Italy: Part 3

[To those of you following along, thank you! I’ve updated the photo captions on the Part 1 and Part 2. I’ll be back to regularly scheduled recipes and ramblings soon enough, promise! Only one more post after this one!]

We’re headed into what could be arguably described as my two favorite days of the tour. Everyone’s go-to question has been, “What was your favorite part/city/food/wine of the trip?” That’s truly a hard question to answer. There was so much to take in. I’m still digesting it.

After we pried ourselves away from the beach and beautiful cliffs of Cinque Terre, we started on the bus towards Emilia Romagna where we experienced the absolute hottest day of the entire trip. More specifically we were going to stop at in Parma at a prosciutto factory. We were surrounded by rows and rows of cured pig legs. The tour we were given was really interesting. I really doubt any food factory in the US, especially one where meat is being handled, would let people wander around like we did. We ended up in the main room of their six-person operation where they debone, trim, and package up the dried ham—approx. 450 of them a day. It’s a total process, and we got to get up close and personal with it while they showed us how it all goes down. Did you know that they turn all of the leg bones into oil for energy? Did you know that send all of the scraps to dog and cat food factories? Nothing is wasted, and it’s so cool. We were treated to a massive prosciutto feast afterward. Plates and plates and plates and plates of proscuitto, huge hunks of cheese, baguette, and sparkling wine of the red and white variety. We finished it off with espresso and chocolate coconut cake. It was absolutely over the top. I would have never expected that in a million years. To top it off, it was a Saturday. They don’t work Saturdays. They came in just to show us around. That’s so cool.

We continued on to Fratta Terme di Bertinoro, a tiny town of 1000 people. Our hotel, Grand Hotel Terme Della Fratta, looked like something out of Rome with fancy columns. It was definitely one of the fanciest places we stayed in on the trip. In Bertinoro, we stopped in at Cantina Celli for another wine tour and tasting. The owners and people who worked at this wine might have been my favorite. They were so fun, and were so embarrassed of their English, but it was fabulous. It is family owned, and one of the small daughters kept coming in to get her dad’s attention while he talked. Classic. The view from their tasting room is incredible. It’s up on the  hillside, and you can see the Adriatic Sea. It’s nice and close. They proceeded to feed us an aperitiv of breads and cheeses while we tasted some of their white wines made from Albana grapes. I’m pretty sure we picked up a couple bottles. We walked over to a small restaurant on the hillside, Osteria Enoteca Ca’ de Be’. The restaurant had closed just for us and a wedding party that would be coming in toward the end of our meal. See? Special treatment all the time. The views alone from this restaurant were stellar. It was more of the same incredible view of the city and the sea. The temperature continued to climb once we were in the restaurant. Who needs air conditioning? The food was a lot more comforting and hearty than a lot of the dishes we were eating before. It was all served family style, so I could eat as much or as little as I wanted. There was a tasty bruschetta, some homemade pasta with ragu, a massive platter of various grilled meats, and dessert that I can’t for the life of me remember now. Why didn’t I write this all down? I spent most of the evening talking with one of the women who worked on the marketing and exporting side of the winery. The market is growing into Asia. Who knew? When we got back to the hotel, it was still ridiculously warm. Andrew and I spent a good part of an hour kicking a soccer ball around in the cool grass. It felt nice to be outside and moving around. I told myself I wouldn’t officially workout on the trip, so this was a nice change to the eating and drinking and sitting we’d been doing.

In a complete 180º from the extreme heat, it was cool and rainy when we woke up. It’s nice to see Italy can have just as insane weather as Portland. We were headed to Ravenna to take in a guided tour of the mosaics. Ravenna is totally understated in terms of Italian tourism. No one talks about it like they do Roma, Venice, or Florence. I don’t know why, and I suppose I’m totally okay with that. It wasn’t that crowded. The first place we saw was Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo. There are some incredible mosaics there, with even crazier stories behind them. How anyone had the patience to lay all those tiny pieces of glass, I’ll never know. Basilica of San Vitale was even more impressive, especially since it was a) so old, and b) was completed in some 20 years. Mind blown. Mausoleum of Galla Placidia had an incredible night sky created out of mosaics. It was glow with the dimly lit space and only candlelight. We also had a chance to see Dante’s Tomb. We were given a few hours of free time to wander Ravenna after the tour, but it was rainy, Sunday, and right during that magical time when most of the shops were closed. It was unfortunate. It didn’t stop us from eating a magical kebab and getting drinks from a bar. Eating and drinking, it never stops.

