Symbol of power

Symbol of power by Alessio Fangano on 500px

The Lily is the famous symbol for Florence since ages, you can find it plastered allover the city. This stone bas-relief is in the cloister area of Santa Maria Novella.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame by Alessio Fangano on 500px

Gothic art is simply amazing, it never cease to inspire me!

In St. Louis en l'Ile

In St. Louis en l'Ile by Alessio Fangano on 500px

In the little charming Ile St. Louis in the center of Paris lies a hidden gem of Parisian churches: St Louis en l'Ile. This is an example of what you may find inside (more to come).

In the backyard

In the backyard by Alessio Fangano on 500px

One of the pleasure of Couchsurfing when traveling is that you get to experience the eveyday spaces of local people. This was a lovely installation I stumbled upon in the courtyard of one of my Parisian hosts in 2013.

Stairs by the Croix Rousse

Stairs by the Croix Rousse by Alessio Fangano on 500px

Lyon, town of many hills... and this, by the Opera house, is one of its most charming squares.

Naked walk

Naked walk by Alessio Fangano on 500px

Even if with almost frozen hands, getting around Paris during that snowfall was a great decision.

A Parisian stroll

A Parisian stroll by Alessio Fangano on 500px

The square facing Notre Dame cathedral is always a very buzzy place on the Parisian nightlife. Let's take a stroll...

Inside Fourviere

Inside Fourviere by Alessio Fangano on 500px

The Fourviere basilique can really fill up half of your day to take it all in, but it is worth it.

An old walk

An old walk by Alessio Fangano on 500px

Dream a dream of sunbathed shores, blue sky, fresh fish. So it was once, so it still is... Sicily.

Kings and Queen

Kings and Queen by Alessio Fangano on 500px

During the French revolution, the original Gothic statues of the kings of Judah were beheaded because believed to be representation of French kings. You can find the original heads in the Cluny museum in Paris while this is a lovely and faithful XIXth century reconstruction.

Sea of Contrasts

Sea of Contrasts by Alessio Fangano on 500px

The Sicilian sea can be pretty moody at times, don't you think?

Catch a ride

Catch a ride by Alessio Fangano on 500px

Sometimes while walking through your neighborhood you can find something inspiring. This, for instance, was in Lyon.

Color contrasts in Florence

Is anybody missing something? by Alessio Fangano on 500px

Cellini's Perseus is one of the masterpieces that adorn Piazza della Signoria in Florence. Having been restored only in the recent past, we are now able to enjoy it in all its original magnificence.

Sharing my life call and an Italian tarte

Some time ago my dear friend Sumaya of Pukka Paki asked me to write an introductory piece for her other food-platform Food Niche Collective. What came out is quite an explanatory piece about my newly-found life call that I would like to share with you all.
Let's all jump to the Food Niche Collective blog then.

Mussels jelly-dome à la nage Asiatique

Here we go with the second installment of the seaweed saga.

In the past episode , I introduced you to the seaweed tasting experience I did for a recipe competition I entered; the theme of the competition was indeed seaweeds.
They provided us with quite a few samples, mostly dried and just a couple fresh.
I do prefer when seaweeds come in their dry form, since the whitish coating on them is actually a natural concentrate of many of their savory compounds. It is easier this way to get the seaweed flavors into things without the need of cooking them longly.

Dulse-seaweed panna cotta with caramel sauce marine

Have you ever taste tested a bunch of seaweeds? Probably when you were a kid at the sea shore hands deep in sand and slimy grassy things you attempted to eat them, but this wasn't one of those situations.
If you are regular to this blog you might remember me entering the "Science, Art et Cuisine" competition the past years.

Duck breast with caramelized onions & Sicilian orange sauce

Does Photography really steal souls? Probably not steal but capture it. Capturing, stealing, what's the difference? Probably the fact that we can't capture the whole soul of a place but just bits and pieces of it. So when we go on a holiday, visit a new restaurant, bar or anything alike and take snapshots of it, do we really capture its soul or just what resonates with us, what we already know and are able to recognize. To me capturing through photography tends to be the harder and more isolating day after day I try doing it. Isolating in the sense that often I'd like to be invisible sitting on a bench or at a cafe so to be able to observe for as long as I need without causing concern (or being asked to pay the bill).
Probably this is what it's all about, snap and snippets of a place, of a history, of a soul.

Chocolate, Butter, Strawberries and an unexpected guest

It/we are back!! Who? The Paperchefs naturally.
It has been quite some time since the last challenge was announced on the dedicated blog but as often happens, a temporary hiatus is a positive experience and something not to be feared. It helps clear up our minds and focus on part of our life that often we only perceive out of the corner of our eyes.

If you are new to this challenge, it is one of the nicest out there (except the Velveteers' one naturally). Out of a list of more than 100 ingredients, a random quartet is drawn and assigned for the monthly round. The creative time allotted for each challenge is rather short, from a weekend to up to a week on rare occasions. Thankfully this was one of the latter.
I have taken part to a few rounds and I can assure you that it is a lot of fun!

From the streets of Sicily a sticky and sweet comfort food

My dear friend Asha some time ago asked me if I was willing to participate to her street-food month to celebrate her blog anniversary.
No doubts I wanted to be part of such fun and deserved celebrations though I was a bit doubtful about venturing into German street food. You see, what passes for street food here is mostly grilled sausages in a bun, with French fries or with a curried ketchup sauce. Not really my cup of tea as concerning experimentation.
Sicilian street food was the way to go.

Lately I have seen quite a number of Arancini posts around the blogospheres so I thought I should give it a try but in one of those blissful moment of inspiration I remembered of another street food that I simply adore:

Crispelle di riso di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph's sticky rice fritters)

For the recipe let's head over to Asha's.

Green, Magenta and a wicked screen

Lately I have been eating quite light meals, trying to avoid meat when I can. This is quite hard when I keep on dreaming of juicy, steaky beef cooked in tomato sauce with vegetables like a ragú would. I would so gladly live on beef or pork products cooked in tomato sauce with celery, carrots, onions, garlic, white wine and potatoes, wouldn’t you?
Fish is my meaty outlet; few days ago it was the turn of salmon, but how to cook it?