GROWING UP, ITALY was one of my favourite places to visit. It was friendly and affordable; you could establish instant rapport by discussing football or motor racing; and something else delicious to eat revealed itself on every visit.
There are few cuisines that we can rhapsodise about more than Italian. Almost everyone can name a handful of Italian dishes, even just the ‘p’ ones: pizza, polenta, pasta, pesto … The geographical, historical and political isolation of the cities and regions that make up this culinary powerhouse, however, means there
