Cooking with an Italian accent

Latest Episodes:

EP41 – Everything you want to know about pound cake Jul 20, 2020

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Subscribe to our newsletter, Letters from Tuscany: https://julskitchen.substack.com/
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In today’s episode we’ll be talking in details about the pound cake, known as quattro quarti in Italian. This is probably the cake I make more often, especially in its version made with extra virgin olive oil, the most appreciated during our cooking classes, but also the one I rely on when I don’t have a clear idea on what to bake.
The original pound cake contained one pound each of eggs, sugar, flour and butter. Hence its English name, pound cake, and its French or Italian name, quattro quarti, four quarters.
What you need is therefore a scale to weigh the eggs, with their shell. The weight of the eggs will then give you the amount of sugar, flour and butter to use. Listen to the episode to learn how to adjust the four ingredients to make endless variations to the basic recipe.
Discover more on the blog: https://en.julskitchen.com/podcast/episode-41-everything-about-pound-cake
Find me online at www.julskitchen.com or on Instagram https://instagram.com/julskitchen/
Join our Facebook Group Cooking with Juls’ Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/775325049335625/
Podcast realized by https://instagram.com/tommyonweb

EP40 - Get to know us better Jul 12, 2020

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Subscribe to our newsletter, Letters from Tuscany: https://julskitchen.substack.com/
Use this link to get 10% off for 1 year: https://julskitchen.substack.com/podcast10
We reached the 40th episode of our podcast "Cooking with an Italian Accent"! So it's time to celebrate and to recap what we’ve done so far in these 15 months spent together, what you liked the most, why we love this podcast so much and how it perfectly integrates in all that we do. We’ll talk also about who we are, what we like and what is going to happen soon in our lives! Join us for a little celebration!
Read more: https://en.julskitchen.com/podcast/episode-40-get-to-know-us-better

EP39 - Three books about Italian cooking you must have Jun 11, 2020

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Subscribe to our newsletter, Letters from Tuscany: https://julskitchen.substack.com/
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oday we are talking about cookbooks. When I was organizing my cookbooks on the bookshelves, I rediscovered some favourites from the past that needed some more love, and realised there are cookbooks that I barely opened after the initial I-desperately-need-this-book enthusiasm. So, I thought I would share some of my favourite cookbooks here on the podcast, as you might find them interesting, too.
Today we’re talking about cookbooks on Italian cuisine, but do not expect the last cookbooks published by new famous food writers, we’re going back to the past: in this episode, we will talk about Pellegrino Artusi, Ada Boni and Paolo Petroni, with plenty of recipes from the blog to experiment.
The recipes we mentioned in this episode: https://en.julskitchen.com/podcast/episode-39-three-books-about-italian-cooking-you-must-have
Find me online at www.julskitchen.com or on Instagram https://instagram.com/julskitchen/
Join our Facebook Group Cooking with Juls’ Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/775325049335625/
Podcast realized by https://instagram.com/tommyonweb

EP38 - Our virtual Tuscan cooking class May 27, 2020

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Subscribe to our newsletter, Letters from Tuscany: https://julskitchen.substack.com/
Use this link to get 10% off for 1 year: https://julskitchen.substack.com/podcast10
Juls’ Kitchen is a family business. Tommaso and I work together to teach classes, develop recipes for clients, taking photos, producing the podcast, and writing the blog and the newsletter, along with cookbooks and articles. It has its highs and lows, but this is our job, and career. We do not have a backup plan, and, to be honest, after the hard work it took to get where we are, I do not want to change my job, as this is what brings me joy, what I am good at.
That’s why we had to rethink our offer to change it according to the completely new situation. I am sure we will be back teaching classes in our studio in the countryside, meeting people at the local café to begin the market tour, working for clients and brands to create recipes and organizing workshops and gatherings, but for the moment, we had to find a compromise. A compromise which is revealing itself rewarding, fun, and something we will keep for the future in our business plan! This is how our virtual cooking class was born.
In this episode, I’ll tell you more about it, I’ll share some behind the scenes of our tutorials and I’ll share also some projects for the future.
You can join our virtual Tuscan Cooking Class here > https://www.udemy.com/course/tuscan-cooking-class/?couponCode=TUSCANMAY27
Find me online at www.julskitchen.com or on Instagram https://instagram.com/julskitchen/
Join our Facebook Group Cooking with Juls’ Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/775325049335625/
Podcast realized by https://instagram.com/tommyonweb

