Travel proposal #2: Umbrian culture

by Silvia Matricardi

The second travel experience we would like to propose is EXPERIENCE UMBRIAN CULTURE.

When we use the words Umbrian Culture we mean a very wide range of elements. We are not just talking about arts, history, music, theatre, but we are indicating all the elements that make the “Umbrian Spirit”. We are talking about art cities and the treasures hidden inside their churches, museums, narrow streets and squares, the history you can breathe when walking in a city center or watching an old building facade or walking on a medieval bridge or having a cup of tea in an old café. We are also talking about places that are so dear to Umbrians, such as beautiful walks, ancient forests or colorful streets full of old shops and artisans’ shops.We are also talking about Umbrian rites, such as an aperitif with local products and wine to be enjoyed with friends in the cosy rooms of a traditional hotel or bar or about a dinner based on typical food prepared by the house wife of a family run restaurant or farm. We are also talking about all the stories, jokes and legends that were born in a certain place and that belong to people’s traditions, that make their “character” and are part of their way of thinking and living.

All of this can be tasted and enjoyed during a 4-days tour inside Umbrian Culture.

As the other travel experiences we are presenting, it starts with a welcome aperitif at guests’ arrival in Spoleto, followed by a typical dinner (with local cheese, cold cuts, pasta and meat); it takes them on a a tour of Spoleto city center and its main monuments, that “talk” about the city’s Roman and Medieval history, and then to visit a sacred forest and monastery; it takes them to Assisi, the Umbrian capital of spirituality, to walk through the city center which was the home town of St. Francis, to discover the beauty of its churches (that hide masterpieces of painting from Giotto, Cimabue, Martini, Lorenzetti, Martelli), narrow streets and buildings (built with the typical local pink stone) and craftsmen shops (selling wood crafts, handmade textiles, religious icones). It goes on with the visit of the beautiful town of Orvieto, on the right side of the Tiber river, to discover its Etruscan and medieval history and its art masterpieces, such as the Duomo (a beautiful example of Medieval architecture), St. Patrick’s well (ordered to be built by Pope Clemente VII to make sure that the Rocca and the town had water in case of enemies’ attack) and Orvieto underground, as well as its medieval streets full of artisans’ shops that sell woodwork, wrought iron and ceramics.

The tour can end here or it can go on with a 3-days visit of Tuscany (Firenze, Siena, San Gimignano and Chianti area) and 2-days visit of Rome.

For detailed information: http://www.umbrianescapes.it/

Travel proposal #1: Umbrian food

by Silvia Matricardi

The travel experience we would like to propose is EXPERIENCE UMBRIAN FOOD - Let’s discover truffle, olive oil, wine and cheese.

One of the best ways to know a place is by travelling inside its culinary tradition. And Umbria has got a very rich one, not in the sense that it is characterized by expensive or rare ingredients: on the contrary, Umbrian food is made with common elements, the ones you can easily find in every market or in every farm in the territory; they are genuine and dishes are usually very simply prepared.

Often the “good dishes” are prepared with poor elements which you would consider as “leftovers” o “waste”: for example, the 1or 2-days-old bread we use in “panzanella”, or the lamb’s interiors we use for “coratella” or the water and flour – no eggs! – we use to make “strangozzi”. The reason is simple: like in any other places, Umbrian cuisine is based on past traditions and customs; this area was not very rich in past centuries, givent the characteristics of its territory, and people had to learn how to use every possible thing that could be eaten, in order to survive during the times of food shortage.

Now the situation has changed, Umbrian people can get any food, at any price, coming from wherever (we have good places that make Sushi, for example), but when it comes to “la nostra cucina” there are no variations on the theme, there’s the typical stuff.

And let’s talk a little bit about it.

The base of our cuisine is extra virgin olive oil, coming from our omnipresent olives groves (belonging to the 5 Protected Designation of Origin areas), where olives are picked by hand and pressed in family-run mills; we use it to cook and season everything: salads, vegetables, meat, pasta, to make cakes, biscuits, bread and even in dessert.

