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Winter at the Woodstove - and then on the Road
Here in the Assisi countryside, December landscapes are brightened by the persimmons dangling on leafless trees like bright orange Christmas bulbs. Fall is losing its grip on Umbria as winter moves in: the grapevines are shedding their leaves and the olive trees have just given up their fruit to the world's best olive oils. Woodstoves warm up many farmhouses, their smoke trailing out over the terracotta-tiled rooftops. On our woodstove, sauces often simmer as I fine-tune favorite recipes for my 2011 February/March U.S. coast-to-coast cooking classes and lectures tour (...and what a perfect holiday gift my cooking class would be!). I'm also working on a new lecture for this year's U.S. tour and finalizing the itinerary... departure is just around the corner! I'll arrive February 4th in California for a couple weeks of cooking classes and lectures. Arizona's the next stop, then probably New Mexico and/or Texas (open for more events in the West). In early March, I'm off to the Midwest for Chicago and Wisconsin events. The East Coast wraps up the tour in mid-March with events in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Washington, D.C. Last call for those wishing to host cooking classes or lectures - I'm open to any location! And if you'd love to cook but can't host, some cooking classes on my route welcome additional participants. Lectures will be open to the public. Click here to see the provisional itinerary. I head home to casa dolce casa with the arrival of Umbria's spring. I look forward to memorable springtime FESTAtours, new Umbrian hilltown tours and cooking classes here in our Assisi farmhouse. |
| The Reluctant Blogger The social network was never for me - or so I thought. I came late to Facebook. I've found the whole concept of blogging quite daunting: after all, I live outside a medieval hill town and really feel like "medieval Annie" when it comes to cyberspace. Thanks to nudging from friends, my blog was born. Stories about our life on the land in Umbria, other areas of Italy I love, and, logicamente, Italy's greatest treasure, the Italians, all come together on my blog. I need to write, though I'm not sure why: probably because I most fully assimilate what I live by writing about it. Many of my stories are tributes to our farm neighbors who taught us about the land - and life. I owe it to them to record their memories and share their wisdom. Their stories are often blog highlights.
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| Mediterranean Diet: from the Table into Art What do the Acropolis, the Great Wall of China, Angkor Wat, - and pasta, tomatoes and olive oil have in common? They've all been cited by UNESCO as World Heritage treasures. Italy has forty-five World Heritage sites - more than any country in the world - but World Heritage patrimonies include not just places but also expressions of "Intangible Cultural Heritage". As of November, 2010, Italy now has a new "intangible": the Mediterranean diet. Italians do not just thrive on the Mediterranean diet, they honor it: Over the span of centuries, the foods of the Mediterrean diet have been immortalized in Italian art, from Pompeii frescoes to the exquisite terracotta Neapolitan crèche scenes. After all, the Mediterranean diet is not just a way of eating, it is a way of living.
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| Assisi Anticipates Spring Assisi piazzas are empty in the winter but activity hums indoors. Preparations are underway for our bellissima early May medieval festival, the Calendimaggio, when the Assisians, from young to old, fully live the Middle Ages for three days. Local seamstresses will soon be designing and sewing medieval costumes. Some teens will prepare for their festival roles by taking medieval dance classes, while others take on the intricacies of medieval instruments. Adults and youth join together in the medieval choral groups. The passione of the Assisani for their medieval heritage is the life force of our Calendimaggio.
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| Spicy Winter Flavors Peperoncino (hot red pepper), harvested at summer's end and then dried, spices up many a hearty Umbrian winter dish, from soups to pasta sauces to meats and vegetables. Cabbage, cauliflower, turnip greens, spinach and broccoli grow in rows in Umbrian winter vegetable gardens. Garlic, olive oil and a a touch of peperoncino enhance their flavors. Try preparing one of these vegetables "the Umbrian way": steam the vegetable of choice (or cook in a limited amount of salted water). Drain. Cover the bottom of a stainless steel frying pan with a generous amount of extra-virgin olive oil. Heat slightly, then drop in one or two garlic cloves and a bit of peperoncino (taste it on the tip of your tongue to see how hot it is!) and simmer til garlic is golden (do not burn the olive oil!). Stir in the steamed vegetable. Enjoy as a side dish or spoon onto bruschetta you have made by toasting slices of good crusty bread on both sides, then drizzling with olive oil. (Garlic is already in the vegetables so no need to rub the toasted bread with a garlic clove for this bruschetta.) Hint: as a way to encourage our three children to eat vegetables, I often put slices of cheese on the vegetable-topped bruschetta, before warming it in the oven til the cheese melted. The favorite? Bruschetta topped with spinach... and melted mozzarella!
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Felici feste! Thanks for sharing this newsletter generously and do feel free to contact me with any questions. Anne Robichaud |
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