Let the Gluttony Continue, With Witnesses – Seeing Friends in Lucca

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Forgive Me Father For I Have Sinned

During the first five months of the M.P., I lost over 25 pounds. I hit my lowest weight during our second stay in Vietnam, which was pretty impressive after spending a month in the US over the summer. I think in the last ten weeks of the trip I may, in fact, gain all of that weight back. It will help if I can fit into my clothes I have back in the US, but my overall goal during the trip was to lost weight. I know I gained some weight back in South America - wine, beef, and pasta for a few months will do that. Ireland did not help - Aunt Theresa filled us to the brim and Eric felt that he was becoming human foie gras - being force fed food to enlarge his stomach. Thus far in Italy I have been okay. The food in Rome is good, but it is not my favorite. I had my one lunch feast in Orvieto, and a couple larger meals in Siena. Our trip through the rest of Italy, however - Lucca in Tuscany and then Bologna in Emilio Romagna were trips with the specific intention of eating, and the resulting factor is an ever increasing waist line. Let the gluttony begin.

We left Siena in a cold and dreadful rain, to take three different trains in order to reach Lucca, about two and a half hours north from Siena and about 25 minutes east of Pisa. Our intention was to meet up with some new friends in Lucca. According to my blogs from China, it was not one of our favorite countries. Although we enjoyed the food immensely, it was a tough trip through a country that did not seem to really want us there. Well, one of the good things that came from our trip to China was our almost dreadful cruise of the Yangtze River, solely because we met two new Italian friends, Silvia and Riccardo.

Our first night in Lucca with Silvia and Riccardo was a simple one; after spending some time chatting at their apartment, and meeting Silvia’s grandmother, or Nonna, who lives upstairs, we went for pizza. Silvia and Riccardo took us to one of their favorite pizza places, just outside the city walls of Lucca. One thing we immediately noticed was that Lucca is a small city, only about 80,000 people live in Lucca (about four times the number of people Eric and I went to college with). We noticed it when, of course, Silvia and Riccardo knew the owner of the pizzeria. When perusing the menu, I told Silvia that I was willing to try anything she could suggest. The first thing I noticed, however, was how much cheaper the food was than in Rome and even Siena. Most of the pizza was around 4 to 6 Euros, rather than 7 to 9 Euros down south. Silvia suggested a pizza of speck and mascarpone. Speck is a cured meat, similar to prosciutto and mascarpone is a somewhat sweet soft cheese, similar to a cream cheese. After agreeing to it, Riccardo, with Silvia translating, sent a warning my way. He was concerned I would not like it, which only made me want to try it more. Silvia ordered a simple pizza margharita just in case I did not like mine, so we could switch. There was no need. It was the best pizza I had in Italy. The speck had a slight salty flavor and cheese melted perfectly. After the pizza Eric and I shared a panna cotta, a slightly solid sweet cream dessert, with a dark chocolate sauce on the top. A perfect ending to our first evening in Lucca.

The food feast did not stop there. The rest of the weekend was nonstop food. We slept in until close to 10am. It was a nice night sleep because it was dark, quiet, and warm - three things we have not had in one night’s sleep for quite some time. Silvia greeted us with some fresh espresso, which tastes so different from our home made espresso in the US, even though we use the same brand of coffee. Our day was spent chatting and cooking. Riccardo works early on Saturday morning, and Silvia promised him lunch, or il pranzo, when he returned. I told Silvia I had no problem eating some meals at home, and we would love to look over her shoulder while she cooked to see real Italian cooking. So, I strapped on an apron and joined Silvia in the kitchen to cook Lasagna, complete with her Nonna’s homemade ragu. We did not see the ragu, or red meat sauce, being made, however, because it is a lengthy process. We have also learned that ragu or a Bolognese always tastes better the following day, which made Nonna’s ragu even more special. When Nonna came down to meet us, she was so excited that she also made us a dessert, castagnaccio, made with chestnut flour and rosemary. She brought it back down in about an hour still warm.