Then, our wines: Sagrantino, Grechetto, Trebbiano, just to mention the main ones; again, speaking about production and official denomination areas, Umbria has got 2 DOCG and 12 DOC.

Norcineria, the art of pork butchery, that has its capital in Norcia and includes: salame, capocollo, lonza, salsicccia, guanciale, coppa, sanguinaccio and the famous Ham.

The truffle, our “black gold”, a fungus belonging to the tuber family: black truffle, scorzone and white truffle, depending on the area and period. It is delicious on bruschetta, on pasta, or cooked with meat or eggs, or in soups.

We also have a great production of cheese: the famous Pecorino, made with sheep’s milk, soft ricotta, salted ricotta, caciotta, ravigiolo and black truffle flavoured cheese. Our legumes: lentils from Colfiorito, spelt, cicerchia, roveja, the monachella bean. And also: the saffron of Cascia, the red potato of Colfiorito, the black celery of Trevi, the marron of Spoleto, honey, crayfish and trout, our mineral waters.

A tour inside Umbrian culinary tradition means getting to know most of these things. Our 4-days travel proposal is not enough to go in depth into all of this, but it can give guests a general idea and stimulate their taste. It can be prolonged on demand, of course.

It starts with a typical dinner at guests’s arrival in Spoleto (with local cheese, cold cuts, pasta and meat) and a tour of the city center; it takes them to Norcia, the capital of pork butchery, to discover its shops and norcinerie; it goes on with a truffle hunt and lunch based on truffle in a local farm and a visit to a sacred forest and monastery; it continues with the visit to ancient olive trees and olive mill in Trevi, with tasting of several varieties of extra virgin olive oil on bruschetta; it ends with the visit to a winery, light lunch and wine tasting and a walk in Montefalco city center.

The tour can end here or go on with a 3-days visit of Tuscany (Firenze, Siena, San Gimignano and Chianti area) and 2-days visit of Rome.

For detailed information:   silvia@umbrianescapes.it  or  umbriain.out@gmail.com

A journey of experiences with all of your senses

by Silvia Matricardi

There must be a strong reason why a group of well educated foreign adults decides to spend a 5-days vacation in Umbria. I said Umbria, yes, not Italy. What are you going to do for 5 days, all of them to be spent in Umbria???!!!!! Umbria is not so well known and celebrated. Umbria is small, slow, surrounded by mountains, closed.

Umbria is an intimate place, a land of the spirit. That’s why some days together can be incredibly rich and intimate, that’s why they can touch people’s lives. It is shared experience for all of our senses.
A friend of mine told me: “You have to act as if you had some very good friends of yours coming to visit you: you not only want to show them things, you want to tell them about your life, about your Umbria, you want to share experiences”. And that’s waht we do.
We visit beautiful places, but you know, those are everywhere, all around the World. What is more important is how we do it.
We let people feel how Umbrians eat, talk, the smells they breathe in their houses, in the local places where you go buy the good olive oil, where you get the real cheese, the smell of a truffle which has just been dig out by a young dog wagging its tail. We lead them along the walks we take on Sunday after or before the big family lunch, we take them in the beautiful mountains where you can take refuge in a cozy locanda and have some warm soup and cold cuts while the storm ululates outside; we let them feel the smell of the pressed vines in a family run winery; we let them stop by the river to watch the “Fario” an the “Rainbow” trouts and to walk in a silent medieval village at riposo time, when also ducks protest at our arrival, because we make a little noise. We let them enter a silen forest, just to see some caves, to watch the trees and take a look at the view.

I am not celebrating how good we are, but just how passionately we live and love our land and how happy we are when we find people who are truly interested in “feeling” the real stuff. These people don’t want to rush and grab as much as they can: they want to savour things, they want it to be slow.
Suddenly they become friends and a job turns into a pleasure.
As someone very smartly wrote: “A joy for your senses”.

