Bellissimo Chiante!

 

A Chianti landscape

 

Ah, beautiful Chianti!

I had never been to the Chianti region so Umberto and Francesca decided to spend a Saturday showing me around a bit. There’s nothing better than spending a day with good friends, seeing the country, and eating good food.

We first visited Greve (pronounced gray-vay) in Chianti, which has a fabulous Saturday market intended for the local residents rather than tourists. I enjoy these more because I get to see how the markets really work, the prices are better, and they are simply more entertaining.

 

Greve market

These markets usually include everything from local produce and meat to clothing to personal care items. This particular market included cooking tools, ceramics, baskets, kitchen and bathroom linens, flowers, a few pastries, meat, fruit, vegetables, and bread. If you need it you can probably find it here.

 

 

Greve market

 

These markets can be entertaining because Italians take their local markets very seriously. There is a lot of bargaining, some arguing over pricing or among each other about who saw what first, and much visiting with vendors and friends. The atmosphere is usually jovial and energetic, and this market was no exception. They are normally very busy, and Italians line up for nothing. So if you ever intend to visit one these markets, be assertive and sharpen your elbows!

What did I buy? I found kitchen towels and table linens at incredibly good prices. There is also a very good dried cherry that seems to be offered only at these markets. I buy a couple hundred grams whenever I find them.

 

Greve market, Mmm... ciligie secco! (dried cherries)

 

The other city we visited is a pretty little hill town by the name of Panzano in Chianti. We stopped here because I had seen the church tower over the trees and wondered about it.

 

Panzano

 

Panzano has that old world charm we see in photos of Italy. It is not a town that sees many tourists which means it is not cluttered with tacky souvenir stands. You see Panzano as it is, and it is beautiful!

 

Panzano

 

We ended the visit with lunch at a place called Antica Macelleria Cecchini, owned by butcher and chef Dario Cecchini. He seems to be rather well known in the area. No wonder, the food was great, the price was terrific, and the entire experience was, well, fun.

 

The restaurant mascot

 

There were two menu options. That day the menu offered the following: For 10 euro you received a half pound burger Tuscan style, roasted potatoes, vegetables, bread, and water. Dario calls it playing “with the concept of high quality fast food”. For 20 euro you were given some of Dario’s “butcher shop specialties”. That day this included raw vegetables and olive oil, Chianti sushi (beef, not fish), Chianti tuna (pork actually), roasted pork, meatloaf “Dario style”, bread, and water. Of course you want to sample the fabulous vino, so that is a little extra.

We ordered the second option, and that was enough for the three of us. With the Chianti  wine this was probably the best lunch I’ve had!

If you visit the Chianti area I highly recommend a visit to Panzano, and to Antica Macelleria Cecchini. You will not soon forget the experience!

 

Pomodori and Finocchio. Yum!

 

Pomodori (tomatoes) in Tuscan garden

 

Here are two yummy recipes featuring tomatoes (pomodori) and fennel (finocchio). They are very simple to do and both make a perfect side dish for your meals. And a big thank-you to Francesca for these recipes!

Baked Tomatoes

Many of you are probably doing some version of this, but I will include it for those who, like myself, sometimes forget about these simple dishes.

• Medium to large tomatoes, cut in half.
• Olive Oil

Place tomatoes, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake slowly to desired dryness. I would suggest setting the oven to 250 or 300 degrees. 45 minutes to an hour is about right for getting just the right dryness. Keep in mind it might take a little experimenting with your oven to get them the way you like them.

You can, of course, be creative and vary this recipe to your individual tastes. Add bread crumbs on top, and good herbs to add are basil or oregano. Parmesan cheese can also be added for variety. Experiment and make the recipe yours!

Fennel

 

Finocchio (fennel)

 

Ok, those of you who know me pretty well know that I do not care for fennel seed or the dried herb. But the bulb? I had never tasted the bulb before this trip, and really couldn’t imagine that I would like it. However, being one to try most things at least once, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really like the bulb in both it’s raw and cooked forms. In the raw form it adds taste variety to salads and is simply good by itself. The simmered version adds variety as a tasty side dish.

• Fennel bulb, or bulbs depending on how many you are cooking for.
• Water for simmering. You don’t want too much water. It’s better to add water as needed.
• A little salt if desired.

Slice fennel to preferred thinness and place in pan. Add water and simmer slowly until soft but not “mushy”. Now enjoy!