EP37 - In conversation with: Regula Ysewijn, food writer May 15, 2020

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Subscribe to our newsletter, Letters from Tuscany: https://julskitchen.substack.com/
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This is a special episode with a dear friend, Regula Ysewijn. We met in London in 2011, at the Food Blogger Connect, and since then we’ve become best friends, supporting each other through life and work endeavours.
Today we’re here to celebrate her new cookbook, Oats in the North, Wheat from the South.
This book is Regula’s love letter to British baking, and to Britain, its bakeries and shops, its traditions and ingredients.
We’re talking about what it takes to write a cookbook with a solid food history background, something she is an expert about, but also about how geography and weather influence the baking traditions of a country. We’ll talk extensively about buns, the afternoon tea ritual, oatcakes and griddle cakes, but also a very special wedding cake from Britain.
Learn more about Regula Ysewijn here: http://www.missfoodwise.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missfoodwise/
Order her book here: https://amzn.to/3bupvSJ
Find me online at www.julskitchen.com or on Instagram https://instagram.com/julskitchen/
Join our Facebook Group Cooking with Juls’ Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/775325049335625/
Podcast realized by https://instagram.com/tommyonweb

EP36 - How do you learn to cook? Apr 24, 2020

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Subscribe to our newsletter, Letters from Tuscany: https://julskitchen.substack.com/
Use this link to get 10% off for 1 year: https://julskitchen.substack.com/podcast10
One of the few positive aspects of this eternal lockdown is that I had the chance to learn new recipes and techniques. Usually, I am too busy trying to respect deadlines, juggling cooking classes and assignments, so I just play it safe.
Week after week, I cook those old reliable recipes that are part of my cooking repertoire. Comfort comes from repeating a ritual, a set of flavours.
But where is the excitement of learning a new dish? Of discovering a new technique?
This feeling of excitement and adventure probably is not shared by everyone who is approaching cooking for the first time. If you have to learn to cook as an adult, because your family was not very much into cooking, or because you discovered this curiosity towards food just at a later stage, you might have the same question in mind: and now, how do I learn to cook?
Being also a cooking class teacher, I’m often asked to share my tips on how one learns to cook. And this is the theme of today’s episode, where you will find also some tips from friends who are cooking class instructors and food writers.
Our virtual Tuscan cooking course on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/tuscan-cooking-class/?couponCode=TUSCANMAY27
On the blog:
- Citrus pound cake https://en.julskitchen.com/dessert/cakes-pies/citrus-pound-cake
- Easy tomato sauce https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/pasta-first-course/pasta-with-tomato-sauce
- Spezzatino, beef stew https://en.julskitchen.com/main/meat/florentine-beef-stew
- Peposo, red wine and black pepper beef stew https://en.julskitchen.com/tuscany/black-peppercorn-beef-stew-peposo
- Tuscan ragù https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/pasta-first-course/my-tuscan-ragu
- Carbonara https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/pasta-first-course/artichoke-carbonara
- Focaccia https://en.julskitchen.com/tuscany/tuscan-schiacciata-with-walnuts
Listen also our episode about a Tuscan pantry here: https://en.julskitchen.com/podcast/episode-23-a-tuscan-pantry
Thanks to:
- Enrica Monzani @asmallkitcheningenoa
- Paola Bacchia @italyonmymind
- Domenica Marchetti @domenicacooks
- Judy Witts Francini @divinacucina
Two very useful online tools to convert grams to cups:
- Grams To Cups Conversions: https://www.gourmetsleuth.com/conversions/grams/grams-to-cups-conversions
- Baking conversion tools: https://www.weekendbakery.com/cooking-conversions/
Find me online at www.julskitchen.com or on Instagram https://instagram.com/julskitchen/
Join our Facebook Group Cooking with Juls’ Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/775325049335625/
Podcast realized by https://instagram.com/tommyonweb

