Buon Natale! - Panettone Genovese

Thanks to tvhappy.ro for this image of Panettone Genovese

When we say "Panettone", we usually think of the "Milanese" version of this Italian Christmas cake. But there is also panettone from the city of Genova. This is much easier to prepare (the panettone from Milan takes 24 hours to make!) and has pinenuts as an added ingredient.

Panettone Genovese
500g self raising flour, 200g of sugar, 150g of butter, 100g of raisins, 50g of pinenuts, 50g of candied citrus peel, 1 egg, 1 lemon, 1/2 glass of Marsala wine (or other dessert wine), a pinch of salt.

Mix flour with sugar, raisins, pinenuts, candied citrus peel, a pinch of salt, lemon zest. Form a well with this mix and put an egg, 1/2 glass of Marsala wine, the juice of a lemon and melted butter in the middle. Knead the dough for a few minutes then shape it into a ball. Put the dough on a greased oven tray. Let rest for half an hour. Bake for 45 minutes at 180 - 200 C. Serve at room temperature.
Buone Feste!

It's olive harvest time

Thanks to a long, sunny and warm November, the olive harvest went really well, here in Sabina. Thousands of cases of this precious fruit were filled and immediately pressed, to produce one of the best (if not the best) olive oil in Italy. Sabina olive oil is protected by Europe as a traditional, high quality product of Italy, hence the 'DOP' label, which literally means 'Of Protected Origin'.
Here is Sabina olive farmers, very often small family producers, don't wait until the olives fall to the ground. That would be too late. They run especially constructed rakes along the branches when the olives are half green and half black, in the ripening process. This way, the intact olives will fall onto previously positioned nets on the ground, then sorted from the leaves that might have fallen as well, then immediately taken to the olive mill for pressing. This produces the healthiest olive oil, full of flavour, peppery but never ever 'greasy' or 'oily': in other words, true Sabina Extra Virgin olive oil at its best.

This is the time when we purchase at least 35 litres of freshly pressed olive oil for the year, for our own use. New olive oil is very peppery and strong, perfect for bruschetta. It mellows down in about 6 weeks of storing in a dark, cool place when it reaches absolute perfection.
To celebrate the end of olive oil harvest, as every year a festival is organised along the streets of Farfa, a nearby 7th Century monastic village. This is when olive farmers from the area gather to present their 'green gold' (oro verde), ready to be tasted on a slice of toasted fresh bread. It is an opportunity to get to know local cheese and wine makers and purchase their wonderful products. Of course, it is also great fun, with plenty of music, street performances, food and wine.

Toffia Summer Festival

Toffia, our medieval village, attracts thousands of people every year for the summer festival in mid August. The 2009 festival just ended and we all had great fun. There was plenty of music, with 4 or 5 live bands playing every night, art exhibitions, artisan's shops, amusing street performances and of course plenty of great food and wine at every corner.

Most residents volunteer to help, which makes this festival work really well.

This year, I was part of the beer-and-organic-barbecue team!

Pesche alla Piemontese

Pesche alla Piemontese - ready to be placed in the oven

Summer fruits are now at their absolute best, especially peaches. So, here is a delicious dessert from the northern Italian region of Piemonte. Enjoy!

Pesche alla Piemontese (Serves 6):
7 peaches, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 30 g of butter, 4-5 amaretti biscuits, 1 egg yolk.

Cut peaches into halves. Scoop some flesh out of each peach and put it together with the flesh of 1 whole peach. Make this into a puree. Mix in sugar, crushed amaretti biscuits, egg yolk and butter. Put peaches into a tray and bake at moderate heat for 45 minutes (or less if using forced fan oven). Serve with a sweet sauce made out of half a glass of red wine, a tablespoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of strawberry jam, all brought to the boil.

In praise of Birra Menabrea.

Italy is not often associated with beer. Menabrea beer is an exception. It is in my opinion one of the best beers I've ever had and it's made in Biella, north-western Italy, by a small, independent family-run 152 year old brewery. It's full of flavour even in its 'lager' form and it also comes in 'Strong' and 'Amber' varieties. Problem is: it's such a gourmet beer that it's difficult to find. At the moment, I have to drive to the next village to buy it. However I've already convinced the local restaurant to stock it!

2008/2009 olive oil: fantastico!

Finally, after all that picking, blending, transporting and cold pressing, the olive oil of Sabina is ready. It has a DOP (Denomination of guaranteed origin) stamp on it like every year, which already means excellent quality. But this year our local olive oil is truly special. I've had a sip of my olive oil supply for the year, kindly delivered to my door by Alfio. He is our official supplier of fruit, vegetables, wild herbs and olive oil. I found it very peppery, not oily or greasy at all, with a wonderful fruity flavour. The smell too is fantastic, similar to freshly cut grass.
According to most olive oil producers around Italy, there has been a production increase of about 10%. This is because this year we've had the perfect four seasons as described by Antonio Vivaldi. It was hot and dry when it needed to be and rainy when it was meant to be, according to mother nature. So by last May I could see the olive threes full of tiny flowers, which usually is the premise for a good year. So, I recommend stocking up your cupboard with DOP Sabina Extra Virgin Olive Oil from 2008/2009, if you can.
Tomorrow, I am going to the Olive Oil festival at the nearby monastery of Farfa. All the olive oil producers from the area will be there and I will be able to taste some of the best olive oil in Italy. There will be cheese, olives and wine as well as street performances, music and a lot of fun for children and adults. It's been my 5th year at the festival and it gets better and better!

Olive harvest is on

There is something very special about the olive harvest season in Italy. Here in Sabina, the way olives are harvested has remained unchanged for thousands of years. The olives are picked manually when they begin to turn from green to black. This is exactly the right time to harvest, as it ensures the olives are blessed with the highest amounts of antioxidants and vitamins and a low acidity content. Of course olives ripen differently according to the amount of sunshine they get each day. Even within our beautiful region of Sabina, some olive groves are ready for harvest now and some others will be in two weeks time. In fact, the olive grove that our guests visit during their Convivio Rome Italian cooking holiday will be picking this weekend and we will be joining in the fun.

Olives are quickly transported to the press. This needs to happen within 24 hours from picking. It's better to keep off the roads at this stage, as hundreds of Piaggio 'Apes' (the typical motorcycle-engined three wheel mini-trucks) full of olives can be found racing around the windy streets!
Nowadays, the olives are pressed by modern stainless steal machines, able to control the temperature. Only cold-pressed olive oils from around this area can be called 'Sabina DOP' olive oils, a stamp of superior quality. Low temperature pressing ensures that all the nutrients of the olives are chemically unchanged.
Olive oil is very, very good for you, with its antioxidants and the ability to increase good cholesterol and decrease the bad (this is proven by several scientific studies). But, it has to be good quality. A good Italian extra virgin olive oil has to have the 'DOP' stamp on the bottle and always comes in dark coloured glass: this shows that the producer is serious about its 'green gold'.