Italy Panorama

Many visitors to Italy during the summer months comment on the lack of ice that is served with beverages. This especially noticeable to Americans who are used to large glasses of cold tea or soda filled to the top with ice cubes. In Italy you will be hard pressed to find this, if you want some ice in your drink you will need to ask for it, “un po di ghiaccio, perfavore”. You will also be hard pressed to find an ice machine or especially bags of ice to buy. Italians just don’t like ice in their drinks, unless…

In the hottest part of the summer you may be offered ice, without asking, when you order a digestivo. This is a strong drink taken in small quantities that is made of herbs and is known as a “bitter”, a national favorite being Amaro Lucano from Basilicata.

You may also find Italians in the afternoon putting ice in their vino bianco. First they fill their glass with ice to cool the glass then pour the vino over the ice. With the summer  heat at its highest in August many want their vino cold.

A popular type of café in the summer is café freddo, simply coffee that has been made and then kept cold in the refrigerator. You just make a pot of moka and once it cools pour it into a container to keep in the frigo to enjoy on a hot afternoon. It is not uncommon to see bars making café in the morning and the pouring it into an old wine bottle to store in the frigo.

So the stories you hear about Italians never using ice are a myth, at least partially.

Loreto, Marche

Loreto is located just south of Ancona off the A14 autostrada and has a large basilica that is visible for many kilometers. Tradition tells the story that in the thirteenth century angels transported Mary’s stone house from the Holy Land to this hilltop overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Literature supports that the building materials and building style used in this small stone house match those of the area around Nazareth, however the timing of this house appearing in Loreto also corresponds to a period when many of the early Crusaders where returning to Europe, mainly to this part of the Adriatic.

Nonetheless, the Basilica surrounding Santa Casa is very ornate and on the inside the house has been encased in elegantly carved marble. The adjoining Palazzo Apostolico houses artifacts donated to this Basilica while the fronting Piazza Santuario and neighboring streets hold various shops and booths selling religious articles to the many pilgrims that come to this town every year.

Loretta is definitely a pilgrimage town and has the tourist shops, hotels and restaurants to support the throngs of faithful. That said it is also a livable town with services both in and in close proximity to the centro and with its tourist business this is a very clean and charming town. The panoramas of the surrounding countryside are a definite plus to this hilltop town.

Pellegrino Artusi

While Italy’s history stretches back a few millennia, the peninsula as a nation is rather young, having only been unified in 1861.  The recent celebration of the 150th anniversary of unification was rather lackluster, but something the whole nation can get behind is the 100th anniversary of Artusi, the man whose cookbook brought the country together more surely than politics or paper-signings every could.

The concept of a national cuisine is even younger than the Republic.  Regionalism still abounds, providing the peninsula with loads of variety as you travel around.  The specialties of Bologna are quite different from those of Napoli, for instance, and until relatively recently residents of those areas would have been quite unfamiliar with each others’ recipes.

Nowadays, Milanese-style risotto or a meat-rich Bolognese sauce can be found in kitchens and trattorias nationwide, thanks in no small part to Pellegrino Artusi, who did for Italian cooking in Italy what Julia Child did sixty years later for French cooking in America.

If you’re not familiar with Artusi, let me introduce you. He’s so famous only one name is necessary. Every Italian regardless of age knows immediately who you’re referring to.  In the butcher shop, it is enough for me to tell him that I am making Artusi’s Filetto alla Marsala for him to give me the right cut, and pound it for me, as well.

That is because Pellegrino Artusi wrote the book on Italian cooking, literally.  His cookbook, La scienza nella cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well) was the first to be made available to the masses, and the first to unite regional specialties of the peninsula into one tome.  It was also the first one to be written in Italian.  Up until Artusi, cookbooks tended to be written in French and distributed among the upper classes, or they were penned as booklets in regional dialects, focusing on the local dishes of a small, provincial area.  Cooks from Lombardia couldn’t read a booklet from Sicilia, and vice versa.  His book was considered to be an excellent example of the usage of modern Italian language.

Artusi was a 71-year retired silk merchant when his book was first published in 1891, and has been in continual circulation ever since.  He couldn’t find a publisher for it, so he financed the printing himself.  After a couple of years, word spread and he was printing more and more runs.  Artusi expanded the book through the years, adding recipes that were sent to him by readers.  By the time he died in 1911, he had published its 14th edition and it had grown to a whopping 790 recipes.

