Archive for May, 2010
The Lay of the Land in Calabria
The physical layout of life in a medieval hilltop village in southern Italy is often hard to grasp — especially for people who haven’t been here — so I’m going to try to explain it.
As I’ve written before, many medieval villages up on the hills have counterpart towns on the sea; we’re up on the hill, where houses are very close to one another, often touching. This is about a quarter of Badolato (our quarter, as it were) with the Ionian Sea in the background:
Around the outskirts of town, there are small green patches where people have their gardens, even animals. Most of them are places where houses used to be but have fallen or otherwise been compromised, but any time you can get just a little “orto” near your house, you’ve scored.
Last year, P and I secured a small chunk of land very close to our house (it’s about a 30 second walk), but it’s not like a “yard” that some might imagine.
There are actually two levels to it; one you can see below and the other is just off to the side of this, a few steps down to the right, and is where we plant veggies. You can see the chicken coop and goat pen on the left. The house with the big hole in it? Not ours. You can actually see our bedroom window, though…that brown squarish thing just to the left of the whitish house? I have it in a note on Flickr if you click through:
To give you an idea of the distance, here is a photo taken about half way between our house and the entrance to orto, looking toward the house (the last house on the right — it’s on a corner, and yes I know it needs paint, badly):
This photo overlooks the beginning of the garden (you can see the tops of our trees just past the iron railing), although the entrance is another twenty or so paces away:
And here is a photo from the outside looking in; I’ve labeled it on Flickr with notes (click on the photo to go there) so you can see where we live compared to where the goats live in our orto:
We also keep some chickens and hens there:
Our orto has a lemon tree, a couple mandarin trees, a nespole tree, a fig tree, a small grapevine, and we also plant various crops there, including lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, peas, peperoncini, basil, and this year…strawberries!
And here is the view from our orto (from inside the goat pen):
This was taken a couple months ago, so those branches you see on the right are now full of fig leaves and the beginnings of some fruit.
So as you can see, it’s a nice little space that produces plenty for the two of us — actually way more than we need so we end up giving to friends and neighbors, and often get things in return that we haven’t grown yet, like zucchini and eggplants and also all kinds of pork products since we don’t have a pig. Yet.
Are you wondering about olives and olive oil? Well, there’s also some unofficial news on that, but it’s going to have to wait for another post.
Phew. Any questions?
Best Crostini Recipe Ever + Breaking Bread in L’Aquila
Maria Filice‘s Breaking Bread in L’Aquila is a product of love — love for her late husband Paul Piccone, of his native city L’Aquila in Abruzzo (yes, the same one that was devastated by an earthquake last year), of her own Calabrian heritage (Marie’s parents were born in Cosenza), and of delicious, simply prepared Italian food.
Marie graciously shares this amore with us, and indeed, is donating net proceeds of the book to the continuing relief efforts in Abruzzo and is also appearing in Santo Stefano di Sessanio, Abruzzo this Saturday, May 15, if you’re in the neighborhood!
The layout of this hardcover book is gorgeous with the recipes on the left side and full-color photos on the right — for each and every recipe. And the organization is unique as well: recipes are divided into menus that include antipasti (appetizers), primi piatti (usually pasta), secondi piatti (meat), contorni (vegetables), and dolci (desserts) for each day of the week; if you have a special dinner coming up, you can just open up Maria’s book and have a menu all set. Perfetto!
Many of Maria’s 50 or so recipes are classics like aglio olio peperoncino and bruschetta, but there are also some that were new to both Paolo and me. On my first run through, I made a note of at least five different recipes to try immediately with things we already had in the house.
In case you don’t realize, that’s pretty darn impressive for a southern Italian cookbook in a southern Italian house.
Speaking of items we had on hand, Maria also includes the “Pantry Page” with a checklist of things you should always keep handy. That stocked pantry is one of the most important parts of true Italian cooking, i.e., deciding what’s for dinner based on what you have on hand, and even better, having it on the table within about an hour. *That* is an Italian art form, and Maria has captured its essence wonderfully.
