Abruzzo Cherry-Picked

1 Stoic Ox, Ribbons & Legend Mash-up @ Festa di San Zopito

Sammy Dunham — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:43:18 +0000

Visiting Loreto Aprutino’s Festa di San Zopito got me more interested in the stories behind the monumental, 13-tonne white ox with his carefully trimmed and polished hooves, multi-coloured ribbons and bells looped high over its head as it was led round the streets by an Abruzzese bagpiper, a Zampognari, whose job was traditionally a shepherd.

For those not up-to-date with the Christian calendar (like me!), Pentecost was taken from the Jewish harvest festival celebration, Shavout, when 50 days after Passover the law was received on Mount Sinai, a week of refrain and a day of non work. The Romans fashioned this into the Church’s birthday, Pentecost; instead of law, a time when the Holy Spirit descended and entered into the apostles on Whitsun or in Italian Pasqua rosatum, named after the priest’s red vestments, a colour symbolic of the Holy Spirit, those who receive their first Holy Communion on this favourable day wearing white.

After reading Noel’s post about the event, there was a v short Comment referring to the Romans. It seems they loosely wrapped up two of their April festivals into this new feria (non work day), the celebration of Ceres, Cerealiais’ who was, Jupiter’s wife, and goddess of fertility and whose followers wore white. The Romans believed that it was Ceres who taught man to plough and sow, unusual because it was juxtaposed with the people’s favoured offering, the white ox, to her husband, Jupiter.

Ovid, Fasti, Book IV: April 12: The Games of Ceres

“Ceres delights in peace: pray, you farmers,
Pray for endless peace and a peace-loving leader.
Honour the goddess with wheat, and dancing salt grains,
And grains of incense offered on the ancient hearths,
And if there’s no incense, burn your resinous torches:
Ceres is pleased with little, if it’s pure in kind.
You girded attendants lift those knives from the ox:
Let the ox plough, while you sacrifice the lazy sow,
It’s not fitting for an axe to strike a neck that’s yoked:
Let the ox live, and toil through the stubborn soil.”

Floralia was the 6-day lascivious celebration, part of which became May Day, banned by the Pilgrim Fathers, and celebrating Spring’s baroque blossoms, it was a time to wear nothing(!) or highly colourful clothes red, green, yellow and floral wreaths. A descendent of the flower offering remains in the traditional red flowers left at Church on Pentecost to signify the renewal of life, remembering family and friends no longer here and of course the warmth of the summer and blessed crops.

Ovid, Fasti (V.185-190)

“You start in April and cross to the time of May
One has you as it leaves, one as it comes
Since the edges of these months are yours and defer
To you, either of them suits your praises.
The Circus continues and the theatre’s lauded palm,
Let this song, too, join the Circus spectacle.”

San Zapito was a child martyr interned in Rome’s San Callisto catacombs in 300 AD

Relics were brought in ornate box to Loreto in 1711, an arm and the skull donated by Pope Clement XI. They passed a farmer, Carlo Parlione who complained that he had to toil granite fields on Pentecost, asking where the damn justice was in that. Apparently the convoy shrunk back from such double blasphemy, but at that very moment, the farmer’s oxen walked toward the entourage ignoring the farmer‘s calls and knelt as if he wanted to pray. “A miracle”, they joyously proclaimed and the farmer repented, returning home to observe the Pentecost.

The Festa di San Zopito is now a colourful 2-day festival celebrating this oxen moment. The trained ox, nicknamed the ‘White Knight’ wearing a scarlet cloak with images of the Saints, carrying those same relics, kneels and gives praise in specific areas of the town as he is a tramite (vehicle of the divine). A local primary schoolgirl stands on its back representing San Zopito, with floral wreath, silver wings, a red carnation (representing the Holy Spirit and harvest) in her mouth and carrying an umbrella to protect from evil & disgrace. They are accompanied by a Processione dei Cavalli, with riders dressed in traditional costume and horses in a stunning rustic dressage, bedecked with garlands, bows and pom-poms. They traditionally received a blessing to counter bandits and such like as they delivered the area’s precious golden triangle’s olive oil and wines. The ox is taken to 2 churches and onto Palazzo Valentini, a famous local winery who offer wines and taralluci biscuits to those that follow the procession. On Monday the bue (ox) makes another procession, this time to meet the silver statue of the Saint. It’s really worth a visit, particularly if you have children as the combined colour, music and of course animals are a dream morning out for the under 10s, it’s not bad either for adults especially if you’re a photographer.

Thanks to AboutAbruzzo for the tip of arriving early; it is like Abruzzo’s snake festival Cocullo, extremely popular, so best get there for 10 and then have a leisurely patisserie-led brunch in one of the many cafes on Loreto Aprutino‘s main drag, before you walk up to the historic centre and procession. If you fancy a Pentecostal picnic there are plenty of porchetta vans ready to oblige for your lunch!

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Sammy Dunham

Sammy Dunham is a freelance web marketing consultant. Past lives saw her study in Firenze after which she taught History of Art & EFL and lived in Barcelona & The Bahamas. She combines a passion for travel & photography, food & wine thru Lucciola.me & as co-founder to Abruzzo's 1st Food & Travel Bloggers Weekend,Let's Blog Abruzzo June 2013

The Place to Eat Ham in Abruzzo – Ristorante Belvedere

Sammy Dunham — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:30:00 +0000

We’ve eaten a lot of ham over the last decade in Abruzzo, at a Michelin-starred restaurant famed for its hand-carved slices, at agriturismi, trattorie et al, but none equalled the home-made prosciutto at Belvedere just outside Loreto Aprutino. Nonna’s ham reached dizzying heights of air-dried hamdom.

We found this restaurant, as often the way, quite by accident, perhaps not as glamorously attired or appointed as some of its neighbours, but who cares when you have ham this good! I have to admit a preference primarily for porcine prosciutto’s sultry Spanish sibling Serrano, which is darker and less sweet, and its moody depths take you to all manner of places when eaten. However, Belvedere should be awarded a trillion gold stars for their prosciutto, that was thicker cut than usual and transported us with just one mouthful to hot midnight tapas suppers in Seville accompanying an expensive but so worth it plate of jamón ibérico and a glass of chilled fino sherry.

It’s worth mentioning too sitting on that gorgeous plate of antipasti, Nonna’s thinly sliced and jointed and roasted chicken, served with a thin marmellate which, for someone who doesn’t normally like chicken, was a discovery of how good chicken can taste.

The owners were incredibly hospitable and even more child friendly than usual for those with babes in tow, though no sign of high chairs. We had a delicious rich sugo, watch out for their peperoncini, those chillies are almost black in their sun-dried intensity! So worth a stop even if it is just to savour ham for a light lunch.

Address: Ristorante Belvedere, 10, Ctr. Belvedere, 65014 Loreto Aprutino (PE) Province of Pescara, Italy
Phone: +39 085 8289134
No facebook | No website

Opening Hours

Open for lunch and dinner daily every day apart from Monday

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Sammy Dunham

4 O’Clock Shadow with Corno Grande Styling

Sammy Dunham — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:31:50 +0000

The Corno Grande’s May March of Colliding Atoms

Abruzzo’s highest mountain may be famous for the dark matter testing deep within its bowels, but at 4.00 pm every day in early May there is a huge particle rush that drives a gigantic daily storm into its craggy form.

The result, stunning shadows and light, but if you are just a tiny bit barometrically challenged, watch out for being literally wiped out by an evil temporal lobe headache by the said ‘temporale’ (Italian for storm). Apparently such symptoms can only be reduced by taking a magnesium supplement[??].

Cms of vicious hail that pound some unfortunate geraniums that sit on my terrace and the Locust blossom who have just begun their roadside display are being washed down the hill and into Bascianella’s uneven and pot- holed roads. The resultant honey puddles are gorgeous to whiff as you walk past, and if you’re a welly-wearing 19-month old boy, the most sweet-smelling puddles in the world.

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Sammy Dunham

More than Lamborghini Tractors – Teramo Agriculture Fair

Sammy Dunham — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 21:38:40 +0000

We went to Teramo’s 25th annual Agricultural fair (fiera dell’agricoltura) believing it would be a treat for my little boy, as it was sure to have a great collection of tractors available for a 19 month old to “ooh” and “arh” that he could clamber over and prod. I’d thought it would be something like a UK Country Fair, an event I actually avoid like the plague! Indeed the tractor part was true, as bambino got to sit behind the wheel of his first red vintage Lamborghini…tractor of course! But outside petting corners, plenty of bunnies destined for the pot, there was also a foodie’s tasting heaven; out of the 200 exhibitors, 3/5 comprised an incredible array of local farmers’ products with stands from as afar as Puglia and Sardinia.

My favourites were a sweet prosciutto salami and rediscovering Fracassa who I had met and whose card I had lost at the annual Gessopalena Cheese Fair in September, a must attend for those in Abruzzo late summer.

Fracassa’s amazing range of delicious salamis and cured meats includes some which are cured in Montepulciano d’Abruzzo ‘must’, inheriting the dark intense colours from its bath in our favourite drinkable summer fruits. With an emphasis on natural, honey is used as the anti-oxidant in their salami and their rather divine sweet and nutty pecorino is matured in a bran crust which absorbs the moisture from the cheese whilst allowing it to breathe. You can visit them for tastings , they have a restaurant too so that’s on my list next time I am close to Sant’Egidio alla Vibrata; for non-Italian speakers don’t be put off they do speak English ( their website is ecommerce , hurray!). I bought their silky cream of pecorino with truffle to add as a very simple sauce to pasta.

© Photography by Lucciola.me
Further Reading
Check the Teramo Comune site for dates of the fair, it is normally the last week of March or 1st week of April.
Fracassa official website

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Sammy Dunham

Ristorante zi Nicola & The Man that Doesn’t Like Fish

Sammy Dunham — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:37:25 +0000

A fish restaurant run by a man who doesn’t like fish in Abruzzo? Perhaps that he still manages to put the knowledge of three generations of fish restaurateurs to excellent use is an insight into how loyalty to family still holds strong in Italy.

Beyond the family tradition that keeps Andrea in situ, I’d imagine it is also the location of this fish restaurant, with its sweeping vistas out to the remains of the last trabocco stage post and Vasto’s expansive crescent bay.

Although the wide interior is a little dated and reminiscent of the ’90s, and its airiness may not be what I would choose for a winter’s evening, I could see the appeal in the height of summer, after having experienced numerous ’intimate’ fish restaurant lunches wafted by a feeble inadequate fan, especially as Ristorante zi Nicola served some of the most interesting affordable wines we’ve ever been served with fish.

A 2008 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo by Azienda Agricola Valentini, a hint of spicy minerals combined with high Abruzzo meadows, and a 2010 Marramiero Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Anima, a dry and crisp wine but with wonderful citrus meets peach notes.

We loved their Squid Purgatory so much so that we asked the Chef for the recipe to share with everyone. We’d recommend a summer al fresco visit taking advantage of the covered deck for this dish alone mopped up with some bread, especially in these times of austerity when you don’t really need 3 courses.

Squid in Purgatory by Ristorante zi Nicola

Ingredients

1 kg of small squid
300 g very ripe sweet tomatoes
1 glass of white wine
2 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
Fresh chili according to taste
Chopped flat leafed parsley,
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Method

Clean the squid, cut into pieces and rinse several times in cold running water. Allow to drain.

In a thick-bottomed saucepan or a in a shallow terracotta dish, fry the chopped garlic and chili in the olive oil, add the squid and bay leaves and a pinch of salt.

Cover with a lid and cook until the squid shrink in size, pour over the white wine and add the chopped tomatoes and allow the sauce to thicken.

Add the chopped parsley and serve with toasted bread rubbed with garlic.

Address: SS 16 Adriatica – North, 30, 66054 Vasto Province of Chieti, Italy
Phone: +39 0873 367648
Facebook | No website

Opening Hours

From 1st October to 14th March, open daily for lunch 12.30 -15.30. On Fridays and Saturdays only from 12.30 -15,30 for lunch AND for dinner 19-23.00
From 15th March to 30th September lunch 12.30-15.30, dinner 19.00-24.00

View the wines on cellar TRACKER

2008 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo

2010 Marramiero Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Anima

This was part of a fish lovers weekend in Vasto including learning how to cook traditional fish recipes aboard a trabocco organised by Italia Sweet Italia

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Sammy Dunham

Pork Chops & Blackbirds: Abruzzo’s Winter Weather Tales

Alessia Odoardi — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 08:00:49 +0000

“Na vodd se dicev…” (“once we used to say”)

If you had the fortune to be born in Abruzzo and be raised by your grandmother, you probably already know all the winter tales. If you have fallen in love with this enchanting region of Central Italy and want to learn more about it, here are some traditional sayings that will disclose more of the ancient magic that surrounds Abruzzo at wintertime.

Winter could be very tough when you were a smallholder in Abruzzo and you just had one tiny field and a fireplace to warm an entire house. Our grandmothers, nonna Emilia and nonna Angela remember that very well. They grew up in two different villages in the Vomano Valley and they share the same secrets to predict winter. When I asked them if they remembered any sayings about winter, I almost couldn’t keep up with the flood of words!

“I giorni della merla” (the days of the blackbird”), as nonna Angela remembers, is the way people called the last three days of January. They are the coldest days of winter according to the folklore of several Italian regions. This saying comes from a very ancient story relating to blackbirds and how they became black, which has many versions: during the winter a blackbird and her chicks sheltered in a chimneypot to protect themselves from the cold weather. They waited there for three days; then, on the first of February, they came out but their beautiful white plumage had become black.

After those cold days, another traditional belief used to predict if winter was going to be long or short: “la Candelora”. This version of the rhyme is recited by nonna Emilia:

“A li dò la Candelòr – “On the 2nd la Candelora

a li trò la braciòl – On the 3rd the pork chop

se ci nongue - if it snows

se ci piòv – if it rains

da l’immèrn sòm – fòr we’re out of the winter season

se ci sta lu sularìll - if it’s a little sunny

stòm mmèzz a mmèrnarìll” – we’re stuck in winter”

According to different sources, the 2nd of February, the day of the Candelora, signified the end of the winter season to the rural world. If that day was rainy or snowy, winter was going to end, leaving its place to spring; but if it was a pale sunny day, then you would have to wait for spring a little longer.

