Australian Gourmet Traveller - (03)March 2020 (1)

Spaghetti

vongoleand

bottarga

p 58

timeoftheRomanEmpire.Which

is perhapswhyourItalianissuehas

becomesucha fixtureoftheGT

calendar.Aftermorethana decade,

it remainsourmostpopularperennial

issue,aswecontinuetoexplore

theflavoursofItalyandsharenew

adventures.Whilesomedestinations

• andcuisines– fallfromfavourwith
  time,Italyremainsconstant.Classic
  butneverclichéd.Andnomatter
  howmanytimesyourevisit,there’s
  always something new to enthral you.

[email protected] // FOLLOW@GOURMETTRAVELLER // ONLINEGOURMETTRAVELLER.COM.AU

I

t tookme 28 yearstomakeit

toItalyforthefirsttime,flying

intoVenice’sMarcoPoloAirport

aheadofa two-week,self-guided

tourthatwouldseemyhusbandand

I workourwaydowntoFlorenceand

Romebeforemeetingfriendsonthe

AmalfiCoast.Afteryearsofsalivating

throughvariouscookingshowsand

staringenviouslyatfriends’photos,

myexpectationswereskyhigh.

Butnotonceduringthosetwo

weeksdidI comeevencloseto

disappointment.Everywherewewent,

Italycharmedus.Experiencesthatin

anyothercountrywouldhaveincited

frustratedmeltdownsbecameamusing

diversions.Wegorgedourselvesas

muchonhistory,artandculture,

aswedidonpizza,pastaandgelato.

Aftertwoweeks,wehadbutwhet

ourappetite,resolvingtoreturnagain

assoonastimeandfinancesallowed.

Ofcourse,weweren’tthefirst

visitorstofallforItaly’scharms– nor

willwebethelast.Itssirencallhas

been enchanting travellers since the

Matakana,NewZealand;

JoannaHunkin,editor

Surroundedbyrollinghills,wineries

andwhite-sandbeaches,Matakanahas

longbeenoneofmyfavouritespots.

Justanhour’sdrivenorthofAuckland,a

weekend visit is a must.@hunkies_news

PointPuer,Tasmania;

LisaFeatherby,fooddirector

Thishistoricalregionis wildand

beautiful,andyou’lleatthebestapricots

ofyourlifefromroadsidestallson

your way there.@lisafeatherby

Where we’ve been

Bellingen,NSW;

GeorgieMeredith,writer

& editorialcoordinator

Thehigh-pitchedhumofcicadasprovides

a nostalgicsummersoundtracktothis

verdant,tropicalhaven.NeverNever

Creek’spebble-strewnwatersarea

perfect escape.@georgiemeredith

GOURMET TRAVELLER 15

PHOTOGRAPHY ALANA LANDSBERRY (PORTRAIT) & CON POULOS (SPAGHETTI).

Editor’s letter