Succulent sweet squid in a thick tomato sauce served on a bed of creamy grilled polenta – the juxtaposed textures made for unlikely but perfect bedfellows!

As a devoted fan of polenta and squid  seperately I am not sure how this one had escaped me for so many years until a recent fish cookery course aboard a trabocco!  Some people believe polenta should just be kept as a winter warmer but I use it as a simple toolkit for banishing the blues no matter what the season.  Each time I pull that tactilely satisfying bag of yellow out of the cupboard I think of the drying summer corn swayed gently  by the ripening wind dance in my neighbour’s fields.

Octopus was unavailable from the local fishermen due to the weather so Maria our teacher substituted squid instead of the original octopus in her recipe below.  We ate this as antipasti,  next time I am going to try and up Maria’s amounts and have it as a supper dish.

Polpo al sugo con polenta – Octopus in tomato sauce with polenta

Ingredients

1/4 of octopus

125 ml of Passata

1 Red Onion sliced

1 Celery Stalk chopped

1/2 Carrot sliced

1 Bay leaf,

65 ml of White Wine

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt

Method

Clean & wash the octopus and if using a large fresh octopus beat it vigorously with a tenderizing mallet after you have just bought it.  Pop it into a pot with about 2lt of water and half of the onion (sliced), the diced carrot, the chopped celery, the bay leaf, wine and a good pinch of salt.  Bring to the boil and then lower the heat so that it’s on a gentle simmer.  For the octopus meat to be tender and not fibrous it will require at least an hour’s cooking. After the octopus is cooked, remove it from the pan to cool and cut into chunky pieces.

In a saucepan fry the other half of onion in the oil, add the octopus pieces and finally the tomato sauce; simmer for  about 10 min.

Ingredients for the Polenta

200 ml of water

A handful of polenta

Salt

Directions

Boil a kettle pour into a small saucepan, add salt and bring to the boil.  Add the polenta slowly to avoid lumps forming and stir continuously for about 10 min. Pour the contents onto a tray or wooden chopping board and leave to cool until it becomes compact.  Cut into 4 pieces and grill for a few moments and serve individually on a plate with the octopus and tomato sauce on top.

Preparation time: about 2 hours

Serves 4

Italian fish cookery courses aboard a trabocco in Abruzzo was arranged by ItaliasweetItalia

© Photography by Lucciola.me

This fish cooking course is ideal if you are still of the opinion that Italian Adriatic fish is just a plate of fried mixed fish (Pesce Fritto) or you’re fish challenged like me and need to learn invaluable skills associated with fishmongery, such as preparation and cleaning of fish and shellfish like the scary Mantis Shrimp (Cicale di mare) the feet of which I had previously a tendency to hack rather than trim.

Our fish cookery course was organised by sustainable tourism experts ItaliaSweetItalia, a Vasto-based operation dedicated to promoting  the diverse range of genuinely unique experiences to be found in Chieti. Off they whisked us to Trabocco Punta Tufano, sitting under the famous Abruzzo C11th abbey San Giovanni in Venere, Rocca San Giovanni, and just off the old railway lines that were so instrumental in the rapid springing up of trabocchi, which utilised their wooden sleepers and iron.  I just can’t wait for when this old track is turned into the promised cycle route; it will be an utterly glorious ride along Chieti’s Trabocchi strewn coastline over a couple of days, stopping off for great fish along the way.

The small cove that our mechanical fishing vessel juts out from buzzed with small local fishing boats so you know that what you are about to cook and eat really couldn’t get any fresher or more sustainable.

Maria is your teacher and wonderful at showing you exactly what you need to do.  Her skills were passed on by her mother, a local fish restaurant cook; Mama really does know best as they say.  Maria doesn’t speak English, but Fabrizio from ItaliaSweetItalia translates if you aren’t up to speed, and you almost don’t need the language as her instruction is very clear; the most important thing…?  Timings! This is the secret to a great fish feast, for example knowing when to mince your squid, simmer your stock, and of course gorgeous recipes.  Maria’s fish and shellfish recipes she has kindly allowed us to publish so keep checking back!

The heart of the trabocco, housed a nifty galley kitchen with a 4 ring stove which somehow, with our negligible help, produced this 3 course lunch which can now take the crown of the best ever fish lunch I’ve eaten (a title that was previously held by eating spider crabs in the company of piggies in Cambodia, but that’s another story…).  We visited the last week in April which was blustery with a teasing sun that gave everyone an attractive glowing windswept look and in the heat of the kitchen provided great ventilation.

Eating on deck wasn’t a problem, plastic sheeting was brought out and made our dining table completely wind free and if anything a little suntrap for those seeking sunkisses.  Although I wasn’t too fond of the rather full-bodied Cerasuolo, the local Trebbiano was great.  As a final piece of exertion to help digest a very indulgent lunch, Maria’s husband Rinaldo got us all up to take part in working the trabocco and understand how these static fisheries, with their many veins, masts and sheets, with carved wooden names in local dialect, really do catch fish.  He’s a Verí,descended from the original 60 French family members who were shipwrecked and made the area their home and began this alternative way to fish. Quite unlike locals in their physical size, and supposedly irritable, intolerant and who could neither swim nor surf they were excellent engineers whose catwalk way of fishing have become one of Abruzzo’s iconic, most recognisable and best places to learn some Italian fish cookery in the 21st century.

MENU & DISHES ON THE  CURRICULUM 

APERITIVO 

* Alici marinate – Marinated fresh anchovies

ANTIPASTI 

* Vongole alla marinara – Mariner’s-style clams
* Polpo al sugo con polenta – Octopus in tomato sauce with polenta, octopus unavailable so we made this dish with squid.
* Cozze ripiene – Stuffed mussels

PRIMI 

*Tacconelli allo scoglio – Tacconelli pasta with seafood, ran out of time to make fresh pasta so we used dry pasta still wonderful…

SECONDI 

*Brodetto di pesce alla vastese – Fish soup alla vastese

or
*Spigola al forno – Baked Sea Bass

DOLCI 

*Pizzelle

Cost €180 for the day per person for the fish cookery course and lunch.  There is a 5% discount for LifeinAbruzzo readers if you use this code code 1026 on booking with ItaliaSweetItalia.  4-day excursions and accommodation start at €845.00.

The course starts at 10.00 in the morning and expect to spend till at least 15.00 aboard the trabocco learning how to prepare and cook fish Abruzzo style and eating your results.

This excursion is  available from April through to October.

The main advantage over other traditional fish preparation and cookery classes, it’s aboard somewhere completely unique to Abruzzo Italy.  The other is that the kitchen is small so a very intimate learning experience.

Photography © Lucciola.me

Appeared in Italy on a Plate: April 29 2012

Bloggers Workshops to Explore, Taste and Optimise

blogAway will convene for 3 nights in the old Medici hilltop town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, 1250 masl, described by The NY Times as ‘poetically aged’ and selected as one of ‘I Borghi piu belli d’Italia’.  It sits on Campo Imperatore, Italy’s ‘Little Tibet’ which the UK Times included in its Top 10 Adventures of a Lifetime.  The weather in late September is dry and the average temperature is 25C.  Tickets start at €200 for the 2 days and 2 nights workshops and tasting receptions.

Blogging Creates a Helping Hand

ALL monies after minimal overheads from ticket sales and sponsorship of the Hands on L’Aquila conference will be donated to 2 local community causes that:

- Improve the lifestyle of the local community as whole
- Facilitate travel tourism within the area
- Increase the brand reach of local food & wine producers
- Provide local employment

Collaboration Whilst Optimising

blogAway is committed to collaboration with local businesses in every phase of this conference. Friday lunch will be the sagra style lunch that Abruzzo is famous for whilst Saturday’s lunch will consist of  panini and table tastings at the Market & Tour Fair mingling bloggers and local businesses.  Shaking off workshop fatigue on Saturday night a short, gentle walk before dinner up to Rocca Calascio, one of Italy’s oldest forts, 1460m above sea level is available for those that would like to join us.

It is hoped that attendees do not just learn how to improve and optimise their blog during the 2 days, but also take time to explore L’Aquila, revel in Abruzzo’s natural beauty, taste its coveted artisanal products, contemplate its environmental future and marvel at its preservation despite the L’Aquila earthquake of 2009.

Essential Reasons to Attend

- Boost your blog and business
- Indirectly contribute to 2 local good causes
- Learn and exchange in a creative environment
- Make new introductions, business contacts and referrals
- Sample the sagra style and market lunches
- Relax and meet local artisans at our happy hour receptions

There is 10% off early bird discount if you book before the 6th May!

Like the 10km tunnel that bores through the Gran Sasso Massif from L’Aquila to Teramo the 2009 earthquake passed under the Corno Grande, rearing up through the substrata to inflict destruction on the ancient capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Tossicia. With a flick of its tail it tore up to the little farm village of Bascianella, 49kms east of the epicentre. Its forked tongue tore up the thick old walls of our next door neighbour’s house, it slipped round our little alley’s corner and drove its talons hard into the foundations and walls of our vicini, 3 doors along. It’s a word I love in Italian, “vicini”, for neighbour; everyone close is your neighbour here. Its spines dug hard into the church, silencing its bells making it unusable for the villagers to gather, celebrate, commiserate and remember just like their forebears 2 centuries ago. Not too devastating on the scale of what happened to the small villages around the epicentre of the earthquake, but when a village comprises just 12 families, it is quite a toll.

Hand-tied is a good way to describe the after effects of an earthquake. Although you feel incredibly lucky that your house is still standing, you can never be too far removed from someone who physically suffered. Part of Abruzzo’s charm in being one of the least populated regions of Europe means that, sooner or later, you’re touched even indirectly by another’s misfortune.

Small family businesses close down due to lack of demand; the whirr of hope begins to fade and is replaced by the notion that L’Aquila and its surrounding villages are the 21st century’s Pompeii. It may be glorious to look at the ruins of antiquity, but watching over modern day ones with their timeless date of reconstruction and accompanied by a government drone of “one day soon” are less of an attraction.

Families who previously sold or gave their children family houses that have been handed down generation after generation are caught short in what they can gift to their children (the pastel coloured pref-fabs don’t work that way). Family collateral is tied like hands with a reconstruction date that, unlike so many of the affected buildings, is never truly concrete or built upon reliable foundations. It’s hindered by scams and corruption. Though the fraud is nothing close to the magnitude of the Italian Irpinia Earthquake when only ¼ of the $40 billion raised was spent on reconstruction, it does slow everything down.

People look to blame and the regional & national governments spend much needed funds on prosecuting scientists who didn’t foretell the earthquake. Crafty deflections are an art-form which seem to mask the reality of the fallout of the L’Aquila earthquake 3 years on.

In the middle of my maternity leave Helen Free came up with an initial idea of a not-for-profit ‘learn to blog’ workshop. ‘Hands tied’ became ‘Hands on L’Aquila’ and a blogger conference to show that, although the region doesn’t have infinity ADSL, the digital divide grows less and the region could host a conference that would attract food, wine, travel and business bloggers. Their arrival would aid local businesses by facilitating networking , provide real column inches and links in praise of artisan foods, incredible wines and a landscape unlike Berlusconi’s G8 feast extravaganza to political journalists.

It felt right to actively promote one of Italy’s most ruggedly beautiful regions and its simple yet emotive cuisine beyond writing about it on my own blog LifeinAbruzzo. It is a simple way to help my vicini.

Hands on L’Aquila can’t rebuild or restore houses directly but it can help facilitate demand and help renew tourist interest in the region to keep businesses and jobs open, at the same time raising funds for two community causes that in turn benefit both locals and tourists. Its landscapes, people, food and traditions fascinated Henri Cartier Bresson, M.C. Escher and Edward Lear; it’s time to discover what the fuss was about.

This post was originally written for blogAway - NGO workshops that explore, taste optimise

Terribly sad news that our Bascianella neighbour Domenico passed away yesterday, regular readers of this blog will know him through our posts and that the blog is dedicated to him and his wife…

Domenico and his wife Italia have displayed unbelievable kindness and generosity to us during our various short and long stays in Bascianella. Despite the age gap, our Britishness and poor understanding of local dialect(!) they immediately befriended us upon our arrival in the village, and were constantly checking that we were okay; Domenico introduced us to various local alcoholic favourites, ranging from sambuca-in-coffee to home-made “vino cotto”, none of which were for the faint of heart or pale of liver…but to counteract this he also was a wonderful regular source of vegetable products, ranging from the very very best tomatoes we’ve ever had through to an introduction to fava beans (“eat them raw!”) with some olive oil as well as freshly foraged asparagus, and bucketfuls of other freshly picked home-grown vegetables and fruit, and of course eggs – amazing eggs.

Always to be found wandering around the village in the morning after doing his chores which at 86+ I’d rather not be doing at his age. He was ready to accompany us on the short walk up to food vans when they arrived with a shout incase you hadn’t heard their beeping horns. A quick doorbell ring would tell us that our washing was hanging out over the balcony and hadn’t we noticed the rain as we huddled over our computers working. There is more than one occasion when I wish we had listened to him about the weather, he could seemingly look up into the sky, at the clouds, and tell the month let alone what the day would be like. It was Domenico that would also tell us times to get up or where to go to catch the best light for us the keen (but all too often lazy) amateur photographers.

A sedate sit in the shade in the afternoon until la passeggiata, Domenico was a seemingly perennial figure in Bascianella, with a mischevious twinkle in his eye. Together with Italia they provided a wonderful, oft hilarious (in a good way) window onto an Italian lifestyle, with their arguments, genuine affection, fond mutual reminiscences and much more. He will be greatly missed, although I am sure he will still always be present in Bascianella, a gentle shade entwined in all the village’s daily ambient sounds. Our sympathies go to Italia and all his family, many of whom still reside in Bascianella.

Italia is our Abruzzo neighbour who despite her late years should write a cook book, such a wizard is she in the kitchen.  I am not sure if these mint pancakes were her own invention for her husband Domenico, who hasn’t got a sweet tooth, or a local farmer’s treat recipe that goes back to the beginning of time. 

 Harvest by Annunziata Scipione

It’s the sort of thing if I worked on the land that I could appreciate being served at 9.00 am after spending 2 hours sitting on my tractor or bent double weeding or hoeing.  Obviously the early glass of white wine she serves with the pancakes helps reach those parts that breakfast coffee doesn’t.

I am always a little surprised by how much mint there is locally  and how it’s used in dishes, one of my favourite combinations being duck and mint. Abruzzo’s favourite storyteller son Ovid makes mention of mint in his Metamorphoses.  Myntha was a nymph of divine beauty who was transformed into the plant in a jealous fit of rage by Pluto’s (Hades) wife Proserpina (Persephone) who was the ancient goddess of harvest.  It was Pluto who gave the plant the aroma as a lasting gesture of his love. 

It’s funny that this tangle of two women still holds true today, like a lot of rural Italy alongside lemon verbena, mint was planted locally on banks to stop soil erosion.   I can’t imagine what would happen to harvest without the banks of these 2 plants  that surround the village, they save it from the death of local tarmac that ends up washed away down at the bottom of the hill when there is a heavy downpour.  Everything has a reason as they say, it’s not just there for my superficial love of walking past and inhaling deeply after a shower when the smell is divine and where I am transported to when eating these fresca pancakes.

Italia’s Mint Pancakes

Ingredients

135g plain wholemeal flour
Good pinch of salt
2 eggs
75 ml water
150 ml semi-skimmed milk 
Glug of Olive Oil
2 large handfuls of roughly chopped mint

Method

If you haven’t got a food blender! 

Sift the flour in a mixing bowl and make a well.  Add the salt and eggs.  Mix the water, milk and olive oil together and pour slowly into the flour and egg mixture until you have a smooth consistency.   Add the chopped mint and leave to stand for half an hour in the fridge. 

Heat a little oil (groundnut or sunflower or if you prefer butter) on a medium heat and add a small ladleful of batter.  Swirl the batter in the pan when it’s set turn over and cook for another 30-50 seconds.  These pancakes are not skinny crepes in style a little bit thicker, think Farmer’s pancakes so do require a few seconds more to cook.

Serve with pecorino and peperoncino oil.

Finding Valentino is the autobiographical story of a daughter returning to Abruzzo from Australia to discover her father’s past.  He is suffering from Alzheimer’s and following his announcement that he dislikes being called Wally, his ‘Australian’ name, that he always preferred Tino from his given name Valentino, she realises how little she knows about this man, his youth and her heritage in Abruzzo.

As Wally/Tino’s world decreases to playing the accordion, a memento of another age, character & continent and he starts speaking more Italian than English, Angela decides to travel to Abruzzo to learn more about her father and his land. Whilst there she learns to cooks Abruzzo-style with her Aunts, and experiences first hand her the mother tongue of her father, and the richness of the dialect he grew up with.

Angela spends four seasons with her father’s youngest brother in the house where Valentino was born, in the small hill village of Capoposta, twelve houses that sit just outside Casoli in Chieti under the majesty of the Majella.  She breaks up her time here with travels around Italy.  It made me laugh how she became “the girl that was stared at” when setting out to walk off the girth of her Aunt’s cooking.  I too used to feel that when out walking our dog before later stares became beams and a big wave from a speeding Fiat Panda.  I was never sure if those stares were that I walked our dog, (nobody just dog walks, it’s always combined with the slightly more social La Passeggiata) or that my ever busy neighbours thought it a decadent excursion, mad girl out with her camera again doesn’t she ever work!

I loved Angela’s tight descriptions, “squeaky cheese” –one that is fresh, sliced and fried rather like halloumi which, unless you stay with locals, is a delight that will probably pass you by.  It’s become a firm favourite of ours too and I whoop when our Cheese Man in his van has some.  She visits Grotto Cavallone which you can visit using a tiny cage like basket to get up to.  I was so pleased to read that she preferred the precarious 4-wheel drive to get there – no longer did I feel alone from refusing to go up in those cages!

How well anyone who knows Abruzzo, away from its cities and towns, will recognise her phrase “Everywhere there is a silence and calm”;  it’s these qualities that are quite addictive, small wonder that so many Romans and foreigners have a bolt hole in Abruzzo to rediscover this within themselves.

It’s the perfect book for those thinking of going back to visit their Abruzzo roots.  You can try out the recipes that interlace the book from the region and if going for a time, wonder if you could survive on just eating Abruzzese? Angela herself develops a home sickness for cuisine that isn’t Italian.  If you are thinking of living here that is something to bear in mind; if you like Indian, Thai, Spanish and Mexican then those dishes are going to be something you need to learn to make yourself as you will only get to eat them at home.

The thought of how little we know about our parents’ lives before we arrive on the scene pin-picks one throughout the book; make time to chat now was my last thought on closing the last page, it’s great to read a book with a subconscious moral to take into your own life.

Read more about Angela on her  on blog
Available from Amazon

Making marmalade, with its intoxicating bitter sweet aroma that permeates every room in the house, is one of the best tangy treats known to mankind when facing down a caustic winter wind, shovelfuls of snow and using any excuse not to go outside. 

