New beginnings...

Well, hello again! It's been a while, eh? I know I know... and I won't say it's because I was busy blablabla -even though I was, but more on that later- but in all honesty I didn't feel like writing. At all. After a few years blogging here and there, I got somewhat so tired of it. I had other things in mind and posting regularly was starting to become a struggle and something I wasn't looking forward doing any longer. So I just blatantly 'forgot' (ahem) to write.

So what brings me back here? Ha!!! I ended up missing it, OF COURSE. Took longer than I would have thought possible, yet it's back. Yes, the urge of writing and sharing and connecting is back, in my head and hands and heart and ...well, I just couldn't keep it at bay. Happy? I am.

On our way to 'create' our new life -nov. 2013 (the sky's the limit...)

The purpose of this blog though, has somewhat changed. Everything moves, life is movement and therefore change and as I go with it, my needs have shifted too. I can't deal with boundaries right now, that means I won't be blogging exclusively about this or that topic. I feel like letting you into my world a little bit more deeply than merely showing you my sorroundings. Therefore, AMOI will open up a window into what my family and I are up to in this corner of the world. Food will still be one of the main talking points -after all, that is one of my biggest passions- but it'll be more than that. I don't even know exactly what I'll be sharing with you on here, I'll just let it happen and watch it unfold together with you! How about that?

I'll give you now a little update on what has happened in the past year or so... ready?

1- got a house (!)
2- got a garden (!!)
3- got a baby (!!!)

And also, started a really interesting course of Montessori teacher training for little ones 0 to 3 yo which I'm right in the middle of and which I'm enjoying soooo much.

Pregnant me 'hard' at work in what is our current home - dec. 2013

See why I feel like sharing? So much happening in less than one year is kinda overwhelming -yes, it's also wonderful and I'm so damn grateful for it!

So the plan(s) are (a few of them at least):

1- fix the main part of the house (it's an old traditional house made out of stones and wood, which needs a big deal of restoration work - yup, I'm sweating just thinking of it!)

2- start off a permaculture garden (this is also going to take a good while...)

3- give my almost 3-month-old son the best present and future I am able to. This includes of course a lot of Montessori-ing...

4- find or start up a job for me (the previous 3 entries make it necessary for us to have a second source of income, besides that of my husband of course) which allows me to have flexible hours/time for baby

5- last but not least, keep up the cooking! (and eating out when possible...although the previous point will make this a less frequent activity) The past year or so, has also seen us try and change our eating habits... yes, I know, we must have been nuts to do that too among all the other things. We certainly know how to spice up our lives!

The greatest beginning and love of our lives

Alright, I said what I needed to say and planned what I needed to plan. Kinda. Whatever. You got the picture. So yeah, I'll be right back, stay tuned ;-)

Of high peaks, enchanted valleys and sweet and smoky prosciutto

Have I said before that Friuli is beautiful? I know I probably have, but I cannot help thinking so (and repeating myself), every time I see something I hadn't seen before.

Sunday sleep-ins are a thing of the past...almost. I don't know if it's an age thing, but these days spending my free time in bed (after I've already had my 'untouchable' 8-hour sleep) seems nothing but a waste of precious discovery time.

So with a tiny bit of organizing on the saturday, which resulted in a delicious and -later on- much needed pic-nic meal, we got up early on sunday morning, had a quicker-than-usual but super nutritious breakfast and drove off towards the mountains!

We live right in the middle of the region, where the plains are. We are lucky because we are about 1hr both from the sea and the mountains and more ore less the same from two foreign countries: Austria and Slovenia. It's very easy to get stuck for choice!

Our destination was a bit further away though, because it lies in a long deep valley which is divided from the plains by a mountain range which can be crossed only through one high pass. Considering the type of roads up there, we thought it would be quicker to simply head north and then west on the main roads. Total drive: 1h45'.

The Tita Piaz mountain shelter on the Pura Pass

The itinerary was this: first stop for a much-needed coffee at the 'Tita Piaz' rifugio (mountain shelter), then off to a 5hr hike from Pura pass up to the 'Cresta dell'uccel' (Bird's point) and back down again and eventually a drive down to Sauris (on the other side of the mountain) for a relaxing afternoon with yummy local food and drinks.

The drive up to the Pura pass was quite long but allowed us to enjoy the first stunning views, especially of the Amariana mountain near Tolmezzo: a pyramid-shaped mountain which seems drawn by the hand of a child!

Mt. Amariana near Tolmezzo

 We then happily stretched in the sun at the Tita Piaz rifugio, where we had a chat with the friendly girls there: the rifugio has got fourteen bedrooms and offers simple but genuine accomodation. We had our coffee, jumped back on the car and drove about 1km to the beginning of the track.

A gentian

The trail called Tiziana Weiss in memory of an important local climber, is of medium difficulty: you needen't be an expert but it takes a tad more than beginner legs to make it enjoyable, or at least a handy pair of walking sticks! It's really well marked and it includes many signs describing the local flora and alternative paths you can choose to take.

View from the Tiziana Weiss

When we finally reach the top we are in awe for the amazing view over all of the sorrounding mountains and onto the Sauris lake! Not to speak of the hundreds of gentians and millions of 'botton d'oro' (literally 'golden buttons', ie Trollius europaeus. A sort of huge buttercup). Satisfied with our ascent, we then also enjoy our much craved spelt salad...:-)

'Botton d'oro'

View of the lake of Sauris from the Cresta dell'uccel

360° view

 

One of the possible return paths

At the end of our hike our legs are starting to give up on us and we're dreaming (almost drooling really...) about the supa-dupa delicacies that the village of Sauris offers: its smoked prosciutto called 'Speck' , produced by Wolf (check out their website if you're into harming yourselves...you'll be craving their products instantly!) and the  i-can't-stop-drinking-it raw, unpasteurized beer in various flavours, including the smoked one, produced by the Zahrebeer brewery.

