La Polleria (The Poultry Shop)

Shopping for groceries (fare la spessa in Italian) is one of the great cultural experiences for stranieri (foreigners) living in Italy. Food, and the process of obtaining it, helps to define a culture. And the act of shopping itself provides a language lesson as it requires use of a specialized vocabulary - after all one wouldn’t want to request uva (grapes) when needing uova (eggs) or pesche (peaches) instead of pesce (fish). I look forward to grocery shopping in Lucca with an enthusiasm that I lack when in the United States.

While there are some big grocery stores here (true supermarkets), they are outside of the historic center of the town where I live. I do use one of the small grocery stores inside Lucca’s walls for essentials - pasta, rice, coffee, sugar, etc. But for other items it remains common in Lucca to visit a number of small specialty shops, something I love to do. Two years of living here has made me a bit fussy about foods. I prefer milk from the region of the Maremma, available at a nearby latteria (dairy store). It just tastes better than what I can buy at the grocery store, plus that same latteria sells the nicest cheeses and lovely little slices of frittata and vegetable tartlets. I buy only local olive oil, freshly pressed each fall. I have a couple of favorite meat markets, delis, and vegetable markets. As for bread - well it seems everyone has their favorite panificio (bread bakery). I will gladly walk across town for the best focaccia.

One of my favorite shopping experiences is to venture to the local polleria (poultry shop) where they specialize in the freshest, tastiest chicken. In Lucca that’s the Polleria Volpe on Via San Paolino. In addition to wonderful chicken they also have a variety of other meats and shelves full of pasta, beans, olive oils, and other staples.

Just some of the ready-to-cook meats available at Polleria Volpe

The yellowish color is typical of chicken found in Italy (apologies to my vegetarian friends, but these birds are tasty!)

As someone who was used to purchasing chicken on a white styrofoam tray wrapped in plastic, my first visit to Polleria Volpe was an eye-opener. I did not see what I wanted in the display case, so I asked if they had chicken thighs of the bone-in and skin-on variety. They did, but would need to cut them for me. The macellaio (butcher) then proceeded to remove a large chicken from a huge box full of chickens. Next, out came a big cleaver which she used to expertly removed the thigh / leg quarters from the chickens. Then she separated the thighs from the lower legs with a slightly smaller knife. They way she did it made it look more like an art form, or an ancient weaponry display, then butchering. Along the way she taught me the difference between cosce (which my dictionary said was a thigh but actually means the thigh / leg combination) and anca (hip - meaning just the upper thigh).

As if that weren’t enough, she then asked me “bruciate?”. HUH? Burned? Why would I want my chicken thighs burned? As it turned out, she was asking if I wanted her to singe the bits of remaining feathers, something no American butcher has ever asked me. That process leaves little brown singe marks on the skin and I swear it adds to the flavor once those thighs are roasted. That first visit to the polleria was a valuable cultural, language, and culinary, experience!

Who knew a butcher shop could be this colorful and interesting ?

Over time, I’ve come to know the butchers at Volpe and depend on their recommendations. They were most helpful in picking out a large roasting chicken to do stand-in for a Thanksgiving turkey last year. I was only a bit surprised when the chicken they pulled out for me had both its head and two very, very long legs. Thankfully the butcher removed both before wrapping it up in paper for me to take home. The bird also came with their best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving, which they called the “American holiday”.

A while back I saw small involtini (little rolled pieces of meat) in their display case. At first I thought they were chicken but they were actually strips of rabbit (coniglio) laid on top of thin strips of lardo (pork fat), rolled up and secured with a toothpick. I was intrigued, but since I had never cooked rabbit I asked the butcher how to prepare it - in the forno (oven) or in a padella (frying pan)? Her recommendation: frying pan with a bit of olive oil and some white wine. I followed those instructions, but first I rolled them in finely chopped herbs (sage and rosemary) along with salt & some garlic. Then I seared them, added the white wine, squeezed in a bit of lemon juice, and let them cook for about 30 minutes. I finished the sauce with a little knob of butter and served the finished involtini over rice. The flavor was heavenly!

Pre-packed chicken wrapped in plastic just can’t compete, either for flavor or for the sheer delight of shopping at the polleria. And trying new dishes, like the rabbit involtini, adds to the fun! I wonder what I’ll find on my next visit ?

