Leaving Gradoli, picturesque Latium hilltown on the western shore of Lake Bolsena, you might miss that old stone ruin on the left, but if you stop – as a friend and I did recently – you can feast in Purgatory. That is, at Il Purgatorio. Once a 15th-century monastery in ruins (old arches still remain), una cooperativa of five men, co-workers and friends, rented the building from the Comune di Gradoli and opened their restaurant about twenty years ago.
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La porchetta, noble street food of Umbria and central Italy in general, stars in the May festival of San Terenziano, “Porchettiamo”. Best translated as “Let us roast suckling pig it”, your Italian/English dictionary won’t have a translation and you don’t need one: just head to San Terneziano to experience “porchettiamo” with the “locals” in this tiny hilltown near Todi.
La porchetta (pork roasted on the spit, generously seasoned with garlic, rosemary, sage and wild fennel) and panini di porchetta draw the crowds to the stalls of vendors – or to their customized moveable trucks – in the piazzas, streets and weekly outdoor open markets all over central Italy. La porchetta is omnipresent at every Umbrian fiera, the traditional outdoor market on a saint’s feast day (or the day before or after the feast).
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During Gubbio’s May 15th Corsa dei Ceri (“race of the candlesticks”), passione comes in all sizes – from just-hatched little ones to the elderly – and in three colors: yellow, royal blue and black.
You’ll see more than one infant in a yellow kerchief and tiny yellow satin shirt and you might see a pre-schooler straddling his grandpas’s shoulders, both in bright royal blue shirts. An enthusiastic group of small children in black shirts, traditional Ceri white pants and red neck scarves clapping excitedly, danced to the music of the band on the steps of a medieval backstreet as I wandered Gubbio on the afternoon of May 15th.
Passione for the Ceri starts early – and lasts a lifetime. The marching brass bands trumpeting thoughout Gubbio during la Festa dei Ceri inflame that passione.
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Feeling itchy and sweaty, scratched arms and legs, and hands pricked by thorns can all herald bliss:
When you scramble up out of the woods, scratched hands clutching a big bunch of tender wild asparagus.
Cool weather these days is ideal for foraging for asparagi selvatici: less chance of meeting a viper. Years ago, our farm neighbors taught us the precautions for wild asparagus-hunting: wear high rubber boots and carry a stick to thrash around near the base of the prickly plants before putting hands among the rocks and leaves to pluck the tender asparagus shoots. Vipers move into the cool of the woods in hot weather, they warned.
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The Saturday night ballroom dancing season up at Catecuccio, mountain area behind Assisi, starts in mid-October and goes on until late spring. Our farm neighbors gather for banquet dinners of Umbrian rural cuisine, followed by ballroom dancing to a live orchestra. The very elderly to the very young animate the dance floor.
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In the 14th century during the first three days of May, Narni town criers called young riders to join in the races over the next few days: the race for the ring and the race for the Palio (flag), all in celebration of the martyrdom of their patron saint, San Giovenale. The ceremony lives on in early May in Narni as town criers on horseback crisscross the town, galloping under the colorful banners of the three terzieri (“district”), while drummers and buglers announce the festivities.
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Fanciful legends, myths, age-old folktales, medieval morality plays, ballads and poetry are woven into the rich tapestry of Calendimaggio, Assisi’s three-day May celebration of the arrival of spring. A much-loved Assisi legend recounts that long ago, a hooded old crone crept into a noble banquet, ignored by all the merrymakers except for five young damsels who proffered her food and drink. The old hag threw back her veil, revealing herself as La Primavera (“Spring”) and the young damsels who assisted her are remembered today as five young damsels are chosen for each of the two factions of Assisi – La Nobilissima Parte de Sopra (the upper area of the town) and La Magnfica Parte de Sotto (the lower area). Another folktale recounts that Springtime who rectifies the chaos of the natural world thanks to her five daughters who put order and harmony into the five time periods of the day: dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, evening.
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