August 24, 2019

Just to be clear, Zia Ida is still alive.

She did, however, have her “Last Supper” (of this trip to Italy) on Wednesday August 21, 2019.  And a fine supper it was; a fitting end to a day with personal satisfaction sixty years in the making.  But more on that in a moment.

Monday is laundry day at Zia Fidalma’s (though she often does loads of laundry as the week progresses, too!).  I made a point of getting to Benabbio a little later than usual to give Zia some time to start laundry.

For lunch we had pasta (Mezze Maniche: “half sleeves” or “short sleeves” which are pretty much the same as Mezzi Rigatoni) with a sauce of Onion, Eggplant, Bell Pepper, Capers, Olives, and Anchovies that Zia Fidalma had whipped up a few days earlier, along with a salad and Pecorino Cheese from Garfagnana.  There’s almost always some sort of sauce to use with pasta, if not more than one, in Zia’s refrigerator at any given time.

The ingredients of the sauce are so characteristic of Southern Italy that I started calling it La Salsa del Sud.  It’s a winner!  Though not Tuscan, it represents the reality of Zia Fidalma’s cooking today which, while focused on the traditional foods of Tuscany, contains ingredients and recipes from all of Italy and beyond.

Interesting (for me, at least) is that this recipe is from a beloved and dog-eared copy of a cooking magazine from 2001 that is devoted to pasta.  Zia Fidalma keeps it on the shelf with her modest collection of cookbooks and refers to it often.  After looking through the magazine I decided that so many of the recipes were worth trying that I scanned the entire periodical to cook from when I get back to the States.

On the subject of cookbooks, though, Zia Fidalma has a favorite, one that she pulls out multiple times per week and not just for historical value.  She still cooks from it!  It’s a 1960 reprint of Pellegrino Artusi’s La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene (“Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well”) originally published in 1891.

Mid-afternoon we had a showing of the house that sits next to Zia Fidalma’s.  It’s been for sale for seven years and, although the price has dropped, it hasn’t dropped enough (in my estimation) to generate a sale any time soon.

In the late afternoon, Zia Ida and I drove down to my apartment in Bagni di Lucca.  Relatives were picking us up to take us to dinner, an al fresco affair at Bar Marina in the charming town of Casoli.  Casoli is up in the mountains, on a road not unlike that to Benabbio, and the temperature was quite cool! There were nine of us and someone took responsibility for ordering family style which was a good idea.

We started with three Antipasti: a large platter of Salumi, an array of Bruschette, and a big platter of Pasta Fritta (fried dough).  The consensus was that we would double down on Primi Piatti (First Courses), getting LARGE BOWLS, and not order Secondi.  We had Tortelli (like small ravioli) al Ragu (classically Tuscan), Farfalle with Speck, and Risotto with Mushrooms.  After we finished the Primi Piatti, someone decided that we needed food to fill the interstices in our stomachs so pizza came to the table: one Margarita and one with Anchovies and Capers.  For dessert most of us selected a slice of one of the restaurant’s Torte.  Several of us had Caffè Corretto, corrected coffee, meaning that some sort of alcoholic beverage was added, in this case rum.  Departing in separate cars, I was deposited in Bagni di Lucca by one set of relatives and Zia Ida was deposited in Benabbio by another.

On Tuesday, after she did a bit of prep work, Zia Fidalma turned the preparation of lunch over tom me.  It was really quite simple, Spaghetti con Pomarola, a simple sauce of tomatoes [from the garden] cooked with garlic and basil and pureed, and Melanzane Fritte (sliced eggplant dusted with flour and fried).  Zia Ida also had some of Gemma’s braised rabbit from Sunday.

After lunch I made pasta for the next day’s “Last Supper” using one of Zia Fidalma’s recipes.   It’s a pretty traditional Southern Italian pasta dough, which often mixes regular flour and semolina and adds oil and water to the eggs, EXCEPT that the water was replaced by beer.  I don’t know the provenance of the recipe but it was contained in an email from a friend in Germany.

