Semifreddo: The Italian Frozen Dessert You Can Make Without a Machine (and Should Make for Christmas)
My first Christmas Day off in six years of cooking, I volunteered to bring dessert — and then…
Panna Cotta: The Wobble Test, and Why Less Gelatine Is the Whole Secret
Our head chef judged panna cotta without a spoon. He'd put the plate on the pass and slap…
Cannoli: The Crunch Is a Deadline — A Chef’s Guide to Sicily’s Greatest Pastry
The function that taught me cannoli was a fiftieth birthday, eighty guests, and my bright idea to fill…
Ricotta & Spinach Cannelloni: The One I Kept Getting Wrong
The first tray of cannelloni I ever sent out, half the tubes split down the side and wept…
Macaroni: From Maccheroni to Mac and Cheese — A Chef’s Guide to the Most Misjudged Pasta in Australia
The best macaroni I ever ate was in a nonna's kitchen in the hills outside our restaurant's sister…
Gnocchi: The Two-Ingredient Trick to Pillows, Not Bullets
The chef who taught me gnocchi weighed nothing and terrified everyone. Her test was brutal in its simplicity:…
Penne: The Most Underrated Shape in the Cupboard, and the Recipe That Proves It
There was a bloke on my first brigade — a Calabrian, forearms like bollards — who ate the…
Lasagna: Why Yours Slides Apart, and How a Chef Builds One That Doesn’t
Every Sunday for two years, my job included portioning the lasagna for service — forty covers' worth, cut…
Tiramisu: The One-Second Rule That Separates Silk From Sludge
The pastry chef who taught me tiramisu counted the dip out loud. Every ladyfinger, both sides: "uno… due"…
Affogato: Two Ingredients, and Almost Everyone Wrecks One of Them
The easiest dessert on our menu was also the one the head chef policed hardest. Affogato — a…