Oliver Haenlein

News, Stories, Features

9 of the Very Best Cookbooks on Italian Cuisine

In no particular order, here are nine of our favourite books written on Italian gastronomy. These works have been vital to our learnings here at Cook Eat Discover! Dear old friends, always sitting nearby, ready to inspire and inform. We hope that if they aren't already on your

Recipes

Recipe: The Stuff of Dreams! Stuffed Squid in Tomato Sauce

This is a great dinner party dish. It hits the Venn diagram sweet spot between something impressive that none of your friends can make, and something surprisingly undemanding in terms of time and skill. A tasty stuffing goes inside the cavity of the squid’s body, which is then simmered

Recipes

Recipe: 'White' Sausage Ragu, and How Well Do Food Cultures Travel the World?

It’s surely a wonderful thing that we can order whatever food we want wherever we end up in the world.I’ve enjoyed sushi in Rome, ordered takeaway Thai food in Switzerland, and gone for a curry in Krakow!  We obviously do have to be aware, however, that what

Recipes

Recipe: Chocolate Salame, and How Sweets Carry Love and Memory

What’s that one sweet treat that really reminds you of childhood?  Perhaps it was something your mother or grandmother would prepare for you; an apple crumble with custard or a buttery tray of shortbread still warm from the oven. Just the smell of it now gives you a wave

News, Stories, Features

An August Adventure in Perfect Puglia

A Hot Roman Pitstop I turn a corner to my right and hug the pavement, joining a main road completely devoid of shade. The sun hits me like the right fist of a heavyweight boxer. The wall of the block of apartments to my right reverberates with heat. I glance

News, Stories, Features

Real Eats in London - 5 Hidden Gems for those Tired of the Capital's Overhyped Food Scene

The last few decades have been a rollercoaster of innovation and hype for the food scene in London. It's been exciting at times, but this winter we decided to go back to something more honest and authentic. Moving to London in the noughties was pretty exhilarating for a

News, Stories, Features

Surviving the ‘Hungry Gap’: Winter Veg Recipe Ideas for the UK Food Shortage

Remember how hard it was to find flour during COVID? Well now it's tomatoes we're searching for! Peppers, cucumbers and salads are all also currently in short supply in the UK. This seems mainly due to unseasonably cold weather in countries that usually supply these shores

Recipes

Recipe: Pumpkin and Guanciale Sauce For Pasta.

This sauce exemplifies the beautiful combo of pork and pumpkin, and is one of our favourite things to make at this time of year. It will go well with most pasta shapes and is also incredibly simple, with just four main ingredients! Is there a better time of year for

Recipes

Recipe: Zucchini Risotto with Crispy Prosciutto and Stracciatella

This risotto has been a real CED favourite in 2022! Zucchini have been abundant in our garden recently, and their fresh and sweet flavour creates a beautiful risotto. We like to keep the main ingredients in a risotto fairly simple. In this instance, we focus on zucchini, which we want

Recipes

Video Recipe: Garlic, Chilli and Olive Oil Spaghetti, and a Child's Italian Inspiration!

This is the ultimate speedy supper, and one of the reasons I fell in love with the food of Italy as a child. Good cooking doesn’t necessarily take ages, you can make this dish in 15 mins max. You’re also likely to have everything you need for this

Recipes

Video Recipe: Pasta e Ceci - Pasta, Chickpea and Rosemary Soup

This soup is a real family favourite - a much loved bowl of comfort that’s popular throughout Italy for a good reason. It’s something we at CED make most weeks at home in the winter months. We’d love you to give it a go and want to

Recipes

AUGUST Eat The Seasons: Peppers. Recipe: Lemon Sole with Nonna's Roasted Peppers

Sweet bell peppers, yellow, red or green, are one of summer's greatest vegetables. Let's celebrate one of the capsicum family's superstars, wonderful in so many dishes and at their best in the hottest part of the year. We've got a little food

News, Stories, Features

Recipe: Pici all'aglione, and a Closer Look at a Tuscan Classic

What are Pici? A long hand-rolled pasta that are a little like really thick spaghetti. It doesn't sound very appetising but when I explain what pici are to our guests, an easy description is 'worm-like'! They are typically an eggless pasta, made purely of flour, water