Assorted citrus baubles are something that breaks up winter in our village in Abruzzo; the arrival of the Sicilian orange man who it feels bounces round the village with a cheery glee when everyone else’s rhythm is on plod hibernation mode. Unlike the other food and produce vans that visit the village, he’s loud with a penchant for R’n’B disco pop, Beyonce his favourite artist to accompany selling his oranges. 

Very occasionally he brings bitter Seville oranges sitting next to February’s Blood Orange season and I reminisce of a pot of Bitter Orange and Pistachio marmalade I bought up in the mountains outside Palermo on a visit to Sicily. The sweetness  and slight crunch of the pistachios make them the perfect bedfellow to this textural orange jam.  Unlabelled so no chance of tracking down its maker, and no matter how much I search online its recipe kept a family secret somewhere so hence this improvisation.  It’s not strictly Abruzzo, but hey just 5 km down the road is Tossicia the HQ of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies locally until it was kicked out in 1806.  I like to think that alongside troops and bureaucrats that a few oranges came along on that feudal journey and rolled themselves out to the surrounding villages to bring some welcome winter joy just like our Sicilian Orange Man today.

Orange & Pistachio Lady Marmalade Recipe

Ingredients

1k Seville oranges perferably organic
1 k unbleached cane sugar
2 lemons & 1 Seville Orange  juiced
50 g Pistachio kernels blanched and smashed

Method

Scrub the oranges and put them in large saucepan or preserving pan. Pour boiling hot water over the oranges – enought to cover.  Put on the lid and leave for 10 minutes. 

Remove the oranges and peel them removing the pith.  Return the peeled fruit and skin to the pan and add any pips you have found and the pith into a tied muslin/cheese bag and add it into the fruit mixture and leave overnight.

Bring  the mixture to the boil, turn down the heat and put on the lid and simmer for 1-2 hours. Every quarter of an hour push down on your pith and pip bag and turn it over.  Once the peel is tender according to your taste remove from heat. 

Cut the peel into fine slivers and reserve. Sieve the fruit and pith into a measuring jug and add the squeezed lemons and orange.  Measure the liquid in the jug and return all into the pan with the slivered peel and a  muslin bag of the pips you encountered whilst sieving.

For every 250 ml of pulp, stir in 500 g sugar. (I always add less 250 g on the final 250 ml as I don’t like my marmalade too sweet nor too thick like jelly).  Bring to the boil and bubble gently till you reach setting-point – 20-30 minutes. Stir regularly – it may look juicy but it can easily stick and burn. 

If your pistachio kernels aren’t skinless, now is the time to blanch them by pouring boiling water on them and leaving them to stand for 5 minutes.  Rub their skins off and coarsely smash them with a rolling pin.

To test to see if it will set, drop a teaspoonful on a cold saucer and place in the freezer for 3 minutes, if you can push the surface with your finger and it wrinkles it’s ready. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Fish out the pip-bag and stir in the smashed pistachio kernels and give it a stir to make sure the chunky peel stays suspended. Using a soup ladle pour into clean hot jars.  Leave to stand for 30 minutes then add on your lid.

Whilst searching for some snow terms in dialect I came across this wonderful account of Abruzzo and the transumanza entitled ‘Shepherds of the Abruzzi’ in an edition of The Penny Society Magazine which was set up by the Whigs in London as a means of educating the literate masses – it’s first year having  a readership of 200,000.  Imagine, 200,000 people knowing where Abruzzo is! I still more than often get asked “Abruzzo, where’s that?”!

Click here to read the full account as a pdf.

So little has changed it seems; here are some of my favourites, perhaps I’m biased, but the essence of romance, generosity, storytelling and love of music still rings true, as does that strong summer wind that blew down my novice tomato plants housed in a pots on my terrace.  

“The same taste for romantic traditions that distinguishes our highlander and the inhabitants of mountainous countries.”

“Generally, they are as superstitious, they have the same love of music and their instrument is the same as that of our northern brethren, for their zampogna scarcely differs from the highland bag pipe, an instrument it is said is also found in nearly all mountainous countries of the world.“

“Some of their superstitions are evident of classic paganism; others a compound of monkish legends and paganism and the mass is course what has arisen from the Romish church.  They have a traditional reverence for the name of their countryman Ovid, but like the poor Neopolitans who believe that Virgil was a great magician, they make their poet’s fame depend upon his having been a mighty adept in necromancy.  In the town of Sulmona, the place of the poet’s birth they keep a rude stone statue which people have chosen to call Ovidio Nascone, though it is more probably the effigy of a portly abbot of the fourteenth century.”

“The winds that blow from these mountains even as early as the end of summer are often bleak and piercing.”

“The dogs are a remarkable fine breed, rather like our Newfoundland dog, very strongly made, snowy white in colour and bold and faithful.  The shepherds say that two of them “of the right sort” are a match for an ordinary wolf.”

“Popular tradition had faithfully preserved the memory of the great events that once occurred in that solitude.”

“The next morning when [the author] was about to continue his journey to Canosa, he offered money for the accommodations he had received.  The old shepherd refused and seemed hurt by his pressing it upon him.”

If the commune of Gessopalena has it’s way, this stretch of the river Aventino will die.  Gessopalena has put out a tender for the construction of a hydroelectric plant on the river.

The work in question, totalling a few million euros, sees the construction of a reinforced concrete beam above the river, with a height of 4 meters and a length of 18 meters, for the uptake of the water which is carried by a pipe of 1.8 meters in diameter along the banks of the Aventino for 2.3 Kms downstream giving a jump of 31 meters which is used to create electricity from turbines.

The regional authority of Chieti gave approval prior to the bid going out. The escalated procedure means that bids will be opened on 25 January 2012. The adjacent comunes of Lama dei Peligni and Civitella Messer Raimondo had not been informed, until it came to light last week when 25 engineers and representatives of the bidding companies arrived on our land to gain access to the Aventino – without asking our permission.

The river is everyone’s heritage, yet the commune of Gessopalena will over the next 30 years receive a total of 5 million euros and the winning bidder of the project will receive in total over the 30 years some 35 million euros. Once again a few people get richer whilst the majority get poorer.

This project will produce severe economic impact to the local communities, since the area of outstanding natural beauty surrounding the Aventino attracts thousands of tourists every year, not only from Italy but also from France, Germany, UK, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, Last year over 1,000 tourists navigated through this section of the Aventino in kayaks and rafts. This project will reduce this section of the Aventino to a trickle.

The environmental impact is even more devastating; it will kill the whole ecosystem. This irreversible act will destroy the whole beauty of the area; all flora and fauna will die. No more will the heron be seen drinking every day, the occasional stag neither, nor will the baby doe be seen crossing the river. Wild boar will search out pastures greener, the trout will no longer roam free attracting fly-fishing. The falcons will not hover above and the golden eagle will not grace us with its presence.

“Only when the last tree has died and

The last river has been poisoned and

The last fish has been caught,

Will we realise that

We cannot eat money”

- 19^th Century Cree Indian Proverb

Join the Facebook group AMICI DELL’AVENTINO to help save this river

Guest post by Stewart Holland

Stewart Holland and his wife, the Artist and Photographer Ruth Cantlay Holland, run  the award-winning holiday rental “Casa del Fiume”. Before moving to Abruzzo five years ago Stewart was an IT Consultant. Stewart also worked in Milan where he met Ruth who was a Fashion Designer.

“Alert for all those with Italian residency with property or financial interests overseas. The Italian tax authorities have introduced two new taxes on overseas assets: one is on property, so is bound to catch any foreign nationals who maintain properties “back home”. The rate of tax is 0.76% of the value of the property, either as stated in the purchase documents or, failing this, at market value. This means that someone with a house which they bought for the equivalent of €150,000 will be required to pay €1140 a year for the privilege.

A second similar tax applies to any financial assets held abroad – e.g.
shares, bonds, even savings and current accounts. These will be taxed at 0.15% on the value of the asset in the current tax year. Again, a person holding a nest-egg of €150,000 in an overseas account will be required to pay €225 to the Italian tax authorities.

As the taxes are retrospective in effect, they already apply to 2011 and will therefore be included in the next tax return due in June this year.”

Q& A Sammy & Antonio
Oh my word!  That is going to put off a lot of people buying or maintaining property in Italy for sure!  I just want to make sure I get this right…  anyone with Italian residency who owns a property in their native country or has a bank account/nest egg will be required to pay tax on that house to the Italian govt?  Will that be applicable to their pensions? Can the Italian government legally do that?  How will they chase a person in the USA as an example. 

To answer your questions, the situation isn’t entirely clear yet. In the original decree there was no mention of these new taxes, they were added on in literally a couple of lines when the decree was made law. So it’s taken everyone by surprise. Hopefully sooner rather than later the Italian Revenue will come out with the details of exactly what is intended, how it will be applied etc and then we will have a fuller picture.

As regards pensions, for those receiving a pension from abroad my feeling is that this is just a source of income rather than an investment, so I don’t think the new tax will apply. However it probably will apply (I feel) to pensions as they are being built up, as this would be seen as an investment. Quite frankly I don’t understand how current accounts count as investment, but there you go.
 
As to how they’ll do it, you may recall the famous RW section which was introduced some time ago into the annual tax return and required all residents to declare the assets they held abroad. At the time the Revenue said it was for “information purposes only”. Well now they’ve been informed on exactly where and what the overseas assets are, it’s comparative child’s play to collect the tax.

Have an accountancy question for Antonio, need an English speaking accountant, he can be contacted for more information via the Studio Del Gaizo Picchioni  website

Walking here, or amongst the forested mountain ranges of Monti Gemelli  and Monti della Laga, in-between or on top of those layers sit plump, undulating pastures, streams, rivers & crevices and fallen rock all combine to give the impression of the tiny meatballs, polpettine (locally known as pallottine), the rich lamb ragù sauce, spinach or thorny artichokes  and scamorza that are richly layered  in this dish.

Personally as I sat cooking my Timballo Teramana on Christmas Day I said a big “thank you” to Emperor Constantine for his insistence on the adoption of a  new religion  honour ‘Christmas’ on the 25 December, the birthday of the official Roman sun god Sol Invictus (“Invincible Sun”).   To me this Abruzzo dish is homage to the sun and its impact on heating a small far away planet…oopsadaisy! no we’re not writing text for Battlestar Galactica, let’s get back to this Timballo alla teramana recipe!  But the unique way that the sun forged and helps foster a very fertile Abruzzo valley landscape, resplendent with rich high meadows that flourish and provide such fine grazing, and its mountain gullies keep the area looking verde even in the height of a heat wave. 

A heat wave was the last time I tried to make this dish with a temperature of 40c.  I’d had the idea after foraging and finding a huge bunch of wild spinach which even after some time on the stove wasn’t as wilted as I was at the finish of making this that time.  No wonder it’s kept as a special dish for Christmas & New Year celebrations and weddings, it is a touch fiddly.  However one reason I actually enjoyed making it this time at the correct time of year was that I made the crepes and ragù the day before so the light-weight chopping and meatball rolling that needed to be done on Christmas Day dish was a breeze compared to making a big fat roastie.

Timballo alla teramana Recipe

Scrippelle (Crepes)

Ingredients

4 eggs

125 g water

4 tablespoons milk

40 g plain flour

100g finely grated Pecorino or Parmesan

Bunch of finely chopped flat leaf parsley

Good pinch of salt

Method

Blend your eggs, water, milk and salt to make a batter.  Add the pecorino cheese and parsley and leave to stand for 30 minutes.

In a lightly oiled very hot pan add 3/4 of a soup ladle of your batter and fry your crepes on both sides till golden. Remember these are to be like veils rather than American pancake style. Cover your crepes with a damp tea-cloth to ensure they don’t dry out.

Lamb Ragù

Ingredients

400 g diced lamb – in Teramo this would be castrato!

1 bottle passata  

1 celery stalk cut into 2

1 rosemary stalk leaves chopped

1 tablespoon of marjoram

2 smashed cloves of garlic

Peperoncini to taste

Method

Saute garlic and add the chopped lamb until lightly browned.  Add herbs and peperoncini and simmer for ideally 3 hours, till you have a thick sauce.

Fillings

Pallottine (Meatballs)

400 g minced lamb or beef

Salt & Pepper

Season the meat and shape into small meatballs the size of your little finger nail.  Gently fry and set aside.

1 jar of olive oil preserved artichokes drained and sliced

500 g scamorza or fresh mozzarella cut into cubes

Line a deep dish with lightly oiled baking paper/parchment that overlaps the side.  Don’t attempt this dish unless you can do this otherwise you will never get your timballo out!

Line the bottom with crepes and then begin layering adding sauce, pallottine, cheese, then more crepes, sauce artichokes and cheese.  Finish with pancakes and a layer of sauce to keep it moist and a final few cubes of cheese.

Cover with tin foil and bake in a pre-heated 200 c oven for 1.15 hours, remove the tin foil and allow to cook for another 15-30 minutes until the top is browned.

Allow to rest for 15-30 minutes and then remove from the pan and cut into squares.

Serve with a fennel salad.

Photographs by Lucciola.me | Featured by ‘Italy on a Plate’: Jan 1 2012

What’s your association with Abruzzo?

i.e. where do you live and why? Where did your family come from and when/ where did they emigrate to?

My wife, Silvia, is from L’Aquila and I first started visiting with her before we decided to move down when she became a researcher in Modern History at the University of L’Aquila. I call it my home even though we are still displaced in Pescara and I’m often elsewhere in Italy for work.

 How long have you been living in Abruzzo or visiting?

I first started coming down from Milan for the holidays almost in 1994 when Silvia invited me to see her family. We moved from Milan to l’Aquila ten years ago and landed in Pescara in April 2009 when the Earthquake shook us out of our home. We hope to move back to L’Aquila but are also enjoying life by the Adriatic sea.

What’s the best thing about Abruzzo?

Not an easy question, because there are so many wonderful things that it’s really up to every visitor to decide. For me it’s the people I’ve come to love, and most of what I love about Abruzzo is tied to each of them. There are not many places where you can go from a  mountaintop castle to antique coastal fishing structures in an hour, or eat ancient legumes – like tiny mountain lentils or rustic cicerchie (a very primitive legume which is a cross between a square chick pea and wild rice) and roast lamb while listening to classical music in a medieval hill town at lunch and groove to wine and great Jazz not far from the sea in the evening.

What’s the worst thing about Abruzzo?

Like in much of Italy, including the North, too much red tape and too many officials who are unwilling to take responsibility and move things along.  Right now many offices in L’Aquila are open to the public just two hours a day with no recourse to web-based tools. 

But if you don’t try to buy a house or set up a business, none of this will create a problem, it’s something residents have to live with, not tourists. And if you are looking to buy a house, I advise – both in Italy and anywhere, to always , make sure there’s a real, licensed estate agent involved, and if they get upset when you ask to see their certificate go somewhere else (and let the rest of the world know who they are online). Whenever anyone anywhere in the world becomes evasive when you ask a simple question, it’s time to worry.

What’s the most underrated thing about Abruzzo?

Everything, really.

But having to choose I would still say L’Aquila, which was – and still is – one of Italy’s ten largest and most beautiful old cities. Unfortunately it took an earthquake shattering of it to get even Italians to pay attention. The tiny hill and mountain towns, most of them fortified, may sometimes pop up in movies but they are just the frosting flowers on the cake of internal Abruzzo. Even more stunning, Catholics flock to Rome every 25 years for the Jubilee but few know that the first ever Jubilee was the Perdonanza, founded by Pope Celestino V who had moved the papacy to L’Aquila. With the Perdonanza Celestiniana you don’t have to wait a quarter century to repent and have your sins washed away. In L’Aquila complete absolution is possible at the end of August every year.

Where would be your favourite place to live in Abruzzo?

L’Aquila before the Earthquake. Standing in Piazza del Duomo you can still look down ancient streets and see the surrounding    snow-capped peaks of the Apennine’s tallest mountains in all four directions. It was a fun university town with its own unique character but less than two hours from the Eternal City (Rome) those days that the valley seems a bit too tight.  The city is still amazingly beautiful even now that it’s fractured and empty. I’m also really enjoying Pescara, its polar opposite.  I miss the old walls and cobblestone streets I dreamed of while growing up in the US, but this coastal city makes up for this by being one of the most comfortable and bicycle-friendly cities in central Italy.

Where would you not live in Abruzzo?

Personally I would not live in any of the hundreds of magical hill and mountain towns dotting the region. I love visiting them, exploring them, but not living in them. I’m a city dweller, I want to be surrounded thousands of neighbours, and too many theatres, cinemas, concerts and restaurants to choose from, even when I’m too busy to take advantage of any of them. August is an exception, when the towns fill with events and returning immigrants.  Waking up in the morning in a tiny stone village surrounded by snow-capped mountains can be peaceful and purifying, but every day? For you, maybe, but not for me!

What’s your idea of a perfect weekend in Abruzzo?

Since I’m currently working the whole week outside Abruzzo it would be biking along the seaside with my wife & daughters and hanging out in Pescara. A romantic weekend in one of the towns in the “Baronia”  (Calascio, Santo Stefano, Carapelle and Castelvecchio) would be perfect for those who love ancient stone walls and mountain walks, or a romantic stay in one of the timeless towns overlooking the Trabocchi Coast (Vasto, Ortona, Fossacesia, San Vito). 

What’s your favourite Abruzzo vineyard and why?

Valle Reale is the only vineyard that fully understands hosting groups that I am aware of, but you can try many of the enoteche (wine bars) throughout the region to explore this whole, rich world. The Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo was what most people’s grandfathers would consider the most traditional wine and anyone who puts down rosés has never tried the ones produced by Cataldi Madona (usually my favourite). Some of the more famous are Masciarelli, Cataldi Madonna, Gentile, Marramiero, Cantina Mucci, Filomusi Guelfi, Pasetti, Valentini all make world-class Montepulciano reds, Cerasuolo rose’s and Pecorino and Trebbbiano whites. I’m particularly fond of Mucci’s limited production late harvest whites Proibito, one of the few whites you can drink freely at room temperature.

Where’s the best place to eat?

What an embarrassing question! My favourite is Percorsi di Gusto, one of the few places open in the historical centre of L’Aquila, Marzia Buzzanca knows her wine and how to put together a dining experience that entwines tradition and creativity. For coffee, torrone candy or a quick escape from the cold in winter, Bar Nurzia in Piazza del Duomo, or the historical, almost two-centuries old Cantina del Boss for a glass of wine. Outside of the centre, il Quinto Quarto is the place to go for an aperitivo that can go on all night with live music. And even though the sea is a mountain away their seafood antipasto is well worth it. Outside of L’Aquila I would eat anywhere in Santo Stefano di Sessanio nestled on top of Gran Sasso; in Pescara there’s the Bar Trieste for pizzette, or Il Cavaluccio in Rocca San Giovanni for a summer seafood lunch along the breathtaking Trabocchi coast.

Have you a favourite sagra?

As far as I’m concerned there is the Sagra di Navelli, by far the best.  Saffron and chick peas (garbanzos) from pasta and rice dishes to desserts in the main square are reason enough, but the Palio with untrained donkeys instead of horses is the main draw. And then it’s my adopted town.  Other great ones are in Santo Stefano (lentils), Bussi (trout), Raiano (cherries) and Barisciano (potatoes). And that’s just in the area I know best.

