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Sausage and Black Celery Festival…..a great evening in Trevi

11/10/2014

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My clients have long come to realize that when they travel with me…..they eat well.  Sometimes, I admit we eat too much, but we do eat well. Today, is no exception. We have a couple of great treats in store; a lovely lunch, a riotous wine tasting, and finally the unique treat of a Sausage and Black Celery Festival. Whew! But first, we need to build up an appetite. And what better way to do that, than with a few hours of shopping for ceramics!

We are in luck today because Marco, a member of the Gialletti Pimpinelli family is in the shop today and very willing to give us a tour. Though the artisans are not working (as it is a Sunday), he explains all the phases of ceramics making to us and shows us about the factory. He and his sister are the 3rd generation to be involved in the factory. His grandfather, (Gialletti) founded the company and his father, Graziano is the master ceramist. 
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True to form, shopping has made us hungry. We have an appointment for lunch at a lovely restaurant on the main piazza of the charming town of Bevagna. So many times, I have come here to find a fun event happening in the piazza, and today is no exception. There is a little craft and antiques fair going on, and I purchase a fun necklace. I love this town! It’s so small, but I always find something good to eat here, and best of all, it has one of my favorite wine shops. Today we’re dining at Ristorante delle Mura, recommended to me by Fabrizio Antano….of my favorite wine shop.
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Lunch is delicious! Each person gets their own appetizer plate…..tooooo much! But so good. Then comes gnocchi. But this is no ordinary gnocchi. The sauce is made from Sagrantino wine, my fave! Again; too much, but so good. And lastly, three big silver tureens arrive to the table. Each is filled with the house recipe for wild boar stew. Oh. My. Goodness. I was wondering what that little special something was in there, and upon close inspection, I find a few tiny grapes in the stew. Unique and wonderful.
After lunch, we only have a short distance to stroll to reach my favorite wine shop. I’ve blogged about Fabrizio Antano’s shop before. It’s a great combination of truly wonderful wine, Fabrizio’s generous pours, and his wonderful personality. Today, we’re in for a special treat as Fabrizio’s friend Pino has decided to pay a visit as well. Pino is a great photographer whose most recent subject matter are the flowering fields of the plains of Castellucio. These fields of lentil plants in Umbria erupt into riotous color at certain times of the year. You can see Pino’s photos on canvas in the background of one of the photos.
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After a little more time to explore the booths in the piazza in Bevagna, we load into the van and head to Trevi for a really unique and special treat. We happen to be in the area during the time of the annual Sagra di Salsicce e Sedano Nero, or the Sausage and Black Celery Festival. Everyone knows sausages are incredibly delicious in Italy, but Black Celery? In fact, the celery itself is not black; but the seeds that it grows from are. This particular celery, indigenous to this area, is quite hearty. It has a stronger flavor than the celery we are used to, and is denser, with less water content. The celery farmer below is the first place winner for this year's celery!
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But there is more to this festival than sausages and celery. Though the festival goes on for the whole weekend, we have come on a special night. It is the night of the Scene Medievale or Medieval Scenes. The townspeople have cordoned off certain cobblestoned streets, and local actors dressed in period costumes, re-enact the history of Trevi in the streets. Though we have a hard time understanding the Italian actors (our translator is working madly in whispers), we are nonetheless entranced by the emotions displayed on the candlelit cobblestoned streets. 
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And when we have finished the nightwalk, we are just in time for our reservation at a pop-up taverna. These little restaurants aren’t open for the bulk of the year, but at special times, open up and serve delicious local food. Tonight, we have reservations at one that has received awards for its food. It’s a boisterous atmosphere. People are flush from watching live enacted battle scenes, and from drinking local wine. 

We order toast covered in fresh ricotta drizzled with the famous local olive oil. Another toast arrives which is slathered in a sausage spread (This is the sausage fest, remember?) And best of all, we order stuffed black celery. It’s a little hard to describe, but the local celery is packed with a sausage, vegetable mixture, then baked and lastly slathered in a delicious, yet simple tomato sauce. 

