Life...Italian Style

Thanks + Giving

Well, I've said it before and I will say it again:  Thanksgiving is actually more fun in Italy than it is in the states.  I think it is because Italians get even more excited than we do about the thought of a giant roasted, stuffed turkey (as a rule, turkeys do not get roasted whole here).  In the past I've done all or most of the cooking (especially when I held our annual Thanksgiving at my ex-restaurant Basiliko'). This year I had a pot-luck  at Palazzo delle Signorine in Cannara with a mix of American and Italian guests - and it turned out to be the best Thanksgiving yet! (I even convinced an Italian friend to take a stab at making Green Bean Casserole - which was a hit, of course, and made Hot Turkey Sandwiches for the post-party stragglers... I will conceal the identity of the person who ate THREE!)

(more photos on the Life Italian Style Facebook page - like it!)

So in the spirit of the holiday season, I just wanted to take a moment to THANK all of the people who GAVE support to Life Italian Style this year:  tourists and travellers, tour operators, my partners, friends old and new, and especially the writers and bloggers who have been so kind as to mention me in their contributions.  I hope I was able to GIVE back to all of you a memorable (and delicious) experience in Umbria!

GRAZIE MILLE! to the following writers:

Adventurous Kate: The Ultimate Umbrian Feast

Legal Nomads: Photoessay - Umbria in Three Days

Landing Standing: Tradition: The Secret to Umbrian Cuisine

Solo Traveler: Solo Travelers Celebrate - and think Umbria

Hipmunk: Terre Margaritelli in Umbria: Food, Wine & Romance

The Looptail/Gadventures: 5 Lesser-Known Places to Visit in Umbria

Come for the Wine: Wines of Italy Series - Terre Margaritelli

Brigolante: Italy Roundtable: Zen and the Art of Making Gnocchi

Vindulge: Makin' Gnocchi - The Recipe

Vindulge & IWINETC: Terre Margaritelli Winery - Umbrian Hospitality

Messina Hof: Terre Margaritelli Winery

 

An Evening of Infiorata!

Well, you know you are getting somewhere with the whole "integrating" thing when you start organizing events in your community... 

That said, I am proud to present my first event :  An Evening of Infiorata! 

For those in the Umbrian area next weekend, Saturday, June 9, the village of Cannara will be transporting visitors from Spello to participate in the town's Infiorata - actually lay the flowers down alongside local artists...

The price is €10 per person (€6 without transportation) and includes:

Hands-on laying of the flowers alongside local artists, helping them complete their works of art through the byways of Cannara.

Free entrance to the Museum of Cannara, which holds an intact mosaic floor and other artifacts from an ancient Roman settlement of the area.

A glass of Vernaccia from Cantina Di Filippo (Cannara's local sweet wine) with biscotti.

Midnight spaghetti feast in the piazza with local townspeople!

Reservations Required! in one of the following locations:

Comune of Cannara - Cultural Office, Pro Loco Cannara, or through me at LifeItalianStyle@gmail.com

See you there - FLOWER POWER!!!

Time to bust out the Lard!

The following recipes are not for the weak of heart.  If you use butter, you are a wimp.  If you use some type of "fat subsitute", you are a heretic.  These recipes use lard, baby - pure piggy goodness!

Well, it is Easter time once again in Italy.  Lent is coming to a close.   Bottles of a special wine, Vernaccia, are being left on doorsteps by friendly neighbors, and lard, put on the back shelf for the Lenten fast, is once again making an appearance!

(Vernaccia is the typical sweet wine drunk on Easter morning, a specialty of Cannara!)

Here in Umbria we make the traditional Pizza (or Torta) di Pasqua, a fantastic cheesebread, described in depth here by my good friend Rebecca of Brigolante.  Having just returned from Verona with an inordinate amount of candied citrus, and looking for a way to use them up, I came across some recipes for the Pastiera Napoletana - a traditional dessert made in southern Italy for Easter.  I still remember the first time I ate the Pastiera... I was entering my 9th month of pregnancy and a woman from Naples who was helping me clean my house gave me a piece that her sister had made.... to say something as cliché as love at first bite just doesn't do this dish justice... it's better than chocolate... it's better than EVERYTHING! .... and why is it better than everything??? Because it is made with LARD!

Here are my adapted lardy recipes:

Pizza di Pasqua:

• 230g natural bread starter
• 8g brewer's yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 100g warm water
• 300g '00' flour
• 500g '0' flour + 100g for dusting
• 5 eggs
• 150g grated pecorino romano
• 150g grated parmigiano reggiano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 50g lard
• 5 Tbs e.v. olive oil
• 200g diced sharp provolone

In a large bowl, dissolve the starter, yeast, and sugar in the water.   Slowly add the flours, little by little, alternating with the eggs.  Mix well.  Add the grated cheeses, salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Add the lard and olive oil.  Knead well for about 10 minutes.   Add the diced provolone and knead until well mixed.  Divide the dough into two equal parts and form into balls, folding the dough over itself.  Place each ball into a deep baking tin that has been greased (with lard) and floured. 