When I asked nonna Emilia why they say “la braciol” (the pork chop), she told me that they used to have a big pork chop barbecue on the fireplace the day after (February 3rd).

La Candelora is also a day linked to the Roman Catholic tradition. Nonna Angela, who is a devotee, said that on this day a mass is celebrated and people bring candles with them (the word “Candelora” comes from the word candela, candle), which are symbols of Christ, coming to Earth to light up the whole world, and they are blessed by the Priest.

Winter had a predominant place in Abruzzo people’s lives: their harvests, their cattle depended on its mildness and length. Its end was very important to predict.

“li quattr brilland” (the four brilliants), as nonna Angela calls it, was another important date to foretell if the cooler weather was going to end soon. The name probably comes from a wrong translation of the word a-brilent, which indicated “the first day of April when it was rainy”. The two versions they told me don’t match perfectly though: nonna Angela says it’s the fourth of April, nonna Emilia remembers that the saying referred to the first four days of April. Nevertheless, they agree on what it meant. “If it rains on “li quattr brilland” day, it will rain for forty days!”, nonna Angela says, as she keeps embroidering her doily. This ancient belief can be found in different regions, not only in Abruzzo. Something more which underlines the importance of weather in ancient times; sayings and rhymes that grew from the ceaseless flow of time, with a beat by the seasons, weather, animals and the rising and setting of the sun.

Blackbird © Peter Austin

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Alessia Odoardi

Blogger at Maple&Saffron

An Italian and Canadian who born in Abruzzo and lived in Castelnuovo Vomano until she recently moved to Canada where she is working as an Abruzzo tour operator. A foodie and a traveller she shares 2 blogs with her husband, Maple&Saffron is about Abruzzo & their new life in Canada, and in Italian, Two Hearts & a Fork, review site of restaurants and gastronomic events in Italy.

Full Circle in Salle

Michelle Capobianco — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:42:47 +0000

My father was born in Salle, a tiny village tucked within the rugged mountains of the Parco Nazionale della Majella in Abruzzo. He immigrated to the United States with his parents and younger brother in 1966, part of a devastating exodus of nearly two-thirds of Salle’s inhabitants during the 1950s and 60s. Although my dad’s childhood stories often speak of extraordinary hardship, they are also woven with tender, almost dreamlike nostalgia for his hometown. He and Sallesi throughout Italy and across the globe have remained fiercely loyal to their patria and each summer, the town’s population swells as so many return home.

Salle is a sleepy village of about 300 inhabitants and in many ways, it feels like time has stood still. Old women dressed in black are the town’s watchmen, demanding the identity of those unknown to them. The first time she ever visited Salle, my Sicilian mother was stopped by one of the town elders and asked, “Signora, a chi appartiene? – Who do you belong to?” The town has only one tiny general store and the locals rely on trucks peddling their wares for fresh bread, cheese and produce. Salle’s social life revolves around the piazza and the Bar da Pasquale, which serves libations to the old and gelati to the young. Our house is a stone’s throw from the home of Nonno Stefano, my great-grandfather and the benevolent patriarch of my dad’s family (for whom my middle son is named) and although he passed many years ago, the makeshift green bench he built still sits outside the door.

When I was a young girl, I loved visiting Salle. A city kid, it was probably the only place on Earth where I could walk down the street at seven years old without my mom’s firm grip on my hand. The first time I anxiously asked my parents whether I could go to piazza by myself, I looked at them like they had gone mad when they answered yes. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Salle began to lose its allure when I became a teenager. The smallness I had found so liberating instead felt suffocating. In the years that followed – during college, law school and even after I was married – despite traveling to Italy a dozen times, I didn’t visit Salle, favoring instead the art cities of Northern Italy, the bustle of Rome, and the romance of Tuscany.

I finally returned when my first son was 10 months old and for whatever reason, the bold beauty of its setting, with mountains welcoming me at every turn, took me completely by surprise. That first trip back, with my new little family, was incredibly special, one of those full-circle experiences you start having when you become a parent. Two more sons have since arrived and Salle has become our family’s summer playground. Our kids have made a group of friends who taught them to play Il Lupo Mangia La Frutta despite the language barrier. They participate in the annual Giochi Popolari, which culminates in La Gara degli Spaghetti – a spaghetti-eating contest. They know the ins and outs of the town on their bikes and play “pallone” in the street until midnight. They experienced their first-ever hike up to Salle Vecchia, the old village where their Nonno was born.

This past summer, while having dinner in our friend Antonio’s garden, our seven-year old son Mikey nervously asked us whether he could go to piazza with his friends. Disbelief crossed his face when we said yes, and as we watched him walk down the street, we felt thankful that our sons have a special place where they can enjoy a simpler, freer way of life and live their family’s history.

Travel Information: Salle is located within the Parco Nazionale della Majella, at the foot of Monte Morrone. Visit the 11th century castle in Salle Vecchia, an uninhabited medieval hamlet that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1933 a few kilometers from the modern town.

There is a lovely courtyard and fountain and the views of the Majella and the nearby village of Caramanico Terme are breathtaking. In the modern town, let your kids blow off some steam in the piazza, which is completely enclosed and free of automobile traffic – perfect for an impromptu soccer game and enjoying a gelato from the bar.

Although there are no restaurants in Salle, Agriturismo La Pagliarella in Sant’Elia (a hamlet of Caramanico Terme), about 10 kilometers away, serves authentic regional specialties using only local products in a welcoming and rustic setting. If the Zuppa di Farro or Ravioli Fatti in Casa (she even makes the ricotta for the filling) are on the menu, they are not to be missed. (Phone: 333.426.7723)

Author information

Michelle Capobianco

Owner at Majella Home Cooking

The daughter of Italian immigrants, Michelle grew up with a strong sense of her Abruzzese and Sicilian heritage. She returns to her father's native Abruzzo with her husband & 3 sons each summer, where she uses their family home in Salle as a base for exploring Abruzzo and other regions of Italy. A corporate attorney for nearly 10 years, Michelle turned her passion for Italian gastronomy and culture into a "second-chance" career cooking and writing about Italy's regional foods through her food and catering company in New York called Majella Home Cooking.

Careful Bears on the Road, Road Safety for Abruzzo’s Bears

Sammy Dunham — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 12:05:49 +0000

Abruzzo Bears received a fighting chance when the NGO Salviamo l’Orso was launched in September promising to step in where bureaucracy and jaded multi-cause environmental groups had really failed disastrously in addressing the colonisation of the bear’s natural habitat with as a result just 40 individual bears left.

After my last post after interviewing LIFE Arctos I must admit to feeling far from optimistic of their survival; churlish is the word that comes to mind to describe the people who couldn’t even answer a few follow up emails after facing a gently probing interview .

I was overjoyed to see the newly formed association, created by experts across a number of fields and helping to unify those smaller, less specialist organisations and organise people that just wanted to help. They actively began a cultural lobbying biodiversity battle, calling upon the regional government to stop thinking that protecting the bear was a luxury they couldn’t afford, rather a valued member of its mountains, equal to any archaeological treasure, and one which attracts and brings in as many tourists, generating local income.

Careful Bears on the Road Campaign

After a careful analysis, Salviamo l’Orso strategised how best to protect Abruzzo’s bears in the long term and short term; the charity have launched its first fundraising campaign Careful Bears on the Road to promote bear road safety which additionally will aid the wolves, deer, boars populations that share their habitat.

Abruzzo’s marsican bears come back down from feeding on buckthorn in the mountains after the heat of summer to literally get fat ready for a successful winter hibernation that will see them stay on lower ground till the spring. The success of their hibernation depends on a well stocked autumn larder of acorns, beech and chestnuts and roots. If their larder is deforested or they are frightened away by the guns from a hunting season that begins in September, their larder trails extend and they stray onto the road and into human conurbations. Common sense prevailed in the last hunting season when due to the drought and lack of vegetation hunting was banned from Abruzzo‘bear’ areas within the national parks encouraging them to stay put.

The charity looked at Yosemite National Park which had introduced bear road safety and decided to follow their lead and strategically introduce:

Reflective road studs
Visual Bear Warning Signs written in Italian & English
Electronic speed detectors
Sound Speed Bars
Roadside Maintenance
Increased Police Presence
Awareness campaign to local commuters, bus drivers and bikers

These changes will take affect between SR 83 “Marsicana”, the main road and tourist trail that winds through the stunning Oak, Juniper, Maple and Ash woods between the villages of Gioia dei Marsi and Gioia Vecchio up to Pescasseroli.

A little does help when concerning an overlooked Abruzzo community which will diminish entirely, taking with their paw prints a loss of Abruzzo culture and heritage unless action is taken.

How to Help

You can donate a small amount directly to the Careful Bears on the Road campaign who hope to receive their target of €12,000 by May 2013 to complete the project by the time the bears came back down from the mountains; alternatively you can help spread the word about Abruzzo’s bear and become a member of Salviamo l’Orso for just €20 to help fund the administration.

Further Reading

Careful Bear on the Road Campaign

Donate or Become a Member of Salviamo L’Orso

Bear Photography © Francesco Culicelli

Author information

Sammy Dunham

A Few of my Favourite Abruzzo Things – Alessia Odoardi

Alessia Odoardi — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:44:52 +0000

Alessia Odoardi is an Italian Canadian who was born in Abruzzo and lived in Castelnuovo Vomano in Teramo province for 29 years. She’s just moved to Canada where she lives with her husband. A foodie and a traveller she has 2 blogs with her husband; Maple&Saffron is about Abruzzo & their new life in Canada.

What’s your association with Abruzzo?

I was born, I grew up and lived in Abruzzo for 29 years, in a small village called Castelnuovo Vomano, near Teramo. I’m half Italian and half Canadian, because my grandparents moved to Canada during the fifties and my mother was born there. Then they moved back to Italy where I was born and grew up. I’m living in Canada now with my husband.

What’s the best thing about Abruzzo?

I’ll answer with a question: how can you pick one thing that is the best? The places are breathtaking, people are friendly and the food is genuine and delicious!

If I were to pick something though, I would say the peaceful and relaxed life Abruzzo rewards you with if you live there.

What’s the worst thing about Abruzzo?

Maybe its lack of self-confidence; Abruzzo has a very big potential but somehow it’s not convinced to have it; and of course the unemployment rate, which forces many young people to leave.

What’s the most underrated thing about Abruzzo?

I think the whole region is still underrated. Some people are starting to appreciate Abruzzo as a place for their holidays only now. I’ll give you an example: If you ask Italian people where Teramo is, the majority of them won’t know it or they will mistake it for Termoli or Terni!

Where would be your favourite place to live in Abruzzo?

Very difficult…I feel home when I’m in Teramo, because I went to school there; I also like Roseto degli Abruzzi, I go to the beach there in the summer and it has several good place to eat out, and Atri, which is a cute village with a beautiful theatre, famous for its liquorice and calanchi , erosion of soil that produces very characteristic hills; but I’d probably miss the hills surrounding my village, so I have to say I’d live exactly where I lived over the last 30 years!

Where would you not live in Abruzzo?

There are some places in Abruzzo that are very isolated, like tiny little towns up in the mountains; maybe I wouldn’t live there, too far from the sea.

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

The greatest time for me in Abruzzo is summertime, when all friends come back and there’s plenty of sagre everywhere! So, I would say my perfect weekend would be spending time in the mountains with my friends, cooking sausages and arrosticini, then visit a local village for a typical sagra.

What’s your favourite Abruzzo vineyard and why?

We have very good wines in Abruzzo and many of them are well-known all around Italy. Among my favourites I would mention Marramiero, near Bolognano, and Lepore in Colonnella. Many people still have vineyards and make their own wine at home around my area. I’m a red wine person and my favourite grape variety is absolutely Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.

Where’s the best place to eat in your area and why? What would you do for a special occasion?

I love eating and cooking and I eat out when I have time and post my experience in our blog. It’s hard for me to pick just one place…I’d suggest ristorante Duomo in Teramo, ristorante Arca in Alba Adriatica and if you want a delicious pizza Don Franchino in Castelnuovo Vomano.

What’s your favourite view in Abruzzo?

I’ve travelled a lot and seen many places, but no other views will ever take the place of the view of the Gran Sasso chain dominating the valleys in my heart.

What would be your favourite Abruzzo dish?

That’s the hardest one! It’s absolutely impossible for me to answer this question, I should say arrosticini, mazzarelle, cacio fritto, salsicce, sfogliatelle, calcionetti…I love all of its cuisine!

What are your favourite festas and sagras across the seasons?

Here again I’d need an entire piece of paper! I never missed Sant’Antonio feast in Cermignano in January, when the whole village celebrates Saint Anthony Abbot, with bands singing traditional songs dedicated to the saint and everybody eating the typical “uccelletti” di Sant’Antonio (“bird-shaped” cookies filled with jam); or San martino celebrations on the 11th of November, called the feast of “cornuti” (betrayed people), when everybody cooks chestnuts and drinks wine and vin brulé (hot red wine made with spices and sugar) and Prosciutto feast in Basciano in August, a celebration of Abruzzo prosciutto and salumi, with performances of songs played with accordion, a typical instrument with an old tradition in Abruzzo.

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

If you’re a winter person, you can come to ski; if you want to appreciate the mountains during the summer, we have many paths for horse riding; if you want to do some activity whatever season you come to Abruzzo Nordic walking and hiking are the best.

Have you a favourite Abruzzo walk?

There’s a hill between Notaresco and Guardia Vomano, where time stood still; the best time of the year to go is spring: dirt roads, old farmhouses, olive tree groves, peach trees in bloom…taking a walk there is magical!

What’s your favourite Abruzzo village and why?

I have many favourite villages; Scanno is very beautiful and it’s also been nominated “one of the most beautiful villages of Italy”; Vasto is also incredibly nice, with its little squares, tiny streets and a breathtaking belvedere.

