Fanny Italia #5 - Prego!

Well, Fanny Cradock did her very best to put me off going to Italy for the very first time. Fanny warned me that I simply did not have the expertise or time to plan for my trip. She cautioned me that all my belongings would be stolen and I would be forced to eat an array of feathered friends while I was there, despite the food running the gamut of A to B. And if I thought that I could console myself with local wines and Vermouths, Fanny set my expectations to 'low' to avoid disappointment. So as I trundled my case to the airport last week, I really didn't know what would greet me as I landed in Turin.

I immediately felt 'at home' in Turin, and never felt cautious of anyone, or wary of people trying to steal my belongings. Sure, there were fairly persistent people begging, trying to sell me roses, and convincing me that if I didn't give them some money from my pocket their family would be ruined, as well as mine. Isn't that the same in any city though? I tried not to let it distract me from the beautiful buildings, stunning scenery and perfect panoramas at every turn. Perhaps Fanny wandered round with her eyebrows firmly high and her eyes firmly closed?

Admittedly I was in town for Terra Madre and the worlds largest food festival, Salone Del Gusto, so maybe the food ran artificially from A right through to Z and back again during my stay. Everywhere I looked, on every street corner, down every promenade, and up every cobbled street, were passionate people with presidia products full of colour and flavour. I've never seen anything quite like it. I'm sure Fanny would've loved the colours of nothing else, but my stomach, as well as my eyes, was treated like royalty.

I did my best to conceal the disappointment that Fanny fostered that perhaps the wine I was due to sample in Turin and Alba wouldn't be to a standard I was accustomed to. During my trip, I was fortunate enough to attend a Barbaresco tasting, where I sampled six superb wines from the same biodynamic vineyard ranging in vintage from 1984 to 2008. I've become a total Vermouth fanatic following an expertly tutored session, and many Aperitivo practice runs. I visited a couple of amazing wineries to sample Barolo in it's home, and won't look back. I had the tough task of sampling around 30 or so Barolo's over the few days I was there, just to be sure.

Italy welcomed me with open arms, despite my hesitations based solely on Fanny's experiences. I hunted for truffles in La Morra, ate grapes from the vines in Alba, danced in the squares of Turin, drank raw milk from machines in Cherasco, sat in amazement as 500 locals tucked into seven courses of snails at a festival, ate hazelnuts as they were meant to be enjoyed freshly harvested and roasted and generally drank too much espresso. Often with an added Grappa for that all important Italian authenticity. We all need a little Caffè Corretto in our lives I reckon. Perhaps if Johnnie had slipped a liquor or two in Fanny's coffee her experience would've been quite different. I loved Italy, and can't wait to return. Perhaps Fanny secretly did too, but tried her very best to keep it her little private hideaway.

Fanny Italia #2 - Do Italians Do It Better?

In 1964 Fanny and Johnnie published a volume which would safely guide readers all over Europe, but safely outside the Iron Curtain. Their aim was to be extensive but not comprehensive. How could they be after all? All they could do was to impart their considerable knowledge and hope that their readers, who were sending in around ten thousand fan letters a week, would be inspired to try somewhere new. Fanny clearly asks 'Why always go to the Algarve?' as her starting point. I wonder how many of those tens of thousands of 1960s readers were even venturing abroad? How many used the guide to explore beyond the Algarve, perhaps, like myself, into Italy?

Fanny's previous writing almost put me off my upcoming trip to Italy altogether. This book lets me plan my own route, and thankfully that includes flying. Fanny still has words of warning however, for the wary tourist. She claims that 'souvenir hunting' from tourists seems to be a national sport, so it is unwise to leave any items unguarded. And if the Italians aren't stealing all that you own, they are apparently trying to steal your hard earned money. According to Fanny, the tourist is regarded as 'fair game' so it is wise to determine the price of anything you plan to buy, hire or enjoy. Another thing to worry about. Or perhaps not, as Fanny notes it is entirely different in the North, where I will be spending my time. Apparently there is a 'gay friendliness' there which means locals have a tremendous interest in the well-being of tourists, in direct contrast to the 'tourist-piracy' which persists in the 'deep south'. Well, thank goodness for that. Things are looking up.

