Archive for the ‘scenes from village life’ Category
Calabria Traveling Market: Buying Pecorino, Capocollo, ‘Nduja, and Pancetta from the Back of a Car
In Calabria, some days you go to the market. On other days you’re innocently typing away on your computer when you hear the cry of “Formaggio formaggio formaggio paesanoooo!” outside.
On those days, the market has come to you. So you grab your wallet and camera (no need for keys — you can just leave those in the lock in the front door), and head outside to see your choices.
Here was the selection yesterday morning:
This is all homemade and handmade locally by the seller and his wife.
Here he is weighing my capocollo and pancetta:
Yes, I decided to splurge and get pecorino, capocollo, and pancetta. Paolo and his friends have been working hard in our campagna (which means they need food up there every day) and most of his family is also around this month, so it’s good to have reserves in the house for drop-ins.
Homemade “paesano” salumi and cheese doesn’t come cheap, but it’s worth every centesimo. Still, the guy could sense my reluctance to part with my euros (may have been due to my price-haggling), so he threw in a big chunk of ‘nduja for free. You can see it a bit in the upper left of this photo:
What’s that? You’re not familiar with ‘nduja (ahn-DOO-ya)? Guess I’ll have to write a blog post about it, but for now, suffice it to say that it’s a Calabrian treasure — an uber-spicy, spreadable sausage that works well on everything from bruschetta to pasta.
And if you want a refresher course on the differences between pancetta, capocollo, our beloved suppressata, and more, check out Vince Scordo’s Guide to Cured Italian Meats: Salumi.
How would you enjoy the pecorino and salumi I picked up at the traveling market?
Benefits of Chamomile: Prenditi una camomilla!
“Prenditi una camomilla!” is a common Italian expression that literally means “Have yourself a chamomile tea!” but it’s the colloquial equivalent of “Chill out!” or “Take a chill pill!” if you prefer.
There’s even a Facebook group dedicated to this phrase, which happens to be one of my absolute favorites in the Italian language.
More literally, though, many Italians also suggest chamomile tea as a general home remedy for just about any ailment, including insomnia.
Although I love other herbal teas, I’m actually not a huge fan of drinking chamomile; I do, however, *love* the little flowers it comes from.
Maybe you’ve seen them growing wild somewhere?
As you can see, they look like little daisies (in fact, they’re from the daisy family), and they are literally everywhere in the spring in Calabria. You may know the plant as Roman chamomile, English chamomile, garden chamomile, and various other names.
Did you know even Shakespeare knew chamomile, writing that “The more it is trodden on, the faster it grows” in Henry IV?
In our garden, chamomile grows wild, lining the walkway, shown here with the dogs nearby so you can see just how tiny the flowers are:
To be honest I didn’t even notice these little flowers in Calabria until one day I saw an older gentleman picking them on the side of the road; only then did I realize they must have some use — Calabrians often focus on the utility of plants and flowers, not always their beauty.
Once you’re close to the chamomile, though, the unique scent will tell you what the flowers are. Che profumo!
More Health Benefits of Chamomile
Chamomile does a lot more than just calm your nerves, too; it can also act as an anti-inflammatory, which means it can ease indigestion, other digestive issues, canker sores, conjunctivitis, menstrual cramps, eczema, hemorrhoids, migraines, and more.
For a full list as well as precautions for using chamomile, check out the Chamomile Fact Sheet at About.com.
Are you a chamomile fan?
My Fellow Americans, Happy Memorial Day!
Just a quick post to wish my fellow Americans a Happy Memorial Day as we remember our veterans and all they’ve sacrificed for us.
And now it’s time for me to step away from the computer for a bit as I regroup, take some photos, scratch some goatie faces, walk with the pooches, hang out in the campagna, and get psyched up for a busy summer ahead. Woohoo!
What do you have planned for the summer?
Calabrian Peas Fresh from the Garden
Remember when I shared Judy Witts Francini’s recipe for Piselli alla Fiorentina from her wonderful cookbook Secrets from My Tuscan Kitchen? I had to use frozen peas for that dish because ours weren’t ready yet . . . but then they got ready. And man do I love fresh peas from the garden.
Peas are even gorgeous as plants, aren’t they? Such pretty flowers!
I know the goats agree, and although I’m sure they’d love to munch on the peas at any stage of growth, they usually just get the pods once we’ve removed the peas.
And they love ’em!
If you’ve been following along at Goat Berries, you know that these photos are from a few weeks ago as we no longer have the goats pictured above. *sigh*
But we still have Pasqualina and Pinta, and they both love the pea pods too (and fava pods if you got ’em) . . . as I also wrote on Goat Berries, we now even get gift bags of pea and fava pods left in front of our door just for the girls!
I don’t have to tell them twice to eat their veggies!
Come back Wednesday for another great fresh pea recipe — this time with pasta!
What’s growing in your garden right now?
Prosciutto e Melone, Caprese Salad, and Palazzo Paparo
We’re enjoying absolutely gorgeous weather here today in the toe of the boot, which often means a quick, cold lunch like this one:
Prosciutto Crudo e Melone and a pseudo-Caprese Salad — this time with oregano because I didn’t have any basil, but hey oregano is still green, so the whole “colors of the Italian flag” thing still works.
Grab a chunk of Italian bread and a glass of red wine and head out onto the balcony, and all is right with the world…especially now that the old palazzo of Baron Paparo across the street from us is being freed of its scaffolding (previously attached to our house, for the past 10 years!).
I’ll be following up on this palazzo, by the way, taking some photos, posting them here, and hopefully sparking interest in wealthy investors who would like to help us (the town) restore the palazzo to its former grandeur. The first time I walked inside, I felt like I was in a scene from Titanic, when you see the ship underwater but then it magically transforms into what it *used* to be…. *le sigh*
In the meantime, if you know of anyone who might be interested, let me know! I know it would mean the scaffolding would have to go back up, but it would be *so* worth it.
Hope you’re enjoying your weekend too!
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.
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