“Prunes” and “culinary delight” are seldom
(if ever) found in the same sentence in the U.S., unless the words “are not a”
connect them. Wouldn’t you
agree? In Italy prunes have not
been relegated to the sole task of “regulation”, and thereby avoid the
resultant biased connotation that we Americani
tend to assign them. And not
only is the prune not seen as an occasional necessary evil, it is actually a
sought-after tasty morsel! At a recent wine-tasting dinner at a winery and agriturismo in the rolling hills of
Chianti owned and operated by our friends Mario and Elena, this much-maligned
dried fruit was catapulted to this elevated status on not just my palette, but
on those of the nine lady water-colorists I brought to this dinner as well!
Elena is the marvelously inventive chef at
“Fattoria di Corsignano”. She
brings her own unique taste to the very traditional cucina Toscana, while her husband Mario, whose balance of the
traditional and the experimental creates a host of deliciously pleasing
wines…one could say that his Chianti
Classico is the perfect accompaniment to her Chianti Cucina!
But I’m talking prunes here, not marriages
made in Paradiso (although, I could
easily wax on and on about the delightful evenings spent at the hospitable
table of this lovely Tuscan couple…).
Our antipasto plate arrived with several tastes of Tuscany upon it…and
there, among the crostini and panzanella stood an unassuming,
wrapped-up h’ors d’oeuvre of some kind with a toothpick sticking out of
it. Hmm…
…Mmm!
What a lovely surprise was unwrapping in my mouth! (I must have missed
Mario’s broken English explanation of this delight!) Indeed, the bread-
crumb-encrusted rigatino (an
approximate taste for us would be bacon, except this wasn’t smoked) was giving
way to the warm tomino cheese and the
bold tangy prune it had concealed.
This was truly a combination of flavors that will not be soon forgotten,
and will in fact be requested with gusto the next time I accompany a group to
dinner at Fattoria di Corsignano!
Prugne con Tomino e Rigatino
A final thought: the word for plum in Italian is, funny enough, prugna. Prugne secche are
merely dried plums, and they are capable of taking an appetizer from “hmmm” to
“mmmm” in one bite. I think we
need to lose the prunes and let dried plums take our American cuisine to new
appetizing heights! Viva la prugna!
I was sitting having my afternoon cafe macchiato at the “Café Degli Artisti” on the main street of
Cortona. The locals call it the
“Rugapiana” or the “Flat Wrinkle” because, although it curves through the city,
it is the only flat street in all of Cortona. I was people-watching from behind my magazine: tourists and locals breezing by in the
slant afternoon shadows that are so dramatic in these narrow medieval streets.. At one point the young waiter popped
out of the café to rearrange all the chairs away from the street. Then from the end of the street I heard
the sound of drums funneled between the buildings. Within minutes a troupe of Cortonese in colorful medieval
dress approached my ringside seat.
Just as they got to me their trumpets started blaring. It was the beginning of the annual
festival “Giostra dell’Archidado”, a reenactment of a joust and flag throwing
contest commemorating the marriage of Francesco Casali of Cortona with Antonia
Salimbeni of Siena in the year 1397(!)
I finished my coffee and dashed off into the square behind them.
On our way to Cortona, for our next program, we passed though the Crete Senese. A drive that would have normally taken us 30 minutes took us over an hour. This is a part of Tuscany that refers to a hilly area, southeast of Siena, formed by
deposits of irregular layers of clay and sand that were created around
one million years ago, until then, in fact, the area was covered by the
sea. The process of erosion led to the formation of creases in the earth or ravines,
known as “calanchi”, or "crete”. A chemical reaction of sodium sulfate has surfaced as a result of exposure to the sun on the small dome-shaped hills.
This is the reason for the rather unusual colors found there, the gray of the
clay and the yellow of the sulfate, which combine to offer some of the
most unique and interesting landscapes in the whole of Tuscany. The soil is perfect for growing wheat and a little yellow flower known as mustard plant.
To avoid driving off the road at nearly every curve we had to stop and take a photo or just breath in the gorgeous landscape.
