So because I am a completely logical and rational person, I have decided it is absolutely necessary that I re-learn Spanish. This would probably make more sense if I were in a place where people around me were actually speaking Spanish. Like Spain. Or Buenos Aires. Or the United States.

Learning Spanish when surrounded by Italian is hard. So I found a language exchange buddy. Because I am a very lucky girl, my new friend is not only nice but also likes to escape Rome during the weekends and has lived here long enough to discover some nice places.

Google Map of Gaeta

Saturday we took a train and a bus and ended up in Gaeta. A small town perched on a peninsula south of Rome there’s nothing truly spectacular about Gaeta. But it’s a charming seaside town and now that the summer tourists have gone, incredibly peaceful. We walked around the port while I butchered Spanish and then had incredible vermicelli with seafood marinara while he (much more skillfully) spoke English.

At the end of the day we sat on the beach and watched the sun set. I heard stories about Colombia and told my own about the States. We stayed just long enough to see the sun set before catching a bus back to Formia and a train to Rome.

Trains from Rome to Formia run frequently. The Regional takes around two hours and costs about 7 Euros while the Intercity is closer to one hour and costs 13 Euros. Either way, plan for the train to be running late. Buses from Formia to Gaeta cost 1 Euro, you can buy tickets at the bar inside the train station.

If you have lunch in Gaeta, an excellent place with reasonable prices is La Taverna del Marinaio (Via faustina, 36. Tel. 0771.461342) The house white wine is quite good and the seafood pastas are phenomenal.

It’s been over a month since I arrived in Rome. In stark contrast to my last time in Italy, I haven’t been traveling at all. In the entirety of this time the furthest I had been out of Rome was to go to dinner in Castel Gandalfo twenty minutes away.

I didn’t realize until this weekend how claustrophobic I was feeling. Sunday, in spite of the fact that I had work to do for both of my jobs, I allowed two friends to kidnap me for a day trip. We not only left Rome, we left the entire region of Lazio. True, we only drove one hour but that’s one of the beautiful things about Italy. One hundred kilometers and you can go from weaving through busloads of waddling tourists to this:

We drove east until we came to Abruzzo. I’ve been to Abruzzo a number of times but on the other end, near the Le Marche border. There Abruzzo is pastoral - hills of vineyards and grazing sheep in the interior and sunny seaside towns. The Abruzzo-Lazio border doesn’t have hills, it has mountains. Gran Sasso is the highest peak of the Appennines and right now, during the pre-skiing season, it’s empty.

On the recommendation of Marco’s father we drove to Campo Felice, a small town. Parts of the mountains were so high that they were rockface devoid of vegetation, a strange, alien landscape that one of my friends called “lunare.” On the altopiano we saw cows, donkeys, and wild horses. No human beings. It was surreal and a welcome break from the jostling chaos that is life in Rome (I think I can count only one day since my arrival that I have not been pushed, yelled at, or patted on the cheek by a stranger in the street. This is a city that reaches out and interacts with you. Literally.)

After a few hours of Safari Abruzzo, during which I, enraptured, photographed cows (I have a thing about livestock) and the boys complained about the wind messing up their hair, we decided it was time for lunch. I adore Sundays in Italy because they’re basically an excuse to have a decadent multi-course meal before napping the afternoon away. We found a little trattoria in the nearby town – if a settlement consisting of two streets can be called as such – and waited for a table near the fireplace.

Three courses of cured meats, cheeses, tripe, grilled vegetables, ravioli, gnocchi, sausages and arrosticini later we were stuffed. We drove back to Campo Felice and read the newspaper before packing up to head back to the city. We hit traffic returning to Rome and spent two hours driving 20 kilometers. I already missed the cows.

 

The terrace at Pagnanelli

I like terraces. I like delicious food.  Combine the two, throw in a view of a volcanic lake and you have one happy Madeline. That’s what happened last Saturday when I went to dinner at Antico Ristorante Pagnanelli dal 1882  in Castel Gandolfo.