Today there is hardly a household without L’Artusi; the most prized copies, with treasured hand-scrawled notes and splatters, are passed down from mother to daughter.

Pellegrino Artusi was born in the central region of Emilia-Romagna, then moved to Florence at the age of 32.  His book is very heavy on recipes from those two areas, but he did take care to include the dishes from other regions, such as ossobuco from Lombardia, riso from Veneto, maccheroni from Napoli, and sorbetto from Sicilia.  This was completely unique, and in doing so, he cracked the kitchen window to the aromas and flavors of the diverse regions of the country.

But it’s so much more than a mere collection of recipes. Artusi gives advice on hygiene, on proper digestion, and practical wisdom.  “Excessive salt is the enemy of good cooking,” for example.  And, “Those who don’t do physical labor should eat more sparingly than those who do.”

He spins stories, tells anecdotes, has rather humorous notes, and gives such basic instructions for the dishes that you can’t help but feel confident that anyone can prepare them successfully.  “With my book, if you can hold a wooden spoon in your hand, you’ll be able to make something,” he wrote.

So as the country celebrates the 100th anniversary of his death with food and festas, we all say together, Viva Artusi!

What is an agriturismo?

If rolling hills, silent nights, and starry skies are your idea of the perfect vacation location, then an agriturismo is the place for you.  While “agriturismo” means farm-stay, it doesn’t mean you have to work the fields or slave for your supper.  It means you get to stay in bed-and-breakfast accommodations on a working farm, where you’ll get to relax, interact with the family, and enjoy the idyllic atmosphere of Italy’s countryside.

Many agriturismo establishments have gone upscale, offering swimming pools, suites with fireplaces, or apartments with kitchens and space to spread out.  Some have horses for riding, while others offer cooking classes, wine tasting, or special theme evenings.  Most remain B&Bs, with farm-fresh breakfasts and dinners prepared with produce from the farm.  They almost always offer excellent value for the accommodations, costing less than a hotel while providing a more unique and intimate atmosphere.

While agriturismi are found in every region of Italy, let’s look at one in my region of Basilicata, in southern Italy, as an example of what you can expect to find at an agriturismo.  La Foresteria di San Leo was once a hermitage for an order of monks who built a chapel and rooming quarters as a prayer retreat.  The stone-built structure has been restored and turned into lovely lodgings and a romantic restaurant.

View of the Dolomite Lucane

Views sweep over the orchards and hills to the rugged, spire-like peaks of the nearby mountains, known as the Dolomiti Lucane.  Warm smiles and coffee or a glass of wine from the owners, Maria Giovanna and Peppino, welcome guests in familial fashion.

The farm is extensive and includes hills of wheat, stands of fruit trees, and woods where truffles and mushrooms can be found.  They raise sheep for meat and wool, and make decadent cheeses from the milk, including a soft pecorino encased in walnuts and the creamiest ricotta I’ve ever eaten.  They have a huge garden which they fully utilize in the kitchen to serve up local dishes bursting with the fresh flavors of the just-picked produce.  Only regional recipes are prepared and the presentation of the dishes is beautiful.

Rooms are warm and cozy with wood and stone accents, maintaining a country-rustic feel while providing desired modern comforts like ensuite bathrooms, climate control, and televisions.  They are quiet, as you would expect in the countryside, so sleep comes easily.  In the morning, fresh-made crostata and pastries, along with home-made jams and cheeses await, served with your preferred caffé beverage and juice.

So what can you do out in the boondocks?  There is a swimming pool for summer splash-downs, bicycles for the many back-roads, hiking trails, and woods for foraging funghi.  Stargazing is at its best in this country locale where there is no light pollution to obstruct the brilliance of the heavenly skies.  Since a car is necessary when visiting an agriturismo, you’re in a position to employ the Slow Travel credo of “concentric circles” to explore the surrounding hill towns and archeological sites.  Or you can just stay put and observe nature while sipping a cappuccino or a glass of local Aglianico.  Breathing the fresh, pure air and enjoying silence is part of the appeal of staying in the country.