We transferred to Bagnacavallo, where we had a cooking demonstration at Osteria di Piazza Nuova. The owner of the restaurant and the owner of the winery have been friends for over 30 years. It was a sight to see. The restaurant was charming and rustic, none of the dining rooms looking the same as the others. We were treated to some house wine while we watched a demonstration on how to make gnocchi. They sauteed it in some butter, sage, and nutmeg for serving which might be one of the heavenliest combos I’ve tasted in a long, long time. What we didn’t know is that the two guys and the owner who did the demo would also hop into the kitchen and whip up another four course meal. They cooked with such quick precision that it was hard to believe there were so few people working in there. The owner did all of the serving, too. We started with a delicious little spinach/egg quiche thing [it’s in Part 2] topped with some fresh tomato sauce and a Parmesan crisp. Next came another delicious pasta and ragu dish. When it’s done right, as it was in every meal we ate, it never ever gets old. Nothing beats it. Stuffed pork, a lovely gravy, roasted potatoes and a bread crumb stuffed tomato came next. Such tender pork did not need a knife. Finally, a espresso semifreddo [like an ice cream cake] dessert topped with fresh whipped cream and a berry sauce. To die for. Did we also have espresso to go with it? Of course.We spent the rest of the evening at the hotel, which meant Andrew and I cursed the hotel TV gods for not having a channel showing Inter Milan’s final game of the season.

We were taken to a ceramic factory in Faenza in the morning for a tour and some shopping. Beautiful handmade ceramics. I didn’t buy anything, but looked on in awe at the craftsmanship. I was also holding all extremities so tightly to my body in case I broke something. I had my mom’s “Don’t touch anything!” in my head. I guess I did learn something all those years ago. The saddest part about this area would be rocked by the earthquakes. It was hard to believe we had just been there a few days prior. We continued on to Tuscany. It’s every bit what the internet/movies/tv wants you to think it is. Incredible rolling hills of amazing vineyards and the occasional villa. We stopped at a Chianti factory for a tour. This was the only winery that was actually in the middle of production when we stopped in. You know the traditional Chianti bottles with the wicker basket bottoms? Yeah, they’re from here. We saw bottle after bottle head down conveyor belts being sterilized, filled, sealed, and boxed up. There was a lot going on in such a very short period of time. After meeting the owner, we headed up to his estate. Has it blown your mind yet that we’ve stepped foot on so many incredible properties? It’s still blowing mine every time I think about it. This house was every bit as beautiful as you’d expect it to be. There was a massive gate. A huge second building off to the side where they age Chianti and Vin Santo. The house looks out over Tuscany in such a soothing way. It would not be a bummer to wake up to that every morning. They even had a huge cage with four pigeons outside the main dining room. Pigeons! Once inside the room, we started sampling wines and taking our seats. What’s a wine tasting without another huge lunch? We started with more meats, cheese, and bruschetta [chicken liver! anchovy and butter!], transitioned into another all-you-can-eat fresh pasta and ragu, and finished with some deep fried dough in a healthy dusting of cinnamon and sugar. There is probably another course in there that I’m forgetting. It’s funny how it starts to blur together after awhile.

We left there fat and happy, and transferred to Buonconvento to check into our hotel for the evening—Hotel Ghibellino. Dinner wasn’t a wine tasting one. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t any wine, but I didn’t feel as obligated to drink it. It wasn’t anything special, so I focused entirely on hydrating for the night. I’m sure my body thanked me. Ristarante Roma was where we ate, and of course I got giddy seeing Roma’s name. It was a rustic, simple dinner, and the first time I had seen a salad in a long time. There was more bruschetta, Ribolitta [a deliciously hearty Italian soup/stew], another simple pasta and ragu, roasted wild boar and salad, and a cake that was mildly forgettable. It was a nice change of pace compared to what we had been used to. There was technically only two days left on the tour, and it was about here when it felt like so long ago that we were in Milan. It had been nothing but a sensory overload so far.