Sapori e Saperi Adventures Flavours and Knowledge of Italian Artisans
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Resources
  • Tours
    • Small Group Tours >
      • Celebrating Sardinia
      • Tuscan Heritage
      • Giants of Sardinia
      • Autumn in Tuscany
      • Tastes & Textiles: Woad & Wool
      • Tastes & Textiles: Hanging by a Thread
      • Tastes & Textiles: Carpet Weavers of Sardinia
      • Tastes & Textiles: Wine to Dye For
      • Tastes & Textiles: Sea Silk in Sardinia
    • Tastes and Textiles
    • Sardinian Tours
    • Day Adventures
  • Courses
    • Advanced Salumi Course Tuscany
    • Advanced Salumi Course Bologna-Parma
    • Simply Salami
    • Art & Science of Gelato
    • Artisan Bread Course Tuscany
    • Theory & Practice of Italian Cheese
    • Mozzarella & its Cousins
    • Mozzarella Consultancy
    • Olive Oil Tree to Table
    • Truffle Course
  • Booking
    • Enquiry
    • Booking Conditions
    • Fill Booking Form
  • What people say
  • Blogs
  • Contact

Know your producer

5/10/2009

0 Comments

 
Picture
Porcini and galletti
I’m planning the menu for dinner with a couple of friends tonight. When I went into the village shop this morning, there was a wooden crate showcasing several fresh porcini, collected by the daughter-in-law of the shop owners. Opportunistically I decide to make an insalata di porcini, by slicing the small young ones very thinly, dressing them with extra-virgin olive oil, that I bought directly from the olive estate, and lemon juice.
Picture
The olive oil comes from Alle Camelie where we stay and pick olives on my tour Autumn in Tuscany.
The garnish is a sprinkling of nepitella (also called mentuccia in other parts of Tuscany). Calaminta nepeta is an aromatic herb which grows wild in the mule track in my village and all over Tuscany. It has the strange characteristic of smelling different to different people. Some say mint, but many to people it's more like marjoram or basil.
Picture
Lesser calamint is in the same family as true mint but also marjoram, oregano and basil.
​The rice harvest in the Piedmont is happening now, and I still have some rice from last year. It must be used. I choose a package of riso venere, a black whole-grain rice, that was given to me by the co-operative that distributes the farro grown by my friend Paolo Magazzini. I know they only represent small, artisan producers of very high quality. The specially aromatic rice combines well with seafood, so I plan a seafood risotto.​
Picture
Riso venere provide a dark background for brightly coloured ingredients, such as...
Picture
...this saffron sauce by Patrizia Carlo of Oasi San Benedetto where we stay on my Woad & Wool tour.
I visit the mercatino (outdoor market) in Fornoli to buy some calmaretti (small squid), gamberi (large prawns) and scampi (Dublin Bay prawns) from the fishmonger who comes once a week from Viareggio on the coast with the fresh catch. I don’t have to tell him what I want. I tell him I’m making risotto al mare for three, and he tells me what I need, accompanied by an oral recipe — he is passionate about fish, knows exactly where each fish on his stall comes from, when they’re in season and has very fixed ideas about how they should be cooked. Garlic, parsley and white wine for the risotto. I tentatively suggest a little onion. He looks horrified. You only use onion with frozen fish to disguise the fact that it was frozen. It will kill the flavour of fresh fish.
The contorno (vegetable) will be bietola (Swiss chard) from my orto (allotment, veg patch), steamed and sautéed with garlic.
Picture
Even in January there are leaves to be harvested.
Yesterday my friends from Zato gave me some green figs and new walnuts from their own trees. They’ll be good for dessert.
Picture
Walnut trees are abundant in the Garfagnana. Some people pick them in June when they're green and make a liqueur called nocino.
Ticking off the ingredients for my meal, only the lemon comes from someone I don’t know. All the rest I can trust implicitly to be fresh, wholesome and to taste exactly as it should.
Picture
Tours related to this blog
Cook a coloured meal: Tastes & Textiles: Woad & Wool
Pick olives, press oil and learn how to taste it: Autumn in Tuscany
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Email Subscription
    Click to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe

    Author

    Erica Jarman

    Categories

    All
    Advanced Salumi Course
    Agriculture
    Artisans
    Baking
    Beer
    Boat Tour
    Bread
    Celebrating Sardinia
    Cheese
    Cheesemaking
    Chestnuts
    Cooking
    Courses
    Festival
    Food
    Gelato
    Giants Of Sardinia
    History
    Italy
    Italy Vacation
    Life
    Lucca
    Makers
    Milk
    Mozzarella
    Music
    Olive Oil
    Olives
    Prosciutto
    Salumi
    Sardinia
    Seafood
    Slow Travel
    Small Group Tours
    Textiles
    Tours
    Tradition
    Travel
    Tuscany
    Wine

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2025
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    January 2019
    December 2017
    November 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    September 2011
    May 2011
    March 2011
    September 2010
    April 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009

Subscribe to Newsletter
Enquire about Tours
Picture
We acccept
Picture
Read about us
International passenger Protection
Picture
contact us | terms & conditions | privacy policy 
copyright 2017 sapori-e-saperi.com | all rights reserved
Website by Reata Strickland Design
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Resources
  • Tours
    • Small Group Tours >
      • Celebrating Sardinia
      • Tuscan Heritage
      • Giants of Sardinia
      • Autumn in Tuscany
      • Tastes & Textiles: Woad & Wool
      • Tastes & Textiles: Hanging by a Thread
      • Tastes & Textiles: Carpet Weavers of Sardinia
      • Tastes & Textiles: Wine to Dye For
      • Tastes & Textiles: Sea Silk in Sardinia
    • Tastes and Textiles
    • Sardinian Tours
    • Day Adventures
  • Courses
    • Advanced Salumi Course Tuscany
    • Advanced Salumi Course Bologna-Parma
    • Simply Salami
    • Art & Science of Gelato
    • Artisan Bread Course Tuscany
    • Theory & Practice of Italian Cheese
    • Mozzarella & its Cousins
    • Mozzarella Consultancy
    • Olive Oil Tree to Table
    • Truffle Course
  • Booking
    • Enquiry
    • Booking Conditions
    • Fill Booking Form
  • What people say
  • Blogs
  • Contact