Back to the lasagna, Silvia taught me how to make a béchamel sauce from scratch and then I watched as she layered the lasagna with Nonna’s ragu. Even more exciting than the lasagna was learning how to make tiramisu - Silvia’s style. Tiramisu is Riccardo’s favorite desert. As a result, when he and Silvia just started dating she learned to make her friend’s tiramisu, which was always a hit at dinner parties. Silvia figured if she could make a great tiramisu, Riccardo would definitely fall in love with her. Well, the way to a man’s heart is, of course, through his stomach, and they have now been married eight years. Of course, with this tiramisu, I would have married her. It has never been one of my favorite desserts, as it is my mother in law’s. I realized it is really the liquor or brandy flavoring that I dislike. Silvia solved that problem, by making her tiramisu without brandy. I won’t give away her secret recipe, but we made the cream from scratch, and again I watched her layer the cream with the cookies soaked briefly in a coffee made in a Moka Express coffee maker. It needed to set in the fridge for at least a few hours, but because of Nonna’s dessert, we waited until the following day to eat it. Instead, when Riccardo arrived home we enjoyed the amazing lasagna with Nonna’s ragu, a bottle of Brunello de Montalcino red wine, and the castagnaccio.

Our second lunch at Silvia’s involved gnocchi with pesto sauce, which melted in the mouth, followed by the day old and perfectly soaked tiramisu, and I almost died. It was perfect, sweet, creamy, and delicious. As a take away, I have the recipe for “Tiramisu - Silvia Style.” I promise my friends back in the US, when you come over for an Italian meal I will make Silvia’s tiramisu.

After our lasagna lunch with Riccardo, another round of espresso, and a nice nap, we emerged just before dusk to see the town of Lucca. Lucca has one of the most amazingly restored and intact old city walls in the world. It is about four kilometers long around the old city center. It is possible to walk or ride a bicycle around the entire wall. Interspersed along the wall are numerous small parks and even an historical outdoor café, undergoing renovations. Lucca is also known as the city of churches. There are over 100 churches in the small city center, which means from the city walls, looking out over the city, you can see a dozen church towers. It also means that as we did our evening walk, or passagiata, Silvia showed us a church, and then behind it was, yet, another church. We walked through the town, and into San Martino Cathedral.

Another example of Lucca being a small city is that when Silvia and Riccardo walk around town, particularly on a weekend, they are bound to run into someone they know. Silvia mentioned this on the way in town but fretted that it would not happen during our tour. But, eventually, we found a fellow Lucca football fan. Riccardo is a devoted fan of the local football team. He maintains a website, tries to travel to away matches, and has not missed a home match since sometime in the early 1980s. The fellow fan we saw in town actually just published a book about the team. Mission accomplished.

We also stopped by a store that is run by Silvia’s boss’s wife and daughter. The daughter speaks English generally but was out too late Friday night to be awake enough to practice her English. She was able, however, to show us the lower level of the home furnishing shop. When they cleaned out the lower level they found an old Roman kitchen, which was breathtaking with its arched brick ceilings and stonewashed walls. We continued our walk through the city and as it started to get a bit colder after dark, we left the city walls and continued into the countryside for dinner with some more new friends.

And the Eating Continues . . . Tuscan Feast

Growing up in New Jersey, and in the land of the Sopranos, we have a saying when you are driving in a car, in the middle of nowhere, with no idea where you are - “Good place to dump a body.” When we left the protected city walls in Lucca, we wound our way through the countryside, past an industrial area loaded with factories, and back in the countryside, up into the hills surrounding Lucca. I was thinking as the lights of the local houses became more and more sparse, “good place to dump a body.” Just as I thought that Silvia assured me “don’t worry, we are not going to leave you out here in the cold and dark to make your way back on your own.” Good to know.

We finally made it to a small driveway with cars parked under an old aqueduct, and to the restaurant at Fattoria il Poggio. We met Riccardo’s sister Giuliana and her husband Massimo. We were excited because we always wanted a friend named Massimo; it is just such a great Italian name. We also met two friends that Silvia and Riccardo met through Lucchese football, Daniele and Roberta. There is a bit of a bet going on between Giuliana and Daniele regarding the best player on the Lucca football team, Manuel Pera. As a result, Silvia trained me how to say in Italian that Manuel Pera is the best football player in Italy. I was told to greet Giuliana with this Italian saying, and it truly broke the ice. The two couples were excited to meet the Americans, but got a good chuckle at my Italian joke. The following day, Silvia recorded a video of my saying and one of Eric saying that in three years Manuel Pera will be playing in Serie A football (the top level of football in Italy, sort of like the English Premier League). She placed the video on their Lucchese football team website and it is now on Youtube.com. It is my first video on Youtube - and it is one of me speaking broken and slow Italian!