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

I would simply say “take the car and drive. Wherever you stop is a unique experience”.

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

In my area the Prosciutto feast in Basciano in August. Making prosciutto is still part of our tradition and many people still do it at home; my family makes it every year in December, together with sausages, lonza, salamini and ribs: a great moment to stay together.

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

What I’ve learned from my experience of living in between two cultures and my travels is that no books can give you a good idea of a place like staying there and experiencing it with your own eyes, ears, heart.

What attitude best sums up the Abruzzesi?

New generations are more “globalized” now and I don’t think they keep an attitude which is typical of Abruzzo; what I like though is the still strong use of dialect among young people and their awareness of the traditions that belong to our culture.

What local artists and writers to your village/city would you recommend and why?

There are several. Gabriele D’Annunzio is one of the most famous writers coming from Abruzzo; Ivan Graziani is a famous singer from Teramo.

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

To Canada I brought with me a bit of sand and some shells from Roseto degli Abruzzi, but if I could, I’d have also brought some prosciutto and arrosticini!

Calanchi Landscape © Riserva Naturale dei Calanchi di Atri

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Alessia Odoardi

Blogger at Maple&Saffron

Saffron & Baccalà Fritters with Pepper Ricotta

Sammy Dunham — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 23:12:34 +0000

Saffron batter – a decadent, glorious way to celebrate Epiphany, or something a little flashy to take your mind off your bank balance post Christmas. It’s a batter made with yeast and is egg free, the feather-light tempura queen of batters that would give Tacitus’ descriptions of decadence a run for their money.

I first read about this recipe after going saffron picking at the Cooperativa Alto piano di Navelli. Gina, head of the red gold co-operative there gave me one of her little recipe books mentioning Saffron & Baccalà Fritters. At the time I thought, hmm that’s a little bit decadent, but her recipe sat squirreling away till a Norwegian family member bought some superb Baccalà from her local co-operative and the opportunity was too good to miss. Sadly I didn’t have Gina’s recipe to hand so bastardised a similar one that I found online at Saporetipico made with tasty Scamorza. The biggest change is the water type and the amount of saffron, they advised 30 g and I think you’d need to be a millionaire to be cooking with that much!

Saffron & Baccalà Fritters Recipe

Ingredients

- 3 soaked and rinsed fillets of Baccalà (salt cod) cut into bite size pieces
- 100 g plain flour
- 20 g Fast Acting Yeast
-270 ml Carbonated Water
- 1 Packet of Saffron Navelli
- Good pinch of Salt
- Ground Nut Oil

Method

Add a packet of Navelli saffron into room temperature carbonated water and leave to stand for an hour.

Add the yeast to the water and slowly whisk into the flour and salt. When smooth, pop into the fridge and leave to stand for half an hour. It will rise, after half an hour run a fork through it to knock it back down.

In the meantime roast a red sweet pepper & chili together for 20 minutes, de-skin and mash into a little ricotta to form a paste. Make a fresh saffron mayonnaise with 1 egg yolk and 250 ml olive oil and 5 strands of saffron and a pinch of salt.

Remove your batter from the fridge and fold in your bite-size pieces of Baccalà making sure they are evenly coated.

Heat a deep frying pan or wok with a small 250 ml bottle of ground nut oil. When you can add a teaspoon of batter and it sizzles, you’ve reached the right temperature. Add the batter coated Baccalà into the oil and fry for approximately 2 minutes or until golden. Drain on kitchen paper and then serve with pepper ricotta and saffron mayonnaise.

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Sammy Dunham

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Mostaccioli Cookies

Sammy Dunham — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:55:50 +0000

Mostaccioli… delicious Italian Christmas cookies that can use up half drunk bottles of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo left over from the night before.

More moist cake than hard cookies, mostaccioli are packed with the flavours of the ancient Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, almonds, cinnamon, orange, lemon, chocolate, wine and coffee. Dating back to Roman times they were originally made with Must, the thick first press grape juice that contained seeds, stems and skins juice, that was spiced with cumin and wrapped in bay leaves, slightly different to their namesakes today. Obviously recipes vary slightly with each Nonna, Mamma, village across Southern & Central Italy. This ‘Abruzzo’ variant is courtesy of the Aunt of our friends at ItaliaSweetItalia, she teaches how to make these in their cookery classes in Vasto.

Being English, the assorted exchange of biscuits and cakes over Christmas in Italy isn’t a traditional activity but one that I’ve adored sharing in with our neighbours in Bascianella at Christmas. It got me thinking to what Christmas cookie indulgence I should share and bake with my little boy that BOTH adults and children alike would enjoy and become our Christmas tradition. Mostaccioli I think if judging by the reception by Dad, Childminder and little boy will become our family Christmas treat.

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Mostaccioli Recipe

Ingredients

500 g 00 Flour
1 Egg
150 g Soft Brown Sugar
150 g Ground Almonds
75 g Cocoa Powder
75 g Melted Butter
500 ml Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
300 g Soft Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Bicarbonate Soda
Zest 1 Unwaxed Organic Lemon
Zest from 1 Organic Orange (or two Clementines)
Half Cinnamon Stick or 1.5 teaspoons of Ground Cinammon
1.5 cups of Espresso coffee
750 g Dark Chocolate (the good quality stuff not cooking chocolate!)

Method

Combine the wine with sugar and cook on a gentle heat, stirring frequently, until it forms a light caramel syrup.
Mix the almonds with lemon and orange zest in a food processor.
Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa, cinnamon together.
Combine all dry ingredients.
Add egg and melted butter into the mix.
Add coffee and wine slowly until you have a soft dough.
Onto a floured counter add manageable amounts of your mixture. If it the dough is a little sticky roll in flour as appropriate. Cut the dough into diamonds shapes of 5 or 6 mm thick and bake on a baking sheet lined with baking powder for between 7-8 minutes.
Melt the chocolate (bain marie) style and using a skewer dip the mostaccioli one at a time and leave to dry for an hour. The chocolate helps keep them moist but you can sprinkle them with icing sugar for a immediate treat.
Stir in an airtight container

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Sammy Dunham

Armchair Advocacy for L’Aquila – The Instagram Walk

Sammy Dunham — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 10:54:38 +0000

The Abruzzo Instagram community organised a photographic walk in L’Aquila on Saturday 15 December capturing the city’s stagnancy or restoration since the 2009 earthquake, you can take your pick of the most apt description from the photos taken by viewing the Instagram Abruzzo gallery!

We spoke to the community who organised the event to remember L’Aquila. 322 photos were shared on Twitter #instawalklaquila, hopefully they will inspire others to join their growing fb community of 186 fans.

How and when did the Abruzzo Instagram group come up with the idea for the L’Aquila walk?

The idea was formed a month ago. L’Aquila is a delicate but important matter and we had quite a few in-depth discussions to ensure an event representing it would not be portrayed in a whimsical and capricious manner.

How do you intend to utilise the platform to promote and raise awareness of L’Aquila?

The photos of the day were selected and posted on Instagram and other networks with a brief commentary and opinion.

What’s been the reception and feedback from other Instagram communities in Italy?

A lot of the other igers communities in Italy have backed us up by posting and mentioning this photographic walk on their Instagram accounts and various other social mediums. Some from the neighboring towns/cities attended whilst those who live further out will supported the event with its promotion.

Are the images going to be used offline in traditional press tie ups for those who may not be fully participating yet due to age etc of social media, if so where will people be able to see them? Any other websites who will be promoting the event afterwards?

A good bond and support has grown between Shoot4change , Paesaggia d’Abruzzo, NewGusto and a lot of bloggers and travel bloggers who tweeted, posted, shared and tagged #instawalklaquila as well as our local online newspaper ZonaLocale. Everyone contributed to spreading the word! Images will be available on the various accounts @igers_abruzzo (on Instagram and Twitter), on the Instagramers Italia website.

Images and armchair advocacy can be very powerful what do you hope to achieve for L’Aquila regionally, nationally and internationally?

A person can tell you a story that you might remember or forget, but if you see a strong representative image of it that remains stamped on your memory. Our aim for the event was that the pictures we all took will remind everyone that the beauty, history, arts and culture that make up who we are lay in these buildings too and that should be part of our driving force and will to preserve and restore it. Where there is a will there is a way.

Watch the video - THIS ‘L’AQUILA: Voices 3 years after the Earthquake

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Sammy Dunham

Free Kids Ski-Pass for Roccaraso’s Uncrowded Slopes

Sammy Dunham — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:10:45 +0000

Roccaraso’s slopes are famously uncrowded even at weekends when they get a little bit more traffic with Romans and Neapolitans coming to take advantage of ski-ing and snowboarding in Abruzzo. It ‘s even listed by National Geographic in its Top 10 Mediterranean Adventures! It’s a great choice for penny pinching families, the under 12′s get a free ski-pass between the dates 7 January to 1 February and 18 March to the close of the ski-season. Cost of a ski-pass for an adult during this period , €22 per day.

I am truly rubbish at snowboarding but this great video shot at Roccaraso this year makes me want to give it another go!

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Sammy Dunham

Terra Vergine London – the Best Arrosticini I’ve Eaten?

Sammy Dunham — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 07:22:38 +0000

An Abruzzo restaurant in London, what a novelty! And what a place to spend a lunchtime or evening if you’re having withdrawal symptoms from arrosticini and chitarra for too long or constantly on the lookout for an ‘authentic’ Italian regional restaurant.

We were kindly recommended this new Italian restaurant through our Facebook page by a recent guest whose children had declared the arrosticini was better than in Abruzzo, and with such a claim we thought we had to check it out when next in London.

The decor is modern, with a nod to the region via the use of conca converted into light shades. Personally I prefer more intimate dining; I’d say it has a little too large an area to fill in these lean times or for those looking for some cosy dining, but equally optimism is never a bad thing. Look at those huge wedding banquet style restaurants back in Abruzzo that see action for duty perhaps a couple of times a year, the rest filled with room dividers!

The dishes are simple, authentic with ingredients shipped directly from mostly the Chieti province from where the owner Emanuele’s family live and run a chain of restaurants. This is not fine gastro dining, an artisan or a fancy take on slow food, but instead a presentation of Abruzzo’s most famous dishes that when the world discovers them go down a treat

We started with a plate of salami and cheeses. Portions here are Abruzzese in style and we could understand why they had been flagged-up as too large to the owner when a lot of diners in this area are size 0. Personally we gloried in it, what a change to have a large platter to dip into in the heart of Chelsea. We really enjoyed the young pecorino with pistachio. This was followed with one of our favourites Pallote Cacio e Uova (cheese and egg balls, sadly mistranslated in the menu as meatballs!) that were excellent. A simple but delicate dish but one which can blow you away when you can taste all flavours and aren’t drowning in their sauce.

Next came Anellini alla pecorara to keep our little boy occupied, which he tucked into with gusto! That is the first time I’ve seen that on an Italian restaurant in London’s menu! Full marks here too if you are looking for a child-friendly restaurant in London, the waiters were fantastic in providing entertainment as well great service to adults too.

Chitarra with fungi turned out to be fettucine but was superb, a succulent meaty mushroom bonanza, fresh black truffle grated generously at the table. My test was the Sagne and ceci (chickpeas). Personally I think it could have done with a little more heat but hey we were in the UK, it was hearty and flavoursome and quenched my desire. Yep we’re that sad when talking about our love of Abruzzo’s foods. Again portions are large so if you do just want a primo piatto for the average price of £11.50 it’s very reasonably priced.

Arrosticini… the owner has developed a new fangled way of grilling these – and I think he could actually be onto a winner. I love the smokiness of arrosticini, but must admit that I have had some in the past that sometimes have tallow stamped on them. These were succulent, juicy and gorgeous, great lamb flavour and we quickly wolfed the lot. Those children’s declaration of ‘best arrosticini’ I think we’d agree with, regardless of how dreadful that sounds. And believe me we’ve eaten an awful lot of arrosticini all over Abruzzo, but we’re always open to more suggestions!

We finished with a pancake with fresh orange, caramelised sugar and Grand Marnier, a little too wet for me but great flavours to see us on our way.

Terra Vergine Restaurant

442 King’s Road,

London SW10 0LQ

Tel: 020 7352 0491

Opening Hours:

Monday:6 pm – 11 pm
Tues to Sat:12 pm – 11 pm
Sun:12 pm – 10:30 pm

Official Website | Email | Facebook

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Sammy Dunham

A Few of My Favourite Abruzzo Things – Mike Durham

Mike Durham — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:35:39 +0000

Mike Durham, journalist, writer and teacher, who lives in London, is a frequent visitor to the Aventino Valley, Chieti Province.

What’s your association with Abruzzo?

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

My family owns a beautiful house in the Aventino Valley in the south of Abruzzo, near the Majella Mountains national park. We bought it four years ago, when I was recovering from a serious illness and wanted somewhere beautiful and tranquil to help myself get better. I’m English. I was visiting a (Canadian-born) cousin in Rome who’s an artist and paints in Abruzzo, and he said ‘Go take a tour in the mountains – you’ll feel better right away.’ It worked. We call it Casa della Meridiana (Sundial House) because it’s sunny with a stupendous view south towards a forest wilderness, and it’s a place where you can forget time. I’m back at work now, as a journalist, but we love to visit several times a year and rent the house the rest of the time.

What’s the best thing about Abruzzo?

Three concepts sum up Abruzzo for me: tranquility, closeness to nature, and warmth. And I’m not talking about the sun – I mean the warmth of the people. The friendliness and welcoming nature of the local people is the best thing about Abruzzo for me.

What’s the worst thing about Abruzzo?

Is there one? Possibly the four o’clock wake-up call to catch the 6.30am Ryanair flight back to Blighty.

What’s the most underrated thing about Abruzzo?

I think many people don’t even know it’s there, but even among those with a keen awareness of geography, the local food and wine seem to be consistently under-appreciated.

Where would be your favourite place to live in Abruzzo?