Let rise for about 6 hours or until dough has reached the top of the tin.  Bake in the oven at 200°C for 2o minutes, then 180°C for another 40 minutes.  The Tortas are ready when a test stick comes out clean.

 

La Pastiera

Ingredients for the crust:

• 500g flour
• 3 eggs
• 200g sugar
• 200g lard
• 8g instant yeast (baking powder)
• pinch of salt
• grated zest of one lemon

Ingredients for the filling:

• 300g cooked wheat berries
• 400ml milk
• 1 Tbs lard
• 1 Tbs sugar

• 400g sheeps milk ricotta
• 200g sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 3 whites, beat to stiff peaks
• 5 tsp orange flower water
• 150g candied citron and orange, diced small
• grated zest of one lemon
• dash of cinammon
• powdered sugar for dusting

The night before:  make the crust by combing all ingredients and chilling overnight - this will be a fairly wet dough.  Meanwhile, over a low flame, cook down the wheat berries with the milk, lard, and sugar until almost "dry", a pasty consistency.  Let cool in refrigerator overnight.

In a large bowl, beat the ricotta with the sugar until creamy.  Add the yolks, orange flower water, candied fruit, lemon zest, cinammon, and wheat berry mixture.  Mix well.  Gently fold in egg whites.  Roll out the dough for the crust to about 3mm and place in a deep baking dish (or cheesecake pan) greased with lard and floured.  Save extra dough to make "ribbons."  Gently pour the filling into the crust.  Make crosshatches with remaing dough.  Bake for about 2 hours at 150°C.  Let cool in oven with door open.  Traditionally, this dish is made on Holy Thursday and not eaten until Easter Sunday.  The pie must sit for 3 days before it can be eaten so that the flavors can amalgamate (sheer torture).  Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

BUONA PASQUA!

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene...

(Adige River, Verona)

Fair Verona indeed... truer words were never written....  I'm going to diverge a little from my usual Umbrian musings, and head north into the Veneto. 

Because my husband works in the wine biz (Terre Margaritelli), I am lucky enough to have an excuse to head up to Verona every year for the annual Vinitaly wine fair.  In previous years, I've spent most of my time at the fair, but that is slowly moving into the "been there, done that" category.  I still make my rounds, but prefer to spend my time wandering the streets of the fairest city in all the land.

(UMBRIA, pad 7B at Vinitaly)

Verona has a little bit of everything, from a Roman amphitheater (most of the ancient city is still intact 6 meters below the current city!) to gorgeous medieval Romanesque architecture to frescoed villas and palazzi lining the backstreets and alleys. 

But I go to Verona for another reason, the food!  I love Umbrian food, but we all need a change of pace every now and again... and the great thing about Italy is that, if you just hop in the car and drive a few hours north (or south), it is like you are in another country!  The pasta is different, the salumi is sweet (instead of Umbrian salty), and the coffee...well... amazing - I even overheard some Napoletani (who are convinced that they have the best of everything, but especially coffee) commenting on how good it was.  And speaking of coffee, even the "culture" is different.  When you order an espresso, un caffe', in Verona, they ask you if you want it "liscio" as in straight, no alcohol added - I find this hilarious!  Something else that seems to be typical of the area, is that when they do order that mid-afternoon espresso (be it "doctored" or not), the locals always seem to take a little sweet cookie or cake as well - something small that you just pop in your mouth in one bite - I like it!

(Sfilacci di Cavallo)

But, before you go running off to Verona, you need to come to terms with something.... they eat horse meat (and donkey...).  I say don't knock it till you try it!  Horse meat or cavallo, (donkey is asino) is delicious!  As it is a very lean, high protein, high iron meat, it is also very healthy.  It is very typical in most of northern and southern Italy to eat horse.  I don't know what happened here in central Italy - the tradition got lost somehow along the way with good desserts....

(hmmmn, sugo di asino, anatra, or coniglio....asino!)