When we arrived at the restaurant I realized it would be a wonderful place to have a summer dinner, with large picnic tables and benches set up with a view over the countryside. During the winter, we settled with a large table for the eight of us inside. I was nervous at first considering my very limited Italian, and Silvia being the only one at the table who spoke English, but we managed along. Giuliana learned English in school but was out of practice. She recently changed positions at work which has required her to speak some English in her new position, so she was trying to put together some sentences, as I was trying to say my few Italian words mixed with Spanish. I know that “Spanglish” is a combination of Spanish and English, and we learned that “Portenol” is a combination of Portuguese and Spanish spoken as a result of the border between Brazil and the rest of South America. What is the word, though, for a nasty mix of Italian and Spanish?

One reason why things went well was the food. I was starving, despite our lasagna lunch, since it was now after 9pm. Normally we would have had a snack in the early evening, but by the time we were hungry for an aperitivo, Riccardo was worried we would fill up before dinner. Luckily, when we arrived the table was set with olives, sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, and an almost pickled zucchini, with some soft bread. Quickly platters of antipasti arrived, with salami, prosciutto crudo, crostini with lardo, some form of chopped meat or pate, and polenta with mushrooms. The wine and water were also on the table for us to help ourselves. I loved the set up. Daniele is a bit of a foodie in the region and he wanted to bring us to Fattoria il Poggio was for the bisteca alla Fiorentina.

Bisteca alla Fiorentina is a large, I kilogram, t-bone steak, usually served just this side of mooing, deep red and rare. I cannot possibly eat that much steak, so I figured I would have some of Eric’s and order something else. Riccardo was adamant that Eric eat an entire bisteca on his own. As a result, Silvia ordered me a local speciality of tordelli with ragu, ravioli stuffed with beef and spinach. It was tasty, and even the deceptively small portion filled me up after all of the delicious antipasti. What was strange is that because pasta is typically a first course, it arrived at the table before everyone else’s meat. I felt like I was on display and wanted to eat fast so that the guys could get their meat. Finally, the meat course arrived. The three men had their bisteca alla Fiorentina. We asked for Eric’s to be just a little more cooked than rare, which meant his piece was actually cut thinner that the others so that there would be the same cooking time. At first, I thought Eric was disappointed, but then Riccardo tried to switch his with Eric’s so that Eric could have the larger piece. By the time Eric managed to make his way through the one kilo of meat, I think he was satisfied and happy he kept the slightly smaller cut. I shared with Silvia the tagliata, a sliced beef served with rucola and parmagiano. We also had fried potatoes with rosemary and a type of spinach. Everything was amazing and I felt about ready to explode.

Then came the desert courses. Yep, multiple courses of dessert items. First they ordered vin santo, a sweet wine with cantuccini, which are similar to a biscotti, which was dipped into the liquor. After the vin santo, a bottle of grappa was brought to the table. I shared some of Eric’s because I have had grappa before and it is not my favorite. It is strong and burns while going down. At some point some coffee was served and a plate of desserts were brought. We had crepes made with chestnut flour, which were stuffed with a sweet ricotta cheese and drizzled with chocolate. Finally, after the desert a bottle of sweet, chilled limoncello arrived, which is my favorite and definitely better than the grappa. After about three hours of feasting and chatting, it was late and we were ready to roll out of Fattoria il Poggio, and head straight to bed.

Our feasting continued on Sunday interrupted by another passagiata through town. Riccardo stayed home to watch football. Although for Lucca it was a week off for them (a rest week), there were other countries’ teams on TV and that was sufficient. Thus, Silvia, Eric, and I made our way back into town and meandered through a much warmer town, with the sun shining down. It was beautiful. It was also carnival time so children were dressed up in costumes like it was Halloween. We also met up with Giuliana and Massimo who were also in town. Giuliana was thrilled that Eric was showing an interest in some of the Italian fashion trends and even though the stores were closed, Giuliana showed Eric where to buy the shoes he liked as well as an Italian men’s purse or carryall. We will see if he purchases one somewhere. After the fashion walk we stopped and sat outside in the warm sun for some coffee until the sun set behind the building. We said our goodbyes to Giuliana and Massimo, teaching them the Vietnamese custom of not saying “goodbye”, just “see you again.” We stopped back at the house for a bit, I took a little nap, and we all took a rest to prepare for the dinner onslaught.

