Italy’s most beautiful Christmas tradition

The presepe or nativity scene made its first appearance in 1223 in the tiny village of Grecio in Umbria when it is said that Saint Francis wanted to depict the scene ofJesus’ birth to the towns people and from that time on, the nativity scene has been an integral part of the Italian Christmas tradition.  The elaborate models, some life size and some in miniature, are erected on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8).  On Christmas Eve the baby Jesus is added to the display and finally on Epiphany (January 6) you will witness the “arrival” of the Three Kings.  The detail and beauty of these crèche scenes are remarkable. You can see them in the piazza and inside churches, often indicated by a shooting star placed over the door inviting you to come in.  The scenes have waterfalls, moving parts, nods to modern culture (I saw one with an Obama figurine this year) and twinkling stars lighting up the sky.  One can’t help but be moved.  

Nativity in front of the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi

Creativity - Nativity in a Fiat 500

Detail from the nativity in front of St. Peter's in Rome

The most remarkable of all the nativity scenes I have witnessed over my years in Italy was the living nativity that I went to on a windy and cold Christmas Eve.  From Assisi we made our way to Armezano, another little hilltown which for the time being had been transformed into the town of Bethlehem.  With our hands wrapped around terra cotta cups of hot mulled wine we made our way through the village. There were sheep and goats milling about, big torches lit the way and every member of the town was dressed in period costume. We walked through town and were drawn into the stable where Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus sat on the ground with only a pile of hay as cushioning.  There was a warm glow in the barn and a sense of peace and love that I found almost miraculous.  Merry Christmas indeed. 

Peace and love to you all,

Ashley

Foodie Friday – Edible Gifts with Italian Inspiration

With the holidays right around the corner, I would like more than anything thing to lock myself in the kitchen for a four day cooking marathon.  To me, edible gifts are the best.  In a world where everything is take out, cook in a minute, one-pot meals, I find that my friends and family appreciate a homemade treat more than ever.   I love sharing my love for Italy through food and what better time to do that than Christmas.  This year I have chosen two favorites:  biscotti and espresso sauce.

I know, you can’t swing a dead cat without finding biscotti in stores, bakeries and cafes, but GOOD biscotti are hard to find.  Believe me, I’ve done the research.  The only solution is to make them myself.    I have scoured the internet and cookbooks for the perfect recipe and have settled on Chocolate Almond and Pistachio Cranberry this year.  Just a note, especially to those readers who may be the recipients of my treats:  they are SUPPOSED to be hard and crunchy.  Biscotti means “twice cooked” and are meant to be served with vin santo, an after dinner sweet wine in which the biscotti can be soaked and softened.  You can also dip them in coffee. 

Speaking of coffee, my second edible gift is espresso sauce, a recipe I learned at a cooking class on the Antinori estate in Tuscany a couple of years ago.  Though to call this a “recipe” is a bit of an overstatement.  The ingredients are espresso, sugar and water.  Boil together and reduce. Drizzle over ice cream, as a plate decoration under your holiday desserts or dip your biscotti in it! 

Here are some other Italian yummies that make great Christmas gifts:

Italian Cheese Platter – taleggio (delicious) served with walnut raisin crisps, piave, and a fresh (not aged) pecorino are good choices.

Truffle Spread  - this blend of black truffles and olive oil can be found in specialty stores.   Use it on crostini for an elegant hors d’oeuvre. 

Torrone – this delicious almond nougat candy is synonymous with Christmas in  Italy.  David Barbero makes a wonderful chocolate covered variety that can be found at Eataly. 

Prosecco – anyone who follows my blog regularly knew that this had to be included.  It is a welcome gift for any wine love.  Easy to drink and festive.  My preference of those that are readily available here is Nino Franco Rustico  - cin cin!

I hope your holiday is full of tasty treats – ‘tis the season!

Tastefully yours,

Ashley

Foodie Friday - Hooray! It's Pandoro Season!

The holiday season is upon us.  There is nothing more comforting to me than the traditions that come with this time of year.  Call me boring, a stick in the mud, a conformist but I remain loyal to the classics:  mistletoe, O Come All Ye Faithful, peppermint stick ice cream, beef tenderloin for Christmas dinner. Naturally, the Italians have their own traditions and it was delightful to spend the holidays in another country and experience a whole new way of celebrating.  There are many beautiful traditions in Italy - the creche, magnificent store windows, living nativity scenes throughout the countryside and all sorts of culinary delights.   As the weather turns cold, I find myself waxing nostalgic for the most telling sign of the arrival of the Christmas season: pandoro and panettone.   These buttery Christmas cakes come in gorgeous cardboard boxes and wrappings and can be found in any food shop or bar in Italy from the beginning of December on.  Panettone is studded with candied fruit while pandoro is a plain cake dusted with powdered sugar.  When I studied in Florence,  I arrived at my host family's house in the middle of January.  There was a tower of panettone and pandoro boxes stacked in the corner of the kitchen.  Apparently these Christmas cakes are the Italian answer to a housewarming gift and my family had obviously hosted a LOT of holiday parties. We ate a lot of pandoro that first month - breakfast, dessert and snacks -  and while I had my fill of them at the time, I still love the buttery, simple flavor with a cup of coffee.  You can imagine my delight when I found miniature cakes at my local Italian cafe this week!