In order to give guests all of this, we are going to propose three different 5-days itineraries in Umbria, which we have conceived together with a friend of ours, Daniela, of Tasting Travel. Both of us are in love with our region and would like to offer it to visitors as it really is, as we live it every day.
That’s why each of our next 3 posts will be about a different kind of tour, which can be realized and guided by us all throught 2012.

EXPERIENCE UMBRIAN FOOD - Let’s discover truffle, olive oil, wine and cheese

EXPERIENCE UMBRIAN CULTURE

EXPERIENCE UMBRIAN NATURE

As if we were visitors: a day with extra virgin olive oil (part one - morning)

by Silvia Matricardi

Past weekend, In Umbria, was one of those dedicated to olive. In fact, this is the time when owners of olive groves all through the region dedicate themselves to the harvesting and, immediately after, to the pressing of olives, in order to extract one of the treausres of our Region: extra virgin olive oil.
That is why, to highlight all the traditions and customs linked to this activity, almost every town and village involved in the production organizes several events.
One of these is Frantoi Aperti (Open Olive Mills).
This year, having a little more time available to nourish our passions, we decided to devote one day to ourselves, as if we were visitors coming to Umbria for the first time; we organized a day of full immersion in the activities promoted by our town, Spoleto, to celebrate the Frantoi Aperti.

In the morning we decided it would be a good idea to visit a family run olive mill, not a big or a famous one, as we were sure that by such a choice we would find an authentic athmosphere and genuine people.

The mill we visited is 10 minutes by car from Spoleto city center. A public shuttle bus organized on purpose picked us up in the city center and led us at destination; we were glad to notice that there were several tourists, a group of about 15 people: we were two of them.
The family which owns the mill has been working and harvesting olive oil since 1762, but now of course they have acquired mechanised techniques and, despite still been placed in the same old house, the production is realized with modern machinery.
A courteous lady welcomed us in a very informal and friendly way and guided us throught the different areas of the mill. She showed us how people can come to the mill, bringing their own olives and wait for the entire process to be over, then go away with their freshly squeezed extra virgin olive oil. And infact there were several farmers waiting to finish their job.

The lady showed us the process through which the olives are turned into extra virgin olive oil: the receipt and storage (no longer than 24 hours), the dumping of olives into a hopper and rolling into the mill, the removal of leaves and sprigs inside the washer, the washing in order to eliminate impurities, the grinding of the whole olives (flesh and stone) through which olives are turned into paste at a room temperature, the transferral of olive paste to the containers and malaxation (slow mixing) of olive paste, the pouring of the paste into the decanter and centrifugal extraction (drinking water is added to separate oil from vegetable water) and finally the centrifugal separation of oil from remaining water. The remaining water and paste is recycled as a fertilizer in the olive groves.

This extracting process is made at a temperature that should never go beyond 25°C and the oil that comes out has got a very bright green colour and a very strong smell. It looks delicious and it has got a bitter taste, stinging your tongue. This is a guarantee of the fact that this oil has kept all of its nutritional factors and vitamines. In fact, in order to make a very good extra virgin olive oil, with a very low acidity factor, they pick up the olives when they are not yet completely ripe and squeeze them within 24 hours at maximum.

When you visit family run olive mill you always get the chance to taste the freshly squeezed oil; and we didn’t make any exception. We were received into a warm and cosy room were a merry fire was crackling in a corner and two ladies were preparing some delicacies to be served to the guests. The athmosphere was very warm and friendly and as they served us they showed us a video about their olive grove and oil making process.

All the dishes were prepared with their freshly squeezed extra virgin olive oil, of course: haricot beans soup, chickpeas soup, lentils soup, bruschetta (of course!!) and “tozzetti” biscuits, all accompanied by a good glass of local red wine.

At the end of the visit you can buy one or two bottles of extra virgin olive oil “on the spot” or you can order some that will be sent directly to your house....or you can just step out after having lived a interesteing, lovely and genuine half-day experience.