What would you do for a special occasion?

I got married in Bominaco, a town not far from Navelli. When I first saw the simple, bare stone interior of the hilltop church of Santa Maria Assunta it looked like the place I would want to tie the knot.  In part because of the garden and pine grove around, in part because the ruined castle reminded me of the knights of the round table. The tiny church of San Pelligrino, a few yards away reinforced the feeling that a marriage there would have deep roots.  Founded during the times of Charlemagne, most of the frescos from  then are still intact. If you go say thanks to the image of Saint Christopher, protector of travellers.

What’s your favourite view in Abruzzo?

From the Piazza del Duomo in L’Aquila with the rich colours of dusk with views along medieval streets with mountains behind in all four directions. The runners-up would be sundown along the coast from the tiny square below Palazzo D’Avalos in Vasto or from the monastery (basilica) of San Giovanni in Venere in Fossacesia.   An honourable mention to the view from the ruined castle at Forca di Penne.

What would be your favourite Abruzzo dish?

Arrosticini!   Followed by bucatini all’Amatriciana. Amatrice is currently part of Lazio but is historically and culturally Abruzzese. Although the best saffron probably comes from the area, it’s not part of local traditions (you don’t eat your livelihood).  If you like smelly fungus, Abruzzo is a big producers of the black truffles so prized in tables in Umbria.

What outdoor activities or sports would you recommend in Abruzzo and why?

Hiking! The slopes in and around both Roccaraso in the Abruzzo National Park and Campo Felice-Ovindoli in the Sirente regional park are amazing (but I don’t ski, I just accompany skiers and hang out at the base). There are also great opportunities for sailing and river kayaking (especially on the Tirino river)

What’s your favourite Abruzzo village and why?

Navelli is where my Italian family has a house with a beautiful rose garden and enough room for guests .The town is halfway between L’Aquila and Sulmona and my heart is lodged in its streets and surrounding highland fields

Have you a favourite Abruzzo walk?

From the town of Calascio through the eagles-nest hamlet of Rocca Calascio to the octagonal-shaped church on the other side. The ruins of the castle were featured at the beginning of the film Ladyhawke.

What piece of advice you would give someone new to Abruzzo?

Don’t be afraid to wander and follow your instincts. The region is full of so many gems that you can easily stumble upon your own personal find.  And don’t rush it.

Which ‘must see’ event or activity best sums up Abruzzo?

The Palio degli Asini at the Sagra di Ceci e dello Zafferano (the chick pea and saffron festival) in Navelli. It’s an unpredictable send-up of the Palio di Siena horse races. Pairs of teenagers from Navelli push and pull untrained asses three hilarious laps around a field. The kids race to win and the donkeys do not cooperate. It’s living satire.

Which book would you recommend people to read to understand Abruzzo?

I really wouldn’t know! Most of the classics from the area deal with a world gone by. Instead of books look at the prints artist M.C.Escher who based many of his prints on towns near L’Aquila like Goriano Sicoli and Alfadena, or the background eye-candy in movies like Ladyhawke, The Name of the Rose, The Bride’s Journey, and The American with George Clooney.  I would however suggest a fun recipe book inspired in part by the region: Breaking Bread in L’Aquila. The author, Maria Filice is donating profits to support L’Aquila.

What attitude best sums up the Abruzzese?

According to a common saying the people in Abruzzo are “forti e gentili”, that is “strong and kind”.  Strong because when they know they have to do something they will, gentle because they are open and patient with people who want to learn about their traditions.  Another word is “capotosto”, an affectionate way of saying hard-headed & stubborn which many here use to refer to themselves, especially the women. 

Can you name any celebrities either from or Abruzzo or of Abruzzo descent?

 Madonna’s origins are in a town near Chieti but since my heart is in L’Aquila I prefer to remember that Michael Buble has grandparents from a village that is now offically part of L’Aquila.   Keep an eye and ear open of jazz singer Simona Molinari. Some of Italy’s most influential modern and contemporary authors Gabrielle d’Annunzio and Ignazio Silone are the first that come to mind

If you lived outside Abruzzo what would you take to remind you of Abruzzo?

Silvia, Emily and Sofia and any other friends that for me form the region, assuming they would be willing to leave & come with me! The rest is already deep inside me. But there are some amazing gifts. The presentosa, a gold pendant often used as brooch or pin made traditionally in Scanno, a breathtaking time overlooking an Alpine lake in the Abruzzo National Park. Also saffron from Navelli, ratafìa – a liquor made from cherries and Montepulciano wine, Torrone Nurzia from L’Aquila or confetti from Sulmona. And lots of photos!

Joshua Lawrence is an American living in Abruzzo who is an Economic Specialist for the US State Dept in Naples.  He’s the author of the Carbonara, the English language Italian foodie & experience blog and who lived in L’Aquila with his Italian wife and family until displaced to Pescara by the 2009 earthquake.

A delicious squishy creamy salami by the name of Ventricina Teramana spread & lightly grilled onto smoky bruschetta is one of the things I most miss when away from Abruzzo.  Unlike its richer Vasto cousin also named Ventricina that is widely available outside Italy, this little beauty seems to often be overlooked; there is plenty of its similar friend, the Calabrian Nduja, but Ventricina Teramana…  where art thou! 

Historically it was made widely across the villages and il Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga, and came about where subsistence tenant farmers were having to hand over the leaner cuts of meat to their landlord.  Left with the fattier pieces of meat and lard they ground them all finely together with the area’s base spices of garlic, rosemary, fenugreek, peperoncini, orange zest and salt and stuffed the mix into stomach or bladder casings, hence its name (ventre means tummy or belly in Italian). You can easily recognise it next to the other slim-line salami on offer in Abruzzo as they tend to look like a stretched pinky-orange pot or beer belly.  The Ventricina were traditionally cured by the fire but now you’ll also see them also being sold in jam jars…  and nothing wrong with that to be sure, probably the best we had was in Poggio Umbricchio made by 3 old ladies who were sitting up all night to celebrate and maintain a vigil for Santa Casa a Loreto on 10 December. With high winds whistling down the Gran Sasso mountains at this time you can understand why lard-based product was so popular over the winter months in banishing the cold.  For that reason too when I am back in the UK at winter time it’s one of those zesty flavours that I wish I could turn to easily for a quick mid-winter pep talk!

Anyway if something is unavailable then why not DIY and make it as a novel Christmas present, something a little spicy to enjoy in the New Year!   I asked Le Virtù, the acclaimed Abruzzese restaurant in Philadelphia for their recipe.  It brings this salami up to date and uses pork shoulder which is marvellously marbled and has a layer of fat on top to get the right consistency.  It is really an occasion when you do need to buy naturally reared free range pork and not the tasteless industrial and inhumanely reared plastic-packed horror, pigs like us are what they eat.  Traditionally in Abruzzo when pigs were reared and slaughtered at home, due to the close relationship with the family it was said that a chair and a bottle of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo should be available to those ‘sacrificing’ to allow recovery from the faint that struck many.

Recipe Ventricina Teramana a la Le Virtù

Ingredients

1 kilogram ground pork shoulder (best possible quality; farm-raised is ideal)

200 grams salt

100 grams black pepper

100 ml (8 ounces) white wine

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 springs fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Zest of 2 oranges

Peperoncini & fenugreek according to individual taste

Thoroughly mix all ingredients together by hand after finely grinding and stuff into large, natural casings. At a maximum of 60% humidity and a maximum temperature of 65 F , age the ventricina for 4-6 weeks or until the product loses 30% of its weight.

(If using sterilised glass jars, store refrigerated for a minimum of 2 days before eating.)

IMU – nothing to do with Rod Hull for UK readers – just our old friend ICI under a new name. The change comes into force from January 2012. This municipal tax will now be due on all houses, including main residences, prima casa, holiday homes etc… That means if you own any property in Italy you will now need to pay the new IMU. The rate of tax on a prima casa is 0.4% of the valore catastale of your house. These values are themselves set to rise by 60%. The rate on second and further houses is set at 0.76%. However, these are only the national rates – each Comune has some leeway to vary the rate as it sees fit.

IVA – another increase is on its way. IVA will rise to 23% from the second half of next year. The 2% rise will also apply to the 10% rate.

Tax on luxury – not a major worry for all of us, but if you do happen to own an airplane, helicopter or particularly flashy car, the Revenue is planning a special tax just for you.

Petrol – no surprise to anyone, but tax on petrol is due to rise from January 2012.

Limit for cash payments – something of an inconvenience for many. The maximum amount of cash you will be able to pay (or receive) in any transaction is to drop to euro 1000, forcing most people to take out credit cards.

Pensions – there will be an increase in INPS contributions for the self-employed (non-mutuati, INPS commercianti, INPS artigiani).

And finally….

….good news for all those registered for IVA – you will finally be able to deduct employee costs from your IRAP calculation!

If you have any queries about any of the above, contact us via our website .

What’s your association with Abruzzo?
i.e. where do you live and why? Where did your family come from and when/where did they emigrate to?
How long have you been living in Abruzzo or visiting?

Two years ago my partner and I started exploring the possibility of opting out of UK culture (of all work and very little else) to share our passion for the mountains and outdoor sports. Having spent some time over the last few years touring Italy by bicycle, we felt that this country may hold what we were looking for, but where? We’d never heard of Abruzzo. It was a wrong turning in Umbria that brought us to this region of wild mountains & raw beauty where we got the “Wow!” factor; we just had to explore further.

We spent 3 weeks exploring the likes of Liguria, Tuscany and Lazio but it was Abruzzo and the Abruzzese that truly captured our hearts. We explored the three equally fabulous national parks, but kept being drawn back to the Majella its villages and people. With its 740.95 km² of wilderness, tracks, trails, skiing and climbing, not to mention Monte Amaro with its impressive peak at 2793m, the Majella represented everything we were looking for.

At the end of last year we eventually found the perfect spot in Serramonacesca on the stunning north-eastern slopes of the Majella to set up Kokopelli Camping for other like-minded outdoor enthusiasts.

What’s the best thing about Abruzzo?

Every single day I am in breath-taking awe of the endless beauty of the region. Whether you are on top of the world on one of the highest peaks, wandering through the dappled sunlight by the waterfalls and pools of the beech woods, being startled by a cinghiale in the spring or following the footprints of a bear in the snow, every day, every season has its own magic. But it is the people of Abruzzo that truly give it the uniqueness that it has and deserves.

Very proud of their land, families, language and traditions, the Abruzzese have somehow managed to cling on to what is really important – their family links and tight sense of community. That said, their naturally curious nature, sense of fun and over-whelming kindness means that you will always receive a friendly face and a very big welcome.

What’s the worst thing about Abruzzo?

There is just so much here and so much going on all the way across the region, but it is so hard to find it! We’ve been here for 9 months now and are very aware that we are simply scratching the surface. Despite diligent research and searching, almost everything we have found we have either stumbled across accidentally, or been shown by the locals.

Holiday makers (if they find their way here at all) will miss so much. Tourist information is very scant, very biased towards the cultural sites and centres, and difficult to find in a language other than Italian. Tourist offices are often closed and information is out of date. Local businesses and Comunes just don’t seem to realise what they have and how to promote themselves. We have had some fantastic nights out in the local bars, listened to some great live bands, eaten superb food and joined in with guided walks, all with amazing hospitality and easily within 10km of our home. Yet very few outside the locality even know these things exist.

What’s the most underrated thing about Abruzzo?

The climbing in Abruzzo is vast and it is spectacular but very few, even within Abruzzo itself, know it’s here. Information again is scant with most of it out of date and there are many, many more routes to be opened up.  Until this summer, the only climbing guidebook that was available was written over 15 years old and could only be bought in a bar in Roccamorice, providing you knew it was there!

Abruzzo has the potential to be a climbing area that could rival any in Europe, and we also have some superb climbers in our midst. Giorgio Ferretti’s You Tube of Pennadomo climbing gives a jaw-dropping view of just what we have here.

But things are improving. Old routes are being re-bolted, new routes are being opened up and a new climbing guide, Abruzzo Verticale, has actually just hit the bookshop shelves.

Where would be your favourite place to live in Abruzzo?

I really don’t think anywhere in Abruzzo could match what we have found here in Serramonacesca. We have a vibrant community with a great mix of young and old, two lively bars, two shops, a butcher, chemist, a restaurant and another about to open. Serra is within the Majella National Park and boasts some of its most spectacular walks with many waterfalls and plunge pools.

It has the abbey of San Liberatore, the fascinating archaeological ruins of Castel Menardo and the hermitage of St Onofrio, all within walking distance of the village. On top of that, add the many overflowing festas, the rock concert, the sagre & events (see below) and you have the perfect recipe for a spirited and dynamic community with a great big heart.

Where would you not live in Abruzzo?

Outside Serramonacesca!

What’s your idea of a perfect weekend in Abruzzo?

To start the weekend on a Friday afternoon with an early down tools, hit the beach, locally known as “Pomodoro Spiaggia” for an hour or two of swimming, chilling and watching the kite surfers as the sun goes down. An early seafood supper in one of the basic, but absolutely superb, restaurants on the beach would round the evening off perfectly and be a great start to the weekend.

Saturday would be spent climbing all day at any of the Majella crags: Roccamorice, Pennapiedimonte or Pennadomo would be absolutely ideal, particularly Pennadomo as there’s always the beautiful Lago di Bomba for a swim to finish off in.

Saturday night always has to be the Parco dei Carpini in Roccamontepiano!  There’s no other choice! Great local bands, great arrosticini, great atmosphere, great people.

After a Saturday night at the Parco, a Sunday lie in is always to be relished! Not for too long though as a long, sweeping, bike ride winding our way around the empty roads between Serramonacesca, Pretoro, Fara Filiorum and Chieti will be calling. A late lunch (or early supper depending on the length of the lie-in!) of simple but stunning Abruzzese cooking will be taken at either Le Chateau de Ma Mère in the summer (beautiful terrace dining), or Lu Gattone of Mannopello when the weather’s a little more chilled (warming, homely, cooking).

What’s your favourite Abruzzo vineyard and why?

Roxan – Casa Vinicola. It’s local, it’s passionate and its wines are superb. Good value too, always a bonus!

Where’s the best place to eat?

Abruzzo Santo Spirito, Roccamorice (PE): for a delightful and delicate lunch after a walk in the woods surrounding the Eremos of San Bartolomeo and Santo Spirito.

Osteria del Contadino, Manoppello Scalo (PE): Superb food – simple, but a little bit different, Abruzzese cooking with a passionate focus on meat. Always a great atmosphere, constantly busy and buzzing no matter what day of the week. Plenty of space too, either outside, in the conservatory or within the restaurant. A restaurant for all seasons!

Al Regio Tratturo, Manoppello (PE): for something a little bit special and more intimate

Have you a favourite sagra?

Being totally and unashamedly biased it would have to be those of Serramonacesca, but the two that are just a bit different from the rest and a real celebration of the spirit, the food, families and life in Abruzzo are:

The Festa Nazionale degli Gnomi, San Liberatore, Serramonacesca: three days of magic, fantasy, fairies, goblins and gnomes in the fabulous setting of the San Liberatore.

The Magna Majella: A feast of a walk! A huge event on the Serramonacesca calendar, the Magna Majella is a long, guided, annual walk in August going from the top of Passo Lanciano all the way down to Serramonacesca through the ancient woods and plains of the north eastern end of the Majella.

What would you do for a special occasion?

If it’s in the summer, then a weekend at the simple, tucked away little campsite at Ripari di Giobbe, overlooking the bay, harbour and lighthouse of Ortona would be just beautiful. An evening walk along the beach and railway line linking the campsite with Ortona, coming up at the 15th century Aragonese Castle in Ortona, and supper in the Trattoria San Domenico would be an idyllic way of spending the evening

What’s your favourite view in Abruzzo?

There are just so many, how on earth do you choose from a region that has the most stunning views every which way you look? But, if pushed, it would have to be the top of the world feeling, and sense of great satisfaction, from the summit of Monte Amaro. At 2793m and the highest peak of the Majella (second highest in Abruzzo and the Appeninnes range), its not an easy hike, but worth every step.

What would be your favourite Abruzzo dish?

I’m not sure if it is Abruzzese, but the Tagliata of the Osteria del Contadino in Manoppello Scalo is mouthwateringly superb: sliced, delicate, rare steak with parmesan and rocket, dressed in a blend of juices, garlic and lemon.

What outdoor activities or sports would you recommend in Abruzzo and why?

Of course that’s got to be climbing! There is just so much of it, and so much undiscovered. For experienced climbers there is the joy of having a whole limestone crag all to yourself, all day long, in the most stunning of settings.

What’s your favourite Abruzzo village and why?

Goes without saying! Serramonacesca of course! But for pure picturesque, stunning, tumbling over the rock beauty its got to be the old abandoned village of Pescosansonesco on the edge of the Gran Sasso National Park (PE)

Have you a favourite Abruzzo walk?

The long circular walk of about 3-4 hours, starting from our Serra hamlet of Garifoli that takes you up onto the Montepiano, way, way above Roccamontepiano, down and then back up to the Torre di Pelegro and back down into the valley with the river, cascades, tombes and the Abbey. A stunning walk in any season with a fantastic diversity of wildlife, plants, herbs, birds and butterflies and views to take your breath away, over and over again.

What piece of advice you would give to someone new to Abruzzo?

Abruzzo is different. It may be Italy and part of the developed West but it’s relatively untouched by tourism coming from outside the country. Its a fairly poor region where rural, working villages are the norm. I would describe most parts of Abruzzo as a cross between North Wales and Tanzania. Its an absolutely fascinating and beautiful region but many parts can appear a little different, or even startling, to the unprepared so a few bits of advice:

• There is very little (if any) English spoken, you will not find a single English newspaper or a menu with an English translation

• Other than in the larger cities, there is little choice of food other than typical Abruzzese peasant fare. Absolutely delicious in its simplicity, freshness, textures and flavours, but the lack of choice for those from other countries could be frustrating.

• Everything and everyone shuts down at midday and nothing or no-one restarts again until 4-5pm. The whole place shuts down on Sundays.

Which ‘must see’ event or activity best sums up Abruzzo?

The Parco Nazionale della Majella offer many informative excursions into the Majella for anyone wishing to learn more, and dig deeper, into the heart of Abruzzo.

Which book would you recommend people to read to understand Abruzzo?

A tricky one as there’s very few English written guides out there and those that are there, barely scratch the surface. However, if you do truly want to get off the beaten track and discover Abruzzo for yourself, the new Cicerone Walking Guide to Abruzzo written by Stuart Haines is an absolute gem.

What attitude best sums up the Abruzzese?

Warm, welcoming, happy and fun, with a strong sense and pride of family and tradition

If you lived outside Abruzzo what would you take to remind you of Abruzzo?

My original tourist map of the Majella is never far from my side!

Jacqui Dixon is the co-founder of the new small campsite, ‘Kokopelli Camping’ set in Serramonacesca in the province of Pescara that officially opens May 2012. In her spare time she enjoys participating and training for triathlons, rock climbing and hiking.  

