Hello, I'm an Italian person.

If one day someone would have told me I could write about Italian cuisine, I should be astonished.

Well, now it happens. I'm not Artusi or Carnacina, my knowledge about food comes from my daily experience. Being Italian doesn't mean I am entitled to criticise any other culture, but I have been annoyed by all those people who give advice about foreigner cuisine selling it as "lifestyle". The food it's one way for understanding how the people live, as Italian I have my way.

Living in England I have found a lot of people interested in Italian way of life, how I'm interested in the English way. I don't want "to sell" anything to anyone, I would like only to share with other people my " being Italian in England".

In this column I will be writing easy, quick recipes, using what you can find in every supermarket. I won't bother you with strange and "exotic" food like "mortadella", "zucchini's flowers" or "soppressata". I'll leave to talk about them to all those people who want to sell you a "lifestyle"!

And by the way, I apologise for my "chewed English"!

Antonella Caputo



God Save The Tea

I don't know if you have ever notice the "smell" of each country.

I am not a great traveller, but every time I landed in an airport my nose has been titillated by the smell of the country in which I was. In Tunisia my nose was tickled by spices aroma, in Germany by aseptic floor cleaner soap, in United Kingdom by vinager and tomato ketchup. I cannot talk about Italian airport, I couldn't be impartial, but being honest, I have being always wrapped by the smell of pollution.

Beside the smell, the taste is another characteristic of every country. You can like or dislike, but it's incontrovertible. When someone has to describe Italian food, he will use always the words: pizza and pasta, for the French cuisine will be used words like wine and onion, for the English one...well as Italian I can immediately answer to you: fish and chips and tea.

I apologise I never ate fish and chips, not because I refuse eating English food, but only because I cannot eat them because food intolerance. But I have to admit I am a fan of English tea. I drink a lot of cups of tea. It's impossible to resist at the polite, gentle request "would you like a cup of tea?" I have been immediately charmed by the politeness of the inquiry, I became an addicted tea drinker. The cup of tea gives you the time of thinking, relaxing, you cannot drink tea standing up, you must sit. Tea it's not a drink, but a style of life. It's the "panacea" for every problem: headache, sadness, tiredness, stomachache, heartburn, and more. Bless it!

After I have been reading on an Italian magazine an article about the properties of the tea and above all why the English women have so bright, and wrinkle-less faces, thanks to the tea, well, I became fond of it.

I come from a country where the women as soon as they start to have white hair, they start to dye it "blonde": ginger blonde, honey blonde, ash blonde, strawberry blonde, pretended to hid their own natural colour. The dream of the most Italian women is to be blonde and pale skin. I cannot hide my colours, but I can dream to have an English wrinkle-less face, so carry on cup of tea.

For all those English women who dream of a tan I can suggest them two recipes. I don't say that these recipes will turn them into a "Mediterranean skinned" but can be useful to stand the sun's rays, specially when they will go into a sunny country.

CARROTS IN LEMON JUICE
This is a fresh, easy, quick salad. The beta-carotene contained in the carrots will help the skin to stand the sun. But remember always to cream your skin, especially if you are pale

To serve 1

2 fresh medium carrots
the juice of half lemon
salt
olive oil
pepper
parsley

Peel the carrots, cut them in thin slices or grate them. Add the juice of the lemon, seasoning and add the parsley.

CARROTS IN CASSEROLE

To serve 1

2 fresh medium carrots
salt
pepper
coooking oil

Peel off the carrots. Cut them in slice not too thick. In a small casserole put the oil. Add the carrots, seasoning. Leave them to cook gentle until they become tender.

You can use this recipe as appetiser or a side dish with meat.