This is a very basic recipe that can be varied for variety if you prefer. Try simmering until not quite done, then place in a baking pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with bread crumbs and back 5 or 10 minutes. Try adding parmesan cheese on top. Herbs might be another option, perhaps a little tarragon. Again, experiment and make it yours.

 

Ciao Bella!

Piazza Del Popolo

Most of us know about the Italian greeting “ciao”. But where did this common greeting originate?

According to Roberto, the greeting began centuries ago as “Schiavo Vostro”, which translates as “I am your slave”. It was not meant in the literal sense, but as a high sign of respect for the person being addressed, as in “Schiavo vostro Signor Mazzantini”.

According to Answers.com and a site called The Smiling Eggplant, the phrase is from the Venetian dialect (sciao vostro). “Schiavo” was the word used for “slave” and refers to the slavic people who were slaves in Venezia after being conquered by the Venetians.

As Roberto related to me, this was eventually shortened to “Ciao Vostro” and has now become simply the informal greeting “Ciao”, with the original meaning lost to most people.

So, now that I know what this popular greeting actually means I will use it with a little more discretion than before.

Auguri!

Padova Market

Pisa and Arezzo

 

Pisa, Piazza di Miracoli

Before I get started… I have updated my photo album with my photos of Roma, Perugia and Padova. You can see them at http://picasaweb.google.com/drnorberg931/Italy201002#. Enjoy!

Pisa

Pisa is bella (beautiful), but I just can not warm up to this city. This is my second visit and the feeling is the same. Yes, it has interesting places, like Piazza di Miracoli, where the famous Leaning Tower is located, many churches, and many other attractions. It’s difficult to explain, but it’s just not “my city”.

That said, I actually went to Pisa to see an art exhibit featuring Joan Miro, which was good. After the exhibit I walked around the east side of the river for awhile just to see what that side of town has. A disadvantage about going to Italy in October is that it is the  “low season”, when there are fewer tourists (ideally-it depends on the city). This means that many of the old churches and museums will be closed to the public during the week. The exception is Piazza di Miracoli which is almost always full of tourists. It includes not only the Tower, but also the Duomo and Baptistery. The photo of the Duomo and Tower you see at the top was actually taken two years ago during my last visit to Pisa. I have more photos of the Piazza, Duomo and Baptistery. If you are interested in seeing them please let me know. I like to share!

 

Pisa

 

Arezzo

 

Arezzo

 

Ok, this town I like. In fact, I would recommend a full day here to see it properly. Two days might be better if you are like me and prefer to spend a lot of time at those most interesting sites. Arezzo is simply beautiful. The Duomo was closed to the public the day I visited. Even so, there is much more to experience. The park behind the Duomo is open to the public and is absolutely beautiful. It includes a sculpture dedicated to the father of poetry, Petrarcha (I read that somewhere, but I can’t now say where). Petrarcha was a resident of Arezzo in the 13th/14th centuries. Dante was influenced by Petrarcha’s poetry, and they are said to have been good friends.

 

Arezzo, Petrarcha

Besides the sculpture, a visitor can see part of the old medieval walls around the city and fabulous hilltop views of the city and surrounding hillside.

 

 

Arezzo

 

One chiesa I found open was Basilica di San Francesco. There are a number of great paintings by a painter aptly named Piero della Francesco. His paintings were magnificant, but the highlight for me was Cimabue’s famous cross. Magnificent!

 

Arezzo, Cimabue cross

 

Here are a few photos from Arezzo. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them. This little town is definitely on my list for next year!

 

Arezzo, old city walls

Arezzo, public art display

Arezzo, Basilica de San Francesco

 

 

And now for Your Viewing Pleasure…

…a few scenes from Villa Borghese in Roma.  I will get the full set of photos uploaded tomorrow.

 

Villa Borghese, Roma

Villa Borghese, Roma

 

Villa Borghese, Roma

Villa Borghese, Roma

 

 

Villa Borghese, Roma

 

 

Villa Borghese, Roma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fellini, Chagall and Chocolate

 

Perugia, Eurochocolata 2010

 

Ok, I know this is out of order, but I think you will enjoy hearing about this trip now.

Roberto had a meeting in Perugia today and invited me to ride with him as he would be traveling to Firenze from there (we’re returning for Umberto’s retirement party). After the meeting we intended to walk around the historic center (centro storico) but, I’m afraid I don’t have much about Perugia’s historic center. It is a beautiful city to be sure, but two things were happening that became a bit more interesting.

