Ibiza and Italy culinary tour

We recently travelled to Ibiza in Spain, the famous “white Isle”, for 12 days of partying combined with a friend’s stunning rural farmhouse wedding, followed by a week in Italy to visit beautiful Florence and Umbria for my brother-in-laws wedding in the ancient Montone village. Two weddings, two countries and seven pounds heavier and we are home, filled with inspiration from two of the culinary giants of Europe.

We ate and drank very well indeed. I never get the Spanish eating so late and going to bed with full stomachs, it’s not the healthiest way to dine, however after 3 days I got in to the swing of it. I forced myself to try alternative Spanish dishes instead of the usual chorizo and tapas and I discovered a fresher and lighter cuisine that compliments Ibiza’s laid back beach culture. The highlights being incredibly creamy burrata mozzarella in a creamy pesto sauce with beetroot marmalade,  deliciously light tuna tartar with strawberries and a wasabi dressing, and snails cooked in smoky BBQ sauce which was so invitingly light and totally different from the garlic buttered French style escargot.

This brings me on to Florence and Umbria which was the culinary polar opposite from the fresh costal cuisine of Ibiza. Bold and luscious pasta dishes, antipasti of cured meats and cheeses and rich red wines were finished off with scoops of gelato in a multitude of flavours. 

The dish that blew me away the most was tortellini pasta filled with soft sweet pear and served with a rich and salty gorgonzola cheese sauce scattered with toasted pine nuts, it was devilish and incredible and I will definitely give it a whirl at home sometime. The wedding banquet at my brother-in-laws wedding was so fantastic I doubt I’ll see food at a wedding like that in my lifetime again, the antipasti alone consisted of a table with chefs preparing fresh food from scratch, including mascarpone filled courgette flowers, prunes wrapped in bacon and fried in duck fat and rocket and mint smoothies.

No wonder I have put on so much weight, however it was totally worth it, and I cannot wait to share some of my dishes that this trip has inspired. Hopefully you will enjoy making some of them too.