I could never describe this breathtaking landscape and even photos only come close.....
We visited my good friend Beppe in Genova, as you might know pesto is one of the wonderful flavorful dishes that they contribute to the culinary world. It is so ridiculously easy and quick to make that you should never buy it ever again after seeing this video.
Here is a 3 minute video that will show you in real time how to make it. Remember you can freeze pesto very nicely and have it homemade all year round. Some folks like to put it in ice cube trays to freeze it and then transfer the cubes into plastic bags to keep it handy for serving in small amounts.
We are staying for a few days in the apartment of our good
friend Diane in Il Colle di San Marcellino near the Brolio Castle – the baron
who authored the standard recipe for Chianti wine. Her apartment is carved into a larger structure dating back
to the 1200’s. Underneath the
apartment where the animals originally slept on straw, today is her washing
machine happily spinning away with 21st century detergent as I write.
Tonight we decided to cook dinner at home. After an exhausting day of touring
around Tuscany from the Val d’Orcia to Volterra, we had no time to stop at a
grocery store, so Linda accepted the challenge of creating dinner from whatever
we had at home. She said it would relax her after a hectic day.
I struggled with all the modern conveniences that were
revolting against us as we tried to bring them into this charming medieval
borgo: the internet was
maddeningly sporadic and the washing machine overflowed (sorry Diane). Meanwhile, Linda stretched her creative
cooking muscles to invent an exquisite – original – risotto.
When we sat down to dinner and tasted the dish, I asked
Linda if she could write a recipe that perhaps we could blog. “That would be difficult,” she
replied. “I didn't use ingredients people would generally use to make risotto, I had to resort to skills
and techniques I learned in cooking school to make this dish and not a recipe.” But I pressed on.
“Well,” she said “I looked around at what I had ... a pork chop, a red pepper some odds and ends, and then started
inventing.”
The risotto was a creamy dish with flavors of red pepper,
pork and lemon! We didn’t
have butter so she substituted an egg yolk(!) that gave it a silky, rich
texture. “There is a basic risotto
method: you saute onions, add the rice to toast it and then add white wine, then continue cooking the rice adding stock if you have it, in this case I used water and added some finely chopped olives to substitute for the roundness a stock would give, and toward the end, the particular ingredients. The thing about risotto is that
everything you add has to have it's own individual flavor.
Ultimately, all these flavors need to come together in the final
experience. Every bite you take
should express a variation on the ingredients. Arborio rice is a tender grain and all those flavors should have time to absorb into each
kernel of rice.”
I understood what she was saying because I took a forkful
and detected a hint of lemon. “Oh,
yes, she said, I threw in some lemon marmalade that Beppe made in Genova to marinate the pork.”!! She went on... “If you know how flavors work, you know you how much to add to a dish to make it something special and not overwhelming.” So
risotto is all about pressing your own thumb print on a dish. Beyond the essential principles, there
are no rules that can’t be broken.
Good cooking has to come from the soul. “I remember many years ago,” said Linda “when my friend
Beppe made risotto with cantaloupe.
He added all these other ingredients, and then a dollop of mustard, and
I thought this was going to be horrible.
But in the end, everything came together perfectly. It was so creamy and each forkful had a
different taste, texture or experience.”
Experience!
That is the essence of risotto.
In fact that is the essence of cooking. Recipes are a starting point, but from there each cook needs
to add a little of their own soul.
“Cooking from the groin” is what Linda labels it. “Go with what you know and don’t be
afraid to experiment.”
This, of course, is why it is so difficult for Linda to
write a cookbook. She never cooks
the same thing twice. According to
her methods, it is more important to understand food, flavors and herbs than
measurements and celebrity chef recipes.
That will allow you to create delicious, innovative meals – like
tonight’s red pepper pork and lemon risotto.
Dear Il Chiostro friends, family and staff alumni from Le Lodoline days,
We got the news that our Contessa Pepita passed away 2 weeks ago and we wanted to share some photos and memories of her with you.
Her passing marks the end of an era for sure. It is because of her and her beautiful Lodoline that Il Chiostro ever began.