Official website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

© Photography by Kokopelli Camping  - all rights reserved

Donato Ramunno is the Talamonti cellar master who explained  “Even though the Spring brought plenty of rain (January to April produced 300 mm ) to most of the Adriatic coast, we at Talamonti are expecting to produce some extraordinary reds due to an extremely warm and sun-lit summer season…the 2011 Summer’s sunny weather  brought about a form of natural selection on the vines, concentrating the vine’s resources to fewer but finer grape bunches.  That will mean a reduction by 10% in production this year, especially for the Estate’s award-winning single-vineyard, Tre Saggi, and the winery’s proprietary blend Kudos, whose harvest was finished at the end of October.”

“Expectations are high,” added Antonella Di Tonno, the family proprietor of the 32-hectare estate, “our Montepulciano, Trebbiano, and Pecorino grapes are healthy and at a very good stage in their development following the mild winter of 2010-11 and sufficient rainfall; vines thrive on an equilibrium in terms of heat and rainfall, and wine drinkers should expect quality wines similar to the renowned 1997 vintage.”

On a hop, skip & jump through Abruzzo’s villages, past well-tended central memorials, one often wonders how many villagers were left at the end of the First & Second World War.

Faced with a brutal occupying force, with fierce Apennine resistance my elderly neighbours in our little village tell how they were forced as children to trap and eat sparrows by their parents;  you hear stories of the chronic post-war poverty, children being forced to leave their family & homes and work long hours on farms nearer Rome just to secure a meal. 

Today was 11/11/11, Armistice Day, which is celebrated in Italy however on the 4th November Armistice of Villa Giusti.  With a new-born son I have spent most of it cringing and weeping inside as I listen to the radio, impressed upon by poetry and plays that I zone in & out of.  I read newspapers filled with tales of men, women, children and animals that suffered so greatly.

From an introduction by my English teachers to the poetry of Sassoon, Brooke & Owen, coupled with the harrowing silence that would envelope my grandfather when asked with childish naivety of the horrors of war, I never truly understood the nature of sacrifice through the miasma of politics…however this quickly dispelled by a visit to the open-air Museo del Gesso in Gessopalena.  This is the remains of Gessopalena’s medieval heart which was bombed along with its inhabitants by Axis forces on their departure.  Viewing the remains of the shattered homes and its memorial looking out towards the fresh faced motherly Majella, you simultaneously view the horror we inflict on one another whilst seeing the beauty of freedom that so many people are still fighting a battle for.  It’s a wonderful place to see the good and bad, with a view that makes you see and remember.

Peppery, tomato, artichoke, grass,  to name but a few of the tastes from this one of nature’s finest (and my favourite) purple fruits, the olive, whose tree is protected meaning you can’t cut it down unless you have a very good reason, i.e. it’s on its last legs and you’ve permission from the local commune.  Sadly I am going to miss watching the harvest this year and tasting the new season’s oil,  especially that from San Vincenzo VR  which everyone should get to try in their lifetime, it’s the most unique firestarter I’ve had where a little goes a long way in its flavour.

With the new season’s olive oils there is no better time to enjoy them soaking into a crusty bread salad, for this autumnal variation of panzanella I normally use farro bread, traditional to the local area.  Its nuttiness complements the sweetness of the roasted pumpkin perfectly.  For those that are ever in Teramo and have to go and talk to ENEL (the Italian energy company), the bakery next to their headquarters specialises in farro breads that work as a nice reward/elevenses after sitting & waiting and talking to their customer services!

If you are looking for something to do with the flesh from your carved pumpkin this autumn panzanella is ideal  (if you ever get a chance try a Blue Skin Pumpkin which I discovered last year in Abruzzo; it’s a little flat with a blue grey skin and dense firm orange flesh that is delicious roasted and a ghostly alternative to the ordinary orange pumpkin lights).

Method

Tear your day-old crusty spelt or farro bread into bite-size chunks (1 bowl of pumpkin needs approximately 1 bowl of breadcrumbs), snip 4 stalks of rosemary and a good handful of flat leaf parsley and dose with olive oil.

Cube what should be about 500g of pumpkin flesh, place in a large roasting tin along with 2 red peppers chunkily sliced.  Add a sprinkle of sea-salt and grind of black pepper and drizzle with new season olive oil and a few snips of fresh rosemary and 2 bay leaves.  Roast at 200°C for 20-25 minutes depending on your pumpkin until it’s soft.

Meanwhile take 150g of hazelnuts, smash them roughly and dry roast them over a hot frying pan.  Add your pumpkin and pepper mixture to your oiled bread mixture, mix and then add your toasted hazelnuts and salt & pepper to taste.

Serve immediately with sausages and peperoncini  to taste.

The book whilst sentimental in parts also brings a grimace as you read the racism that Zoe encountered growing up, as well as that of her family decades before.   As Italians they had migrated to Australia to make a new, different kind of life from that on offer in Abruzzo & Calabria which pre- & post-war struggled compared to its wealthier neighbours.  I must admit to being surprised at the racism Zoe experienced in ‘modern’ Australia but then racism abounds everywhere, even here in Abruzzo with tirades and blame squared against the gypsies (despite the King of the Italian Gypsies living in Pescara!), Neapolitans and most recently directed at the Chinese. There’s also a familiar struggle which many people of my age undergo  in attempting to understand a Grandparent’s political right wing or conservative leanings , in this case her Abruzzese grandfather’s admiration for Mussolini. 

It’s always great to identify with a character in the story even though they are of the opposite sex.  Zoe’s husband  Roger’s love affair and adoption of Italy as a complete estranero with no links or roots made me think about myself studying as a teenager and then living in our little house in Abruzzo and how we must have appeared to our neighbours over the years.  Roger was fortunate that he still holds a deep fascination with Abruzzo whilst none of the frustration with Italy’s long-winded bureaucratic systems seeping though to dent such admiration.  Perhaps it was this loved up feeling that Zoe found to be trying just like our neighbours looks of bewilderment as we rave or naively mutter in surprise at our most recent encounter with systems in Abruzzo and Italy as a whole.

I personally really enjoyed reading someone else’s descriptions in English of the sagre and places I’d visited in Abruzzo which brought back lovely memories.  For anyone planning to visit Abruzzo reading Mezza Italiana can help provide a great checklist of excursions, particularly in the L’Aquila region, to visit whilst in Abruzzo as well as Italy itself.  I loved her description of Fossa, a town that we visited just a week before the earthquake broke its back so to speak.  I wish that we’d visited the church there, but like so many Abruzzo churches it was locked; I hope that when the town is put back together again and the church restored it will have its door wide open to encourage everyone to visit and stay a while.  Her depiction of her strong paternal-side great grandmother whose strength and “secret healing” reminded me of so many of my neighbours, though their tricks often work just via coffee and a chat.

Her epilogue on the earthquake I have to confess made me weep; perhaps it was being pregnant at the time but she managed to convey so well the ongoing fallout and sorry state of affairs that is still now visited upon so many of my neighbours who lost their houses, or my village as a whole as they mask their grief stoically at the damage their little church suffered.

Although this is the autobiography of an Italian descendent, it is also an insight into an era that anyone born before 1980 will probably be able to relate to, an age when ‘best’ crockery, linens and even furniture were tucked away or protected with any form of plastic to preserve for special occasions and as a result lasted generations… Rediscovering strong ties, loyalty respect and admiration in your nearest & dearest who aren’t quite as close as one hopes will feel familiar to anyone of an emigrant family or whose early spice of life is peppered from memories of their grandparents.  For those that emigrate to Italy or adopt it as their new home with the trappings of  famiglia and “mange!”, how Zoe learnt to feel comfortable in her own ‘skin’ back home may just make you think a little on ‘home’…it will definitely help keep you turning the pages.

Mezza Italiana is currently available worldwide on Kindle & Australasia in paperback

Fossa Church Earthquake Fund for Friends of Frank Lazzaro | Zoe Boccabella Facebook Page

Gina Sarra is Navelli’s Queen of Saffron and here’s her adaption of an age-old Navelli stalwart.  It’s a great autumnal dish, the colours from the rainbow chard mirror the tree foliage brightening the path to winter and chickpeas contain plenty of serotonin so for anyone suffering post-summer blues it’s the perfect pick-me-up feast.  From current personal experience I would say it’s a great dish for new mums in that it’s not just that it’s easy to prepare but just knowing it’s got serotonin, even if it is just works psychosomatically, is a treat those looking for a pick up from lack of sleep!

Gina calls it Ratatouille but to me as an English speaker that is a French vegetarian aubergine based casserole so I’ve naughtily changed the name to Navelli’s Rainbow Pot as at the end from the combination of rainbow chard, chickpeas and saffron you hit gold in its combined flavours … bitter yet grassy and hay notes from the chard and the saffron playing off each other.

Navelli’s Rainbow Pot

300 g Dry Chickpeas (1 400 gm tin of pre-cooked)

100 g Pancetta

300 g Chard

1 Carrot

1 Onion

1 Clove of Garlic

1 Packet of Saffron

Olive Oil & Salt

The night before you’re serving soak the chickpeas in cold water.

In the morning rinse and add water so that they are well covered, add a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil, reducing to a simmer.  Check frequently so that they don’t boil dry.

When the chickpeas are cooked take off the stove.

Cuty the pancetta into small pieces and add fry till browned.

Wash and cut the chard into small pieces along with the onion, carrot and garlic.  Add first the onion, garlic and carrot and fry with the pancetta then add the chard and cook  according to how al dente you like your vegetables.

Infuse the saffron into half an egg cup of water.

When cooked, add the chickpeas and saffron to the pancetta and vegetable mixture  and leave to stand covered for 5 minutes for the flavours to combine.

Serve hot or cold with crusty bread.

What’s your association with Abruzzo? i.e. where do you live and why? Where did your family come from and when/ where did they emigrate to?
I’m Irish, from Dublin and I’ve no family at all in Abruzzo or indeed Italy. For me, up until a few years ago, the only knowledge I had about Abruzzo was due to reading The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss and honestly, I was paying more attention to the football story than the location. But whilst the Celtic Tiger roared, Ireland started to attract people from many countries, including Italy, and in the last couple of years I’ve met many people from Abruzzo who are living and working in Dublin.

After a walking trip in the Dolomites we decided to see if there was a possibility of a place for us in Italy. My wife did the research and suggested Abruzzo. It was an excellent suggestion. We haven’t looked back since we first visited in August 2007. Since then we’ve been going back as often as we possibly can. One of the best things we did was live there for 3 months which gave us the chance to make really good friends and helped ensure that we’ve  got strong ties to the local community.

What’s the best thing about Abruzzo?
I could talk about the people, the landscape, the food, and the weather – all important ingredients that make Abruzzo wonderful.  If you put me on the spot to select one ‘best thing about Abruzzo’ then I’d have to choose the people. They have and continue to be very welcoming. Their openness has been a great help and also an inspiration. I like to think in some small way they have influenced my attitudes for the better.

What’s the worst thing about Abruzzo?
No country or region is perfect. So when I see people not respecting the land they live in by littering and dumping rubbish I find that upsetting, along with an attitude that it will be cleaned up by the commune…a  bit of “the pot calling the kettle black” as we have similar problems in Ireland, but perhaps not to the same extent.

I’m going to be a bit cheeky and add a second “worst thing”. Sometimes I think that getting a driving license in Abruzzo and Italy means that the rules no longer apply. I suppose this is an Italian thing rather than solely an Abruzzo issue but the amount of times my brain has screamed “don’t do it” on seeing some very dangerous manoeuvre or somebody carrying a child unprotected in the front seat.  And why don’t bikers wear protective gear?!

What’s the most underrated thing about Abruzzo?
For me this is a double-edged sword. Abruzzo is a stunning region which offers plenty of opportunity for relaxation and adventure. There are so many places of interest and the quality of the food is outstanding. It’s a paradise for tourism, and while we wouldn’t want it overrun with tourists, the region is very poorly promoted despite the opportunities for sustainable tourism.

Where would be your favourite place to live in Abruzzo?
That’s a no-brainer. Loreto Aprutino in the Pescara province is the winner for me.  It sits perched on a hill about 30 minutes from the coast and 45 minutes from the mountains, with a combination of the old and the modern.

Where would you not live in Abruzzo?
I wouldn’t like to be isolated in the mountains above the snow line – nice to visit but very tough during winter months. Also that romantic notion of a farm house with olive groves doesn’t appeal. Apart from the need to be there all year round to take care of your crop the real reason again is isolation.

We have gained greatly from being part of a community. A place where a 5 minute walk to the market takes 30 minutes because of all the people you meet and chat to. There’s a better chance of making friends, finding out important local news and practising Italian.

What’s your idea of a perfect weekend in Abruzzo?
A perfect weekend would revolve around the familiar and the new. Heading off to explore a new place with friends, stopping en route for coffee, perhaps having a restorative picnic after a good long walk, then back to base to have dinner with a few glasses of wine and good conversation. A combination of a walk in the mountains, a dip in the sea and good social interaction would do it for me every time.

What’s your favourite Abruzzo vineyard and why?
I like wine and normally prefer red to white. I’ve gotten to know a few wineries and vineyards in Abruzzo and many are really good. I’m going to chose Azienda Agricola Masciarelli. I love both their Marina Cvetic and Villa Gemma ranges. I was first introduced to the Marina Cvetic Montepulciano by Ottavio in the restaurant New Evo in Loreto Aprutino. Since then, at about €20 a bottle, it’s become our favourite red wine for very special occasions.

Where’s the best place to eat?
I can’t recall ever being disappointed with a meal in an Abruzzese restaurant.  For that reason I’m going to subcategorise my response. Here goes:

• Best place to eat for the view – Florano (part of the B&B Loreblick), Loreto Aprutino  (PE)
• Best food in an Abruzzo restaurant – Font’Artana, Picciano (PE) – nothing but Slow Food at its best
• Most unique – Trabocco Punta Isolata, Rocca San Giovanni (CH) – swimming before lunch on a trabocco, now that’s special
• Most frequented – New Evo, Loreto Aprutino (PE) – their antipasto misto is a delight
• Special mention – La Bilancia, Loreto Aprutino (PE) – always consistent, you can’t go wrong with their fettuccini ai funghi
• Always the best fun and most interesting – when you’re lucky enough to be invited into an Abruzzese home for lunch or dinner. Grazie mille a Arnaldo, Dorris, Gabrielle, Rita, Lino e Cecilia.

What would you do for a special occasion?
We’ve had birthdays and anniversaries in Abruzzo and our approach usually involves having people around for lunch or dinner. A few bottles of prosecco always deliver, along with dolce from Pasticceria Emiliana and gelati from Rychot’s.

What’s your favourite view in Abruzzo?
Our usual route from Dublin to Abruzzo is via Rome. From Rome we either drive or take a bus to Pescara. Travelling across Italy, crossing the Apennines, leaving Lazio and entering Abruzzo, seeing the green countryside in full sunshine with snow still on the peaks is always wonderful. Equally the view when finally reaching Loreto Aprutino, seeing the town looking back at us as we travel the last kilometre on the SR151.  However my favourite view has to be from Loreto Aprutino itself, looking across at the church of Santa Maria in Piano and on to the snow capped Majella mountain range. That view in late spring, early summer, with the martins and swifts putting on an acrobatic aerial display is truly spectacular.

What would be your favourite Abruzzo dish?
I know it’s simple and wouldn’t be classed as gourmet food but I really love arrosticini. Eaten simply with a green salad and bread with oil, these lamb skewers are addictive. At this stage I’ve had them in restaurants, at our neighbour’s country plot (grazie Luigi) and on Campo Imperatore. I like them so much I’ve even found a place in Dublin that serves them –  Coffee To Get Her at The Bernard Shaw on South Richmond Street.

But there’s one very special dish that I try to get everybody I know to sample when visiting Abruzzo. That’s bucatini alla trescatora. It’s made from a duck based sauce, sometimes called Sugo di papera muta. I had an odd conversation once when I asked what is used to make the sauce – “Is it duck? No it’s bigger than a duck. Ah it’s a goose? No smaller than a goose.” I gave up and just lapped it up. You can get it in Il Casolare, Contrada Fiorano, 85, Loreto Aprutino.

What outdoor activities or sports would you recommend in Abruzzo and why?
The air is so clean in the mountains and hills of Abruzzo I think walking is one of the best ways to experience the region and at the same time stay healthy. All that good food has to be addressed somehow!  Many of the routes you can walk in spring, summer and autumn are turned into a ski wonderland at the onset of winter.

After you’ve tired yourself out in the mountains you could always go for a refreshing dip in the Adriatic – choices, choices, choices.

What’s your favourite Abruzzo village and why?
Too hard! Every village has something to offer, you just have to be ready to see it.

Have you a favourite Abruzzo walk?
The first significant walk I did in Abruzzo and still one of my favourites is the trail to the Eremo di San Bartolomeo in Legio near Roccamorice (PE) in the Majella. Arriving at the hermitage and seeing the structure cut into the mountain is a revelation. Nothing but pure devotion could have driven monks to live there.  A close second has to be the walk in the Valle dell’Orfento. Setting out and returning to Caramanico Terme (PE) following the Orfento river is a great way to spend working up an appetite.

What piece of advice you would give to someone new to Abruzzo?
Take your time, slow down and relax. Certainly Abruzzo has much to offer but if you try to do too much in too short a time you can become overwhelmed.  Make sure you give yourself a chance to sit outside a bar and have you favourite tipple, be it a coffee, tea, beer, wine or a more traditional aperitivo.  Learn a few phrases of Italian. Visit the local shops. Observe the natural rhythm of daily life.  You’ll want to come back.

Which ‘must see’ event or activity best sums up Abruzzo?
Apart from being bursting at the seams with wonderful places to visit, Abruzzo must have one of the fullest calendars for festivals in all of Italy.   The most unusual event I’ve come across is the Palio delle Pupe in Cappelle sul Tavo (PE). On August 15 (Ferrogosto) the local districts compete by having a representative get inside a large doll, dance, while an attached metal frame acts as the source of a firework display. You have to see it to believe it.

The “event” I haven’t seen or been part of that I hope to get an opportunity to experience in the future is the Transhumanza – the traditional twice yearly migration of sheep from highlands to lowlands and vice versa.

Which book would you recommend people to read to understand Abruzzo?
The only books I’ve read about Abruzzo were in English, either originally written in English or translated from Italian. I don’t think any of them really do Abruzzo justice. The Abruzzo Trilogy by Ignazio Silone is often recommended but, although it is set in Abruzzo and is certainly an important work, I don’t think it reflects Abruzzo today. Perhaps there’s something more appropriate in Italian, but my Italian isn’t up to it yet. In the absence of the ultimate book you can always check out the blogs!

What attitude best sums up the Abruzzesi?

In my experience the Abruzzesi are patient, encouraging and understanding. Certainly always willing to give advice and generally the advice is spot on. The most used phrase is piano, piano (slowly, slowly) which can often be used to mean “you’ll get there”, “keep at it”. I’ve especially noticed this when I’m struggling to communicate. Perfection isn’t expected and communication by words, gestures or facial expressions are all good – whatever gets you there.

