Morning ....

Life begins each morning .... Each morning is the open door to a new world - new vistas, new aims, new tryings. (Leigh Mitchell Hodges)

 

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ANTIPASTI !!!!

In a tiny walled town of Torre del Colle outside of Bevagna we encountered a new restaurant - Serpillo, truly off the beaten path. The restaurant run by a young brother and sister is established in what used to be an olive mill. With a very tasteful menu highlighted by an antipasti buffet, like none we have previously encountered.

The wide variety of tasty epicurean treats, each unique and as tasty as the next. The buffet started with small toasted walnut bread, then began the jars with variety of pickled treats ... small onion, garlic, caper berries, anchovies, etc ... pate, mortadella canapés, sautéed salad with arugula, radiccio & walnuts; shaved cucumber with a lemon vinaigrette .....

.... fried polenta, anchovy canapés, baked chipolini onions, fritata with herbs, pears with cinnamon and walnuts, the most wonderful morsel with dried plum wrapped with a small piece of bacon; a sweet and salty burst of flavor!

The buffet also include a cheese selection of 8-10 choices from Europe; Italy, France, & Switzerland. This of course included a well aged parmigiana that could be accompanied by a local honey or a fig jam. This also included a yellow Italian cheese that was made with saffron and pepper (very interesting).

So many choices, so little time! If you are ever in the vicinity of Bevagna don't pass this place. Open for Lunch and Dinner on Sunday; Dinner Tues - Saturday.

www.serpillo.it

 

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Trevi - Sedano Nero e Sagra della salsiccia

Sedano Nero e Sagra della salsiccia (black celery & sausage festival)

Fall in Italy brings with it celebrations of the bountiful harvest. This weekend found the hill town of Trevi alive with the black celery and sausage festival! Sedanari (celery growers) bring their finest to compete in Piazza Mazzini for first prize - awarded for celery with the whitest of stalks and greenest of folliage. As fall is also the ideal season for making sausage, the sausage festival is combined with the celery celebration.

If you think of celery as the Rodney Dangerfield (aka "I get no respect") of vegetables, you need only one bite of the Sedano parmigiana or the bruschetta topped with a pesto made from the rich green tops of this black celery to change your mind. Add in one (or two) of these local sausages on a crusty roll and what more could you ask for!

 

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Planes, Trains & Automobiles

The 2013 adventure to Italy began with an attempt to be 'Italian'. First attempt: not successful ... we flew (red, white and blue) Delta; (0% Italian).

2nd attempt: much more successful -- we took the new Italo train Milan to Florence (percent 'Italian' increased to 50%).

3rd attempt - rental car ... sad to say ... Ford Focus!!!!! ('Italian' points took a dive to 33.33%)

Arriving more American than (born again) Italian didn't dampen our spirits; Barbara the Avis rental agent at the Foligno train station recognized us as we walked in the door, and as we pulled away the familiarity of the route to the Inn quickly returned. Driving through the gates of the Inn, the feeling that we had returned to our Italian home away from home was confirmed, as Mary and MIchael walked out the door to greet us.

 

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Lets Talk About Food - Part 3

A quick note about ..... GELATO!

No trip is complete without it, without it DAILY. :-)

We found a great place in Rome with the most fantastic flavors. Pictured, pink grapefruit and Amalfi lemon (cup): strawberry and blackberry (half eaten cone)

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Morning Has Broken

Sunrise in Ravello, looking east from the balcony of our room towards Minori. A beautiful sight, but also an overtone of melancholy as it brings with it our departure to Roma and the end of this segment of our holiday.

The day ends with a view of Michelangelo's dome at St. Peters from the rooftop terrace of our hotel ... It's hard to be gloomy with that as the backdrop for a late evening Italian meal!

 

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Lets Talk About Food - Part 2

This Little Piggy Went To Market ...

The second installment about food has to focus on a major food group - Pork. Cured, grilled, smoked, braised - one can't say enough good things about the pork in Italia! Whether meats and cheeses, meat and fruit, served alone or with a contorni .... antipasta, primi or secondi ... They are all memorable.

Cured salumi on a breakfast buffet

Proscuitto and cheese panini

Proscuitto and melone

Braised suckling pork shank

A Whitman's Sampler of salumis

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