On our walking tour in Piedmont, we often dine at restaurants that place yard-long grissini – breadsticks – in the middle of the table, which are a great conversation piece as well as being a delectable start of a meal. Local  bakeries advertise grissini that are stirati a mano – hand stretched.  They are delicious crunchy batons, with a rustic uneven appearance coming from the hand-stretched process.  But where did they originate?

The traditional bread of Piedmont in the 17^th century was called ghersa, which was a long baguette-shaped bread with a soft, doughy interior that often caused indigestion.

The young Duke of Savoy, Vittorio Amedeo II, was  prone to illness and particularly intestinal upsets that contributed to his weak, frail nature.  During a serious bout of illness, his mother called the court’s doctor, Don Baldo Pecchio, for an urgent consultation.  Coincidentally, the doctor had suffered from the same ills as a child, and had been cured by only eating bread that was “well-risen, thoroughly baked with only a bit of soft interior, and very crispy.”  Doctor Pecchio  had the court’s baker take the dough from the normal ghersa bread, and cut it into narrow pieces, then stretch the dough until it was a long thin strip, and bake it until it was crispy.  The grissino was born!

The grissino diet worked wonders, and Vittorio Amedeo II grew to be a healthy adult, who went on to become the first king of the house of Savoy.  It is said that his ghost is still seen in the former royal palace, clutching a breadstick in one hand.

Personally, after leading a walking tour in Piedmont with plenty of munching on grissini, I dearly missed them, and decided to try my hand at making breadsticks at home with the breadstick recipe below.  Since then, family members often beg me to make them, and these crispy grissini are often gobbled up before we sit down to dine.  The length of the grissini will be determined by how large your oven is – if you have a wide spacious oven (unlike me!) you can really impress your friends with very long breadsticks.

Besides stretching the dough into long strips,  you can vary the shape, tying them into a bow, making them into a zig-zag, or twisting them together.  They make a nice hostess gift, too.

Here’s the recipe for breadsticks from Piedmont adapted from an excellent source in Italian, giallozafferano.

Who knows how different my life would have been if my parents had been acrobats in a circus rather than government workers.  Perhaps in another life, I might come back as Moira Orfei, the queen of the Italian circus.

Moira (born Miranda in 1931 in Friuli-Venezia Giulia) participated in her family’s circus act, before founding her own company in 1960, called The Circus Moira Orfei.  Her performances included her work as a trapeze artist, trainer of doves, and an elephant tamer, which make for a fairly impressive resume.  Even more impressive is her magnificent black hair, piled on top of her head like a tower that defies gravity.  Coupled with her heavy makeup and flamboyant clothing she is hard to miss in a crowd.  On a bad hair day, she wears an exotic turban.

She has kept this extravagant look her entire life, and in the process has become one of the most recognized faces in Italy, with circus posters all over Italy bearing her unmistakable image.  It was the film producer Dino de Laurentiis who told her “never to change, because only women without a personality continually change their look.”  To this Moira observes that in Italy “there are 60 million of us, but I’m the only one like me.”  

Even without meeting the other 59,999,999, I’d venture to say that is an accurate statement.

Though she no longer performs, she still travels with the circus in a huge and outlandishly decorated caravan that is her home, and comes onstage to wave and blow kisses to the spectators, truly deserving her self-proclaimed status as “Queen of the Circus.”

Every once in a while Emanuele returns home from the market with a particularly happy smile, and I know he has found something unusual to eat. On one of these occasions he handed me a brown paper bag, and said “I used to eat these as a child in Ragusa.”  I open the bag and the air is immediately suffused with peach perfume. I reach in and pull out a fuzzy pink disk, that resembles a squashed peach.  “La pesca tabacchiera”, says Emanuele triumphantly, a snuffbox peach (so named for its shape.)

Grown on the slopes of the Mt Etna volcano since the early 1800’s, the snuffbox peach has found its perfect habitat in rich volcanic soil, plenty of sun and cool nights.  Since this peach does not keep for long and its odd size means it does not fit into conventional peach shipping cases, it is generally consumed locally during a very short season.  Beware, that there are “imitation” snuffbox peaches, that are a result of crossbreeding, and are now grown in other areas of Italy such as the Marche, or in Spain and the United States, going by the name of the UFO, Saturn peach or doughnut peach, and they have managed to lengthen the growing season.  As good as these can be, I like to stick with the original, that seems to gain that extra something from the volcanic soil, and gorge on it during its short but spectacular season.

The thin skin of the pesca tabacchiera slips off easily, revealing white flesh edged in dark pink and slick with sweet juice, with a lovely scent of peaches and roses. It has a tiny pit, making nearly the entire fruit edible.

It’s extremely difficult to eat a snuffbox peach in a civilized manner, as it seems to invite one to take a huge bite, and then things get sloppy. Your face gets smeared with peach juice, it drips from your chin, your hands get soaked, and as you stuffthe last bit into your mouth, you can feel a dribble of sticky syrup trickling down to your elbow.

I’ve found the best place to eat a pesca tabacchiera is over the sink, where you can slurp and drip in messy ecstasy, then conveniently and thoroughly rinse yourself off.  Then repeat the process.  After all, the season is a short one.