Adorable pandoro box

The pandoro is made in a star shaped pan but if you cut it horizontally, you can make it look like a Christmas tree.  I scooped up three of them and made a cute, edible centerpiece that made our kitchen table look very festive.  

Unfortunately, the centerpiece did not remain on the table very long.   It seems that Bella the hound is also a big fan of pandoro.  

the offender

Leave me a comment and let me know how you are incorporating traditions into your celebrations this year. 

Tastefully yours,

Ashley

             

Foodie Friday - The Lost Art of Hospitality

I can't tell you how many hours I have spent in Italy at a table long after the plates have been cleared, just enjoying great conversation and the comfort of being with friends and family.  In fact, often at the end of a meal, your server will come over with a few bottles of digestivi  - grappa, limoncello, Strega (more on that another time) - and will leave them on the table with glasses for everyone. Unfortunately, that is not a tradition that has been adopted here in the United States and more often than not, a check will be presented promptly upon the completion of dessert with a strong expectation that you vacate the table quickly.

To me, this is a sad way to end an otherwise delightful evening but I have a remedy: entertain at home.  I know it can seem overwhelming with everything there is to do....packing, wrapping, shopping, baking. More often than not in the month of December my kitchen looks like a bomb went off in it, strewn with baking supplies that I am loathe to put away just to have to pull them out the following day. But despite the chaos that is my life (and my house) we are getting together with good friends this weekend and we're going old school - dinner at home. Our little dinner group started this fall and I have to say, I am a big fan.   The hostess does the main course and drinks and the others bring salad and dessert.   We all love to cook so we do, but no one cares if the dessert is store bought or if the salad is from a bag.    This weekend I am making camembert & honey crostini and spiced nuts for an appetizer.  Dinner is a fabulous seafood casserole.  There will be wine, of course, and a aperitif to get the evening started.   Here is my table:

I love going all out but you certainly don't have to - that is not the point.  It is about sharing the evening in the company of good friends.  I happen to love my underused dining room, so any chance I have to spend an evening in there with good food, good wine and good friends is a treat.

It seems that people just don't entertain anymore and that is a shame. Having guests over is a great chance to use that wedding china (do you even remember what it looks like?), break out the cookbooks and have FUN!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Tastefully yours,
Ashley

Foodie Friday - BREAD!

I am not a fan of this whole gluten free/no carb movement.  I love bread. There, I said it.  I particularly love bread and cheese.  You can imagine how happy I was when I moved to Italy, truly the Mecca of great bread and cheese.  Italy has a vast selection of bread and believe it or not, each region has its own unique type of bread, the recipe of which is often steeped in historic roots.   Take Tuscany for example  - I do not care for Tuscan bread as there is no salt in it.  Why no salt, you ask? Once upon a time, in a land known as the Papal States, it was decided that there would be a tax levied on salt.  The papacy thought they had the Tuscans backed into a corner because naturally they would need salt for their bread.  But of course, the Tuscans found a loophole.  They simply left the salt out of the bread and to this day, centuries later, the salt is still omitted.   Not great for flavor but it does make a fun story (and a great bruschetta!).  The bread in Rome and Naples on the other hand, is heavenly.  Made from a madre lievito or starter,  the bread in these southern cities has a chewiness and tang that I find irresistible.  Sure your jaw is sore after a week of meals in Rome but who cares?  Totally worth the suffering!

As you can imagine, here in the US I am extremely picky about bread and have come across very few that actually make me feel like eating it is completely worth the calories and whatever other evils gluten impart on your body.    What good fortune that one of the best bakers on the East Coast is right here in Southeastern Connecticut.   Todd Solek of Farm to Hearth Bakery makes some of the most incredible bread and focaccia I have ever eaten.  No more than five ingredients in each loaf, there are lines out the door at 3:45, waiting for the warm bread coming out of the oven at 4:00pm each day.  If you live in CT, I highly recommend a road trip to this wonderful bakery. Check out their website:  www.farmtohearth.com   And if you happen to be coming to my house for dinner, Farm to Hearth focaccia makes the perfect hostess gift.

