Need I say more? I love it in every way. It makes the most delicious stew. It's my favorite kind of salami. And here, you see it as a ragu sauce served over gnocchi. It is simply, oh, soooo delicious. Umbria is wild boar country. It's very often on the menu, and if you see it there, you should order it. Please.
Montefalco has it all.....food, wine, art, history. But actually, I think the same could be said for all the hill towns of Umbria. This bit of fresco is in the underground church below the current museum in town. Once, I waited out a terrific thunderstorm while visiting the church. Imagine....crashing thunder, and flashes of lightning illuminating scenes like this. It kind of made my hair stand on end. This time I am visiting in February, and though Italy has had a brutal winter, I think I must have brought the sunshine. You can still see the snow in the hills and mountains, but the days have been pretty glorious since my arrival. This photo was taken on the outskirts of Montefalco showing the surrounding olive groves. Two Words: Wild Boar. Need I say more? I love it in every way. It makes the most delicious stew. It's my favorite kind of salami. And here, you see it as a ragu sauce served over gnocchi. It is simply, oh, soooo delicious. Umbria is wild boar country. It's very often on the menu, and if you see it there, you should order it. Please. Okay, this one was a little different, even for me. This is salt cod (which I have claimed my love for in a previous blog) served on a bed of lentils with chestnuts, and cooked in a vacuum. What was "different" about it was the nouveau way in which it was prepared. In the end, it was still salt cod with lentils. It was a wee bit odd to eat out of a jar, but it was very tasty. I absolutely love chestnuts, and there were bits of them scattered throughout the lentils. Umbria is also very famous for its grains; lentils, farro, orzo....all delicious and having the added benefit of being good for you. How should every good meal end? I know.....we were both thinking, "with dessert!". But, alas, no. I simply can't taste test every dessert in Umbria for you or I wouldn't fit in my airplane seat back to the U.S. On the other hand, every meal should definitely end with a good coffee. In this bar in Montefalco, I had the best cafe machiatto of the trip yet. It was so good in fact, that as soon as I finished it, I ordered another one. The coffee was deliciously dark and full of crema, and there was the perfect amount of milk "stain". sigh. Looking at it now makes me want to drive back there and get another one.
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Well, I've moved on from Rome, out into Umbria to work on the second phase of the upcoming October 2012 Pacific Northwest Wine Club Tour. I'm in Spello at the moment, sitting on my couch barely able to move anything but my fingers across the keyboard. I've had the most delicious dinner and didn't even have room for dessert.....shame on me. For our antipasti we had a lovely piece of grilled bread topped with pecorino cheese and served with a sweet red onion "jam". Very Nice. Crunch of the bread with the softness of the pecorino. Sweet jam against salty cheese. And guess what? The bread was grilled over an open fire by the man in the picture. Guess what else was grilled over the open fire? Meat. Yes....lots of meat. There are many country restaurants in Italy that have wood burning fireplaces in the middle of the restaurant. What better way to serve up cuts of various meats; tender, juicy and hot off the grill? We also ordered a primi pasta dish. This was an updated twist on an old classic. I know it doesn't look like it, but it's a vegetarian lasagne. It's like a gift of made-in-house tender lasagne noodles. And when you dig into the gift, hidden inside is winter squash, broccoli, ricotta cheese and gorgonzola. What a nice surprise, don't you think? I couldn't sign off without showing you the finished carne mista, mixed meat platter I got from the grill man. There was lamb, veal, beef and a most delicious pork sausage. For our wine tonight, we ordered the house wine, and asked for half a liter. The most gracious waiter brought us a bottle of rosso from Umbria, opened it, left it on the table and allowed us to simply drink half the bottle. The wine was inexpensive and delicious. Can you see the slice of lemon hidden under the meat at the top of the plate? This was something I never experienced before living in Italy. Here, they always serve lovely cuts of steak with fresh lemon. The first time I received it, I was honestly a little skeptical. Lemon on steak? Really? But now, if no lemon comes, I ask for it. It's magical...honest. It may be unassuming from the outside, but wait until you step inside. You won't know which way to turn as there are so many booths to visit. Come take a virtual stroll with me through the Trionfale Market in the Prati neighborhood; a place where lucky locals shop for the freshest everyday groceries. Imagine being able to buy jugs of Sangiovese for your personal everyday "house wine". sigh. At 1.50 euros per liter........fill 'er up! Porchetta is a beautiful thing. It's a whole deboned pig, stuffed with fresh herbs that is baked in the oven for endless hours. It can be purchased by the kilo, or sliced into a sandwich. I happened to arrive not long after it had been pulled out of the oven. So lucky me, I just got a free taste. Tender, juicy and delicious. What a lovely way to start the morning. Salami lover? Me too! This booth was like a Salami Christmas with garlands of dried sausages hanging everywhere. Oh, and if you needed a pig's head or pig ears, those were available for purchase as well. Cheese lover? Me too! Hard cheeses are perfectly legal to bring back into the U.S. I bought an entire wheel of pecorino here, had it cut into four wedges, and had each wedge vacuum sealed. They were happy to do it for me. When I get home, I can open one wedge at a time, leaving the others safely sealed in the fridge. Whether cut into cubes to consume with wine, or freshly grated on a variety of pasta dishes, pecorino is always delicious. And never toss out the rind when you get to the end. Throw it into your soup pot for added flavor. Need one egg, or two dozen? It doesn't matter when you buy them by the each! .25 euro cents per egg. Of course fresh produce is available around every corner. It's artichoke season, thank goodness, as I love them so. I've had one a day since I've been here. You can either buy them whole, or pre-trimmed and ready to cook. They're about one U.S. dollar each. A bargain! And of course there is a seafood section of the market where you can find the most interesting looking things. You can ask them to clean anything for you, and they are happy to do it. There are great dry goods as well. Italian cuisine is filled with all kinds of beans, grains and lentils. These are all locally grown, and sure to be delicious. Thanks for virtually strolling through the market with me. I could have used your real help though, carrying all my purchases home. |
Italophile......
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