A Literary Culinary Journal
by Simón de Swaan
In my experience, clever food is not appreciated at Christmas. It makes the little ones cry and the old ones nervous.–Jane Grigson
Jane Grigson was a notable English cookery writer who wrote over 20 cookbooks and whose growing interest in food and cooking led to the writing of her first book, Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery (1967), which was accorded the unusual honour for an English food writer of being translated into French.
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by Simón de Swaan
Little Tommy Tucker
Sings for his supper;
What shall we give him?
White bread and butter.
Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book, c 1744
Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book is the earliest extant printed collection of English language nursery rhymes, published in London in 1744. It was a sequel to the lost Tommy Thumb’s Song Book and contains the oldest version of many well-known and popular rhymes, as well as several that have been largely forgotten.
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by Simón de Swaan
The proof of the pudding is in the eating.–Miguel de Cervantes, 1615
Don Quixote was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, here, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written.
Click to read more about him.
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by David Downie
North of Genoa’s historic harbor — the celebrated Porto Antico — spreads the recently pedestrianized Piazza Caricamento. It’s most imposing and significant building is 
, for centuries the HQ of the Banco di San Giorgio — the bank that gave “banking” its name, and helped make Genoa one of the world’s richest cities. The frescoed palace — part medieval fortress, part baroque mansion — now houses Genoa’s port authority. Few visitors think to visit the interior, which is open to the public and worth a peak. Frescoes, high ceilings, antique furniture and plenty of salty atmosphere are to be found.
The square is backed by Sottoripa and Via Turati, two shopping arcades lined by mom-and-pop stores of all kinds: fry shops, cafes and bars.
One of my favorite shops along Sottoripa is Armanino, a specialty foods boutique founded in 1905. The Armanino family still runs this narrow, deep cavern. Celebrated for its wide variety of candied fruit, handmade by a candy-maker in Savona, Armanino also offers scores of highest-quality Ligurian specialty foods. You’ll find Santa Rita brand dry pasta, unfiltered extra virgin olive oil from the Frantoio di Borgomaro and many other small producers, Savona anchovies bottled in olive oil, authentic artisan-made bottled pesto and flours derived from chickpeas or chestnuts, perfect for traditional Ligurian recipes (and naturally gluten-free to boot).
Even older than Armanino (though a relative newcomer to the city’s medieval neighborhood) is nearby Klainguti, one of my favorite cafés in Genoa. Klainguti opened for business in 1826, the brainchild of a pair of Swiss brothers — which explains the utterly un-Genoese name. The Klainguti brothers were pastry makers. They had planned to sail to America from Genoa to make their fortune. But they literally missed their boat, opened a shop here instead, and the rest is history.
Klainguti’s is a tale of sweet success, from the archetypal Swiss butter cookies and rich cakes (including the caloric but irresistible “torta Zena” made with rum-flavored zabaglione cream, sponge cake and almond paste) on up. Another centuries’ old classic is the “torta Engadina” (a variety of German dark chocolate cake, filled with heavy cream and assembled from layers of light sponge cake made from almond flour).
Just over a decade ago two new, affable owners—also brothers—named Sauro and Fabrizio Ubaldi, plus Fabrizio’s son Luca, took over Klainguti. They trimmed the proverbial sails of this flagship café and got it flying along the Mediterranean circuit again after decades of doldrums.
Everything at Klainguti is made in house. The gobeletti are goblet-shaped apricot-jam cookies and they are very good. But there are also chocolate-dusted meringues made to look like miniature porcini mushrooms. The Falstaff is a croissant stuffed with hazelnut paste. Local legends claim it was one of composer Giuseppe Verdi’s favorites. Verdi was a regular at Klainguti whenever he was in Genoa, which was often.
The larger-than-life Verdi was a jumbo-sized individual and reportedly had no trouble dispatching giant portions of whatever he ordered. Those who can’t even imagine gobbling an entire torta Zena can get a fair idea of its excellent flavor by ordering a patatina rosa instead. These pink, baby potato-shaped confections explode with rummy zabaglione.
Klainguti’s outdoor tables are set up in the pocket-sized Piazza di Soziglia, a charming spot in the bull’s eye of the center of Genoa’s medieval alleyways. This is the perfect place from which to watch the multi-cultural, multi-racial Mediterranean world walk by. In case you’re hungry for the savory side before hitting the desserts, Klainguti also serves light lunches and many snacks. Don’t miss the cozy, handsome little backroom decorated with antique crystal chandeliers and colorful stone floors. It’s a good place to get out of the weather, whether hot or cold.
For addresses and opening hours, and much more on Genoa, its history, culture, food, wine, hiking trails, treks, guided tours, restaurants, food shops, best coffee, best focaccia and more, keep reading WanderingLiguria and pick up our books, Food Wine Italian Riviera & Genoa and Enchanted Liguria: A Celebration of the Culture, Lifestyle and Food of the Italian Riviera.
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by Simón de Swaan
A warmed-up dinner was never worth anything.–Nicolas Boileau, 1667
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux was a French poet and critic. He was born in the rue de Jérusalem, in Paris, France. He was brought up in the law, but devoted to letters, associating himself with La Fontaine, Racine, and Molière. He is the author of Satires and Epistles, L’Art poétique and Le Lutrin, in which he attacked and employed his wit against what he perceived to be the bad taste of his time.
Boileau did much to reform the prevailing form of French poetry, as Blaise Pascal did to reform the prose, and was for a long time the law-giver of Parnassus. He was greatly influenced by Horace.
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Do I dare to eat a peach?–T.S. Elliot, 1917
Thomas Stearns “T. S.” Eliot OM as a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 (at age 25) and was naturalized as a British subject in 1927 at age 39. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
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by Simon de Swaan
At meat cleanse not thy teeth nor pick
With knife or straw or wand or stick.
The Book of Courtesy, c 1450
Published in 1868 under the title The Babee’s Book along with the second volume Queen Elizabeth’s Academy, published a year later, give the best example of medieval life and manners in England.
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by 
Gastronome that he was, I thought it only appropriate to share David Downie’s commemoration to Oscar Wilde.
The only thing Oscar Wilde devotees cannot resist is temptation — the temptation to kiss, embrace, draw upon, carve and otherwise show their delectably destructive love for the great, tormented genius who wrote, among many other things, The Importance of Being Earnest.
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There are people who eat the earth and eat all the people on it like in the Bible with the locusts. And other people who stand around and watch them eat it.–Lillian Hellman, 1939
Lillian Florence “Lily” Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, linked throughout her life with many left-wing causes. She was romantically involved for 30 years with mystery and crime writer Dashiell Hammett (and was the inspiration for his character Nora Charles), and was also a long-time friend and literary executor of author Dorothy Parker.
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Meet Jonell Galloway, a freelance writer and editor specialized in French cuisine. 
