TASTE
Digital travel magazine about villages and slow tourism
VENETO,
north-east tasting
LAND OF CASTLES,
gourmet destination
FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA,
border tastes
Issue 08 2019 Free edition
Rice,
white villages!
San Daniele,
holy ham!
Beer,
lager, red or stout?
Truffles,
black and white delicacies
www.e-borghitravel.com
Malcesine | Lake Garda | Veneto
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® e-borghi travel 07 www.e-borghitravel.com Publisher Giusi Spina direzione@3scomunicazione.com Publishing coordinator Luciana Francesca Rebonato coordinamento@e-borghi.com Art director Ivan Pisoni grafica@e-borghi.com Editorial office Simona Poerio segreteria@e-borghi.com With the collaboration of Antonella Andretta, Alessandra Boiardi, Grazia Gioè, Cinzia Meoni, Marino Pagano, Luca Sartori, Nicoletta Toffano, Carola Traverso Saibante Translation Beatrice Lavezzari Draft revision Joni Scarpolini Promotion and Advertising 3S Comunicazione – Milano Cosimo Pareschi pareschi@e-borghi.com Editing 3S Comunicazione Corso Buenos Aires, 92, 20124 Milano info@3scomunicazione.com tel. 0287071950 – fax 0287071968 The use of our website and our on-line magazine is subject to the following terms: all rights reserved. Any section of www.e-borghi.com can’t be reproduced, recorded or broadcasted in any form or by any means, be it electronic or mechanical or through photocopies, recording or other systems without a previous written authorization by 3S Comunicazione. Although a careful check of the information that are contained in this issue has been carried out, 3S Comunicazione won’t be considered responsible for any mistakes or omissions. The opinions being given by contributors are necessarily the same as the ones given by 3S Comunicazione. Unless different directions, the individual copyrights belong to the contributors. All efforts have been made to track down the owners of the photos’ copyright in case they were not taken by our photographers. We’re apologizing in advance for possible omissions and we’re available to enter further clarifications in the next issues. © 2019 e-borghi
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Marchio di qualità turistico ambientale per l’entroterra del Touring Club Italiano
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eLuciana Francesca Rebonato facebook.com/lfrancesca.rebonato
T
he Italy of villages is Epicurean, always leaning towards the pleasures of life and getting along the sensory routes where the taste is the protagonist like a flag of tastes and knowledge that has been passed on from generation to generation. The food and the wine represent the heritage of our country, it must be carefully kept, highlighted, told and tasted. This issue of e-borghi travel is a journey to discover the best villages and areas together with their unique traditions starting with Veneto and its beautiful tapestry of places that are perfectly set at every latitude and longitude with plenty of delicacies to taste, a rhapsody of starred-chef menus. Then we’ll move to Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a border patchwork of recipes that are strictly connected with their landscapes and climate. The delicate Dop San Daniele ham with its strong aftertaste is made here. If we go South we’ll reach the area of the plains that go up towards the Apennines then we’ll lead you to the eight villages in the province of Modena belonging to the “Unione Terre dei Castelli” (League of the land of Castles), with its compelling claim “Live, discover, taste”: we dedicated an insight to Vignola, its red cherries, the Bacchus’ soldiers and the balsamic vinegar. Then we’ll reach the villages of rice through the melancholic countryside spread with canals and rice fields. Afterwards we’ll land on the truffles areas and we’ll be charmed by their wide range of colours, from the white to the black and the cream coloured shades that turn into brown. Then it’s the beer’s turn: lager, red or stout? Our issue will disclose the tasty flavoured ones with their after-taste of artichoke or the Igp radicchio. The deep yellow is the leitmotif of “Zafferiamo”, the famous festival that is held in Città della Pieve that is dedicated to this yellow gold and finally you’ll bump into the bergamot from Calabria and last but not least a rainbow of light will cover the articles and the columns dedicated to the legends and the curiosities related to the good food. We’ll cross the borders too and we’ll reach China and its balance between the ying and the yang foods. This issue dedicated to the tastes of Italy is a coffer of ideas and insights to give you hints for spending nice week-ends and tasty holidays by matching the beauty and the tastes. Since “whatever is good is beautiful too” as Plato used to write in his “Timaeus” . Luciana Francesca Rebonato publishing coordinator
Summary Veneto
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
San Daniele ham
Montasio
CittĂ della Pieve
Land of castles
Vignola
Truffle
Beer
Rice
Crai
Fiore Cheese
Bergamot
Greedy weekend
Rainbow of tastes
Crossborders: China
Peggy Guggenheim
Theater of Modena
Out of place Holidays
Legends
Curiosities
Review
On the cover the Montasio Dop on the banks of the lake of Cavazzo Carnico at the foot of Mount Montasio
Luca Sartori
twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT
Veneto,
north-east tasting
Tubito/Shutterstock.com
Ollyy/Shutterstock
The Prosecco hills
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eneto has a thousand facets. The sea, the mountains, the lagoon, the hills, the plains, the lakes, the cities of art and the historical villages. It’s one of the most varied mosaics of Italy and it’s one of the best known Italian geographical areas. It’s the Italian region where the most tourists go. It’s an area that can meet all the tourists’ needs even the most demanding ones by offering a wide range of options for their holidays, at the seaside, in the cultural
towns, at the thermal baths, in the sports facilities not to mention the food and the wine. The food and wine heritage match the landscapes by offering plenty of excellent products like the cheese, the salami and the typical dishes. Each corner of this region will let you discover many different specialties to taste. If you don’t want to miss anything from Veneto and know the best of its tastes and its routes you can visit the website www.veneto.eu.
The royal lagoon
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he lagoon of Venice was entered into the Unesco World Heritage in 1987 and it’s featured by the extraordinary variety of water and islands. A liquid universe with Venice in its core, open towards the Adriatic Sea through three port mouths, Lido-San Nicolò, the Northern entrance, Malamocco, the Central one and Chioggia, the Southern one. From Venice to Burano, from Murano to Torcello, from Saint Erasmus to San Servolo, from Giudecca to San Giorgio Maggiore, just to mention a few important places, the lagoon is a wonderful patchwork of islands more or less
Chioggia StevanZZ/Shutterstock
important and more or less inhabited. The scent of the sea is everywhere, also in the countryside around the islands that give some of the best products of this part of Veneto like the white cuttlefish from Chioggia and the schia, a little shellfish from the lagoon. They are perfectly sided by the products from the soil like the green celery, the sea pumpkin, the potato, the chicory, the radicchio, the carrot and all the products from Chioggia, a beautiful city in the Southern edge of the lagoon, besides the purple artichoke from Saint Erasmus and the white peach from Venice.
Murano trabantos/Shutterstock
Chioggia marine pumpkin Pen_85/Shutterstock
Moleca, specialty of Chioggia freevideophotoagency/Shutterstock
Chioggia Nordic Moonlight/Shutterstock
Asiago cheese arjma/Shutterstock
Gallio Ekaterina Polischuk/Shutterstock
Veja natural bridge makalex69/Shutterstock
Overlooking the Dolomites
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he wide mountain range that goes up towards the Alpes and the Dolomites from the big Venetian plain is called the Pre-Alps. It’s the mountain range that reaches Friuli from Lake Garda, that crosses the Asiago highland and the villages of Asiago, Rotzo, Roana, Lusiana Conco, Gallio, Foza and Enego, from Mount Baldo that has been known as “the botanic garden of Europe” since the 16th century, from Lessinia, the area of the huge natural bridge of Veja which is heaven for the Winter sports lovers, the Pre-Alps of Vicenza with Recoaro Terme, the Little Dolomites and Tonezza del Cimone, the realm
of the mountain bikers, the mythical Mount Grappa, the sacred Mount of our homeland up to Alpago, Cansiglio and Nevegal, where the green-blue Lake Santa Croce is set. In this land of landscapes, mountains, villages, valleys, green fields and thick forests the milk and the butter are made to produce famous cheese like the Asiago Dop (Protected Designation of Origin), the Morlacco, which is produced on the Mount Grappa’s highland, the Bastardo which is produced in the mountains pastures of the Grappa mountain range and the Nevegal that gets its name from the nearby mountain area.
Rotzo Polischuk/Shutterstock
Dolomiti
Three peaks
Cathedrals of stones
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he Queen of the Dolomites is Cortina d’Ampezzo, it’s the elegant trendy heart of this area of the Alps, it’s a city of art full of traditions where many events are regularly held and it’s one of the most favourite destinations of celebrities and aristocrats. The Dolomites have belonged to the World Unesco Heritage for ten years now, they are considered one of the most beautiful natural landscapes in the world. The valley of Agordo and Biois, Falcade, Arabba, Fodom, Auronzo di Cadore, Misurina and the three Peaks of Lavaredo are considered natural monuments, then Cadore and San Vito di Cadore,
the Marmolada, the highest peak on the Dolomites, the charming Pettorina valley, the Comelico valley and Padola, the Zoldo valley, Alleghe and the Fiorentina valley are the pieces of this fantastic natural mosaic. The skiers, the climbers, the hikers, the cyclists love these areas, the territory of Belluno offers some very good cheese among which the Agordino which is produced in the pastures facing the Marmolada, the Casel Bellunese, a half-fat cheese and the Dolomites, a soft cheese as well as the honey, the vegetables, the fruit, the grapes that produce high quality wines.
Val Badia with the Marmolada in the background Zocchi Roberto/Shutterstock
Polenta with Cortina cheese Doctor_J/Shutterstock
Selva di Cadore milosk50/Shutterstock
Cortina d’Ampezzo
Adria Gaia Conventi/Shutterstock
Ghischeforever/Shutterstock
Rosolina beach Filippo Carlot/Shutterstock
Porto Caleri Botanical Garden Ni_Giri/Shutterstock
The liquid border
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he Po delta is a labyrinth of water where the land meets the sea, it’s an area of the Southern Veneto where the magic and the wonders disclose breathless views, where the natural beauty match the continuous important human touch. The Po delta is nature, water, land and much more like the town of Adria with its characteristic historical centre and its well documented history thanks to the several collections and findings that are kept at the National Archaeological Museum, Rosolina, a town set in an area that is featured by the vegetable
gardens that are spread in the lagoon of Caleri and the fishing valleys where you can see the botanical garden of Porto Caleri and Porto Tolle whose territory is featured by the marshes, the barene (sort of plains), the inlets and the islets with sandy beaches and lagoons among which the Sacca degli Scardovari, the ideal habitat for the cultivation of the famous Dop (Protected Designation of Origin) mussels from Scardovari. The other local typical products are the rice, the garlic, the melon and the honey that are produced in the delta’s areas.
Porto Tolle DBRfotograf/Shutterstock
The Mediterranean lake
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ake Garda is the biggest Italian lake, in its Southern part it’s surrounded by the morainic hills that were created by the melting of the ice and by the mountains in the Northern part that keep the climate mild. It’s bigger in the Southern part but it gets more narrow towards the North so it looks like a fiord surrounded by the mountains. The most famous villages on the Venetian side of the lake are Malcesine which is considered the gem of the lake with its castle, it’s the village that inspired Goethe, where the panoramic
Malcesine
cableway connects Mount Baldo with Lazise, an important historical centre of the olive trees coast, Garda where you can see the elegant palaces in the Venetian style, the Medieval village of Torri del Benaco, the fortress-city of Peschiera del Garda, Bardolino, the land of wine and Brenzone sul Garda, the heaven for the sea sports lovers like the sailing, the windsurf and the kitesurf. The very good oil from Garda is a Dop product and the most famous wines are the Bardolino and the Chiaretto which is the rosé type.
Lazise Andrea Berg/Shutterstock
Torri del Benaco DorotaM/Shutterstock
Bardolino in Bardolino Elena Rudakova/Shutterstock
Jesolo beach
Corrado Baratta/Shutterstock
Bibione Lagoon MORENO01/Shutterstock
Sandy horizons
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he coastline stretches from Friuli to the Po delta. The water of the Adriatic Sea touches its sandy beaches, the lagoon is sometimes in the background or by the Po delta. Jesolo offers many cultural, sporting and other events related to food and wine, Eraclea is surrounded by a natural oasis, Bibione provides a wide network of cycle routes, Caorle has a beautiful historical fishing village, the Lido of Venice is the home of the very famous International Film Festival, Cavallino Treporti is a wonderful place if you love
the tourism in the open air, Rosolina stretches between the dunes and the pine forests, in Sottomarina you can dive and discover the seabed off the coastline, this is the area of the sea, the beaches, the tourists facilities where you can have fun and enjoy your holidays, it’s the favourite destination of millions of tourists. The fish is the king of tables here. The fried fish and the grilled fish is perfect with the wine from Veneto and you’ll be surrounded by the tastes and the typical sea atmosphere.
Caorle Antonio Filippi/Shutterstock
The hills of Prosecco
World sparkling wine
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here are many hilly areas in Veneto, around Vicenza, the one of Soave, the hills around Asola and the Berici ones, the Euganei hills and Valpolicella, the hills of the Prosecco wine, the Coneliano and the Valdobbiadene hills that have been recently entered into the World Unesco Heritage. Northern of Treviso, just one hour far from Venice the magic landscapes of this hilly area are set, they are featured by the cities of art and the rural villages, it’s the land where they produce one of the most famous sparkling wine in the world, the Prosecco wine. Conegliano, Valdobbiadene, Vittorio Veneto and Follina are im-
portant places for the art and the wine culture. It’s “the route of Prosecco and Conegliano-Valdobbiadene hills” that guides the tourists along the ancient castles, the abbeys, the monasteries and the aristocratic villas as well as the historical wine cellars where you can also taste the local specialities like the salami, the cheese, the very good meat and you can taste the local wine, the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Docg, the white wine Hills of Conegliano Docg, the red wine Hills of Conegliano Docg, the Verdiso Igt, the Refrontolo Passito Docg and the Torchiato of Fregona Docg.
Follina Mauro Carli/Shutterstock
Prosecco e salumi Elena.Katkova/Shutterstock
Conegliano Castle Maurizio Sartoretto/Shutterstock
The Prosecco road Marco Florian/Shutterstock
Polenta ChiccoDodiFC/Shutterstock
Palazzo dei Rettori, Belluno Kuznetsova/Shutterstock
Under the shadow of the Dolomites
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he most Northern city in Veneto is Belluno, it’s set at the foot of the Dolomites and it’s an amazing mountain Roman amphitheatre. The interesting historical centre features the beautiful Duomo Square which is surrounded by many ancient fountains among which the fountain of San Gioatà stands out. You can stop there and see the beautiful historical palaces like Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo dei Rettori, Palazzo Scoville and the cathedral of San Martino. Piazza dei Martiri has got a Renaissance layout and it’s the real commercial core of the city. Belluno is related to
the famous Baroque sculpture by Andrea Brustolon who enriched the city with his works. Many of his works are kept in the church of Saint Peter or at Palazzo Fulcis where the civic museum is based, it also keeps some masterpieces by Domenico Tintoretto, Sebastiano Ricci, Ippolito Caffi and other artists belonging to the period between the 14th century and the beginning of the 20th century. In Belluno you must taste the Pastin, a dish with chopped flavoured meat that is served with polenta or spread on the bread with the cheese.
Piazzza Duomo MoLarjung/Shutterstock
Belluno
Canale dei Buranelli, Treviso Walencienne/Shutterstock
Glints on the water
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he atmosphere is magic in Treviso. There are many historical treasures within its walls among which the beautiful Duomo that keeps the painting of the Annunciation by Tiziano. The Civic Museums also belong to the artistic and cultural route of this city, they are based in Santa Caterina, in the Luigi Bailo Museum, at CĂ dei Carraresi where many important international exhibitions are held. Treviso is an historical city that deserves to be explored on foot, you can stroll along the ri-
ver Sile or the canals that offer beautiful views, you can visit the house with the arcades and their beautiful painted front sides that are mirrored in the water of the Buranelli canal so to breath the atmosphere of this city and its water. The local best products are the Igp (Protected Geographical Indication) Red Redicchio (chicory) and the best known Docg (Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin) Superior Prosecco Wine from Conegliano Valdobbiadene.