Castel Gandolfo is a tiny town about 25 minutes outside Rome, on the edge of Lago Albano.  It’s probably best known for being the summer residence of the pope. And as one friend said, “Il papa non sopporta le cose brutte.” (The pope doesn’t stand for ugly things.) As the name suggests,  Pagnanelli has been around since 1882.  A large, multi-level terrace wraps around the lake with a view that is lovely at night and lovelier during the day.

I went with an old friend who had chosen the restaurant especially, knowing that I love creative Italian cuisine. It’s not hard to find very good, very traditional food in Italy. But to find chefs working with classic, top-quality ingredients in unexpected ways is a rarer delight. Pagnanelli is not cheap (I would even say it’s edging into the territory of over-priced) but it’s an experience worth having at least once.

Antipasto of strudel with smoked salmon, eggplant, and mozzarella

We started with a “strudel” with eggplant, smoked fish and mozzarella. I was skeptical of the description but when it arrived my hopes rose.  It was like no Viennese or German strudel I had ever seen, but instead a small baguette-shaped log with a dubious-looking brownish paste on top. There’s a special place in my heart for ugly food and I find that when expensive, fancy restaurants serve a less-than-beautiful dish, it’s usually quite tasty. This dish supported my theory: the perfect mix of rich, salty salmon and delicately seasoned pureed eggplant (the suspicious goo). A couple at the next table ordered a more aesthetically pleasing appetizer of raw oysters that they then proceeded to feed each other in a manner that made me glad there were no children around.  The rest of the dinner was delicious – light, fluffy ravioli on a bed of zucchini flowers. But the best part was the finish…

Stairs to the cantina

Paganelli has an immense cantina and if you request you can have aperitivo (pre-dinner drinks), dessert, or even the whole dinner amidst their thousands of bottles of wine. For a price, of course. We chose to have just dessert and our waitress sent us through a hidden door down curving stone stairs. We leisurely wandered around the cellars, digesting and  looking at the bottles before choosing a table. When we sat a waiter came with a Sicilian accent so thick that even I could perceive it and my northern Italian friend’s nose visibly wrinkled. He overcame his prejudices enough to order the waiter’s recommendation, a white chocolate semifreddo, while I went for tiramisu. It was the least inventive item on the menu, a scrumptious combination of coffee-soaked ladyfingers, mascarpone, and cocoa. It reminded me that some things are classics for a reason.

Wall of corkscrews at Pagnanelli

Antico Ristorante Pagnanelli dal 1882: www.pagnanelli.it (site also in English)

Via Antonio Gramsci, 4. Castel Gandolfo (RM) 00040

Tel: +39. 06.936.0004 OR +39.06.936.1740 Fax: +39.06.930.2187

Prices are high but good for a special occassion. They also host events and do cooking, wine and cheese classes. 

I’ve now been here a bit over a week and am starting to get my bearings. I passed Saturday in the historic center, seeing all of the sights I neglected to see when doing interviews over the summer. Here are a few pictures from the first days:

Normally I'm not a huge fan of tagging but I thought this anniversary present was kind of sweet.

 

Seat of Italy's highest court, viewed from the Tevere on a Sunday afternoon.

 

Somehow a cat sipping out of a bidet seems classier than when my beagle drinks from the toilet.

 

The view every morning when I walk to work.

In the past 15 days I have:

1. Wrangled with bureaucracy to get a visa, which came in the mail at 930 am on the morning when I had to leave for the airport by 11 am.

2. Flown across the Atlantic.

3. Moved back to Italy, albeit this time further south.

4. Started my new job.

5. Had yummy Italian pizza, good Italian coffee, and even a gelato or two.

6. As of 1 hour ago, found an apartment.

And I didn’t blog any of it. I’m going to blame it on the lack of internet and the chaos of finding a paying job/apartment/social life. Luckily my new place, which I move into on Sunday, will have wireless and from that point on I’ll be writing regularly about wine, food and life in the Eternal City.

These three pictures together give a feel of what Asheville is like.

This workshop will be held at "Sanctuary in the Pines"

Outside Fresh Market in North Asheville.

"I am not from here or there, my land is n Heaven."

My posts have been a bit slow as of late, mostly because I was in and out of town for job interviews and preparing to leave Bologna (cleaning apartment, packing boxes, packing suitcases for the States, saying goodbyes). I flew into Dulles late last night and will be in the U.S. for about a month. It feels strange.

