Next... possibly joint first, lovely, fresh, delicious, squeky fresh vegetables. WOW! Look at the colour of the chillies, the garlic and the bietole (Swiss chard, or leaf beet, which is fantastic cooked with pasta and topped with a simple, but gorgeous sauce made with garlic, olive oil and plum tomatoes and plenty of freshly grated pecorino cheese.) My idea of Heaven and look, the colours of the Italian flag! (RESTIAMO UNITI!)


I was brought up by a mostly vegetarian mother who would feed us nothing but the freshest vegetables and fish. I still remember how excited I was when she returned from  her shopping expeditions! Out of her bags would materialize the freshest, shiniest vegetables and fruit (we had seasons then, and I'm not ancient! And everything was and still is, in my part of Italy, organic and local.) You would never believe how much time I spend in supermarkets and greengrocers just looking at vegetables and thinking of ways of using them in my Mediterranean cooking!