Cathedral of Treviso arjma/Shutterstock
Red radicchio risotto ANTONIO TRUZZI/Shutterstock
Along the Sile Giovanni Del Curto/Shutterstock
Treviso
Cod with Vicenza-style polenta Claudio Stocco/Shutterstock
Piazza Dei Signori, Vicenza canadastock/Shutterstock
Vicenza suppressed Salvomassara/Shutterstock
The enchantment of Palladio
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icenza is part of the World Unesco Heritage and it’s one of the most beautiful places in this region. It’s a real jewel-case of treasures by the famous architect Palladio, it’s a very elegant city that offers breathless views on the squares and the streets. It’s an art gallery in the open air that catches the tourists’ attention who are amazed by the beauty of the Cathedral by Palladio that overlooks Piazza dei Signori, it’s spread with elegant buildings and palaces from the Renaissance period. The Romanesque, the Baroque and the Neo-
classical styles are all present in Vicenza along an emotional route where the Olympic Theatre, the first modern roofed permanent theatre of that time, is one of the main landmarks. Another iconic work by Palladio is Villa Capra which is called “La Rotonda”. The art is also sided by the historical parks like Campo Marzo and the Salvi Gardens but a wide range of tastes is also at your disposal like the soppressa from Vicenza which is a big sausage made with the pork meat and other typical dishes like the codfish with polenta.
Villa Almerico Capra “La Rotonda“ PHOTOMDP/Shutterstock
Vicenza
From Giotto to Sant’Antonio
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adova has a very ancient history, an amazing route that wraps the past and the present where many traditions and art masterpieces come together. There are plenty of beautiful things to see like the Palazzo della Ragione, the Loggia dei Carraresi that witness the glamour of the Carraresi family in the past. The most important art-piece of the city is the Chapel of Scrovegni that features a precious group of frescos by Giotto, then there are also the sculptures by Donatello and the modern shapes of Libeskind’s monument. The city is running to be entered into the World Unesco Heritage but the University’s
Basilica of Sant’Antonio from Padua AD-ADVANCED/Shutterstock
Scrovegni Chapel EQRoy/Shutterstock
Botanic Garden has already been accepted. Padua is mainly famous because of Saint Anthony that has always attracted thousands of tourists and pilgrims who are amazed by the huge church and by the Abbey of Santa Giustina and the Cathedral. Prato della Valle and the walk under the arcades of the historical centre are two charming destinations, from there you can reach the elegant Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta. Venison and poultry can be found on your dishes as well as the salami and the sweets of the Saint like the amarettoni di Sant’Antonio, the Pan del Santo and the Merletti di Sant’Antonio.
Grilled game in Padua wjarek/Shutterstock
Palace of the region EQRoy/Shutterstock
Padova
Sarde in saor
Canal Grande
Spritz in Piazza San Marco Mariam Luso/Shutterstock
The lordly sitting-room
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enice is one of the most amazing cities in the world, it’s an explosion of beauty and art, romantic feelings and magic. Touching its beauty by sailing the gondola is a unique experience, you’ll be overwhelmed by the bridges, the palaces, the narrow streets and the little squares. The views are incredible from the Canal Grande (The Great Canal), the majestic San Marco Square, the Rialto Bridge, the Fenice Theatre, the treasures in the heart of the Serenissima, San Marco Cathe-
A restaurant along a canal Roman Sigaev/Shutterstock
dral, the tower bell and the Doge’s Palace. Venice must be disclosed slowly, little by little. There are several art galleries that display amazing exhibitions as well as many craft workshops and locals where you can taste the typical food specialties. The “bacari” are the typical taverns of Venice that keep the most typical traditions where you can sip a good glass of wine, the spritz, and also many other specialities like the tasty “sarde in saor” and the croutons of creamed cod.
Piazza San Marco Sergejs Filimon/Shutterstock
Venezia
Arena of Verona saiko3p/Shutterstock
Pasta and beans
Piazza dei Signori GoneWithTheWind/Shutterstock
Boiled with pearĂ Colibryx/Shutterstock
Castelvecchio Aerial-motion/Shutterstock
The amphitheatre of wonders
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erona became famous thanks to two young lovers, the protagonists of one of the best works by Shakespeare so it became the city of the sweethearts. It’s one of the best-known Italian cities of art and its historical centre has been entered into The World Unesco Heritage. The heart of the city is the Roman Amphitheatre where the opera has been historically put on stage as well as many other shows and concerts. The historical centre is spread with noble palaces that witness the enlightened past and the huge military palaces like the Barbieri Palace where the city hall is based nowadays and the Palace of Gran Guardia. There are plenty
of churches too among which the Duomo stands out, it keeps a painting by Tiziano then there is the Gothic church of Santa Anastasia and the church of San Zeno, a Roman treasure that keeps the tryptic painting by Mantegna. You can’t miss a visit of Castelvecchio, once a fortress and a museum of Medieval, Renaissance and Modern art nowadays as well as the Chapter Library. Among the best traditional dishes there are pasta and beans, the stewed meat with the pearà that is beef meat with a sauce made of grated bread, cheese, pith, stock and black pepper, the “pastissada de caval” a very old recipe with the horse meat and the polenta.
Verona
Sanctuary of the Beata Vergine del Soccorso pixelshop/Shutterstock
Padana moods
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ovigo is the most Southern city in Veneto, it’s a real cultural, artistic and environmental discovery. It was born as an episcopal feud, it’s spread with Medieval palaces among which the Donà and the Mozza towers stand out since they are the main landmarks of this city. The Mozza Tower was an ancient Medieval stronghold. Rovigo also keeps many details from its past related to the Republic of Venice that was called “La Serenissima” like the elegant Roncale palace and also some treasures related to the architecture of the area of Ferrara and Emilia like the Roverella palace where the art gallery
of the Accademia dei Concordi is now based. You can also visit the Church of Beata Vergine del Soccorso which is featured by an octagonal layout and the Duomo that keeps an interesting collection of artworks, then there is the Olivetan Monastery of San Bartolomeo and the Great Rivers Museum, dedicated to the peasant civilization and its traditions. The main dishes of the local cuisine are the risotto polesano, cooked with the eel and the sea bass, the stewed folaga with the beans and the “in tecia” guinea-fowl that is cooked in an earthenware pot with oil, butter, onions and pepper, and the hen in saor.
Rovigo center Ihor Serdyukov/Shutterstock
Hen in saor Agriturismo Corte Carezzabella
BACK TO THE SuMMARY
Rovigo Eug Png/Shutterstock
An amazing trip in the walled cities of Veneto brings you in the heart of the Medieval and Renaissance history, thanks to the treasures and the art masterpieces that you will discover walking or cycling among villages, castles and impressive bastions.
Montagnana | Padua | Veneto
Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a thousand border tastes
Luca Sartori
twitter.com/LucaSartoriIT
fabrice_gallina
zakaz86/Shutterstock.com
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n Friuli-Venezia Giulia, on the very North-East of Italy, the middle European, the Venetian and the Slavic cultures come together. Like the art and the traditions, the tastes from this area are a combination of different cultures that produce many unique products and recipes that are influenced by the landscapes, the environment and the climate. There are some typical products that have been awarded with the DOP (protected Designation of Origin) denomination like the San Daniele ham, the Montasio cheese, the Tergeste extra-virgin olive oil, the Brovada, the little sausages, the wines
like the Friulano and the Ribolla Gialla, the IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) products like the Sauris ham as well as the traditional recipes like the frico, the musetto, the cjarsons, the jota, the gubana, the presnitz, the putizza and the corn polenta. Friuli-Venezia Giulia is a fantastic journey through many different products and tastes, an amazing route full of surprises and emotions for your mouth too. If you don’t want to get lost among the tastes from this area you can visit the website dedicated to this region www.turismofvg.it/en/Stradadel-Vino-e-dei-Sapori.
Wine and flavor route
Parovel vigneti oliveti 1898
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Cividale del Friuli, between the vineyards and gubana
ividale del Friuli is one of the most important towns of this region because of its art and history, it’s an Orange Flag of the Italian Touring Club and it’s the heart of the hills that stretch towards the Eastern part of Udine. It’s an interesting village from the architectural point of view, featured by a beautiful historical centre with the painted houses’ walls and a network of narrow streets and little squares where you can see the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta dating back to the 14th century, the city hall dating back to the 15th century and the National Archaeological Museum. This area is
Devil’s Bridge xbrchx/Shutterstock.com
also famous for its vineyards that enables this territory to become one of the main areas for the production of wine. Among the several DOC and DOCG (Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin) types of wine that are produced in the province of Udine there are the Picolit, the Tocai from Friuli, the Ribolla Gialla and the Sauvignon. Cividale isn’t just a land of wines but of cheese and sweets as well among which there are the typical sweet from the Natisone valleys called gubana that is made of some sweet leavened dough filled with nuts, raisin, pine nuts, sugar and grated lemon peel.
Gubana barbajones/Shutterstock.com
In the alleys of the village xbrchx/Shutterstock.com
Center of Cividale del Friuli xbrchx/Shutterstock.com
Castello Villalta Mario Saccomano/Shutterstock.com
Fagagna Bertolutti Serena
Pestat Az. Agricola CASALE CJANOR
Fagagna, cheese and Pestàt
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agagna is gathered around a hill where the findings of an old castle are set and it’s considered one of the most beautiful villages of Italy, it’s well known for its savory cheese from Favagna , it’s a PAT (traditional food product) product that was born in 1865 at the local county cheese factory. This cheese is featured by a smooth yellowish crust that gets brown after the maturing process. The village also offers the interesting museum of the peasants’ life where you can see the typical peasants’ houses and
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the social manufacturing context related to the rural environment, you can also see the parish Church of Santa Maria Assunta whose floor dates back to the 5th century. Another delicacy from this village is the “Pestàt di Fagagna”, the typical seasoning that was used to preserve the vegetables and the herbs’ tastes in the pork fat in Autumn. The pork fat is minced and mixed with the vegetables and the spice that are put inside a natural casing then it’s seasoned in wet cool cellars.
Fagagna Abbate Paolo
xbrchx/Shutterstock
davidephotonature/Shutterstock
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t’s a network of canals, islands, islets, sandy dunes and marshy basins. Grado is the Northern wettest area of the Mediterranean sea, it’ featured by a unique eco-system where the herons, the common teals, the cormorants, the grey tufted ducks swans, the gear-eagles, the marsh harriers are the protagonists of an environment where the foxes, the weasels, the deer, the hares, the rabbits and the badgers are important too. It’s a picturesque labyrinth of narrow streets and little squares
Rsphotograph/Shutterstock
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Grado, the eel and the seafood
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featured by traditional architectures, stone walls, staircases and chimneys where you can stop and taste the local cuisine. Many specialties are served in the restaurants like the “bisato in speo”, an expression from the local dialect meaning “barbecued eel”, chopped into pieces and cooked on a spit with the laurel branches. There’s a lot of fish to eat in Grado like the mackerels, sardine, the mullets, the horse mackerels and the bonitos, besides the shellfish and the seafood.
Grado Ecoplane
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Gradisca d’Isonzo, goulasch and the plums gnocco
radisca is one of the most charming villages of the region, it’s surrounded by the towers, the ramparts, the restored walls and the findings of the ancient stronghold that was built by the Venetian people on the right bank of the Isonzo river. It’s a land of memories from World War I, it’s a village full of noble palaces, a garden village whose historical centre is featured by beautiful buildings among which the Torriani palace where the council hall is based that took inspiration from Palladio’s villas, the
Palace of Monte di Pietà with an elegant doorway and the Merchants’ Loggia with its nice loggia and three rusticated arches. There is also the cathedral with its beautiful Baroque front side and the Church of Addolorata dating back to the 15th century. There are many wine cellars in this area that offer visits together with the wine tasting. Among the typical dishes from this area you can taste the goulasch, the plums gnocco, the codfish, the trippa, the salami and the cheese.
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Mauro Carli/Shutterstock
Mauro Carli/Shutterstock
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The plains, between the brovada and the white asparagus
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he plains in the area of Friuli are a sort of carpet of tiny villages, mills, old factories, historical villas and castles where you can explore the history and the culture of this part of Italy near the heart of Central Europe. The restaurants offer the classical frico as well as delicious pork meat dishes and salami. The delicious white asparagus from Tavagnacco are celebrated in several festivals and events that are held in Spring, then
there is also the salame from Friuli, the sausages, the “soppressa”, the bacon, the lard, the “musetto” and the “marcundela” made of chopped liver, spleen, kidneys and lungs. You can’t miss the historical “brovada” to be sipped with a good roast or a good dish of polenta then there are the specialties like the duck salami, the duck raw ham, the speck and the duck breast that you can match with the wines from the DOC Friuli Grave area.
Brovada Ricantimages/Shutterstock
Soft Frico FVG
Polenta carpe89/Shutterstock
Domestic smokehouse Massan/Shutterstock
Jota Elena Trukhina/Shutterstock
The Carso, fish and cheese
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he dry land of Carso tells about the wine and the cheese and much more. The salmon, the famous extra virgin Tergeste DOP oil from the Rosandra valley, a taste of jota, the traditional soup of cabbage and beans, the Jamar cheese, matured for at least four months inside a karstic cave that is called jama in Sloveniana, the pickled vegetables, the savory raw ham from Carso, many different types of cheese to taste with the very good honey from Marasca, then the porcina, the home-made cheese, many different tastes to be
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matched with the local wine like the Terrano or the more romantic Vitovska. The Monte Re cheese is one of the best products from this area, it dates back to the Austrian-Hungarian domination, it’s produced in one single dairy farm. Then there’s the meat and the fish from the coastline among which the mussels also known as “pedoci”, the clams that are called “caperozzoli” and the sardine that are called “sardoni” that are dressed “in savor” that is fried and pickled in the vinegar and the onions.
Jamar Zidaric
Parovel vigneti oliveti 1898
San Daniele ham Fabrice Gallina
Rosa of Gorizia Biolab SRL
Vineyards in the Collio Giacinto Bianco/Shutterstock
The hills, the land of wine
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etween the plains and the mountains there are the hills, it’s a land of vineyards and wine cellars. It’s an area where the DOC wine from Collio, the Friuli Isonzo, the Friuli Eastern Hills and the Friuli Grave cross over together with the DOCG Picolit, the Rosazzo and the Ramandolo. It’s a high quality heritage. It’s a stretch of vineyards that produce high quality wines like the Grey Pinot Grigio and the White Pinot, the Sauvignon and the Friulano, the Ribolla Gialla and the Cabernet Franc, the Collio, the Merlot and the Cabernet Sauvi-
gnon. The wine is everywhere, you can sip it with the wonders of the local food mainly with one of the main local product, the San Daniele Ham from Friuli, the cheese and the Rose from Gorizia, a type of tasty red chicory. In this area the Austrian, the Slovenian and the Italian traditions come together and you can eat the goulash, the blecs, the glizlikrof, a sort of filled ravioli, the gnocchi made of bread, the kipfel that are a type of fried pasta, the strudel, the putizza, the krapfen and the palacinke that are salty and sweet omelette.
Collio Fabrice Gallina
Pitina Ricantimages/Shutterstock
Traditional room for cheese production and smokingMassan/Shutterstock
The Carnia, between the Montasio DOP and the Pitina IGP
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ea, plains, hills and mountains. Friuli-Venezia Giulia also means peaks and valleys, natural parks and tracks, lakes and canyons. The higher part of the region, the Carnia, is featured by the unspoilt nature and it offers many slow routes in the mountains and in the rural areas, in the forests and around the charming villages where there is a diversified dairy production. The famous Montasio DOP cheese, the Sauris ham and the Pitina, both awarded with the IGP denomination are only a part of the several excellent products that are produced in the mountains where the popular traditions are
Montasio Fabrice Gallina
very important too. If you visit the Carnia you must taste the special cjarsons, the bitter-sweet ravioli filled with a dough of herbs, potatoes, the raisin and sometimes even some chocolate, they are dressed with some melted butter and some cinnamon. The Carnia and its mountains also means the borlotti beans, “formadi frant”, it’s a dough of cheese belonging to the Slow Food Movement, the garlic from Resia, the “Radic di Mont”, a wild type of chicory that is picked up in the mountain pastures, the Asìno cheese, the boned loin and the “brusaula” that are little pieces of dried lean meat.