Anyway, here is a list of my favorite typical Veronese/Venetian dishes that should be on your "must try" list:

• Sfilacci di Cavallo:  cured, smoked horsemeat - usually served on a salad or as a pasta garnish
• Pastissada de Caval:  a type of horse stew, braised in Valpolicella
• Sugo di Asino:  donkey ragu - pasta condiment
• Bollito:  mixed boiled meats served with condiments
• Baccala' alla Vicentina:  actually Stockfish, not salt cod, served with polenta
• Pasta e Fasoi:  pasta and beans

And where do we eat all of these wonderful dishes???  Here is my Verona shortlist:

• Pasticceria Barini:  best coffee in the world, accompanied by amazing pastries
• Pasticceria Castelvecchio:  more great pastries, but the confections are where it's at here - try the candied citron (cedro) and orange - out of this world!
• Osteria Al Carro Armato:  typical Veronese
• Osteria dal Cavaliere:  great for aperitivo or lunch - be forewarned, service it slooow
• Ristorante al Calmiere:  go here for bollito
• Trattoria Giulietta e Romeo:  obviously touristy, yes, but the food is good!
• Le Cantine de L'Arena:  meat, meat and more meat!

Read more about my time in Verona here (2009) and here (2008).

International Wine Tourism Conference Roundup

This year's International Wine Tourism Conference took place in Perugia and it was a really great event!  I was thrilled to be involved and taught a few cooking classes at the Terre Margaritelli Winery in Torgiano for various expert Wine Bloggers and Tour Operators.  Check out these articles to read all of the great things they had to say about us!:

From Terry Sullivan of Destinations Travel Magazine: Umbrian Wine & Food Beckons Travelers

From Mary Cressler of Vindulge Wine Blog:  "Terre Margaritelli Winery - Umbrian Hospitality" (posted on the IWINETC official site)

From Paul & Merrill Bonarrigo of Messina Hof Winery & Resort: "Terre Margaritelli Winery"

From Puy Trigueos (in Spanish) of Turista Compulsiva:  "Umbria: Maridaje de vino, pasta, chocolate y emociones" - some great food photos at the end of this article as well.

From Terry & Kathy Sullivan of Wine Trail Traveler:  "Making Flatbread and Gnocchi at Margaritelli Winery in Umbria"

Thanks everyone and we look foward to seeing you all in Umbria again soon!

International Wine Tourism Conference & Workshop

I am very pleased to announce that I will be leading 2 cooking class/dinners at the International Wine Tourism Conference & Workshop being held in Perugia, starting this weekend. 

I will be doing a pre-event Cooking Class and Dinner at the Terre Margaritelli Winery in Torgiano on Sunday, January 30th, the cost is €62 per person.  For more information on the itinerary and to reserve, go to the Strada dei Vini del Cantico website.

On Wednesday, February 1st,  I will be holding a Cooking Class and Dinner at the Terre Margaritelli Winery in Torgiano for a group of international wine bloggers for the Wine Blogger/ Media Fam Trip portion of the conference.

I'm really looking foward to meeting lots of new people in the wine world!

Umbria Lovers guest post

Please check out my guest post on the Umbria Lovers blog.  I wrote an article about what I would do if (the unthinkable happened) and I only had one day to spend in Umbria....

Ciao Thyme Culinary Intensive: Umbria

Spring has just sprung... but we are already thinking about Autumn!

Ciao Thyme of Bellingham, WA, in collaboration with me at Life...Italian Style present an Umbrian Culinary Intensive from October 20-28, 2011!

Itinerary:

Thursday, October 20:  Checking into the Trampetti Villa, Foligno
Welcome dinner catered by Ciao Thyme ‘Italia’

Friday, October 21:  The International EuroChocolate Festival; Perugina Chocolate Factory Private Tour; Hands-on Class and Dinner at the Villa

Saturday, October 22:  Countryside drive to Orvieto; Explore the city of Orvieto above and underground.

Sunday, October 23:  City Tour and Outdoor Market in Assisi; Lunch at La Stalla in Assisi; Drive over Mt Subasio; Hands-on Class and Dinner at the Villa

Monday, October 24:  Trampetti Olive Harvest and picnic lunch followed by olive pressing and olive oil tasting;  Dinner at Vesuvio Pizzeria in Foligno

Tuesday, October 25:  Cheesemaking and Saffron Picking in Cascia; Salumi galore in the famous salumi-making town of Norcia; Dinner at the Palazzo Seneca

Wednesday, October 26:  Tour 200-acre Chianina farm;  Hands-on lunch at farm; Terre Margaritelli winery tour/tasting; Dinner at L’Alchemista in Montefalco

Thursday, October 27:  A day of rest.  Take a train to a small town, enjoy a horse ride or a bicycle tour; Hands-on Class and Dinner at the Villa

Friday, October 28:  The grand visit to the Mostra Mercato Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco; Lunch at Taverna del Lupo, Farwell dinner at the Villa.

Contact Ciao Thyme for details!

Umbria goes to Seattle (starting this Saturday!)

Note to those searching for Il Bacco Felice...

Unfortunately Il Bacco Felice in Foligno has been closed indefinitely.  Please feel free to contact me for further information.