Juls' Kitchen - Stories and recipes from Tuscany

09/10/2026

There’s hardly a cake more comforting and cosy than a ciambellone, a rustic Italian ring-shaped cake.

Perfect for breakfast, sliced and served with a cup of hot tea or a caffellatte, but also lovely as a dessert, with vanilla custard or, taking inspiration from German plum cakes, a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

👉 Read more in our latest Letters from Tuscany on : https://julskitchen.substack.com/p/the-unexpected-sweetness-of-autumn

Even though this week’s letter is shorter than usual — teaching around a hundred students in just one month takes its toll — I hope it still brings a little sweetness to your weekend.

12/08/2026

Why do I tend to forget those recipes I grew up with?
Take this simplest dish we made during a recent cooking class: fresh homemade tagliatelle, the sweetest tomato sauce made with fresh datterini tomatoes and lots of basil—made silky thanks to my trustworthy vegetable mill—a shower of pecorino, and a spoonful of local sheep ricotta.
The ricotta rounds up the dish, makes it creamy without being too heavy, and on a weeknight turns a bowl of pasta into a meal.
I’ll be making it more often during my classes before the season of sun-ripened tomatoes comes to an end.

DM or send me an email to inquire for cooking classes, there are only a few spots left in September and October.
https://en.julskitchen.com/tuscan-cooking-classes

12/06/2026

This is how I line my cake pan. Several people during our cooking classes define the moment when they see it life-changing!

I shared my thoughts on baking in my most recent newsletter, along with a recipe for a peach olive oil cake.

https://julskitchen.substack.com/p/when-baking-feels-more-like-cooking

18/05/2026

Infusing vinegars is fun and easy. It gives your imagination plenty of freedom, and there is very little that can go wrong — after all, it is already vinegar, what else could it become? Once they are ready, they are powerful tools in the kitchen: an effective way to bring unexpected aromas to a recipe, and to brighten any dish with a touch of acidity.

If you, too, have an elderflower bush near home, a fragrant rose in the garden, or simply the desire to bring a little of May into your pantry, today in our newsletter for my treasured paid-subscribers you will find three simple, precious recipes: elderflower rice vinegar, rose-infused apple c***r vinegar, and elderflower syrup, along with my favourite ways to use them throughout the summer.

Read it on here:

On May’s fleeting abundance, elderflower vinegar, rose-infused vinegar, and the syrup that keeps spring in the pantry a little longer.

14/04/2026

Vegetables the Italian way, our seventh cookbook, is finally available everywhere books are sold!

It is a colorful joyful book bursting with recipes that put vegetables at the centre of your plate.

This book has lived in my head for two years, its lessons taught during my cooking classes for more than a decade.
Today it moves into your kitchens. What happens next is up to you.

Enjoy cooking vegetables, the Italian Way!

02/11/2023

07/07/2023

We are thrilled to announce our brand-new course, "Food Writing: Share Home Recipes with the World," available now on Domestika! If you have a passion for food and a desire to share your culinary creations with others, this course is perfect for you.

In this course, we'll dive deep into the art of food writing, exploring techniques to engage your readers and evoke their senses through words. I'll share my personal tips and insights on how to write compelling recipe introductions, engaging stories, and clear instructions to attract your readers into the kitchen.

Through practical exercises and real-world examples, you'll learn how to craft enticing food content and develop your unique writing style. We'll also discuss the importance of photography and social media in showcasing your recipes to a wider audience.

Join me on this delicious journey as we explore the world of food writing together. Enroll now in "Food Writing: Share Home Recipes with the World" on Domestika and let's embark on a mouthwatering adventure!

Click here to enroll: https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/5115/julskitchen

12/06/2023

I am a home cook who develops recipes, but I am also someone who cooks a lot of recipes written by other cooks.
So I know that there is nothing more disappointing than a recipe that doesn't work.

When we test a recipe, write it down, and then put it out there in the world, someone will find it: it may be the readers of our newsletter, someone who buys our cookbooks, someone who follows our profiles on social media, or someone who stumbles across our blog searching for Tuscan fried chicken, or eggplant parmigiana, or savoy cabbage soup.

If those people pick our recipe, it means that they are investing time and money in us, they are investing their trust. The least we can do is make ourselves worthy of their trust and recognize the value of that investment of time and money.
And how can we do that? The first step is not to underestimate the power and the complex world hidden behind a recipe. A recipe is a blend of poetry, science, and political activism.

Last week I was in Bologna to attend XFood, an event by in collaboration with . The theme of the event was the storytelling of food as seen from new points of view, and along with other professionals we tackled the topic of food storytelling, each with his or her own perspective. I talked about recipes, their power, their value.

you can read the talk I gave last week on our newsletter on . I hope you will realize how fascinating, profound, and complex is the world of recipe writing.

https://julskitchen.substack.com/p/dont-underestimate-a-recipe

Follow the link in bio and subscribe not miss our recipes and stories here: www.lettersfromtuscany.com

22/05/2023

Highlights of the past weekend and baking workshops for - lots of jam cookies, biscotti, panforte, zuppa inglese, and long tagliatelle dressed with wild fennel pesto. I’m already looking forward to the next workshops and sugar high!

10/05/2023

There’s a new article on , about recipe testing and recipe writing.

I am a home cook who writes for other home cooks.

The major mental shift that changed my approach to recipe writing happened when I stopped writing a mere report of what had happened in my kitchen, and started focusing on what could happen in your kitchen.

I want to be a friendly voice, someone cooking along with you in your kitchen: this takes into account critical steps, possible mistakes, different techniques and skill levels, anticipating challenges and the use of different ingredients. I shouldn't write just the chronicle of what happened in my kitchen, as I am, instead, writing a recipe for other cooks in other kitchens who will be cooking my recipe in a future different time.

Read more about it here:

https://julskitchen.substack.com/p/on-testing-and-writing-new-recipes