Sauris Ham LorenzoPeg/Shutterstock
Lake Bordaglia, Carnia William.Vaccaro/Shutterstock
The places of taste
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f you want to enjoy the world of tastes from Friuli-Venezia Giulia you can visit many different places. From the mountains to the plains, the hills and the sea there are many restaurants, farmhouses and tasty food shops that will give you unique emotions. There is the restaurant Al Monastero, the farmhouse Al Bosco Romagno in Cividale del Friuli, the Cjanor Farm, the Farm of Poggio di Fagagna, the ham factories of San Daniele del Friuli, the Bagatto, the Dok Dall’Ava, the Prolongo and the Alberti Ham House
dating back to 1906, the restaurant La Taverna di Colloredo of Monte Albano, the wine cellar of Castelvecchio di Sagrado, the Borgo Conventi Mansion and the Villanova di Farra d’Isonzo Mansion then there is the restaurant Al Piave of Mariano del Friuli, the Castle of Rubbia di Savogna, the old Inn Alla Fortuna and the Inn All’Androna of Grado, the sweets shop and the farmhouse Bellaminut Cristian of Terzo di Aquileia and many other places to discover and choose from the website www.turismo.fvg.it.
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Fields in Friuli-Venezia Giulia zakaz86/Shutterstock
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he Consortium of San Daniele ham dates back to 1961 when a group of citizens that included some ham producers and also some factory owners belonging to other industrial fields decided to gather in order to protect the name and the brand of San Daniele ham by setting some precise working regulations. Nowadays the Consortium gathers 3 producers of the precious ham from Friuli whose quality has been aknowledged by the Italian government since 1970 by setting a specific set of rules that enabled the legal implementation of the traditional production. The ham has been entered among the Denomination of Protected Origin products by the European
Union in 1996. The ethical code of the Consortium is based on the principles of accuracy, fairness, integrity, loyalty, cooperation and precision and it includes the values that are shared by the members of the Consortium. This Protected Denomination of Origin product is checked by a third authority and it’s also monitored by the Ministry of Agriculture that checks the correct application of the Production Disciplines through all the steps of the whole production chain that is made of farmers, batchers, ham factories and slicing labs. If you want to learn more about the Consortium of San Daniele Ham you can visit the website www.prosciuttosandaniele.it.
San Daniele Ham Luca Sartori
The production of the excellence
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he first step of the production is the selection of meat; the swine are born, bred and butchered in 10 regions in the North and in the Centre of Italy, they are fed with whey and noble cereals according to a particular diet that is set by the above-mentioned regulations. The thighs that pass the first conformity check can be used to start the working process. The chosen meat is kept for 24 hours between 1 and 3 degrees of temperature then it’s trimmed to remove the humidity. After more than 24 hours the salting phase is started by using the Italian sea salt then the thigh is set aside for a number of days that correspond to the weight of the thigh. The pressing and the resting are carried out in big rooms with a humidity between 70 and 80% and a temperature between 4 and 6 degrees, this is a phase that lasts until the fourth month from the starting of the working. Then there’s the wa-
shing phase, it’s an invigorating process that leads to the maturing phase together with the changing of the temperature. The maturing as well as all the production steps must be carried out in the area of San Daniele of Friuli under the perfect conditions of temperature, humidity and ventilation. The coating with fat is one of the last production steps, it’s carried out by using the swain fat and the rice flour that are put on the uncovered side of the rind in order to soften it by removing the most of humidity inside the thigh and prevent the meat to become dry. After the quality checks, the schucking and the pointing by using the horse bone enable to check the maturation and the smell enables to check if the product is good. After all these requirements have been met the product is ready to be fire branded in order to state its guarantee and its quality after thirteen months.
The land of ham
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an Daniele del Friuli is famous all over the world for the production of ham but it is also a place rich of art and traditions. The historical centre is elegant and well-kept, if you stroll around its narrow streets and its squares you’ll go back in time. The main landmarks that deserve to be seen are the church of Saint Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of butchers, it is also called “the Sistine Chapel of Friuli” since it keeps an amazing cycle of paintings dating back to the Renaissance by Pellegrino from San Daniele between 1497 and 1522, the Portonat, once called Porta Gemona, designed by Palladio in 1579, the cathedral of San Michele Arcangelo, the Monte di Pietà Palace
by the Venetian Matteo Lucchesi, the tower bell dating back to the 16th century, Villa Masetti de Concina, the church of Santa Maria della Fratta, the Belvedere and its panoramic staircase and the Sanctuary of Madonna di Strada. Among the treasures of the local culture there are the Museum of the Territory, the Exhibition Hall of the Military and Historical Relics which is housed by the so-called House of the 300s (Casa del Trecento) and the unmissable Guarneriana library which is based in the palace of Magnifica Comunità dating back to the 15th century, it’s the oldest public library in Friuli and it’s one of the oldest ones in Italy.
The Party Air
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he Consortium of San Daniele Ham’s mission is to safeguard an excellent product that is appreciated at an International level whose handcraft, uniqueness and history are matched to the high quality, the promotion and the knowledge. The itinerant festival “Aria di San Daniele” enables the Consortium to promote the product all over Italy each year since many special events and evenings are held in the locals of the metropolitan areas of the main Italian cities. You can taste the ham and listen to the stories that are told by an expert innkeeper,
you can discover the secret of the ham’s production while you are sipping a drink or tasting a special menu. In Milan, at Lake Garda, in Turin, in Florence, in Verona, Pescara and Rome, “Aria di San Daniele” has been the protagonists for many months and it’s going to be there again on the last months of the year: in October the event is going to be organized in Bari and Matera, in November in Naples and Catania and in December by the Dolomites of Belluno. The calendar with all the events is available on the website www.ariadisandaniele.it.
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The Dop Montasio Cheese: the peaks of taste
Luca Sartori
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he Montasio cheese belongs to the big family of the mountain cheese. It was born around 1200 in the valleys of the Julian and the Carnic Alps thanks to the patience and brightness of the Benedictine Monks, it is produced in Friuli Venezia Giulia and in all the areas of the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia and Trieste and in Veneto as well, in the areas of the provinces of Treviso and Belluno and partially in the province of Padua and Venice too. The Consortium for the protection of the Montasio Cheese is responsible with checking its trading and its
production aiming at successfully promoting this product. The Consortium supports this specific sector, it checks the working, it analyses the samples, it runs the research activities and it supervises the final selling of this product in order to protect the consumers mainly regarding the health and hygiene regulations, the legal use of the brand and the proper use of the identification of origin. If you want to get further information about the Consortium’s activities and the Montasio’s features you can visit the website www.montasio.com.
An excellent product for your mouth
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he definition of the Montasio cheese has been registered and protected since 12 June 1996 at the European Union as a Protected Indication of Origin product. It represents the Alpes, the Friuli Venezia Giulia and Eastern Veneto, three worlds that make this great cheese thanks to their nature, their landscapes and their history. It’s a wonder for your mouth, a masterpiece of taste, a special lactose-free semi-hard cheese featured
by a soft, delicate, balanced taste. It’s featured by three different types of maturing steps that give it different shades of taste. It can be fresh, it can be seasoned for 60 or 120 days, its taste is soft and delicate, its dough is pale yellow, its surface is smooth and delicate. It can be mid-seasoned or fully seasoned for more than 10 months and it can also be very seasoned for more than 18 months, very tasty and perfect to be grated.
The production
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he history of its production is related to the development of the production techniques that keep the idea of processing untouched. The milk is turned into the cheese by using some techniques that don’t damage the original microbial flora. That’s why the raw milk is used since it’s fresh milk that hasn’t been treated. In order to enable the growing of the milk enzymes that feature the cows from these areas that are fed with the local hey, a low-acid insertion is used. It is made by brewing the milk after a low temperature pasteurization. This classic technology implies two different milking phases and the evening removal of the cream from the milk. Then the milk is put into the heaters by adding
more milk up to a temperature of 32-34 degrees by adding the rennet as well. After half an hour of coagulation the jelly-like dough is cut by making little grains that look like the rice grains. Then you move on to the third phase that implies the heating at the temperature of 44-46 degrees. The main step is the off-fire baking or levelling to obtain the proper hardening then after around half an hour the cheese rolls are brought out by using some specific cloths that are laid on some moulds that print the origin trademark, the production date and the dairy. Then the cheese rolls are pressed and brined for 48 hours, the salt is added and they are put in the storehouses to mature.
An ever-lasting taste
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here are many different ways to taste the Montasio cheese. You just have to follow your imagination to enjoy it. A piece of cheese with bread is the classical way to enjoy its taste or with the fruit too, it’s a light and tasty match. It’s a very good alternative for your break in the office or at lunch break with salad. You can taste some small pieces of cheese and drink a good red wine or a glass of white sparkling wine. The
very seasoned one is great if you great it on the pasta There are many recipes that can be prepared by using the Dop Montasio cheese like the filled gnocchi with the leek cream or a spinach quiche, the pears au gratin, the green “tortelli” with the balsamic vinegar, the soups and so on. If you want to discover all the recipes related to this wonderful cheese you can visit the website www.montasio.com.
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Antonella Andretta
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Marco Possieri
CittĂ della Pieve: red as gold, precious as flowers
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here’s always a reason to visit Città della Pieve, but there’s a very particular one in Autumn, a very special, perfumed, coloured reason. It’s something that has been used for centuries not in the kitchens only. It’s the saffron and this city of Umbria always celebrates it at its best by organizing an event that lasts for three days that is called “Zafferiamo” that will be held on the 19th, the 20th, the 25th and the 27th October this year. “Zafferiamo” aims at celebrating this precious product from the soil that is a pride for this city and it’s also a good source of revenue (the producers from the 15 districts that make the “Croco
di Pietro Perugino – the Saffron from Città della Pieve” are gathered in an Association that guarantees its origin and its quality) and also one of the foundations of the history and the culture of this area. The festival is focused on all the different facets of this product starting with the cuisine, actually the tasty moments won’t be missing thanks to its perfume of hay and iodoform, as the experts say, due to the molecules of picrocrocin and safranal that are contained in the pollen of the crocus sativus, the flower from which the saffron is obtained. Restaurants will prepare some dedicated menus on this occasion.
Fiori di Zafferano
“Zafferiamo 2019” taste, atmosphere and workshops
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he market-exhibition is going to be held in the historical center where the Association’s producers are going to exhibit all kinds of products made from this precious spice, the cheese, the salami, the ice-creams and the appetizers, the pizza and the sweets. But this is not enough since the saffron is also used to make the dyes, the colors and the cosmetic products. If you fancy discovering how you can use it take part in the workshops to learn how to color the fabrics, how to use it to paint the water color paintings
and get all the shades from this red gold. If you prefer not to handle the colors and the brushes you will have the chance to see the artworks by many different artists or you may also get dirty with the flour in the food workshop “Mani in pasta” The variety of the uses of saffron is so wide that it has entered into this city’s DNA which is red as well because of the bricks that feature its architecture. It’s much more than a color shade, it’s the true core of this city’s traditions and history.
Curvy upon the green of Valdichiana
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ittà della Pieve is a placed blessed by the beauty of its landscape (if it ever existed…). It overlooks the Valdichiana and lake Trasimeno, on the border between Umbria and Tuscany and it offers an amazing view at its 500 metres of altitude on Mount Cimino and the Mount Sibillini, the Pratomagno, the Cetona and Amiata. Stroll around the narrow streets of the historical center, raise your eyes, admire the walls made of the red bricks, the tower-bells, the very narrow streets (for instance the vicolo Baciadonne seems to be the most nar-
Via Po di Mezzo
row street of Italy), you’ll breath the fresh air and you’ll be overwhelmed by the same feelings that used to surround Perugino, the great Mater of painting who was born in Città della Pieve although his name. If you know something about the Renaissance painting you can’t forget the backgrounds painted in the works from that Age, the landscapes, the hills, the fortresses since they were the painting translation of what those painters could see before their eyes together with that special light that makes everything so beautiful, poetic and charming.
Via del Profiello
Via Francesco Melosio
Cathedral and Civic Tower
Viale Icilio Vanni and Church of Santa Lucia
The baptism of Christ
Palazzo della Corgna
The cathedral, the frescoes, the jails
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ittà della Pieve keeps some of the most famous artworks by Perugino: “The Descent of the Cross”, an impressing fresco although it has been damaged along the centuries. It’s kept at the Civic Diocesan Museum of Santa Maria dei Servi. Another incomparable work is the amazing “Adoration of the Three Kings” which is set in the Oratory of Santa Maria dei Bianchi, not far from the Cathedral where the “Baptism of Christ” can be seen. If you stroll around the city you’ll be impressed by the cathedral, it’s standing in the core of the city that developed around it. Palazzo
dei Priori and Palazzo della Corgna face the cathedral, it’s an ancient building where you can enter by going through a frescoed room as well as the ceilings and the walls all around. One of the main landmarks of the city is Rocca Perugina, a former stronghold and a jail: you can visit the rooms, the narrow tunnels, the ancient Jails and a few towers. The contemporary art is also present in Città della Pieve: at the Space Kossuth and in the garden of laurels you can see some very interesting works and installations that are perfectly set in the surrounding Medieval context.
Rocca Perugina
The “four seasons” city
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o, there’s always a good reason to visit Città della Pieve: on Christmas, quite soon, the Monumental Nativity House (Presepe) is arranged in the cellars of Palazzo della Corgna, it‘s made of more than a hundred big statues that are artistically arranged in a perfect way. The living pictures is another touching tradition, they are set on Easter Sunday and Monday in the cellars of Palazzo Orca. They recall the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ with more than 40 living characters. The “Infiorata” that is held in June is an amazing festival, all the streets are covered in flower petals that shape colourful images.
In August the famous “Palio dei Terzieri” is held. It’s the recalling of an ancient Medieval tradition called the “Bull’s run”, it’s a sort of corrida that used to be held along the village’s streets. Nowadays this event aims at celebrating the culture and the traditions from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Umbria (the parade in period costumes can’t be missed) and the bull’s hunting has been replaced with a competition during which the contestants who represent the different “terzieri” (districts) compete in the archery discipline by hitting the silhouettes that reproduce the bulls.
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In the “Land of castles”
Simona PK Daviddi
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Castelvetro, Castle of Levizzano Nacchio’sBrothers
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t is called Unione Terre di Castelli (League of the Land of Castles) and it gathers eight villages in the province of Modena that are spread along a territory that goes up from the plain towards the hills and reaches the Apennines: Vignola, Spilamberto, Marano sul Panaro, Guiglia, Savignano sul Panaro, Castelnuovo Rangone, Castelvetro di Modena and Zocca are the eight gems set in an unspoilt natural charming landscape. It’s not by chance that the claim of
Terre di Castelli is “Live, Discover, Sip”: if you visit these tiny treasure chests all your senses will be excited by the taste of history, the delicious delicacies, the lush vegetation which is perfect for your relaxing walks and your invigorating trekking surrounded by a landscape that winks the well-being and the low pace of the quality tourism. So let’s do a roundup of these eight villages (there’s a special focus on Vignola in the magazine) and sip them all!
Spilamberto: back to the Middle Ages
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t was a stop for the wayfarers and the pilgrims along the ancient Romea route already before the year 1000 and it had also been a stronghold since the 13th century. Spilamberto has been keeping an untouched charm because of the Rocca Rangoni stronghold that owes its name to the feudal lords who ran it for centuries. The central part is embellished by a balcony dating back to the 16th century and it is also featured by the huge tower dating back to the 14th century that overlooks the village with its crenelated edge by showing the ruins of the ancient draw bridge that keeps the secrets of a dark past mainly when it was turned into a prison. By the way, you can’t miss a visit of Messer Filippo’s
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jail. He was an educated and clever prisoner who could write rhymed verses to tell his story while he was in jail, he used to write the graffiti on the jail’s walls by using his own blood and according to the legend his ghost is still wandering around the ancient walls! –. The narrow streets of Spilamberto keep other gems worth to be taken into account like the Governor’s palace, the Bargello Palace, the ancient spinning mill dating back to the 17th century were the silkworms that are bred in this area were worked, the Church of Beata Vergine del Carmine and the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar Museum which is a top product together with the amaretti and the liquor from nuts.