That evening the four of us (Zia Fidalma, Zia Ida, Massimo and myself) were meeting another set of relatives (Paola and Abramo and their daughter and son-in-law) for dinner.  We were bringing Pizze so everyone could focus on having a fun time.  The pizzeria, from which we planned to get pizza (Es Vedra in Fornoli) was closed for a one-week break.  We drove to La Lanterina, also in Fornoli that, despite the “Siamo Aperti” sign was most definitely not “Aperto.”  That brought us to the new, and untested, Da Lino in Piandigioviano (or Piano di Gioviano, depending on whether one believes the road sign or the map).

Corsagna is another charming Tuscan hill town (aren’t they all?) but the road to Corsagna makes the roads to Benabbio and Casoli seem like child’s play.  Upon arrival in the piazza, there was a van from which someone was selling cheese.  After a quick taste, Zia Fidalma bought a big hunk of Formaggio Fresco and a basket of Ricotta.  Both were excellent.

Abramo is a sculptor, though now retired.  His and Paola’s home is adorned with numerous built ins that he has sculpted.  It is a cozy and utterly personal home.

In addition to the pizza, we had Funghi sott’Olio (mushrooms in oil) that Paola put-up (does anyone even use that term anymore?) using mushrooms that she foraged and cured olives from their own trees.  Dessert was Cialde rolled into cones filled with Gelato.  Cialde, rolled or not, are what Americans would recognize as Pizzelle.  Paola flavors hers with ground anise seeds and Sambucca.

She offered the recipe but we forgot to ask for it before leaving.  Massimo will follow-up!  Paola cooked the Cialde a little more than usual before rolling them into cones so that they were nice and crispy and would stand up to Gelato.

Massimo dropped me off at the apartment before heading home to Benabbio with Zia Fidalma and Zia Ida.

On Wednesday August 21st we went to the market in Bagni di Lucca, then to the butcher at Simply, then to Conad (but not the big Conad in Gallicano).  We also made a stop at the pharmacy…the one that uses beautiful paper to wrap medicines.  This time, however, I got my meds in a bag…disappointment!

We headed to Fornoli and got Cappuccini and Cornetti at a bar, ran a few errands, then went to view the house in which my father-in-law and Zia Ida grew up.  It’s up for sale.  Zia Ida hasn’t been inside for about 60 years, since leaving Italy as a young teen.  Zia Fidalma and Massimo have dubbed the house “Casa Pieri.”

It has two bedrooms, one bath, an eat-in kitchen and a living room as well as a terrace overlooking the river and a small front porch.  It’s along the banks of the River Lima next to the chain bridge, a foot bridge that connects Fornoli to Chifenti.  It’s surrounded by a park so it’s quiet as there are no roads close by.

It needs some updating and a few additions (like heating) and the landscaping needs to be vastly improved but it’s a sweet property.  Unfortunately, it’s way overpriced.  One would need to get it for something far, far less than the current asking price to make it a worthwhile investment.  I doubt that’s likely to happen though I think the property would get a lot of use from friends and family visiting Italy.

We got home at 1 PM and quickly made lunch which consisted of Panini of Piadina, Prosciutto, Formaggio Fresco (from the piazza in Corsagna) and an array of condiments including Peperoncini sott’Olio, Peperoni sott’Olio, and Cetrioli (which means both gerkins and fresh cucumbers… gerkins in this case).  There was some of that luscious Ricotta on the side.  In common Italian usage, peperoncini are hot and peperoni are sweet.

«L’Ultima Cena» di Zia Ida started about 7 PM.  It consisted of Tagliatelle al Ragu (using the beer-based pasta made the previous day) after that there was a Filet Mignon, Purè di Patate (mashed potatoes but with the addition of nutmeg) and Fagiolini con Aglio e Olio (green beans with garlic and oil).

The night was not a late one as Zia Ida and Massimo planned to leave the house at 4:00 AM so she could make her 6:30 flight to Rome.