While in the States I’ll still be posting in real time on my travels, meals, etc. I’ll be based in Virginia and North Carolina with side trips to D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and (maybe, just maybe) Louisiana. I’ll also be putting up a few posts on Bologna and Italy that I have back-logged. When I return to Italy, it will be to Rome. My few personal belongings have already been transplanted and I’m scanning sites for an apartment in the south-center of the city.

I’m not sure how I feel about Rome. In spite of the grafitti, the punkabestie, the gray Seattle-esque winter, I loved all 11 months of my time in Emilia-Romagna. Bologna treated me well and I’m sorry to leave behind the land of tortellini.

And Rome… Rome is… chaos. All of my Italian friends love Rome. They’re appalled that I prefer Milan. It’s not that I don’t like Rome. It’s beautiful and full of interesting people doing interesting things. But it’s a mess. You know what happened to me the last time I was in Rome? I was returning from my final job interview, melting in a suit on the un-airconditioned bus. A man standing near me -whom I did not know and had not spoken with – leaned over, caught a drop of sweat rolling down my neck with his finger, and THEN LICKED HIS FINGER. Who does that? What kind of city is home to people who do such disturbing things?

But I’m thrilled about my job and I’m happy for a new adventure. In a city with gorgeous ruins and world-class museums. A city with glamour. At Heathrow I met a cute Florentine couple flying to Dubai for their holiday. They asked me where I lived in Italy and for the first time I heard “Vivo a Roma” come from my mouth. I have to admit, it sounded good.

The past week in pictures:

Finishing up job interviews.

Vacation begins! Terrace at abbey-refurbished-as-hotel Il Convento in the hills outside Pistoia, Tuscany.

Arrosticini (grilled sheep kebabs) at a friend's birthday barbecue.

Made crème caramel for custard-loving friends.

Leisurely mornings spent reading over coffee at the park.

If you’ve talked to me in the past two weeks you’ve heard me complain about the heat. Friday I decided I had complained enough and it was time to do something. Installing air conditioning was out so I did the next best thing – I made ice cream! My landlord was dropping by Saturday and he had enjoyed the last semifreddo I had attempted – a lemon-almond version from Epicurious.I searched around but couldn’t find the perfect recipe so ended up deciding to cobble together 3 recipes I found from Gourmet and Bon Appetit.

I had peaches and nectarines about to spoil so I ended up making a peach semifreddo with chunks of homemade almond brittle scattered throughout. One of the recipes called for peach liqueur; I used this as an excuse to throw in some bourbon because Wild Turkey enhances many experiences, not the least of which is dessert.

Peach and Praline Semifreddo – *very* loosely adapted from the following recipes: Almond Praline Semifreddo, Tangerine Semifreddo with Salted Almond Brittle, and Peach and Pistachio Praline Semifreddo

Prep:

Take your dish of choice – I used a bread loaf pan but ramekins or small cups would also work – and line it in plastic wrap. Set to the side.

Almond Brittle:

1/2 c. sugar

3/4 c. toasted almonds, coarsely chopped

Heat sugar, leave it alone until it melts. Stir with a fork and when it’s golden stir in the almond chunks. Once they’re covered and sticky pour the whole mess onto a sheet of wax paper. Leave it to cool. Then break it into chunks. The original recipes called for grinding it in a blender but I like larger chunks (and the satisfaction of smashing things) so I just wrapped it in more wax paper and banged on it with a hammer.

Semifreddo:

-3 eggs, separated

-1 cup peach or nectarine puree (about 2 peaches)

-scant 1/4 c. sugar

-2 T. bourbon

-1/8 t. vanilla extract

-1 c. chilled heavy cream

In the top of a double boiler (or one that you’ve rigged yourself), whisk the 3 egg yolks and sugar until they are light and fluffy. If you have an electric hand-held mixer that’ll speed this up but I was able to do it just fine by hand since my mixer has a woefully short cord.

Add in peach puree, vanilla, and bourbon.  Set to side to cool.

In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff but not dry.

