Sun-kissed sweetness
A steaming bowl of pasta is a very fine thing, but it’s the gelato eaten in the dappled sunshine a few hours later that really delights, and in a different way too, because it is a treat. The knowledge that it is something special, a little luxury, an indulgence, not just sustenance, makes the pleasure even more poignant. This is because, unlike the majority of savoury Italian dishes, the focus is not on harking back to times of poverty and ‘la cucina povera’, but instead a celebration of the arrival of sugar in Italy, introduced by the Arabs.
Italians have a sweet tooth to rival my own, and while Italian sweets are sometimes internationally overlooked, there are enough cakes, biscuits and pastries to keep even the sweetest tooth content. The variety is extraordinary, and of course, as with all Italian food, each region has its own specialty.
Whether made at home, bought in