News, Stories, Features

MARCH Eat the Seasons: Wild Garlic. Recipe: Wild Garlic Soup with Parmesan Crisps

Wonderful wild garlic was the subject of March's seasonal celebration; make sure you check out our video recipe at the bottom of the piece! Glossy green carpets of wild garlic can be found all around the UK (and Europe) at this time of year. You’ll smell it

Interviews

CED meets: Chef Francesco Mazzei. Q&A and a Special Recipe from an Italian Legend

Cook Eat Discover was thrilled to speak to Francesco Mazzei, who has become a staple not just of the high-end UK restaurant scene, but on our TV screens too. He told us about his childhood, inspirations, current projects, death-row meal, and even provided us with a special recipe for the

News, Stories, Features

FEBRUARY Eat The Seasons: Rhubarb. Recipe: Rhubarb and Custard Tart

This February we celebrated Rhubarb - and we've collaborated with chef and friend of CED Fabrizio Ricotta who's written a recipe for a beautiful rhubarb and custard tart for us. Here at Cook Eat Discover we have one foot in the UK and one in Italy.

News, Stories, Features

Supermarket Wine of the Week: Lidl Barolo 2016, £11.99

Buying a nice bottle of Barolo can break the bank, but we think we've found a delicious wine at an absolute snip - just a little over a tenner at Lidl! The King of Wines First off, let's talk Barolo basics. Sometimes nicknamed 'the King

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JANUARY Eat the Seasons: Leeks. Recipe: Leek, Sausage and Saffron Risotto

Mid winter can be a bit of a lean period for seasonal veg, but the noble leek is harvested throughout the colder months, and you can make all sorts of delicious things with it. All hail the leek! Check out our video recipe at the bottom of the page for

Recipes

Video Recipe: Tagliata di Manzo - Sliced Steak with Parmesan, Rocket and Balsamic Vinegar

A light yet absolutely delicious way to enjoy steak! I'm writing this in January, when many people are trying to abstain from something or focus on their health (after eating their own body weight in cheese and chocolate over the holidays!) However stay with me, this isn'

Recipes

DECEMBER Eat the Seasons: Brussels Sprouts. Recipe: Brussels Tart with Leeks, Speck and Gruyere

I feel like sprouts are going through a bit of a renaissance. Nowadays, everyone wants a piece of them! When I was a kid, saying you liked Brussels Sprouts would make you as unpopular as saying you didn’t like football. They were infamous. I’m sure this had something

News, Stories, Features

Let’s talk about Gelato!

What is it, how’s it different from ice cream, and why is it so damn delicious?! It’s 30-something sweltering in a crowded piazza on your summer Italian holiday and you’ve got a gelato in your hand. It’s so so smooth, so refreshing and the flavour is

Interviews

CED meets: Italy's young prodigy, Michelin-starred chef Paolo Griffa

One of Italy’s most exciting young chefs, Paolo tells us his story: What inspires him, what makes Italian food culture so special, and why he’s been delivering cakes to some of the most vulnerable people in his community over lockdown. Paolo, born in 1991, is the head chef

Recipes

NOVEMBER Eat the Seasons: Cauliflower. Recipe: Cauliflower Soup with Crispy Pancetta and Hazelnuts

We're delighted to bring you the first of a new monthly feature: Eat the Seasons! Seasonality of ingredients is super important to us, and we are therefore championing a different fruit or vegetable each month while it's at its best. That means all sorts of chat

Recipes

Video Recipe: Heavenly Ragu - The Ultimate Meat Sauce for Pasta!

As is the case with many great Italian dishes, this is not a complicated thing to make, but it does need plenty of time to cook so that it can develop its full flavour. Ideally 4 hours minimum! For this recipe we have a video guide you can watch that

Recipes

Video Recipe: Butterly Lovely! Simple Sauces for Stuffed Pasta Shapes

The more complex the pasta….the simpler the sauce! So let's talk about ravioli, tortelli, agnolotti, cappelletti and all of their wonderful brothers, sisters and cousins! Most stuffed pasta shapes have bags of flavour in their fillings. Think about the fillings you’re likely to find - things