And then Fanny gets to the food. I've never been to Italy, and am looking forward to tasting all that the nation has to offer, but Fanny has a warning for me. It's limited. Far more limited than the cuisine of her beloved France. She says its 'runs the whole gamut from A to B.' Despite the limitations, there is at least variety, but mostly the food revolves around oil and pasta. Seemingly the Italians also add goat and all manner of feathered objects, all lumped together under the name uccelletti. In my pursuit to avoid thrush, lark, blackbird, bullfinch, quail, woodcock, turtle-dove and the strangely named figpecker (although I like the sound of that one), I shall scour every menu making sure uccelletti and their numerous feathery frames do not feature.

I'm heading to Piedmont, where Fanny says I can look forward to good grazing, flourishing orchards, vineyards and rice fields. So, rather more than the limitations of A to B? Although she points out that dishes will be highly seasoned, I can expect a high incidence of garlic, cream, cream cheese and butter. Doesn't sound too bad, does it? With White Truffles on risottos, polenta, agnelotti, gnocchi, beans, golden peaches, cheese and chestnuts surely I will eat well? I'll skip the wild boar and partridge. Oh and the frogs. But otherwise all sounding good. There is even mention of cakes and chocolate.

You'd imagine that Fanny might be a fan of Italian wine at least? She does concede that they can be very interesting and pleasant, but sadly there will be no 'great ones' for me to sample. The Italians do not lavish the same care and attention on their production as the French you see. The best I will find is Vermouth in Turin, which is perfect for me, and exactly where I will be. Elsewhere in Piedmont, the best I will find is Barolo, or it's less potent and fresher cousin Barbaresco. Perfect. I'm not sure what Fanny is complaining about to be honest. She tells me I can expect to find Asti Spumante, which bears no relation to Champagne. It seems that there is simply nothing which Italy can offer which would make Fanny sparkle. Will I discover something to pop my cork? Will the Italians do it better than Fanny describes? Should I have planned a holiday in the Algarve instead? Let's see...

Fanny Italia #1 - Bon Voyage!

I'm heading away for a few days next week to a place I've never, ever been before. Italy. There is no real reason why I've never been, I just haven't. People are always telling me that I would love it, it's all about food and wine after all. Even Fanny raves on about it all the time, but it still doesn't change anything. I've never been. Like most of us I am sure, the list of places I want to explore is ever expanding, and Italy just hasn't risen to the top of that list. Until now. It's all come around more quickly than expected. Am I prepared though?

So prolific was Fanny's writing that she has the perfect guide for any question that I may ponder in life. In 1950, she wrote a charming book called 'Bon Voyage' under the name Frances Dale, telling us, erm, I mean guiding us, how to enjoy our holidays in Europe by car. Surely this will be the only guide I need to get me ready. Fanny has a warning though. "A good deal of careful planning and a good deal of experience are required if the intended holiday-maker is to have both fun and freedom from worry." I wasn't especially before, but I am worried now.

I'm really not sure that I have enough time to absorb all the information that Fanny says I will require for my first trip. Fanny says I should have started to prepare for this trip as I travelled home from last years one. How will I ever catch up? I supposedly should have been ordering various maps throughout the year, and at various times laid them out on the drawing-room carpet floor, for my family to crawl over while I take after dinner coffee on my stomach. I'm only at the very beginning and already I haven't got the foggiest what Fanny is talking about. Besides, I don't have a drawing-room, or a carpet for that matter. Am I doomed?

