oven and let it cool for 15 minutes. Serve lukewarm. Try it with a glass of Tocai friulano, better if young and fresh (one of the most traditional white wines from Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy...read my book!).
Yuppi! I’m so proud of my first cookies! With the ingredients left from my Daddy’s birthday cupcakes I made these delicious Orange & Almond Shortbread Cookies. This is the simple recipe. Enjoy them with your favorite tea!
Orange & Almond Shortbread Cookies
(servings for 8 people)
200 g butter
120 g icing sugar
1 sachet vanillin
250 g wheat (I used 150 g white flour and 100 g whole wheat flour)
100 g fine ground almonds
2 teaspoons fine grated orange peel
Mix in a bowl butter, vanillin and icing sugar and work to cream them well. Then add wheat, almonds and orange peel and knead everything. Put the paste in the fridge to cool for at least half an hour. Roll out the dough with a matterello to ½ cm thick (or less as desired) and cut the cookies using the cookie cutters you like. Put the cookies on a plate covered with baking paper and bake them in preheated oven at 160 ˚C for about 20 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them cool down. Before serving sprinkle with icing sugar.
Hallelujah! My first blog recipe, here we are. The occasion is my daddy’s birthday, so with New York still in my heart I decided to make some of the most popular American treats, the cupcakes. Muffins and cupcakes are also some of my favorite sweets and I have always wondered if there is different between them. And indeed it seems there is. As I have googled “difference between a cupcake and a muffin” I found a lot of debating on the matter.
Very simply “Cupcakes are said to have icing (or frosting) on them and to be little, miniature cakes made for special occasions, while muffins are usually eaten at breakfast, don't have icing on them, and often contain fruit of some sort”. A more technical explanation is to be found on Wiki Answers: "A muffin is any quick bread (mixed by muffin mixing method & does NOT contain yeast) that is in the shape of a cupcake. A cupcake is any cake batter mixed with the straight method or creaming method made into the shape of a cup. Cupcakes (traditionally) have frosting on top, while muffins have no frosting, but muffins can have a glaze on top. Many people think that the difference is either frosting or no frosting, or that it's "in a paper liner" or not, but that is a common mistake. Either one can be made with or without a paper liner; it's just the baker's preference. A quick bread (or muffin) CANNOT be baked like a sheet cake or round layered cake because it won't bake properly. The same goes for a cupcake batter- a cake batter (or cupcake) cannot be baked in a loaf or bund pan because it will not bake properly. But, since both can be baked into a smaller shape, everyone seems to want to declare that they're the same."
Anyway, the “best” description of the difference is for me this one taken from englishforums.com: “If you threw a cupcake against the wall, you would hear something of a "poof!" If you threw a muffin, you would hear a "thud!". A muffin goes with coffee, a cupcake with tea. (That's a rather controversial statement, so perhaps this discussion should be moved to the controversial topics zone.) Fast food joints deal in muffins, especially in North America, but I have never seen one that sold a cupcake. Sociologically, a muffin is everyday living, whereas a cupcake is "we're getting fancy." Theoretically, a man could say, "hey honey" to his waitress while he was chewing on a muffin, but with cupcake in his mouth he could only say, "my dear””.
I also "liked" this comment on the cupcakeproject.com: “when your wife is younger you can call her cupcake, when she is older with double chin, you can call her muffin…”
Well, what I can say from my experience is that a cupcake is “ just a good little thing” that helped me to say : “I love you Daddy, Happy Birthday!!!” I and my family enjoyed them both with coffee and tea, and also with a sparkling sweet or semi sweet wine, like a Spumante Italiano. Che buono!
Here’s the recipe to make 12 Orange cupcakes with white chocolate cream (the recipe is adapted from Muffin e Cupcakes, a book from Cucina Moderna, Italy).
75 g whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100 g fine ground almonds
125 g cane sugar
2 big eggs
2 teaspoons fine grated orange peel
1,25 dl + 4 spoons filtered fresh orange juice
50 g refined sugar
White Chocolate cream
90 g white chocolate
125 g softened butter
¼ teaspoon vanilla essence
½ spoon milk
150 g icing sugar
Preheat the oven to 170 ˚ (centigrade). Line cupcake pans with paper liners. Sift whole wheat flour, baking powder and almonds. Beat icing sugar, eggs and orange peel on medium – high speed until a cream is obtained. Lower speed at minimum and mix the dry ingredients and 1,25 dl orange juice, then pour the mixture into the paper liners until 2/3 full. Bake the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes until they reach the right consistency. In the meantime warm the left orange juice with sugar on medium-low fire for 5 minutes, stirring until you obtain a syrup. Prick the lukewarm cupcakes with a toothpick, brush them with the orange syrup and let them cool.