My wife thinks it would be fun to live in Pacentro, near Sulmona – lots of towers and street cafes. But I suspect there might be rather too many English incomers. I like it just where I am, thanks!

Where would you not live in Abruzzo?

I think I’d struggle in downtown Pescara, Chieti Scalo or Francavilla. Who wouldn’t? But even there, the coffee, mid-morning snacks and early evening aperitivi would be good.

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

In winter, actually. Fall out of the plane, arrive, raid the local supermarket and get the log fire going. Sleep soundly l because of the fresh mountain air and silence – until cock-crow. Wrap up warm and get in a short hike up the valley or in the hills. Visit neighbours for the gossip. Prune the olive trees (we have 15). Catch up on the village news over a drink during the passegiata, then go to Pepe’s restaurant for supper. Chill out all day Sunday. Uh-oh, it’s Sunday evening – time to head back to the rat race.

What’s your favourite Abruzzo vineyard and why?

Our local wines come from Ortona, near the coast with a hint of sea salt about them. I haven’t got round to exploring all the vineyards, but I’ve been drinking rather a lot of Pecorino (local white wine grape variety) recently.

Where’s the best place to eat? What would you do for a special occasion?

There are too many good places to eat locally to single out one on particular– and they can change. We live close to one of Italy’s main pasta towns, Fara San Martino, with pasta plants owned by Del Verde, De Cecco and Da Cocco- they use local spring water because it’s so pure. So we often eat in a small trattoria in the town, La Valletta. For a night out we go to Agriturismo l’Uliveto near Palombaro, and for a really special occasion the Santa Chiara at Guardiagrele. For fish delights you can’t beat the largely undiscovered coastal restaurants where the fish are caught from traditional trabocci –wooden fishing stations- and appear on your plate almost immediately.

What’s your favourite view in Abruzzo?

The vista from my own terrazza of course – you can see about ten miles in each direction up and down the valley, with the sun rising across the valley over a mysterious chalk outcrop called La Morgia (it’s supposed to have been a kind of Stonehenge for our ancestors, thousands of years ago.) It’s a divine view to wake up to on a summer morning.

What would be your favourite Abruzzo dish?

I like the cheese balls covered in tomato ragu…..nobody’s ever properly explained what they’re called [sic Cacio e Uovo]. My favourite dish would be a large one liberally covered with Abruzzo salamis, sausages and cheese, and those cheese balls. We’ve had a stonking zuppa di pesce down by the sea, too.

Do you have a favourite sagra?

My favourite festa will forever be the first I went to, the summer street party in the nearby village of Fonterossi – huge, well-attended and it went on for three days. It didn’t happen last year for some reason and I missed it. I hope it comes back – the arrosticini kitchen alone is a sight to behold.

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

Walking, of course. Why else did they put the Majella Mountains there? And the unspoilt, unfrequented skiing areas around Roccaraso, that are one of Abruzzo’s best kept secrets.

What’s your favourite Abruzzo village and why?

I’m fond of a little village called Colledimacine, mainly because it has a lovely little piazza, a pleasantly unimposing civic tower, and it’s a long way from anywhere. At the other end of the village is a bar with two hammocks under the trees. It’s a rather sad place too because almost everybody has left, but there are always a few old men hanging around outside the piazza café and they enjoy a chat. There’s a fountain that’s supposed to run with wine once every ten years – sadly that’s turned out to be a myth. But there are so many villages like this.

Have you a favourite Abruzzo walk?

Up the San Martino gorge from Fara towards the high peaks of the Majella and the top of Monte Amaro. It’s a bit of a slog but cool in the evenings, and you always see a few buzzards and eagles. It’s completely silent and spooky. I’ve never got beyond the third spring, but one day I’ll go to the top. If you want a view, go trek in the high mountains near Passo Lanciano.

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

Get connected – and I don’t mean the internet or a phone line. The local people have so many connections and their own networks of friends, relatives, jobs and social strata going back generations, and they can find anything out or get anything done. Get a local fixer. Cultivate friends. Learn some Italian.

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

I’m told the snake festival at Cocullo is a must-see, but I’ve yet to go. Procession, pagan rites, a gilding of religious devotion, wild animals, eating and drinking – what’s not to like? It sounds like it has it all.

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

I’ve started The Abruzzo Trilogy by Ignazio Silone, but it’s going to be a long time before I reach the last page. It’s a great read – peasant life and the struggle between fascism and communism in the Abruzzo mountains. I don’t know of any other accessible book that tackles Abruzzo, so I’d stick to the Rough Guide to Italy instead for now.

What attitude best sums up the Abruzzesi?

Like a mountain goat. Proud, adaptable, patient, hard-working, tolerant and even-tempered. Actually mountain goats aren’t a bit like that – but I still think of the Abruzzesi people as something like hardy mountain goats all the same.

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

Perry Como was from Palena, and Madonna’s family came from the Sulmona area. There is an American writer called John Fante who was born in Torricella Peligna. Almost everywhere in Chieti province has some connection with the Italian writer Gabrielle d’Annunzio. I’ve noticed that almost every village has a monument to its own ‘celebrities’ – village writers, poets and artists.

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

A stone from the Majella mountains that I keep on my desk, and a bottle of olive oil from my garden.

Mike’s Olive Oil Abruzzo to Stroud Green is available to buy!

The light green bottle is Casa della Meridiana garden crop, November 2011, from last year’s harvest. Even though it’s a few months old, this extra virgin oil seems to have improved with age, with a distinct fresh herby aroma and a delicate, grassy, mildly peppery taste. Perhaps because of the cold winter, the oil has been slow to clear, but that only seems to add to its personality. This is a favourite with friends, relations and customers. Perfect for dressings, dipping and bruschetta.

The dark green bottles are this year’s harvest, but because of the poor crop (50 per cent of normal) and scarcity of oil, and absolutely terrible November weather, this oil is our neighbour’s 2012 harvest and not direct from the Casa della Meridiana garden. (Our own oil is still stored at the frantoio, and we still haven’t tasted it.) We are calling this ‘Oil from the Aventino Valley’ – it’s from the same soil, trees and climate, harvested the same way, and extracted at a more modern mill. This oil is an intense green, with fresh, slightly bitter aroma, and a robust no-nonsense flavour, neither too peppery nor too mild, distinctive and not over-delicate. Best for baking, on meat or for mixing into mash.
250 ml bottle £5.50 2012 harvest, £4.95 2011 harvest

Shipping - 1 bottle – UK £3.45, EU £6.20, Rest of World £9.95 or collect on a Sunday from Stroud Green Market

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Mike Durham

Freelance Journalist at Casa Della Meridiana

Zucchini Polenta Cakes

Sammy Dunham — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 08:00:27 +0000

The close of autumn with fires lit, kindling neatly stacked, brings a yearning for a smoky mellow yellow la pizza di mais or corn bread that has been cooked in the embers of a fire. It’s the bread which if it could sing would have to be Macy Gray. I think sitting in front of the sweetest smelling fire as it slowly cooks this with a large glass of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a perfect way to get ready for a night when the temperatures dip below 0.

There’s a new Abruzzo blog terre dei trabocchi which is good for inspiring traditional Abruzzese recipes. Last week they posted Signora Concetta getting busy preparing traditional Abruzzo la pizza di mais (cornbread) and I sat salivating as they talked about serving with one of my winter green favourites fuje or fijou (sauted savoy cabbage in white wine with garlic and peperoncini).

Unfortunately cooked in an oven this corn bread just doesn’t have the same resonance with me, so as I am not currently in front of our little fireplace, I’ve adapted Signora Concetta’s recipe and used it to disguise some end of season grilled courgettes for my favourite two boys, one with very little fingers to help mop up a sweet rosemary lentil & roasted chestnut stew.

Zucchini Polenta Cakes

150 g maize flour (corn-meal)

35 gm plain flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

Good glug of olive oil

Boiling water

Salt to taste

1 courgette cut in half and thinly sliced

Fresh rosemary

Add the thinly sliced courgette, rosemary, salt & pepper and a sprinkle of olive oil and roast in an oven at 200C till squidgy. Take out and turn oven up to 220C.

In the meantime mix your dry ingredients together with ground salt and add your generous glug of olive oil and egg and beat into the mixture. Add the water, mix together and let stand, you should have a soft dropping dough. Fold in the courgettes and add to well greased muffin tins – the mixture should make 6. Give the top of the cakes a brush with olive oil for extra flavour.

Allow to cook for no more than 15 minutes, start checking at 12 minutes if you have a fan assisted oven.

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Sammy Dunham

Collelongo & the Werewolves that Washed in its Fountain

Annette Rose-Shapiro — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:44:05 +0000

My grandfather, Luigi Carmine Guanciale left Collelongo the province of L’Aquila Italy when he was 17, and arrived in the US on March 13, 1905 my birthday.

My grandfather’s stories were amazing, and we were so lucky to have him and my grandmother living with us. We had a two-family house and they lived upstairs. Our favourite were probably the werewolf stories. He said he’d seen them many times. Once he and his brothers were walking home from a party through the woods, and they saw two werewolves ahead of them. They hid behind trees so they could spy on the werewolves, who were wearing men’s clothing and talking to each other. The werewolves had to go to the village fountain too to wash their faces before going out for the night!

Another story was how to keep the witches away, to do this you needed to hang a rabbit pelt on your front door. If a witch came by one night, she had to count all the hairs, and by the time she finished, it would be morning and she’d have to leave.

He also had a great fondness for snakes, the area of Abruzzo is famous for serpari – snake charmers – like the ones you see in Cocullo. All over Collelongo and the towns around it, many things are named for the snake goddess Angitia, worshipped by the Marsicani, the indigenous people of that area. My grandfather could find a snake in five minutes if we went to a park or in the country, and he told us to not be afraid of them.

No one in our family had ever gone to Italy, and my grandparents never had to opportunity to go home – WWI, WWII, the Great Depression, four kids – it was impossible to afford it. Many years later, I was working as a freelance graphic designer at Simon & Schuster, and one of the other designers, mentioned that she had just come back from living in L’Aquila for three years. Her parents came from a small town outside L’Aquila, but met in the US and married. The decided to move back and their three kids went with them, she had met a guy there and married, and they moved back to NYC.

I started to think about how I could contact my relatives there. My grandfather had never mentioned the name Collelongo, but he had talked about L’Aquila. So I asked Maria the designer to help me write a letter in Italian, and I included some photos. She mailed it to her older sister Anna who had also married someone from the area and stayed in L’Aquila. My grandfather’s last name was Guanciale (yes like the pig cheek bacon), which is not very common, so Anna started by calling the first Guanciale she found in the phone book. This person said, “yes, I know who her family is, but you should call Clelio Guanciale, who is the mayor of Collelongo.” Anna called Clelio and they figured it out – Clelio’s grandfather and mine were first cousins.

About a month later, I received a 10 page letter from Clelio, full of photos of our family and the town. It was incredible. My mother started crying when I showed her the letter. So I made arrangements to go there with my husband Robert and I started studying Italian with someone from my neighborhood (I live in one of the major Italian neighborhoods in Brooklyn). I only had 10 days of vacation then, but we flew to Rome, rented a car and drove to Avezzano, where Clelio lives. He’s a doctor, but he still had two terms as mayor of Collelongo, where he was born. It really was an incredible trip, meeting more and more Guanciale cousins. Robert and I were walking down the street in Collelongo one afternoon, and I heard someone calling “Signora Guanciale.” Robert turned around and said, “Annette, that guy looks exactly like your brother Bob!” It turned out that he was my cousin Angelo, and his grandfather and mine were brothers. We also met many cousins on the side of my grandfather’s mother, whose name was Bellmaggio. So in Collelongo, which has about 1,200 people, I have about 50 or more cousins.

The commune is a great place to find information about relatives if you know the town they came from. I don’t know the modern system, but in my grandfather’s time, births and deaths were recorded in books by year. And they have a wealth of information – parents’ names, siblings names, address, how much land they owned, name of the midwife, etc. I was extremely lucky because the first time I went there, Clelio was still the mayor. He showed me two huge leather-bound books that he had restored in Florence. They were records of every family in town, and they were records of the Guanciale family back to 1257! The first Guanciale, who spelled the name Guangiale, was from Le Marche. Funny coincidence since that’s where my house is now. It listed every family, names of parents and siblings, how much land they owned, types of animals and how many, and just about every detail you could imagine.

Another cousin, Francesco Bellmaggio, was a university history professor, and he made a family tree going back to that time that’s a work of art. So I was able to learn a lot about the family. My cousin Angelo also found a big box of photos that my grandfather had sent to his family over the years from the US – marriage photo, photos of all the children.

I try to visit every year when we go to our house in Le Marche. It’s about a three-hour drive. One of the best trips was going with my mother in 1995. My grandfather came to the US (and settled in Syracuse, NY) with one of his brothers. The brother also married a woman he met in Syracuse and had two sons. One of them, Anthony, came on the trip with his wife. Clelio rented a small house for us in Collelongo, and when we drove in from Rome, my mother and her cousin burst into tears when we saw the Collelongo sign! It was a magical trip. My mother and her cousin were so happy and the cousins took turns having us over for lunch and dinner. We saw the sites of my grandfather’s stories, about mushroom hunting or where he saw werewolves every full moon, or how to turn witches away from your home.

We were driving around with Angelo one Sunday, and drove up one of the mountains, San Elia, to a rifugio. A big group of his friends were there, all retired school teachers like him. They had been out gathering these mushrooms. When I told them that my grandfather had told me about this, they all started crying, so happy that I knew the old stories. Of course, this was an occasion to bring out a bottle of wine, at 11:00am! We went back into town to a bar and sat outside drinking prosecco and later ordered espresso. They all watched me carefully when I started to drink it, and one said, “She doesn’t take sugar! Just like all of us in Collelongo!” Again, more tears and celebration.

When we visit we stay at Locanda Torre del Parco. This is a beautiful little hotel with six rooms and an excellent restaurant in a fortress built that was in the 10th century. The first time, the moon was full. I went up to the roof terrace at night, which overlooked the town fountain where my grandfather said the werewolves came to wash their faces before they went out for the night!