In a third bowl (yes, this is a crazy amount of bowls but it’s worth it), whisk cream until makes stiff peaks. Now fold egg whites into egg yolk mixture. Then fold in the whipped cream. You want to do this is as quickly and gently as possible while making sure it is thoroughly mixed. Finally, fold in the chunks of almond brittle.

Now pour into prepared mold. Smooth over the top and hit it firmly on the counter once or twice to remove any bubbles. Freeze for at least 4 hours then turn onto a plate. You can then garnish as you please, I topped it with sliced peaches. The result is something between ice cream and frozen mousse – a light, creamy dessert perfect for 100° heat.

Saturday evening a friend took me to dinner at Osteria Satyricon, a small restaurant recommended by one of my flatmates. I was a bit nervous after checking out the website, which played some of the most irritating music I have ever heard. On loop. Loudly. To my surprise, Osteria Satyricon ended up being one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in Bologna.

Bologna is expensive and nowhere is this more apparent than in the restaurant scene, which I’d argue has one of the worst price-quality ratios in Italy. Because of the Fiera exposition center Bologna has a constant stream of businesspeople passing through with lots of money to spend. Hence restaurants with high prices, nice atmosphere, and mediocre food can stay in business an astonishingly long time.

I generally have better luck if I’m eating outside of the center – from Trattoria Boni to Da Vito, most of my favorite trattorias with quality food and decent prices require a bus ride away from the heart of Bologna. Osteria Satyricon is also outside of the center, just a 5-10 minute walk from my apartment. The atmosphere was intimate with soft peach walls and low, arched ceilings. Wine bottles lined the walls and candles lit every table. Even though Bologna is empty on most July weekends, the restaurant was packed and had a lively, pleasant atmosphere.

Immediately after sitting down, we were brought two glasses of prosecco and a small piece of sformato (a kind of vegetable strata) for a complimentary aperitivo. My friend had to take some business calls so I browsed the book on our table which was an Italian collection of Chuck Norris jokes (example: “Un giorno giocando a nascondino, Chuck Norris ha inventato la meditazione yoga trovando sè stesso.”).

But the menu was the exciting part – in addition to the inescapable classic Bolognese cooking were unexpected specialties, the kind of creative, Italian cooking it can be difficult to find. The place is run by two young Bolognesi and every detail is well thought-out, from the in-depth descriptions in the wine list to the quirky variety of books gracing the tables. And the food is impeccable.

We began splitting their version of a caprese: fresh mozzerella lightly breaded and served on a tangy bed of marinated red onions. For the main course I had passatelli (a classic Bolognese pasta made of egg, parmesan, and breadcrumbs) with crawfish, tomatoes, and thinly sliced lardo while he had fluffy gnocchi that tasted lightly of mint and were served with tender baby squid.

For dessert a rich chocolate cake with whipped mascarpone (tasty but less interesting than the rest of the meal) and the whimsical “Sweet English Breakfast:” whipped ricotta with crackly pastry strips and a slightly sweet marmalade, arranged to look like fried eggs. At the end we were offered a complimentary coffee and digestivo, all in all we paid 50 euros and that’s including a 16 euro bottle of wine. For food that fantastic it was a great price, for Bologna almost unbelievable.

Sunday it was already hot by 8 am so I headed into Emilia for a day in the Apennines. About 2 hours southwest of Bologna, Corno alle Scale is filled with easy trails and meadows surrounded by mountains. I passed multiple Italian families that had come out for the day and set up multi-course lunches with flasks of wine on folding tables.

I brought a couple of Pilsner Urquells, some sandwiches with prosciutto and provolone, and an Ian McEwan novel I had managed to track down in English. Stretched out on a blanket in the sun it was a pretty idyllic Sunday. During the winter there’s skiing at Corno alle Scale and I felt a pang of sadness that I won’t be here in December to see the mountains covered in snow.

Some other informative sites on Corno alle Scale are http://www.parks.it/parco.corno.scale/ and www.cornoallescale.net. The area also has several cute small towns, such as La Ca’ and Madonna dell’Acero that have hotels and restaurants to accomodate tourists.

Osteria Satyricon – Via delle Armi, 3 (near where Via Murri changes to Via Toscana) – Tel. +39. 051. 444320 – info@osteriasatyricon.com – Closed on Tuesdays.