Breaking Bread in L’Aquila would be an excellent addition to any cookbook collection as it is not only full of great recipes, it’s simply a gorgeous book. Even if you don’t cook, you’ll enjoy the photos! And if you need a gift, particularly for someone with an interest in Italian and/or southern Italian cuisine, this is perfect.
I give this cookbook five extremely full espresso cups out of five; I couldn’t recommend it more.
**THIS CONTEST IS OVER**
Maria is offering up a copy of Breaking Bread in L’Aquila to one lucky Bleeding Espresso reader. Just comment on this post by May 20, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. (CET) to enter.
Now, without further ado, Maria’s recipe for Crostini with my slight adaptations; I am not exaggerating when I say I’ve made these at least once a week since I received Maria’s book (on Paolo’s specific request). We’ve had them as afternoon snacks and as dinner. They are so, so, so good — especially with a nice glass of red wine.
Crostini from Breaking Bread in L’Aquila by Maria Filice
(as adapted by me)
(serves 2)
- 6 slices of Italian bread, about 1/4 inch thick
- 2 small to medium-sized balls of fresh mozzarella, sliced
- 6 anchovy fillets
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- Handful of capers
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Oregano and salt to taste
1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. In a small bowl, mix together tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, and salt. Let stand while you arrange the rest.
3. Arrange slices of bread in a single layer on a baking sheet.
4. Place a slice or two of mozzarella on the bread so that you cover most of it.
5. Put an anchovy fillet on each slice of bread (more if you like anchovies like we do!).
6. Add some capers to each slice (I put three or four on each slice — we like capers too).
7. Cover the slices with the tomato mixture. I’ve found a fork actually works better than a spoon for this; you don’t want a whole lot of liquid making it onto the crostini as it’ll make the bread soggy.
8. Sprinkle with more oregano.
9. Bake in the oven for about 7 or 8 minutes, or until cheese melts.
10. Serve immediately, preferably with a glass of red wine.
Buon appetito!
Spending Mother’s Day in Campagna
It’s not official yet, so I don’t want to *officially* announce that P and I have acquired a campagna (land in the countryside), but we did spend this afternoon up there, and I can’t possibly hold in my joy.
For La Festa della Mamma, P swept me away from all my four-legged babies and did this for me:
While I did this:
And then we both enjoyed this:
Una giornata perfetta.
(A perfect day.)
Happiest of Mother’s Days to all the moms out there, especially mine!
P.S. Yes, there are olive trees! Yay!
Love Thursday: Hearts Sprouting Up Everywhere
This week we have two reader submissions, but first let me direct you to a Love Thursday post I put up over at Goat Berries a few weeks ago: Pinta’s Heart-Shaped Stain:
I’m sure it *shocks* you to learn that one of our kids was born with a heart on her side…BUT there’s even more to the story, so do check it out!
Now, the first reader submission is from Funda in Connectict, whose mother happens to be from Puglia. Funda wrote:
I wanted to share a little love with you, that appeared among my seedlings. I recently planted some seeds indoors for my garden, and among the little tomato sprouts was such a sweet surprise.
Love it, Funda! Thanks so much for sharing!
And here are some wooden hearts from Austen in San Francisco:
Austen wonders if holding these hearts might be good luck…I’d be willing to try. They’re gorgeous! Love the lighting in the photo too.
I also want to take a moment to thank all of you who snap these wonderful photos and send them to my inbox; it’s always such a happy surprise to find them in there, on any given day, and to feel the love and warmth that comes through. Please do keep sending them in!
Have you seen or felt love sprouting up somewhere lately?
Has anything happened to make you more aware that love is all around? Do tell!
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
Three Red Poppies Swaying in the Wind
Have you heard about the She Who Blogs 3rd Anniversary Photo Contest in which you can win a $33 Amazon gift certificate?
The contest ends May 8th, so get moving! Post a photo on your blog of your take on the theme “THREE,” and head over to the contest page to enter it.
Here’s my Bleeding Espresso entry:
Tre papaveri rossi that happen to be located just behind the little house on the piece of land P and I are in the process of acquiring…yes, more details forthcoming on our new campagna assuming all goes well. Fingers crossed!
P.S. I also put up a “Three” photo over at Goat Berries…couldn’t resist!
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
Calabria Guidebook
Recipes