Tower
Vinegar Museum ABTM
Loris Tagliazucchi
Church of San Lorenzo
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wavy landscape spotted with tiny settlements that must be slowly sipped. It’s the area of Marano sul Panaro whose history witnessed the competition between Modena and Bologna for this charming village and its castle dating back to 1100. Piazza Matteotti is the core of the village, it’s nearly an open book about the village’s stories, it’s overlooked by the Church of San Lorenzo that keeps the very revered Black Christ made from the olive tree wood and the ancient Montecuccoli Mill whose name comes from the Lordship that ran Marano in the late Middle Ages
Piazza Matteotti Nacchios Borthers
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Marano sul Panaro: where nature is the queen
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under which the canal that has the same name flows. After you have left the historical centre you must visit Denzano as well which is embellished by the high tower and the ruins of a parish church where a beautiful apse looks like the prototype of the Duomo of Modena, Villabianca that overlooks the valley and the calanques and Ospitaletto which is featured by a curious volcanic phenomenon called “delle salse” while from Festà to Casona you can have wonderful excursions along the Panaro river within the Parco dei Sassi (the park of stones) of Roccamalatina.
Marano Denzano Loris Tagliazucchi
Guglia Castle
Borgo Sassi, Rocca Malatina
Massimo Bonini
Guiglia: the balcony of Emilia
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he view of the hills that you can enjoy from the village at 490 metres of altitude as well as the plain worth the visit but the surprises this tiny village can offer don’t finish with the view: the ancient castle and its spiring Torre del Pubblico tell about the entanglements, the wars between the factions, the fires and the dominations that left their signs in all the architectural changes of the building up to 1630 when the Marquis Montecuccoli started a restauration that turned the stronghold into a magnificent noble residence. The little Castle of the Ants (Castellino delle Formiche) whose name is the result of
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a mistaken Medieval translation from the Latin word formido, still keeps the feature of a castle that can be “intimidating”. It’s a little settlement overlooked by the tower dating back to the 15th century which is set on the top of a rocky edge that was turned into the church’s tower bell within the walls along the centuries. Another religious construction that deserves a visit in Guiglia is the parish church of Trebbio, in the heart of the Regional Park of the Stones of Roccamalatina: it’s featured by a beautiful front door, the very ancient capitals, the precious paintings and the wonderful sculptures.
The Venusn of Savignano
Savignano sul Panaro: between the castles and the elephants shows the ruins of some beautiful frescos. The castle went through different dominations among which Matilde di Canossa, one of the main protagonists during the “dark centuries� who maybe stayed in the castle, the legend goes that her house was in the village. For the wine lovers we must mention the 11 grape varieties that you can taste in one of the wineries that are spread in the surroundings while in Winter you can taste the sweet kaki from Savignano.
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f we had any doubts about the ancient origins of Savignano, besides the findings of some pre-historical settlements, two important findings could make everything clear: the skeleton of a Mammuthus elephant dating back to the Pliocene was found here, you can see it at the local Museum of the Elephant. Moreover a little statue called the Venus of Savignano was found as well, it can be dated back to the Palaeolithic period while the Medieval castle with its beautiful tower made of stones still
Nacchio’sBrothers
Castelnuovo Rangone: in the name of contemporary art
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athering in Castelnuovo means going back in time, you start with the Archaeological Museum of Terramara di Montale that exhibits in the open air the reconstruction of an ancient fortified settlement dating back to the Bronze Age that was found there, the ruins of the ancient walls and the castle dating back to the 15th century. You can end your visit at the Crac Spazio Arte, the art gallery that was designed according to the idea that you can see the artworks all days at any time of the day thanks
to the windows that are always lighted and visible from the outside. Besides walking back in time you can’t miss a stop at the “found� well and the bronze statue dedicated to the pork, the symbolic animal of the best production activity of the village which is the working of the pig-meat but you can also have a tour around the Hills of the Fairy tales to become children again among the shapes of the main characters that have been drawn by the famous art director Emanuele Luzzati.
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Fairy tale hill
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Castelvetro di Modena, the home of Lambrusco
f you mention Castelvetro you will soon remind Grasparossa, the most precious type of Lambrusco that is cultivated in this area together with the Trebbiano wine that is afterwards used to make the traditional balsamic vinegar. The village of Castelvetro is surrounded by a relaxing landscape of vineyards and it’s overlooked by six amazing Medieval towers that surround Piazza Roma, also known as the square of “draughts” because of its white and black squared floor where you can see some important buildings like the Palazzo Comunale del Secon-
Massimo Ferrarini
dogenito (the City Hall of the Second-born) and the Rinaldi Palace which is featured by a Neo-Gothic Medieval style. You can’t miss a stop at the Castle of Levizzano in the same village which is featured by the ancient walls overlooked by the Matildica Tower. There are two more buildings that deserve to be mentioned: the Church of Puianello, with its straight front wall and the Baroque internal space and the beautiful chapel of San Michele Arcangelo, from where you can enjoy a wonderful view of the hills and the vineyards.
Church of Puianello Venturelli
Castello di Levizzano Nacchio’sBrothers
Montalbano Gian Luigi Olmi
Museo del castagno
Montecorone Gian Luigi Olmi
Zocca: the rock soul you can see in the distance like the ancient fortress of Montalbano, featured by the steep narrow streets and the church dating back to the 18th century. The Castle of Montetortore and Montecorone also deserve a visit. By the way, the famous Italian rocker, the “National Vasco” isn’t the only celebrity who was born here, the astronaut Maurizio Cheli, the guitar player and singer Massimo Riva, the writers Giuliano Pasini and Mauro Santagata, the musician Giovanni Maria Bononcini and the painter and architect Antonio Tesi were born here as well.
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f you love music Zocca has become a sort of place of pilgrimage since there are always plenty of tourists who wander around looking for Vasco Rossi, one of the most famous Italian rockers who was born here, maybe hoping to meet him in the village’s streets. Apart from that, Zocca deserves a visit in Summer to run away from the hot temperatures of the city and enjoy a truly charming landscape: the village is set at 759 metres of altitude and it’s surrounded by the chestnut trees and the thick forests, there’s a beautiful historical centre and many interesting places that
Vineyards in Savignano Massimo Bonini
Nature is the queen
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he nature is the stage where the ancient villages show their beauty, they are like precious stones set on a green ridge that gets different shades as the territory changes, from the pale green of the vineyards in Autumn during the period of the foliage when the leaves become red and you can walk along the wonderful naturalistic routes to the bright green of the hills that you can discover by cycling around and the deep green of the forests where you can forget about your stress and worries and you can
try the forest bathing, the last discovery in the field of the wellness experiences. Then there’s the regional Park of the Stones of Roccamalatina, 2.300 hectares of chestnut trees and beechwoods where the sandstone peaks stand out up to 70 metres of height while the underwood is spread with wonderful wild orchids, lilies, cyclamen, anemones, the heather and the tasty red berries that create the ideal habitat for the badgers, the porcupines, the foxes, the deer, the roes and the beech martens.
Panaro River Valter Baldini
Elena Lanozzi
Salumeria Museum
Food and wine: the taste is all around
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ach village belonging to the Unione Terre di Castelli claims some traditional products whose fame goes beyond the production area as well as many varieties of food and many tasty dishes. If Vignola is famous for its cherries and the Barozzi cake, Spilamberto is the main area for the production of the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar to which an entire museum is dedicated and it also claims the production of some tasty sweets called amaretti and a very good liquor made of nuts called Nocino. Kakis are the main products from Savignano that shares its stage with 11 different types of vines that produce some very good Doc wines. Castelnuovo Rangone is well known for the working of the pig-meat and there is also a museum dedicated to this
activity that is called MuSa, the museum of salumeria. This production enabled this village to be entered into the World Guinness Records Book for its festival called Superzampone. And the meat perfectly matches Bacchus and one of the most famous type of wines that are produced in this area, the Lambrusco made in Castelvetro di Modena, mainly the special Grasparossa type to which the local Museo Rosso Graspa is also dedicated. Finally you can’t leave Guiglia without tasting the Borlengo, a thin soft puff pastry seasoned with a sauce of fat, rosemary and Parmigiano cheese while if you stop in Zocca in Autumn the chestnuts are the protagonists of the tables and you can also visit the dedicated museum.
Francesco Ferrarini
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Vignola, nomen omen
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Valter Baldini
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ignola, the charming hilly village set in the Modena area (Bologna is only 30 kilometres far) already has its mission in its own name that comes from Latin vineola meaning “piccola vigna� (tiny vineyard) because of its ancient cultivation of the grape that dates back to the Roma Age. But the history of Vignola is also about tiny parish churches, castles, monks if it’s true that the first fortress overlooking the Panaro river was wanted by Saint Anselm, the abbot of the nearby monastery of Nonantola around the year 800 to protect the surrounding territory. The urban surroun-
ding area also tells about the fights between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, between the different dominions and feudal lords, the powerful Estensi family and the enlighted Contrari family from Ferrara: they wanted the restoration of the castle, the construction of new walls and the construction of what is still a jewel of Vignola, the Barozzi Palace that took its name from the architect who designed it, Jacopo Barozzi, also called, no need to mention it, The Vignola. Regarding other famous people from this village we must mention the historian Ludovico Antonio Muratori.
Palazzo Barozzi
Municipio
The historical centre, gems to be discovered
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trolling around the historical centre of Vignola can give you unexpected emotions not just for the architectural landmarks that you can see like the gems of a precious necklace but also because of the huge buildings that are displayed along the way starting with the massive castle dating back to the 15th century that overlooks the big Piazza dei Contrari that show a unique balance between the volumes of the buildings and the crenelated towers as well as the elegant porch and the famous Contrari-Boncompagni
Palace (also known as Barozzi Palace) that we have already mention although it deserves a further appreciation for its aesthetical features as well as for its spiral staircase (well known as the Barozzi Staircase) that was the only link between the four floors of the building. It features an amazing spiral shape with 106 steps and an inclination that becomes more evident while you are getting up and you are also amazed by some wonderful frescos on the walls dating back to the 19th century.
Spiral staircase at Palazzo Barozzi
Auris
Roof gardens and ancient towers
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he charm of Vignola doesn’t end in Piazza dei Contrari: the whole village deserves a visit to see the other wonderful places where history is still breathing. Galvani Gardens is one of these places, it tells the story of the Galvani family when they moved there from Ferrara following the Contrari family: actually this roof botanical garden is set on the ancient walls, it includes the Galvani tower that was built by using the stones and it has a squared layout and the “Polpetta” tower that features a round layout. If the secular power is well represented by this important
legacy the ecclesiastical power is not far behind starting with the Plebana Church dating back to 1185, it was destroyed, rebuilt, enlarged and restyled plenty of times along the centuries. It features a neoclassic style with columns and Corinthian capitals on the front side and beautiful paintings inside, the Madonna with Child and Saints by Elisabetta Sirani, a follower of Guido Reni must be seen as well as some precious statues like the golden bronze Pietà by the artist Ivo Soli from Vignola who also made some statues of the Cathedral of Milan.
Galvani garden
One thing leads to another
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f the name Vignola reminds of the vineyards in the Roman Age, nowadays the wonderful village is famous mainly for the production of cherries, the Mora from Vignola Igp. These sweet “durone” cherries have been awarded with many prizes at an International level, also at the last National Festival of the “City of Cherries” that was held in June and this product was awarded as “the best Italian cherry in 2019”. We suggest you not to leave Vignola without buying at le-
ast a jar of cherries under spirits! Cherries aren’t the only delicacies that Vignola offers to its visitors: you can’t help tasting at least one piece of the famous Barozzi Cake, it’s a symphony of dark chocolate with almonds and toast nuts that was invented in 1886 by Eugenio Gollini, the owner of the sweet shop that keeps his name that is still located in the historical centre; since then the recipe has been passed on to the following generations and it’s still secret.
Acetaia comunale
Between the wine and… the vinegar
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he area of Modena and the good food is an undisputed perfect match. There are two quality products that are well represented in Vignola: the wine and the vinegar. For the Bacchus lovers we must mention the fact that the city of cherries is set in an important area for the production of wine and it’s spread with wine cellars where some important sparkling red wines are kept since you are in the
area of the Lambrusco Doc. If you prefer the bitter unique taste of the balsamic vinegar you can’t miss a visit at the local vinegar factory which has been located at Villa Tosi-Bellucci since 1999 where the council house is also based. Here they produce a Dop balsamic vinegar and the apples’ vinegar that is aged inside different types of barrels made of cherry wood, chestnut wood and oak wood.
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The villages of truffles: the perfume of the good soil
Antonella Andretta
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Piazza Risorgimento, Alba Rostislav Glinsky/Shutterstock.com
Alba Federico Rostagno/Shutterstock.com
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esides being the king of the kitchen, what is a truffle exactly? It’s a sort of spontaneous underground mushroom: its value is due to the fact that you can’t cultivate it so you must search for it in the forests (thanks to the dogs’ nose) and it must be strictly picked up by hand. There are different types of truffles and among the thirteen ones that you can pick up in Italy the most precious one is with no doubt the Tuber Magnatum, the white truffle. So we can’t help starting our roundup with the “International Trade-Fair of the White Truffles of Alba” (Cuneo) that’s going to be held from the 5th to the 24th November this
year. An exhibition hall will be dedicated to this product and the whole historical centre will be a huge outdoor market where you can find the rare truffles and you can see how they can be used to make the sauces, the cheese, the salami as well as other typical products and specialities from Piedmont. When you stroll around the village searching for different tasty products you’ll be able to see the cathedral next to the city hall in the elegant Piazza Risorgimento and you will glimpse the Medieval towers in the nearby streets. The shops, the boutique and the good restaurants won’t be missing too.
Truffle Fair of Moncalvo outcast85shutterstock_335/Shutterstock.com
Medieval parade, Alba Rostislav Glinsky/Shutterstock.com
Festivals from Piedmont and sundials
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he other trade-fairs that are held in this region are quite popular too. There are the National fairs of Moncalvo, Montechiaro (both in the province of Asti), Murisengo, San Sebastiano Curone, Trisobbio (in the province of Alessandria) and Rivalba (Turin). There are also thirteen regional fairs among which the one of Montiglio Monferrato (Asti), a nice village where you can taste the local specialities and see the old agricultural activities around the stalls on the first two Sundays in October (from the 6th to the 13th this year). You can eat
Pappardelle with truffle frantic00/Shutterstock.com
outdoor and taste the typical dish with the truffles and you can also have a big lunch organized by the Pro Loco. The entire historical centre deserves a visit since it is perched on a hill overlooking the Versa Valley where there are three castles, four Romanic parish churches, mainly the church of San Lorenzo dating back to the 12th century, other churches and the noble palaces and it is also the famous village of the sundials: there are more than fifty on the houses’ walls or in the courtyards, they have been restored or the local artists made them.
The best of good food from Marche
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ruffles can also be found in other regions of Italy so let’s go to Marche to get to know Acqualagna (Pesaro-Urbino), the capital city of truffles: two thirds of the whole National production is based in this area covered in forests and woods. The “National Truffles Trade-Fair” will be held on the 27th of October and on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 10th November this year. During this event the main square will display the different stands while the Palatartufo will welcome 200thousand visitors. After you have visited the village and tasted the specialities you can go to the Canyon of Furlo, carved by the river
Candigliano, it’s a natural reserve that features an important landscape because of the presence of the wolves, the royal eagles, the hawks as well as some particular plants and an ancient Roman tunnel. To reach the canyon you pass by the abbey of San Vincenzo al Furlo, built in the Middle Ages on the findings of a Pagan temple which is featured by a particular elevated presbytery that you can reach through a stone staircase set in the middle. There’s a kiosk near the church where you can stop for a tasty break and eat the very good “cresce” (similar to piadina), typical from Marche.