Prepare the white chocolate cream. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie while stirring. Take away from fire and let it cool down. Beat the butter and vanilla on medium – high speed until a light cream is obtained. Mix the milk, the chocolate and last, the sugar. Distribute the cream on the cupcakes and decorate as you desire.
Yes, I know, I didn't go that far for my first restaurant review. This was another class assignement and indeed we students were offered a dinner at the restaurant of the school, L'Ecole, in order to review it.
These are my impressions...Bon Appetit!
Have you ever eaten in a school restaurant? This unique experience is possible at L’Ecole, the restaurant of the French Culinary Institute located at 462 Broadway, New York City. Everything you eat here is the product of the skills and training of the senior students of the culinary, pastry and bread departments. Behind the scenes lies the creative inspiration of the deans of the school, chefs Jacques Pépin, Alain Sailhac, André Soltner and Jacques Torres. They are the ones who “prepare students”, then students “prepare your meals” as stated in one of the photographs at the entrance of the restaurant.
There’s a lot of creation inside as the main wall which leads to the kitchen is covered with pictures of hands working on food, with a bigger one showing hands in the act of kneading. The atmosphere is casual with a touch of French class. Modern big round chandeliers on the ceiling give a hint of extravagance to the elegant environment. Service is good with a very pleasant, attentive and courteous staff. Although it is always very busy, the crowd enjoys his meal without being loud. No need to shout, music is very soft.
The five course dinner served from 8 to 9 pm includes an appetizer, a fish course, a meat course, a salad, and dessert for $42. It is a good value for your money.
The cuisine combines classic and contemporary French dishes with other ethnic influences taught at the institute. It is based on seasonal and artisan ingredients and changes every six weeks. A Chorizo Stuffed Calamari with Parsley Pesto is a good choice among the appetizers. The taste is delicate, lightly hot, with a fresh touch given by parsley pesto aroma.
All the courses come in very well presented dishes of different shapes, and the food is set to create nice geometrical patterns. However, sometimes, too much elaboration seems to be a little confusing to the palate threatening to cover up the authentic flavor of the raw material. The Mustard Crusted Lamb Loin with Potato Puree and Cabbage I ordered is an example of this. The meat itself was really tender and tasty, but the mustard crust was a little too sweet and did not seem necessary. There is a lot of experimentation, which one might expect in a school anyway. On the other hand in the Seared Salmon with Sweet Potato Pureeand Pinot Noir Demi-glace, the soft, creamy, thick texture of the salmon was exalted by the sweetness of the demi-glace and the potatoes.
Nice tasty complimentary side dishes are offered between the courses, to open your senses to the flavors, like a Napoleon eggplant with garlic and basil, a mini pot of fresh steamed vegetables, a goat cheese sorbet topped with a sweet cracker accompanied with a pickled cinnamon pear.
The sorbet is the key that opens the gate to the realm of L’Ecole desserts. A side menu with all kinds of delicious pastries and cakes, like the Port Wine–Glazed Tart with Greek Yogurt Sorbet, a melody between the crunchiness of the buttery tart and the smoothness of the ice cream goat cheese heart, with a touch of seasonal figs. A Passion Fruit Baked Alaska and a German Chocolate Cake with Sour Cherry Compote and Caramel-Glazed Cherries are two valid alternatives to satisfy all the sweet lovers. Or, if you are cheese oriented, you might also try the “domestic delights”, artisanal domestic cheese selections offerings by farmstead cheese makers.
In order to pair each course with the right wine L’Ecole offers a wine by the glass list with a nice selection of international wines starting from $8, with the option of a 4- course wine pairing for $28. There is also a well assorted list of dessert wines and spirits. Sherry fans should not miss the Dessert Sherry Flight, 3 sherries for $20.
Eating at L’Ecole restaurant is an all- encompassing experience. It is s not only about your palate satisfaction since you feel you are at the final step in the education of some of the next generation of culinary stars. These guys are working hard for you. You are their very first judge.
