Anissa's Blog

Some of you will remember Bea from her delicious biscotti and cacciucco. Well, I am back in my friends’ gorgeous house by the sea where Bea cooks the most divine meals, some of which I am hoping to blog before I leave. Until then, I thought I would post the adorable panettone and icing sugar presepio that she made for…

This morning I woke up to the most stupendous sky changing every 5 minutes or so and as I was snapping it at different degrees of dramatic colour changes and cloud movement, I stopped to have the most intriguing breakfast: sweet pasta which my friend’s old cook had sent for Christmas. I think her version does not…

Well, the title is slightly misleading but this feast I was invited to in the desert in Doha last week was very close to Christmas and just as festive even if a lot more exotic than a Christmas meal. I had been to the same farm before but at a hotter time of the year…

Or perhaps I should say heroines! In any case, I have hundreds of cookery books but I only refer regularly to a few, each dealing with a particular country. Nevin Halici is my guru for all things Turkish, Zette Guinaudeau Franc for Moroccan and Diana Farr Louis for Greek island cookery. Her book Feasting and Fasting in Crete is totally brilliant, both to read…

Christmas is round the corner and I thought I would share with you this festive stuffed breast of lamb that my mother used to cook for xmas eve when it was only us around the table. I much preferred it to the turkey she roasted when my grandmother, aunt and uncles joined us. She used…