Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

Chestnuts, wine and olive oil.

It’s Saint Martin’s day today,
and one of the most great Italian poets from the 19th century, Giosuè Carducci,
wrote a poem dedicated to this day, called “San Martino” which begins:

La nebbia agli irti colli piovigginando sale…

“Drizzling, the fog the steep hills climbs…”

Fog?????
Not this year, for sure, in Cortona!
We are enjoying a very unusual weather for this time of year: warm and sunny.
It’s like September but with yellow leafs on trees!

I know it’s not good, but I’m secretly glad the bad weather’s been put off for a while..

Castagne alla brace.

 

Also, without fog, you can fully enjoy the beautiful autumn colours of our hills, and nobody says you can’t bake those amazing chestnuts you find in the woods and eat them along with some delicious mulled wine…

 

 

 

Plus, with the good weather our people have already been able to pick their olives and make the long-awaited,
new,
incredibly green,
prickly
olive oil.

Bruschetta all'olio nuovo.




 

 

 

 

 

I’M HUNGRY.

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Cortona and local food festivals.

I’m sure that if you are in Italy right now you’ve already noticed quite a number of posters bearing the word “SAGRA”…

It indicates a traditional gastronomical town festival, often dedicated to some specific local food, and the name itself of the sagra includes that food.
Remember some posts ago?
“La sagra della bistecca”… the beef steak festival.

You can find any kind of festival!
From the watermelon one to the frog one,
from the “Sagra della pizza” to the “Sagra della castagna”
(the chestnut festival).

It depends on the time of the year.
It can last from one to several days and usually local people cook whole meals including many other delicious products (obviously!)
Great traditional recipes and very good prices.

The word “sagra” comes from the Latin “sacrum” which means “sacred”, in fact, in ancient times, all year round, various harvesting occasions were celebrated by religious feasts to thank divinities for the crops. For this reason they were held in front of temples or churches.

In Cortona the local Sagre (plural) are held in the park, the “Parterre” gardens.

Tomorrow and Saturday evening? La “Sagra del fungo porcino”!
The 22nd edition of the porcini mushroom  festival… delicious: amazing dishes made with porcini from the rich mountains surrounding Cortona.

Any events tonight?

Yes! The opening of the 8th edition of the European festival of folk music and dances.
No food… but very good entertainment!

Cortona, Piazza della Repubblica, 9.30 pm

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Star gazing and wine tasting in Montepulciano.

Every year, on the 10th of august, at night, Italians raise their heads to the sky and look for falling stars.

In Italy it’s Saint Lawrence’s night, “la notte di San Lorenzo”.
Usually shooting stars are visible more on this day  than at any other time of the year because Perseus’ constellation is passing through our planet’s orbit.
The meteor shower is explained in a much more poetic way by Saint Lawrence’s martyrdom.
Falling stars would be his tears descending on earth on the day of his death, creating a magic and hopeful atmosphere.
So if you hope for a special wish to come true you should pronounce these words, when you spot a falling star: “Star, my beautiful star, I wish for…..”
“Stella, mia bella stella, desidero che…..”

I recommend, on this occasion, Montepulciano’s main summer event: “Calici di stelle”.

Montepulciano

(does “Vino Nobile di Montepulciano” ring any bell? )
“Star Chalices”.
A wine and food tour through the town’s quarters, accompanied by art performances and music!
Only twenty minutes from Cortona!

The complete programme is HERE.

Calici di stelle

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Beef steak festival in Cortona!

Have you ever come across the Italian word “Ferragosto”?
It refers to a special holiday instituted by the roman emperor Ottaviano Augusto (18th century b.C.); in fact “Ferragosto” comes from the Latin “Feriae Augusti” which simply meant “Augusto’s rest”.
It also happens to coincide with the Catholic event of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
So: double celebration!!
In Cortona we celebrate it by eating grilled beef steak …(!?)

The grill!

From every home, garden or restaurant there will be delicious smell of fresh meat cooked in the simplest but best of ways!…for me at least!

If you happen to be around Cortona at this time of the year you’d better not miss the famous “SAGRA DELLA BISTECCA”, the Beef steak festival! This year it will be at its 51st edition.

In our beautiful 19th century park, the Parterre, will be a 14 meters long grill! An enormous barbecue surrounded by our local men, in aprons, holding very long forks cooking T-Bone steaks, sausages and spare-ribs. All these you can taste along with Chianti wine, local cheeses and more …on the 14th and 15th of August!

Deeeelish!

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