Two Parts Italy

Stinco is a pork shank, tender and wonderful the meat falls off the bone

The calendar says that summer is almost over, though the weather has yet to provide any hints of fall. Temperatures are a little better than they were a couple of weeks ago, but still hot, humid, and sticky. I’ve had a busy couple of weeks since my return to Lucca, including a move to a new apartment and carting more boxes than I can count to the recycle bins. Fortunately, those chores were balanced out by a couple of fun events.

First, a sagra with a group of old and new friends. A sagra is a community event, usually held in summer or fall, a festival built around a local specialty dish. The cooking is done by volunteers (community or church groups, lots of nonne and nonni). Dining is outdoors at long tables, and the food usually is served cafeteria style – get your tray, go through the line, pick what you’d like. Sometimes you buy a ticket at the start, which covers everything, and other times you pay at the end based on what dishes you’ve chosen. Don’t forget to stop by the booth selling wine!

Over the years I’ve been to sagras that celebrate a special type of onion (the Treschietto from Bagnone), rigatoni, polenta, porcini, roasted meats, and soup. Each one a local specialty and delicious. Every sagra also served a variety of dishes beyond the featured one, plus wine and a dessert.

Last week’s sagra was in Massarosa, not far from Lucca. The Sagra dello Stinco featured pork shank – a delicious big piece of pork so tender it nearly fell off the bone.

There were also a couple of different pasta dishes, grilled chicken, steak, fried fish, quarti fritti (lovely, salty fried dough pieces to layer with prosciutto), bruschetta with tomatoes. Water, beer, wine. Desserts, a cream filled torta di nonna or a chocolate filled torta di nonno, rounded out the menu. Taking place in a not-too-hot summer evening with music, laughter, and friends and it added up to a perfect Italian summer night.

The last weekend in August also saw the 13th edition of the Notte Bianca (White Night) in Lucca. This is an end of summer celebration in which most of the city’s museums, along with famous towers and palazzi, are open late (with free entry). Shops stay open well past normal closing times as well.

Early in the evening there was a creative activity for kids in Piazza San Michele. As the night progressed, there were multiple sound stages with DJs in the large piazzas and smaller DJ stages or groups performing along many of the streets, a percussion group parading through the streets, and lots of interesting things to see and hear.

No small event - some 60,000 people participated. Perhaps not the thing for anyone who dislikes crowds and loud music, but definitely fun to experience for at least some of the evening.

One favorite was the giant keyboard, played by two people dancing across the keys, in Piazza Cittadella.

Another favorite – the groups of dancers in several of the squares. Everything from tango to zumba, it was not possible to see them all. I chose to watch the salsa dancers in Piazza San Frediano. Impossible not to move to that beat!

The final event, at midnight, was an acrobatic troupe. Too late for me – I was home by then but still could hear the music drifting through my windows.

Notte Bianca was a great way to wind down the summer season and begin to think about fall.

Now if only fall weather would make an appearance.