Read more:

Sour Cherry Syrup Saga

Mt Etna on Sicily Walking Tour

The Artichoke Moment

Railway Cherries

One of the greatest summer pleasures of Puglia has got to be the railway cherry, a variety that beats out all other cherries for its supreme taste.

Legend has it that railway cherries were first discovered in 1935 on a tree growing by the railroad, which was carefully tended by a railroad linesman named Giorgio Rocco.  Cuttings were taken from the tree and grafted onto others and soon la ciliegia ferrovia became the favorite cultivar in the area around the towns of Turi and Conversano near Bari.  A more plausible explanation is that this variety of cherry ships very well, and when railway lines were used to ship the cherries from Puglia to northern Italy, the cherries arrived as fresh as if they had been just picked. 

Puglia is in fact, Italy’s largest producer of cherries, and the railway cherry is the most prized variety, locally known as l’oro rosso – red gold – and my personal favorite.  This succulent cherry is vaguely heart-shaped, plump enough to be eaten in several bites, the skin shiny and taut so that it snaps as you sink your teeth into it. The flesh is slightly tart, and soaked through with sweet cherry juice that enthusiastically squirts out upon first bite.  Don’t wear white. 

There is a saying in Italian  “Una ciliegia tira l’altra” – One cherry leads to another – and in fact it is fairly easy to get carried away and eat an entire bowlful.  And when it is railway cherry season in June, I do just that. 

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Homemade Taralli from Puglia

Pleasures of Puglia Culinary Tour

A national day of mourning has been declared in Italy on June 4, 2012, in honor of the earthquake victims in the region of Emilia Romagna. Italian and European flags will be flown at half-mast on public buildings in Italy, and a minute of silence will be observed in all Italian schools.  Other initiatives will take place in individual towns, and television programming will be modified to include funeral coverage.

The devastating earthquake of May 19, 2012 was followed by another quake 10 days later, leaving at least 20 people dead and 15,000 homeless.  Damage to businesses and monuments has been extensive.  The area of Emilia Romagna hardest hit has been near the cities of Ferrara and Modena where agricultural concerns, (including the production of  parmigiano cheese and aceto balsamico), manufacturers of ceramics, textiles and biomedical supplies, and many other small businesses have been forced to shut down.

You can help by donating to the Italian Red Cross.  

Important note: Not all of Emilia Romagna has been damaged in the earthquake – fortunately all our friends in Bologna and Reggio Emilia are fine, having simply been scared out of their wits during the tremors, while experiencing no damage. This includes the wonderful Hotel Posta in Reggio Emilia, which continues to welcome guests as it has for the past 500 years, and is perfectly sound.

More About Italy:

New High-Speed Trains in Italy

Culture of Sculpture in Pietrasanta

Taralli Recipe from Puglia

To celebrate the Festa della Repubblica, the Feast of the Republic in Italy, a grand military parade is normally held in Rome, presided over by the President of the Republic, currently Giorgio Napolitano. In 2012, the military parade will be much more low key, as will all of the festivities, out of respect to the earthquake victims in Emilia Romagna, where tremors continue to damage homes, businesses and monuments, while spreading fear and economic ruin. (June 4, 2012 has been designated a national day of mourning in honor of the earthquake victims.)

June 2 marks the Festa della Repubblica – Feast of the Republic – in Italy. The day commemorates a 1946 referendum in which the Italian people voted to decide their form of government — monarchy or republic — in a tense and chaotic climate following the end of Fascism and the Second World War. Though controversy about irregularities in counting the votes were numerous, Italy was declared a republic. After 85 years of reign the monarchy ended, and the members of the House of Savoy were exiled.

While Giorgio Napolitano called for national unity in honor of the day, Italy feels anything but united. Political squabbles are continuous, and scandals and muckraking are a nearly daily occurrence. Trust in political parties seems to be at a low point, while a technocrat government headed by appointed Prime Minister Mario Monti struggles to make badly needed reforms in Italy while being faced with unpopular austerity measures, a huge deficit, high unemployment and an economic recession.

I see a country in a fragile state of balance, and have the sense that Italians are scrambling in a free-for-all to grab what they can before the current government falls, or if it lasts until elections must be called in the spring of 2013, to at least shield oneself from the next blow.

Though this is hardly new, it is still painfully sad. During my 24 years in Italy, the only time Italy felt truly united was in 2006, when it won the soccer World Cup. At least for a few weeks the citizens of Italy were all proud to be Italian.

All that said, I’ll be celebrating just the same, with the hope that fervently believing in a united Republic is the first step to actually having one. Viva l’Italia!

Read More About Italy:

Banking in Italy- Slow Cash

Tuscan Peasant Cooking

Wild & Wonderful -Festa of St. Sebastian

A train with a cinema car in four languages, uninterrupted Wi-Fi, live TV, and gourmet dining – No, it’s not science fiction, but the new NTV high speed train in Italy.  Called Italo, the new Italian high speed train is a privately-owned train that has been designed with customer comfort, service and today’s technology in the forefront, and is simed at competing with the Frecciarossa high-speed trains of state-owned Trenitalia railway.