The Feasting Continues . . . The Meal to End All Italian Meals

For our final meal in Lucca, Daniele chose another of his local feast locations, Ristoante de Mariano, again, up into the mountains surrounding Lucca. It was another family style feast. What I loved about both of the restaurants he chose was that it was roughly a per person price, including alcohol. I am assuming if you abuse the privileges of the free flow of wine and liquor at the end, there is an extra charge, but it really makes you feel comfortable to drink as much wine and as many bottles of water as possible. Again, this meal started with some antipasti of tomatoes with garlic and olive oil, a few times of cured meats, and panzerotti. We have had panzerotti in one place before, Luini in Milan. There, it was puffed pizza dough, stuffed with cheese and tomatoes, or cheese and meats, and then deep fried. This skipped the fancy ingredients step and was merely puffed pizza dough, deep fried. It was perfect. As for the cured meats, there was lardo, prosciutto, and fresh pork. The owner stopped by our table to take our order and informed us that he just killed the pig that afternoon to make the fresh pork sausage. It was nothing if not fresh. After the antipasti we had more tordello Lucchesi al ragu (stuffed ravioli), mushroom risotto, and a hearty minestrone style soup. Eric feasted on the fresh ravioli. Our final course, although I barely had room included fried chicken and rabbit (lightly breaded and fried, closer to a tempura than KFC, and the meat itself was unbelievably tender) and, my favorite, wild boar with creamy polenta. I was in hog heaven, literally. We finished off the meal with certosino, a herb based liquor made at the base of the hill by monks at a Carthusian monastery. I cannot make this stuff up. It was much better than a grappa, but a strange bright yellow color, similar to a limoncello. Once again, I was stuffed to the point that if someone stuck a needle in my stomach, I thought I would explode like a volcano. We said farewell to Daniele and Roberta, and in a way, said a farewell, or at least a see you again to Lucca.

And, onto Bologna

By the end of Sunday night’s dinner, Eric did not want to leave. We had two nights planned in Bologna before flying to Spain. We had booked a hotel room in the city and as much as we tried, with Silvia calling the hotel a few times, we could not cancel the room without a penalty. Eric was super disappointed because if we stayed in Lucca, Nonna wanted to make lunch for us. She was planning some pasta with ragu as well as a roasted chicken, because she could not imagine serving an American Eric’s size with only pasta. When we finally left Silvia’s for the train station, I thought he was going to cry. Even more so because Silvia gave us a parting gift of our very own Moka Express coffee maker so we can make Italian coffee at home, and I can use it for the tiramisu. A quick coffee and pastry on the way to the station and we were off. We were sad to leave our new friends in Lucca. I have never been more disappointed to be making my way to a new city in Italy.

We arrived in Bolgona with the sun shining, even if the weather was cold. We checked into our hotel and, begrudgingly tried to explore a bit. We were still not hungry from our final night in Lucca, so settled on a plate of cured meats and cheeses with warmed bread at a bar across from our hotel. We returned to the hotel to nap. The remainder of our stay in Bolgona involved wandering around in the cold, rain, and eventually snow, while finding places to stay warm and eat. We did not take a single picture in Bolgona, although it is a pretty city, filled with covered porticos lining the streets to protect from the elements. It was not the farewell we wanted from Italy. But, like many of our favorite countries on this trip, the last few days the country gives us grief, maybe not wanting us to go. I am unsure. When we woke for breakfast on our last morning in Italy, it was snowing a wet and nasty snow. It was certainly our time to leave the country. Ciao Italia y Buenos Dias Espana. We were off to Barcelona.

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Photos

Cooking With Silvia
Stirring the bechamel

Walking the City Wall of Lucca
Eric, Riccardo, and Silvia going for passigiata

My Treat
With my new gift, a football scarf from the Lucca team.

With the Owner
Mariano, of Ristorante de Mariano

Silvia and Me
My new best friend in Italy

Daniele, Riccardo, and Eric
"Enjoying" their after dinner drinks.

Comments

[cheryll mell]

Hi: Actually saving this journal as a reference. I have never been to Tuscany and hope to go in the near future. Wanted to make sure I had the names of those restaurants. Sorry you didn't enjoy your Yantze River Cruise. I will have to remember to ask you about it when I see you guys. Cheryll