First was the exhibit Teatro del Sogno da Chagall a Fellini at the National Gallery of Umbria. This show was fabulous! It included Chagall and Fellini, but also other artists and film greats including Man Ray, Samuel Becket, Hitchcock, Ernst, Bunuel, Dali, Chirico, Warhol, Klee and more. The show featured an ongoing film in a dedicated area for each film great. The common link, I believe, was surrealism in the artistic works. Chagall a Fellini was well worth the entrance fee, which was good to start with. Molto bella!

 

Perugia, Eurochocolata 2010

 

So, what about the chocolate? Well, there just happened to be a festa di chocolata (festival of chocolate) going on in the historic center, Eurochocolate. It happens every year here. Of course, Perugia is famous for it’s chocolate. There are more than a couple of chocolate producers here. I have seen one brand, simply named Perugia, in the US. But there were companies from around the world including Rocco, Lindt and a Mexican brand. One company, Milka, came with a ferris wheel to entertain the crowds.

 

Perugia, Eurochocolata 2010

 

The restaurants and pastacerrie (pastry stores) also got in on the fun by offering all their best chocolate creations. Store windows were packed to the ceiling with decadent displays of chocolate candies, chocolate torti (cakes), chocolate filled goodies, chocolate crepes, and just about anything else that can possibly be created with chocolate. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of the store windows; the combination of shadow and noses pressed against the glass made a good photo impossible.

I love hazelnut (nocciola in Italian) and bought some terrific hazelnut chocolate from another Perugia company by the name of Bacetti (pronounced Bachaytee). Yum!

Oh, and did I mention that free samples were everywhere? Yeah, molto buona (very good)! It’s probably a good thing for me that we could only visit for a short time.

 

Perugia, Eurochocolata 2010

 

A more thorough exploration of Perugia’s historic charms will have to wait until next year.

Ciao Bella!

Oh Yeah!

I have updated the photo site on Picasa with new photos from the Chianti region and my first day in Roma. Check them out at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/drnorberg931/Italy201002#

A presto!

Dana

Florence

 

Ponte Vechio, Florence

 

Monday is the usual day for many exhibits and stores to be closed in Italy. But in Firenze some things remain open for tourists, so I was able to visit a small botanical garden attached to a local university, see Chiesa San Marco and Chiesa Santo Spirito, as well as a good Bronzino Exhibit at the Palazzo Strozzi.

First the Bronzino Exhibit. All I can say is it was great. No photo’s allowed here, so click on the link to see some examples. Many of them were included in the exhibit.

The Botanical Garden

 

 

Botanical Garden, Firenze

 

Orto Botanico Giardino Del Semplici is attached to the University of Florence. I started the day with this, but it would be the perfect place to visit at the end of a busy day in Florence. Most of it’s signs state Giardino Del Semplici is the oldest botanical garden in Europe. True or not, it is simply peaceful and beautiful, and easy to get to.

 

Botanical Garden, Firenze

 

San Marco

 

Polizia, Piazza San Marco. I couldn't resist since he posed for me!

 

 

Chiesa San Marco

 

This is a small chiesa (church) with a small nondescript piazza (square) and an active bus stop in front. There are small shops peppered around the the piazza, a ristorante, a newsstand, a music store, and a bar with the reputation of selling marijuana to those who ask (according to my host; I didn’t check this out myself).

San Marco is associated with a character named Girolamo Savonarola, though I notice the church seems to downplay that association. He was a Dominican priest in the late 15th century who would be considered extreme by today’s standards. He managed to become on of Florence’s leaders for a very short period in which he railed against gambling, books, makeup, colorful clothing (including women’s hats) and other such excesses. He seems to be the source for the term “bonfire of the vanities” because he held several of these, having people go door to door to remove books, offensive art (we would have so many more Botticelli’s in the world were it not for Savonarola), offensive clothing, gambling tables, etc. Of course this didn’t last long because, as so often happens, the masses rebelled, killing him in 1498 by burning him on the same spot he held his bonfires.

But San Marco’s history isn’t all dark. The church is also associated with Fra Angelico, one of the more important painters from the 15th century. Some of his most famous works are in the monastery attached to San Marco, which unfortunately wasn’t open during any of my trips to Firenze.

 

Chiesa San Marco

 

San Spirito

Santo Spirito is beautiful! Unfortunately I can only show you a photo of the rather plain outside because photos weren’t allowed inside. Francesco Lippi and Donatello both contributed their extensive talent to this church and Michelangelo, at the age of 17, carved the fabulous crucifix in return for being able to study anatomy using the corpses from the convent hospital.

