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The “terroir” of Pienza Read more…

ABOUT

ABOUT

Curious Appetite is a Gourmet Blog by Coral Sisk, Italian-American writer, certified Italian sommelier & culinary tourism specialist from Seattle living in Florence, Italy


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When you come to Florence you’ll notice all sort When you come to Florence you’ll notice all sorts of street food things like accordion-sized olive oil 🫒 brushed salt-crusted flatbread 🫓 “schiacciate ripiene” panini w/ sliced meats busting at the seams or tripe-like lampredotto guts slung into a broth-dunked cored out 🏵 rosetta breadroll, but other notable calories for the road come from a friggitoria (fried food stand) or forno (bakery) serving up fried salted pizza dough ball “coccoli” slathered w/ fresh cheese stracchino and salty peppered prosciutto or other fantasioso (imaginative) fillings (I wouldn’t throw burrata and cured anchovies outta the ring) 🤤 🍞 🧀 Which street snacks in Italy do you crave (and miss) the most? 🇮🇹🍴#curiousappetite #foodtours
We are all excited at the prospect of traveling ag We are all excited at the prospect of traveling again, especially stumbling upon hidden gems in darling medieval villages twirling impromptu forks of Etruscan-storied pastas made modestly of flour and water, smothered in slow-cooked wild boar sugo with a bold Brunello in pair. These throwback snaps were taken on a 5+ years past culinary wine tour scout in Montalcino, Tuscany’s fine red red Brunello wine land and home to these thicc hand-rolled fresh pasta strands. Albeit via terrible photo taking skills, I’ll never forget this woman I did my best to capture (swipe!) who had trays of freshly rolled pici strands laying behind the bar/kitchen and the steaming plates she served up on the bar casually so- I was blown away and mesmerized for indescribable reasons. The team at Curious Appetite is doing our best to bridge you to when we can eat pasta again in an actual restaurant in Italy with themed-online pasta classes live taught from Florence (virtually) every Sunday, including these very pici. Schedule up via top linktree branch in bio or listed in our recently mailed newsletter What are one of your favorite pasta memories in Italy? 🍝 🇮🇹 #curiousappetite #onlinecookingclasses
Going to miss the little things from Italy’s Eas Going to miss the little things from Italy’s Easter period like decorative chocolate shop displays, confetti egg-shaped sweets, ricotta pie pastiera, yeasted egg doughy citrusy cakes, savory chard pasqualina pies to stuffed casatiello breads and light leather jacket blue sky weather.☀️🥧🍞🥚 The festive nature of these calories offered a bit of solace and delight during these (cue-broken-record 🎶 from Italy’s never-ending ‘rona saga) color-coded lockdownish weeks, not to mention amidst the angst of an awkwardly paced return to “normality”...and love how Italian food culture did its very best to still show up! Existential dread aside- What did you get up to eating/drinking over the holiday weekend? Buona Pasqua a tutti! 🐣🍫 #curiousappetite #eastersnacks
I’m currently in a dangerous relationship with t I’m currently in a dangerous relationship with the Neapolitan bakery/deli (forno alimentari pushing delicacies from Southern Italy’s prized pizza region Campania) on Via Gioberti: fresh milky mozzarella di bufala 🦬 with Sicilian dried thyme 🌿 crunched atop after sliced datterini tomatoes 🍅 and finished with bright green EV olive oil 🫒, casatiello stuffed bread of cima di rape/friarelli (broccoli rabe/rapini) and Neapolitan sausage, Santo Spirito market-sourced bitter-rich chicory salad 🥗 for vitamins, and ricotta wheat berry 🌾 orange blossom 🍊pastiera mini shortbread tartlet (with an ever so friabile crumbly crust) 🥧 🐣 This place is a candy store- and Via Gioberti in general, I love this block off Piazza Beccaria so much I listicled it on a past @voguemagazine piece you can find on my recent + past writing clips page: thecuriousappetite.com/press Is it just me or does Naples do food better?! (Sorry Florence!!!) #curiousappetite #foodblogger #cancelled
VIRTUAL TOURS THIS WEEKEND FROM FLORENCE: 🖼 Ita VIRTUAL TOURS THIS WEEKEND FROM FLORENCE: 🖼 Italian Easter in Art Tour (including exploring otherwise annual ancient traditions like this exploding cart pictured!) on Sunday April 4th at 1pm EST with Florence art history expert Valeria 🍷 Italian Culinary Tasting (think Vernaccia with spinach ricotta torta di pasqua and Vin Santo with Italian cakes) on Saturday April 3rd at 1pm EST w/ sommelier and food historian Adrienne. I hope these online tours will brighten up this (second!) pandemic Easter with Italian culture (and taste)- wishing we could all be here together! Tickets must be purchased in advance via linktree in bio, catching the links in stories or by finding our page via @eventbrite by searching “Curious Appetite Travel.” Sincerely wishing for this light at the end of the tunnel and celebrating traditions in the meantime ❤️#curiousappetite #virtualtours 📸 credits @girlinflorence from @windowtotheduomo 🍰@cognitivesese for the Italian dessert spread 🤤 (Last photo of the foods we’ll be tasting on the Saturday tasting taken by Adrienne)