Brainchild of Italian businessmen Luca Cordero di Montezemolo (chairman of Ferrari) and  Diego Della Valle (of Tod’s Shoes) the new Italo train is billed as Europe’s most modern train.  With 3 classes of service – Smart, Prima, and Club – and plenty of special offers, you can  choose to travel for just 30 euros from Milan to Rome, travel in the cinema car and watch a free film, enjoy uninterrupted mobile phone service and Wi-Fi internet, or be served a meal at your seat in Prima or Club class.  Business travelers can book a private 4-seat lounge in the Club car with the daily newspaper, espresso and breakfast, or choose the Relax car where cell phones must be turned off.  Food service is being handled by Eataly with 3 different menus focusing on quality Italian ingredients, plus on-board vending machines offer espresso, cold drinks and snacks.

Italo train service starts April 28, 2012, along the Milan-Bologna–Florence-Rome line, with more routes being added through the year that will serve Venice, Turin, Padua, Naples, and Salerno. Tickets can be booked online and special offers can be found on the Italo website, where you can search for the dates with the best available fares and timetables.  Or give the Italo phone center a call at  this easy to remember phone number: 06 07 08.   Tickets may also be purchased at the dedicated Casa Italo booth, located in all stations served by the NTV Italo train service. 

The sleek Italo train is painted Ferrari red, and travels at speeds of up to 300 km per hour. If you were hoping for a fast modern train system in the rest of southern Italy, you’ll have to wait years for new train tracks to be put in place, a probability that at the moment seems roughly equivalent to winning the lottery. In Sicily, where train travel is noteworthy for being slow and dusty, the high-speed Italo train remains a sci-fi concept.

Read more stories:

Slow but Scenic Trains in Sicily

Pleasures of Being Lost in Sicily

Knives for All Seasons

Most state-run museums and archeological sites in Italy offer free entrance during Culture Week, April 14-22, 2010, which the sharp-eyed will note, is actually 9 days long.   The Settimana della Cultura is an annual event, and is typically a favorite time for school field trips, which means that sites can be crowded with kids who could care less about where they are, just as long as it is not their regular classroom.  But hey, it is free.

In addition, there are sites not normally open to the public that can be visited on specific days during Culture Week.  In 2012, special exhibits, concerts and guided tours will enrich the program.  For more information visit the Italian website for la Settimana della Cultura,  then click on the map of Italy to choose the region and find special events.

Read more about places to visit and unique attractions in Italy:

Towers That Aren’t

Grape Harvest in Tuscany

Knives & Scissors

Goddess of Morgantina

The Roman floor mosaics at the Villa del Tellaro may not be the most extensive in Sicily, but they are exquisite.  Unlike its more famous cousin the Villa del Casale near Pizza Armerina, the Villa del Tellaro has the advantage of being much easier to reach, just a few kilometers south of Noto.  And  this being a less-visited archeological site, you may also be blessed with having the place to yourself, enjoying the quiet setting amidst lemon groves.   It helps to know some Italian or read up ahead of time because all the brief explanations are in Italian.  (We visit the Villa del Tellaro on several of our walking tours in Sicily, where you can gain a more intimate knowledge of these Roman mosaics through your guide.) But for the moment, let’s explore vicariously.

The Villa del Tellaro (named in recent times due to its proximity to the Tellaro river) is fairly typical of the country villas that were often used as hunting lodges in Roman times.  Originally a sprawling complex of 6000 square meters with a peristyle, or internal courtyard bordered by a columned portico, part of the mosaic floor of the portico remains, along with the floors of 3 adjacent rooms.  The largest mosaic is filled with scenes of hunting and animal transport, seamlessly intertwined with a delightful banquet scene with eager dogs ready to lap up any leftovers.

The subtlety and movement in the mosaics shows exceptional skill, and is achieved by the use of very small tesserae, the tiny cubes of cut stone in a range of natural colors.  In one mosaic, there is an image of a Satyr chasing after a menade, a passionate young woman often depicted in Greek mythology wearing a transparent gown, a difficult effect that is beautifully achieved in this mosaic.

The Villa del Tellaro’s origins date back to the 4th century AD, and it was destroyed by a fire about 100 years later. Forgotten about for centuries, someone decided to plunk a 17th century farmhouse on the remains of the villa, so parts of the excavation include the farm’s wine-making vats.   An illustration shows the various phases of the villa and farmhouse building, but most of the original villa has been lost, or yet to be excavated.  The mosaics have been restored and covered with a modern roof, so don’t expect to see an antique structure, though some parts of the Roman walls are still visible.

In the early 1970’s, the abandoned farmhouse was subject to illegal excavations, and some of the mosaics were stolen and never recovered.  As often happens when the Soprintendenza of the Arts steps in, time slows to a crawl, and after numerous bureaucratic snafus and the unexplained disappearance and reappearance of the remaining mosaics, the villa with its restored mosaics was finally opened to the public in 2008. 

Ongoing excavations have turned up Roman cisterns and medieval tombs, so who knows what else may lurk beneath the surface of this evocative site.

Read similar stories:

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The Culture of Sculpture

Images from the Splendors of Sicily