Further Reading Collelongo Official Comune Website

Author information

Annette Rose-Shapiro

Managing Editor at ARTnews

Annette lives in Brooklyn, NYC and is the Managing Editor of ARTnews. Her maternal grandfather came from Collelengo (AQ) Abruzzo.

Fuori dai sentieri battuti, Off the Beaten Track in Abruzzo

Helen Free — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:52:13 +0000

Do the names Macdonell, Atkinson and Canziani mean anything to you? For those of us who crave material written in English about our beloved Abruzzo, these pioneers are familiar and revered. Journeying rough roads to explore, write and paint, these foreign women studied landscape, people and traditions providing us with a precious collection of early 20th century life in Abruzzo. In the Abruzzi author Anne Macdonell and watercolourist Amy Atkinson arrived together in 1907. Estella Canziani brought her father along on her trip “in the autumn before the great war” though she didn’t publish Through the Apennines and the Lands of the Abruzzi until 1928.

An important exhibition titled Foreign Travellers in Abruzzo in the 20th Century examines the artistic and literary eye of these women who were invited to witness intimate family life and village labour and customs of people from Campotosto to Sulmona.

Katia Di Simone and Piero Moscone co-founded Culture Tracks, a nearly decade old foundation that creates programs and exhibits which illustrate how the Abruzzese people and landscape have profoundly inspired foreign artists. They are the curators of the exhibition which runs through 27 October at Fondazione Pescarabruzzo, Corso Umberto 1,No.83, Pescara, 65122. Admission is free.

I met Katia and Piero last June in Pescara to discuss Culture Tracks’ mission and past exhibits-Kristian Zahrtmann and M.C. Escher. They remain passionate in their efforts to educate Europeans and others- Abruzzese included- as to the significant role Abruzzo has played on artistic and literary achievement.

Katia and Piero have graciously agreed to answer some questions now that the show has opened and the long months of preparation are behind them.

Helen: What were some of the challenges you experienced putting this exhibition together?

Katia: One of our greatest challenges was to get local administrators to understand the importance of our “cultural traces” and to realize our exhibitions are tools that can develop a communities’ interest in conserving their heritage. Fortunately, Pescarabruzzo Foundation and its President Nicola Mattoscio, which funded the exhibition, have always shown great sensitivity and support for our research.

Also, it was difficult to obtain more biographical information especially on the life of Amy Atkinson and Anne McDonell. These women artists are not well known, yet as you said rightly, they provide us with ‘a precious collection of early 20th century life in Abruzzo.’

Helen: What did you discover in terms of the artistic lens of these women visitors? As Abruzzese yourselves, do you feel that the outsiders’ view has been a fair one?

Piero: Firstly, it is obvious that these foreign women were attentive to details not only geographically, anthropologically or historically, but they seemed connected with the daily lives of the people. These women spontaneously observed the dressing style, the objects used in everyday life, food, family habits, and the way children were raised.

Estella Canziani, in particular, has the extraordinary sensitivity of an artist-painter, whose attention to the effects of light were reflected in the depth and colours in her work. Her brush, eager for ideas, captured on the canvas the ancient costumes of female mountain villagers. For the first time, lace, ribbons and shawls were documented in colour.

The artists have approached the peasant culture of Abruzzo with extreme delicacy, discretion, curiosity, and admiration, and we, as Abruzzese, think their view has been a respectful one.

Helen: What is your favorite piece in the exhibition and why do you like it?

Piero: My favorite painting is “The Shepherd Piper” by Estella Canziani and I like this passage by Anne Mcdonell who writes: “The shepherds of the Abruzzi are nearly as primitive as the shepherds of Thibet”.

The shepherd is a figure that I can identify with because he is rooted in the history and culture of Abruzzo. He was part of the landscape of the mountains and people respected his place there. He knows the land intimately- his land that is also my land. I also love his relationship with the dogs that guide the flock. On another level he is a figure in danger of extinction. A shepherd’s life involves a lot of sacrifices.

Katia: I am fond of the “Bride in Old Costume” by Estella Canziani. Here is what she writes to accompany the painting: “All material is made in the village, and for other occasions there is an herb which will dye the skirts green in the cauldron. The old wedding dress, although more gorgeous in colour, is markedly different from the costumes in other parts of the Abruzzi.” The colors of this old dress seem to come from exotic countries. It fascinates me because it is very far from what we imagine today as a classic white wedding dress but that dress has been part of local tradition in Scanno for a long time. Actually, these days brides don’t want to wear it for the wedding (the last woman who got married with it was 15 years ago), but every year on the 14th of August a procession called the Catenaccio takes place in Scanno and couples dress in traditional wedding costumes.

Helen: What’s next for Culture Tracks?

Katia and Piero: Our association will continue to focus our research on the foreign travellers who visited and were inspired by our region. Our principal goal right now is to get back to work on our project which will create a cultural route following M.C. Escher’s footsteps in Abruzzo. Stay tuned.

Further Reading

The Culture Tracks website

Culture Tracks will be giving an early evening presentation on the secret attraction of Abruzzo to artists at Abruzzo’s 1st Food and Travel Blogging Conference - Let’s Blog Abruzzo, June1-2 2103.

Author information

Helen Free

Helen Free earned her M.A. in English at Georgetown University and has taught literature and writing for 29 years in Washington, DC for both Trinity University and Gonzaga College High School. She has written forVoce Italiana and has appeared on the Diane Rehm Show. She is the co-founder of ‘Let’s Blog Abruzzo‘, Abruzzo’s 1st Food & Travel Bloggers Weekend to be held in June 2013 and the creative writing workshops, Italy in Other Words. Her personal blog is Hang on to the Vine.

The Olive Leaf Tea that Keeps Giving

Sammy Dunham — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 06:00:45 +0000

As a self-confessed olive fiend, I was delighted to hear that my favourite gnarled tree was also now gifting us with a certified Organic Olive Leaf Tea courtesy of the olive groves in Abruzzo’s Chieti province.

The groves are situated on the archaeological site Cluviae, once home to Abruzzo’s Italic Adriatic tribe the Sanitti, who liked to live in the valleys carved out by mountain rivers, and the trees still enjoy these pure waters that run from the Apennines. The breezes from those same mountains ensure that the trees remain free from flies and pests, or perhaps that is the magic of the Majella, Abruzzo’s second largest mountain which sustains 45% of Italy’s wildlife and is named after the pagan goddess Maja, aptly the mother of crops.

A Nonna Remedy that Really Works

The tender olive leaves are hand-picked by local ladies once the dew has dried and then slow-dried in ovens. This protects the anti-bacterial polyphenols, a mixture of hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein…if like me you have no idea what these are, they’re the combined substances which protect the trees from disease and the bitterness that we draw out when olives are cured. A wealth of qualities have been assigned to this mix over the years but two I thought particularly useful after reading the 2011 scientific report by the European Food Safety Authority, were that it can maintain blood pressure & cholesterol and help boost the body’s defences when fighting viruses, particularly useful in the coming winter! Add to this that you are cutting down on food & water miles, combined with twice as much antioxidants and vitamin C than green tea, this could sway a lot of green tea lovers over to Olive Leaf tea methinks.

Refreshing & Sustaining on Pocket & the Local Economy

Considering that the creators of this particular tea, Mirabilia, is owned by an artist and interior designer, that their tea is beautifully packaged comes as no surprise; even better to know that the packaging is produced in Abruzzo too: take 2 pinches of the dried leaf shards infuse in boiling water for 5 minutes to create a cup of tea the shade of golden honey. Its taste reminded me of Japanese bancha tea, slightly woody but without its salty bitterness, in fact it wasn’t at all bitter which I was a little surprised about, bearing in mind what the leaves are made from, just incredibly refreshing with a very muffled, but clean olive high note. A small cup of this, served in-between courses would be wonderful palate cleaner especially if you have fickle guests for dinner that demand no caffeine or tannin to discolour their whiter than white smile!

For those frugal like me you’ll be pleased to hear that my little experiment in seeing if I could get a second draw from Olive Leaf tea proved successful, the leaves could be used again and produced another cup not quite so strong but perfectly acceptable.

Preserving Tradition over Open Cast Mining

I’d definitely recommend the tea, no matter that Mirabilia is a small, cottage tea company they’ve already been picked up by New York Tea House Thomas Harney and Whittards of Chelsea who will be stocking original versions of the tea and with added bay leaf and wild mint. Sun-dried Lemon, fennel and pomegranate will be for sale too shortly. For those whose choices are governed by sustainability a cup of olive leaf means not only preserving your own health but the health of olive groves in an area of outstanding beauty in Abruzzo. Rather than selling to the open-cast mining companies, locals will preserve the traditions of their grandmothers in keeping and utilising all parts of the Olive tree.

Reader Offer 10% Off

Life in Abruzzo believes in supporting and promoting sustainable companies, we’ve spoken to Mirabilia and to help promote this fantastic Abruzzese tea to our readers there is a 10% discount if you buy online by the 1st December direct from the website using the code LIA10.

Win 1 Week’s Holiday in the Luxury Il Fienile worth €2500

Tweet a photo of you with the tea to Mirabilia and you’ll be entered into their prize draw to win 1 week’s accommodation in their luxury barn, Il Fienile, complete with pool that sleeps 6 and is 5 km from Casoli.

Where to buy the tea & enter the prize draw:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

For believers: “The fruit thereof shall be for meat and the leaf thereof for medicine” : Ezekiel 47:12

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Sammy Dunham

Guardiagrele Torrone – A Storyteller’s Sweetmeat

Sammy Dunham — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 06:00:16 +0000

Not many Abruzzo sweets can boast being the favourite of Ignazio Silone, the region’s most famous international author acclaimed for his Abruzzo Trilogy. This Guardiagrele hard-baked torrone was created by pasticceria genius Giuseppe Palmerio after a visit to Naples in 1884, combining toasted almonds, cinnamon and glacé fruit. Silone shared his sweet tooth indulgence frequently amongst his friends in Rome, it made me think of panforte others in the know torroni campani.

I like to think of him writing as he rubbed the beautiful unchanged bright tricolor wrappers between his fingers and bit down onto the rich dark crunchy brittle, pondering this nation of many, its rich but challenging social history, the close-knit family as a substitution for state. How many changes would he notice below the surface in the 40+ years since his death in 1978.

Giuseppe’s shop, Pasticceria Palmerio remains open, another one of those Abruzzo step back in time moments as you view its interior and read Gabriele d’Annunzio poetry on its walls. It’s worth a visit if you’re in Guadriagele, a sweetie to accompany your espresso, a taste and texture a million miles away from the more famous soft chocolate torrones of L’Aquila. You may want to try his famous other peaked creation, the custard pastry “l’e tre cime o sise delle monache”, so named (depending who you believe) on the three mountains that surround Guardiagrele or the 3 breasts from the Poor Clares as they stuffed material under their habits to disguise their feminine detractors.

Wordplay – The word ‘torrone’ comes from the latin ‘torreo’ meaning to toast.

Address: Pasticceria Palmerio, Via Roma, 70 Guardiagrele, Chieti Tel: 0871 82727

Photography by Lucciola.me

Author information

Sammy Dunham

Real Men Blowdry – An Arrosticini Classic

Sammy Dunham — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 07:24:45 +0000

Skewer me down or should that be spiedini, my summer was spent in finding the perfect arrosticini from Abruzzo to London, juicy succulent tender mouthfuls of grilled castrato, the meat obviously not the ball-less singer!

I’ve seen quite a few ways outside the traditional fornacella to cook arrosticini over the summer, from a donor kebab like machine which you stick in the skewers horizontally to grill to an electric grill that turns the skewers and blows what seems a fragrance of barbecue coal.

I think for sheer effort the traditional fornacella and a certain Signor at Roccamontepiano’s sagra wins hands down, but for tender tastiness I am actually going to award Terra Vergine, London’s first and only Abruzzese restaurant, meat sourced from Abruzzo, a prize for the most amazing arrosticini. Their new fangled kebab like machine may be far from traditional and it’s often a fact that it’s difficult to improve on classic but I’d say they’ve done it.

Photography ©Lucciola.me

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Sammy Dunham

Sod the Geraniums Colour Me Peperoncini & Dulce

Sammy Dunham — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 06:00:54 +0000

No matter how much I appreciate the blast of softened colour that geraniums force into a harsh Abruzzo summer white light, I love even more the swags of wizened peperoncini and dulce peppers toasting in the sun above doors, their introduction to Autumn skins wrinkling up to create a textural dream.

My neighbour Gilda’s have been drying for at least 10 days and I enviously looked today as I prepared perhaps the only time in the year to think about getting acquainted with a needle and thread to begin infilare. Stringing those chilli peppers together to sun dry is a must-do especially as, being a relatively new Mum, if you want spicy food the only way you’re going to get it is to add a teaspoonful into your own dinner from that precious jar of peperoncini oil that is so much tastier when home-made.

I haven’t ever experimented with the bull horn dulce also known as Corno di Toro, next year perhaps! Gilda’s gorgeous sounding dulce pepper tips were to add one into your oil when making French Fries and crumble into a jar of sardines and leave overnight…

Photography © Lucciola.me

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Sammy Dunham

Dry Shrivelled & Bewildered

Sammy Dunham — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 12:48:06 +0000

Dry, Shrivelled and Bewildered hmm that’s the finale to the tomato crop this year, as sung in my head by our neighbours anyway. The tomato canes have all been packed up, except these with their majestic vine vista onto the Corno Grande, though with the amount on the dry dusty floor I am guessing they’re not going anywhere soon. To my novice’s eye they still look bursting with flavour but they’re hardly juice busters, instead rather shrivelled, even the boars seemingly knowing to avoid them!

