One of the pleasures of spending time in Italy is eating fresh pasta and at  Il Tordello,  Via Paolinelli 31, 55014, Marlia, they makes a huge range, plus sauces to accompany it and breads too. A particular local favourite is tordelli, a rectangular pasta stuffed with slowly cooked pork, veal or beef & herbs and served with a tomato and meat sauce with a sprinkle of parmesan.

The best way to drive there is through Gugliano to Mastiano, take the  road straight on and downhill (not the right hand fork as on the instructions to the house) towards Ponte a Moriano. Cross over the river at Ponte a Moria turn right, through the town for about 4km. At the large roundabout with Esse Lunga supermarket on your left, continue around & take the 3rd exit (same as Esse Lunga entrance), go under the railway bridge on Strada Provinciale 29 which leads into Viale Europa. Continue straight ahead until you arrive at the traffic lights (approx 1.5 – 2km), then turn right on and continue for approx 650-800m. On the left you will see a modern parade of shops with parking in front & you will see Il Tordello.

Hours: 9.00 – 13.00, 16.00 – 20.00

Ask the girls how long you should cook the pasta – “Quanto tempo di cottura della pasta? Due minuti?” It’s usually about 2 mins in boiling water. If it is tordelli alla ragu that’s already in a sauce, then it is cooked and just requires re-heating (not in water) – remove from the fridge at least 30 mins to an hour before cooking in a pan and very slowly cook it for approx 5 – 7 minutes.

Alternatively try the Gastronomia in Ponte a Moriano for their ready made pasta dishes – lasagne, tordelli. They will even make up a dish for you like mushroom lasagne, meat lasagne, tordelli with ragu. I often take down a large deep dish and they will prepare it, so it’s ready to put straight in the oven. It is not cheap, €26 for a large meat lasagne that will fill 8 hungry people, but it tastes fantastic. He is a wonderful chef – his tummy proves it!

September is a lovely month in Tuscany. Lucca has several festivals, including the wonderful candlelit procession of Luminaria di Santa Croce. All the lights in the city are turned off and the atmosphere is magical. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Face_of_Lucca

On the farm the green & black olives are growing on the trees. To make good olive oil with hardly any acidity one must use 30% black olives to 70% green; if all the olives are green then the oil will be too sharp. The oil should be yellowy green, but not green.

In the spring we heavily pruned the olive trees because they were becoming a little too bushy. Last winter was the coldest since 1984 and very wet, which caused too much leaf growth. The perfectly shaped olive tree should resembles a champagne glass – clear centre. Many of the locals prune nearly all the small branches off, just leaving the trunk and a few upper branches. There is so much late spring and summer growth with each tree producing lots of olives. Lucchese olive oil is considered one of the best in the world

Farmer Gianfranco wears his beret throughout the year, whether it be C40 or below freezing. At 70 years old, he is so fit, but sadly a disappearing generation of Tuscan farmers. Many young people in Tuscany are attracted to the city lights. Very few want to work in the hot countryside. Gugliano has occasional cold days, but olives generally don’t bare fruit in frosty areas.

During September the green figs are swelling up and dripping with the sweetest syrup; they’re irresistible and delicious with Tuscan pecorino or gorgonzola. Families of badgers collect at the base of the tree and golden orioles in the branches.

The peaches have been fantastic this year as the summer was so hot. With very light dew in the early morning the fungi season has started. Restaurants are serving mushroom pasta and delicious fried porcini dusted in semolina flour. Soon the truffles will arrive.

Grilled aubergines from the vegetable stalls at Copella cooked on the bbq.

This year all the migrating birds arrived very late because of the cold spring – the cuckoo was still calling in June, which is unheard of in Italy. The hoopoe nested again in the oak tree by the stala (barn) and with the swallows and martins they are collecting to winter in Africa. In the woods and meadows there are lots of game birds like woodcock, owls and birds of prey. Sadly in our barn a beautiful barn owl was killed by a larger predator, possibly a buzzard, eagle or eagle owl. Peregrine falcons and their young are gliding near the craggy cliff face, on the river, where they bred.

On our drive back to the house in early September we saw a huge male 300lb cinghiale, just below the house. It emerged from the stream, soaking wet. These huge beasts are causing problems locally as they destroy grapevines and vegetables. 196 cinghiale were shot last year in our valley by the cacciatori (hunters). They are plentiful with some locals seeing herds of over 40. Our farmer tells us it is the larger species moving into the area from Slovenia that are the ones causing the problems. Meadows and lawns are destroyed – we now have a low voltage electric fence to preserve the lawn.

The area is much richer having the large species – wild boars, porcupines and in the mountains, wolves; we need to adjust our lives to accommodate these species. Wild boars are also a wonderful free range meat source and served in every local restaurant.

The trees on the hills around the house are still beautifully green and the beech trees on the Garfagnana mountains are stunning. Over the next few weeks they will turn a wonderful coppery gold.

Sweet chestnuts woods (castagno) are very typical of northern tuscany. The wood is used to build houses and furniture and the nuts are used for flour & purees. Every old house in the area would

be constructed with chestnut beams.

Recently we’ve had requests about catering at A Corte, which we’ve organised on guests behalf and delighted to say it has been wonderfully successful.