A day (or more!) of PURE relax, In Umbria

A day (or more!) of PURE relax, In Umbria

by Irene Matricardi

Do you ever happen to need some time just for yourself? Well, if you do there is a place you definitely have to know...

Close to Perugia, Umbria main city, there is a small relais which is certainly worthy of your time...
You need to drive just few km up to the small village of Torgiano and, on top of the hill you will find this small and rustic complex. The main block includes a beautiful and small hall with big sofas made in old leather and a big round fireplace in the middle of the room. From here you have access to the Spa: massage, body scrub, sauna are only few of the many treatments you can enjoy here; and the personnel is very professional.

The whole atmosphere leads to abandonment: tranquillity, a background of light music, the materials and colours which make the furnishings and incredible scents which pervade the rooms. To be enjoyed alone or in good company.
After having had all of this I strongly suggest you to go back to the hall and seat close to the big windows for a cup of tea or, even better, a good glass of Prosecco...I guarantee that the portion will be abundant and the view...simply fantastic! You will be surrounded by olive trees and, as a lover's embrace, by the beautiful Umbrian countryside.

If you want to stay longer than one day, you can rent one of the typical apartments located all around the property and maybe take the chance to play tennis or to swim in the pool, even at night maybe. Anyway, whatever will be your choice, don’t forget to dine at the restaurant...You will enjoy delicious Umbrian food, which will definitely make it a very special day at leisure.

(Pictures taken from the Relais' fan page on Facebook)

A Walk in Umbria: from Spoleto city center to Monteluco

A Walk in Umbria: from Spoleto city center to Monteluco

by Silvia Matricardi

Umbria is definitely a land for walking people. First of all because many of the oldest and more characteristic places, like castles, historical centres and churches can be reached only on foot. Second, because all of its territory is rich in beautiful paths that pass through olive grows, hills, valleys, woods, along the rivers and on mountaintops, that make the richness of our Region. While walking across or along all of them you can spot amazing views or sites.
From Citerna through Perugia and Assisi runs the Via Francigena, that leads to Rome: along ancient itineraries, for visitors and locals who want to taste and enjoy a different way of travelling. We are talking about trips that can become walks into hidden paths and places of the spirit; journeys of legs, heart, eyes and soul.
Since our childhood we have been taking walks all over Umbria: on Mount Subasio, around Perugia and along the banks of Tevere river, at Isola Maggiore in the middle of Trasimeno Lake, in Forca Canapine inside Sibillini Mountains Park, Around Arrone and Piediluco Lake, on Monti Martani and Montefalco, around Gubbio and Pietralunga or Trevi and Poreta. The important thing when you do it, is: walk with open eyes and be open to encountering other walkers, being part of the surroundings and meeting with yourself.