When I close my eyes I see cannoli. No, I’m not cannoli obsessed or addicted, but I am simply fascinated by the American attraction to one of the most popular Southern Italian desserts and decided to go in search of New York’s best cannoli spots. Being an Italian-born and a sweets fan, I finally declared the Italian pastry shops to be my elected paradise in the city jungle.
The cannoli involves all five senses and beyond, straight to memory. It’s a beautiful, eye candy deliciousness consisting of a firm, crunchy tube fried shell covered by bubbles due to the use of wine (ideally, Sicilian Marsala) and a soft, sometimes thick, cream made with ricotta cheese, originally from sheep’s milk, although today ricotta from cow’s milk or even mascarpone is a common alternative. Nose and hearing are also involved in the cannoli experience, the first being sharpened by the icing sugar often sprinkled on the pastry just before it is served and the second by the act of biting the crispy shell. In the Italian-America recipe, the cream is often flavored with vanilla or orange flower water and a pinch of cinnamon. Chopped pistachios, semi-sweet chocolate bits, candied citrus peel or cherries are often still included, dotting the open ends of the pastry.
To be really good, cannoli must be fresh so as not to lose the soft-hard contrast between the smoothness of the cream and the crustiness of the fried shell. The best coffeehouses and bars in Palermo, where the pastry originates, offer cannoli espresso- filled while you wait.
When I came in New York I realized that cannolis here are a serious business. During the San Gennaro festival, celebrated in Little Italy in Manhattan in the last two weeks of September, a sort of king is elected at the cannoli eating competition. This year the crown was given to a guy from New Jersey, who polished off 13 cannolis in six minutes. Over 200 cannolis were brought out for the competitive eaters.
When I searched the Internet for cannoli reviews I found forums where cannolis are debated: the best shape, the most fresh filling - with special consideration to those places where they fill the shell while you wait. I uncovered a cannoli triangle: the ”Little Italies” in Manhattan, in the Bronx and in Brooklyn.
Guided by my cannoli Cicerones, I first visited La Bella Ferrara, Caffé Palermo, Caffé Roma and Ferrara in Little Italy’s Mulberry Street. None of these places offer a cannoli - espresso service, however, I must say the best I found was the pastry from Caffé Palermo, because the cream was light, not too sweet and with a pleasant fresh orange flavor.
In the Village I went to Pasticceria Rocco on Bleecker Street, Bruno Bakery on La Guardia Place, Veniero’s and De Robertis, both on East 11th St. I liked Rocco and Bruno because they offered a very fresh pastry that they filled while you waited. I preferred the cream at Rocco, because Bruno’s one was too cheesy and a little too thick. Veniero’s and De Robertis offered two very similar pastries, garnished with chocolate chips, candied fruits and lemon bits. However they were not the best I had, with shells a little bit soggy.
It was time to explore my second Little Italy in the Bronx, where I experienced some of the best Italian bakeries in all New York. De Lillo, Madonia Brothers, Arthur Avenue Bakery, Gino’s Pastry Shop and Egidio are one close to each other in Arthur Avenue. Every pastry I savored in these shops was delicious, and what I really appreciated was a sense of the old Italian charm that I couldn’t find anywhere else in the City. I was home.
Taking the train back to Manhattan I realized I was leaving a true cannoli heaven, but there was a stop still missing. My cannoli web experts had long praised a place in Brooklyn, so I arrived at Villabate Pasticceria on 18th Avenue with great expectations. When I saw the place I was struck. I wasn’t just home, I was in Sicily.
This pastry shop is an amazing window to the greatest selection of authentic Sicilian specialties including all the typical Sicilian biscotti and pastries made with almonds and all sorts of cassata cakes. Every pastry here is a work of art. I soon started feeling a true cannoli vibe. Some of the cannolis I had tasted before were good, but just imitations of the genuine Sicilian pastry. Here I found the original, made with sheep’s milk ricotta imported directly from Palermo. This was definitely my ultimate cannoli in New York City, filled with deliciously smooth traditional sheep ricotta cream, infused with chocolate chips and sprinkled with just the perfect amount of powdered sugar.
If the guy from New Jersey is the king of Cannoli, I am the queen, and, I can tell you, the cannoli I had at Villabate Pasticceria won’t be finished in six minutes. It’s a never ending story.
