To my left, I see cookie recipe notes, magazine rip-outs and baking books piling up in huge bulks, all furnished with the obligatory Post-It stickers to single out potential Christmas cookie candidates. On my right, a huge stainless-steel tin, which was a Christmas gift itself, some years ago, filled to the brim with already baked cookies. And I’m not making any progress on this post, at all. My attempt of typing gets continuously interrupted by grabbing yet another Pepparkakor or Wespennest or getting a top-up on my cup of Yasmin tea.

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OK, cooking might not be the perfect term for today’s recipe. There’s no stove involved, no oven, no tears from slicing onions; prep time will be less than 5 minutes. On the other hand, the results will last much longer (not too much longer though, if you love bringing friends little food presents, like I do).

Not only has my friend Claudio released his first book this fall, Stevan Paul, author of the blogs Dem Herrn Paulsen sein Kiosk (sadly now closed) and Nutriculinary has compiled the most charming anecdotes of his culinary life in restaurant kitchens and elsewhere (each garnished with the one or other recipe) and turned this into the a neat little book titled Monsieur, der Hummer and ich. Knowing Stevan, his precise power of observation and his amazing ability to captivate people with stories, both told and written, his book brings all that to the reader and more. What I like best? The chuckle effect, triggered by his wittily expressions and tone, when turning page after page…

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How do you start writing about a weekend revolving around Italian food that is very likely to leave a lasting impression for the rest of your life? How do you sum up thoughts and memories about countless wonderful food courses, unbelievable passionate chefs who created them in the first place and the amazing hospitality of the Iacarrino family? You can’t. I don’t think written words can do our weekend at Don Alfonso 1890 justice, but I’ll try anyway.

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Our bags had just been unpacked, the impressions from our most recent trip to Nice not fully digested (no pun intended) and yet it was time to leave again. Italy this time, Campania to be more specific. A destination we didn’t have on our radar until late summer – but more on this later. We had never been to this region of Italy before, so we quickly decided to throw in an extra day in Naples as a short stop-over. Just enough time to get a glimpse of the city, take a deep breath of the historic district, enjoy some typical Neapolitan food and find out first hand, whether or not the city is as intimidating as media sometimes portraits or an enchanting experience.

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