I must make sure my car is in tip-top shape, because as Fanny reminds me, we 'as an island race' are not generally fluent on other languages. Fanny points out the obvious. "This disadvantage handicaps us from the start." She is right though, I realise, I can not speak a word of Italian. Nothing. I only have a few days to learn Italian. And car mechanics. Oh, and map reading too. It's overwhelming. Not to mention what I need to pack and how much money I need to take, all of which have chapters devoted to explaining Fanny's way. I've never felt so stressed out about a trip before in my life.

Reading through Fanny's guide, however, I soon realise with some relief that she has taken all the worry out of the trip for me, and has thought of everything. Even when it comes to which underwear I should pack, which is down to my own personal choice, if you are wondering. She's planned what I will do, where I will go, what I should eat, what not to drink, where to shop and what I should say to practically anyone I should meet. With all this worrying I have only just realised that I am flying, not driving. I can't even drive. So all I need to do is relax and enjoy my first experience of Italy, right? Well according to Fanny I should already of course be planning where to go next. Let's just see how I get on with this trip first - will you join me on a series of special blogs as I explore Italy with, and without, Fanny's guidance? Do you have any words of wisdom for me, to add to Fanny's expertise?

Fannys Firenze Frenzy

Fanny was a very well respected (at least that's what she said) travel correspondent before she transformed herself into a cookery writer and TV Chef. She'd scribble about anything if she got paid in reality, but she loved gadding about, dashing off columns and banging out books mainly about aspirational but perhaps achievable European travel from 1950's onwards. With Johnnie by her side, she selfishly packed up her trunk and toured round for the Bon Viveur Guide to Holidays in Europe. It was the TripAdvisor of its time. She invented it - they were the original Judith Chalmers and Michael Palin. Fanny just loved to get away, especially to Italy and in particular to Florence.

Notwithstanding, Fanny warned that Florence, despite it's 'gay friendliness', explosion of floral displays and people who were 'incredibly interested in your well-being' (did she mean overly nosey?), had 'climatic conditions' which produced heat that even the Romans considered intense. Well-to-do Italians flocked there for the winter. The travel guide, like many today, gives average temperatures year round, but Fanny introduces a new comparison to give her untravelled readers an idea of what these temperatures would be like. She compares and contrasts the average temperature in Eastbourne. So in July while it would be an imaginable 60F on Englands' coastline, in Florence it would be tropical at 81F. Strange how the Eastbourne Scale didn't catch on...

If you can bear the heat, Fanny recommends lots to do while in Florence. The most important of which is to shop for straw goods in the aptly named Straw Market. She couldn't get enough straw. In addition to shopping Fanny recounts the delights of the Firenze Golf Club, the Winter Opera Season (December and January), a wealth of Art and Architecture and in summertime you can watch the locals play football in funny costumes. What more could you want from a forgiven jaunt? It all sounds so perfectly civilised.

Except the food, which Fanny describes as 'running the gamut from A to B' using the adjective 'limited' as a harsh warning. She then, of course, goes on to list a huge variety of food that you can get, and better still that you should bring home with you. Exotic items like Aubergines and her beloved Pimentos. She lets readers and possible travellers know to expect an excessive use of cheese, far too much frying, out of proportion tomato sauces, inordinate amounts of pastas and for everything to be served with an abundance of oil, which Fanny notes is disastrous for the 'untrained stomachs.' Don't ask how she knows, but Johnnie looks sheepish.

Fanny does recommend Florence for sweet little biscuits however, and recreates her version of a Florentine in the partwork. She melts butter with sugar, adding in chopped almonds, flaked almonds, chopped glacé cherries (Il Tricolore if you please) and a little cream. Fanny leaves this mixture to cool before blobbing teaspoons-full onto trays and baking them for 12 minutes. They spread a lot (did she miss out the flour?), and emerge like super thin shards of brown glass, ready for their characteristic chocolate bases, swirled with forks into wavy patterns. They sum up Fannys review of Florence - gay and colourful, baked in heat unknown in Eastbourne, cultured and exotic, crisp and sweet, although a little greasy with copious amounts of butter. Presumably by the time you return from Florence your stomach has been trained to cope.