We seem now to be sliding out of one of the coldest – and most disastrous – winters on record. Sunny today and somewhat warmer. Our wood stove is chugging away in the kitchen, heating our house, all the hot water – and something is always simmering on the cast iron stove top. Today? Some…
Just outside Todi on the road to Orvieto, a nondescript duplex – cars and a Vespa parked out front – flanks the roadside. It’s worth a stop, this Ristorante Da Pisello. We often eat here enroute to Canonica (near Orvieto) where Pino’s crew is now restoring an ancient farmhouse, that of our son, Keegan and…
In early February, 1998 I headed to the U.S. to lecture coast-to-coast on Assisi’s 1997 earthquake. My objective? To tell the world, that yes, two vaults of the Upper Basilica di San Francesco had collapsed but our glorious Basilica di San Francesco had survived. The video showing the crashing vaults had devastated tourism. I set…
In Umbria, we call thick spaghetti “strangozzi” but for Tuscans, they’re “pici.” And no better way to savor those thick ropes of pasta than with cacio pepe (“cheese and pepper”), but pecorino (sheep’s milk cheese, semi-aged – Parmesan won’t do!). On an icy January in southern Tuscany, Pino and I warmed up with a dish…
No better way to “live Umbria” fully than to “cook Umbria.” Let’s do it in our farmhouse – and before we cook up the goodness, we’ll head out to shop. First stop? The caseificio (“cheese shop”) close to the grandiose 16th-c Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli (near Assisi) where the family of Enrico Broccatelli…
In late January, our Giulia headed with journalist colleague, Sabina, to snowed-in tiny Abruzzo hilltown of Penne, to cover the tragic avalanche in nearby Farindola for EBU (European Broadcasting Union). The night before they left, Pino cooked up a special dinner of goat’s meat (ours – sigh) and artichokes…..that warmed us all up! Pino’s one…
An area newspaper summed it up recently, coining this winter in Italy of snowfalls, earthquakes and avalanches, “a never-ending nightmare.” As I write, 50,000 are without electricity and have been for days and stories of hope mix with stories of tragedies: a woman of 103 years old was safely airlifted by helicopter from her snowed-in…
I’d heard about Ristorante La Lumaca D’Oro (Golden Snail Restaurant) at Cantalupo, tiny town near Bevagna – and knew Pino would enjoy dinner there: give him snails in any way, any time! Inside, families were feasting on snails, cooked up in all sorts of ways including bruschetta alle lumache, salad of farro and snails, porcini…
It was icy December day when Julia, from South Africa and her lovely children, Michela and Oliver headed to Deruta to see maiolica splendor – and to visit a fasinating maiolica folk art shrine, Madonna dei Bagni. And after our explorations, no better place to warm up than at Giuseppa and Paolo’s farmhouse – with…
In the years we worked the land in Umbria, the stamina of the farm women astounded me. Not only did they work the land with the men, before heading to the fields they rapidly prepared abundant multi-course meals for lunchtime for numerous farmhands. “Il sugo del contadino” (“the farmer’s sauce,” though it should be called…