Tastefully Yours,
Ashley

Foodie Friday: Pears and Pecorino

Since I firmly believe that one of the greatest activities while traveling is eating (and drinking), Fridays will be dedicated to all things edible and delicious.  Buon Apetito!

Despite the cry of outrage by Italian foodies (most of them expats living in Italy) lamenting the decline of the food quality, I still find the eating in Italy to be sublime, especially those simple dishes that one finds unexpectedly.  Some time ago I was driving through southern Tuscany on my way to La Bandita – a fabulous guesthouse outside of Pienza.    As always, the “getting there” took longer than I had planned and I have learned to let go a bit in this regard.  Happily, right around lunchtime, I happened across a little village, the name of which is still unknown to me.  I don’t know if it was actually a village or a hamlet or perhaps just a little group of buildings alongside the road.  But it did have all the requisites of an Italian town:  a tabacchaio, a bar and a four older Italian men sitting on a park bench.  It was a blustery day and so I popped in to the bar for a bite to eat, thinking that I might have a panino and a glass of wine but as often happens, some of the best “restaurants” are these little unassuming mom and pop establishments along the way. As soon as I opened the door I was greeted with the warmth of friendly banter as the mailman chatted with the barista over a pre-lunch aperitivo.  There were a few tables off the side which were already set with placemats, a sure sign that this bar served more than just panini.      I sat down and was immediately brought a basket of bread, a small carafe of wine (I was having red apparently) and a hand written menu.  There was lasagna, ravioli with pecorino and a couple of other offerings.  At the bottom of the menu was written, very emphatically, that all dishes were made in house and that nothing was frozen.  I was considering the pasta when something else caught my eye:  crostone con pere e pecorino, aka heaven on a plate, the most incredible “grilled cheese” sandwich you will ever eat.   I waited relatively patiently for my meal and enjoyed eavesdropping on the conversation at the bar which centered around the soccer season and the grape harvest and warmed myself with the lovely red wine.  My crostone was served on a terra cotta plate, piping hot from the oven.  A bubbling layer of pecorino covered the sweet juicy slices of pear.  As a was about to cut into it the signora brought over a small crock of honey and indicated that I was to drizzle that over my sandwich – who am I to argue with a Tuscan mamma??   She did not steer me wrong – the honey put that dish over the top.  I have made this in a smaller version as a quick appetizer  - the ingredients are listed below. It goes without saying that the best, highest quality ingredients will make a difference.  It is a perfect fall appetizer but here is my advice to you.  DON’T skimp on the cheese.  Life is too short to skimp on the cheese.  Tastefully yours, Ashley

Crostone with Pears and Pecorino
Good hearty bread
Firm Bartlett Pears (I use less ripe pears because they tend to soften up in the oven)
Fresh Pecorino Cheese (this is different from aged cheese.  It is creamier and not as sharp - a good cheese shop will have it.)
High Quality Honey

Toast the bread slightly.  Remove from oven and place one slice of pear and one slice of pecorino on top.  Return to the oven under the broiler but watch it carefully so it does not burn.  Remove from oven and drizzle with honey.   Serve immediately.

Rome, Eternally Mine

When I am feeling the need for inspiration and a return to beauty and style, my thoughts turn to Rome.  I had the good fortune of spending last weekend there for a very special event that I will talk about later this week but right now I have Sunday on my mind.  

Sunday was spent the way it is supposed to be  - with lots of love, laughs and good food and wine.  It was an escape from the grind of everyday life. As the Eternal City slowly woke up, I wandered to a cafe near my hotel and allowed myself the decadence of a cornetto with my morning cappuccino.  This one was filled with lemon and pistachios, an incredible combination.  If I could figure out how to import the pastries from Rome to the US, I would open a bakery and spread the good word of the art of the Italian breakfast.

Making my way into the center on a beautiful sunny morning, I was content to take in the unique nature of the city, new and old, ornate and simple, juxtaposed next to one another in architecture, storefronts, restaurants.  This is the true beauty of Rome. A perfect example of this is the Piazza Augustus which includes in one square examples of Fascist, baroque, imperial and modern architecture. The relatively new structure that houses the Ara Pacis was designed by Richard Meier (who also designed the Getty center in LA) and was not without heated debate about its place in Rome but I really like it. 

Before I knew it I was whisked away by Jenny and we headed for the hills - literally.   We made our way to the tiny hamlet of Montecelio, northeast of Rome, where we feasted on bruschetta, prosciutto and cheese, fabulous steaks cooked over an open fireplace and a couple (or a few, but who's counting) bottles of Brunello. A passeggiata through the village completed the afternoon as the October sun shone down on us and Jenny and I caught up on years of our lives.   

To me, Sunday embodied everything that I love about the Italian culture and I returned to the US feeling truly fulfilled and blessed.