Letter from a family who's come down with a flu
Letter from a family who's come down with a flu
A Tuscan landscape, seasonal flu, and your favourite dish from the holidays
In Italy, almost one million people caught a seasonal flu in December. Not to be outdone, our family decided to follow the trend.
Even though this was not the plan, we’re spending these quiet days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve stuck at home with the nasty flu that got almost all of my family. Taking care of a sick child while you are sick too is not what I had planned. Nevertheless, my wish to slow down has been granted.
We just had time to have a walk in Siena on a cold winter morning and have a slice of artisanal panettone made by our friends at Forno Pellegrino in Colle Val d’Elsa before retreating home.
Letters from Tuscany was born on the 1st of January 2021, so we had in mind a sparkling letter to introduce you to the 2024 news: new Monthly Cook Alongs on Zoom, cookbooks, recipes, interviews… life got in the way, so you’ll have to wait a little longer to fall in love with everything we have in store for you for the new year.
This brings me to today’s letter and question. It’s time for you to speak. What was your favourite dish you had during the holidays? Either something you cooked or others cooked for you.
Mine had to be the boiled chicken with potatoes and carrots and the chicken stock I made for us to find solace in the kitchen.
A kitchen staple, good homemade chicken stock is a cure-all elixir. In the past, in the countryside, when meat consumption was minimal, a chicken would be boiled to make a fortifying stock for two reasons: either the chicken was dying, or there was a severely ill person in the house. It worked its magic yet another time.
If you have Cucina Povera—and thank you to all of you who purchased or gifted Cucina Povera for Christmas!—you can find my reliable recipe to make Chicken Stock at page 306, plus a whole chapter on poultry and eggs.
SPOILER. Among the 2024 news, there’s also an index you can refer to to search for a recipe you want to cook. It’s being updated at the moment. You can find it here.
Thank you for being part of Letter from Tuscany in 2023, we recently surpassed 10K subscribers! Thank you for subscribing to support our project, for joining our monthly cook-alongs, cooking our recipes, reading our stories, commenting, sharing your experiences, and becoming an awesome community. Thanks also to all of you who gifted Letters from Tuscany to their family and friends this Christmas, it means so much!
So, my friends, Happy New Year from the three of us!
Giulia, Tommaso, and Livia
Every Christmas Eve we make Sardinian Clam Sauce from a 1990s cookbook called Cucina Rustica by Viana Place.
Good health in the New Year!