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Gola del Furlo Alessandro Pierpaoli/Shutterstock.com
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Views from Campania and plenty of typical dishes
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et’s go to Bagnoli Irpino (Avellino) in Campania, it’s one of the fifty places that belong to the National Association of the Cities of Truffles that promotes this product, the territories where this product grows, the trade fairs and the festivals related to this precious mushroom. This little village is well known for the production of chestnuts and the black truffles to which the market-exhibition at the last week-end of October is dedicated. It’s an unmissable appointment where you can visit more than 200 stands, you can see
the shows and the craft exhibitions: you must absolutely eat the pasta with the black truffles and the “Sacco del brigante” (the bandit’s bag), a dish of meat and black truffles and you can also drink the liqueur made from truffles. After visiting the stalls and the village you can go on an excursion to the lake Laceno where you can enjoy the peaceful mountain views (around 1.000 metres of altitude), you can hike along the tracks, go mountain biking or horse-riding (there’s a riding school and there are also some tracks for the beginners).
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Black truffle of Sardinia fabiano caddeo/Shutterstock.com
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Ruins of the castle in the Aymerich park Paolo Certo/Shutterstock.com
The truffles you don’t expect: Calabria and Sardinia
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et’s end our journey with a curiosity: maybe many of you don’t know that truffles can also be found in Calabria and in Sardinia. The forests of the National Park of Pollino are rich in truffles and there are many associations related to truffles in Castrovillari, Morano and Saracena, a tiny village in the province of Cosenza that really deserves to be visited because of its network of narrow streets that recall the Middle-East landscapes (according to the tradition this village was founded by the Saracens), filled with external staircases that connect the houses and the streets. The Summer black truffle is quite widespread in Sar-
dinia too (it’s called scorzone) but you can also find the white one that looks like the most precious white one and you can also find the Winter rare one which is widespread mainly in the Sarcidano area and in the Upper Marmilla. The festival of truffles is held each year between June and July in Laconi (Oristano), a wonderful tiny village with two-thousand inhabitants surrounded by the forests. You don’t have to miss a visit at the archaeological museum of the prehistorical statues which is held in the ancient Aymerich palace: there are 40 monoliths (some of them are huge) dating back to the 3rd and 4th millennium B.C..
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Antonella Andretta
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A journey through the light beer, the red one and the dark one
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eople like beer more and more. The market of the beer has reached a billion euros in 2018 for the first time in Italy with an average consumption per capita of 32 litres, the highest ever. The offer range has been steadily increasing: from the cannabis flavoured beer to the artichoke one from Puglia, the sour cherry one, the IGP red radicchio one and the rice one. There’s even the first earthquake agri-beer that is produced at 1.600 metres of altitude on the mountains between Amatrice e Leonessa by using the scraps from bread that change its taste, its colour
and its thickness according to the type of bread that the brewery can keep from the selling remains. In the mean-time the number of breweries is increasing: according to a recent estimate they are around 850 spread all around Italy. We chose four of them, two in the North, one in the Centre and one in the South that are based in the villages or in the little towns, basically they are all charming places that perfectly suit our journey at the discovery of different geographical areas. Lert’s start with a particularly “sparkling” hint!
DisobeyArt/Shutterstock.com
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t’s an historical brewery, one of the very first: the Independent Agricultural Brewery Baladin of Piozzo (Cuneo). It was born in the 1990s from Teo Musso’s passion, he’s one of the main Master Brewers of Italy whose products travels around the world and his locals are multiplying everywhere. He’s a reference point for the whole sector and he’s supported by a tradition of perseverance and innovation. Besides enjoying an Isaac and a Xyauyù, at the historical pub Baladin where everything was born, you can also eat at
Casa Baladin (a restaurant with bedrooms) and you can visit the brewery. You can find all that in Piozzo, a tiny village of the beautiful Langhe where it’s worth stopping not just for the beer because there are thirteen churches, a castle and some historical buildings and on the first week of October the Regional Festival of the Pumpkin is held each year: there are 500 different types of pumpkin of different shapes and colours, many stalls and many good dishes dedicated to the most showy vegetable.
Forni di Sopra Davide Marson/Shutterstock.com
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et’s go towards the North-West: in Forni di Sopra (Udine), a village set in the Dolomites of Friuli there is the Craft Brewery Foglie d’Erba. Each beer made by the master brewer Gino Perissutti (Master Brewer since 2011) tells something about this territory surrounded by the forests and by the mountains, where everything sounds good and the care of the environment is natural. After you have tasted one of the awarded specialities at the local store or after you have gone on a guided
tour of the brewery, you can also visit the village, you can see the church of San Giacomo Apostolo dating back to the 15th century or you can choose one of the attractions of this area, the Dolomiti Adventure Park (suitable for adults and kids) and you can hike along the tracks surrounded by the forests, the plains and glades: in a couple of hours you can reach the alpine hut called Rifugio Alpino Flaiban Pacherini where you can take a break and taste the tagliatelle with mushrooms!
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rom Friuli let’s move to Marche to reach Fabriano (Ancona) in the district called Collegioni, surrounded by the hills where Ibeer is based. Five hectares cultivated with barley, a lab for the production of the beer inside an old restored barn, a farmhouse that is used as a store and tasting place (you must book your visit in advance), the welcoming owners are the business card of this factory that carefully follows all the production steps. Some classic beers as well as the special ones deserve to be tasted and their packaging is also quite interesting. All around some
beautiful places are waiting for you starting with Fabriano, a kind of place you don’t expect featured by an historical centre where you can easily walk along its Medieval narrow streets, the ancient gates like Porta del Piano and Porta del Borgo, an amazing city-hall square with a fountain dating back to the 14th century and the Mayor’s palace. The main attraction is the Paper Museum (perfect for kids thanks to its dedicated workshops). Then in a few kilometres you can reach the Frasassi Caves, the biggest and the most famous karstic complex of Italy.
Fabriano Wolfgang Zwanzger/Shutterstock.com
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he last stop of our tour that could also last longer is Puglia in a village in the province of Bari, Triggianello, near Polignano a Mare, with its cliffs overlooking the sea and the amazing Castellana Caves in the nearby (with the famous white cave that deserves the journey). Let’s go back to our breweries: Birranova was born in 2007 thanks to the Master Brewer Donato Di Palma who loved the beer in
a land that has always been producing wine. A pub has been added to the brewery that also produces a type of beer made by using the sea water (la Margose) where you can drink one of the several types of beer and taste a very good pinsa (a sort of square pizza) or a good burger. Every year in July this village hosts the Birranova Beer Fest, a festival dedicated to the craft beers with many stalls and food stands.
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In the land of rice
Alessandra Boiardi
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t’s a game of reflections of water, land and sky that cuts the horizon in the stretch of land between Novara, Vercelli and Lomellina, an area that is well known for the production of rice. It’s an area of plains that are crossed by the canals and the rows and are spotted with farms, parish churches, mills and castles to be discovered all through the year, on your table as well. It’s a sort of mirror that puts together the plain and the sky, an unexpected show before the rice fields. You can see it in Spring when the water fills the fields and the little plants that give their best fruit in Autumn, precious grains of rice that represent the final step of one of the most important productions of the made in Italy. The rice fields
show different landscapes and when the days get shorter between September and October the temperature is perfect to taste a dish of hot risotto. The areas between Novara, Vercelli and Lomellina are featured by a production of rice that goes back to the ancient ages, you can discover the customs and the places and have a slow holiday to wake up your senses and enjoy the pleasure of the culture, the nature and the food. Between Piedmont and Lombardy there is a web filled with water and soil that are sometimes mixed up and they draw stretches of land spread with farms, it’s an amazing glance where the details stand out. Between the irrigation canals, the banks, the trees, the storks and the herons.
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Under the dome of Novara
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he first thing you can glimpse in Novara is the dome of San Gaudenzio, designed by the same Alessandro Antonelli who gave his name to the famous Mole, the symbol of Turin. From the top of its 121 metres you can see the landscape then you can go down and stroll around under the arcades to taste the typical cookies or have a drink. When you leave the town you’ll really slow down along the “green routes of rice” to discover the villages, the monuments, the farms that are spread in the surrounding countryside “I Strai di mundini”, the streets where the mondine (the rice field workers) used to work. It’s a route marked by some information boards like the Graziosa farm-house, the Romanic church in Casalino, the Carrera farm-house
and the Calcinara where the festivals used to be held at the end of the rice peeling season. You can drive around or you can cycle and see a landscape that sounds multiplying in Spring that is featured by networks of water stretches with the Alpes in the background when the fields are fully flooded. Your sight and your imagination compete with the tastes so it’s great to be cherished by the typical dishes like the “cassoela” made with the goose meat and the paniscia that is made with the rice, the beans, the vegetables and the pork meat. You can buy the rice from the producers and if you are there in Autumn you’ll be able to buy the rice that has just been picked up instead of seeing the flooded fields.
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Briona, between the countryside and history
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f you go around the countryside of Novara you will bump into Briona, a village that hides some interesting curious details for the lovers of history. The castle dominates the village, it overlooks the below plain and it has been doing so since the age of the Longobards. When you visit the castle you can imagine the peasants who used to pay the duties on the Medieval bridge on the top of their donkeys in the district of Proh, there’s a typical saying in the lower area of Novara that goes like this “va piài sul punt da Proù “ that is “go and
get them on the Proh bridge” meaning the money that used to be lent and that wasn’t generally paid back. The Mora stream has been flowing under the bridge since the 14th century, it was maybe a waterway in the past and in the same district you can see Pieve which is set in an area where there were the forests instead of the rice fields that used to separate the water networks from the natural and artificial streams and they used to anticipate the turning of the territory into the rice fields you can see nowadays.
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Between the water and the land: Fontanetto Po
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he plain of Vercelli as well as the one of Novara is a long stretch of rice fields, lines of poplar trees and watering canals to be discovered through a journey that is also a journey through time that starts in the early Middle Ages when the first infrastructures for the cultivation of rice were built up to the Renaissance period. Fontanetto Po is one of the main villages related to the production of rice, it’s a village with an important history between the land and the water that is crossed by a thick network of canals: the big wheel on the Logna and the turbine that used to
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supply the needed power to the Mulino Riseria San Giovanni (the mill) still witnesses of an important past since it was the only “riseria” (rice plant) powered by the water and it represents an important step to understand a bit more about the production of rice. It is a museum nowadays. It’s a process that leads to the grains of rice you find in the typical dish like the panissa from Vercelli, not to be confused with the one from Novara that has been cooked by using the rice, the salamino of duja and the beans from Saluggia, in the same area, since the 18th century.
Ancient Molassa Mauro Gardano
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore Steve Sidepiece/Shutterstock.com
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Lomello, the legendary village
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omello is the village that gives the name to the area in the province of Pavia that is called “the triangle of rice� together with Novara and Vercelli. Lomellina is a really charming area stretched between the Sesia river and the Po river, spread with rice fields and castles where Laumellum has been an important trading centre since the Roman Age. It wasn’t an ordinary place, it was even chosen for the wedding of the Queen of Longobards, Theodelinda, with the duke of Turin Agilulfo. You
can visit the church of Santa Maria Maggiore and the Baptistry of San Giovanni ad Fontes to see its important architecture and fill your imagination. The legends can also attract your attention mainly the one according to which the columns and the vaults of the church change their position although it is only an optical effect due to the perspective. Since you are in the Lomellina area you could also try the typical risotto with frogs that used to be a typical dish to celebrate the weddings.
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Tastefully Italian
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Crai, in the heart of Italy Alessandra Boiardi
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ou might have watched on TV from time to time the animation movie that shows an amazing journey through the tastes and the traditions of Italy. A lorry gets along all the roads of this beautiful country, it passes by the gentle hills of Emilia where the hey bales are like the birds’ nests, it runs along the roads in Piedmont spread with the “crumiri” biscuits and the “gianduiotti” with the wheels made of nuts. Then there are the historical centres where you can breathe history and the true tastes. «Quality is an ever-ending journey» Mario La Viola,
the marketing, format, network and Crai development Manager explains when he talks about the advertising campaign of this historical distribution group. So the lorry continues on its journey along the peninsula, it never stops because the research for quality never stops and it’s renewed every day thanks to the commitment of people who work for Crai who can select the best products, discover the traditions, the regional recipes by putting all their passion and their heart in all the activities they carry out.
Casa Crai: the first web series at the supermarket
«Q
uality is an unavoidable value for the group, Mario La Viola states, as well as the closeness to our customers. We have been close to our customers for more than 40 years with more than 2.200 stores in the most remote corners of our country by offering our professionality, our kindness and our good service besides the genuine and controlled products. It’s not by chance that Crai is our pay off in the heart of Italy». The webseries “Casa Crai” is set between the supermarkets’ shelves, it’s the first one in this kind of context and it’s going to be put online with its third season on the Facebbok page, on the Instagram channel, on the websites CasaCrai.it and Craiweb.it and on the Crai’s YouTube
channel. Mario La Viola also says that it’s a project that has been designed to underline the closeness of Crai to their customers, it uses a simple, nice and direct communication and it aims at showing how the stores can become an important meeting point for the customers, a welcoming place like home.
The consumers are the protagonists
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aughter is guaranteed with the web series that is ironically and brilliantly directed by Maurizio Simonetti, supervised by Ince Media and led by the lively enthusiasm of the actors. After the great success of the first abd the second edition, the third one will be broadcasted in December 2019. Crai will launch the online contest called “Comico Tipico” (The typical comedian), the spectators will choose 20 consumers who will be allowed to be part of the new cast of Casa Crai 3 and will represent their region together with Pino Insegno and Roberto Ciufoli. You don’t have to miss this new weekly appointment: five minutes of pure fun to break the dullness of your ordinary days. It will be easy to watch the episodes from your tablet, your smartphone, you’ll be able to follow the adventures of the “employees” of Casa Crai and also the customers’ adventures that on the other side represent the second half of the story’s soul: people of all ages and social classes who do their shopping every day.
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Quality and excellence
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uality and excellence aren’t only the main communication values that represent the entrepreneurs who made all this possible and are still continuing this way» Mario La Viola explains and he finishes by saying: «Our commitment together with our customer’s fidelity enabled us to be awarded in 2016 with the Prize for the Excellence of Commerce on the occasion of our 70th anniversary
that we received by the President of Confcommercio (The Trade Federation) and the President of the Republic». In order to be even closer to our customers in September Crai launched its new App, free from the App Store and Google Play where you can find all the information about the Crai world, you can do your online shopping, know about the promotions and even find new recipes.
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LA MONTAGNA DA AMARE E DA SCOPRIRE
Tariffe agevolate presso impianti di risalita e strutture ricettive nelle migliori localitĂ di montagna.
www.ConvenzionIstituzioni.it PIU’ VALORE AL TUO LAVORO
Alessandra Boiardi
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he cuisine of the past, the dairy tradition of Gargano, the typical country dishes, the baked bread perfectly made. The Fiore factory puts at the best mouths’ taste their best outcomes to help them discovering an area through its products like the ricotta cheese from the sheep and the goat’s milk, the caciocavallo cheese and the scamorza cheese as well as the best types of salami and wine. All the products are chosen with care and passion because the Fiore Factory is the
story of a brave family. They started their business in the 1970s then Giovanni Fiore gave a new life to the activity that today delivers its goods to the stores in Foggia and in some other villages of the same area, in the province of Bat and Bari and, with a great sense of pride, in Rome as well. Giovanni Fiore told us the story of its factory since the very beginning. «The factory was born from three generations of farmers in the Gargano area and it was set up at the end of the 1970s by my
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father Matteo who started this adventure with his wife, my mother Maria Vinciguerra who’s still present today by providing a great contribution to the development of the business with great passion and sacrifice». In 2013 a new business process was started. «After I had worked in other sectors, explains Giovanni, without any particular fulfilment in 2013 I decided to fully dedicate my working time to our old traditions. I started to work for the family company with a very precise aim in my mind that was regaining the wasted time and develop our factory more and more. It wasn’t an easy choice since it was not a great period to develop a company but I deeply believed
in this project». Actually Giovanni was not alone, his collaborators proved to be essential for the success. The following year Giovanni acquired a dairy factory in San Nicandro Garganico so the first dairy factory called “Caseificio Gargano”, the Fiore Company was born. «Thanks to the support and the commitment of the people who worked for our factory, Giovanni is recalling, those people who believed in us even in the most difficult moments, my dream became true. We all do our best so that the company can develop and improve. I want to say thanks to my sister Tonia because she started this adventure with me as well as my wife Anna Rita Argentino who’s always close to me
and my uncle Franco Vinciguerra who has been with us since the very beginning and he’s in charge with the manufacturing of the dairy products and Laura Guarini who has been in charge with the distribution of our products although the difficult moments thanks to her determination. And also Gina de Cillis, who ran our store in Foggia “La Gastronomia del Gargano” with strong determination and strength being supported by Rachele Patruccelli, Luigi Botticelli and his wife Antonella
Del Duca who have been running the “Gastronomia dell’Isola” for the last two years. It’s a store located in Domino on the Tremiti Islands that was born from my personal point of view in which I’ve always believed. Thanks to our will to do things well we have always put our heart into that and the “Fiore New Life” was thus born.
