No, “a truffle is not forever” – so enjoy them while you can. Due to a rainy spring and summer, this has not been a good year for olives, grapes, chestnuts or hazelnuts – but truffles are in abundance – and prices are down. At the late November Mostra/mercato del Tartufo (the Truffle “Show-and-Sell” fair)…
If you’re a “foodie” visiting Umbria, you can’t miss a dinner of rural goodness with our farm friend, Peppa – and if you’re lucky, learn to make the Umbrian hearth bread la torta with her. You’ll bake it right on top of her wood stove. Just ask Victoria about the experience: a highlight of her recent…
Pici all’aglione (thick spaghetti in a garlicky tomato sauce) with arugula is one of our favorite dishes at Ristorante Da Forcillo in Sinalunga, just over the border in southern Tuscany – and Pino’s choice on a recent lunch there. I asked peppery elderly server, Melis, for the pappardelle con sugo d’anatra (a wide fettuccine pasta with duck…
All over Umbria in late October, early November, medieval hilltowns celebrate autumn culinary specialties in a fanfare of festivities. Hazelnuts take center stage in Bevagna’s Festa della Nocciola during the first week-end in November. Under the massive ribbed vaults of the thirteenth-century city hall – where medieval merchants once displayed their goods – volunteers sell…
Fernando Checchini, Umbrian Regional Assessor of “Agricultural Politics” (literal translation), put it this way: “Bees and honey are important for the well-being of all. Bees offer a very high quality product and are important indicators of the level of biodiversity in our territories. Without their impollination, this biodiversity would be severely undermined.” At Foligno’s autumn…
You’ll see elderly Agostino and a young assistant roasting chestnuts and grilling sausages over an open fire, just after you pass through a medieval arch. A sure sign you’ve found the Festa del Vino e delle Castagne (Wine and Chestnust Festival) of San Martino in Colle, tiny castle-village near Perugia. For nine days in early…
If you’ve never tasted corbezzoli, giuggiole or pepini, you can try them at the Festa del Bosco (“Woodland Festival”) in the northern Umbria walled castle-village of Montone. Just stop at one of the first stands, adorned with leafy branches, intertwining vines, creating a “woods” effect. The bright red corbezzoli (translated as “arbutus”) and the walnut…
It’s not the first time we’ve savored the abruzzese goodness at the family-run Agristoro San Gregorio, just outside L’Aquila. And it won’t be the last time. A couple years ago, we stayed here in the rooms upstairs, after dinner in their warm and welcoming restaurant. We were in L’Aquila for Pino’s bid presentation for an…
Who ever thought that at an olive oil festival, you’d come home with a hand-bound journal or a handmade eelskin belt – or a pair of handmade leather shoes? Gianfranco will tell you all about the making of parchment and ancient book-binding techniques at his stand – and nearby, Federico will explain why that eelskin…
In updating my website, I came across this note on a fascinating festival. Enjoy. I’ve lived here in Umbria, “Italy’s green heart”, for well over 25 years… and finally this past year was able to attend the celebration of the Sacra Spina (“Sacred Thorn”) in the tiny walled medieval castle-village of Montone, about 25 miles…