Frittelle for San Giuseppe

Italians must be the world champions of celebrations. There seems to be a festa (party) or a celebration for just about every occasion - saint’s days, onomastic (name) days, major religious holidays, national holidays, birthdays, sagras to celebrate regional foods. When you live in Italy, you festiggiare (celebrate) all of life’s special events. It is one of the things I love about living here. As an added bonus, many of these events include special foods. And although the pandemic has for the last year limited gathering for most of these events, small celebrations and culinary specialities continue to mark the occasions.

March is generally a quiet month in terms of celebrations. Epiphany is long over, the Carnevale season has ended (and this year it was cancelled almost entirely), Easter is not yet here. Food wise, the Carnevale sweets are gone and Easter cakes and chocolates are just beginning to show up in shop windows.

But all is not lost! In mid-March there is the Feast Day of San Giuseppe. It is the official onomastic day for the name Giuseppe and so a special day for anyone who carries that moniker. Because of San Giuseppe’s religious role as a father, the Feast of San Giuseppe has also become the Italian Father’s day. And … falling on March 19th it is also on the cusp of the spring equinox. Certainly this day deserves a special culinary treat!

A frittella makes a perfect sugary treat

To mark the day, pastry shops across Lucca are filled with Frittelle di San Giuseppe. Frittelle are delicious! A sweet batter, often flavored with a bit of lemon peel, is dropped by spoonfuls into hot oil (fritta = fried), filled, and then rolled in sugar. The traditional filling in Lucca is riso (a second cousin to rice pudding but more firm). Other varieties include chocolate, Nutella, and (my personal favorite) a delicious pastry cream. Some are vuoto (empty) with no filling to distract from the sugary treat.

Frittelle are crisp and sugary outside, light and often cream filled inside. Yum!

It was hard work having to taste test frittelle before writing about them, but I made the sacrifice. Crisp on the outside with a slight crunch from the sugar crystals, airy dough on the inside, and a delicious eggy custard filling. Scrumptious. In fact, I just may need another one to go with my coffee this afternoon. I think I’ll invite a friend to share !

COVID-19 in Italy : One Year Later

By mid-February 2020 Venice’s Carnevale celebration had been halted and the city emptied almost overnight.

It was during this week one year ago that the Italian Government announced a nation-wide quarantine in an effort to contain COVID-19 in Italy. The first known case had been identified at the end of January and by mid-February it was clear that the virus was spreading in northern Italy. There were hints that a lockdown was coming. In February, one of Italy’s biggest annual events, the Venetian Carnevale, was cancelled just after its opening weekend. That provoked a good deal of outrage as many people felt it was an over reaction to a limited problem (knowledge of COVID’s impact was not well understood at that point). Soon, local travel restrictions were imposed, though not always effectively implemented. People from the first affected communities fled and took the virus with them. For the rest of 2020 all major festivals, and most smaller community festivals, were cancelled as the need to limit large gatherings became much more clear.

In early March of 2020, bars, cafes, and restaurants began to distance tables. I remember well my “last coffee” before lockdown. I sat with two friends at a local bar. We spread out across two tables, empty seats and space between us, wondering what would come next. I remember someone saying that we should all make hair appointments soon in case the salons closed (they did, the very next day).

Hospitals soon began to fill with gravely ill patients. Shortages of personnel and equipment became critical issues. And people began to die, especially the elderly. Some people still did not take COVID seriously (both here in Italy and across the world) while other’s became paralyzed with fear. Most of us existed in a middle space - concerned, taking precautions, reordering priorities and routines, and slowly adjusting to what would become a long period of restrictions. We learned to carry paperwork with us when we left the house, to not go more than 200 meters from home without a valid reason, to wear masks, and to spend most of our time at home. We kept busy. Most importantly, we searched for new forms of connection - zoom and google chats, on-line apperitivos, daily “check-ins” to be sure friends were ok and coordinated “accidental” meetings while in line for groceries or at the trash bins. We kept in touch with our families and watched grandkids grow via FaceTime. I can not imagine what the last year would have been like without this ability to connect.

Andra` tutto bene - a sign of hope during the lockdown.

A great boost throughout the last year has been the Italian sense of hope and of community spirit - we would get through this together. Italians sang on balconies, displayed the national flag, and hung signs declaring all would be ok. They swept us up in their optimism. As hard as this has been, I will be forever thankful for the spirit of my Italian friends and neighbors and for those strangers across Italy making music on balconies.