What a fortune! I was just arrived in New York (still struggling with jet leg) and I could experience one of the biggest and most revered religious outdoor festival in the United States, the Little Italy Feast of San Gennaro. During the eleven days of the feast - from the 16th to the 26th September 2010, the historic lower Manhattan neighborhood, which served as the first home in America for hundreds of thousands of Italian immigrants, is a blaze of red –white –green colors, all type of ethnic food delicacies, religious processions and colorful parades, free musical entertainment every day and charming restaurants and cafes. The fair also features the world-famous cannoli-eating competition, where the winner is the one who is able to eat more cannolis in 6 minutes (I will speak about it in my next post). Unfortunately I couldn’t assist to the event (I was still in Italy) but the pictures I took on the day of the Grand Procession (Sept the 25th) are “cannoli” oriented thus demonstrating how the Sicilian pastry is considered a “must” of the Italian gastronomic tradition and a favorite among the desserts offered at the festival and in the Italian pastry shops located in this area. As I had to decide the subject of my first food story, my next class assignment, the San Gennaro Feast was for me a sort of revelation: it was clear I had to investigate upon cannolis and find out where to find the best Sicilian pastries in New York City.
My class of food writing consisted of one lesson per week for a total of six lessons. From the very first day it was clear we had to put our writing skill into practice. So said, after being introduced to our Instructor and Dean of food journalism, Alan Richman (14 James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards for food writing winner- WOW!) and to the program of the course, we had to face our first writing exercise: describe the traditional French cake Madeleine. We were given a pencil and a little notebook and surprise! Waiters came in our room with baskets full of little Madeleines, just come out of the oven. What a scent, what a sight! With a handful of “mini” Madeleines in my greasy fingers and the pencil in the other hand, here is what I had written…which to tell the truth sounds more like a poem, than press stuff, but what can I say? It was one of my “moments”…when some “good little things” open my senses and my heart and give way to creation…
MADELEINE, OH MADELEINE!
First the name. Madeleine. I’ve always been fascinated by food recipes with womens’ name. There must be a story behind that name, I guess. This lady, Madleine, I wonder, must have had a secret to tell….Second, the scent. Before I can see the shell shape sponge cakes , I can smell the deep buttery heart is beating inside of them. Delicious, sponginess and softness is what I can imagine, but is there also a touch of lemon and vanilla? Yes, my nose feels it. Third, the shape. The Madleines appear as tiny shells, that make me wonder of a peaceful walk along the shore at sunset- very romantic indeed. Forth, the taste. Oh, what a soft melting bite! Yes, butter again is introducing itself to my taste buds, and I say “Hi, nice to meet you!”. Last, the dream. Sweet little Madleines, you make me dream of my longed tea moment after a hard cold day, and I wish I could soak you in and meditate… Oh Madleines you open my heart and my mind!
If you think this is too much for just a Madleine, well you should read what Marcel Proust has written about it in The search of Lost Time? “No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place…at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory”…
Marcel you and me must have something in common, or is this the Madleine secret?… who knows…
This blog begins in 2011. It’s early January, so Happy New Year to you all!
I just came home from a journey to New York City. It has been a great adventure indeed. I spent three months there. I attended a food writing seminar at the International Culinary Center in Soho, so I guess this food blog is the first product of my creative writing kitchen. I don’t know if I’m good at cooking and I’ll discover that with you in the course of this blog, but one thing I know: I love writing, I love English, so I will write in English. I am an Italian mother tongue. I took my degree in English Language and Literature (and German) some years ago, so I should be able to do it. Anyway, please forgive me if sometime my English will not be perfectly correct. If you feel like being my “editor” and report my mistakes, I will always be grateful.
I also love photography, especially black and white as in the style of the great street photographers like Henry Cartier Bresson, André Kertész, Carlo Bevilacqua, Robert Capa, Margaret Bourke White, Aaron Siskind, Tina Modotti, Ferdinando Sciacca, and many others. I also attended a class of street photography at the International Center of Photography near Bryant Park while I was in New York. I will add some pictures to my posts. I believe in the power of storytelling though images.
Some of my first pages are taken from my food writing class assignments. I think my New York adventure has changed me and given me the impulse to open myself to the world. It has been my “going to the other side” vehicle. Before leaving for New York I watched the movie “Eat. Pray. Love” taken by the book written by Elisabeth Gilbert and I was inspired. Like the main character of the movie, interpreted by Julia Roberts, travelling, eating, discovering new places and meeting new people has been a sort of inner rebirth. “Cook.Eat.Write” is now my motto.