Maria Giuseppina Radicati Di Brozolo Hamilton yes, Hamilton. She married the love of her life Major Hugh Hamilton just a few years before he passed away. He was a legend in Chianti for bringing tourism to this beautiful area and even though they had been together for many years, she was still married to her Italian husband and divorce was not legal unless she claimed he beat her. Pepita refused to lie about the relationship so she and Hugh waited until the laws changed to finally tie the knot.
A British Equestrian magazine wrote an article about her describing her as a small, fragile looking woman made of steal.... that was Pepita for sure!
We went up to Lodole a few days ago to say goodbye. There was no one there so we snuck in the way we always did, jumping over the fence from Cipressaia, and paid our respects to her in her chapel.
As Michael and I sat up on that hill overlooking the rich valley of vineyards and olive groves, the golden light causing Siena to sparkle in the distance, we realized that even though we will never have those days again the joy we felt there was what inspired us to shape the experience of Tuscany we want to share. It will always be special place for us. We are filled with gratitude for having known Pepita and Le Lodoline.
Pepita shied away from the camera saying she wasn't the looker she used to be but here are some pix I managed to capture when she wasn't looking.
Thinking of you all,
Baci from Tuscany,
Linda and Michael
Le Lodoline from my kitchen window
Pepita in 2008 with her trusted dog Prince
P.S. Did we mention she was 100 years old in March!?
In real time we are on week 2 of this years Spring line-up of programs. We are in Genova at our friend Beppe's place which we will discuss in future entries...we have a little catching up to do! Here was Michael's impression on our arrival:
April 28, 2012 – Arrival
in Italy After a smooth 8 hour flight we landed safely in Rome’s Fumicino
airport.A curious thing I want to
point out is that when we left New York nearly everyone was speaking English
(even an intimidated couple trying to explain to a woman that she was in their
seat).But something happened over
the Atlantic because as we came in sight of Rome, all of a sudden the only
voices we heard were speaking exuberantly in Italian – even the flight
attendants!
Whenever I travel nowadays I’m worried that with the world
shrinking the differences between cultures will evaporate so that America and
Europe will not be much different than Ohio is from New Jersey.But the minute we set foot on Italian
ceramic tiles in the airport, my concern was put to rest.There are tenacious aspects of our
cultures that, at least for now, are still worlds apart.Here are 3 that I noticed immediately:
1.Tailoring
– Italians wear clothes that fit their bodies, from the flight attendants on
Alitalia to the uniformed guards patrolling customs to the men in suits waving
placards for their passengers
2.Shoulders
– in Italy shoulders are a form of speech.The closer towards the ears they rise the more emphatic their
point.The couple ahead of us at
passport control could have been bouncing a volley ball between them their
shoulders were so animated
3.Compliance
– as we exited baggage claim all the Americans proceeded in an orderly fashion
down the lane that was marked “Exit to Customs”.The Italians, however, already in their sunglasses and
hauling their designer luggage behind them, crowded en
masse down the lane that was clearly marked EXIT:ABSOLUTELY NO ENTRY!And not one of those customs officials said a word.
Ciao Tutti,
In 5 hours we are off to Tuscany to begin our 18th year of workshops in Italy. As it begins to warm up here in NYC our enthusiasum for springtime quickly turns into yearning for Tuscan sun and sunsets.
Please travel with us via Blogissimo and share the adventures ...unless the yearning grabs you so strongly that you are compelled to physically join us in Tuscany!!
To continue our research for Louise Freshman Brown’s painting workshop here in October, Linda and I found the museum dedicated to the Bolognese artist, Giorgio Morandi. It is located on the second floor of the grand Palazzo d’Accursio facing the Piazza Maggiore. This is a civil building that also houses the stock exchange and City Hall. The stone staircases were exaggeratedly broad, with high, vaulted ceilings frescoed from end to end, suitable for a duke (or a pope) to descend royally. The museum was wonderful, full of oil paintings and etchings in Morandi’s signature style (if you don’t know this artist, we can recommend you investigate his work - click on the link- Giorgio Morandi - Artwork)
When we left the museum we heard the noise of a cheering crowd, reverberating in the hallways. There was applause with explosions and shouts of “auguri”. As it turns out, it was Saturday and there were several weddings going on in City Hall. We snuck down to see what was going on and found a large, ceremonial room packed with well-dressed people. There was a grand mahogany desk in the middle with 4 red velvet chairs and 2 formal pens for signing marriage documents. The room had ¾ length windows where a bride and groom were waving to the crowds below in the square. There was music playing in the room and general congratulations being liberally tossed around.