I think perhaps it was a blessing to not have known then that one year later we would still be in such a struggle with this (damn) virus. Still, life is certainly much easier, less restricted than one year ago. Shops are open, Lucca’s famous wall is once again a place where we can walk, and we can go anywhere in our community without paperwork. The Italians have embraced (or at least adapted to) the concept of take out meals, and we all feel it is our civic duty to order meals to go often, a definite plus when we can’t dine out. A real bonus is that we can have people to our homes, though the rules say only 2 at a time. Just having a friend over for an occasional coffee or a meal becomes a highlight social occasion. Mask wearing has become automatic and not such a big deal for most of us (a bonus in cold winter weather, though not so great on these warm spring days). This is the new normal.

Thankfully it is once again possible to walk along Lucca’s walls. It’s a joy to be able to walk with a friend (though group gatherings and picnics are not yet permitted). Don’t forget your mask!

The latest color coded map showing Italy’s restrictions. Only one area, Sardegna, is white meaning that they have essentially no restrictions. Red zones are the most restricted. Tuscany remains in the Orange zone, though rumor has it we may change to red next week.

There have even been a few periods when restrictions have been lifted to allow the opening of restaurants and museums as well as travel outside of one’s home community (most recently in late October/November and again for 5 weeks in January/February). These periods of respite have provided glimpses of normalcy and have been the best therapy! However, the rules are ever changing based on the most current statistics related to COVID cases, variants, transmission, and hospitalizations so what is allowed one week can be forbidden the next. We are learning to take this week by week, some of us more gracefully than others. I must admit that I am among the group that finds the constant changes, and the weekly “statistic watch” more than a little anxiety provoking.

At the end of this year there is hope but there is also grief for what has been lost, both the big and the everyday small things. Mostly, I think people are tired. At the end of a year there are fewer flags flying, not so many optimistic banners on display, and it has been a long time since I’ve seen a video of balcony singing. Many festivals are cancelled for a second year. Museums are currently closed again in Tuscany. The economy here has been devastated and economic help has been slow to arrive. Families remain separated, lives disrupted. Some political discord was inevitable. In all of these ways, Italy is not so different than most other places in the world.

But vaccines are coming and with them the hope that things will improve, infection numbers fall, tourists return, and the economy begin to recover. In the meantime, spring is almost here. The skies are blue and the temperatures mild. Italy is as beautiful as ever, a walk across Lucca still takes my breath away. Music streams from the windows of the music school near my home. The magnolias are in bloom and the wisteria will soon follow. Before long the fields will be dotted with red poppies. The ancient walls still offer a giant hug, encircling this historic city and making me feel safer for being tucked within them. I hope that, wherever you are, you have comforts that make you feel safe and connected. And that you are still dreaming of the day when it is possible to return to Italy.

Magnolias in bloom along Corso Garibaldi, Lucca. March 2021.

Cooking in Italian

I love Italian cooking and, even better, I like cooking in Italian.  For me that may mean using a recipe written in Italian, listening to Italian music while I cook or - best of all - taking a cooking class presented entirely in Italian.  Over the past several years I have taken many classes that combine language learning and cooking at Lucca Italian School (LIS).  Some classes were held in the kitchen at LIS while others were held in a fattoria (farm) kitchen in the hills outside of Lucca. These were peak experiences for me, combining language, hands-on cooking lessons, learning about local dishes and ingredients, wine tasting, lots of laughter, and the opportunity to socialize with students from around the world.

A pre-COVID cooking class with Lucca Italian School

 And then, along came the pandemic and it became impossible for LIS to offer in-person classes.  In response to the mandatory restrictions, the staff at LIS began offering on-line language classes, both group and individual.  More recently, they have developed a variety of classes on special topics (art, music, history, local legends) which allow us to continue practicing the language while also learning about Italian culture. Last week they introduced an on-line cooking class, taught by LIS’s fantastic culinary star Eva Dal Porto. Sign me up!
I have to admit I had some reservations about on-line learning at first (having experienced some really dry continuing education classes in my prior professional life), but I have really enjoyed my weekly at-a-distance language classes with LIS, along with some of the specialty classes, and have found them to be both effective and fun.  And now that I’ve just completed my first on-line cooking class, along with 40+ other students from around the world, I can honestly say that I can’t wait to do this again!

The class was all about carciofi (artichokes) and was delivered via Zoom straight from Eva’s kitchen.  A few days before hand we received a link to the Zoom session along with 3 recipes – a marinated raw artichoke dish, a carciofi fritti (fried artichoke) appetizer, and an artichoke risotto.  