It is just so good, and the local wine served in terra cotta cups flows. The crowd is loud and casual. We are loud and casual. It is: So.Much.Fun. These are the experiences that simply can’t be replicated in the U.S. Everyone around us is speaking Italian; we are the only tourists in the building. 

I’m dying for one of the adorable terra cotta cups and ask if I can buy one. “Just take it”, says the owner with a smile. 
I don’t know about my clients, but I am so happy. (Actually, I know my clients were pretty happy too.)


It's been a long day, we've done so many fun things, and had lots of wonderful food. But.....this is a sausage festival after all.


So on our way out of town, a couple of my clients decide they really must taste a grilled sausage sandwich from Trevi's piazza.


Good for them. My kind of people!
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Who's up for some Chicken Wine?

9/10/2013

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I know….it doesn’t sound very appetizing, but thankfully I’m not talking about wine made from chickens.  (That would just be gross.)  I am talking about chickens on the label and chicken jugs. Okay, maybe I’m not making sense yet. Let me start over.

I drink a lot of wine. Am I making sense now? And coincidentally, two recent wines I really liked both featured chickens on the label. One was from Italy, and the other from the state of Washington; two of my favorite places for fantastic wine. And all that chicken labeling made me think about chicken jugs; one of my favorite ceramic pieces from Italy.
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Let’s start with the wine. The first one was a primitivo from Puglia, Italy. It comes from Primaterra Wines.  I consider this a real bargain find; one of those wines I call a “case buy”.  No, I haven’t bought a case though I probably should have, as we’ve gone through several bottles already, and I must admit to having a couple more waiting in my wine rack. It was about $10 and for that price, it really delivers. It’s nicely balanced making it an easy sipper. It goes well with food, but doesn’t Need food for it to taste good. I taste the bold and dark berry flavors I love; but it’s not too fruity. It has an alcohol content of 14.5%, so watch out, but really, it’s just delicious and at this price point, it could be my “house” wine.


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The second wine with a chicken (well, on second glance, it’s actually a rooster) on the label was a syrah from Jones of Washington http://www.jonesofwashington.com.  It was one of the wines I poured at The Bite event in Portland last month and was featured by The Pacific Northwest Wine Club http://www.pnwc.com. It’s a nice bold wine with lots of dark berry, oaky, and leathery flavors.  It too has a 14.5% alcohol level. (I seem to lean toward these for some reason.)  Its winery won the 2012 Winery of the Year award for Washington State. I love this wine for its complex flavor and lingering taste.

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Now as I said, these “chicken wines” made me think about my Italian chicken jug. Italy, widely known for its ceramics is home to the chicken wine jug. Supposedly the chicken wine jug came about way back in the mid 1400’s when the Medici family was the ruling family of Florence. One of the members of an opposing family wanted to murder one of the members of the Medici family.  When the assassins made their approach in the dark of night through a small village where the Medici family member had been attending a festival, the local chickens were awakened. They caused such a ruckus that the assassins were captured and received the fate originally intended for the Medici family member.  The end result is that the ruling family member was so pleased with the chickens that he ordered ceramic chicken jugs made to commemorate the event.  Since then, chicken jugs have been traditional gifts of good fortune and safekeeping……or so the story goes.

Do you enjoy Italian wines? Do you love Italian ceramics? Me too! Join me on a tour of Italy featuring food, wine…….and even chicken jugs if you’d like. Booking now for Spring/Fall 2014. Drop me a line and let’s talk about your trip: [email protected]
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Tour Journal 5.0:  Wine, wine, wine, wine, wine….that’s all this group does (besides shop, eat and sightsee).

10/14/2012

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Dear Diary,

We start October 8th by boarding our lovely vehicle and making our way to Deruta; land of ceramics.  What fun to stroll from shop to shop perusing all they have to offer.  Then, as luck would have it, we are offered a spur of the moment backstage tour of the Gialletti Giulio shop and studio!