A platter of mouthwatering selection of cold meats, including the smoked prosciutto

During the next two weekends (13/14 and 20/21 July) in Sauris there will be the renouned 'Festival of the prosciutto' held yearly and involving of course plenty of tastings, as well as a market showcasing all the local artisan products from the wooden masks traditionally made for the Sauris carnival, to textiles still handwoven with love (and amazing prices too!!!) and then music, dances and shows to keep everybody entertained. I totally reccommend it!

Sauris houses

We couldn't help buying a piece of smoked prosciutto which I'm looking forward to slice through tomorrow and savour it together with some super sweet and juicy mellon (the orange type). This is a very common summer dish here and it works so well! You could try also non-smoked prosciutto for a sweeter pairing, either way...give it a go and let me know! I think you'll love it too...

Carnival masks of Sauris

More traditional houses

And if after seeing these pictures you too feel like you deserve a weekend in this charming valley, you can book a stay at one of the apartments/houses that make up the 'albergo diffuso', literally a 'scattered hotel': a totally Friulan invention! To know more about it, check out their website here. This type of stay is also offered in other areas of Friuli and, more recently, also in other areas of Italy.

Not just any 'sausage'... The 'Petuccia' from Erto and Casso

A sausage with a story...

Once upon a time, among the woods of the Tramontina Valley, in the Carnic Prealps (belonging to the Friulian Dolomites range) and not far from the turquoise Meduna river, tiny villages survived on simple foods. Meat rarely appeared on the menu, unless a particularly lucky hunt provided the villagers with some precious game. Preserving whatever meat they had on hand, was vital, but how did they do it? Smoking it (nah, put those Rizlas away...), turned out ot be the perfect answer for the Tramontina Valley's inhabitants who out of necessity created a delicacy: the 'Pitina'.

'Pitina', 'Peta' and 'Petuccia' are three different, yet similar in origin, cold meats.

To make all of them, the meat would first be pounded and minced in a wooden mortar, then salt, garlic and cracked black pepper would be added. The mixture would then be made into meatballs, rolled in cornflour and put to smoke on the 'shelf' lying inside the fireplace, where wood of a specific pine tree would then be burnt. After being smoked, the pitinas, petas and petuccias would last several months, becoming a staple in the villagers' diet.

So why three names? Well, the inhabitants of the Tramontina Valley, were not the only ones who devised this method for curing meat (generally cold meats and sausages in nearby areas, where always encased in the animal's guts...). Even if not exactly 'neighbours' also the populations of Andreis and Claut/Barcis made their own versions, called respectively: 'peta' and 'petuccia'.

The meats used, often varied according to what was found/hunted (sheep, venison, pork...), to the seasonings and herbs they traditionally added and to what was generally available in their area. 

Today the 'pitina' (the most famous out of all three - possibly because the name seems somewhat easier to remember? or because its recorded history dates back to 1800s?) is included among the Slow Food Presidia and deserves to be re-discovered and enjoyed by many.

It is not so easy to find, though, in fact 'pitina' and her 'sisters' are not generally sold in supermarkets. Being still an artisan product, they can be found only in small shops in the area or can be purchased directly from their makers.

I am lucky as, in the town where I live, here in the middle of the Friulian plains, a tiny shop sells one of the three sisters: the delicious 'petuccia' made by the Lèbon artisans in Erto e Casso (near the above mentioned 'Claut') out of beef and pork, so whenever I am in the mood for a savoury treat I don't have to pick up the car and drive up to the mountains... In summer though, this is a really pleasent trip to make and I will soon be showing you around some of the areas I have mentioned so far :-)

Pitina, Peta and Petuccia are best enjoyed as they are, thinly sliced (yes, cornflour and all and no, the slices in the picture above are not exactly thin, but I needed to cut them into cubes for my recipe!) and accompanied by steaming hot polenta and maybe some fresh and aromatic radicchio or even better, if you have a garden, ...young dandelion leaves! 

Less traditional preparations include pasta sauces (Carbonara style), risottos, ecc... But you could also shallow-fry it with some vinegar, basically use in most preparations where you'd use a sausage.. options are endless.

 Here's my petuccia happily sautéeing with onions in butter, almost ready to make a lovely sauce for the spinach spätzle you can spot boiling in the pot behind...

If you're looking for some wine to accompany your 'pitina', 'peta' or 'petuccia' then you don't have to go too far from the valleys where they are produced... You can grab yourseves a bottle of Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso Doc, a red nectar produced from the grapes of an indigenous vine from this region, Friuli, in the Doc area of Friuli Grave among some others. Its full bodied flavour is ancient: its origins surely dating back (at least) to the Romans who grew it intensively in the areas sorrounding the town of Aquileia. 

But all this typing has made me hungry - what about you? - so farewell from Friuli ...until next time:-)

Green Spätzle with spinach, onion and petuccia, topped with grated smoked ricotta... delish!

Do you know of any cold meats resembling these ones? How do you use them? I'll be happy to read your comments and try out any recipes you may have! Yay for fusion cuisine!