EP35 - Cooking during the lockdown Apr 17, 2020

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Subscribe to our newsletter, Letters from Tuscany: https://julskitchen.substack.com/
Use this link to get 10% off for 1 year: https://julskitchen.substack.com/podcast10
I didn’t think my way of cooking would change much during the lockdown. I thought I was already quite organised, with a well-stocked pantry, responsible in using my ingredients and leftovers and creative when it comes to improvising. Yet, in more than a month of lockdown, I noticed some changes that made me reflect on my approach to cooking.
First of all, now I am cooking mainly for the two of us: this is the first time since we’re together, it feels very intimate.
In this episode, we will talk about how I reorganized my pantry and my freezer, about the importance of planning ahead and focusing on what you have, rather than on what you are missing, with recipes along the way.
I’d be curious to know if the lockdown changed your way of cooking and of organizing your pantry, fridge and freezer, which are the recipes you’re making more often and if you’ve learnt something new.
Our virtual Tuscan cooking course on Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/tuscan-cooking-class/?couponCode=TUSCANMAY27
On the blog:
- Semolina gnocchi: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/roman-style-semolina-gnocchi
- Spinach and ricotta pie: https://en.julskitchen.com/vegetarian/torta-pasqualina-my-mums-spinach-and-ricotta-pie
- Spinach and ricotta ravioli: https://en.julskitchen.com/tuscany/spinach-ricotta-tortelli
- Pappa al pomodoro: https://en.julskitchen.com/tuscany/best-pappa-al-pomodoro
- Pasta with tuna sauce: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/pasta-first-course/pasta-with-tuna-sauce
Listen also our episode about a Tuscan pantry here: https://en.julskitchen.com/podcast/episode-23-a-tuscan-pantry
Find me online at www.julskitchen.com or on Instagram https://instagram.com/julskitchen/
Join our Facebook Group Cooking with Juls’ Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/775325049335625/
Podcast realized by https://instagram.com/tommyonweb

EP34 - What is comfort food for you? Apr 03, 2020

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Subscribe to our newsletter, Letters from Tuscany: https://julskitchen.substack.com/
Use this link to get 10% off for 1 year: https://julskitchen.substack.com/podcast10
There are two different aspects of comfort food: on one side, there’s the food that gives you comfort and pleasure when you eat it, like pappa al pomodoro, on the other side, the many foods that give you solace, a respite from the news, from heavy thoughts, from comparison, when you cook them: just think about bread.
In this episode, we will explore different comfort foods, related to childhood memories or to personal achievements, from pappa al pomodoro to chicken meatballs, from rice pudding to risotto.
I think comfort food is also extremely influenced by culture, as often we tend to consider comforting what we know better. That’s why I asked a few friends from all over the world to share with us which is their favourite comfort food. It will be like travelling from country to country, through the best and most comforting foods. Get ready to be hungry.
On the blog:
- Pappa al Pomodoro: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/soup/best-pappa-al-pomodoro
- Chicken meatballs: https://en.julskitchen.com/main/meat/chicken-and-potato-meatballs
- Rice pudding: https://en.julskitchen.com/dessert/rice-pudding-with-roast-quinces
- Risotto: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/rice-cereals/pumpkin-risotto
Thanks to:
- Helen & Billie: https://www.instagram.com/miakouppa/
- Myriam: https://www.instagram.com/the_food_sister/
- Irina: https://www.instagram.com/irina.r.georgescu/
- Asha: https://www.instagram.com/ashafsk/
- Erny: https://www.instagram.com/ernythamrinyoga/
- Jenny: https://www.instagram.com/jlinford/
- Sarka: https://www.instagram.com/sarkababicka/
- Juliana: https://www.instagram.com/julianalopezmay/
- Costanza: https://www.instagram.com/cosnutritionist/