Wedding couple in Bologna
Many people don’t realize that in Italy – one of the most Catholic countries in the world – marriages are only recognized when performed at a municipal City Hall. That is the principle ceremony where your friends and family go to witness your vows and to support you on your life together. Should you choose to have a church service afterwords, (and many do not) it is purely ceremonial and not legally binding. The Church has no authority to marry people. That rests entirely with the State.
Wedding guest complete with confetti
And confetti
We slipped down the stairs incognito, shuffling through the rice and confetti scattered about the landing where the bride and groom had paused for pictures. We mingled momentarily with the guests in the entry courtyard of the palazzo watching them drink champagne and celebrate. We had big smiles on our faces, caught up in the revelry as we emerged onto the main square.
It was a beautiful day, so we sat for a while in one of the cafes under the arcades for a coffee.
Cafe Scecheratto
All of Bologna seemed to traverse that square, from dreadlocked students to elegant wedding guests to a variety of brides and grooms in long white gowns, short purple dresses and Indian sarongs passing each other on their way to or from their marriage vows.
For the last 10 days Michael and I have been traveling around doing one of our favorite things in Italy…research and exploration.
When we began Il Chiostro we wanted to give our alumni the opportunity to experience many different parts of Italy and it's culture....and we love to do that too.
Our first stop, as most of you already know, was Bologna. See: http://ilchiostroblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/bologna-fecund.html We are preparing for 2 weeks fall 2012 there. For now here is a photo of our Gelato Orgy on the last day after a 2 hour hike along a portico up to San Luca Church just outside the city...
Gelato in Bologna
We traveled on to Piemonte….Barolo and Dolcetto country.
The Nebbiolo grape is very versatile. It is used to make wine of the same name as well as Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara and Ghemme. Nebbiolo probably gets it's name from the Italian word nebbia
which means "fog" because during the harvest, which generally takes place late in October, a deep, intense fog sets into the Langhe region where most Nebbiolo vineyards are located. Not to mention the cuisine.
Nebbiolo grapes....waiting to be Barolo
Ravioli Del Plin
A good friend of ours from Tuscany has a connection to a winery near Barolo called Clavesana.
We felt like royalty as we cruised the area with the Director of Clavesana, Anna Bracco. She is an extraordinary woman. There are many wine cooperatives in Italy, however Anna has created this cooperative in a way that gives all of the 350 families that participate a voice and a face...
Clavesana crest personified
She and her associate, Tessa Donnadieu International Liason, gave a wonderful 3 day tour of the area.
Michael, Anna Bracco & Tessa
Three days packed with many eno- gastro- nomic, logistic and all simply wonderful experi- ences.
Lange Landscape
The landscape is a variety of grape vines, barley and hazelnut trees.
Barley in Lange
The wonderful thing about this area is that tourism has not hit in a major way so it is intimate, genuine and as authentic as it gets.
We visited many agritourisms, ex-monasteries, restaurants, farmers, a cooking school and even a gent from South Africa that gives tours there in a hot air balloon. When they heard we were thinking of bringing American artists to the area we became like rock stars in their eyes.
Everyone has such enthusiasm for their part of Italy, it was infectious and inspiring.
Red that catches the eye
One thing about this area that struck me was the color red that is used on many of the houses. It pops against the many varieties of green backdrop.
By the end of our visit we were very excited about the prospects of offering workshops in the area. So check our schedule for next year soon to see when and where.
