You’ll want to tour all the Umbrian hilltown gems while you’re here, meeting “the locals” in the towns as you immerse yourself in the history and art. But if you really wish to “take Umbria” home with you, a contact with the rural people seems a must. For me, they are one of Italy’s national treasures. So head to the countryside while here.
My husband Pino and I moved to a ruined farmhouse in the Assisi countryside years ago – and we set out to work the land. I owe it to our rural friends to set down their stories – after all, they taught us not just about the ways of the land but about life. Peppa, Marino and Chiarina, Gentile and Peppe, Alessandro, Mandina: each has enriched our life on the land.
In a way, our farm friends were part of my annual U.S. cooking lessons/lecture tour each year: Umbrian rural cuisine recipes highlight our U.S. cooking gatherings. Short stories about them start off the events.
And I’ll continue with my Umbria rural life stories on my blog, my way to say “mille grazie.”
While rural neighbor Chiarina was making her homemade pasta recently,…… ….her husband Marino took me over to their improvised “cantina”… View article
Farm neighbor Chiarina was dicing the carrot for her pasta sauce when I dropped in one recent morning, her husband… View article
If you read my recent note on Giuseppa making her homemade fettuccine, you’ll already know that the best in the… View article
A box of Carnaroli rice in the kitchen cupboard, a pot of meat broth on our stove, a hefty chunk… View article
Prosciutto, pancetta, salami, salsicce, coppa, barbozza. The names unite in an enticing rhythm, so appealing to your ear. Even if… View article
January can be icy cold in Umbria but a month of warmth, too: the warmth of the locals celebrating January… View article
Why not give gold as a gift this year? “Liquid gold”: Extra-virgin olive oil of Umbria, “Italy’s green heart.” Our… View article
Quiz for the day: what is a “trunk-shaker with a reversed umbrella interceptor”? Here it is: It’s the mechanized tool… View article
When we first harvested olives here in the Umbrian countryside in an icy December, 1976, the picking was all done… View article
For my October 31st ZOOM talk (my twelfth!), olives and olive oil in Italy’s art, history, cuisine, medicine, folklore –… View article