EP33 - What is food for me Feb 24, 2020

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Subscribe to our newsletter, Letters from Tuscany: https://julskitchen.substack.com/
Use this link to get 10% off for 1 year: https://julskitchen.substack.com/podcast10
After 11 years of blogging, a love born by stirring a ciambellone on a kitchen stool with mum, 5 cookbooks, a podcast, countless projects never launched or lost along the way, and numerous dreams kept among the pages of a notebook, I keep asking myself what is food for me.
I haven’t grown tired of writing recipes. For a while, I wondered if it was enough, if I wasn’t dumbing down a topic bigger than me. Then I realised that food is enough for itself and, at the same time, it crosses borders.
Food has been an instrument of personal growth and self-affirmation, a lens through which I could discover the external world and explore my inner universe, sometimes all the more complex and multifaceted.
Food is tradition: I better understood who I am through traditional recipes, those from Tuscany and those from Basilicata, where the southern branch of my family is from.
Food is discovery. The work of food is a craftsman’s job, in which you progress with small steps, with perseverance, with a clear attention to beauty and detail. Craft is humble, more tangible than art, but it retains a human warmth, dedication and commitment.
What is food for you? Does it have a special meaning, or a value? Or is it more related to planning, or enjoying? Is it a way to release your stress, or to affirm yourself? Or both, as in my case?
On the blog:
- Ciambellone: https://en.julskitchen.com/dessert/cakes-pies/a-tuscan-bundt-cake
- Crostata: https://en.julskitchen.com/dessert/cakes-pies/whole-wheat-crostata-with-lemon-marmalade
- Pappa al pomodoro: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/soup/best-pappa-al-pomodoro
- Grandma’s lasagne: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/fresh-pasta/grandmas-lasagne
- Meatball pasta bake: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/pasta-first-course/meatball-pasta-bake
- Calzoncelli: https://en.julskitchen.com/dessert/cookies/calzoncelli-chocolate-almond-christmas-cookies
Find me online at www.julskitchen.com or on Instagram https://instagram.com/julskitchen/
Join our Facebook Group Cooking with Juls’ Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/775325049335625/
Podcast realized by https://instagram.com/tommyonweb

EP32 - Chestnuts and chestnut flour in Tuscan cuisine Feb 01, 2020

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Subscribe to our newsletter, Letters from Tuscany: https://julskitchen.substack.com/
Use this link to get 10% off for 1 year: https://julskitchen.substack.com/podcast10
Today buying good quality chestnut flour can be difficult, and it is certainly more expensive than it used to be. A good local organic stone ground wheat flour costs about 2€ a kilo. If you want to buy an organic, stone ground chestnut flour made with local chestnuts, that flour can cost from 10€ up to 15€ a kilo! It used to be the flour of poor people, of those who could not afford, or get hold of, wheat flour, and now it is considered a delicacy, as it is a gluten free flour, very nutrituous, rich in fibers, minerals and vitamins.
Yet, chestnut flour is one of the most fundamental ingredients of the cucina povera, the peasant cooking, of the Tuscan mountains, from Garfagnana and Lunigiana, through the Appennino Pitoiese, down to Mugello and Mount Amiata, basically the whole mountain right side of Tuscany, from north to south.
In today’s episode, we will explore the local traditions and recipes related to chestnuts and chestnuts flour, from bread to pasta, to castagnaccio and necci.
Discover more stories and recipes in my latest cookbook "From the Market of Tuscany": https://en.julskitchen.com/cookbooks
On the blog:
- Castagnaccio: https://en.julskitchen.com/dessert/castagnaccio-chestnut-cake
- Necci: https://en.julskitchen.com/dessert/necci-tuscan-chestnut-pancakes
- Pecorino and chestnut risotto: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/rice-cereals/pecorino-and-chestnut-risotto
- Potato, porcini and chestnut soup: https://en.julskitchen.com/first-course/soup/potato-porcini-and-chestnut-soup
Find me online at www.julskitchen.com or on Instagram https://instagram.com/julskitchen/
Join our Facebook Group Cooking with Juls’ Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/775325049335625/
Podcast realized by https://instagram.com/tommyonweb

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