Prendiamo un caffè ☕️- Join me and expert bar Prendiamo un caffè ☕️- Join me and expert barista in Florence @johnsy_jessica_ Friday March 26th here on IG live at 1:30pm East Coast/6:30pm Italy time! I’m beyond lucky to be chatting with Jessica (aka Johnsy) about specialty coffee & culture in Italy, her impressive career in the world of coffee (from barista training, founding @coffee_soul_relief, pouring competitions around Italy, travels to coffee producing regions, etc) her project in collab w/ @black.history.month.florence regarding coffee colonialism and some at-home brewing tips. I am beyond thrilled for this live and if you even as much have a drop of curiosity for il caffè, you will not want to miss this chat- much to learn!! Jessica helped open Ditta Artigianale and currently pours some of the city’s best cups at Melaleuca and also leads our virtual Italian coffee workshops. If you haven’t had the pleasure to meet her yet, pop over and join the live tomorrow and please share any/all questions you may have. If you can’t make it, I’ll post to IGTV and share the link in my weekly newsletter. Hope you’re all well, a domani! ☕️ ☮️ #curiousappetite #IGlive
My latest writing is on finding Iranian food in Fl My latest writing is on finding Iranian food in Florence and beyond on @theflorentine (link to article via stories plus Iran travel throwbacks) Lots of tips in that article from info nuggets explaining Nowruz/Persian New Year (thanks to my friends/family who helped me fact-check!) finding dates and Persian pantry essentials @advie.fga, weekly menu deliveries @persian_foodexperience including fair-trade saffron infused craft beer @shirinpersia.it and Florence restaurants offering an authentic slice of Iran @ristorantetehran and @lacongregafirenze 🇮🇷 ❤️ Grazie mille to the kind businesses listed making it possible for us in Italy to enjoy the plethora of Persian flavors and to lovely editor @helencfarrell for giving this tasty story a spot in this Renaissance town’s English speaking paper! Happy Springtime to all ☮️ #curiousappetite #foodblogger
Why settle for the calories of an orange 🍊 zest Why settle for the calories of an orange 🍊 zesty colomba 🕊 Easter cake 🍰 when you double the fun with a slathering of sweet hazelnut cacao spread?! Italian nut spreads are usually termed “crema” with ground pistachio, almond or hazelnuts cut with sugar and smoothly blended like a paste. Nothing like nut butters back home! These crema are used in desserts, gelato or filled in breakfast sweet pastries. I particularly love this jar with 65% Piedmont hazelnuts (considered Italy’s best region for hazelnuts, and where Nutella was born!) from Urzi, an uber craft chocolate shop in the Beccaria area. I’ve discovered apart from being a wise pair with a simple spoon, it’s dangerously brilliant on sliced colomba. As mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter- this is the last week to submit orders for a Italian Easter gourmet box to ensure arrival by Sunday April 3rd, if you’re now craving this crema for your colomba- make a note in your order to have a jar added! How do you pair Italian nutty crema or American nut butters? 🥜 🌰 🥐🍞#curiousappetite #florentinegourmetclub
Celebrate Dantedì with a virtual wine tasting inv Celebrate Dantedì with a virtual wine tasting involving Vernaccia di San Gimignano (and others) with Florentine art history expert & sommelier Valeria (apart of the Curious Appetite guide gang!) in Florence THIS Thursday at 6pm East Coast/11pm Italy time 🎊 What is Dantedì you ask? It’s the New Year (Capodanno) for Florence (well at least it was until 1750) and was recently named after Dante Alighieri (father of the Italian language, from Florence nbd) as this was the same date the tortured poet embarked on his spiritual journey in his Divine Comedy. If you want to explore other sides of Tuscan wines besides Chianti and learn fascinating Florentine history with incredibly knowledgeable tour guide in Florence- sign up for this virtual wine tasting, tickets via link in bio 🍷 🇮🇹 My newsletter sent today dives into why Italian wine is awesome, the food pairings for this Thursday’s virtual tasting (triple cream goat cheese + 🍯 + walnuts) and more history of Florence’s New Year. Didn’t receive? Make sure you’re subscribed- also via bio or http://eepurl.com/cEl6cf. Our next one will involve some recipe PDFs! Hope you’ve all had a peaceful leap into spring this weekend! Buona domenica a tutti 💚#curiousappetite #virtualwinetasting
Produce shopping is a joy thanks to Italy’s food Produce shopping is a joy thanks to Italy’s food culture of street stands and little daily markets in the squares Truth be told I am loyal to Leo at the Sant’Ambrogio market/mercato (9 years and counting!) sometimes Paolo and Maria (Leo knows) but I cheated on all them today with a quick stop in Piazza Santo Spirito.(Don’t tell) I can’t recall the sir from today in Santo but I can tell you the 1st of season peas are out of this world sweetly fresh. Now I sorely regret not recalling sir’s name because he kindly taught me the fresh leaves from my radish bunches could be lightly steamed and eaten. Salt and EVOO drizzle- vitamins done! For the peas- I’m thinking to make a fresh pea and guanciale rigatoni- but any other pasta suggestions with all these produce stand treats? Buon lunedì from an orange zone “baby lockdown” Florence 🥗 #curiousappetite #marketfinds