We watch as the potter makes a vase lickety split, followed by a bowl with scalloped edges….all in about 2 minutes.  We’re shown the giant kiln and are then amazed by the ginormous vat of underglaze each item is dipped into.  The best part is getting to watch the artists at work.  They are amazing…painting all the very delicate and intricate designs with a steady hand.  Maybe they don’t drink as much espresso as I do.
After hauling our purchases to the van, we make our way back to Todi for lunch and to get ready for cooking class.  We have a delicious lunch in a restaurant with a stupendous panoramic view of the valley.  It’s such a fabulous day to eat outside and soak in the natural beauty of the area.  Everyone opts for something different; pizzas, various salads.  We’re trying to eat light in anticipation of cooking class tonight.

Our cooking class is held in a beautiful winery called Decugnano dei Barbi between Todi and Orvieto.  It’s perfectly perched on a ridge with a view of Orvieto in the distance and row after row of grapevines falling away from every side.  We take a tour of the winery and even get to see how sparkling wine is made and stored in the old Etruscan tombs.  After the tour, we’re off to the restored chapel for cooking lessons.  We’re joined by another small group to make:  Focaccia bread, tagliatelle pasta with tomato and mushroom sauce, stuffed zucchini and brutti ma buoni cookies.  What a great name for these cookies!  It means, “ugly, but good”.  Along with each course, we get to taste the wines made here.

We had a long night last night.  We spent five hours at the winery and made our way back to the hotel rather late.  So Oct. 9th is a sleep-in morning.  Yay!  No alarm clocks.  But by 11:00, we are off to Montefalco.  For the first time, the weather is not cooperating.  Since its raining so much, it’s hard to sightsee.  What should we do?  I know…let’s eat!

We have a fantastic lunch; pasta cooked in Sagrantino wine, lentil soup…everyone chooses something different.  But there’s one thing on the menu that we ALL seemed to want: roasted artichokes.   Oh my!  They melted in your mouth leaving the crispy brown edges to crunch on.  Oh. So. Good.

After lunch, we’re in for a real treat.  We have a wine tasting at a winery that is so passionate about natural wine making.  We tour the facility and are amazed to see the freshly picked Sagrantino grapes drying on their racks.  Soon they will begin the process to become Sagrantino Passito, the famous sweet wine of the area.  I have tasted many passiti from Umbria (I am either proud or ashamed to say), and the passito from Paolo Bea is simply the best. 

We’ve been busy the past two days and the trip is winding down….only two more days left on the tour, but there is still so much to see and do!

More coming soon,
Irene 
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Serious Shopping means.......knowing how to pack.

3/7/2012

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Maybe one of the first thoughts that comes to mind when asked, "What will you buy when you're in Italy?"  is leather goods.   And yes, I must admit that over the years I may have purchased a purse, or two, or.............more.  And yes, I must admit that over the years, I may have purchased a pair of boots or two, or....... 

But, since I moved back to the U.S., whenever I go to Italy, my first thoughts for what to buy tend toward food.  Here's a sampling of what I brought home from my trip just last month.  Of course, there was wine and olive oil.  But I also brought back coffee, honey, cheese, lentils, polenta, chocolates, lots of cookies, and more.   It's seriously like Christmas when I unpack.  Even the wooden "bowl" (made from olive wood) is something I brought back.  It's fun to go out into the countryside and shop local specialties, but whenever I travel anywhere in the world, I also love to make the local grocery store one of my stops.  For me, it's great fun to see what the locals are putting in their shopping carts.

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My other favorite things to shop for in Italy (besides purses and shoes and food, oh my!) are ceramics and glassware.  Here you see what I brought back on this last trip.  I was able to spend some time in Deruta which is ceramics shopping heaven.  (I had to decide the best place for the bus to park :)

There are an incredible number of ceramics shops in this one small town.  It would be impossible to go into them all in one day.  But I do have my favorites that I return to whenever I'm there.  The artisans in this town have family histories steeped in pottery making and in painting.  Prices are higher than they used to be years ago (Isn't that true everywhere?), but they are still a bargain compared to what you would pay for these products in the U.S., and you see a LOT more variety.  Irene's rule of packing:  Never travel without bubble wrap.

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