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Grazia Gioè
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Bergamot, the green gold from Calabria
Giulia Bevilacqua/Shutterstock.com
P
oets described the bergamot as “the most beautiful fruit” or even “the Aphrodite’s apple” in order to revive its myth over the years. Its origin is still uncertain, it seems related with the Turkish “berga-mundi”, or conil “the lord’s pear” because of the typical shape of the pear-bergamot. In Calabria, in Reggio Calabria and along the coastline of the Ionian Sea this word had been heard since the end of the 15th century when
The bergamot harvest in Calabria COULANGES/Shutterstock.com
this fruit was implanted in a lemon tree and the bergamot started to be widely cultivated to extract its precious perfumed essence to produce the essential oil that was needed to make the highly commercialized perfumes. Until a short time ago they thought that this fruit could be used in the cosmetics and in the medicine fields only while it has been widely proved that it is very well known in the food field as well.
Olio essenziale al bergamotto leonori/Shutterstock.com
Bova monticello/Shutterstock.com
The villages of the “Bergamot land”
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he history of the bergamot is very old like the villages where it grows mainly Melito Porto Salvo, Palizzi, Bova, Pentedattilo, Bagaladi and Roghudi, where the last Hellenes from Italy are still living. Its history is very old, in the 17th century the first canditi and babà were made by using the bergamot and they say that this fruit was never missing at the Court of the Sun King. The aromatic qualities of this fruit
are peculiar mainly because it can soften the tastes which are too sweet. That’s why it’s used in the confectionery field. Regarding the cuisine there are at least 150 products derived from the bergamot which besides stimulating the finest appetite it is used by the most famous chefs in the world. The whole food sector from Calabria is with no doubt the trump card from this point of view.
Melito di Porto Salvo Dionisio iemma/Shutterstock.com
Roghudi Antonio Arico/Shutterstock.com
Truffle risotto with bergamot cream and leeks anistidesign//Shutterstock.com
The bergamot recipes
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here are several recipes that imply the use of the bergamot that also testify the European tastes: from the Renaissance cuisine to the poor one from Calabria; from the nouvelle cuisine to the most exotic recipes. After all how can we define the juice and the julienne from the bergamot’s skin, its bitter and aromatic taste that sometimes replaces the oranges and the lemons in the marinated recipes or in the meat roast? It is also used to flavour the pies, the donuts and
the profiteroles or it’s used to make the famous Bergamino liquor, not to mention the boldest matches like the bergamot and the caviar or the oysters, the lentils, the sea urchins, the swordfish and the salmon. The highest peak is certainly reached with some special old recipes like the rice rolls with the bergamot’s leaves, the chicken with the pomegranate and the bergamot’s juice, the turkey with the tuna sauce and the duck with the bergamot’s juice.
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Starred Calabria
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ot long ago the famous “New York Times” entered Calabria among the unavoidable destinations of the Italian food and it crowned this region as “the queen of the Italian cuisine”. And “tasty emotions” were born from the recipes that are mentioned here: they are old recipes that also come with erudite literary quotes by Tomasi di Lampedusa, Gabriele D’Annunzio, Carlo Emilio Gadda, Manuel Vazquez Montalban, Andrea Camilleri and Jorge Amado. Just a few important
Natalia Bochkareva//Shutterstock.com
names to go beyond the geographical area of the bergamot and the local food tradition and revive the myth of the Aphrodite’s beloved fruit. These recipes are the very special ones, they belong to the best traditions and they represent a unique experience of tastes. They were born from a careful historical research in the past and they have been re-invented to get the peculiar feature of “its majesty the bergamot”, the noblest citrus fruit in the world.
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A weekend between Langhe and Monferrato: a Fall poem
the Langhe StevanZZ/Shutterstock.com
Via Vittorio Emanuele, Alba Kennerth Kullman/Shutterstock.com
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he landscapes of Langhe and Monferrato can give strong emotions all year through. But in Autumn their beauty is turned into poetry and these places are wrapped by a unique and magical atmosphere. A weekend in the heart of the old Piedmont surrounded by the hilled vineyards, the historical villages, the wine cellars and the restaurants is an experience that will cherish your soul. October is the best month to discover the truffles, the precious fruit from this land which is celebrated from Alba to Moncalvo d’Asti for some weeks since it is the absolute protagonist of all the National and Inter-
national festivals that are held in this period of the year. Our week-end is starting in Alba, the main city of Langhe. We are welcomed by its Medieval towers above which the last sun of the Friday afternoon is laid. A stroll along the narrow streets of the historical centre leads us to the Trattoria del Bollito where we have a dish of vitello tonnato followed by the Fassona beaten meat which is matched with a good glass of Barbera wine. After a walk along via Vittorio Emanuele we reach piazza Rossetti near the cathedral to spend the night at the hotel San Lorenzo, an elegant house that was once a farmhouse.
Vitello tonnato lacucinaitaliana_it
Alba Rostislav Glinsky/Shutterstock.com
Battuta di fassona tasteofrunway_com
Saturday, between the plin and the truffles F
or our breakfast we decide to go back to the central Vittorio Emanuele street for a stop at the pasticceria Pettiti, an historical sweetshop of Alba where we can taste and buy the classical nuts cakes, the baci di dama (the lady’s kisses) and the torrone. Then we spend the rest of our morning visiting the area where you can breathe the excitement related to the International Trade-Fair of the White Truffle, the important cultural event that will be held from October the 5th to November the 24th 2019 to celebrate the tastes from Piedmont and its important underground mushroom. Among the treasures you can’t miss there’s the cathedral
Church of San Domenico, Alba Claudio Divizia/Shutterstock
of San Lorenzo, a beautiful example of the Gothic-Lombard style then there’s also the church of San Domenico that features a beautiful front side divided into a number of pillars, an amazing rose-window and a beautiful doorway topped by a window with some frescoes on it. The historical heart of our destination is featured by characteristic towers and strong houses within a network of narrow streets where you must stop to buy some tasty products in one of the several wine and food stores that are spread all around. At the wine-shop Le Torri you can find the best production of wine and the specialties with truffles, at the pasta factory
Ravioli of the plin walterferretto_com
Bunet lacucinaitaliana_it
Corino you can find a lot of fresh pasta while at the agrisalumeria Luiset you can find very good salami and sausages. You can stop at the Osteria dell’Arco for lunch where you can taste the raw beaten meat prepared in the Albese way and the typical “ravioli del plin” (a type of fresh filled pasta) with truffles. In the early afternoon you can head towards Asti. It’s thirty minutes far, you can go through the countryside, the villages, the vineyards, the fruit trees and the hills. It’s a town with important traditions and interesting cultural attractions since it combines its rich art heritage with some old food and wine traditions that are celebrated during the several festivals that are held along the year. In the afternoon you can get lost between Piazza Alfieri, the square of Palio, framed by the characteristic arcades where
the elegant shops and the stores stand out and Corso Alfieri which splits the centre of the town into two parts. We are attracted by the historical sweets shop Giordanino where we can buy the truffles from Asti and the little polenta with the three almonds. Then a stop at the wine shop La Cantina gives us the chance to buy some good bottles of wine, it’s near the Baptistery of San Pietro in Consavia. We are going to have dinner at the restaurant La Grotta in Corso Torino where we’ll taste the marinated roast turkey, some good rice cooked with the Brut sparkling wine and one of the most typical sweets called bunet (sort of pudding). By the restaurant you can find the B&B I Glicini, it’s an old farmhouse dating back to the beginning of the 20th century surrounded by the green, you can spend your night there.
Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta Iakov Filimonov/Shutterstock
Troyana Tower, Asti Luigi Bertello/Shutterstock
Sunday, between the vineyards and the castles T
he morning is entirely dedicated to the visit of the architectural wonders of this old town starting with the Collegiate Church of San Secondo, in the Romanesque-Gothic style with three naves and decorated volutes, some medieval frescoes from a Lombard-Piedmont school, the main altar from the Baroque Age and the crypt where the remains of the Patron Saint are kept. Then there is the amazing cathedral, the biggest one in Piedmont, in the Gothic style with decorated walls and vaults, three baptismal fonts, some decorated volutes with anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and vegetal drawings, a beautiful front side and a
huge clocktower. You can’t miss a sweet stop at Caffetteria Mazzetti, an elegant literary café. Then there are the Troyana tower, the Red tower, the Alfieri palace, the Malabaila palace, the Ottolenghi palace, the Museum of Risorgimento, the crypt and the Museum of Sant’Anastasio, just to mention a few city landmarks. You can have lunch at the restaurant Campanarò and taste the peppers with the green sauce, a dish of “agnolotti gobbi” (a type of filled fresh pasta) from the Monferrato area and the Giandoja (a type of chocolate) mousse. We are going to spend the last part of our weekend in Moncalvo d’Asti where the Fair of the truffles will
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be held between the 20th and the 27th October 2019, it’s a lovely village surrounded by the hills, the vineyards, the perched villages and some wonderful castles. Moncalvo is the undisputed food town in this area, it is the land of truffles but also of meat that is celebrated in December with the festival of the fat ox. When we reach the center we’ll plunge into the street markets around the stalls of cheese, the wine, the salami, the marmalade, the chocolate, the sweets and liquors, the best tastes from Piedmont. Among the architectural emergencies there is the church of San Francesco which is set in a dominating position and keeps some important works by Guglielmo Caccia called Moncalvo who was considered the Raffaello from Monferrato. If you fancy buying some delicacies you can
stop at the pasta factory Rondano where you can buy the historical local agnolotti and at the Bottega del Vino (wine-store) of Moncalvo you can buy wines like the Grignolino from Asti, the Freisa from Asti and the Barbera from Monferrato. You can have dinner at the trattoria vineria Corona Reale, an historical restaurant in the centre where the Cortese, the Chardonnay, the Grignolino and the Malvasia from the local production are perfect to be sipped while you are eating an omelette with herbs, the hot salamino from Moncalvo with potatoes cream and a taste of “trippa” soup. The evening is approaching on the Monferrato’s hills while our sight is laid on the first lights of the villages perched on the hills, another detail from this part of Piedmont that still recalls of the ancient past.
The Monferrato Claudio Giovanni Colombo/Shutterstock
Carola Traverso Saibante
A rainbow of tastes
Jiri Hera/Shutterstock.com
A rainbow of tastes Nitr/Shutterstock.com
W
riting an entire issue dedicated to the tastes of Italy is the same as talking about the colours of nature while sitting on the rainbow. So, what can we do? A free style stroll around our landscapes of tastes. Let’s start with the appetizers, an evergreen dish: salami&cheese. Everyone knows the spicy Nduja from Calabria but have you ever tasted the ‘Nnuglia? It’s made with third choice pieces of pork including the tongue, the kidneys, the boiled stomach, the heart seasoned with the garlic, the pepper, the red peppers, the fennel seeds and the anise that are manually put
into a casing tied with some natural string. It’s true, it’s less fine but it is worth tasting something belonging to the peasant tradition that isn’t for sure less healthy than the industrial one. The stracchino cheese is an excellent product from Lombardy, well, the different types of stracchino cheese like the one with the pink crust that is made in the area of Mount Bronzone in the area of Bergamo. Do you know the strachet? It’s a type of stracchino cheese too. It’s quite weird, it is made in the mountains by using the semi-skimmed milk instead of the whole one.
A rainbow of tastes
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A rainbow of tastes Hibiscus81/Shutterstock.com
Fabrizio Vassallo/Shutterstock.com
Bread, pasta and no pesto L
et’s choose the bread from Sardinia for our meal. Not the carasau one: the ammondigadu or «pane tundu» (round bread) one. It’s a hard wheat loaf of bread, it is popped out in the characteristic village of Osilo, in the upper Logudoro and it is mixed with the water from the sources. Let’s cross the sea and reach Genoa. Do you fancy a good dish of pasta with pesto? Not at all: let’s have the nuts sauce, the historical delicious vegetarian sauce that you can use with all types of pasta mainly with “pansoti” (a type of filled pasta) filled with the ‘prebuggiun’ that is a mix
of wild herbs. As an alternative you can have the typical tajarin (a type of thin tagliatelle) from Piedmont that will never betray you. The truffle is just right for this type of pasta. Very well, but to cherish our nose with the aroma from a divine land let’s go to Marche where besides the white truffle (Tuber magnatum pico) and the Summer black one (Tuber aestivum vitt.) we can discover the precious black truffle (Tuber melanosportum vitt.). We can also reach Cervara, a village with a painting beauty, the highest in the province of Rome where the very perfumed truffles grow.
A rainbow of tastes
luri/Shutterstock.com
A rainbow of tastes
Main courses and side dishes S
ince we are in Lazio, let’s stay here for our main course. Let’s write about the budellucci, the highest expression of the saying according to which «nothing is thrown away of the pig» since it is the small intestine’s inner part that is seasoned with oil, pepper, salt and wild fennel. Then we can also mention the “guanciale” (mainly the one from the village of Amatrice) so the pork is highly present in this region’s traditions as well as the cattle and pigs. We’d like to taste the Tordo matto from
Zagarolo Ragemax/Shutterstock.com
Zagarolo, it is not a bird, it’s a roll of horse meat filled with chopped ham, garlic, coriander and parsley. According to the tradition of this beautiful village the meat must be macerated in the wine then cooked on the vine shoots’ coals. What’s better than some good potatoes as a side dish? The batata! It is known as a tropical imported product nowadays but the batata from the area of Lecce is a local sweet potato that grows in the Salento area near the landscapes of the century-old olive trees.
A rainbow of tastes
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A rainbow of tastes
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San Miniato StevanZZ/Shutterstock.com
Dessert, when the North and the South mix up W
e all know and love the cannoli from Sicily but what about the cannilieri? They come from Villarosa, a rural village in the heart of the province of Enna. They are made of flour, sugar, baking powder, sesame seeds and they are filled with hard-boiled eggs. And are we going to drink limoncello? No, we aren’t. The limoncella apple syrup is perfect. We might think it is typical from the North of Italy… it isn’t. It’s made in Campania: this sweet sparkling aromatic drink with a low alcoholic content is made
of this yellow apple from the South. Now it’s time to taste some cookies… maybe a “cantuccio” but not the classical one from Prato but the one from San Miniato, an amazing village perched on the Tuscan hills: these cookies are crispy, amber coloured and naturally baked, twice (bis-cotti). What about fruit? Trentino is even too famous for apples but it also offers very good pears. By the way, the Spadone Southern type featuring a very thin texture is the ideal Summer pear to make the pears strudel!
A rainbow of tastes
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Nicoletta Toffano
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Oltreconfine: Crossborder:Francia China
Four kitchens in China
Landscape of Guilin and the Li River aphotostory/Shutterstock.com
Ying Yang Red Fish XO tolin168/Shutterstock.com
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et’s suspend any images we have in our mind about modern China with its huge cities and perfectly working infrastractures. And forget the spring rolls or the fried rice as well. Let’s start thinking of the historical villages that are included in the Unesco World Heritage, surrounded by amazing landscapes (just consider Avatar’s floating mountains that took inspiration from the karstic formations of the Guilin) and finally imagine the experience of an ancient cuisine in a country where food has a leading role for the social relationships. China is a mix of different
races, languages, cultures, climates, crops and as a consequence it’s the expression of many different types of cooking habits that share a common principle: there are two main categories of foods, the ying ones (wet, soft, hot) and the yang ones (fried, spicy, hot) and every dish must be a balanced combination of the two groups. So equipped with our chopsticks we are going to offer you a tasting experience that is focused on the four cardinal points that are the areas where the different ways of thinking about the traditional cuisine were born.
