hathor

I just looked up a tajarin recipe that I've used in the past. No whole eggs. 300 g Tipo 00 flour 12 egg yokes I didn't have any problems getting this pasta to hold together, it behaved normally.

Thanks to all of you for joining us! We had a great time. Nina, we are extremely lucky with regard to finding friends, the townspeople could not be more warm and welcoming. If you hang out in the piazza, you are sure to make some friends. And a Philly dinner sounds like a great idea....want to go out for some Italian food?? Now I'm going to go hang out on Eden's blog...a Renassiance feast...how cool! Ciao!

Fantastic!! You're working on a project that is very close to my heart. I wish I could be there to volunteer. In bocca da lupo!

OK. I can't spell.. What Sicilian singer? Blame the edit on the wine at dinner. I can't even find the question mark key!!

Dinner?? Did someone say they are hungry? Tonight we are serving farona, faronha, guinea fowl. Dear Spelling Police, I've seen it with and without the "h", but any way that you spell it, guinea fowl is tasty. Before. This bird is from the butcher shop in Umbertide. They cut off its head, strap on the pancetta, tie on the rosemary...and this is what is called "prepared food". They don't have this all the time, but when I see it, I buy it. 'nuff said. Here is the After shot. Now, I've made roasted cauliflower about 56200 times. Have you ever seen this happen to the cauliflower????? Woah! It was bubbling and sizzling like some weird mushroom, or like it has cheese in it. I turned off the oven, letting everything rest and calm down. To keep us entertained, I served some pasta with truffles. Then we ate the farona, cauliflower, some cucumber and tomato salad. The cauliflower came out just fine, and I like it with a spritz of balsamic vinegar. We had some coffee, and now dinner is all done. This has been a great week for me; a chance to share my incredible good fortune with you. There is so much that I didn't get to show you. So much that we didn't get to do, people that you didn't have a chance to meet. I hate long good-byes. Please, join us on the Umbrian thread. Here is sunset from our roof. Raise a glass and toast our wonderful luck at being able to experience this part of the world together. Grazie mille!

Klary: keep them separate. Serve the porcini on pasta, and serve the chard as a contorni. The Umbians like their flavors separate. What can I say??

Bramo! I live here and I bramo! yes, it's a perfect word. Seriously, there is not a day that goes by that I am not blown away by the beauty, the simplicity, the wonder, the randomness, the weirdness of my little tiny corner of Umbria. Wonton? What???? Abra: Carpe diem....when you see it, run with it!! wanton? No. Wonton looks so much better. I cannot spell. I cannot proofread. I cannot lie. Legourment: where have you been?? Pull up a chair, pour some wine, tell me what you know about mushrooms! What we saw today was simply amazing.

No worries! We are taking our basket to "Those Who Know Better". I'm not taking any chances on these mushrooms! There are many other things I'll be old and bold about...but not mushrooms. (psst...wanna come skiing with me?? )

Yesterday I had looked over the menu at one of Pietralunga's tavernas, and it seemed like a good idea for lunch. There was indoor and outdoor seating, and it didn't matter where you were, the whole placed smelled like truffles. First course: gnocchi with truffles. Secondi: bistecca Dolce: biscotti dipped in vin santo (Toscana style vin santo, the 'real' local stuffed is stored in the chimney to age, and tastes like smoke. GAK!) The chestnut guys were having a much easier time of it this afternoon. Here are some of the chocolates from the chocolate booth. I feel bad....no deserts in this blog, except for half eaten biscotti. sorry!! As we were leaving, the band from Umbertide was unloading. I've seen the band from Umbertide before, they're very good...but I've never seen these costumes before! These arches are in the main piazza in Pietralunga, it must only be habit that is holding them up. And on the way home, the baby lambs decided to not be so shy. Now, I think I'd better go wash some of the mud off myself. You know what's cool about playing in the woods here... no lyme disease!!

This morning, we got up, determined to find porcini. Please remember, I've lived most of my life in New York City, my idea of porcini hunting was to go to Gourmet Garage. What we lacked in experience, we made up in enthusiasm. Our first stop was by the 'diga' or dam. It was a strange place, all the water had been let out of the dam, leaving this cracked moon scape. The footprints on the left hand side are cinghiale prints. We set off into the woods, and there were mushrooms of every size, shape and color. That pod looking mushroom belongs in a Dr. Seuss book. The whole time we are digging around, Jeff keeps asking me, "Is this a porcini? Is this a porcini? Do you mean to tell me I can't eat any of these gorgeous mushrooms??" It was too much for him to handle, all these fantastic mushrooms and not a porcini in sight. We did run across some hunters, and they told us to throw away everything we had in our basket. It was on of those, "told you so" moments...but! I held my tongue. At one point, we were deep in the woods, when we could hear the hunting dogs heading our way, then the hunters start yelling to flush the cinghiale, then the gun shots, it put me on edge to hear all the yelling and barking. Neither one of us was wearing a watch, but we knew it was lunch time when all the hunters started packing up and heading home. No hunter would miss lunch, or risk the wrath of the wife. We had two mushrooms that could possibly be porcini, a bunch of those yellow brain like mushrooms and some weird berries. Jeff stomach was growling louder than the barking dogs, so lunch seemed like a good idea.