I’ve seen just one bubbling cauldron of tomatoes this year in the village, and that was a collective effort for the Ferragosto village social club picnic sugo. This is the first time in eight years I’ve witnessed my neighbours buying tomatoes, an unhappy role reversal as it’s normally me, with my terrace of dysfunctional flowers only, that has to run when the mobile veggie van honks its cheery return to Bascianella… I am not sure where he is buying them from… If it’s an arid 40ºC daily in Abruzzo I can’t imagine what it’s like further south in tomatoland. I guess those super-size tomato farms will be operating no matter what, and enjoying the profits from this long hard hot summer with their cans of tomatoes and jars of passata bottlers. I am just hoping that, for those like me for whom tomatoes are our sacred desert island “must have”, the price range won’t be too silly.

The best tomatoes so far this year…? some roasted cherry tomatoes with a handful of rock salt, rosemary and olive oil courtesy of a lunch at La Grande Querica squashed onto some crostoso (crusty bread) – bliss!

Photography © Lucciola.me

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Sammy Dunham

Hermitage of San Bartolomeo – On the Beatified Track to Sanity

Sammy Dunham — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 06:45:01 +0000

Abruzzo’s most famous rock face hermitage, dedicated to San Bartolomeo in Legio and just outside the town of Roccamorice, is a wonder. We decided to do the 45 minute hike to walk off our traditional fat ferragosto feast after being put off on our last attempt bleak mid-winter… hermits, monks and pilgrims had a lot more icy tenacity in days gone by than we do, even, with our high tech walking boots!

St Bartholomew, for those that don’t know (we didn’t), is famous in the Catholic Church as a miracle worker protecting and curing convulsions, headaches, paralysis and mental health problems. He’s normally depicted with a knife as, according to who you believe, he was flayed and crucified upside down in Armenia where he’d gone to preach from Syria; others say he was beheaded, perhaps that’s why he’s the patron saint of butchers and tanners.

We followed signposts up from one of my very favourite Abruzzo mountain towns, Roccamorice in Pescara province, which takes you up a wide mule track; this is a bit rough in places and you can park either just before this track or there are a couple of spots off the side depending on how far you are comfortable driving. The appropriate “C1 Majella Walk” signposts are easy to spot.

As Noel from AboutAbruzzo said in his post, the flora & fauna make this an incredible, mostly shaded walk. There is one stretch in which you stride through a giant fern field, without shade but which is somehow incredibly cooling, perhaps that is why it seemed a congregation of humming bird moths accompanied us along the path, I counted 5 butterfly varieties along the way with numerous birds of prey utilising the mountain air currents for an easy dinner. Silver blue eryngiums lined our walk and it would be wonderful to undertake it in May with Abruzzo’s more baroque flowers as company.

The vistas up to Blockhaus, the abundant wildflower meadows and pastures of the Valle di San Bartolomeo, known also as the Valley of the Holy Spirit, and in the distance the Gran Sasso Range all combine for perhaps one of Abruzzo’s most inspiring easier walks. It’s a family favourite judging by the numbers of multi-generation families making their sacred pilgrimage. We managed with an 11 month old baby in a carrier and our mad spaniel. It was funny along the path to hear an American Italian couple being escorted by their Abruzzesi cousins to see this Abruzzo rock wonder; they may not have had much Italian but they certainly could ask for just a 2 minute rest please!

You descend down into the 600 metres above sea level hermitage using the ‘Holy Ladder’, a vertical 26-step carved stone staircase that apparently was previously exited by genuflection. That’s one for the more flexible and devout pilgrims I’d say these days, I didn’t see any on the day we visited exiting semi-prostrated though some were a bit bent over from heat exhaustion. At the bottom of the staircase you feel as if you’ve been caught serenely between rock lips and the bench donated by a Canadian lady, it is really rather lovely to catch your breath before entering the three room little church itself.

There’s a lovely Medieval fresco above the wooden door that dates back to the time of the Abruzzese Pope, Celestino V, who was a hermit here between 1274-1274 and rebuilt the church in the late C13th before he rejected and resigned his pontiff as a protest of the corruption in the church in Rome at the time. The church itself is wonderful, dimly lit, small, simple with a lovely meditative quality. It’s easy to understand why it’s said the followers of Celestine and their paths of silence found this a spiritually awakening place. For believers there is a holy restorative spring on the left with a small ladle to drink from, a simple altar and a wooden statue of San Bartolomeo with a book to sign and make offerings as you wish.

San Bartolomeo is taken by procession down to Roccamorice after an early mass on the 25 August in early celebration of his Saint Day for the town’s 3-day festa. He remains temporarily in-situ until September 9 when there is a procession back to the hermitage.

Official Italian Name - L’eremo di San Bartolomeo

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Sammy Dunham

Blackberry & Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Granita

Sammy Dunham — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 07:00:24 +0000

Blackberries, arhhh such an easy catapult back to childhood, those fat juicy blackberries being such easy low-level pickings for any age at any time, their succulent sweetness worth any scratches, post sticky finger syndrome or lingering tell tale stains on white t-shirts.

This year the brambles are laden just under the Corno Grande in Abruzzo, it’s a bit of a surprise when it’s been so dry, too dry for even my neighbours’ tomato crop, barely a caldron’s worth of sugo was made this year… maybe we should predict rocket 2012 prices for the jars of the stuff in the shops!

To offset such a gloom here’s a juicy blackberry recipe for adults and those that enjoy Montepulciano d’Abruzzo fresca… whether you are feeling the heat financially in an austere Italy and world or a double whammy of that and temperatures in their late 30Cs that make you want to do anything but cook, this granita is just the perfect antidote! It’s a variation on Vanessa Pruett’s Merlot one but with such a fruity wine as Montepulciano d’Abruzzo I’ve substituted divine Millefiori local Abruzzo honey in place of sugar and added some orange zest.

Blackberry & Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Granita Recipe

Ingredients

600 g Freshly Picked Blackberries

180 ml Water

120 g Honey

120 ml Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

Juice from 1/2 Freshly Squeezed Lemon

Zest from ½ orange

1/2 Cinnamon Stick

Method

Wash thoroughly blackberries in cold water for 10 minutes
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; let stand and seep for 15 minutes.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve over a bowl ensuring that no pips enter your mixture and stir in the liquid that the blackberry mixture was steeped in. If you’d like your granita really fruity rub through the sieve more of the blackberries themselves (I used half in mine).
Pour the mixture into a square glass or ceramic baking dish. Cover and freeze until partially frozen (about 2 hours). Scrape the mixture with a fork, crushing any lumps. Freeze for 3 hours or until completely frozen, scraping with a fork every hour. Remove from freezer; scrape mixture with a fork until fluffy.

Footnote – If you don’t manage to eat all of this do be aware that the notes from the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo fade the longer this remains in the freezer!

Photography © Lucciola.me

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Sammy Dunham

Sfogliatelle – The Pastry Beyond Time

Sammy Dunham — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 23:22:21 +0000

How do you describe sfogliatelle beyond perhaps as one of Abruzzo’s and Southern Italy’s favourite indulgences?

The time that goes into making these gorgeous pastries is justified by the eternal lip-smacking sensation at mere mention of them, looking to your fingertips as you recall the licking and rubbing of your fingers when finishing one. Sfogliatelle are named after folio, the precious pieces of paper in antiquity and when multi-layered like any good rare book their inner sweetmeat provides a citrus cream richness that works on any mezzogiorno high summer day, as well as a winter as perhaps for a decadent comfort treat.

The recipe below and step-by-step photos are from Le Virtu’s Chef Joe Cicala is the original but do expect to bump into variations including savoury and even chocolate or jam and ricotta variations… A day out to make pastries is a little decadent but oh what a pastry result.

Make a well with 360 g plain flour and a teaspoon of salt. Pour in 180 ml cup of water.

Mix with hands gradually incorporating the flour until a rough dough forms.

Knead dough for 10 minutes until all the flour is incorporated. (it will seem a little drier than normal pasta).

Form the dough into a ball and refrigerate for 2 hours (wrapped in plastic).

Remove from fridge and press the dough with hands to form a thick pancake.

Pass through the pasta roller continuously on the widest setting to knead the dough. Fold in half every 3rd pass. This will knead the dough and develop the gluten. You are looking for a silky smooth dough. It may take up to 20 minutes of kneading.

Form smooth dough into a ball and refrigerate for an additional hour.

Combine 110 g lard with 120 g of butter.

Beat until light and fluffy.

Meanwhile, bring 240 ml water and a 50 g sugar to a boil.

Add 80g of semolina to the sugar/water mixture and cook as if it were polenta.

While the semolina cooks on low pass 380 g of sheep’s milk ricotta through a fine mesh sieve.

Add the ricotta to the semolina mixture and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and add 2 large eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, and the zest of 2 oranges.

Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon until there are no lumps. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Remove pasta from fridge and cut into 3rds. Pass each 3rd through the pasta roller ending at the thinnest setting.

Cut dough into 1 foot sections and brush liberally with lard/butter mixture.

Start rolling one section of pasta up into a cylinder shape. Place on top of another section and roll again. Repeat this until you have about 5 cm diameter cylinder.

Trim the edges and wrap in plastic. Place in freezer until lightly frozen but still pliable.

Remove from freezer and slice into 12mm inch discs

Take each disc and start working from the middle outward. Spinning it in your hand push the middle out to form a cone.

This is what you are looking for.

Stuff with 1 teaspoon of the ricotta/semolina stuffing.

Seal the edge.

Lay the sfogliatelle on greased silicone baking paper and brush liberally with the remaining lard/butter mixture. Bake in an oven at 200 C until golden brown.

Remove from oven. Let cool. Sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy!

Author information

Sammy Dunham

PAESI, PASTORI e VIANDANTI – Uffizi Art Exhibition SS di Sessanio

Sammy Dunham — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 18:52:48 +0000

This second exhibition of paintings and ancient sculpture from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence to be held in Santo Stefano di Sessanio is both a delight and enlightening.

Entitled “Villages, Shepherds and Wanderers”, the roughly 30 artworks, thematically chosen from the vast holdings of the Uffizi, brilliantly play into the setting of Santo Stefano di Sessanio as they represent the myth and reality of country life with a surprisingly thought-provoking mixture of ancient Roman sculpture and seventeenth century painting.

The delight derives from the artworks themselves as well as their settings. The pieces, all beautifully restored and properly lit, appear like jewels to the entering visitor. The majority of works are displayed in a purposefully designed pavillion in the Municipal Hall which creates the sensation of being in the Salone of an eighteenth century Villa. However, Santo Stefano itself is also woven into the show with the placement of a number of paintings in two historic structures within the village that the visitors “wander” to discover.

The show includes a variety of famed Northern European as well as Italian Baroque painters, all working within the then-developing genres of representation of “place”, either real or imagined. Among the Northerners, all of whom lived in Italy and Rome and were inspired to record it, there are works by the likes of Il Bamboccio, with his views of life in the roman countryside, Claude Lorrain, Van Swanevelt, Moucheron, and Gaspard Dughet.

The Italians are represented by Salvator Rosa, Guercino, Valentini and Filippo Napoletano, among others. As this partial list makes clear, these are artists of the highest quality, an assertion born out by the works in the show. Admittedly due to the subject matter and relatively small size of most of these canvases, they are often overlooked in the large museums in favor of the larger or more famous pieces. But this is precisely the advantage to such a show as this in Santo Stefano, fewer pieces of similar genre not overwhelmed by the must-see masterpieces nor the sea of tourists crowding in. Rather a quiet, unencumbered setting where the visitor can get close-up to discover normally overlooked details and unforeseen connections between works that would otherwise have never been made.

So as a consequence of delight comes enlightenment. Certainly one of the most interesting surprises of this exhibition is the juxtaposition of Baroque paintings and Ancient Roman reliefs. The old saying, “Napoleon’s armies travelled at the same speed as Julius Caesar’s”, reminds us that life in Europe from antiquity to the Industrial Revolution had not changed much. And this goes particularly for life in the country, as these pieces makes clear. Reliefs such as: A shepherd resting; the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum; botteghe scenes of cloth goods being sold in a shop; are all ancient Roman images whose counterparts will be found in the paintings from a millennium and a half later.

The final enlightenment comes during and after the visit. As one walks through Santo Stefano with its views of the surrounding landscapes of the Gran Sasso, of the shops and people and animals, suddenly what one sees begins to compose itself into living, moving works of art. There is an almost mystical fusion between the art in the exhibition and its fantastic setting. The villages, shepherds and wanderers of Ancient and Baroque Italy magically come alive in the Santo Stefano of today. The world that once was, still is. And this beautiful, thoughtful exhibition brings us to the realisation.

Entrance – €6,00, Entrance Times 10-30-20.30 | Exhibition runs from 7 July -30 September 2012. Stay overnight at Villa Valsi for €30

Attend the weekend Hands on L’Aquila blogging conference whilst visiting the Summer Uffizi Exhibition in Santo Stefano di Sessanio & receive 10% off the recommended price.

About the Author

Paul Tegmeyer is an American Art Historian who has lived in L’Aquila since 1983 with his wife Rita Visioni who owns the apartment rental Villa Valsi in Santo Stefano di Sessanio. His area of specialisation is the Italian Renaissance. He began teaching the Ren. to Baroque Rome course at ICCS from 1990-92 and again from 1997 on. He also been teaching at John Cabot University in Rome since 1991. Since 1997 he has also conducted the Rome Seminar for the Smithsonian Institute.

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Sammy Dunham

10% off Let’s Blog Abruzzo

Sammy Dunham — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:28:31 +0000

Oh there are so many reasons to attend Let’s Blog Abruzzo, the food and travel blogging workshop at the old Medici town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, June 1-2nd 2013 but here’s 2 for the thrifty community minded

1. Receive 10% off the ticketed price by using the code – LIA10 –a special for Life in Abruzzo readers, book now

2. Support 3 local community projects helping the people of the area following the devastating 2009 earthquake, read more

Blogger workshops all claim uniqueness and kudos but we do think that if you’re going to visit one this year this is the special one to travel to!

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Sammy Dunham

A few of My Favourite Abruzzo Things – Janet Bianchini

Janet Bianchini — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:19:48 +0000

What’s your association with Abruzzo?