Can you name any celebrities either from or Abruzzo or of Abruzzo descent?
Without doing a search (because that would be cheating) I know of Ovid (poet) from Sulmona, Gabriele D’Annunzio (writer) from Pescara, Jarno Trulli (F1 racing driver) from Pescara.There are plenty of second generation celebrities including Dean Martin, Madonna and Rocky Marciano.The Abruzzese that arguably has had the greatest influence on modern culture is Corradino D’Ascanio (Engineer) the inventor of the Vespa, born in Popoli. What, you’ve never heard of him?!

If you lived outside Abruzzo what would you take to remind you of Abruzzo?
Having Abruzzo olive oil on good bread with salt always pulls me back there.  I’ve a framed photo hanging in my office showing a lone olive tree, a cloudy blue sky and the Gran Sasso in the distance. That does it too.  But I think the item that reminds me most of Abruzzo is a locally made painted tile, depicting the church of Santa Maria in Piano that we can see from the centro storico of Loreto Aprutino.

Noel McCarthy is a software project manager who based in Dublin with a holiday home in Abruzzo’s famous olive oil capital Loreto Aprutino, in the province of Pescara. In his spare time he’s the glorious author of the travel blog AboutAbruzzo  official website | Facebook Page | Twitter.

No matter how much we all adore pasta sometimes a night out without a noodle in sight can be a welcome change.  Although Abruzzo is defined as Central Italy there are still many that place it firmly within Southern Italy, which does mean it gets to enjoy the wonders of stuzzicheria – ‘bits & pieces’ or ‘little plates’ (think Italian-style tapas or meze), an array of appetising lovelies that makes a delightful break from the world’s favourite comfort food pasta.

One of Abruzzo’s finest stuzzicheria is set just outside the medieval town of Canzano in Teramo.  Canzano is famous for its succulent Turkey and particularly the Turkey in Aspic dish that was created by accident in 1800 by 2 farmers who left a Turkey on the stove for 5 hours (Turcino alla canzanese).  I must admit I am not the greatest lover of turkey, but have just discovered they are equally famous for their ‘Chicken Canzanese’, which is a little different, none of the jelly and presented sliced in a Panini.  The NY Times devoted a whole article on these 2 years ago and the recipes sound mouth watering .

Thankfully Momenti di Gusto Stuzzicheria and in this instance stuzzicheria Teramano-stylee forgoes the turkey, instead  offering a delicious medley  of bruschetta, frittelle with prosciutto & cheese (think Pizza style fried bread) – this being the best frittelle I’ve had and which I could have quite happily tucked into more of (this often a dish that I avoid as sometimes it can be nothing more than a lump of hard cold fried dough), pickles, fried cheese, mazzarelle (Abruzzo-style lettuce-coated haggis), roasted peppers with anchovies.  These followed by excellent succulent aromatic arrosticini, Abruzzo’s slender skewers of cubed tender lamb grilled over a fire or barbecue depending where you are, the tastiness of which is enough to put you off comparatively great big chunks of meat for life. 

The decor is traditional with wood panelling, enlivened by scattered 50s paraphernalia, and then white & honey coloured walls; the 3 dining rooms with about 5/6 tables were full with parties of friends and families all booked no doubt due to the quality of the food beer & wine here being so good.  I am guessing that their reputation draws people outside the immediate catchment area, so do book if you’re thinking of going here over the weekend.

Fabrizio the owner and his staff are welcoming, extending to  a very large measure or 2 of the home-made Genziano on your departure.  We bumped into him the next day in the mountains enjoying the fried cheese at another of our favourite haunts the tiny Trattoria La Luna Nera in Forca di Valle whose fried cheese is the best we’ve had across our tastings in Abruzzo… perhaps it’s because they make their own ‘fresco’ cheese for this Abruzzo delicacy … It’s always good to know that a restaurateur will take his family off into the mountains too to partake in the best of what he himself serves.

Price –  €20 per person including beer & wine

Value for money – 9/10
Quality of food – 9/10

Stuzzicheria Momenti di Gusto

Address:  Località Colli – Valle Canzano (TE)

Telephone:   329.5625897

No website or email

Thanks to La Grande Quercia for providing us with replacement photos in our hour of need!

What’s your association with Abruzzo? i.e. where do you live and why? Where did your family come from and when/ where did they emigrate to?

I was born in Roseto degli Abruzzi, where my family have lived for many many generations. I moved to London in 2000 where I spent 6 years and then returned to Abruzzo to fulfil a dream of running a small bed & breakfast business.

What’s the best thing about Abruzzo?
It has to be the food, closely followed by the warm and generous nature of the people of Abruzzo.

What’s the worst thing about Abruzzo?
It is more a frustration, but the inability to appreciate and market all the wonderful things Abruzzo has to offer.

What’s the most underrated thing about Abruzzo?
Whilst opinions are changing slowly, the fabulous wines being produced are not being appreciated or recognised as they undoubtedly should be.

Where would be your favourite place to live in Abruzzo?
I am already here of course, but with a win on the lotto, perhaps the apartment with the balcony above the arch in Montepagano, the hilltop town just a stone’s throw from where I was born. It has the most breathtaking views of the Adriatic coastline and the mountains of the Gran Sasso and Maiella.

Where would you not live in Abruzzo?
Pescara. It is too densely populated and without character.

What’s your idea of a perfect weekend in Abruzzo?
A weekend in one of the least known, but most spectacular places of possibly all of Italy, has to be in the area of Campo Imperatore. Starting with a hike across the vast plain to work up an appetite for lunch at a favourite spot, Rifugio della Rocca at Calascio. A further walk up to the ruins of the fort at the top and to the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pietà. From there to Santo Stefano di Sessanio and to spend the night in the most expensive suite at Sextantio Albergo Diffuso. A lazy morning  with breakfast in bed and followed by a trip to L’Aquila, to remind me how beautiful the city once was and hopefully how it will be again one day.

What’s your favourite Abruzzo vineyard and why?
There are of course some big names in Abruzzo who produce excellent wines, but my preference is for wines from smaller producers and from the Teramo province. The winery of Antonio & Elio Monti in Controguerra is no fancy pants vineyard, but it produces some of the very best Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.

Where’s the best place to eat?
That is a difficult question, as there so many choices and it depends on the occasion! For a simple tradional meal of Teramane cooking, Momenti di Gusto near Canzano makes the best arrosticini around and is a firm favourite. For fish, Trattoria Luciana in my home town of Roseto and for an extra special occasion hiring the cave for dinner at  La Neviera at La Tacchinella, Canzano.

Have you a favourite sagra?
The “Sagra del Prosciutto Abruzzese” in Basciano is a favourite not just for the great food, but the whole atmosphere of the town including the annual prize giving to the best dubotte (accordion) players around. Seeing the little lads playing their hearts out and then their fathers and grandfathers doing the same, touches my heart every time.

What would you do for a special occasion?
Probably cook a nice meal at home and invite some friends over.

What’s your favourite view in Abruzzo?
After 51 years I still love to look at the mountains of the Gran Sasso. They appear to constantly change, but I think it is their constant presence that makes me feel I that I belong here.

What would be your favourite Abruzzo dish?
Timballo.

What outdoor activities or sports would you recommend in Abruzzo and why?
Cycling is probably the number one sport to recommend, followed by hiking because of the spectacular scenery on offer.

What’s your favourite Abruzzo village and why?
Pietracamela because of its’ age, but moreover because of where it is. Perched halfway up the mountains, I can’t stop myself imagining how life must have been hundreds of years ago, as I wander through the narrow streets and the maze of connecting “subways”.

Have you a favourite Abruzzo walk?
The walk through the woods up to the Cascate del Ruzzo,  Isola del Gran Sasso.

What piece of advice you would give to someone new to Abruzzo?
Hire a car and explore the interior of the region, especially the National Parks.

Which ‘must see’ event or activity best sums up Abruzzo?
The procession of Venerdi Santo in Chieti is spectacular, especially due to the music and song of Il Miserere.

Which book would you recommend people to read to understand Abruzzo?
There aren’t too many books around about Abruzzo, but a favourite that reflects the region so well is in fact a cookery book; Food and Memories of Abruzzo; Italy’s Pastoral Land by Anna Teresa Callen.

What attitude best sums up the Abruzzesi?
It is said that the Abruzzesi are “forti e gentili”- strong and kind.

Can you name any celebrities either from Abruzzo or of Abruzzo descent?
Madonna (Pacentro), Michael Bublè (Carrufo), Dean Martin (Pescara).

If you lived outside Abruzzo what would you take to remind you of Abruzzo?
Pecorino cheese!

Sergio Pomante co-runs La Grande Quercia Bed & Breakfast, No. 1 Teramo B&B on Trip Advisor which is nestled in the rolling hills just outside the province’s capital Teramo, visit their official website | Facebook Page

© Photography by La Grande Quercia  - all rights reserved

Even if you aren’t in Abruzzo, as brambles of a sort make an appearance on every continent this Blackberry Ratafià recipe ensures that wherever in the world you’re based you can still raise a toast to Italy’s rocky heart! Obviously you need to get in quick before the deer, badgers and foxes treat themselves to these sweet juicy berries – all have a particular liking for them apparently and although I’d love to see them delicately munching I haven’t ever come across one feasting on blackberries, but here’s hoping…

The recipe originates from Castel di Sangro, tucked away in L’Aquila’s bear country to the east of Pescasseroli.  Its recent fame lays more on its football and how the local team incredibly made it up 5 leagues to ‘Serie B’ in Italy’s Football League and the subject of the book by Joe McGinnis , but historically its fame lay in providing the ancestral home to the 3rd house of Caesar.

Unlike Abruzzo’s more usual recipe for Cherry Ratafià, it doesn’t call for Montepulciano d’Abruzzo to be the base rather just water.  For those feeling the ‘pinch’ and without their own vines this is no doubt manna from heaven as with a little bit of foraging this could end up as a cheap but delicious liqueur ready to settle down with on a frosty Autumn day – oops evening!  You do need to patiently wait 2 months from first going out picking your blackberries ready for this to be drinkable.

Blackberry Ratafià Recipe

Ingredients
1kg Blackberries
1 Kg Sugar
1l of Alcohol

Method

Wash the blackberries in iced water, drain and leave to air dry.
Add the berries into a bowl and crush them, mix in the sugar and alcohol.
Cover and steep for 3 weeks in a well ventilated sunny room. 
On the 3rd week add 1/2 litre of boiled water, allow the mixture to rest for 7 days.
Strain and bottle but leave 1 month before drinking!!

Vocab Tip - More ~ Blackberries

View other recipes from Castel di Sangro (in Italian)

Italy & Denver: Forest Oil Threat of Interfering with Nature in Abruzzo’s Chieti

Bomba, in the province of Chieti Abruzzo, is still threatened by the ticking time-bomb of oil exploration by Forest Oil Corporation, its ever-present threat wielded by the silent and still undecided Italian National and Abruzzo Regional governments; if the go-ahead is given to create refinery and oil wells as proposed in the seismically challenged lake that sits just a 2-minute drive from people’s homes the affect could be devastating.

This summer Bomba has seen its most successful season yet with large numbers of tourists visiting and staying at the town to enjoy its varied water-sports, mountain-biking, hiking and famous Abruzzesi food & hospitality, rewarding the monies and hard work which had been invested in growing a sustainable economy developed by local residents over the last 25 years. 

The propitiatory offer of a €380,000 cheque to be presented to the local commune each year for the next 14 years was made by the Colorado-based Forest Oil Corporation, but local businesses and families rejected this offer.  They understood all too well that the exchange of such “dirty money” for the use of their land and a contribution towards the reduction in their income from the fall in tourism from placement of oil wells, drilling and a refinery on Bomba’s doorstep was not an acceptable compromise or compensation.
 
They are hoping that the Regional Abruzzo and National Italian governments follow their wishes with a statement rejecting Forest Oil’s plans and these ‘available funds’ rather than perceive them as an easy autumn harvest bonanza which admittedly both mishandled economies sorely need.

There is a palpable sense of trepidation and dread in the town following the 3-month silence by politicians which has followed their stiff resistance to Forest Oil’s plan at a fierce meeting that was held in the town on June 5th 2011, as the result of a 2 year advocacy campaign by Bomba’s full-time 930 residents to stop Forest Oil’s plans in Abruzzo Italy. 

The local community gathered together to express their anger directly to key Forest Oil management. That this US Oil Company has a history of drilling in the middle of a desert far away from residential properties and no previous experience or proposed emergency plans for drilling in a highly seismically challenged freshwater dam situated next to residential homes should even contemplate their proposed plans for Bomba is additional fuel to the fire. 

The Italian Energy giant ENI had proposed a similar project in Bomba but declared such a project ‘unsafe’ due to the high level of seismic activity in the area which in 2009 saw a 6.3 Magnitude earthquake destroy the nearby capital city of the region, L’Aquila, along with its nearby villages with the result of 308 deaths.  An indication how volatile the land is locally can be seen in the construction of the earthern dam with no cement/mortar used.

Already Forest Oil has admitted that setting up a refinery alone will exceed legal limits in pollutants but they believe that their proposed payment system would help sustain the health of future generations that are affected by such fall out, something that no local resident of Bomba believes can be verified or is worth the risk. 

Bomba’s 930 residents now wait to hear if the attraction of a 14-year payment plan together with just a 10% drill tax revenue is a simple enough calculation for the Abruzzo and Italian government to undertake in rejecting short-term riches, respecting its peoples wishes  and put an end to yet another US Oil Giant attempting to drill in Italy.

View the  video  below to hear the Forest Oil Corporation meeting with the town of Bomba & listen to Head of the NoOilAbruzzo Campaign Maria-Rita D’Orsogna explain in English why Italy is so attractive to international oil companies.

This article was written by LifeinAbruzzo.com on behalf of the NoOilAbruzzo campaign as a press release & appears on the English language Save the Montepulciano website where you can keep up to date with  people of Abruzzo’s battles to counter oil companies attempts to drill Abruzzo .

Fontecchio has a host of adjectives that can be associated with it: charming, beautiful, sedate, historic, a cultural hot spot; this is probably why it’s high in my Top 5 of un-missable medieval Abruzzo towns to visit.

Sat 668 masl, in the Aterno Valley which is part of the Sirente-Velino park in L’Aquila, the best thing about Fontecchio is that, despite the tragic fact that 1/3 of its residents are still living in the uncomfortable pre-fabs that were built following the earthquake, it is very much a living and breathing town in which locals bustle (as much as Abruzzo ever does ‘bustle’) through its narrow cobbled alleyways and arches shaded by its towers.

There are a couple of gorgeous towns like Pietracamela and Santo Stefano di Sessanio that are a picturesque treat to visit but which at certain times of the year can leave you feeling like a lost soul as you are the only one there outside the 3-4 hoteliers and restaurants, homes having been sold to Romans for the ski-season or second house holiday owners and out-priced for locals to live there anymore.

We discovered Fontecchio completely by chance, when invited to an evening open air photography show by the Abruzzo wildlife photographer Bruno D’Amicis, it’s not mentioned by the Bradt Guide or by the Abruzzo Tourist Board. We wound our way around the former medieval fortified village, guided by lit oil lamps & candles (the street lamps were turned off); we made our way up to the former Roman Temple of Jupiter which had been converted into the now shell-like church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, but with still clear evidence of its former use. 

It makes the most perfect open air theatre and a perfect night out for those with a romantic hankering for sitting in a small town Italian piazza under the stars, fragranced by trellised heirloom roses and watching beautiful images. This was followed by a feast of some delicious local wines and cheeses in which you give a donation, other events hosted in the town work in the same way. At this we later met Julian Civero another photographer, mostly landscapes that lived locally who was showing his work set to local music later in the month and we decided to make that night a stopover to explore Fontecchio a little more. Do check out the Fontecchio Commune website for a host of events that are put on throughout the year with a clutch of alternative interesting ones outside the main thrust of accordion and food sagre that Abruzzo is fantastic at providing.

In the evening listen out for the chimes from one of Italy’s oldest clocks that dates to the C15th and is housed in the town’s main tower and strikes every 6 hours. If you hear 50 it is celebrating how the heroics of the local ‘lady of the manor’, so to speak, Marchesa Covi who from her C15th Palazzo with one musket ball shot dead Braccio da Montone, the head of the Spanish troops and representative of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, that had laid siege to the town for 50 days in 1648. Sadly the impressive Palazzo has yet to re-open since the earthquake, hopefully soon as even from the outside it’s still enchanting.  Another surprise is viewing Mussolini’s grafitti remains, although over 50 years old,  the piece is still fresh enough to think that Banksy has just paid a visit!

In the main Piazza Popoli you can have a great breakfast coffee whilst admire the 14 faces on the gothic C14th fountain and look down to where the women of the town washed the clothes watched over by the still-bright fresco terra coloured iconicelli named Madonna dell Uccellino ( little birds). Religious celebrations include Fontecchio’s one to Sant Antonio Abbot celebrated in January with a legendary fire in the main Piazza del Popoli, and also February which becomes biscuit time in reverence to San Biagio who is the Catholic’s church protector against throat infections, so if you’re a biscuit fan now is the perfect time to eat this Saint’s special ones to ward off such ailments.

We used Fontecchio as a base to explore Bominaco, Abruzzo’s finest art treasure trove; Fontecchio is also just a short drive away from the famous Grotte de Stiffe which re-opened in June 2011.

For the more adventurous walker, it makes the ideal base to visit Pagliare, 1100 masl, the shepherd’s hamlet made from straw, lime, wood and stone used during the summer Transumanza in the quest to get the sheep fattened on the rich high Apennine meadows. The views are supposedly breathtaking (the walk a bit too much for me currently) and even with the hamlet’s earthquake damage it’s recommended to visit. You can drive up to Pagliare, but a 4×4 is recommended if you are going to undertake it, we tried but our little Mini Cooper soon put us right on what type of vehicle you need to make it up there!  – this walk is detailed in Stuart Haines’ ‘Walking in Abruzzo’.

S. Pio di Fontecchio is a nearby hamlet that is reputedly the birthplace of Pontius Pilate, if you are around early summer check it out for the easy walk up to the cavalry, particularly good at dusk when soft light and the mass of broom gives the impression you’re hedged in on an spectacular organic alternative to the yellow brick road.

Our favourite  Fontecchio restaurant was Ristorante Il Sirente housed in a Franciscan Monastery  

In our constant search for top-quality Abruzzo wines available outside of Italy, we recently visited the Pescara province’s Azienda Vinicola Talamonti, set within the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Abruzzo (created by Loreto Aprutino, Moscufo & Pianella, an area primarily famous for its olive oil). This was one of those Abruzzo days when the sky was marvelous & faintly oppressive at the same time, which lent a slight vulnerability to the externally small building housing the admin and processing area. We were greeted by the hugely personable Rodrigo Redmont, a fluent English speaker (thankfully!) and Sales Director for the estate. A quick blitz through the office where we were quickly introduced to the ever-busy Antonella Di Tonno, daughter of the man responsible for the estate as it is today, Alfredo Di Tonno; this was followed by a chat about the vineyard-estate’s formation, before a tour of the vineyards themselves.