These are the white truffles that we brought home with us. This is about 40 euros worth of truffles. But, its not about the money, its about the smell, sort of like wonton sex and barking at the moon. And really, can you put a price on that?? Here is all the goodies that we bought at the festa. Plan A was to make some pasta for the truffles, but we decided that we would rather have some roasted potatoes with shaved truffles. First course was the lentil soup, or lentil stew, with fresh porcini. The porcini were thinly sliced and added at the last minute. I was trying to get the photo, but Jeff couldn't wait to break off a piece of the crispy edge. Good thing I didn't have a knife handy!! Truffles are brushed clean and then shaved over the dish. It''s a finishing note, not something to be cooked within the dish. Usually. I'm sure there are exceptions! And the finished dish...well, it was very, very finished when we got through with it. We had some more of those purple artichokes and the "holy tomatoes". As far as the tomatoes go, bleh, I've had better. Then again, it is early October. We drank a nice, hearty, Umbrian red and watched the Thin Man on TV. I love the Thin Man series, one day, I want to grow up to be Myrna Loy. My luck, I'll come back as Asta!

Buon'domenica! Sorry to be so late in the day...but its been a gorgeous day and I couldn't force myself to come inside. Dominic: brush up on your Italian... some people speak English, but not that many. I'll try and come up with some resources for you. It really is 250 euros/kilo. Size and the 'intact-ness' determine much of the price. This is a very small region, with low quantity, in comparison to other regions in Italy or France. There have been conferences held on how to 'develop' the business: i.e. charge more money. This is not a tourist area, so its locals who are buying. And many of the locals pride themselves on finding their own truffles. What does a truffle taste like? Its more about smell, or aroma,than a taste on the tongue. It's an earthy, pervasive, quasi-aphrodiasic smell. Can an aphrodisiac be smell only? To me, it smells like fall, fires, home, hearth, warmth, decay, sensousness. The first time my niece smelled a truffle, her exact words, "Its smells like ass." The truffle imparts its fragrance to everything it touches. salt, pasta, potatoes, eggs. One New Year's Eve dinner, we were served steamed lobsters with white truffle. Hmmm....I thought this was pretensious, or too precious, they were trying too hard. It turned out to be the most incredible marriage of flavors. I'm blessed with the ability to recall smells and flavors, and this is one I can summon at will. Truffle scent is very fragile, they should be eaten quickly as they degrade rapidly. Everyone has a theory on conserving them, but the best method is to eat them asap. 'Tartufatti" sauce is usually a mix of olives, oil and precious little actual truffle. There is nothing wrong with tartufatti, its just a blend that sort of spreads around the flavor. Truffled grappa is an abomination! And I will argue to the death on that one!

Now, I'm going to go make some dinner....oh, I think we are going to have some TRUFFLES for dinner!! Yeah, well, it seemed like a good idea to rub it in just a little....!!

There was some big doings in the piazza when we got back. The other bar in town, the Aries, has been closed all week, it's changed hands, and tonight was the grand re-opening. Free food and drinks for everyone! The entire town was there, including our mayor. I had to squeeze myself into the corner to try and get this picture. This is part of the over flow from the bar. Well, maybe. Actually these guys are pretty much there all the time. You know what a minion is? In order to hold a Jewish service there has to be a certain number of men present. In Montone, we have a similar tradition, any work or unusual occurence must be over seen a group of men, and here we call them the 'menion". On our block, we also have the women who sit on the church steps, they perform a similar function and are called the 'feminion'. The feminion reserves the right to comment on all comings, goings, pairings and flower pot arrangements.

OH! I forgot a picture! Swisskaese...this one is for you! The first roast chestnuts of the season. And I'm happy to report, they were soft, sweet and delicious!