I live near the mountains close to Civitaquana in the province of Pescara. I have lived here since 2008 with my husband Karl and a motley crew of assorted furkids, which currently consists of 6 chickens, 5 cats, 3 dogs and one resident kestrel, called Kevin. Before moving to Abruzzo, we lived in England in the cosmopolitan city of Oxford. I was born and brought up there by Italian parents, both from the Abruzzo region.

They moved from this area to go to England in the 1950s due to the economic recession at the time. In those years, a lot of Italians emigrated to USA, South America and other European countries including England. My father is from Bellante, and my mother is from Mosciano Sant’Angelo. It’s interesting how the roles have reversed and my parents are permanent residents in England, while we are now living in their native territory. My parents spoke to me and my sisters in Abruzzo dialect from when we were children and we always replied in English! We still communicate in this way and we often get strange looks when we are out and about and speaking to each other naturally in both languages!

What’s the best thing about Abruzzo?

I love the people and their wonderful hospitality, the richness and diversity of the local food, the spectacular unspoilt scenery. I love the mountains in the National parks, the clean sandy beaches, the beautiful villages perched precariously on hilltops, the traditional music, the colourful and vibrant markets . There is so much going for Abruzzo that it’s impossible to say which particular aspect is my favourite. I have created a few video slideshow of Abruzzo and here is one of my favourites: Living the Dream in Abruzzo

What’s the worst thing about Abruzzo?

A specific thing which worries me and which could be the worst thing for Abruzzo is the impact of future oil exploration in the region. I wouldn’t like to see oil platforms on the horizon when I want to go to the beach. The risk of spillage would have a phenomenal impact on the region and of course the ecology. It could change the face of Abruzzo. An area of outstanding beauty could be scarred for life.

Secondly and more personal, and although not specific for Abruzzo, is the Italian postal service. It can be very slow and has sometimes not been brilliant. Items have got lost in the past and we have had problems with couriers refusing to deliver down our road. We usually have to meet them at the end of our “road”.

What’s the most underrated thing about Abruzzo?

I am often surprised when people in England ask me where Abruzzo is, as they have not heard of it or have no clear idea where it is exactly. This beautiful region should be promoted more, and with that, more tourists would help the region’s tourist industry and offer more employment. I also think wines from Abruzzo are often difficult to find in local supermarkets in England. More promotion is definitely necessary to bring it the recognition it fully deserves!

Where would be your favourite place to live in Abruzzo?

In or near the mountains, surrounded by olive groves and vineyards, not far from the sea and airport – the central area in Abruzzo would be perfect. In fact, I have to be honest, exactly where I am living now! We are 25 minutes from Abruzzo Airport, 20 minutes from the mountains, 30 minutes from beautiful beaches.

Where would you not live in Abruzzo?

At this point in my life, I wouldn’t want to live in a crowded city. I came to Abruzzo to live in a quiet, unspoilt area of the world! I am now perfectly at home in the countryside digging new olive trees, making my own compost, and tending to the animals’ every needs.

I wrote a post on this lifestyle called Abruzzo Diary of a Country Lady – Part 1.

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

Relaxing with friends or family members who live in Abruzzo, attending a special celebration and having a get-together. Recently we spent a fabulous day celebrating my uncle’s 90^th birthday. We had a sit down meal for 30 lively guests and all the food was traditional Abruzzo homemade dishes. We didn’t leave the table for 6 whole hours. It was a veritable feast!!

Starting with delicious antipasti, then moving on to spaghetti with polpette (tiny meatballs in tomato sauce), then some amazing gnocchi with a truffle cream sauce, then porchetta (roast pork) with a side salad and various vegetables, then roast chicken with aubergine side dish. For dessert we had my favourite homemade “Pizza Dolce”, a fabulous sponge cake in layers, steeped in alcohol and filled with different coloured creams. We also had homemade sweets in the shape of apricots, then champagne for the toast, then espresso and other typical Abruzzo pastries. The wine was a very special Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and also a new and fantastic wine from Ascoli Piceno region called “AnimaPetri”.

The idea of getting on the back of my husband Karl’s motorbike and visiting a new place with nice views, stopping off for coffee breaks and lunch in a traditional restaurant, is also lovely!

What’s your favourite Abruzzo vineyard and why?

Every wine I have tried from Abruzzo has been special in its own unique way, but to be honest, I haven’t actually visited any particular vineyard in the local area. It is something I have not got round to doing yet! I enjoy a glass of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo (white) and of course the famed Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (red). In particular I like Zaccagnini Vino dal Tralcetto D.O.C, Monti di Cerasuolo, a bottle of wine which was given to us as a gift once. The bottle stands out from the rest with its unique “ribbon” attached around the neck.

Where’s the best place to eat? What would you do for a special occasion?

Well, it is very difficult to choose just one as there are quite a few I have been to. I have always enjoyed the meals as the restaurants have been family-run and only local produce and homemade menus available. I have to admit, that I love eating the famous lentils of Santo Stefano di Sessanio and have had excellent meals on several occasions at the Ostello del Cavaliere. Their homemade lentil soup is second to none, and the choice of menu is also very good. If possible in the summer, try to get a seat on their panoramic balcony with stupendous views across the valley.

Another fantastic restaurant I can recommend is La Fonte (agriturismo) in Mosciano Sant’ Angelo. The food is always excellent and the panoramic views from the restaurant are absolutely spectacular!

What’s your favourite view in Abruzzo?

One of my favourite views is from our very own balcony!! The view changes with the seasons and it is a never-ending source of beauty. I like it all the year round, and you never know what you are going to see. We usually get hundreds of sheep passing by during “Transhumanza” time.

Just the other day I saw a pack of 8 huge “cinghiale” (wild boar) in the same valley. We sometimes get hunters around here, who go after wild boar.

The view from the balcony is especially nice in winter when the surrounding area is covered in snow!

I also love the view of the Gran Sasso mountain range near my home and I often use images I have taken as a cover on presentations that I create for global e-conferences.

I feel proud that people will view the photos and ask themselves, where is this beautiful place? In my own little way, by using my own Abruzzo images in my lessons, presentations, animation slideshows and webinars, I am trying to promote the region, and bring it onto the international stage as an area to visit at least once in your life. Below is an example of a role play badge I created for one of my lessons. My favourite picture can be seen to the right.

In this image you can see me in front of the first slide of my Powerpoint presentation which I gave in L’Aquila to teachers of English on the subject of “Effective Images for Powerful Presentations” .

What would be your favourite Abruzzo dish?

I like eating “calgionetti” at Christmas time. These are special Christmas treats filled with a rich chocolate and alcohol infused filling. My mother used to make these sweets every year, but not since 2009. I regret not paying attention when she used to spend all day making calgionetti in the typical Abruzzo way, with a recipe passed down from generation to generation. I was thrilled when I saw a recipe for Calgionetti on Life in Abruzzo blog recently and I followed it. The results were fantastic, as you can see.

They say practice makes perfect, so I made a second batch today and the results were perfect! They tasted like the ones my mother used to make and I am thrilled with the result!!

Do you have a favourite sagra?

I enjoy the wide variety of sagras that are held in different villages throughout the summer. I don’t have any particular favourite, as they are all unique. I went to a Harvest festival in Bellante, Province of Teramo, this summer and enjoyed a traditional meal of spaghetti cooked in duck sauce.

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

I would recommend walking and hiking as there is so much open space in this region with its stunning national parks. The colourful fauna and flora provide abundant opportunities for taking fantastic pictures.

What’s your favourite Abruzzo village and why?

Each village is special and I love Santo Stefano di Sessanio , because of the beautiful Campo Imperatore area. However, Castel del Monte is one of my favourite villages and I have been there several times, once when I thought George Clooney was in the area, filming The American. I wrote a post here

Have you a favourite Abruzzo walk?

Yes, I like the itinerary of the guided tour of the Wolf Sanctuary (Centro Visita del Lupo) in Popoli, which takes about 3 and a half hours to complete. I have done this walking tour twice now and each time, it has been fantastic. You walk up into the mountains and the views are incredible. Seeing and photographing the wolves in their enclosed but natural habitat is an awesome experience.

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

Make friends with the locals, go to the markets in the area and get to know people. Try to learn the language, as the locals are so pleased to see you have made an effort to speak the language. Read books on the area, and if possible, make sure you also read some excellent online blogs such as Life in Abruzzo and About Abruzzo. You will find a wealth of useful and practical information which will really help you get to know this region.

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

I went to “Frantoi Aperti” (Open Olive Mills) in Loreto Aprutino a couple of years ago and it was a fantastic event! For the price of only 5 Euros we had a fabulous tour of a local olive grove, olive mill and sampled local olive oil together with some delicious local homemade fare, down with local wines. The price also included a fascinating tour of the Olive Oil museum and a guided tour of the Museum of Castelli Ceramics in the historical centre. Click here to see a video I created of this tour.

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

Well, I am going to mention a book that I bought a while back. I enjoy using it as it is very practical and it is at the heart of what every person in Abruzzo takes pride in and that is food, of course! I have a copy of “La Cucina Tradizionale, I Sapori di Abruzzo e Molise” by Carlo Natali, which is in Italian, Abruzzo dialect and in English. It contains a lot of fantastic traditional recipes such as “Scripelle al forno” (baked pancakes), which are delicious served with tomato sauce as a main meal. I hope to try out most of the recipes in this book! The Abruzzesi people take great pride in cooking authentic traditional meals using the freshest ingredients possible from the local markets.

What attitude best sums up the Abruzzesi?

I think courage, determination and stoicism. I saw this for myself when I visited L’Aquila some time after the devastating earthquake to deliver a few workshops for school teachers of English. They truly embody these qualities.

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

I studied Ovid for Latin A Level and I know he was born in Sulmona, the place where you can buy sugared almonds used in Italian Bambonnieri for weddings and celebrations.

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

Definitely a few litres of olive oil from a local Abruzzo olive grove, such as our very own! We have 90 olive trees and produce olive oil every year. My husband and I pick them by hand and then take the containers to the local olive mill to be pressed. We have more than enough 100% extra virgin olive oil to last us the whole year. We use it abundantly for everything from frying our chickens’ freshly laid eggs, to drizzling over fresh tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers straight from the veggie plot.

If I could add one material thing from Abruzzo, I would take a piece of Castelli ceramics. I love collecting it! Each piece is finely crafted in a traditional way. My favourite possession is a vanity set – a wash basin on a stand with water jug and soap dish, which was bought from Castelli a few years ago. The scenery painted on each piece of this set is a very traditional one of a farmhouse or “casale” in the middle of the green countryside. I like it because it reminds me of times gone by. I feel it’s a link to the past, to my ancestors from this incredible region.

Photography © Janet Bianchini

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Janet Bianchini

Janet Bianchini is an experienced teacher/ trainer of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) with a keen interest in integrating technology in her lessons. She spends her free time in her rather wild garden. She also enjoys writing her blog called Janet’s Abruzzo Edublog & her 2012 Janet’s 366 photography gallery.

Aglio Styling by Maestro Luigi

Sammy Dunham — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:27:49 +0000

Hung out to dry, one of those verbs and idioms that means so much more to farmers and foodies! and the drying season has begun in earnest. The temperature over the past week has been rising, yesterday it tipped 38C. Hot for humans but the very best news for my neighbour Luigi’s garlic bulbs that have been gently drying in the soil over the past week.

Today a quick shake, scrape off of dry mud, and a helping hand by Bepe with a plaiting technique by Luigi that would get any wedding hairdresser jealous, means some guaranteed fine dining of spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino. In the meantime Happy 79th Birthday today Luigi – I want your secret of being outside all day and yet not a line as well as being the aglio maestro!

Photos © Lucciola.me

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Sammy Dunham

Brodetto Vastese – The Winding Barter Fish Soup

Sammy Dunham — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 09:12:47 +0000

Brodetto Vastese has to be Abruzzo’s most famous fish soup, there are other great pretenders along its Adriatic coast but it has an intrinsic simplicity and flexibility: it doesn’t require stock, and fish type is according to what’s available, ensuring that its crown remains sitting ever so snugly. Set in stone however are the shellfish, the dish’s crown jewels, which impart layers of sweetness. For that reason it’s hardly surprising that in local dialect Mussels are chocolate and Clams white chocolate.

If you have ever visited Vasto, you’ll see the orto, the small family plots of land that wind up from Sirenetta (the Little Mermaid) to the city centre; it is here in the vegetable gardens of the nineteenth century that Brodetto Vastese began, as the fishermen bartered and exchanged their catch of the day with the orto owners. Off they went home with their smaller 6 or 7 smaller-sized rather bony fish, some shellfish, garlic, peppers, herbs and depending on the season some cherry tomatoes. After washing their catch, they would wind them into a flat terracotta dish called a “tijelle” according to its cooking time. To break a family’s “tijelle” meant to lose a heritage of flavour so they’re always highly prized as they are passed down generation after generation. When cooking think ”James Bond” shake the dish don’t stir! Once cooked and the fish eaten my favourite part mop up “lu vrudatte” with some crusty bread.

Brodetto Vastese Recipe

a la Trabocco Punta Tufano
Ingredients

4 Scorpion Fish (or Rock Fish) , 4 Skate Wings, 4 cod fillets, 4 Red mullet, 4 squilla mantis shrimp, 4 King Prawns, 1/2 squid, 8 mussels, 250 g of Clams, 2 chopped cloves of Garlic, chopped Parsley, 200ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 Red Pepper, 250 g Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Chilli according to taste

Directions

Soak the mussels and clams in salty water and then wash and drain to ensure they are sand free.

Wash clean and trim the fish leaving the heads intact.

Wash and clean the squid and crustaceans and chop and trim.

Add olive oil to your pan and sauté your finely chopped garlic and chopped parsley.

First lay the squid that you have cut into small pieces and cook at least 15 min.

Add the prawns and skate and cook for another 10-15 min.

Add the fish and cook for another 15 minutes

Add the mussels, clams and tomatoes cover and and cook for 10-15 min.

Add a sprinkling of chopped parsley to give more colour to the dish on serving.

