Of a bride, wedding locations and an alternative after-party...

The bride is me and I've been a married woman now for a month and one day. To the bestest man in the world, can I say this? Ok, sounds too mellow, so pretend I didn't say it, ok?
While I'm still trying to get used to the terms 'husband' and 'wife', I keep looking at our pictures and asking myself: was that lovely day for real? Sure, the weather wasn't that great and a couple of tiny little things didn't go as planned but...it certainly was a day to remember!

Us on a balcony overlooking Poffabro

Now on to the wedding locations, aren't you curious? We chose the council of Spilimbergo which is a small medieval town made famous by its important school of mosaics: the so called 'Scuola mosaicisti del Friuli' attracting many keen students from around the world.
The council palace is beautifully frescoed, has an italian garden on the side and, thanks to its elevated location on top of a hill, has a great view over the sorrounding hills and plains and also of the castle that lies on top of the hill nearby.
Here's a view of the front:

Spilimbergo's council - Palazzo di Sopra

Couples can choose among two equally lovely rooms: one upstairs, with a capacity of -easily- a hundred people, with large windows on both the front and the back (panoramic) side; and one downstairs, much smaller but really 'cosy' and enriched by golden mirrors, more frescoes and elaborate plasterworks. We chose the latter as there were only thirty of us and it turned out to be the perfect choice!


The restaurant we chose for the after-ceremony, is called 'Macjoli e Brocons' (in local dialect 'hammer and nails' which admittedly doesn't sound very appropriate for a celebration, but it makes up for it with its delicious food) and is located in Poffabro, a tiny village of wood and stone, hanging tightly onto the slope of a mountain and resting like a sleeping beauty untouched by time and tourists. It has become really popular only in recent years, after being nominated one of the 'Prettiest Villages of Italy' and finding itself included in the Friulian Dolomites Natural Park . Friuli, this region, is all made up of little 'Poffabros' waiting to be discovered, even by us, its inhabitants.

Views of Poffabro

 
The menu was traditional: for starters a selection of local homemade specialties. My favourites? A polenta crouton with 'morcja' (a spread made from baked butter) and 'scopeton' (herring preserved the 'Val Colvera way'). What followed was a double main course of gnocchi and pasta and for seconds venison and goulasch. Salads, steamed veggies and polenta as side dishes. Even the cake was homemade and for the occasion the sister of the chef (and co-owner with him of the place) made us a beautiful carrot sponge cake following her nonna's recipe! Filled with custard and covered in cream, it went down a treat! And to 'digest' this pantagruelic meal, we were offered a round of special 'grappa di pino mugo', that is a grappa infused with the berries of a peculiar pine tree which grows mostly underground! Its balsamic properties are well known in the Alps since ancient times...

the cake and its 'topping': a lovely gift handmade by my gorgeous cousin

 
The party ended at a local festival, one of the many 'sagre' which are organized by almost every community, from the tiniest of villages to way bigger towns, year round but especially during the summer months and always with a 'theme'. Themes are mostly seasonal products, in fact you can come across the cherries festival, the wine festival, the asparagus festival just to name a few, but also local Saints. The festival or 'sagra' we went to was one of the many dedicated to St. Mark -nothing holy going on there, except the superb artisan beers- and was held in Stevenà di Caneva. It was a small festival but quite intimate, with a band playing traditional dancing music (we were called on stage to open the dances and mind you, we are totally hopeless at dancing!) and all the people cheering us and complimenting us after the initial 'shock' of seeing a couple of smartly dressed newlyweds enter a marquee full of normally dressed people enjoying their beers, wine and pork sausages...it was a lot of fun for all!

So now you see what we've been busy with of late... but what can one do? when love calls...


PS: Fancy visiting Poffabro and its sorroundings? Drop me a line and I'll be happy to give you some 'touristic advice'!

Spring bounty: Humulus Lupulus

Raise your hands if you're exhuding joy from every pore of your skin 'just' because you live in the northern emisphere and spring is here at last! I know I am, ohhh yesss. Even if we're back to winter greyness, we all know it has a short life span, so, dear cold season, I am NOT bothered by your moods for I know warmth is near and so are all the flowers and fruits and bumblebees and... life! Life is back! Hooraaay!

Now, we all know that Italians (and, I hear, our 'cousins' the Greeks, too - any of you out there who can confirm?) just LOVE picking up wild herbs, fruit, veggies, mushrooms, anything edible in sight, whether it's from an open field, a city park or somebody else's garden (doesn't matter if we know the person or not - seriously, would you waste that apple about to fall on the pavement our side of the fence?!) and I will admit I am no different.

 Give me a chance, any chance, of bypassing the supermarket veg department and I'll take it. Armed with old plastic bags, scissors or swiss knife I can happily spend quite some time scavenging for food and run back home fully satisfied with my bounty, ready to turn it into a delicious meal. For free. Delicious and free? Seriously? Trust me:-)


So what did I pick up this time? The answer is 'urtizons'. U-what?? 'Urtizons' is one of the many dialectal terms by which 'Humulus Lupuls' is known and if you enjoy your beer, then you've certainly heard its common name: hops! So you've most likely drunk it before but have you ever considered eating this plant? Well, we have and commonly do.
It grows wild in so many places, but it prefers damp areas, like stream shores or old irrigation canals. The young sprouts are so sought after that if you're not quick enough, from one day to the next, the lovely bunch you've been patiently waiting for all winter may end up in the hands of a much quicker picker (usually someone who's looking non-fussed, pretending to be out for a mere walk but who happens to have a plastic bag in its pocket, how strange uh?). Luckily hops is so resourceful that two days later it'll produce another lovely bunch: heaps of hops then for everyone to enjoy!
Only, picking has its rules: never over-pick! Nature produces lovely food for us in abundance but only when we let her. If we deprive these plants from all their young shoots, there'll be none growing next year! So if you do go out picking wild herbs, please remember to leave always something behind and you'll assure the plant and yourself many crops for many years to come:-)

But how does it look like? Here's one (plus a typical place where you can find it):

As you can tell from the picture on the right, this yummy little shoot is a bit on the shy side and likes hiding from the keen Italian picker among brambles and nettles. One piece of advice I can give you, is to avoid wearing a knitted jumper on picking days, unless you're happy to come home with more holes in it than you can count, of course.

So, you've met them, picked them and washed them and now? I reckon simplicity is best when it comes to hops. 'Urtizons' have a very mild bitter flavour and pair well with eggs, rice or barley and any other preparation where you'd use wild spring herbs. Maybe a souffé if you can get it to rise, unlike me? Let me know if you do!

I opted for a quick and easy hops omelette, as I was hungry after all that walking and picking and didn't want to 'waste' time on more elaborate dishes. Luckily, tradition was on my side too and the result was as satisfying as expected!

So what about you? Do you ever go for herb-picking walks? Which types of greens do you gather and how do you use them?

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!