Also included was a shopping list for the ingredients.  Shopping for the ingredients was fun – especially picking out those beautiful purple Italian artichokes.  

And I learned some new words, like scalogno (shallot). With my ingredients on hand I was ready to start cooking. 

Ingredients ready to begin preparation of the risotto

Participants had the option to just watch the demonstration or to cook along with Eva.  I knew that my tiny Italian kitchen would not have enough prep space to manage all 3 dishes, so I only watched during the preparation of the salad and the fried artichokes.  But the risotto I cooked during the class.  What fun!  

The easy to follow lesson, in Italian, began with how to clean and trim the artichokes and then soak them in lemon water to prevent discoloration.  

Next came step by step instruction and demonstration of the preparation of each dish.

And if you aren’t confident using a mezzaluna, well Eva demonstrated that too. 

The on-line instructions and demonstration was easy to follow

 By the end of the lesson my kitchen smelled wonderful and I was hungry!  Luckily, my artichoke risotto was ready to eat.  A delicious ending to a fun lesson.

The finished risotto. The grains of rice remain separate and are never mushy

Artichoke Risotto  (In the class we used half of these amounts to make 2 servings)

 8 artichokes (the small purple ones are best)

1 lemon, juiced

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine

320 grams of risotto rice (about 1 ¾ cups)

1 cup dry white wine

1 liter vegetable broth (about 4 ¼ cups)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons butter

Grated parmesan cheese, to sprinkle on top of the finished risotto

 Clean and trim the artichokes (remove tough outer leaves, cut away top half of remaining bulb to leave the heart and tender inner leaves).

Cut each trimmed artichoke lengthwise into 8 pieces and remove the fuzzy “choke” (leaving the tender inner leaves just above it).

Immerse the cut artichokes into a bowl of lemon water until ready to cook.

Dice the garlic and the shallots and saute in the olive oil until softened.  Add the artichoke pieces, stir, and cook for another 5 minutes or so.  Add the rice and stir to coat with oil. 

Add the wine and allow it to evaporate fairly quickly over moderately high heat.  Keep stirring!

 Lower the heat, add the salt, pepper, and about 1/3 of the broth.  Stir and cook until broth is absorbed.

 Continue to add broth 1 ladle full at a time, stirring until each is absorbed.  Rice should be cooked by the end but still a bit al dente and not sticky or mushy.

Add the butter and stir well.   Serve right away sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Christmas in Italy 2020

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Lucca remained stubbornly in the Orange Zone of Covid restrictions. Shops were open, but restaurants and cafes stayed closed except for “to-go” food and drink. It also meant no trips to nearby cities to marvel at the decorations (how I miss seeing Florence at Christmas).

Via Sant’Andrea, Lucca looking very festive with the Torre Guinigi in the distance

Mild weather and a few days of being in the yellow zone made it possible to enjoy a holiday coffee with a friend

And then, a small Christmas gift. For 4 short days before Christmas, Dec 20 - 23, Tuscany became a yellow zone. Overnight cafes reopened and the piazzas and city streets once again seemed lively. This of course was a mixed blessing. It was a delight to sit in a cafe and sip a cappuccino with a friend, but the temptation to let down one’s guard also became a little more challenging.

With fears that holiday gatherings would lead to an increase in COVID spread, those 4 days came to an end on Christmas Eve as all of Italy was placed back into the red zone - maximum restrictions.

But that did not stop Lucca from displaying holiday spirit. The piazzas and main streets of the historic center are strung with lights, including those wonderful words from Dante pictured in last week’s post.

Piazza Anfiteatro, Lucca. Christmas 2020

Doorways are decorated on homes throughout town. Shop windows are full of holiday treats and Christmas trees have appeared in piazzas.

The always charming Chiasso Barletti is once again the prettiest little alley in town. It’s also one of the best places to buy gifts with its artisan shops (think chocolate, ceramics, jewelry, hats) and Etta’s - the most wonderful English language bookstore.

Even though our holiday get togethers are limited this year (if not discouraged all together) it is still possible to wander the streets, gaze into windows, stroll down red-carpeted alleys filled with little Christmas trees, pop into churches to see the presepe (nativity scenes), and to enjoy the decorated doorways.

San Michele Church, Lucca at Christmas

And because the holiday season here lasts all the way to Epiphany on January 6th, the day when Old Befana arrives with gifts of socks and candy, there is still plenty of time to enjoy the festivities. Buon Feste!