We seek out agriturismi wherever we travel in Italy as they present a good lodging value, give us an authentic experience, and allow us to interact with the owners (who direct us to the best places to eat, the local attractions and seasonal events).  If you’ve never tried one, you should!  You’ll not want to stay in a large, impersonal hotel again!

Find an Agriturismo:

Agritour
Agriturismo.it
Agriturismo Online

Rocco

Basilicata

Rocco Gallicchio is a soft-spoken man.  His eyes flit embarrassedly when paid a compliment and his hands seem to have permanently taken on the dusty-white hue of the clay that they are immersed in daily.

Rocco is the remaining artisan of ceramics in a town once brimming with them.  He ardently carries on, hoping to revive the fires of the dormant kilns and renew Calvello’s once-glorious reputation as a center of southern Italy’s ceramic trade.

Calvello lies in a high valley in the middle of Basilicata, a mountainous, overlooked region wedged between Puglia and Calabria.  The town is crowned by a castle and skirted with alpine peaks.  Since the Middle Ages, ceramics constituted a mainstay of Calvello’s economy, the craft purportedly transported here by Benedictine monks who established a kiln.  The Calvello artisans developed their own unique style that is still employed by the purist Rocco.

Rocco does everything by hand.  He collects the clay from a nearby source, which he keeps secret.  He throws the clay entirely by hand, molding and twisting and braiding it into lovely, rustic objects.  Everything is created according to traditional methods and styles.  He gathers minerals, roots, and berries to make the paints he uses.  He mixes up his own glaze.

The bird is a recurring theme, just as it has been for centuries in Calvello.  Rocco refuses mass production methods, preferring that each piece have the natural, slight variations that are inevitable in handmade products.  His pitchers, plates, espresso demitasse cups, lamps and tiles speak of Old World quality, artisan pride, and rustic charm.

He is the lone craftsman but he labors on, hoping to interest some of Calvello’s youth into the trade, a hard sell when they’re being lured to factories and tech jobs in the northern part of the peninsula.  Finding markets for his wares is a constant struggle as well; marketing efforts for a small, artisan workshop are difficult and costly.

Yet he carries on, collecting his clay, mixing his paints, and hand-forming his designs, ensuring that, at least for now, Calvello’s history of ceramic-making remains alive.

B.Y.O.B.

Vino Sfuso

A unique store found in many Italian towns is the cantina for vino sfuso.  Literally translated as “loose wine,” they sell you their vintages by the liter, siphoned directly from the barrel into the bottle that you provide.  Many Italians keep five liter jugs –one for red and one for white wine – to be refilled weekly.

The stores are normally small, and often they do not have signs.  You may need to ask someone where to find a vino sfuso shop, but once you’ve located the place you can buy decent (and sometimes, fantastic), locally-produced wine at rock-bottom prices.  Some offer the premium regional varietals; others have a rather generic homemade “red” or “white,” known as vino da tavola.  Normally you are allowed to taste before buying.

Is that sfuso or petro?

If you cannot locate a sfuso shop in town, many full-fledged wineries also offer the option to buy wine from the barrels, but don’t forget that this is strictly a BYOB operation.  Keeping a one-liter water bottle or two in the car while you’re out touring is a good idea, so when you happen upon a winery you can get your fruit of the vine directly from the source.

Fill'er up!

Palio delle Botti

While the famous Palio race of Siena pits neighborhoods against each other on horses, the Palio delle Botti in Corropoli (Abruzzo) gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, “roll out the barrel”.

A village tradition since the 1450s, the ten contrade (neighborhoods) roll out their strongest competitors to push a 150-pound barrel through the streets in an annual rite that gives thanks for the fruits of their labors and the fruit of the vine.  The barrels, barren of the previous year’s vintage, were rolled into town to be cleaned and readied for the upcoming harvest, and then evolved into a competition.

The participants, amusingly called “pushers,” build strength and work on their techniques all year in hopes of garnering the coveted Palio.

Contrade San Donato

The spingitori work as a team of four.  Each gets two runs, which start by circling the main piazza, then they hit the open strada and shove the barrel as fast as they can through two sections of town to complete a loop towards the finish line.  One wrong push from any of the team members could result in the barrel wobbling –or worse – going astray into the crowd.