Peking duck vsl/Shutterstock.com
From Hèběi to Mongolia: meat stories
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n the North they cultivate the millet, the sorghum, the corn and the barley that are used to make different types of bread like the mantou or the bĭng. But the main food that inspired the ancient imperial cuisine related to the Yuan, the Ming and the Qing dynasties is definitely the meat: roast, braised, smoked or grilled always sided by different types of spices. Among the specialities the goose in the Pekinese way stands out, it’s baked in an oven that is fed by the wood from the fruit trees and it’s served with some wheat pancakes, the onions and the fermented sauce. You can taste this dish in Chéngdé, a little town North-West of Beijing where the Summer imperial residence
is based, it’s the Bìshu Shānzhuāng, surrounded by amazing gardens that have been included into the Unesco World Heritage. The meat stewed with goat milk and yogurt is still the protagonist among the Nomads from Mongolia, its taste deserves to be discovered on the border with Mongolia in the village of Hemu where the minority ethnic community called Tuwa by lake Kanas lives:it’s a settlement of typical wooden houses that is still inhabited by the descendants of Genghis Khan’s armies, it’s one of the most real places of this huge country that was entered into the list of the most beautiful villages of China by the China National Geography Magazine.
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Jinshan Tower in Chèngdè aphotostory/Shutterstock.com
The Tuwa from the village of Hemu outcast85/Shutterstock.com
The explosive cuisine of Sìchuān and Yunnán
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estern China is inhabited by different minority ethnic groups that feature opposing cultures but they share one thing, the very spicy taste of their food. The main spices that are used are actually ther chili that was brought by the Spaniwsh traders during the domination of the Qing dynasty) and the very strong pepper from Sìchuān:these spices are used to make some typical dishes like the suāncàigú, a bitter-spicy soup made of fish and cabbage and the so called “explosive fry” of marinated meat cooked in the boiling oil. Rice is never missing, the wonderful county
Chengdu, Sichuan Meiqianbao/Shutterstock.com
of Yuanyang is in this area, it’s well known for its amazing terraced rice fields that stretch from the top of the Ailao Mountains up to the shores of the Red River, they create fantastic geometrical shapes and they offer incredible views. They were built 1300 years ago by the Hani ethnic group and they cover more than 16thousand hectares. The best way to visit this area is going on a 8 kilometres walking excursion leaving from the village of Yishu and reaching the village of Bada. Along the route you can visit some of the 82 ancient villages that are still inhabited by the Hani.
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Yunnan Emily xiao/Shutterstock.com
Huangling Elfred Tseng/Shutterstock.com
Dim Sum KPG_Payless/Shutterstock.com
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The Cantonese tea-time
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he cooking school from the South called Cantonese was the first one to be discovered by the Western people. The main specialities are the dim sum, different appetizers to sip with tea, the guōtiē (fried ravioli), the shāomài (filled ravioli), the xiăolŏngbáo (the steamed ravioli), the chāshāobāo (sandwiches filled with pork meat) and the chūnjuăn (the rolls). They are delicate preparations where the fresh ingredients coming from the beautiful countryside of the Wùyuán county
stand out. Here you can see the ancient village of Huánglíng that keeps an ancient tradition related to the rural civilization that has always been focused on the drying of some products in the sun like the peppers, the canola flowers, the corn, the soya and the chrysanthemum.It’s a tradition that starts on the first Autumn day of the Chinese calendar. The products are put inside some big bamboo baskets and they are dried on the houses’ terraces in a wonderful explosion of colors.
Hairy crabs of the Yangcheng lake HelloRF Zcool/Shutterstock.com
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The tastes of water from Zhèjiāng
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he Eastern cuisine is basically sweet and it’s focused on the fish and the seafood because of the near ocean and the presence of several lakes and canals. They generally cook the steam fish or they cook it in the wok , it can be fried or grilled. The dàzháxiè are never missing, they are the hairy crabs from lake Yangcheng (you can eat them from October to Dicember) they are seasoned with the soya, the ginger, the vinegar and they are matched to some good hot wine from Shàoxing. Regarding the water you can’t miss a visit to Xitang in the
Zhèjiāng area, it’s one of the most beautiful water-towns in the country, it features a very ancient history that dates back to the 700 B.C. It’s crossed by nine rivers and it streteches along eight ditricts that are connected by some old stone bridges dating back to the Ming and the Qing dynasties (many buildings and temples belong to the same age too) and there are also some long avenues covered by wooden roofs under which you can pleasantly stroll even when it’s raining or it’s hot and sunny.
Xitang PARINYA ART/Shutterstock.com
Huanglong, Sìchuān PARINYA ART/Shutterstock.com
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Alessandra Boiardi
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“Peggy Guggenheim. The last Dogaressa�
Peggy Guggenheim on a gondola, Venezia, 1968 Photo Tony Vaccaro
“Peggy Guggenheim. The last Dogaressa”
Guided tours of the exhibition are available every day at 3.30 p.m. There are seventy works including the paintings, the sculptures and the works of paper that have been selected among the ones that have been acquired along the 1940s and in 1979 when Peggy Guggenheim died. Some famous masterpieces deserve to be seen again like “The empire of light” by René Magritte and “Study for chimpanzee” by Francis Bacon alongside some rarely exhibited works like “Autumn in Courgeron” by René Brô, “Serendipity
Peggy Guggenheim in Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Venezia, ’50. Behind her, to the left, Edmondo Bacci Avvenimento #247, 1956. Photo Roloff Beny / courtesy of Archives and National Archives of Canada.
P
eggy Guggenheim spent thirty years in Venice, from 1948 to 1979 and her stay in the lagoon area is told in an exhibition through which the Peggy Guggenheim Collection pays homage to its founder. “Peggy Guggenheim, the last Dogaressa” is going to be on display until January the 27th 2020, the exhibition is dedicated to the patron’s collections after 1948, after her departure from New York, closing the art gallery Art of This Century (1942-47) and moving to Venice. The exhibition is included in a more comprehensive series of events that aim at celebrating a double anniversary, seventy years since the moving of the Peggy Guggenheim’s Lions to Palazzo Venier when the first exhibition was held and 40 years since her death. The Public Programs are included as well together with some free activities dedicated to the visitors within the museum and outdoor called “The continuity of a vision”.
Jackson Pollock Circoncisione Circumcision, gennaio / January 1946 Olio su tela / Oil on canvas 142,3 x 168 cm Collezione Peggy Guggenheim, Venezia © Jackson Pollock, by SIAE 2019
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2” by Gwyther Irwin, “Between White” by Kenzo Okada and “Drifting No 2” by Tomonori Toyofuku. The exhibition starts with an homage to the XXIV
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Biennale of Venice, the first introduction of the collection in Europe after the closing of the art gallery Art of This Century of New York and the
René Magritte L’impero della luce (L’Empire des lumières) Empire of Light, 1953–54 Olio su tela/ Oil on canvas 195.4 x 131.2 cm Collezione Peggy Guggenheim, Venezia © René Magritte, by SIAE 2019
“Peggy Guggenheim. The last Dogaressa”
Piero Dorazio Unitas, 1965 Olio su tela / Oil on canvas 45,8 x 76,5 cm Collezione Peggy Guggenheim, Venezia © Piero Dorazio, by SIAE 2019
“Peggy Guggenheim. The last Dogaressa”
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Emilio Vedova Immagine del tempo (Sbarramento) Image of Time (Barrier), 1951 Tempera d’uovo su tela / Egg tempera on canvas 130,5 x 170,4 cm Collezione Peggy Guggenheim, Venezia © Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova
Tancredi Parmeggiani Composizione Composition, 1957 Tempera su tela / Oil on canvas 130,4 x 169,4 cm Collezione Peggy Guggenheim, Venezia
moving to Italy, it was an important event since it offered some important works belonging to the American Abstract Expressionism and marked the European debut of Jackson Pollock. The works by Arshile Gorky, Robert Motherwell, Mark
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“Peggy Guggenheim. The last Dogaressa “will be accompanied by a new publication, long awaited, on the entire journey of Peggy Guggenheim as gallerist, patron and collector.
Rothko and Clyfford Still are the first ones you can see, they are the same that were exhibited in 1948, they are sided by two abstract artists’ works that witness the support of Peggy to women in the world of art: Grace Hartigan and Irene Rice Pereira. Among the paintings by Pollock there are two benchmarks, “Alchemy” and “Enchanted forest” to remind the first personal exhibition of the American artist in Europe that was organized by Peggy Guggenheim in 1950 in the Napoleonic corner of San Marco square. The scrapbooks, the albums of the newspapers’ articles and the photographs are a precious witness of some unknown episodes where Peggy is also a fond philanthro-
pist. The exhibition is also a chance to see almost all the works that were bought between 12947 when Peggy inaugurated her first Guggenheim Jeune art gallery and 1947 the year she settled in Venice among which such works like “Box in a suitcase” (Boîte-en-Valise), made by Marcel Duchamp in 1941. Regarding the 1950s, the works by Pierre Alechinsky, Karel Appel and Asger Jorn belonging to the CoBrA group deserve to be seen as well as the English artists Kenneth Armitage, Francis Bacon, Alan Davie, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Graham Sutherland. The last part of the exhibition is focused on the kinetic art and the Optical art, a genre Peggy Guggenheim particularly liked in the 1060s mainly through the works
by Marina Apollonio, Alberto Biasi, Martha Boto, Franco Costalonga, recently passed away, Heinz Mack, Manfredo Massironi and Victor Vasarely. They used geometrical shapes, structures and industrial materials to create some optical effects and perceptual illusions by using the transparent and reflective properties of materials like aluminium, plastics, glass in order to give the works or “objects” an intentional “depersonalizing” appearanve in opposition to the emotional visual language of the abstract Expressionism. Peggy Guggenheim. The Last Dogaressa will come with a new release that has been waited for long about the whole artistic career of Peggy Guggenheim as a gallery owner, a patron and a collector.
Peggy Guggenheim sitting on the throne in the garden of Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Venezia, anni ’60. Photo Roloff Beny / courtesy of Archives and National Archives of Canada
“Peggy Guggenheim. The last Dogaressa”
Pierre Alechinsky Vestaglia Dressing Gown, 1972 Acrilico su carta montata su tela / Acrylic on paper, mounted on canvas 99,5 x 153,5 cm Collezione Peggy Guggenheim, Venezia © Pierre Alechinsky, by SIAE 2019
Luciano Pavarotti Municipal Theatre of Modena Alessandra Boiardi
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A
n important lyrical season is going to be inaugurated at the Municipal Theatre Luciano Pavarotti of Modena. It’s one of the initiatives included in the wide activity promoted by the Municipal Theatre Foundation that has been offering the most updated International programme of opera, musical theatre, classical music, border genres, experimentation, contemporary dance and classical ballet since 2002. Named after the great tenor to whom the celebrations
are dedicated this year within the program called “Modena, the city of the good singing�, the theatre has been part of the history of the city since its inauguration on October the 2nd 1841 and it has been the witness of many events that occurred in our country through the two world wars, the revival in the 1960s when it started to be run by the local municipality until its second inauguration in 1999 after it had been completely restyled.
Camerata Salzburg
The lyrical season 2019-2020
T
he new opera season that implies the usual presentations to the audience for all the events in the programme with the festival “Invitation to the opera” in co-operation with the association “Modena theatres’ friends” will be inaugurated on Friday the 13th of October 2019 with “Bohème”, a new show produced by the Modena theatre in co-production with the Foundation of the Theatres
of Piacenza, the Pergolesi Spontini Foundation and in co-operation with the Opéra of Marseilles for the stage scenery. This show will be offered within the celebrations dedicated to Luciano Pavarotti that aims at starting a new project related to the operas played by the great tenor according to their debut. Pavarotti played his first role by singing Puccini’s masterpiece in Reggio Emilia in 1961. The
Turandot
direction is signed by Leo Nucci, a true star in the world of opera. There will be three operas by Puccini in the programme that will continue on the 25th, the 27th and the 29th with “Tosca”, a new show in co-production with the Foundation of Theatres of Piacenza and the Royal Theatre of Parma where he successfully debuted last April. The setting-up was designed by Alberto Fassini in 1998 and it was
used by Joseph Franconi Lee who designed beautiful scenes, the ancient costumes were signed by William Orlandi and the lights were signed by Roberto Venturi. Ainhoa Arteta will sing the role she has already sung at the San Carlo Theatre of Naples in 2018. Matteo Beltrami will conduct the orchestra. “Rigoletto” will be on stage on the 27th, the 29th November and the 1st December, it’s one
of the best-loved operas and it will be the result of a new co-production between the Municipal Theatre of Ferrara and the Teatro del Giglio. The layout is organized by the theatre of Modena with the direction of Fabio Sparvoli, an active International artist who has been recently applauded at the Colòn Theatre of Buenos Aires and at the Royal Theatre of Turin. The main role will be held by the baritone Marco Caria, one of Mirella Freni’s students who was successful at theatres like La Fenice of Venice, the Staatsoper of Vienna and the Deutsche Oper of Berlin. The orchestra will be conducted by David Crescenzi. On December the
Tosca
15th “La Notte di Natale” (The Christmas Night) will be on stage, it’s a new work that is not included in the pass, it’s produced by the Theatre of the Opera Giocosa of Savona in co-production with the Municipal Theatre of Modena. The opera is freely taken from the short story by Nikolai Gogol and it’s set in Saint Petersburg in the 19th century and it aims at underlining the opposition between the positive feelings related to Christmas and the decadence related to its commercial side. Alberto Cara, an important composer wrote the music fable “The colour of Cinderella” in 2007 after the request from the Royal Theatre of Turin and the Mu-
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie diretta da YAbel AVolodin Rolando Paolo Guerzoni
nicipal Theatre of Bologna. The programme will be restarting in the new year on the 14th and on the 16th February in the steps of Giuseppe Verdi with “Falstaff”, the comic masterpiece by the composer from Busseto, this work has been absent from the stage for 20 years. The title’s role will be acted by the baritone Luca Salsi, at the top of a brilliant career that has taken him to the best theatres in the world like the Metropolitan of New York and La Scala of Milan. The setting up was designed in Piacenza in co-production with Modena and Reggio
Emilia; the direction is signed by Leonardo Lidi and the musical direction is by Jordi Bernàcer. The third appointment with Giacomo Puccini is scheduled in March with “Turandot” signed by Giuseppe Frigeni in 2003, it takes inspiration from the strong essential aesthetical and philosophical features of the Chinese cultural tradition where the story is set. France Dariz will play the title’s role, the same role she played when she debuted at the Macerata Opera Festival in 2017, she will play it again at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago in 2019. On
Tosca
this occasion the production will start at the Royal Theatre of Parma in co-production with Modena and Piacenza. On the 3rd and the 5th April “Pelléas et Mélisande”, one of the greatest masterpieces of the French repertoire will be on stage. It’s the only opera written by Claude Debussy in 1902 for the Opéra Comique of Paris, it’s featured by the mysterious French symbolism of those years and it’s filled with the high symphonic style of the composer of “La Mèr”. The last event in the programme on the 8th and 10th May 2020 will be “Crossopera”, a new title introduced together with the Landestheater of Linz and the Serbian National Theatre of Novi
Sad. The International co-production led by the Modena theatre won the important tender of the European Union called Creative Europe 2018 and it will be focused on the exchange of musicians, singers and artists who will travel around all these theatres. The core of this opera is the cultural integration whose theme “Fear and discovery” caused different reactions in the three composers that have signed the different opera’s acts: Luigi Cinque representing Italy, Valentin Ruckebier representing Austria and Jasmina Mitrusic representing Serbia. The direction is signed by Gregor Horres and the musical direction by Mikica Jevtic.