This Abruzzo cooking class was arranged for us by the Vasto Tour Operator Italia Sweet Italia as part of a 1-day course learning how to prepare and cook fish on a trabocco. LifeinAbruzzo readers are offered a 10% booking discount by using the code 1026.

Photography by Lucciola.me

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Sammy Dunham

Abruzzo from Afar

Mike Moyle — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 07:31:12 +0000

I live just outside of San Francisco and have been studying Italian on and off for the last seven years. What started as a lark seems to have veered towards an obsession. In any case, I am hooked!

The Museo Italo Americano in San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center has provided much of my formal training. As with many students, once I had worked through the basic texts and had at least a foundation in the language, I began looking for classes that would allow me to explore the aspects of Italy in which I was most interested.

At the beginning of last year I learned that the Museo would be starting a series of classes – with each 8-week term focusing on just one of the twenty regions of Italy, starting, alphabetically, with Abruzzo. I had long felt that the unique aspects of the Italian regions would lend themselves to such a region-by-region approach, so signed up for the first class.

None of the students in that class had ever been to Abruzzo so it was very much a mutual learning process. While I had some initial concerns as to how much one could learn about a place without actually visiting, it soon became apparent that the resources available on the internet were extensive, even if one limited oneself to those in English.

Our internet starting point for our exploration of each region has, not surprisingly, been WikiPedia, in both its English and Italian versions. Of course, while that site provides a great deal of basic information, once you have a general orientation one wants more than WikiPedia can offer.

I cannot remember when I first stumbled across Sammy Dunham’s “Life in Abruzzo” website, but as we began our study of Abruzzo, no matter what the topic, it seemed that I would soon find something relevant there, presented by Sammy in the most delightful fashion. As we have proceeded through the regions (so far we have been through five in addition to Abruzzo — Apulia (Puglia), Basilicata, Calabria, Campania and Emilia-Romagna) it has remained the best such site of any I have come across so far.

Perhaps more than any other region we have studied so far, Abruzzo for me is all about the images. Another fabulous site I soon found was Paesaggi d’Abruzzo, a photo site started three years ago by a fellow from Abruzzo named Alessandro Di Nisio which now has an archive of over 25,000 photos about the region. Again, no matter what I was interested in at the moment – food, nature, festivals, etc. – it always seemed I could find relevant photos there, and both the enthusiasm of the photographers, and the gratitude of the thousands of followers of the site around the world always, comes through clearly.

The eight weeks of our Abruzzo class flew by and since then, although we have moved on to other regions, I have always been drawn back to Abruzzo. Of course, it helps that both Life in Abruzzo and Paesaggi d’Abruzzo are also on Facebook which means that I enjoy almost a small daily dose of something about the region. Needless to say, I was overjoyed last year when the Museo announced that it would be sponsoring a trip to Abruzzo, and my wife and I immediately signed up. Although it was a bit of a risk (for them!), the Museo also asked me to give a talk at the Museo in February which turned out very well and gave me a welcome opportunity to pull my thoughts together in advance of our trip. The PowerPoint and handout I prepared for that class, together with some materials that I prepared to accompany the Abruzzo cheeses and “confetti” we served at the reception (care of Marcelli Formaggi in New Jersey and the Chicago outlet of Confetti Pelino in Sulmona), can be found here via Dropbox: http://db.tt/CC60ebIL.

The date of our departure for Italy is fast approaching and my excitement is growing. In some ways I feel like I have been to Abruzzo already, although I know that there is no substitute for actually visiting, and I am sure the chance to meet the Abruzzesi will be the highlight of the trip.

I encourage anyone who has the slightest interest in Abruzzo to pursue it even if you do not have the chance to go there. There is so much you can learn from afar.

Further Reading

Museo Italo Americano

Paesaggi d’Abruzzo

Mike’s February 19, 2012 Abruzzo presentation at the Museo: http://db.tt/CC60ebIL

Marcelli Formaggi

Confetti Pelino

Photography – Corno Grande from Campo Imperatore by Nancy Moyle

Author information

Mike Moyle

Senior Counsel at Squires Sanders

Mike Moyle lives in Sausalito, California, where he tries to find as many chances as possible to study Italian and pursue his interest in Italian cuisine. He is a Senior Counsel at the San Francisco office of Squire Sanders (US) LLP, a global law firm.

If you’re Fond of Sand Dunes & Salty Air, Quaint Little Vineyards that Really Care

Sammy Dunham — Sun, 27 May 2012 15:55:01 +0000

…don’t you love it when visiting a place evokes a half-forgotten tune from memory’s depths to perfectly suit the ambiance of where you’re at…? My most recent example involved a hot sunny day’s wine-tasting at Vasto’s Fontefico Puro Vino, just down the road from Punta Aderci, Groove Armada’s ‘At the River’ (or, depending on your generation, perhaps Patti Page’s ‘Old Cape Cod’) became the accompanying track to my find of the day, a salty Pecorino wine that could accompany fish!

If you have a love of nature and are planning a visit to Abruzzo, to miss out on the little pilgrimage to the Punta Aderci marine park, that sits up from Vasto, borders on sacrilege… I love mountains and Abruzzo’s National Parks, but Abruzzo does have a marine park too with quite exceptional views, back to the Majella Mountains, from where the trabocchi coastline begins.

The small path that leads you up to the park’s highest point is like a distillation of English childhood memories from visits to British beaches and the sea. This little path edged by Sulla that takes you up to the rocky drop which is perhaps Abruzzo’s true coastal gem, where humans have tried to make inroads through its 285 hectares but have fabulously failed. Its dunes sand and pebble beaches are appreciated by birdwatchers, walkers, snorkelers and lovers. It’s a perfect spot for sunbathers that shy away from the more commercial, tourist beaches at Vasto Marina, and on a smaller scale at Chieti’s beaches like Fossacessia. Although I like people watching, I think if I lived in Vasto for my passeggiata I’d head out here instead.

Fontefico Puro Vino is a short 5 minute drive from Punta Aderci across the vineyards that frame the marine park and make for a gorgeous bike ride through early morning if you’re staying at the dog & child friendly Agriturismo Arkadia. 15,000 bottles of wine are produced at this boutique Abruzzo vineyard, which began only in 1996 and has been noted in the 2012 Slow Wine Guide, Vinibuoni & Italian Touring Club Guide, as well as winning the Wine Style Asia Award for their Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC, Il Titinge 2008. Perhaps it’s got something to do with them allowing natural sugars in wines to do their thing and create alcohol rather than cap them, so expect a healthy 13.5% for whites and 14.5%+ for their red wines – just a warning if you’re driving!

It’s always interesting to see the pairings that Abruzzo vineyards offer with their tastings; some I have to be honest are a tad lacking in this department , sad when there are so many incredible local producers to hand and they instead serve up some mass produced cheese and salami from the local supermarket. Emanuele Altieri, the youngest of the three brothers that runs this Vasto cantina made no mistakes by serving a selction of cheeses by organic Scanno master cheese maker Gregorio Rotolo, produced at his Valle Scannese Agriturismo. His Ricotta Scorza Nera shone with the vineyard’s Pecorino 2011, a remarkably soft, subtle Pecorino but which supplied a surprising saltiness which complemented the cheese wonderfully (and gave inspiration for a later Pecorino 2010 purchase).

The biggest selling point was that it was amazing to find a Pecorino that was perfect with fish, for those who are inclined to think solely of Pecorino’s as a aperitif on a summer’s day. Italians love the adjective delicate (delicato), it almost gets overused but is the perfect description for Pecorinos by this Chieti vineyard; we could quite understand when Emanuele informed us of the interest their pecorino had stimulated amongst other Italian wine-makers at a recent wine event!

This morning’s excursion was arranged for us by the Vasto Tour Operator Italia Sweet Italia as part of our 2 day Vasto Hot Spot Tour, part of which we spent learning how to prepare and cook fish on a trabocco. LifeinAbruzzo readers are offered a 10% booking discount by using the code 1026.

Photography by Lucciola.me

That Groove Armada Track

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Sammy Dunham

Sweet Bedfellows Squid in Tomato Sauce with Polenta

Sammy Dunham — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:18:52 +0000

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

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Sammy Dunham

Fun with Fish: an Italian Fish Cookery Course Aboard a Trabocco

Sammy Dunham — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 12:00:33 +0000

Could a fish cookery course aboard a trabocco be Abruzzo’s most delicious alfresco experience? It’s become my top spot and is certainly a breath of fresh air (literally), and one of the most unique cooking courses in Italy for those tired of the usual villa routine.

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

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Sammy Dunham

Hands on L’Aquila Blogger Conference

Sammy Dunham — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:24:47 +0000

The most stylish food and travel philanthropic experience for 2013 is the Let’s Blog Abruzzo bloggers conference set in Santo Stefano di Sessanio. Co-organised by LifeinAbruzzo!

Bloggers Workshops to Explore, Taste and Optimise

blogAway will convene for 2 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 early June is dry and the average temperature is 30C. 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 Let’s Blog Abruzzo 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. Saturday & Sunday lunched will be the salami and cheeses s that Abruzzo is famous for. 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 local artisan salami and cheeses for lunch
- Relax and meet local artisans at our happy hour receptions

There is 10% off early bird discount if you book before the 1st January 2013!

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Sammy Dunham

From the Juggernaut Comes Let’s Blog Abruzzo

Sammy Dunham — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:19:51 +0000

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 ‘Let’s Blog Abruzzo’ 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.

Let’s Blog Abruzzo 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

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Sammy Dunham

RIP Domenico: Friend, Good Neighbour and the Best Tomato Grower!

Roddy Newlands — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:50:15 +0000

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.

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Roddy Newlands

Roddy Newlands is co-editor for lifeinabruzzo.com, Abruzzo allows him to get his mountain-air fix, & satisfy his passion for pasta & panettone. He works full-time for webSEOlive where he boosts online business development for clients via his super duper online marketing skills

Plutonic Love – Italia’s Mint Pancakes

Sammy Dunham — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:00:00 +0000

If you’re looking for an alternative to the typical Shrove, Fat, Martedi Grasso waist extenders you could try Italia’s sublime mint pancakes. These ‘fresca’ pancakes veiled with some mature pecorino and a drizzle of peperoncino oil are wonderful warm, great taken on a picnic and make a fab Sunday brunch after you’ve been pottering around in the garden.

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.

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Sammy Dunham

Finding Valentino by Angela Di Sciascio

Sammy Dunham — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:38:52 +0000

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

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Sammy Dunham

Orange & Pistachio Lady Marmalade

Sammy Dunham — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:34:46 +0000

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.

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Sammy Dunham

Abruzzo and a Transumanza Spot the Difference 1817, 1823, 2012

Sammy Dunham — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:00:11 +0000

Abruzzo can be infuriating for getting information for those whose Italian isn’t their first language, but it can be a joy delving down deep and finding historical documents that dazzle and paint such a picture that you can’t wait to get your walking boots on and step out in those same footsteps. As you read you also end up realising how inane your own writing is, and how much we rely today on photos to illustrate a story, but heyho!

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.”

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Sammy Dunham

Save the Aventino River

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:04:13 +0000

The Aventino river flows from its Majella mountain source (Monte Porrara) above La Forchetta, passing through the comunes of Palena, Lama dei Peligni, Gessopalena and Civitella Messer Raimondo on it’s way to Lago Sant’Angelo (Lake Casoli). The section just a few kilometres upstream from the mouth of this lake is the only wild mountain river in Abruzzo that is left unscathed from the ravages of development in the production of electricity.

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.

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Icy Chill on Italian Residents – Two new Italian Taxes are Born

Sammy Dunham — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:06:07 +0000

Our blog’s resident accountant Antonio from Studio Del Gaizo Picchioni has just sent us through some very interesting info on two new Italian taxes that will be like an icy wind down the back of anyone with Italian Residency that owns a property or has a nest egg in their native lands… The Abruzzo property market had been doing quite well with foreign investment despite the global downturn, I do wonder how it will manage if these new taxes are collected, at least inflated prices may become local once more.

“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

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Sammy Dunham

Timballo alla teramana – A Cook’s Landscape

Sammy Dunham — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 07:08:20 +0000

More than just a scrumptious Abruzzo ‘pie’, Timballo teramana is a cook’s panoramic photograph of the fertile Teramo landscape. Its layers of scrippelle (water-based veil-like pancakes that mean crepe in dialect), mirror the strata of limestone and dolomite that uniquely form and fuse to create the Gran Sasso d’Italia, the province’s largest mountain range that includes the Corno Grande and Campo Imperatore, Abruzzo’s Little Tibet.

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

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Sammy Dunham

A Few of My Favourite Abruzzo Things – Joshua Lawrence

Joshua Lawrence — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 20:17:35 +0000

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!

Author information

Joshua Lawrence

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.

The Pot Bellied Big One – Ventricina Teramana

Sammy Dunham — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:10:20 +0000

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.)

Author information

Sammy Dunham

Italian Austerity – The Monti Impact on Ex-pats & Holidaymakers

Antonio — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:00:44 +0000

Prime Minister Monti ’s cabinet approved austerity package began the first of its debtates today, how will it affect ex-pats, residents and holidaymakers?

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 .

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Antonio

Antonio Del Gaizo is a practising accountant who speaks fluent English. His Tuscan practice Del Gaizo Picchioni is handled by his colleague Enrico Picchioni, Antonio deals with English-speaking clients from his home in Oxfordshire, UK, commuting to the Italian office once a month. He is ably assisted by his British wife Judith, a former lawyer.

A Few of My Favourite Abruzzo Things – Jacqui Dixon

admin — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:38:20 +0000

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.

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What to expect from the 2011 Abruzzo Wine Harvest

Roddy Newlands — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 07:17:24 +0000

For those that missed the fresh fruity notes of San Martino on the 11^th November, when 2 month old juice officially becomes vino novello, and are already feeling the onset of autumnal chill, we asked our friends at Talamonti for some pictures of their harvest to rekindle the warmth of Summer and give us an early indication of what to expect in 2 years from this vintage in Abruzzo.

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.”

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