Beforehand, the barrels are publicly assessed to ensure they weigh the required 150 pounds and are carefully examined to make sure they have not been tampered with.  Once approved, they are branded on each end.

The winners are awarded a hand-painted Palio on the balcony of the Palazzo Civico, a public honor that will give them bragging rights until next year.

Piazza del Popolo

Funghetti di Offida

While Italian mushrooms like porcini and cardoncelli garner acclaim for their distinct characteristics, the hill town of Offida has another variety of mushroom that satisfies the sweet tooth rather than the savory palate.  Funghetti (little mushrooms) are sugary white mushroom-shaped treats traditional to this hilltop hamlet in Le Marche.

The puffy anise-scented sweets are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  They are created from simple ingredients: flour, sugar, egg white and anise seed (or locally-produced anisette liqueur) mixed into a paste then formed into balls and left to dry for a few days.  They are crowded into a cast-iron pan and baked.  While they cook, they puff up on top and remain white, like button mushroom caps.  The bottoms, all huddled up in the pan, stay slimmer and take on a brownish hue from the iron.  When removed to a plate, they look like a spread of forest mushrooms just sprouted from the earth.

Photo courtesy MuseiPiceni.it

Tradition says the history of these localized sweets dates back to the late 1400s, about the time the town’s guardian fortezza and crenellated Palazzo Comunale were constructed.  Funghetti were born of the cucina povera (peasant cuisine).  Once found only in private kitchens, they are now sold in pastry shops and at the weekly markets around the area.  There is not a festa or holiday that is celebrated without them.  They are usually served with a healthy shot of anisetta or mistra’, a regional anise-flavored moonshine.  The anise seeds for both the liqueurs and the funghetti come from farms just outside the village.

Related Links:

Meletti anisetta

Offida overview

Acerenza is a pretty place. Set up on a massif high at the end of a squiggly road, its position above the Bradano River has been enviable and strategic since before the Roman age. Like many towns in this area, it was the Middle Ages that left the most lasting features on Acerenza, endowing it with narrow pedestrian lanes and petite but appealing palazzi. Parts of the protective walls, punctuated with guardly gates, still cradle the compact centro storico. Captivating vistas are revealed from every overlook.

During the Renaissance period Acerenza was passed around as a baron’s trophy, handed off from one noble family to another. Naturally, aristocrats ran in the same circles and entertained dignitaries and luminaries from other regions.

Acerenza street

So what, you say? Well, a particular noble family who transferred to Acerenza from Florence had a famous friend, Leonardo da Vinci.  It was already known that the Segni family had been in possession of a Leonardo drawing of Neptune, a token from their artist-friend to Antonio Segni as a parting gift.

In 2008, when a historian named Barbitelli was conducting research in Acerenza and came across a painting that the current owners had always believed was a portrait of Galileo, he saw a striking similarity to a portrait of Leonardo in the Uffizi as well as what is believed to be a self-portrait in Torino, and remembered the family’s friendship with the artist. When he saw an inscription on the back written upside-down and backwards as Leonardo preferred to sign his works, he was convinced this was a lost Leonardo – not a mere portrait by the legendary man, but one created by his own hand, of his own likeness.

Leonardo DaVinci self portrait

Experts from the art world as well as the authorities at the Leonardo museum in Vinci authenticated the painting, which was put on display in a museum in nearby Vaglio.  Other portraits, prints, and documents from various sources, including the Leonardo museum, build a strong case to convince the viewer that this painting is the real deal.  Recent forensic fingerprint analysis undertaken by the Carabinieri and the University of Chieti are said to further validate the claims of authenticity.

The image of a middle-aged man with flowing auburn hair and a billowy beard was painted on wood, and was scratched and pocked. Blueberry eyes peer out and follow your movements.

The portrait will be summering in Sorrento, as part of a special exhibition, “Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance,” where it will stand in good company among works by Donatello, Tintoretto and Lorenzo Lotto from June 5 until September 26.  It will then be returned to its permanent home at the Museo delle Antiche Genti Lucane in Vaglio, near Potenza.

Related Links:

Italy Magazine article about Leonardo’s fingerprints.

Basilicata tourism site.