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Chamber Orchestra of Europe Julia Weselyi
Orchesrte des Champs-ElysĂŠes e Collegium Vocale Gent diretti da P. Herreweghe Rolando Paolo Guerzoni
f o t o R o l a n d o P. G u e r z o n i
VENERDÌ 11 OTTOBRE I ORE 20 DOMENICA 13 OTTOBRE I ORE 15,30
DOMENICA 15 DICEMBRE I ORE 17
Modena
FUORI ABBONAMENTO
Luciano
Prima esecuzione
Claude Debussy
Alberto Cara
FUORI ABBONAMENTO
Giacomo Puccini
LA BOHÈME Direttore Aldo Sisillo Regia Leo Nucci
Coproduzione Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena Fondazione Teatri di Piacenza, Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini Allestimento in coproduzione con Opéra de Marseille
NUOVO ALLESTIMENTO
VENERDÌ 25 OTTOBRE I ORE 20 I TURNO A DOMENICA 27 OTTOBRE I ORE 15,30 I TURNO B MARTEDÌ 29 OTTOBRE I ORE 20 FUORI ABBONAMENTO
Giacomo Puccini
TOSCA Direttore Matteo Beltrami
Regia Joseph Franconi Lee da un’idea di Alberto Fassini
Coproduzione Fondazione Teatro Regio di Parma Fondazione Teatri di Piacenza, Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena Allestimento della Fondazione Teatro Regio di Parma
LA NOTTE DI NATALE
Favola musicale in un atto su libretto di Stefano Simone Pintor liberamente tratta dall’omonimo racconto di Nikolaj Vasil’evič Gogol’
Direttore Diego Ceretta Regia Stefano Simone Pintor Coproduzione Teatro dell’Opera Giocosa di Savona Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena
NUOVO ALLESTIMENTO
VENERDÌ 14 FEBBRAIO I ORE 20 I TURNO A DOMENICA 16 FEBBRAIO I ORE 15.30 I TURNO B
Giuseppe Verdi
FALSTAFF Direttore Jordi Bernàcer Regia Leonardo Lidi
Coproduzione Fondazione Teatri di Piacenza, Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena, Fondazione I Teatri di Reggio Emilia
NUOVO ALLESTIMENTO
MERCOLEDÌ 27 NOVEMBRE I ORE 20 I TURNO A VENERDÌ 29 NOVEMBRE I ORE 20 FUORI ABBONAMENTO DOMENICA 1 DICEMBRE I ORE 15.30 I TURNO B
VENERDÌ 13 MARZO I ORE 20 I TURNO A DOMENICA 15 MARZO I ORE 15.30 I TURNO B
RIGOLETTO Direttore David Crescenzi
TURANDOT Direttore Valerio Galli
Giuseppe Verdi
Regia Fabio Sparvoli
Coproduzione Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, Azienda Teatro del Giglio
NUOVO ALLESTIMENTO
fondatori
VENERDÌ 3 APRILE I ORE 20 I TURNO A DOMENICA 5 APRILE I ORE 15.30 I TURNO B
Giacomo Puccini
Regia Giuseppe Frigeni
Coproduzione Fondazione Teatro Regio di Parma Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena, Fondazione Teatri di Piacenza Allestimento della Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena
PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE Direttore Marco Angius Regia Renaud Doucet
Coproduzione Fondazione Teatro Regio di Parma, Fondazione Teatri di Piacenza, Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena
NUOVO ALLESTIMENTO
VENERDÌ 8 MAGGIO I ORE 20 I TURNO A DOMENICA 10 MAGGIO I ORE 15,30 I TURNO B
Prima assoluta in coproduzione con l’Altro Suono festival 2020 Luigi Cinque (Italia) Valentin Ruckebier (Austria) Jasmina Mitrusic Djeric (Serbia)
CROSSOPERA Otherness, Fear and Discovery
Opera in tre episodi su libretto di Sandro Cappelletto, Valentin Ruckebier e Jasmina Mitrusic Djeric Progetto vincitore del bando di cooperazione internazionale “Europa Creativa”
Direttore Mikica Jevtic Regia Gregor Horres
Ensemble del progetto CrossOpera: Modena, Linz, Novi Sad Cast “giovani interpreti” del progetto CrossOpera: Modena, Linz, Novi Sad Coproduzione Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Modena Landestheater di Linz, Serbian National Theatre di Novi Sad
Gli abbonamenti alla Stagione lirica 2019 - 2020 sono in vendita: da sabato 7 a venerdì 20 settembre per gli abbonati alla Stagione precedente, da martedì 24 settembre anche per i nuovi abbonati. Biglietteria del Teatro Comunale Corso Canalgrande 85 ı Modena ı telefono 059 2033010 ı fax 059 203 3011 biglietteria@teatrocomunalemodena.it ı Acquisto telefonico: 059 2033010 ı Informazioni: www.teatrocomunalemodena.it La direzione si riserva di apportare ai programmi eventuali modifiche che si rendessero necessarie per cause di forza maggiore.
i m m a g i n e c o o rd i n a t a : w w w. a v e n i d a . i t
2019.2020
TEATRO COMUNALE LUCIANO PAVAROTTI
Antonella Andretta
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e c a l p out of
S Y A D I HOL On the road with all your senses
A
stonishing and cherishing your taste buds is the leitmotiv of this issue. But taste isn’t the only sense that can be awaken on holidays: the other four ones deserve to be satisfied as well!
Michael Shilyaev/Shutterstock.com
L
et’s start with the hearing to talk about an amazing place: Pinuccio Sciola’s Garden of sounds, he’s a sculptor and a great artist, he’s famous for his graffiti in San Sperate (a village near Cagliari and also his birthplace), for his acoustic sculptures that are displayed all around the world. Sciola could make the limestone and the basalt materials vibrate, the materials he worked could produce melodious notes. His outdoor museum is in San Sperate: the guides lead the visitors around the huge menhir stones at the discovery of the different sounds that the different materials make. It’s a different way to sip the art, it’s a place where you
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
On the road with all your senses
Villa Reale in Marlia, Lucca zummolo/Shutterstock.com
can feel the sounds that have been imprisoned inside the inanimate materials for millennia. Let’s consider the smell now: in the village of Marlia (a district of Capannori in the province of Lucca) there is Villa Reale, an old country-house that belonged to the merchants, the bank owners and the royals including Elisa, Napoleon’s sister who was fond of botany. In the villa’s wonderful park, a bit aside from the classical Tuscan tours, an olfactory route around beautiful views and heady scents has been designed in remembrance of Elisa. In every season there’s a different blossoming: the mimosas and the camelia blossom in March (their variety is one of
Pinuccio Sciola in San Sperate Patrizio Martorana/Shutterstock.com
On the road with all your senses
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
On the road with all your senses
Uffizi Gallery, Florence Detyukov Sergey/Shutterstock.com
the park’s prides), the wisteria blossoms in April, the hibiscus in Summer until the Fall when the leaves and their changing colours becomes the protagonists. A map has been dedicated to this olfactory route and the park is open every day from March the 1st to October the 31st. Regarding the touch there are some museums that have inaugurated some dedicated routes for the blind visitors and the visually impaired ones that give the chance to touch the artworks or hear about the exhibitions. We can mention the Omero Museum in Ancona that keeps a collection of 300 works including some archaeological findings; the Uffizi Art Gallery in Florence with Uffizi da toccare (Uffizi to touch) that offers a dedicated route to the blind visitors
who can touch sixteen original sculptures from the Classical Age belonging to the Medici’s collection; there are the Capitolini Museums in Rome which are equipped with a rich educational layout made of braille books, CDs, embossed maps, boards and dioramas of the statues and the architecture works. The Calarcheo, the underwater archaeological park of Reggio Calabria offers an amazing experience since it guarantees everyone the possibility to visit it without any barriers including the beginner divers or the ones with vision problems. For this purpose an archaeological tour for the disabled visitors has been implemented, the disabled visitors are equipped with underwater communication systems through which they
On the road with all your senses
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
Ruins at the Capitoline Museums Mazur Travel/Shutterstock.com
can get the historical, the biological and the technical information to touch the history and feel the emotions of diving with the oxygen tanks. Let’s end our tour with considering the sight and nothing can fill our eyes more than a beautiful view! In my personal ranking the bronze medal is awarded to the three peaks of Lavaredo, the symbol of the Dolomites to be viewed while hiking along the tracks, from the bottom of the valleys or from a belvedere near the village of Dobbiaco (Bolzano). In second place the Cliffs of Capri you can contemplate from the Gardens of Augusto featured by a rank of terraces from the top of which you can also see the Via Krupp which is made of a series of hair-
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
On the road with all your senses
Val d’Orcia FranciscoMarques/Shutterstock.com
pin turns among the rocks with a climb of around 100 metres to be covered on foot to reach the bay of Marina Piccola: it’s an unforgettable natural wonder! The landscapes from the Orcia Valley in Tuscany are on the podium: the rows of cypress trees that lead to the old stone farmhouses, the lonely tiny churches on the hills (the chapel of Madonna di Vitaleta near San Quirico is the main landmark of this area), the Medieval villages perched on the top of the gentle hills like Pienza and Montalcino, so beautiful they don’t sound real, so true and untouched you can even recognize the landscapes that are in the background of the paintings from the 15th and the 16th centuries.
Faraglioni of Capri freevideophotoagency/Shutterstock.com
Three peaks of Lavaredo kan_khampanya/Shutterstock.com
On the road with all your senses
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
On the road with all your senses
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
OUT OF PLACE HOLIDAYS
On the road with all your senses
BACK TO THE SUMMARY
Capri, panorama Sergio Monti Photography/Shutterstock.com
Ivan Pisoni
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TASTY
Legends
Noobiel/Shutterstock.com
tasty Legends
The mermaid’s singing and the Pastiera from Naples T
he beauty of the gulf set between Posillipo and Vesuvio made the mermaid Partenope to fall in love with those places so much she wanted to settle there. Every Spring the wonderful creature used to emerge from the sea water to cherish the happy people from the Gulf with her magic singing. Once her singing was so tender and tuneful, her voice was so sweet and her words were so lovely and happy that the people who lived there were totally overwhelmed. Everyone rushed to the sea to hear that creature who was singing for them. In order to thank her for her gift they sent seven wonderful girls to give her some presents: the flour which represented the stren-
Fabio Di Natale/Shutterstock.com
gth and the richness of the good company, the ricotta cheese that was a gift from the shepherds, the eggs that symbolized life, the soft wheat boiled into the water that symbolized the two realms of nature; the orange flowers’ water that was a gift from nature, the spice that represented the people who lived farther, the sugar to symbolize the sweetness of the singing of the beautiful Partenope. She was very happy to get so many gifts so she went down into the deep water to bring them to the Gods who melted the ingredients by using their divine powers and they crated the first Pastiera, as sweet and soft as the beautiful Partenope’s singing.
PIXbank CZ/Shutterstock.com
The bellybutton that originated the “tortellino” A
shaped the dough sheet like a bellybutton that was so beautiful as the young lady’s one. Since he didn’t know how to serve those pieces of dough he decided to fill them with some meat so the very tasty “tortellini” were born. Someone says that he was not inspired by the beautiful girl but he took his inspiration from the Goddess Venus to underline the beauty of the creature that inspired one of the most popular dishes of our culture.
tasty Legends
round the year 1200, a beautiful young Marquise from Castelfranco Emilia decided to stop at an Inn to rest. The inn-keeper accompanied the lady to her room but he was so charmed by her beauty that he decided to spy her from the keyhole. So he saw it... That bellybutton captivated him. He went back to the kitchen to prepare the dinner for the young Marquise but he couldn’t remove that wonderful sight from his mind so he
tasty Legends kuvona/Shutterstock.com
The painter who invented the risotto in the milanese way W
hen the famous cathedral was under construction some Belgian workers were working too, they were guided by Valerius from Fiandra and they were in charge with working the coloured windows that represented the episodes from the life of Saint Helena. There was a very talented boy among Valerius’ pupils, he could melt the saffron with the paint to make the colours brighter. So his workmates called him “Zafferano”.
In 1574, when the master glassmaker’s daughter got married, the young pupil convinced the cook to add his “spice” to the risotto that he was cooking that was supposed to be served with some butter only. The guests were so surprised because of its colour that looked like gold and for its really good spicy taste that this dish that was born by chance has become one of the main legends of the traditional Italian cuisine since then.
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tasty Legends
Dentro il Duomo di Milano red-feniks/Shutterstock.com
Ivan Pisoni
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Did you know that...
colacat/Shutterstock.com
Did you know that... tastefully...
T
he first spaghetti Carbonara were made by using bacon rather than the guanciale. It’s a must for the Italian cuisine, maybe it was born in the Apennines’ mines around 1800 and it became famous all over the world after World War II when it was difficult to find the ingredients and they were mainly offered by the American troops especially the powdered eggs and the bacon. Spaghetti used to be cooked that way and thanks to the American allies this recipe took wind.
Sea Wave/Shutterstock.com
P
otatoes were considered the devil’s food. They arrived to Spain around 1573, they had strange irregular shapes, they were not mentioned in the holy writings, they were considered the bringers of leprosy and they were considered the devil’s food too. The benefits of this tuber were acknowledged in the 19th century even because they discovered that each acre provided more calories.
NATHAPON KWIANWONG/Shutterstock.com
T
he Gorgonzola cheese was one of the dishes of the Titanic’s menu. It’s proved that one of the most famous Italian cheese was on the menu of the first class of the famous liner that sank on its first journey in 1912. The evidence is a copy of the menu that survived the shipwreck.
igorgorgonzola.com
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E
ating something with different types of cutlery changes the way you taste the food. According to a group of researchers from Oxford University, if you eat yogurt with a plastic spoon you’ll feel a better taste. If the spoon is white the white yogurt will be sweeter than the pink one, if the spoon is black the pink yogurt will taste sweeter. Instead if you eat cheese by using the knife it will taste less salty rather than eating it by using a toothpick, a fork or a spoon.
Igisheva Maria/Shutterstock.com
T
he “Fettuccine Alfredo” were really born in Italy. This dish was particularly famous in America as a typical Italian dish but it’s not so famous in our country where it is almost unknown. It was invented by chef Alfredo di Lelio, a restaurant owner from Rome who invented this dish made of fettuccine (a type of tagliatelle), parmesan cheese and butter as an invigorating dish for her wife after their son was born. This dish became very famous mainly in the chef’s restaurant thanks to the tourists who “exported” it overseas.
W
hat about a spoon instead of a bottle cap? Fake news! How often did you do it or were you suggested to do it? Well, you can stop now since it’s useless. There’s no evidence that the air stops when it touches the metal, indeed the air is not afraid of your cutlery and it can turn around it without any problems.
Rudo film/Shutterstock.com
Did you know that... tastefully...
BW Folsom/Shutterstock.com
Review
The taster by Giuseppina Torregrossa
F
ood and sex, passion and carnality. Love, taste, creativity. The novel “The taster” by the Sicilian Giuseppina Torregrossa plays with these sensual combinations (this is it!). The title says it all. Food and Eros sound a perfect match and is nothing new, there’s a cooking sensual history behind that and you can play with some particular aphrodisiac food. The book goes beyond this original limit thanks to its brilliant fresh and ironic style, it conveys enjoyable feelings (please, don’t be malicious) through a captivating reading. It’s the story of a couple in trouble and a husband who suddenly disappears. So Anciluzza, a typical Sicilian name,
is forced to move ahead and start a new life to survive. What’s better than making and selling food? That’s how her adventures start between food and sensuality. A sort of libertine new life is starting and the clients are really happy. From all points of view. Anciulla’s putìa dominates the pages. What’s the putìa? It’s the shop, the place where the protagonist spreads….. her love. So the taste of good food and sex are melted as a perfect osmosis. But without any vulgarity, we must underline this. But all in all it’s a sober book: we could say it’s Baroque according to the best Sicilian culture since it underlines the quality of what is eaten, the origin of food and its authenticity. When you leaf through the pages you’ll feel like strolling around the streets of the wonderful Sicily if it’s true that you can always sense the most dynamic expression of the local “genius” in the food, the value of a territory and its products. Passion is the heart of these pages and it’s conveyed with all the senses, needless to say.
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Marino Pagano
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Review
Balaguta Evgeniya/Shutterstock.com