Are the cinghiale stuffed in the culinary sense? (Somehow I'm thinking more like taxidermy). Is there a particular season when the boar are hunted? Loving your blog, Judith. Your photos are beautiful. ← Edsel, yes! In the taxidermy sense! Cinghiale season is right now, I just heard some guns going off a few minutes ago. It starts on Sept.1 and I'm not sure when it finishes, I think at the end of November. Its sort of un-nerving hearing the guns, and knowing people are out there mushroom hunting. And here is the observation of the day: The hunters wear head to toe camouflage..makes them hard to see in the woods, so to make themselves more visible, they wear bright orange vests. What is up with that logic???

Its been raining off and on all day, but that didn't stop us from driving through the Carpini Valley to Pietralunga's truffle and potato festival! I didn't make up that combination, apparently the Pietralungians are very proud of their white potatoes. Right at the entrance is the "Candy Man", guaranteed to catch every child's eye. This is the "Sausage Man from Spoleto". We bought some cinghiale sausage from him, with and without chili peppers. mmmm... The rest of this piggy has gone to porchetta heaven. May he rest in peace. Here is the nice potato lady, who also sells local honey. Another odd combination, if you ask me. When the rains came in earnest, these boys volunteered to run bags of potatos to the church. It was pretty funny looking....hmmm, maybe you had to be there... Here is Francesco Monni, my ricotta supplier, along with his daughter. Its a long story, but he calls Jeff, "Jeff American Express", and as we are walking in to the festa, we hear, "Hallloooo American Express!!" Oh yes. I'm holding out on the truffle photos! Would you be anxiously waiting for pictures of potatoes?? I think not! Here is a sign that just struck me funny. I don't think roll and wine should be in the same sentence. OK. OK. I give in. White truffles, in all their glory! This is NOT the Alba truffle fair, this is the little bitty town of Pietralunga, but these are local truffles and they smell and taste wonderful. The non-negotiated price for the big guys is about 250 euros a kilo. Here are the offerings at another booth. Later on I'll show you the ones that went home with us. And one last image from the Pietralunga festa, I took the picture because, well because, she cracked me up walking around with a napkin on her head. But aside from that, this woman's face is very representative of what the old timers look like. The kids look like this too, but they are more 'modern', so its disguised behind tweezed eyebrows (the men) and dyed hair (both sexes). These "umbrians' have lived here for a very, very long time, so it wouldn't surprise me if this was the face of an Etruscan or the original Umbrian tribes.

Ciao Dominic! Norcia is beautiful, have you been there before? Its the land of cinghiale and truffles and sausages. There are stuffed cinghiale all over the streets, its a hoot. And when you look down the block...the mountains are right there, its wonderful. You will have a great time. Are you driving? Try the Via Michelin guide for driving directions. We are right off the E45, north of the Gubbio exit. Let me know if you want to stop in for lunch!

My first thought on seeing this picture was "What beautiful carrots!" They just simply glow! ← I forgot to mention something. That's how you can tell they are local carrots, when they bend around. The dirt/earth here is so hard that none of the carrots grow straight. And that leafy stuff is a type of celery that is common here. Its very hard and tough, but full of flavor; its excellent is sauces, soups and braises. But, don't try to eat it with peanut butter!

Before going grocery shopping, we had to drop off the garbage. So, you're thinking, "Great, those are really nice garbage cans." This is the view when you take out the garbage. I like the meat at this Macelleria in Umbertide. Note the correct spelling of "chianina', those big, tasty cows. Here's the beef and pork section And the 'barnyard section: pigeon, duck, guniea hen and rabbits. You can see that the animals still have their heads on, they also have their feet and most of their innards. Everyone here knows a least basic butchering, when they hand you your bird, you get the whole bird. I'm fine with butchering, except for the rabbits; their anatomy is just a little too close to the cat's, if you know what I mean. On to the COOP. See, its really just a regular supermarket, that happens to sell whole prosciutto.

Ciao Abra! Farro is a versatile grain, and easy to prepare. Treat it as you would a lentil or small bean. It is supposed to be very healthy for you, I'm not really sure, I just like the way it tastes. Farro Salad 1 cup farro 3 cups boiling salted water Boil the farro until tender, about 20 minutes. Rinse in cold water. Add chopped fresh vegetables such as carrots, celery, tomatoes. Dress with olive oil and vinegar. Farro Soup 1 cup faro 1 carrot 1 celery stalk 1 small white or yellow onion Pancetta pieces, cut into chunks, optional Chicken stock Finely chop the vegetables to roughly the size of the farro and sweat in some olive oil over low heat. Add the farro and about 1 liter of chicken stock or water. Salt to taste. Much fewer ingredients than the Batali recipe, but anything along those lines is good. As with a lentil soup, the addition of some sausage couldn't hurt! You could probably simmer it in chicken stock, plain and serve it as a side dish, it has enough of its own flavor to stand on its own. Have fun with it! edited because I cannot spell farro. farro. farro. farro. farro. farro. farro. Maybe now I'll remember!