The Talamonti vineyard-estate comprises 32 hectares dedicated to the production of classic Abruzzo grapes, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo & Pecorino, as well as Merlot grapes currently used in a blend for their Kudos wine with the Montepulciano.  The vineyards that now provide Talamonti’s grapes were previously part of an ambitious co-operative project undertaken by 18 or so Italian business men, mostly with some connection to Abruzzo. Not surprisingly perhaps, as time passed this number dwindled with people losing interest or lacking the patience such a business requires, until in 2001 only a hard-core was left, namely the Di Tonno family. Since then the family, convinced of the merits and potential of the estate, have dedicated themselves vigorously to developing the business, both in terms of their products’ quality & quantity and the brand.

Talamonti’s vineyards mostly benefit from a favourable south-easterly exposure, and from the micro-climate and terrior that typifies the area along the Tavo Valley, making it one of the most popular areas in Abruzzo for making wine. The vineyards roll down onto the cantina, where the wine is processed and where our tour continued. Rows of modern metal fermentation vats in decreasing sizes fills the first half of the processing area, with a comparably humble in-house bottling & labling area below that leading up to the loading area for collection & despatch. The vineyard also utilises a surprisingly international selection of oak for its barrels, providing a variety in the seasoning and toasture, apparently.

During a lunch with Signor Redmont we sampled some of the Tre Saggi, a 100% Montepulciano wine that is Talamonti’s flagship red; a powerful, darkly complex berry flavour, this wine needs to accompany strong rich flavours, such as red meat or potent cheese, otherwise could easily overwhelm everything else. The name refers to the Three Wise Men, and was chosen due to a fresco in a nearby church. Notably this wine is perfect for aging, with 8-10 years considered acceptable.

At home and with family or friends we have sampled a variety of wines from the vineyard. Their cerasuolo, Rosè, had a light but vaguely spicy nose, with raspberries and the familiar (for cerasuolo) toffee flavours; this one divided our group of samplers, some finding it a bit too light & smooth, but interestingly those of a slightly older generation rhapsodising on its perfectness for a summer day!

The Montepulciano/Merlot blend Talamonti creates for their Kudos is as the name suggests worthy of praise; a more fruity flavour with less of the darkness of the Tre Saggi, tanniny and with a long finish, hints of coffee (or chocolate?).

The other we feel we should particularly mention here, not least as it is a grape variety one of our reviewers is particularly enamored with when done well, was the Pecorino wine, Trabochetto (named after the fishing platforms, trabocchi, on the Abruzzo coast); definitely hints of the pear-esque flavour associated with the pecorino grape, but this was also felt by some in our group to be a tad too smooth & light so perhaps should not be served too cold to avoid diminishing the delicateness of flavour…

Their other staple wines (Trebì and Modà) are also definitely worth checking out, and a league beyond many you will see in the shops, and the perfect accompaniment to many favourite Italian classics, pizzas, pasta, pecorino cheese and beyond.

Another aspect of Talamonti we feel we should mention is the effort and creativity that has gone into their design & branding. Even outside the context of Abruzzo, their website is fascinating and well-crafted, informative and surprising, and the printed material available also shows a flair for the aesthetic and an attention to detail often amiss! This has also been brought to bear on their bottle & label designs, which we really liked for their modernity and simplicity – the Pecorino one here is an excellent example; font, graphics & colours all representing the product well. The Rosè, Trebì and Modà wines all have a pleasing geometric vibe.

Set within the comune of Loreto Aprutino, Pescara province, Azienda Vinicola Talamonti provides visitors to the area with an excellent opportunity to see a small-scale Abruzzo wine producer in operation. Talamonti are happy to organise wine-tastings, and any interested parties should contact Antonella Di Tonno via the details below to make a reservation.

Talamonti’s wine is also available via their distributors; please contact the vineyard for more details.

Further Reading

Talamonti website

Contact

Address:
Azienda Vinicola Talamonti | C. da Palazzo | Loreto Aprutino | 65014 PE | Italy
Telephone: +39 0858 289 039 | Fax: +39 0858 289 047 |
Email: info@cantinetalamonti.it

It’s not often you hear feedback that a newly launched book, in this case ‘Walking in Abruzzo’, is already “well thumbed” but those were the type of comments that were being received within a week of its launch.

We too were trembling in our walking boots with anticipation of seeing the final copy after being sent some sample walks earlier in the year. But it’s exceeded our expectations and pricked our vanity, as lifeinabruzzo.com is even mentioned as a resource in the back!

Pocket-sized, I loved the handy translations of walking vocab that helped make sense and bring alive some of the places we visit… ditch/valley isn’t one of those words that you learn normally as a non-Italian but ‘fossa’  explains the town that sits beneath one of our favourite ruined castles, Ocre, to walk from.

Out of the 30 hikes detailed 29 are circular, the importance of which can’t be over-emphasised in Abruzzo – with many of these great walks being ‘remote’ and in somewhat rugged areas the notion of trying to pick up public transport that probably runs at most 3 times a day, to take people to work at 7, back for lunch at 2 and then for dinner at 7.30!  It sounds silly and such a simple rule but it’s not something we have found even in an Italian guidebook we have tried to follow, set off and yes hang around in a small Abruzzo hamlet after your walk for another 6 hours is not something that we recommend.

Each of the walks lists time, difficulty and terrain (low & high) with detailed directions, map and good points of interest that should please nature lovers and culture vultures on the lookout for hidden frescoes along the way.  That low and high route spread thankfully takes into account those like me whose love of heights can be somewhat overwhelmed in Abruzzo as well taking into account fitness, plus catering for those seeking a gentle morning’s amble or ramble.

The author Stuart Haines commentary is relaxed and descriptive, his complementary photographs help bring alive the walks encouraging you to go go go.  If you fancy using him as your guide you could consider going and staying at Casa La Rocca and sample the organic wines that he and his partner create from their vineyards or perhaps, if you’re lucky, the cider that they are going to start from their orchards this year!

Navelli is a small medieval town with 9 little frazioni that snuggles into the low Abruzzo mountain plains south of L’Aquila.  If you talk to most Italians outside of Abruzzo they’ll know Navelli for its 8 hectares of land that grow the wonderfully pungent high-grade saffron shipped to discerning chefs for inclusion within their Milanese Risottos … However, Navelli has a new found growing fame as host to an alternative Palio; the colourful Palio degli Asini – yep a Donkey Race like no other in the world, and due to the giggles that it promotes, is something that everyone should attend once in their lifetime for a burst of belly laughter like no other.

Navelli’s Palio degli Asini is held at 5 O’clock on the 3rd Sunday of August, the culmination of its Sagre (think all night village harvest festival fete meets party) that celebrates the harvesting of the local delicious petit chickpeas (ceci).  The delicate nuttiness of these little beauties is like nothing you buy in a tin from your local supermarket, so make the most of the food stands if you visit or alternatively  buy dry chickpeas to take home, you’re helping to support local farmers.

Celebrating the medieval guilds of yore, the local brass band theatrically attired in medieval costumes lead cecetti & cecette (local children named after yes chickpeas) and 6 men in tights & tunics otherwise known as squires or jockeys.  They with their lady pages, lead their donkeys down the hill from Piazza Piccoli at the top of the hill to a field that once held a wood of pines before a summer fire wiped them out – this is now the Navelli Il Palio degli Asini racetrack.

The jockeys’ attempt to mount their rides ready for the start whilst some of the more frisky donkeys attempt to apply themselves to something similar… They it seems feel all dressed up with just a racetrack to go to and begin to get just a little amorous with each other.  The biting of bottoms and attempted mounting of each other soon takes place with the surrounding humans bursting out into embarrassed hoots about the size of the donkeys schlongs that burst through all their costume – yep it’s a real “what’s that daddy moment”).

Eventually everyone is placed at the start-line and they are off! The aim is 4 times round the track; Squire jockeys attempting to stay on and ride their donkeys whilst their lady pages really do everything and lead those stubborn asses and pull them back into the race when they attempt to canter away from or push and pull to get them going.   It is hilarious, free and worth a Sunday afternoon out if you are in Abruzzo in August – all money raised goes to help the local community who were affected by the L’Aquila earthquake with sadly many still unable to live in their homes.

If you are in the area buy: Saffron, Red Sulmona Garlic & of course Chickpeas!  Help those outside the Italian culinary tradition get to know about this little town by perhaps requesting these items from your local Italian deli and really taste the difference!  If you need persuading further to a diet rich in saffron, this spice is renowned for being an early Viagra with the ability to bring alive erogenous zones hence its former nickname Red Gold not just for economic reasons.

Further Reading

Official Navelli Commune Website

One of our NY based readers, Janice Carapellucci whose family are originally from Caramanico, bought this painting at auction as it was by another one of her artist relatives, Donatus Buongiorno, who was born in Solofra, Avellino, in 1865, and who lived in Napoli and New York from the 1890s up to his death.

Titled ‘Abruzzo’ no one has yet been able to identify where it actually is in Abruzzo!  The Byzantine-style campanile with the onion dome should be a clue but so far…niente…

For anyone that can correctly identify the town in question, or knows any other pertinent information about the artist, they will earn a reward!  Janice will take them to dinner at the finest restaurant of their choosing when she is in Abruzzo next year!

Come on “Life in Abruzzo,” readers, show us your expertise and get whisked out for a slap-up Abruzzo dinner!

The Winner! Katia di  Simone from Culturetracks

“The painting “Abruzzo” is based in Venafro (Molise) and it is called Chiesa dell’Annunziata. Once Abruzzo and Molise formed one region hence the reason why the painting is called “Abruzzo”. You can see more photos on the following website“

My husband and I have just returned from a wonderful vacation to Italy. One reason for our trip was to visit the beautiful mountain town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio in the L’Aquila province, the town my father, Ettore Valsi, was born in and where generations of our family called home. Our family lineage on my grandfather’s side dates back to the mid 1700s and my grandmother’s family (the Ciccis and Iannarellis) dates back to the late 1600′s. My grandparents left Santo Stefano in 1921.

My grandfather Luigi was, like so many of his neighbours, a farmer. As work and money became less available in the early C20th, he left Santo Stefano on three to four occasions for an extended period of time to travel overseas to Canada where he worked for Canadian National Railroad, and then down in Pennsylvania’s coal mines.  Money was sent home to my grandmother Michela and their first son…soon he would be the father to another son (my father).

I have often wondered how hard it must have been for him to leave this beautiful village, his family and friends. However, after visiting Santo Stefano and seeing the surnames of people who still live there, I realised he wasn’t alone when he decided to bring his family permanently to America.  Walking through the town’s cemetery, I recognized so many names of those that my family used to visit that lived nearby. Even Santo Stefano’s newly elected mayor Antonio D’Aloisio was a name I instantly recognised from visiting a man with the same name and his family, while growing up Indiana.

My father has always colourfully talked about where his family was from; so for me, to actually go and stay there was really an amazing experience. With the help of Rita Visioni, the owner of the Villa Valsi, I was able to meet some of the locals and have the privilege of meeting and talking with the wonderful people who call Santo Stefano home today. It was especially exciting staying in a villa with my family’s surname and to meet Rita’s mother who is a “Valsi”. My father has done extensive research on our family tree and although there isn’t really blood relation there anymore if I were living in SS, I would still call Rita “my cugina”. Actually, I called her that anyway. Meeting her was wonderful. I felt like we were famiglia the moment I met her.

We ate at two Santo Stefano local restaurants, one near the lago, and Tra Le Braccia Di Morfeo in the town itself. Both were excellent and the staff extremely friendly, one in Tra Le Braccia even letting us use his cell phone. Each night we finished our evenings by choosing a different flavor of gelato to sit and enjoy al fresco in the piazza with, my husband choosing the different chocolate routes, me falling in love with the coffee flavors.

We shopped in a little store name Nonna Peppina. There we met Domenico Cardelli. He spoke very little English and, unfortunately, I had not learnt as much Italian as I had hoped for before arriving. Luckily, Italians don’t always have to speak to communicate. And, thanks to his patience, we did understand each other.  I told him my father was born in SS and he told us he had relatives who had also left for Canada to work. I bought some saffron and a beautiful ceramic bowl in his shop. A canvas print of the village hanging high on the wall in the shop caught my eye, and I just had to buy it; it’s now hanging in my dad’s living room. Mr. Cardelli wrapped our purchases with great care; he knew we would be carrying them back on the airplane. Before we left, he reached behind the counter and poured a small shot of excellent Brunello, a lovely way to conclude business, if only all shops were the same!

My husband enjoyed sampling the amazing cheeses in another little store. I believe he could have made a day out of staying in this store and simply tasting them all as well as the cookies left on a table to tempt and try; we bought the nut and amaretto ones delicious, thoroughly recommend.

I was on a mission to buy lentils and saffron for my brother, who is the cook of our family. It was interesting to find out how the production of both have downsized in SS itself.  The lentils I did buy are not the famous original lentils once produced in SS and it’s easy to see why production has changed. SS has many visitors coming for vacations, to spend the weekends there, or people buying property for summer homes. Farming is not what most people do for a living there anymore. I was told the people who recently renovated my father’s home are from Rome. When I visited SS in 2005, renovations were just beginning and I was able to walk inside. Oh, how I would love to see the inside of it now!!!

We loved walking through the town enjoying its sounds, smells and beauty. Even with the damage from the earthquake, (it was sad to see the torre gone), it remains stunning. Even though we took many walks we still could get lost in the cleverly designed maze of streets, arches stairs and passage ways. Just when we thought we were learning our way around we would discover we must have taken a wrong turn. I am sure one of the reasons my husband wants to return is to master the challenge of knowing exactly how to maneuver through this scenic village!

The surrounding areas and towns should not be missed. The exquisite view from the top of Rocca Calascio is so worth the hike and we were so glad we made time for it.  Castelli was a nice drive and the ceramics were beautiful. However, the trip would not have been complete without going to L’Aquila. We made two trips to L’Aquila because you cannot help but be amazed by the beauty of this city and the amazing people who have shown such strength and determination to rebuild their city and their lives after the earthquake. And, without a doubt, they will.

This was my husband’s first trip to Italy and Europe. I’d warned him, some towns were not made to be driven in.  He discovered I was right in Santo Stefano’s neighbor Barisciano. We found ourselves with a long reserve after we came to a dead end and with no way to turn around. Sometimes wives do know what we are talking about!  We didn’t find driving the road leading to SS difficult. And, we actually found the roads leading there marked well and had no problems finding it.

One tip for anyone thinking of visiting SS, is that they should know there are no ATM or bank machines in the village. The nearest one is in Barisciano.

The one unexpected and most romantic of surprises that my husband arranged (with the help of Rita Visioni) was for us to have our marriage vows renewed in the town hall in Santo Stefano. Obviously, it is much easier to get the vows renewed than get married! I realised my grandparents were married here in 1911 (100 years ago), and now, my husband and I were exchanging vows in Santo Stefano. Our trip to Italy was fabulous, but our stay in Santo Stefano was, without a doubt, the part of our trip we were most in love with. I was hoping my husband would fall in love with Santo Stefano, and he did. We hope we will be fortunate and blessed to again visit this beautiful village my family once called home.

An Italian cookery course that specialises in piquant & healthy Abruzzo cooking… a region that many Italians consider one of the Top 3 regional cuisines of Italy.  Yet Abruzzo cuisine, and indeed the region itself, remain unknown to many outside of Italy, despite Abruzzo being host to Italy’s oldest & most famous cooking school, Villa Santa Maria, and the region’s renown for fish, meat & cheese dishes, a range reflecting the splendidly dramatic mountain and coastal landscapes of this Italian region.

An Abruzzo-style Italian Culinary Adventure

The Abruzzo Cooking school, Abruzzo Cibus, is based in the small but stunning medieval hilltop-town of Carunchio, 714 masl, in the Chieti region. Housed in the beautifully restored C18th Palazzo Tour d’Eau that sits amongst Chieti’s mountains, inland from coastal Vasto (so famous across Italy for its unique Brodetto Vastese, fish soup), Abruzzo Cibus has 6 double rooms all with en suite bathrooms, TV etc.; an airy modern purpose-built demonstration kitchen plus a vaulted ceiling restaurant mean that groups here will never be too large and that an Abruzzo cooking class can be tailored to suit individuals as well as being professionally geared to cater for groups.

What I loved about my one-day Abruzzo cookery course was that it helped support a family run business who were passionate wine & foodies and who believed that Abruzzo cookery skills weren’t just learnt in the kitchen but by going out & about to meet the local community who provided the region’s integral products.

This part of the cooking tour can’t be over emphasised in importance in a community-led cooking style that was formerly characterised by barter, exploring, tasting, looking at the hands that trim cuts of meat ready for succulent un-fatty salami. Seeing & learning about the colour and make-up of soil for example all helps to understand an ingredient and how it can be used and of course indirectly gives a great ‘tick’ for sustainable tourism, in which all local families benefit from those holidaying to Abruzzo.

Cookery + Genealogy to Rediscover Roots through an Abruzzo Heritage Tour

We joined the Piergiovanni family from the US (check out their blog from their tour, great read), who had combined their week of Abruzzo cookery classes with a heritage & genealogy tour, exploring the father’s Abruzzo roots.  They wanted to find out more about the Abruzzo birthplace of his grandfather who grew up in the small mountain town of Civitella messer Raimondo before moving to America and becoming a butcher.  His grandson wanted to show his own family the places from where his grandfather and many other Abruzzesi émigrés had originated, before forming new lives in Philadelphia.

Genealogy combined with learning to cook seemed a fantastic way to explore your Italian and, most importantly, Abruzzo heritage.  There would be the genealogy tour of the Abruzzo villages and towns where ancestors grew up, finding birth certificates, seeing old family houses, the church where so many ancestors were baptised and married, meeting second and third cousins and seeing your grandfather in people that you’d never met in your life and sharing food together.  Combine this with learning to cook like Nonna and having the skills to bring her back to life in your own kitchen via smell and taste is something wonderful.  We thought it the perfect holiday for what would have been the Nonno’s great great grandson who was just off to University – not only was he learning dishes to look after himself but he’d have a whole week’s worth of delicious ways to cajole and impress all those girls on campus; the next day the family were learning how to be sommeliers, another pulling string perhaps!

Our 1-Day Tour Exploring Abruzzo Cuisine & Learning to Cook Local Dishes

Ventricina – Vasto’s Hand Trimmed Salami

The day commenced with coffee, juices and a fantastic selection of cakes in the restaurant before we all piled into the minibus and set off for a scenic journey to explore F.lli Bruno Ventricina factory.  Being based in the Teramo province we are primarily used to ventricina being a soft paste like you spread over bruschetta; in the Vasto area it’s a rich spicy rough salami that takes between 3-4 months to mature for which you have to carefully hand-trim the pieces of lean pork and mix with wild fennel seeds and chopped sweet & hot chilli. It was a shame there wasn’t a tasting for it but there is a small shop in which you can buy the product, but still interesting to view the whole process.