 

Chiesa Santo Spirito

 

I promise to be a little faster with these. Look for Pisa and Arezzo tomorrow.

Buses and Trains

 

Pisa on the Arno

 

For those of you watching for more photos, I have had trouble uploading to my Shutterfly account. So, the photos are now on Picassa, and I have a lot of new photos there. The link is:

http://picasaweb.google.com/drnorberg931/Italy201002?authkey=Gv1sRgCOOi_b_Zg5qEcg#.

I still need to add the captions, so if you have questions on any of them, e-mail me or leave a comment here and I can explain further.  Enjoy!

Now, about buses and trains.

I am learning much about the bus and train systems in Florence, mostly that the bus system can be a bit frustrating. I have had no problems getting into Florence by bus. Getting out seems to be a bit tricky.  Not having used the buses anywhere (trains, shuttles, subway, but no buses), it is a bit of a learning curve for me.

So far I have learned that I can not just get on a bus with the correct number. I need to make sure it is facing the intended direction when I get on. In other words, I need make sure I am on the right side of the street! I have also learned that, though the bus routes may not say so, there is an A,B and C to some of the buses. For instance, one of the buses I need to get on is 23, but I need to make sure it is 23B.

The first lesson makes sense, and if I had thought about it before I got on bus 23 the other night I might not have been so confused when I realized we were not going anywhere near where I wanted to go.

The other lesson is posted nowhere that I have been able to see, and the fermati do not list the buses that way.  I must simply know that I have to get on 23B facing south if I want to get to the Sorgane stop to catch number 33 to the La Fonte stop, which is where my kind hosts would like to meet me for the trip back to la casa (the house).

So, Tuesday evening was an interesting experience. I had been in Pisa most of the day, and at 6 PM, at the Firenze train station, I boarded bus 23 (not A or B, just 23). This was the wrong bus as I figured out when we passed the train station again. The bus driver said as much when I asked how long to Sorgane. (OK. I honestly don’t know what he said after he advised I would not be getting to the Sorgane stop on his bus. I don’t really think I want to know). I finally recognized the next stop at Piazza San Marco so I got off and called my wonderful hosts who were kind enough to rescue me.

The train schedules are much easier to understand, and I have had no problems. Until yesterday. When the doors refused to open at my intended stop at Rignano. After a moment of panic I figured out how to open the doors manually so I could get out at the next stop 5 minutes later in Pontesieve. Of course, my friends here are now laughing and have decided I should not travel in any way but automobile. I have provided good entertainment for them.

Tomorrow? I intend to get to Lucca and back without a hitch!

 

Arezzo from the park behind the Duomo

 

Pasta Carbonara and Tiramisu

Here are two dishes I learned from Moreno and Luisa in Genova. I can tell you with complete confidence that they are great and simple to fix.

Pasta Carbonara:

1 egg for each person, plus 1

Parmesan cheese

Pancetta (bacon)

Spaghetti

Dice and cook the Pancetta until done. Mix parmesan cheese with the eggs to your taste. Cook pasta until al dente. Add cooked pancetta to the spaghetti, then add the egg/cheese mixture. Cook until done, stirring constantly.

It took approximately 30 minutes to prepare this dish, start to finish.

Enjoy!

Tiramisu

A note about the Tiramisu. This recipe is not cooked. That means the eggs in this recipe are used raw. Recent problems in the US with salmonella in eggs would make anyone concerned about this. Some substitutes for the filling might include Cool Whip or “real” whipped cream, perhaps a vanilla pudding or custard. Let me know if you have other suggestions.

Filling:

1 egg per person

Sugar (amount your preference)

For the rest of the dish:

Coffee, my own preference is fairly strong.

Biscotti (something light, similar to lady fingers)

Cocoa powder

A glass pan, 13 x 9, was used for our particular batch for 4 people. Use a size according to the amount you wish to make.

Separate the eggs. Cream sugar egg yokes together. Whip the egg whites into a firm foam – it does not have to be meringue, but fairly stiff. Then fold the whipped egg whites into the egg yokes. Dip the biscotti into the coffee and fill the bottom of the pan (one layer). Cover with some of the filling. Keep layering to the top of the pan, placing the last of the filling on the very top. Use a shaker or small strainer to shake cocoa powder on the top. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

I really like coffee flavored stuff, so I used a spoon to drizzle some coffee over the top of the biscotti before adding the last layer of filling. For me the result was great!

Enjoy!!!