Ciao! Hiroyuki: yes, the chaki are meant to be eaten while soft. Interesting that Japanese has a similar sounding word for the fruit. In a few weeks, there will be trees, without leaves, but with chaki hanging there and maturing. The chaki I bought must have come from Puglia or somewhere in the south. Nina, that would have been me in Andrew's class! Ciao! Dan, thanks for the mushroom info. Yes, I was a lucky girl as these mushrooms are pretty rare.

Blame it on Pontormo! She had to bring up faro. I woke up this morning craving some faro soup. Faro is a very ancient grain, sort of barley like, its called 'spelt' in English. Anyway, I headed down to the kitchen, only to find out I was out of faro. Bummer. We've been eating faro salads all summer and I must have used up the last of my stash. So, I made some lentil soup while I had breakfast. That fruit is a 'cachi', or 'kaki', or persimmon, depending on where you are from. I adore them. Its like having ready made marmelade. I mix it with some yogurt and I'm good to go. Here's the mise for the lentil soup. All chopped up, ready and waiting for some lentils. I've added some beef stock, red wine and juniper berries because I want a hearty, fall tasting soup. Ok, soups in the oven (I can get a slower, more even heat in the oven) and I need to do a COOP run. I'm out of shampoo, toothpaste ....and faro! ciao!

We did make it to the piazza for apperitivo last night, only we had Prosecco instead of negronis. Sometimes negronis can be just a little too 'forte'! Prosecco is a dry, sparkling wine that comes from the north of Italy, in the Trentino-Alto Adige region. This is a photo from the Bisol vineyard, that I took last spring. If you look closely, you can see that the vines are pruned in a heart shaped formation. When you look at the vineyards, there are all these hearts staring back at you, its pretty cool. Prosecco is delicious and is my sparkling wine of choice. Not that I'll turn down a nice champagne! Back to dinner. We ate dinner at Erbe Luna, the bar is downstairs and the restaurant is upstairs. It's a lovely dining room, and its a pity you can see the view. It looks like a painting of a fantasy Umbrian landscape...only its real. Now, I'm jealous!!! The crew went out porcini hunting and found lots of porcini and 'boleto'. I'm not sure I'm spelling this correctly, but even Celina found mushrooms. Celina is the happy girl with a porchetta sandwich. I don't think I fully explained 'porcini fever'. It has to be like 'gold fever'...everyone has it. Mushroom hunting is not confined to the nonnas and old people. EVERYONE goes out looking for porcini. Young ragazzo (teen age boys) are whizzing around on their Vespas, with wicker baskets stuck between the handlebars, when you show up in the piazza with a basket in hand, everyone needs to see what you found. This is some of what they found yesterday. That thing that looks like a boiled egg, I think its called something like 'uova'...which means egg. But, its said in the local dialect and I'm not really clear on the name. Judy Divina, I'm sure you know the proper name for them. Regardless, they are divine! This is how they came to our table. Thinly sliced, layer of rucola, drizzle of oil, tiniest drop of lemon juice. The texture of the funghi is very soft, sensous, almost pudding like. As Jeff and I were devouring this plate, we suddenly realized that everyone was looking at us. We were making really loud, "MMMMMM" noises. Oopps! Then we shared an antipasto plate of salumi and cheeses. Now, I'm biased, I admit it, but Umbrian salumi is delicious. There are a million varieties, everyone makes a slightly different variation, but Claudio and Martina are really good about scouting out unusual and delicious cheeses and salmais. Upper right hand corner, about, at about 3:00, that's smoked duck prosciutto. Its fantastic, smoky, salty, melty on your tongue goodness. Then we both had the 'filetto al grand marnier' for dinner. Claudio gets his meat in Perugia, and this filetto is always meltingly soft, with a crackling salt crust. That's a roast potato and a bit of grilled eggplant on the plate. This is one of the few restaurants that serves some vegetable with the main course. Note, large white plate, nothing touches! Uhmmm...we did eat desert, but I forgot to take a picture. Blame it on the wine, a rich Umbrian merlot. Desert was a ruby red poached pear, sitting in a small pool of vanilla cream. We sat around after dinner with Claudio and Martina, having a cognac and some laughs. Then it was time to go home, at least for us. Here is a gang of 'townies' playing cards at the bar. Its perfectly normal to sit at the bar and not have anything to eat or drink. They will have had a drink earlier, but now they are just playing cards.