Slow Food Olive Oil ‘Tre Olive’ Award Tasting

It was then off to one of Abruzzo’s Slow Food Olive Oil winners at the La Selvotta. Here you got to taste properly a whole selection of oils…  Now I knew all about glugging your olive oil to get its taste, if you want to do it properly it’s none of the dipping in bread stuff, but similarly to red wine, the correct way is to have a small beaker, cover and warm with your hands, then smell, taste (that does mean swilling it around to let your whole palate get the flavours) and swallow – that part was new!  Purists will hate the next sentence but their lemon infused olive oil is the best I’ve had and worth a trip to go buy a bottle, perfect for drizzling over fish.  In the mill we were shown a jar of the choice chipped olive stones that are used by companies that sell olive oil light – horrific and to be avoided at all costs if you want anything nutritional from your oil!

Decadent Gourmet  but Local Lunch

Back to the Palazzo to enjoy a multi-course lunch prepared by the Palazzo’s Chef Dino.  One of the family was a vegetarian so the Chef had prepared a selection of dishes that weren’t just delicious but everyone in the group would feel comfortable eating.  They began with a gorgeous creamy truffle pie as a starter something I hadn’t had before in Abruzzo and apparently a signature dish of the Chef, followed by a risotto stuffed with wild mushrooms that I particularly liked as it wasn’t overly creamy.  My favourite was the main of stuffed smoked slices of aubergine with a particularly great tomato salad and a divine chocolate tart to finish… thank goodness there was a small siesta before we started our afternoon cooking classes!

Abruzzo Cookery Classes

There is nothing better in a hot Abruzzo sun than a cooling limoncello and our first lesson was in learning how to make this, accompanied by wine of choice or cooling beers (for the adults anyway)!  It’s always good to get to the basics even though it wouldn’t be ready for 2 weeks!  This was followed on by a demonstration for Sformato di Ricotta con le Pesche – beautiful marinated peaches in apricot nectar on a bed of minted ricotta.  Followed by Stuffed Peppers the Abruzzo way and mozzarella hamburgers, a nifty little starter for how to show off the very best mozzarella!  The classes were taken by chef Cheryl Molino, an American Cook who decamped to her husband’s native Abruzzo.  She had some nice little anecdotes to throw in whilst we watched and then chopped & stirred and was great at involving the 3 teenage kids, getting them thoroughly engaged and not afraid to give and show them how to use a knife… something that some of the adults too needed a little bit of coaxing with!  I’d recommend a session even if you don’t do a 4+day course, it’s good to learn 4 courses that were so good that we’ve already practiced again with them at home.

Abruzzo Cooking Tours  for Enthusiastic Foodies as well as Professional Cooks

Prices start at

1–Day Abruzzo Cookery Course starts at €100 for half a day including eating what you have cooked – you’ll join an existing tour
4-day Cookery tour = €1,000 euros per person all-inclusive including Pescara/Rome airport pick up
7-day Cookery tour = € 1,750 euros per person all-inclusive including Pescara/Rome airport pick up  SPECIAL TOUR REDUCTION  to LIFEINABRUZZO readers €1,500

1 –day Abruzzo Heritage & Genealogy Tour
€1000 per family including all research, translation, transportation guide in building your Abruzzo family tree on the ground.  (30 of these tours have been provided so far by the cooking school to towns in Chieti, L’Aquila, Pescara & Teramo)

Further Reading

Abruzzo Cibus – official website www.abruzzocibus.com

Address: Palazzo Tour D’Eau | Via Monte 8 | Carunchio | Chieti 66050

Tel: +39 0873 957006 | Email: info@abruzzocibus.com

With the multi-course take-your-breath-away feast of Ferragosto on the doorstep, it’s time to find an Abruzzo peach of a dessert that’s not only delicious but will also slip down easily after the previous courses’ excess on a hot August day; Sformato di Ricotta con le pesche meets this challenge perfectly. 

I use soft, ripe, drip-on-your-chin peaches as one of my unofficial counters for the start of summer… lots come by even in Abruzzo, hard as nails in June from Sicily and imported from Spain & Northern Africa.  By the time the white ones used to make a Bellini and those gorgeous flat bottomed Saturn lovelies start arriving you know to shy away from giving them a gentle squeeze at market without encountering a withering “look but don’t touch” scowl. Despite the heavy rains at the time of blossoms, in our village Bascianella it is the peach trees that are laden and bountiful this year rather than last year’s apples and plums.  Their rosiness against the soft light of an early morn is a view almost as wonderful as the mountains for starting the day and we all need rose coloured spectacles sometimes.

As there’s no holding back on Ferragosto, the day that celebrates all the hard work of the last 6 months and the various harvests, this peach dessert’s cooling mint & ricotta base also works as an aid to counter Ferragosto indigestion so you can remain feeling pretty as a peach!   Thank you Abruzzo Cibus for showing how to make this on our 1-day Abruzzo cooking course!

Sformato di Ricotta con le Pesche – (Ricotta with Marinated Peaches)

500g creamy fresh ricotta
Zest of 1 large un-waxed organic lemon and/or orange
4 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
2 -3 tbsp of honey

Combine in a small bowl the above ingredients. Cover and refrigerate.

 500g fresh, mature peaches, peeled and sliced
1 small bottle of apricot nectar (undiluted apricot juice)

In a non-metal bowl add the sliced peaches. Add the apricot nectar
Cover and set aside in the refrigerator to chill until ready to serve.

For Serving:

If available lightly oil (vegetable oil) a metal pastry ring or smooth round cookie cutter (7cm/3½”). Place in the centre of a dessert plate. Spoon in the ricotta and lightly press with a spoon. Add more ricotta to fill ring to the top. Press again with a spoon to make compact. Carefully lift the ring making sure the ricotta retains its form.
Spoon the marinated peaches over the top.
Garnish with a nice sprig of mint leaves.

Serves 4 – 6

Stuffing must be one of the most universally loved foods on the planet, I’ve never found one person who doesn’t love it for its comfort value or taste, and the sheer variety of what you can put into it to transform a base ingredient into a show stealer, as well as making it stretch a little further… the latter for Abruzzo cuisine being an essential economic root & stalwart of regional cuisine.

Recently we spent the day on an Abruzzo cooking course in the beautifully restored Palazzo Tour d’Eau run by Abruzzo Cibus down in hilltop Carunchio where Southern Chieti touches Molise, the palace’s natural air conditioning much appreciated by the whole class in the summer heat.   I have to confess to not being too excited by the notion of learning to make stuffed peppers, maybe it was thinking back to my own mother’s wrinkled green bell peppers with a dry yet greasy mince filling… however the recipe and result was so good that, without trying to sound like some hideous TV endorsement, we made them again at home 2 days later!  We loved the  Chef’s idea of this almost being made into a one-pot dinner by adding some parboiled potatoes in its rich tomato sauce as they roasted in the oven.  It’s that rich sauce that counters all signs of that hateful wrinkled pepper skin syndrome.

 One tip from our cooking teacher was to try and buy whenever possible red or orange ‘cornetto peppers’ – the small horn shaped peppers,  simply because they have a richer sweet taste and are better for digestion.  I liked them as they don’t go baggy and well look so beautiful as they bend on the plate instead of that squat bell pepper look that are always so difficult to eat… Thankfully, they’re widely available in Abruzzo and a common weekly veggie shop for us and even during a recent sojourn to the UK we spotted them in the local green-grocers , but you may have to hunt them out a little outside Italy.

Abruzzo Stuffed Pepper Recipe (Peperoni Ripieni)

Preheat the oven to 180°C /375°F.
Prepare 4 to 6 medium peppers (preferably cornetti), red/orange. Cut off the tops and remove the seeds and the trim the ribs on the inside. Wash out the insides and season with a little salt. Let dry.

Prepare the bread stuffing: (this recipe can be adjusted to your taste and for the size of the peppers)
180-240g breadcrumbs from soft day old bread
45g grated young pecorino & smoked mozzarella cheese
1 tsp. hot paprika
40g chopped flat leaf parsley
3-4 tbsp. virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. chopped basil
2 tbsp. fresh oregano
1 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 large fresh tomato, chopped, or 3 peeled tomatoes from a can
2-3 slices of prosciutto (or other cured meat)
Salt & pepper to taste

Thinly slice the prosciutto or your choice of cured meat and sweat a little in a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil.  Combine all the above ingredients in a large bowl and set aside for 15 minutes or so for the mix to absorb the olive oil and to season.  If the stuffing still feels a little dry (it depends on your bread) then add a little more olive oil.
Carefully stuff the peppers using a spoon & your fingers(!) to ensure that the stuffing reaches the tip of the peppers.

Sauce
1 can of Italian plum tomatoes (chopped into pieces)
2-3 cloves of garlic, smashed
5-6 basil leaves
2 tbsp. virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Water as needed

In a casserole dish, add the chopped tomatoes and spread evenly. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the water. Arrange the peppers in the casserole trying not to let them touch each other; this is where you can use the parboiled quartered potatoes to separate each.
Add enough water to come half-way up the sides of the peppers. Bake for approx 45 min.
During the cooking process, add a little water if necessary (if the sauce thickens too much).  The peppers will soften and start to brown and the stuffing will ooze out somewhat.
Remove from the oven and let rest for a few minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.
Serve hot or at room temperature. Drizzle with a little olive oil if you like.

Further Reading

Abruzzo Cibus official website for Abruzzo Cookery Courses in Chieti Abruzzo

Camping in Abruzzo can mean pitching on a campsite or finding an area of parkland where the view is wild; Piano Roseto Crognaleto is one such pitch with a view, you don’t need special permission or a permit but you have to put up with the fact that you won’t get showers etc provided, although there’s always the animal water troughs if you get desperate.   

The Piano Roseto Crognaleto plateau is hugely popular for the Shepherd’s Fair (Fiera della pastorizia) that has been held there since 1858 at the beginning of July, and where the area’s transumanza (sheep migration) began.  From being an area where you will barely see a soul and where I’d love to pitch a tent for the night, it for one night becomes packed with both tents and camper vans such is the draw of a free-style night under the stars with the greatest views of the Gran Sasso & Monti della Lagi range up at 1258 masl  with a Thelma & Louise feel.  Walk through woods filled with Cornelian Cherry (Crognaleto in dialect) or take a look at the Swabian Rocco Roseto or drive down the mountain and try a few of our favourite restaurants Locanda del Cervo, Taverna 7F, Locanda Valentina.

I’ve put their absence down to the caterpillars loving fennel & carrot and my neighbours being exemplary debuggers on their orto and smallholdings; perhaps the recent heatwave has meant their energy downtime has given a welcome lease of life to these gentle Swallowtails flitting through the high meadowland around Bascianella.  Now to find out where all the Hummingbird Moths have gone to which are normally plentiful but this year I haven’t seen one.

What do you do when a collection of luscious Henry Mooresque shaped fruits sit seductively winking from the fridge with ways to entice that very rare breed of ‘not fond of figs’? 
 

This year’s first figs are bountiful here in Abruzzo at the moment.  High in calcium, not the first things you’d think about for lowering cholesterol, but apparently their leaves have that trick so those with kidney problems should avoid them.  I’d been enjoying a recently presented windfall of them for breakfast with yoghurt and roasted almonds but then what seemed another lorry-load arrived and I realised that I had to coax my nil-by-fig partner to make any sort of inroads into them, and even I personally don’t like fig jam…  In true Abruzzo style we couldn’t let them go to waste…we’re still getting through last year jars of baby figs preserved in a simple syrup that are beautiful with a medium pecorino cheese, so that route was out…

I did try roasting some figs with fat Abruzzo sausages and a dribble of peperoncini oil to make a sweet rich sauce that glistened over whole-wheat pasta; very nice but during Italy’s hottest summer for 10 years perhaps a little much for current weather.  I did though want to find something sweetish to do with them outside the much-hated ‘jam option’.  After much searching on Google , I found a little link on an Italian cooking portal Cibochepassione with an article listing some traditional recipes from Chieti that included one for a Fresh Fig, Orange & Fennel Seed tart!  Jackpot! A combination of exquisite flavours that would work well in the summer heat and alongside a large glass of chilled pecorino, and that would not become too sweet or sharp.  Did it tempt the nil by fig partner … you bet!

Chieti Fig Orange & Fennel Seed Tart Recipe

Ingredients
200 g Flour
1 whole egg & 1 egg yolk
100 g butter
200 g caster sugar
3 oranges
1 Kilo of fresh figs, washed and peeled
2 tsps fennel seeds

Method

Sift flour onto a pastry board and make a well in the centre, add eggs, butter and half the sugar and and knead together.  Let rest in the fridge.
Pierce the rind of the oranges with a fork and boil in water for a couple of minutes. Repeat this boiling 3 times, each time changing the water. Dry the oranges and cut into thin slices without removing the skin.
Put the orange slices in a saucepan with the remaining sugar and half a glass of water. Cover and cook over low heat for ten minutes. Drain the slices from the syrup.
Roll out your dough to fit a lined baking tray. Cover the dough with orange slices and slices of your peeled figs.  Pour the syrup over the fruits and sprinkle with fennel seeds.
Bake at 180 C for about forty five minutes.
Serve with vanilla ice-cream.

Now although there is plenty of coastline in Abruzzo, in most of the towns’ restaurants if you want to sit to eat your fish on the sea it’s a little difficult, it’s either back on the beach boardwalk or the other side of the road, there are notable exceptions of course and here’s an affordable one down in Fossacesia Marina on the Trabocchi Coast in Chieti.

We re-visited the area on the invite of some friends and realised a dingy old hamburger joint some 4 years earlier that we’d walked into for a Coke had been transformed into a swan; a fish & pizza trattoria with, best of all, a terrace out overlooking the sea, protruding out onto the pebbled beach with a wonderful view of the those warm green waters and sheltered by large canary yellow parasols!  I’m not sure what it would be like in the winter on there but May through to October I think it would work a treat.

We started with one of the very best seafood antipasti salads I’ve had, chunky but succulently tender with plenty of octopus which I adore and some  juicy salmon carpacchio. Hot antipasti included the standard Abruzzo bowl of sweet mussels, very good, local ones I imagine (no big green lipped ones here); some fantastic octopus again, ‘polpi in umido’ – stewed tendrils in a rich tomato and olive sauce and swordfish with peas all unfaultable and enough time between hot and cold to let you enjoy both.  Portion control here was fantastic enough to allow you to bask in flavours but not enough to put overwhelm and be off-putting of the main course.

For our main course we’d ordered the roasted fish with potatoes and green fresh olives.  You can’t turn up and expect this dish sadly, so either call in a couple of days before or make a call (don’t email to be on the safe side, a fairly standard rule throughout Abruzzo). This was the first time that I’d had Ombrina, which is becoming more frequently substituted for Sea Bass.  They eat anchovies & sardines whilst playing in the nether regions of the sea and I have to say I found it slightly more delicate in taste than Bass, completely bowling me over so to speak.  So if you are looking for an alternative to Bass or see Ombrino on the menu – a remarkable white meaty fish that is fantastic roasted, do try it! I hope to see more of it with the EU’s new fishing policy.    Have to mention some divine roast potatoes, whose texture I’d never be able to recreate I am sure, making this the best fish main course I’ve eaten in Abruzzo in 6 years!

Price –  €40 per person including 2 courses,  3 litres of  house white wine between  4 shared and 3 bottles of water

Value for money – 10/10
Quality of food – 10/10

Ristorante La Sirenella

Address:  Via Lungomare, 91 | Fossacesia Marina   (CH)

No website or email

Tel: +39 0872 607146

Like cat and dog people you almost feel there is two camps: one for sunflowers and one for poppies.  Whereas June is the month of poppies in Abruzzo, July brings sunflowers that captivate, brightening any road trip, as if you needed it, traversing across the region.  When the temperature outside is 38C+ you wonder how they stand so strong, unbowed, as we cower away in the shadow lands.

We snapped this and ’March of the Sunflowers’ below near La Grande Quercia B&B, part of the rolling hills that span from Teramo’s across to the coast.  They seem to grow particularly well in the eroded field/furrows in the area that by the time you get to Atri are known as calanchi.

When the going gets sticky and the temperature nudges 40°C you know it’s time to hit the ice-cream parlour, perhaps one of my favourite Italian inventions. To be able to go, sit and decadently gorge on something sweet without feeling guilty, just enjoying the sense of relief that a delicious chilled fruit or chocolate rush brings, is one of the best summer simple joys known to man, thank you Italia!

Like Italy and the world as a whole there aren’t too many ‘home-made’ gelateria/ parlours left anymore in Abruzzo, but we were introduced today to one today in the small town of San Vito just up the road from the Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere and at the top of the Trabocchi Coast, it’s called Copa d’Ora and it’s been busy churning since 1940, their ices were sublime. I think their pink grapefruit one is going to be my gelato of 2011, its refreshing tartness hit all the right spots, as well as its unusual creaminess… no sorbet end for this citrus fruit.

Sadly we can’t all sit in an ice-cream parlour all day, so for when the going gets hot here’ my ice-cream meditation is to sit and think chilled thoughts too.

Copa De Dora Gelateria | Via Nazionale Adriatica 10 |  San Vito Chietino |  Chieti 66038

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With ski resorts, cities of art, and national parks leading the way, tourists’ attention to the rugged area of Abruzzo is often directed toward well known localities such as Roccaraso, Santo Stefano di Sessanio, and Pescasseroli. In the Valle Roveto (Roveto Valley), perhaps Abruzzo’s least celebrated area, is the picturesque town of Civita D’Antino. Situated in the heart of the valley upon a natural terrace that offers commanding views of the Simbruini and Ernici mountains, the town was the chosen setting for numerous Scandinavian artists at the turn of the 20th century.

Like many towns across rural Italy, Civita D’Antino has suffered enormously under the pressure of rapid social transformation in the last 100 years. The migratory trend of civitani that began over 100 years ago—and that accelerated in the years of postwar prosperity—coupled with the trauma caused by the 1915 earthquake and two world wars, have currently left the town with about 150 inhabitants. Yet depopulation has not diminished the area’s natural beauty or the legacy of the town’s past. Entire sections of ancient cyclopic walls are still visible, as are Roman inscriptions (in antiquity Antinum was a Roman municipium) and the recently restored Torre dei Colonna. Curiously, though, the town is looking toward its past—and to Scandinavian artists in particular—to draw inspiration for its future.

It was in the sweltering summer of 1883 that a Danish painter, Kristian Zahrtmann, traveled to Civita D’Antino in search of cool temperatures and good wine, and no sooner than his first afternoon in the town did he choose it as the site of his summer painting school. His enduring fondness for Civita D’Antino lasted nearly 30 years, culminating in a vast production of portraits, landscapes, and scenes depicting daily life, which are distinguished particularly by their realism and bold color. Countless Scandinavian painters travelled to Civita D’Antino until the 1915 earthquake in the Marsica region of Abruzzo, after which only sporadic visits were made. Their paintings are found in museums and private collections throughout the world.