There are 2 options, the first being 2 lovely middle aged fun, smiley Italian ladies – Grazia, who is head of gastronomy in Bagni di Lucca and her friend Anna Rita. The price for dinner is €30/ head for adults, €25/bambioni – no drinks provided.

Sample menu:

They prepare and make the food at home, then boil the pasta etc at A Corte, serve it and clear it away. They usually arrive at our house with the food at 17.30 and put it all together in our kitchen.

Grazia’s sample Tuscan menu:

Antipasti – Tuscan cold meats, crostini, panzanella, pappa al pomodoro, fried dough balls

Pasta – I vegetable, 1meat

Secondi – 2 meat dishes with seasonal vegetables

Dessert – dessert or fruit

(I imagine if someone requested a particular dish, then providing it was seasonal & Tuscan then she would cook it)

The other alternative is 32 year old Aurelio Barattini www.aureliobarattini.com, who runs  the fantastic Antica Locanda trattoria www.anticalocandadisesto.it/ with his delightful family. Aurelio is a fantastic chef and cooks in the Italian embassy in NY, London for many special galas and may soon be opening a Tuscan restaurant in Madison Avenue, NY. As regular clients to his restaurants, he has reduced his price from €100 to €85/ head. One of the unique points with Aurelio’s dinner is the wonderful quality of the produce – the wines, olive oil, fruits etc are produced on their farm, chocolates home made etc. He too, is a lovely passionate young chef and will be accompanied by a waitress.

Aurellio Barattini’s suggested dinner menus:

Each menu includes a welcome aperitif ( sparkling wine- Prosecco) white and red wine, cantuccini chocolates and vin santo.

Service and kitchen cleaning & uses the restaurants plates.

Menu 1 :

Aromatized beef carpaccio with rocket and parmesan cheese

Home made ravioli with meat sauce

Stewed chicken with potatoes

Apple tart

Menu 2 :

Mix of crostini and Prosciutto Bazzone

Tagliolini with mushroom and truffle sauce

Stewed Pork Spare Ribs with bitter olives and beans

Tiramisu with strawberries (summer style)

Reviews:

We can highly recommend the service of the ladies (Grazia and friend). They have cooked two wonderful diners for us. Schlatmann NL, July 2013

The lady’s cooked a lovely diner, there was so much food that we put everything in the fridge and we have eaten it again yesterday. Tomorrow they will come again. We look forward to it. – Del Poel, NL, Aug 2013

One of our overall highlights of the week was our meal prepared by Aurelio.  What a delight.  The food was outstanding: fresh, delicious, uncomplicated but very nuanced in flavor.  He is very talented.  I was a little concerned that the kids would be turned off by “fancy” food, but I was wrong.  They ALL devoured everything (and believe me, my 10 yr old daughter eating stuffed zucchini flowers and asking for seconds is pretty noteworthy!)  They all agreed it was the best food we had in Italy and they loved it.  It was a very nice relaxing night for the family, and it hit at just the right time in the trip where we needed a relaxing transition.  Thank you very much for recommending him!  I thought his price was very reasonable considering he left us with enough food for the next night and it included all the wine.  I wouldn’t hesitate to tell other guests about that as an option. K Viveros August 2013

Payment for each dinner is paid directly to the cooks on the night

Italy has the lowest population rate in Europe, which stands at 1.33 children per family.

Despite this, the work force is getting younger and younger or so it appears.

We celebrated July 4th, American Independence Day with some Texan friends at their house just up the hill in  Gugliano, Tuscany and cannot remember eating alongside a nicer panoramic view. Truly spectacular and wonderful.

July is a wonderful month with so many fruits growing, especially figs, peaches & plums.

One wonderful cooking ingredient are caper berries. I never realised they grew wild in Italy, growing on many sunny walls. The grapes too are beginning to swell and ripen and olives are becoming visible in the trees.

Italian cooking is generally very simple, relying on the quality of the fresh produce. One of my favourite dishes is using calamari from the Ponte a Moriano Tuesday morning market, quickly marinated and turned in olive oil with pepper, salt, chopped garlic, then quickly roasted over charcoal on the bbq for 90 seconds per side.

Whilst still warm chop into mouth size slices and place in a bowl and add olive oil, lemon juice and zest, chopped parsley, garlic and finely sliced red onion that’s been soaked in lemon juice to remove the harshness and crunch. Leave for 30 mins.

Delicious – summer in a mouthful.

In Ponte a Moriano there is a DIY shop with over 40,000 items, which fills every corner of the shop, right up to the rafters. It is is run by English speaking Mauricio and his family. I wonder how many sleepless nights Mauricio has, trying to remember to order various items.

I love these Cinque Cento’s

Sporty model to attract the ladies

Although Italian politics may appear chaotic, this relatively new country, formed in 1861, has been responsible for many international movements, one being the Slow Food Movement, which has followers from throughout the world.

Italians love tradition and it ‘s true to say we love their wonderful results. Paulo Parisi is a farmer based nearby in Pisa, Tuscany. Not only is he famous for re-introducing Cinta Senese, a rare breed Tuscan pig, special goats-milk fed chicken eggs but also for other wonderful old food processes.

http://www.paoloparisi.it/pub/chisiamo.aspx

http://blog.tianakai.com/2013/04/paolo-parisi-egg/#.UcQdOxZc_0c