Locorotondo Awesomeness

From left to right: Paola, Tamara, Devlin, Antonio

Our fabulous host, Antonio, in Locorotondo (Puglia region - southeastern Italy) spoiled us many times over with incredible meals and beverages! We drank local wine, sampled his homemade cognac and mirto (made from myrtle berries from a bush outside his home), and his mom made a fabulous dinner. Here are some highlights!

A dish cooked by his mom: pasta (a typical type from Puglia) with mushrooms!

This deserves a whole post, but for now just this picture:
cooking on the fireplace is very common and traditional, and so tasty!

A local dessert made by Antonio's mom: a wonderful puff pastry filled with a light cream

Another local liquor, made with infused herbs (tastes like Christmas!),
with Antonio's dad in the background (he has a great sense of humor! :)

Paola's fabulous risotto with saffron!

Prickly Pears

All throughout southern Italy, and here in Sicily, we have seen these cactii with pinkish-yellow fruit on them. To begin with we weren't sure what they were, but they were everywhere - in ditches, in gardens, near houses.

We found out that they are Fico d'India - or Prickly Pears. They are eaten in the summer, and what we were seeing were the remains of old fruit. No idea how they taste - and I admit, I'm not so interested in finding out!

Caffè Italiano

Italian coffee. Ahh, ci piace molto! (Ahh, we like it very much!) Rarely has there been a morning here where we did not have coffee. For Italians, it is a primary part of breakfast (la prima collazione). Most Italian breakfasts are pretty light and consist of coffee and a croissant/biscotti (cookies)/cereal/toast with jam.

Also, we love the cappuchinos here, and we have often gone out to get a cappuchino and a croissant (usually chocolate filled - yum!). A caffè,  the strong, small cups of coffee that we Americans call "espresso" are the typical main drink in a cafe, and the prices are generally set around .80 to .90 euro ($1 - $1.20). A cappuchino costs a bit more, usually around 1.20 euros ($1.60). Add on a 1euro croissant, and you have a great sugar-loaded breakfast. :D

 una caffettiera

While we stayed in Trulli il Castagno, it was a great treat to have our own caffettiera (a particularly Italian coffee maker - see the pic to the right). We have our own in the states. Italian coffee is very strong, and even Italians here will add a spoonful or two of sugar to their caffe. For us, we like to make it in the caffettiera and add sugar and milk to our cups (a much more American way of drinking it).

We also learned a fantastic method of making coffee using the caffettiera, which we were taught by our couchsurfing host, Dario, in Napoli. He used caffè con nocciole (coffee with hazelnut - the Italians love hazelnut in almost every sweet). The result is a sweet, creamy coffee - with no milk added. I call this the "Dario Coffee Recipe."

1. Begin brewing coffee in a 3-cup caffettiera (water is in the bottom part, coffee in a strainer in the middle - the water evaporates up through the coffee and re-condenses in the top compartment.)
2. Put about half of 1/4 cup of sugar in a container (I'd use a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup at home). Wait for the first "drop" of coffee to form in the top compartment. Pour this drop (about 1 or 2 spoonfuls of coffee) into the sugar, and mix vigorously with a spoon. Leave the caffettiera on the stove to finish brewing.
3. Continue mixing the sugar - at first it will be a thick paste, and then it develops into a creamy brown syrup. 
4. When the caffettiera has finished brewing (you can always tell because it starts to make noise - this indicates that the water has finished evaporating, and the top compartment is already almost full) - pour the coffee in with the sugar syrup and mix well.
5. Drink and enjoy! You should have a wonderful sweet coffee which tastes like you added a sweet creamer to it. :)

Bean & Pork Stew

While we stayed in the Amalfi coast region (south of Napoli), our wonderful couchsurfing hosts, Aude and Mimmo, made this fantastic soup for us! My instructions are very rough (sorry - I only ate it!) but with try this when you want to experiment. :)

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• large beans (fagioli) 
• pork (from the cheek)
• celery, onion, garlic
• white wine
• large toasted breadcrumbs

Instructions:

1. Soak the beans overnight. 
2. Cook chopped onion and garlic in olive oil, then add the pork. Add white wine.
3. Add celery and cook for ~ 5 minutes.
4. Add water and beans, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes to let flavors combine.
5. To serve, pour over breadcrumbs. Top with a swirl of olive oil and dry oregano.
6. Buon appettito!

Etc Pics

A typical meat/cheese counter in a supermarket -
those are gigantic legs of prosciutto! Yum!!

Assorted beautiful pastas near Napoli

Gigantic nutella!

Does your Pizza bend?

In true Neapolitan style, the crust is very chewy and flexible.
 Step 1: order your pizza, most come with 2-3 ingredients.
 Step 2: cut into 4 slices (pretty big)
 Step 3: fold a slice in half and eat from the inside out

Yum!  most pizzas like this cost ~5 euros ($6.50)!

Stinging Nettles anyone? Yum!

These noodles are made from the nettle plant. The stinging part goes away when they are processed and the noodle come out to have a very nice taste.  Coupled with a little tuna and olive oil, this makes a great snack in less than 10 minutes with 2 steps (boil noodles, then add oil and tuna). 

Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Steps: 2

Pick your Own Mushrooms?

How many times do people tell you not to eat unknown mushrooms?  Well, what do you know, we were out and about in Parrano's countryside and sure enough, there were lots of beautiful mushrooms similar to a portabella.  One person says they are edible, another says only eat them if they aren't unfolded yet.  These were yummy.  Our host cooked them up with some oil and put them over toast.  Simple and easy for an antipasta ( pre meal ).

Buon appetito!

Canned Goods in Italy

At the Festa di Dolce in Parrano, we found this amazing display of canned goods. It was in the ground floor of the owners' home, and they had a marvelous and tasty display of bruschetta with samples. Of these, the best were an artichoke paste, pickled zucchini, pickled pepper, and a rich tomato sauce/paste.






They also had a ton of other things: jams (marmellate), homemade limoncello and a number of other fabulous things. The huge variety was amazing to us, as we know how much work canned goods are to make. We bought two jars of the pomodori rosso (red tomato) sauce/paste to make with our own bruschetta.

Sausage & Grapes

What a cool dish this was - a really intriguing combination of fruit and meat. To make it:

1. Warm a little garlic in olive oil, then add raw sausage chunks. Cook sausage completely. Meanwhile, cut grapes in half - make sure to get seedless green grapes (these weren't seedless, and the seeds had to be removed by hand).
2. Add the grapes, and let the mixture simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the flavors have combined. 
3. Buon appetito! Eat. :)

Chickpeas - an Italian favorite

We had a chickpea soup for lunch one day in Parrano. Chickpeas appear to be a standard favorite in Italian cuisine - they are easily found in the grocery stores here. To cook this, Giovanna soaked and then pressure-cooked dry chickpeas. The pasta was cooked in the chickpea water (the water has added flavor from the chickpeas) and then added salt. A very neat dish!

Also in the background is a red cabbage salad and to the right a bottle of balsamic vinegar, in squeeze bottle form! Balsamic vinegar is commonly sold here as a liquid but also thick syrup to put on salads, desserts, cheese, etc.

Umbria Pizza from scratch

This was a great night with Giovanna.  The round one was sausage and cabbage.  The cabbage was cooked for a long time and brought out the sweetness flavor.  It was my favorite.  The rectangle one with cheese and pomorino (tomato sauce) with a little pesto  Yum!

Padova - Pollo Mista

This was interesting. We went out with a couch surfer in Padova and had some local specials. A mix of chicken, carrot, potato, zucchini, and mayonnaise.  Nice and light with a tang!

Hotel Breakfast Germany

This was quite good.  I really liked the bologna and cheese for the morning.  The tomato and cucumber was nice, but a little strange.  I really liked the coffee machine. :)

Taste of Bavaria

This dish was wonderful.  It was bread balls, potatoe chunks, and two kinds of ham/pork on the bottom with gravy.  There was a wonderful horse radish side dish.  Coupled with some sprit mixed beer, it was delish.

Ricetta per i Biscotti

For all our friends who are cooks/bakers back home, here is a recipe you must try! We arrived yesterday afternoon in Parrano, a small Italian town perched on a hill. Giovanna, our wonderful WWOOFing host for the next three weeks, made this fabulous and tasy (tasty = "molto buono" in Italian) Biscotti recipe for us.

Last winter was very unusual in Parrano - the snow was a meter and a half thick! Almost 4'! Giovanna ran out of eggs, and as she lives outside of Parrano (20 minutes walking), she wasn't able to get to the village for supplies. A nearby friend taught her this minimal biscuit recipe (recipe = "ricetta" in Italian), which requires only a few ingredients: flour, white wine, olive oil, and sugar.

Biscotti con olio et vino Ricetta
"Biscotti with olive oil and wine Recipe"

1. Use equal proportions of flour, olive oil, white wine, and sugar. For this recipe, use about 1/2 cup of each, and mix together. 
2. Add flour to the wet mix until saturated - the dough should not feel sticky, and you should be able to roll a small piece into a ball without pieces sticking to your hand.
3. Take a ping-pong ball sized piece, roll it into a short snake, roughly 4" long
4. Shape the piece as desired - we shaped them into little ribbons, and pressed the tail of one end over the other. Then place on a plate dusted in white sugar.
5. Bake at roughly 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Please note that I don't know the correct oven temperature - this is my best guess. :) 

Optional ingredients & changes:

• Use brown sugar instead of white in the main recipe
• Substitute whole wheat flours or other flours, in equal proportions with the white
• Giovanna added chopped ginger (pretty large-sized cubes of ginger) to the recipe, which added a fantastic flavor.
• Use other spices as desired - cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, etc

Risotto alla CS

We stayed one night with a fabulous couchsurfer named Julia, in Padua, Italy. She cooked us a great risotto with zucchini. Parmesan for grating on top.

Cheese!

Going back in time a bit on our trip - here is a shot of some gigantic wheels of cheese, at a supermarket in Padua, Italy! Feel like carrying one of these massive wheels home?...