Recently, thanks to the unrelenting work of a small group of people, there is an emerging perception on the part of local administrators, cultural organizations, and citizens alike that the town’s artistic heritage may put it “back on the map”. Books, articles and exhibits devoted to Civita D’Antino have begun to highlight the contributions of the Scandinavian painters and other memorable visitors such as the English artist, author and poet, Edward Lear (who travelled to the town in 1843(1) ), and the eminent German classical scholar and Nobel prize recipient, Theodor Mommsen (who spent months in the town conducting research for his monumental History of Rome). Last summer, I collaborated with the city council on the realisation of a series of permanent display cases throughout the town, each showcasing a particular painting at the precise vantage point of the artist with an accompanying description in English and Italian. Civita D’Antino’s past, together with the peaceful beauty of the Roveto Valley, may be its most significant resource and hope for the future.

About the Roveto Valley: Located in southwestern Abruzzo, and stretching roughly 30km along a northwest/southeast axis, the Roveto Valley offers attractions and activities for a wide array of interests: to wit, the Zompo Lo Schioppo natural reserve (the central Apennine’s longest waterfall), the distinctive olive oil of San Vincenzo Valle Roveto (showcased on lifeinabruzzo.com), the roscetta chestnut festival in Civitella Roveto, Santa Croce mineral water (sourced in Canistro) and religious sanctuaries (Santuario Sant’Angelo in Balsorano, Madonna del Cauto in Morino, and Madonna della Ritornata in Civita d’Antino).

[1] “Don Ferrante shewed me a most delightful garden, attached to the house, and commanding the whole of the vast Swiss-looking valley of Roveto. Nothing could be more unexpected or charming than this well-kept villa, in so wild a spot”. (Edward Lear, “Illustrated excursions in Italy”. London, 1846).

Further Reading

Scandinavian artists’ paintings A recently created museum space in Civita D’Antino holds several reprints of original paintings (it is advised to phone the Commune for access: +39 0863 978122)

Independent Cultural Network (for information on the history of Civita D’Antino, particularly events and announcements concerning the Scandinavian artists)

Antica Osteria Zahrtmann in Civita D’Antino (recently chosen by the Accademia Italiana della Cucina as the site of an incontro conviviale; homemade pastas and bread complement their rich array of seasonal dishes) (open weekends except for August; see web site for details)

Bar Trattoria da Pietro e Antonietta offers the best of home cooking and local cuisine (located near the main square, Piazza del Banco)

Zompo Lo Schioppo Nature Reserve (with a modestly priced, well maintained hotel in La Grancìa, Morino)

At first I didn’t think Sulmona’s Red Garlic zolla and talli d’aglio were one and the same thing, but then I’ve only had these garlic flower stalks in Abruzzo (also know in English as garlic ‘scapes’) preserved, where you just add them with some potatoes for the ultimate roasties.

Fresh talli d’aglio look to be something that resembles a long skinny spring onion with woody multi-kneed joints and I must admit peering at a bundle for the first time in my life and asking our ever-patient veggie girls the question of “what are those?” as they didn’t resemble anything I’d seen previously in Italy or farmers markets back in the UK…

Chopped off the bulb originally by farmers in the last weeks of June to encourage further growth in the bulb itself the main crop, they have become quite a local delicacy as well as enjoying the status of a nice little side earner for those on the chop so to speak.  They taste almost as if they are warming you up for the pungency from the cloves later in the year, but are now happy to create a balanced coupling of early soft summer crops and flavours.

It’s one of those things that, even searching in Italian, don’t seem to feature heavily, which is a shame as we’ve popped them into everything gloriously over the last 2 week.  I did read a forum posting about how they were called locally somewhere ‘ombelichi dell’aglio’ (garlic umbilicals) which drove me to close the browser rather than search more!

With a texture more akin to a crunchy spring onion, their soft verdant garlic tale works fantastically with green beans, drizzles of peperoncini oil and some chopped mint.  .  We tried the girls’ suggestion, blanched and added into a frittata that made divine panino on the crusty bread for brunch.   Blanched again and adding into salad with feta cheese and lemon was wonderful as was adding the blanched stalks onto pizza bianca with a little rosemary and olive oil for a textural, happy green valley version of garlic bread.  One recipe I want to try is KitchenbloodyKitchen’s Rice with Tollo Garlic , Cumin & Lemon which sounds more Northern African so I shouldn’t strictly be adding it here but oooh what a summer treat.

Looking for the perfect place to spread your picnic blanket with a little shade in Abruzzo? Then Lago Campotosto could be the perfect spot.  With easy access to some of Abruzzo’s  finest cheeses at Mascionara and Mortadella di Campotosto to play a very  unique  ‘belle of the picnic blanket’ salami, a lake to keep wine chilled as you watch the mountains & skies reflections, it doesn’t get better….

Campotosto is sat between the Gran Sasso Mountains to its south-east and the Laga Mountains to the north, and the lake is not just Abruzzo’s largest but Europe’s second largest man-made lake.  Its 40Km perimeter makes it one of Abruzzo’s premier mountain bike trails for those who fancy a little cycle on the flat sometimes.  Originally an ice-age basin set 1313 masl, historically the local villages used its 1400 hectares to graze animals and cut peat to sell until 1930 when it was dammed into a v-shape to provide hydro-electric power to the nearby towns.  Now framed by willow and beech, birch in the drier areas,  with tangles of juniper, hawthorne, rose hips and forest fruits like raspberries, blackberries and strawberries chose the right time of year and you could pick your own dessert.

1,600 hectares of nature reserve provides a safe home and migratory landing pad to many birds throughout the year: herons including the Ardeidae Campotosto that arrives for the winter, waders, the common snipe that is the reserve’s symbol and other countless types of duck and glebe make it an enjoyable day out for twitchers.  If you do want to go in the water you can of course swim, hire canoes and try wind-surfing in the summer but motorised boats are not allowed unless you are a local fishermen with a license and even they find it difficult… in the winter the lake can freeze over, up to 80cm thick has been known, you’d need more than a blanket on those sort of days!

We hadn’t visited early Summer before, having a preference for Autumn and its blasts of ochre, russet and soft light, but we went after the Abruzzo Cheese Festa after visiting one of our favourite cheese shops that sits just round one of those triple bends away from the lake which motorbikers love to take advantage of.   It shouldn’t be missed; the broom and laburnum provided such a vivid unforgettable contrast against the lake, nebulous clouds and mountains, and some of which were still snow-packed and I lost count of all the different types of dragonflies we spotted that added their further jewels to the scene.

Go later  in the summer and it is one area guaranteed to be filled with Italians and their camper vans, if like our friends that stayed with us you take a jaunt then expect whilst you picnic to get a view of Fire planes dipping into the lake to fill up before attempting to put out forest fires.  For those that want to go the whole hog and barbecue, there are some very discreet barbecue areas to be found right around the perimeter, if you feel too lazy you could try one of the fresh water fish restaurants, there isn’t many, we counted 4 so make a booking if you are planning to do this.

If like us you’re happy with some bread and salami do try the mules balls known as Mortadella Campotosto.   These are made to a 500 year old recipe in December and combine various breeds of pig that are combined with wine, orange peel, cloves and cinnamon to surround a lard middle and which are then dressed in a casing and sewn.  Gaily these oval balls dangle by fireplaces and then into a north facing room for approximately 3 months to mature.  Although not too keen on the solid lard bit in the middle I do love the flavour of the lean meat that surrounds it.  The town of Campotosto has a sagra dedicated to this local sausage, held on the 2nd Sunday of August if you want to pop along; Campotosto was fairly damaged in the earthquakes and aftershocks so would welcome investment in their local products.

Mmmmm sweet marjoram, I may grow it on my terrace and the old ladies in the village in their orto but the pull of one of Abruzzo’s  fav aromatic herbs  is outdone by  that of the scrubby wild patch  of wild marjoram, actually more commonly known as oregano, which  grows  just outside Bascianella in nearby hedgerows.   Its beautiful flowers are always heavy with winged life. 

Sweet marjoram may be delicate with citrus and pine notes that even in the winter perk up soups and sauces and meat, but in the height of summer it’s the zesty pepperiness of oregano that has the pulling power and it’s easy to see why the Greeks called it oros ganos – joy-of-the-mountain.

The 24 June is famous not just for being S Giovanni Day that celebrates St John the Baptist’s birthday and the day that Ancient Rome celebrated the solstice, it’s also the night for nuts, in more ways than one…

One tradition is the collection of soft and green walnuts ready to turn into Nocino, a delicate but depending on the spices added almost campish digestive on the bitter Abruzzo liqueur scale that many people describe as monastic.  It’s the only time too I’ve heard my neighbours talk openly or admit to scrumping to make a brew!

Traditionally the immature nuts must be picked on the day before the first dew, in which they are left to be ‘cleansed’; anytime after this in the year there’d be the chance that worms would begin to devour the husk like young shells and you don’t want their addition adding unusual flavours to your demijohn of delight.  Used in multiples of 21 to represent the Trinity & the 7 Virtues, they are then seeped in alcohol with spices like cloves, cinnamon, juniper and some lemon zest for 40 days to mirror the ‘temptation’ and the time Jesus spent walking in the desert after his baptism by John.    Of course there is the aromatic temptation to resist afterwards in making it last another 40 days after you’ve had your first shot!

Throughout Italy fires are also lit in celebration of the Baptist’s birth, pulling together farming folk and pagan incarnation in using this midsummer night  to celebrate the end of  its harvest by burning  its remains together with tree prunings, symbolising healing, purification and fertility. These characteristics were later associated with John the Baptist.  Dancing round the fire and particularly crossing or jumping the fire showed a boldness & pureness of spirit, later becoming more of a macho proclamation on the jumper’s manhood, as well as supposed magical healing cures for back-pain to eyesight. 

Such fire rites are rare now in Abruzzo, fires are still lit but jumping the flames is uncommon, however one small L’Aquila town does still do this, Barisciano, just below the fabled Santo Stefano.  Before jumping, those taking part go to the town’s former wash-house and follow millennial tradition of dousing themselves with water as a symbol of repentance before they run, spring and close their eyes as they leap through the purging flames that are courted and drawn by a violinist – yep a lot of ‘nuts’ required to do that, you could see why it became such a sign of virility…  that is the thought anyway until boys under the age of 10 began doing the same!   From initial heart racing and thoughts of “god health and safety” you relax as the boys contagious whoops and proud parents look on.  There is an awful lot more trust of children here than back in the UK!  This baptism of fire is a must see before it dies out in the region, so if you’re in Abruzzo on the 24th take an evening time visit to Barisciano.

We were v lucky stumbling across it, we’d planned to buy some Abruzzo delicacies for a picnic after we’d interviewed the Head of Science at the National Park for a post about the ever-decreasing number of Marsican bears at the hands of locals.  Generally Mondays aren’t the best days for open restaurants particularly nature hubs like Pescasseroli  – they’re normally closed on Mondays, recovering from the weekend rush.  However, we asked the owner of a nearby locanda where she would eat and she kindly recommended Benedetto & Laura Decina’s Plistia Restaurant as the best in the surrounding area . We were more than ready to try that sort of recommendation so passed by and booked a table.  That is one thing to definitely do, book! Intimate means just 10 tables so our recommendation is book ahead at weekends, Aug or the ski-season; we were lucky in that we were the only ones in the restaurant for lunch at the beginning of June.

Tucked away off the main street, the vaulted restaurant I’m sure would be wonderful in the heat of high summer, even June it was beautifully cool, for some reason its decor reminded me more of Paris than Abruzzo but that is no bad thing.  Slow Food & Gambero Rosso certificates line the wall indicating that we were going to be having a special sort of lunch; they are in fact Abruzzo’s oldest Slow Food member.

We visited after a short but steepish 1 hr climb up to the remains of the Castel Mancino that overlooks the town. Hot and thirsty we asked for a Pecorino wine to help lower temperatures and a great revisit was that of a Bosco’s fantastic Pecorino that takes you to all sorts of exotic fruit places with even a memory of Peardrops for those that liked them, a kiddo recommend!   Antipasti were some divine local soft cheeses with some excellent sensory wonder springy bread and a succulent mushroom salad.

Next came homemade scialatielli pasta served with wild asparagus, saffron and fresh cheese, a simple dish but when cooked well a medley of flavours to die for. I’m one of those freaky people who actually prefers whole-wheat pasta so with the next homemade pasta dish of frilly ribboned mafalde with a succulent duck and mint sauce meant I was in heaven, it’s a rare treat getting fresh whole-wheat pasta when out.  I’m going to try cooking the duck and mint sauce at home as it was a wonderful combination, the mint countering that heavy after-feeling that duck’s rich meat can sometimes leave.  It’s traditional to have 3 pastas in the restaurant but we declined the 3rd as even though portion control here was excellent we were already feeling a little stuffed.

For secondo (close your eyes and ears animal lovers) it was milk-fed baby lamb that had been bread-crumbed and fried, a first for me but utterly delicious served with a chunky salad.

Dessert was one of the best I’ve had in Abruzzo, a mille feuilles like pastry with intoxicating crema (custard) light but toffee flavoured meringue and strawberry that we both fell upon.

The restaurant could never be considered cheap eating in Abruzzo, but for those extra euros you receive a very different and inventive use of local ingredients that is worth spending the extra whilst enjoying the ambience of one of the sweetest dining rooms that we’ve eaten in.

Price –  €40 per person including 4 courses,  1 bottle of wine, coffee

Value for money – 10/10
Quality of food – 10/10

Albergo Ristorante Plistia

Address:  Via Principe di Napoli, 28, 67032, Pescasseroli (AQ)

Website:  http//www.albergoristoranteplistia.it

Email: info@albergoristoranteplistia.it

Tel: +39 08863 910429

There is nothing quite like being out in Abruzzo in the summer and being served beans with the addition of some curly bitter greens.   No matter how hard I’ve tried it’s not something I’ve been able to recreate the taste of, until that is we were contacted by Palma Poochigan a US interior designer who wrote to us after reading our post about Abruzzo’s quirkiest must-see church St Tommaso.

Her father’s family the Morizios are from San Tommaso; he left in 1919 at the age of 20 aboard the Duca Degli Abruzzi to work in the US, and it is his family that made the font to the church. Palma also told us how the out-of-kilter protected column was from the original St Peter’s,  one great thing about keeping a blog is that you get to learn so much from some great shared information! Her mother was from the nearby medieval town of San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore also in Pescara.

Palma’s been over to visit twice; she was so inspired by the Abruzzo’s landscape that she has made several watercolour paintings of the region, in addition to compiling her family recipes together and publishing them into a booklet that could be passed on to future generations – all sorts happen in Abruzzo when you come for a holiday!   She kindly sent us one of the recipes for beans & bitter greens that ‘s perfect for a summer supper served with some bruschetta. 

Her recipe suggestion advised on using the beautiful frilly escarole that is part of the endive family.  Escarole’s curled fronds are less bitter than some of its cousins but it still has all the valuable qualities of ‘bitter greens’ in helping to rekindle an appetite that can be lost in hot weather, whilst helping digestion.  Palma’s recipe has finally taught me how to cook ‘escarole’ and whizz up beans and greens that taste like my friends’, using something I had previously kept for salads – thank you!

“My father brought all his Abruzzo traditions to America  via Ellis Island into his new life in the US.  These included making goats cheese, prosciutto, wine, Baccala’-Lupini Beans and of course the tradition of a lovingly tended garden of many vegetables!

Pasta was our main dish always with special sauces.  Together my parents made Sanguinaccio Sausage (blood sausage) ate Capretto (baby goat) as well as drinking its milk and making a goat’s cheese very similar to feta cheese.  At Christmas they cooked a host of fish, some like octopus & cod in a sauce, others which they baked.

My mother always talked about her cousin Filomina in Sulmona where Toronne was first made and this we ate every Christmas. She had come to America aged 9 after the earthquake in which she had had to dig her buried sister out.  She ate pomegranates and talked of the sweet smell of flowers she had left behind. S Valentino (strong man of the sun – Sansone) was her hero figure no doubt due to the impressive statue that still stands in the town today and where her mother would do her washing.    She remembered going to mass  on Christmas Eve at Chiesa della Madonna della Croce at the end of which they sang ‘O Bambino mio divino’. Then they would come home and uncover Jesus in their own nativity. It is two traditions that I still carry on today.

I have visited both towns and painted scenes from there as well as compiling ‘The Hand Me Down Recipe Book’ to keep the traditions of my mother and father & their memory alive.  I believe there is no more meaningful way or remembering than by the food that we  have shared together …I hope you like this little taste…”

Summer Beans & Bitter Greens

Ingredients
2 large bunches of escarole or endive
2 large cans of cannellini beans
120 ml Virgin Olive Oil
1 Crushed Garlic Clove
1 tsp Salt
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh Basil , Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme
75 g flat leaved parsley
1 tsp Salt & Pepper

Method
In the olive oil sauté the garlic and chopped mixed herbs.
Add the escarole and wilt gently, (if you prefer less textural greens give them a quick blanche before you wilt).
Add the washed drained beans & cook on a gentle heat covered for a further 20 minutes.  (Check every 10 minutes, I took mine off after 10 as my beans were getting a little mushy and I prefer the escarole a little bitter – the longer you cook the less bitter the escarole becomes….)
Take off the heat and stir in the parsley and cover leave for 5 minutes.

Serve with bruschetta or as Palma does with garlic bread

There is nothing in the world like a bag of sweet juicy cherries and their loud welcome to the start of the summer fruits, it’s like having a  hug from your Nonna who you haven’t seen for a while, dribble goes all over the place but you don’t have a care in the world about it.

Welcome blue skies and toasty weather arrived back in Abruzzo today as well as the present of a large bag of sweet cherries from our veggie girls; although I adore cherries, with the rise in temperature I thought it may be perhaps better turning them  into healthy[ish] cherry ice-cream using Abruzzo’s finest ricotta as its base; the resulting dense but creamy texture will appeal to all lovers of Southern Indian Kulfi ice-cream  to which it is very reminsent of.

For anyone with any sort of guilt complex about eating cherry ice-cream, this one is a little bit healthier than the usual; it cuts out the cream & sugar, ricotta is high in Omega fatty acids, which is great for fighting heart disease, as well as using the smallest amount of honey.  A different sort of dribble is evoked by a spoonful, equally delicious as the original fruits, and confirms summer’s arrival!

Cherry & Ricotta Ice-Cream

Ingredients
300 g Ricotta
340 g Sweet Cherries pitted
Zest from 1/4 Unwaxed Organic Lemon
2 tablespoons Cherry RataFia (alternatively another cherry liqueur that you prefer)
2 tablespoons Acacia Honey or alternatively a light high quality honey (you don’t want to drown the taste of the cherries)

Method

Add the ricotta into your food blender and whizz till it’s broken down into a thick paste. 

To the ricotta add lemon zest and blend in the cherries slowly, don’t add too many at a time otherwise the skins won’t break down. 

Add honey and the Ratafia give a final whizz together then pour into a plastic container, cover with a lid and put into the freezer. 

Once every hour break up the ice-cream crystals return into the freezer repeating 4 times. (Obviously if you have an ice-cream maker you can leave churn & do it all for you …).

Serve with a sprinkle of toasted crushed almonds and a glass of  Ratafia.

If you’re in Abruzzo the first weekend of  June don’t miss Raiano’s Cherry Sagra