We
drove up from Tuscany to research 2 programs scheduled for October. There is so
much to see and experience with all 5 senses here but the first must be the
food. We headed to our favorite gelato place first
thing. After
the long drive from Siena we needed some fortification to get us through
the
rest of the day.
Gelato
They
call Bologna "La Grassa" The Fat
and no wonder. We are in a food coma after tonight's dinner. We began with the most popular item in Bologna.... Mortadella aka
Baloney...Bologna.
We
moved on to the best plates of Italy, Primi.... pastas we
sampled: Tagliatelle al Ragu, Lasagna alla Bolognese, Papardelle with porcini, sausage and shaved
truffles, baked tortellini with
porcini and tallegio. We moved on to the secondi...meat courses, Cotoletta
alla Bolognese, Coniglio al Aceto balsamico, Scaloppina ai Fungi Porcini,
Stracetti alla Rucola. My Mom loves pasta so much they made her a special
one with asparagus and prosciutto.
We were so full,
we thought we would skip dessert BUT, they tempted us with, Chocolate Mouse with orange zest, fresh Meringa covered with melted
chocolate, Rice pie, so we succumbed. Then they went over the edge and
brought a platter of fried pastry cream that made even our Bolognese born
friend, Giovanni, shiver with delight.
We
are too overwhelmed to write any more so here are some photos to give the idea
of what the day was like:
Food shop
fecund Food Shop
More food Shop
Guess what...food shop
My favorite peaches...flat
Yup, more food shop
A variety of cherries are in Season
Meat
Meat Shop
Bowl o' Mozzes
Orgasma-tarts!
Well dressed Melon!
Tomatoes
more Tomatoes
Pomodori
Verdure
Cheeses, Tortellini and Bread, oh my!
Up Close and juicy!
Hands Off the Tamatas!
More food porn tomorrow, for now "Baci" from Bologna!
On Saturday Linda dropped me off in Siena where I could catch the Firenze Rapida, the 12:10 bus to Florence. I was going to pick up our next group of watercolor painters, but I also had a few hours to reconnect with my “old friend”.
By 1:30 my feet were on the ground in the Renaissance City. It was sunny but not suffocatingly hot, as Florence can get in the summer. I zigzagged from the train station down the Via Tornabuoni and across the Ponte di Santa Trinita (with the4 statues of the seasons). Crossing over I had a clear view of the yellow Ponte Vecchio hanging over the Arno, with 3 graceful skulling boats rippling the water underneath.
Ponte Vecchio by Anne Benvenuto
I had a quick errand to run in the Altr’arno section, my favorite area of Florence. Just across from the anthill of tourist spots, it is quieter with many local craftsmen still thriving in their tiny workshops. At certain times the sounds of sawing wood, pounding silver, and cutting marble reverberate in the tiny alleys. I can almost feel what life in Florence was like back in the era of the great artists.
My errand done, I ducked into a cafe on the narrow Borgo San Jacopo for some lunch. Caffe Le Torri had been completely redone since I lived in the neighborhood many years ago. But there was still the familiar clatter of the ceramic cups on the marble bar top and the tinkle of the little spoons in the saucers. That’s a sound you will never hear in Starbucks. I sat, intending to quietly read my book, but my attention kept being diverted towards the hubbub in the bar instead. There were 3 “gallettos” – young men with black faux-hawks, tight T-shirts and time on their hands – cajoling at the counter. Two American girls, who I surmised had arrived in Florence recently, entered in cotton running shorts and flip-flops, looking dubious and unsure of what to do. The boys instinctively glanced over, fluffed their hair and adjusted their crotches (as Italian men are wont to do). The girls were too disoriented to notice them. In perfect English they ordered diet Cokes with ice and asked for the bathroom.
A large bus passed by on the tiny street outside blocking the entire window. It forced 2 Japanese women (who might be the only people who can rival the Italians for fashion) into the doorway. They looked around and decided to stay. In stammered Italian they ordered 2 cappuccinos. They demurely took the table near the door, until 6 mopeds blazed by spewing diesel fumes. As a unit they rose, covered their noses and click-clacked in Ferragamo sandals to the back of the café. A single traveler who looked like a slim Ernest Hemingway slipped in to claim their table. He ordered a panino and a glass of wine without ever taking his eyes off his guidebook.
