I have always wanted to pick wine grapes. In my dreams, I was in Burgundy at a beautiful country chateau with gleeming vineyards sprawling in every direction. I spoke French, of course. We picked massive bunches of plump pinot noir, sneaking a few into our mouths every few feet as we made our way down the vines. Two […]
There have been several times in my life when I was in desperate need of 3 stomachs. My first expat Thanksgiving. The truffle extravagana during my first trip to Istria. The night I perfected my apple pie recipe. The great sushi gorge of 2010. Just kidding, you can't ever get full on sushi. And last but not […]
Istria is a world unique unto itself. Ownership of the Istrian region has been tossed around over the centuries between Venice, Austria, France, Italy, Yugoslavia and now Croatia. As a result, the culture is a convergence of Italian, Slavic and Croatian influences, which has given Istria a starkly different personality than any other part of […]
It wasn’t really eating. It felt more like shameless gluttony. After 5 days in Istria, I had reached my limit. I just couldn’t take anymore. Olive oil. Handmade pastas. Cheeses. Truffles. Wine. Risottos. Grappas. Truffles. Soups. Steaks. Fish. Salumi. Truffles. So many truffles. An avalanche of truffles, if you will. It was if every chef in […]