One walk that we know very well and strongly suggest is the one that starts in Spoleto city centre, goes around Rocca Albornoziana, across Ponte delle Torri and leads up to Monteluco, the mountain that dominates Spoleto.
There are many reasons to go up to Monteluco, on foot or by car, which we will expose in another article.
We took the walk a few days ago. Departing from Piazza Campello (just above the Spoleto Town Hall and the Duomo: two beautiful places you want to take a glimpse at, anyway) you can take Giro della Rocca (a walkway opened up in 1817 around the base of the Fortress) in both directions: if you take left you have a great view of Spoleto, Trevi, Assisi and, only on clear days, of Perugia.
We took right; we passed in front of Hotel Gattapone, a characteristic hotel standing on the cliff facing Ponte delle Torri. From the hotel lobby, bar room and some of the rooms, you can enjoy the greatest possible view of Ponte delle Torri. They have windows as big as the rooms wall and all you see is the green of the wood, the bridge and the Church of San Pietro. A great place for honeymoons and peaceful evenings and nights. The hotel has been named after Matteo Gattapone, the architect from Gubbio who was entrusted by Cardinal Albornoz to design the Rocca Albornoziana in1358.
Immediately after having passed the hotel you start seeing Ponte delle Torri in front of you; this bridge is 236 m long and 76 m high and is supported by mighty arches sitting on magnificent stone piers. A road and an aqueduct built into the stone construction run along the top. There is much debate about when the Tower Bridge was built. However, most scholars agree that it was ordered by Albornoz and developed by Gattapone out and on top of an aqueduct dating back to Roman times. Given its obvious strategic importance, the Bridge was defended by towers (hence its name) both in the Fortress and in the small Mill Fortress that stands on the opposite side.
We crossed the bridge and lingered to take a look down: the view is breathtaking and can be a little scary. To tell the truth this bridge has been the set of several tragic events, which have seen desperate people jump down from it. That’s why the City of Spoleto decided to close the big window on the right side of the bridge with a thick glass…let’s hope this measure reaches the goal!
As soon as you cross the bridge the landscape totally changes: you pass from city center to the wood. And the wood is lovely: it is ancient and very much respected by people. It is not so thick, which allows you to see things at distance in the middle of it; given their age many trees are crooked and shaped oddly. Like any other wood it is full of life, bird calls, crackling and rustling; then, if you are lucky enough, you might spot squirrels, several kinds of birds and rarely, especially in the evening, wild boars. You are surrounded by nature’s timeless music. That’s the reason why we like taking this path; otherwise there is also a bus going up and down 3 or 4 times a day from Spoleto city center.
The way up to Monteluco can be covered in about one hour: it is quite steep as you pass from an altitude of 300meters on sea level in Spoleto city center to 800 in Monteluco top. During the way you pass next to villas immersed into the vegetation, with wonderful views of the Spoleto valley. You can also meet expert bikers (the track is not suited for beginners) and rarely horse riders.
Once you get on top you can relax and lay down on the big lawn, continue walking through the several tracks, or take the walk that goes up to the hamlet of Patrico, or have a picnic in the wooden tables and benches under the trees, get a drink in a local restaurant and spend the night in one of the two hotels open all year long. One of the hotels’ restaurant serves good meals and great pizza.

Anyway, we usually go to Monteluco as it is mainly a site with a spiritual value: it is the home of the friars of Saint Francis Convent and of the evergreen holm-oaks Sacred Wood. According to historical records Saint Francis visited the Convent in 1218. Both the Sacred Wood and the Convent can be visited and we assure you that once you get up there, surrounded by nature’s beauty and sounds, between the stone walls of the cloister or amongst the trees of the Sacred Wood, it’s not hard to get in peace with the world and with yourself.

A "Strangozzi Laboratory" in the open air

A “Strangozzi Laboratory” in the open air

by Silvia Matricardi

During Spoleto Tipica, the fair of the typical products of Umbrian culinary tradition, that is periodically organized by the City of Spoleto, we had a lot of fun this year.
Most of the activities have been organized in the open air, all around the city center; the consequence was that a small city like this, always silent and cozy, got transformed, with hundreds of people walking all over, up and down from Corso Garibaldi to Corso Mazzini, in order to attend all the events located in squares, narrow streets and hidden corners.
We spotted one of them and had we had a lot of fun!

It was an open air “Strangozzi Laboratory”, one of those you have to get dirty with!
It started at 4pm in Piazza della Genga, under a big gazebo. Some long tables had been set by the organizers; each of them had 7 or 8 wood boards and rolling pins, with eggs, water, flour, salt: all the tools and ingredients to make “Strangozzi” pasta. A local well known association, that organizes also the Asparagus Sagra, held the lecture: four very energetic and expert Ladies, who have surely been making home made pasta for ages in their own homes, set themselves in front of “pupils”. They gave the instructions while demonstrating how things should be done; and they would pass through the tables, checking and giving precious tips and help to the trainees: the job secrets. It was very well organized and it worked out good, as several people took their just-made Strangozzi home with them. And there were many participants: some were locals, some tousists, many women and several men, most of whom were in their twenties-thirties.