The American girls, huddling back from the bathroom, asked for a “to go cup” for their Diet Cokes –in perfect English – and going out the door squeezed past a threesome of pallid Brits dressed right out of “A Room with a View”. They staggered to a table, overwhelmed with site-seeing, Bandaids on their toes, straw hats flopping over their eyes. In insistent English they order bruschetta “without all the cheese”.
The barista is a congenial man who greets everyone who enters or leaves his microcosm. Italians repay the “Buon Giorno”, foreigners ignore him. But he keeps at it. Italians head to the bar, stand up, order and drink their coffee. Foreigners head to the tables, even though the same coffee costs double there.
Two 15 year old “gallettos-in-training” step in sporting sunglasses, coifs and facial hair, but the backpacks give them away as no competition for the other guys still hanging out reading the soccer news. Outside the steady procession of tourists marches single file toward the Ponte Vecchio, weighted with cameras and wearing fedoras and sun hats they wouldn’t be caught dead in back home.
A squat Slavic woman in orange hair orders a grappa, a tall man with sandals, socks and a walking stick (German?) peruses the counter then turns and leaves, 3 more American girls clomp in and flop at a table, an Italian man, whistling Puccini sails through, dropping off a packet to the owner, an elderly woman waddles in with grocery bags, rests on a chair by the door, then leaves. Another bus squeezes by, mopeds in its wake.
Although I wanted to stay, I needed to get back to meet our group. I never cracked my book but had a good show nonetheless. I paid my check at the counter and skipped out into the fray. I took a different route back, past an old leather shop I know across from Dante’s church. Within a half hour I managed to buy a new wallet and then a leather jacket at the San Lorenzo open market.
Without having seen one piece of art or visited one tourist site, I think I can report that the Old Dame Florence is alive and kicking and still playing hostess to the world.
Sometimes I find it difficult to explain to people that what we do for a living is actually a job. Take today for instance, I woke up early, still groggy, with sleepy eyes I stumbled into the kitchen and this was the view before me.
Early Morning
It made me think I was still asleep and dreaming that I was in a movie....a love story...far from all reality.
Later I set out for my daily walk along my favorite Tuscan road with views Siena and surrounding hilltops that help me begin my day blissfully.....The views are so beautiful I barely noticed there isn't one square inch of flat surface here, until my calves remind me it's quite a workout....but it beats the treadmill back home!
Our schedule today included a meeting with a local organic farmer to discuss delivery of his vegetables to us in a timely manner to insure freshness......not so hard since he is a few kilometers down the road.
Michelino's gorgeous table
We also had to prepare a special birthday dinner for our in- structor, Barrett and one of her students, that meant tasting prosecco to ensure we chose the best one and sampling the eggplant pate we made and planned to serve for the apperitivo on the terrace. I also needed to make sure Michelino had set the table properly for the event....which really means I wanted to see how beautifully he decorated the tables......as always!
Then it was time for hardest part of the day.....the party.
The Celebrated Painters
We had to be sure that everyone was having a good time and the best way to ensure that is to participate in the merriment ourselves. We moved from the terrace to the dining room to begin the first course. One large Tortellone of spinach and ricotta topped with fresh tomato, basil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO).
Tortellone all Primavera
The second course was a local favorite that is served for special occasions Stinco al Forno. That isn't how it smells, it means Oven Roasted Veal Shank.
Andrea with Stinco
This we served with beets from the organic farmer down the road that were steamed and served simply with EVOO and salt. They were almost like dessert!
After the cake it was up to us to continue the festivities with some musical offerings. Michelino served up an interesting "cheese" course with his rendition of "Slow Boat to China" and "Come Fly with Me". I offered my favorite Neapolitan song "Tu Ca Nun Chiagne" and then a little blues with "Sunday Kind of Love".
You might find this hard to beleive but by 10 pm we were beat. Beauty all day and good food, wine and company all night can be exhausting.....especially when you do it with all your heart and soul.