As far as we experienced (‘cause we too got dirty with it, of course!) the hardest thing is to make the dough compact and soft at the same time, without having it sticky or lumpy; the second hardest thing is to flatten it and roll it our without tearing it or letting it stick to the rolling pin; the third is to fold it (you fold it many times, so that when you start slicing it you get long stripes of pasta) without letting each layer of pasta be stuck to the other. And, hey! rolling the pin one thousand times to and fro is a great physical effort and a good exercise for your arms and back!

Anyway, all the guys and ladies did good; some got a little too much help, I must confess; but in the end everybody learned something good and some took their trophy home.

And, last but not least, everybody had one hour or pure, merry, dirty fun!
The motto is “Never underrate the Young: it’s a cooking generation!”
Recipe will follow....

Un “Laboratorio di Strangozzi” all’aria aperta

di Silvia Matricardi

Quest’anno durante Spoleto Tipica, la mostra dei prodotti tipici della tradizione culinaria Umbra che il Comune di Spoleto organizza periodicamente, ci siamo davvero divertiti!
La maggior parte delle attività è stata organizzata all’aria aperta, per tutto il centro storico; la conseguenza è che una cittadina come questa, solitamente silenziosa ed intima, si è trasformata, con centinaia di persone che si spostavano su e giù tra Corso Garibaldi e Corso Mazzini, per partecipare ai vari eventi dislocati nelle piazze, nei vicoli e negli angoli nascosti.
Noi ne abbiamo scovato uno e ci siamo divertiti un mondo!

Si è trattato di un “Laboratorio di Strangozzi” all’aria aperta, uno di quelli in cui ti devi sporcare le mani!
E’ iniziato alle 4 del pomeriggio a Piazza della Genga, sotto un grande gazebo. L’organizzazione aveva sistemato alcuni lunghi tavoli; ognuno di questi ospitava 7 o 8 tavole di legno per la pasta e matterelli, uova, acqua, farina, sale: tutti gli ingredienti e gli strumenti per fare gli “Strangozzi”. Una nota associazione locale, che organizza anche la Sagra degli Asparagi, ha tenuto la lezione: 4 energiche ed esperte Signore, che sicuramente fanno Strangozzi da decenni nelle loro rispettive case, si sono piazzate di fronte agli “alunni”. Hanno poi fornito istruzioni e dimostrazioni pratiche su come le cose andavano fatte; e passavano anche tra i tavoli, controllando e dispensando preziosi consigli e aiuto agli “studenti”: i segreti del mestiere! Il tutto, organizzato molto bene, ha davvero funzionato, visto che diverse persone hanno portato a casa i loro Strangozzi. E c’erano molti partecipanti: alcuni locali, turisti, molte donne e diversi uomini, gran parte dei quali tra i 20 e i 30 anni.

Stando a quanto abbiamo visto (perché anche noi ci siamo sporcati le mani, naturalmente!) la cosa più difficile è fare una pasta compatta e morbida allo stesso tempo, evitando che sia appiccicosa e che abbia dei grumi; la seconda cosa più difficile è appiattirla e stenderla senza strapparla o farla appiccicare al matterello; la terza è piegarla (si piega varie volte, così quando si taglia si ottengono delle lunghe strisce di pasta) evitando che gli strati di pasta si appiccichino gli uni agli altri. E poi, guardate! stendere la pasta avanti e indietro con il matterello un milione di volte è un grande sforzo fisico e un ottimo esercizio per braccia e schiena!

In ogni modo, tutti gli uomini e le donne presenti hanno fatto un buon lavoro, anche se, a dire il vero, alcuni sono stati aiutati un po’ troppo; ma alla fine tutti hanno imparato qualcosa di buono e alcuni hanno portato a casa il loro trofeo. E, il che non è poca cosa, tutti hanno avuto un’ora di puro, allegro e sporco divertimento!
La lezione è “Non sottovalutare mai i Giovani: è una generazione che cucina!”
Seguirà ricetta....