Lake Garda & " The Pot Plant Incident "

So we say goodby to  Massimo Spigaroli and Antica Courte.
Yet another great cooking and food experience. You can learn so much more than just the recipes when you ask question on....  Hmmmmm so how did you do this! or that! It all the little chefy tricks that we are picking up.

So we are heading some 150 km north today to Lake Garda the Lake District of Italy. 

We are in need some diesel so I stop on a small road just 20 minutes into our trip heading further north on our way to Lake Garda. 

We pull into a service station where you actually get service. The middle aged Italian lady is sitting on her chair waiting for the customers, greets me with a smile I I gesture to fill it up. Please sir go in side and have a drink at the bar and she will get it organised, well that is the interpretation.

Sure enough it was a bar, coffee and wine out in the middle of nowhere and the bar was full of people drinking wine at 10am. Hopefully not all driving on the same " highways " that we will be traveling today. It even had free bar snacks so we had a little express coffee and  some free bar snacks and were off once more.

 Diesel here is about 1.60€ have we have seen it between 1.50 to 1.70€ on our travels.

After a couple of hours driving through the Po River flood plains with Rice fields all round and amazing water diversion via stone channels to flood the rice fields, then as we got closer to the bottom of Lake Garda through the fruit belt. We arrive at Lake Garda the largest lake and the water play grounds of Italy. Our little village of Torri del Benaco is where we have booked in for the next week for some R & R as well as some cooking lesion with a chef on the hills above Torri.

We are staying in a Residence which is like a hotel as in it is manned 24 hours but are all individual villa. Again it is on top of a hill but this time the roads are getting a bit more narrow and people coming down the hill need to honk a horn to let the up traffic now to wait. We get up the hill and onto level ground and at the entrance to the underground parking is a pantec truck, goodness only knows how he got up the hill let alone how he will get back down.

The waiting bay was small and I reverse to make way for him to turn around and well it had to happen, I bump into a large heavy concrete pot plant positioned so you don't go over the hill......

Poop Poop Poop... well words similar, I have been driving now for some 2000 km up all sorts of narrow, winding roads on the wrong side and at 1 km an hour I bump into a "-----"  pot plant...... 

Well I must say I was a bit annoyed at myself I was hoping to return the New Car with out a mark. Well I suppose that's what travel insurance is for.

We are escorted to our villa and well that changed my mood to the better, up several stair wells and elevators inside the hill to the highest villa room with the best view.

Our young Italian lady informed us that this room was especially requested for us by the chef Andrea that we will be cooking with this week.

Nice one chef Andrea !! we are now really looking forward to meeting him.

It was as it they had flattened off this section of hill and put a villa on it just for us, we'll that how welcome she made us feel. 

The view from our 2 story windows was 180 deg of Lake Garda and the  mountains on the other side as the the back drop. A small lawn section with two sun lounges boarded by a low white washed stone wall  and out further a table and 4 chairs sitting on a tiled curved out balcony with a metal railing that was suspended out over the hill, a great place to sit and watch the old village with its many steeples below and we did.

So with a large G & T in hand to help steady my nerves after that " Pot Plant incident " we both sit and admire the amazing view.... We have a few hours before we make our way further up the hill for dinner at the chef Andrea and Lara's place.

Did You Know

Couple of things I didn't know!

Tiramisu was only created in the 1960's 

And Tomatoes are from South America and were introduced into Italy once traveling the globe had started.

Watch out I may find more other interesting facts!!!!!

Cavolfiore A New Veggie For Me

Cavolfiore is a cross between broccoli and cauliflower.

It is lime green and instead of being round like a broccoli and cauliflower it is more peaked in the main centre. It is pretty as it has many floweretts about the size of a golf ball also peaked to form the large main head.

I managed to get some seeds in Roma  and have been seeing them at all the food markets, but to date I have not had the opportunity to try some.

So hope I like them..

I also got seed for indiva Scarola, pepperoni, Carciofo, artichokes and agretto.

All with English translation on them so hoping I can get them back into Australia. 

When we last travelled some seeds were taken at the airport to protect our environment but the customs officers said that if they are sealed and have English on them they can look them up in their books to see if they are acceptable to be bought into our country, so here's hoping......... As it will be coming on to spring back home, 

so that will be fun to experimenting with them in my veggie garden. 

My second spring for 2013

Parmesan Tasting Notes.

Matured for 18 months it has a mild flavour with a smell of milk and fresh fruits. This is perfect eating cheese. 

At 22 months it is soluble, crumbly and grainy with the right balance between mildness and tastiness, great eating and cooking. 

30 months it is then the richest in nutritional elements and is particularly crumbly and grainy.  The taste is prominent with spicy and nutty notes. 

At this point is is great with honey and fruit on a platter and for cooking to boost flavour.  

We were lucky enough to buy some 36 months and have savoured it all around our Italian travels.

Parmesan With Kermit and His Muppets

While staying with  Massimo we went to the factory to see how they make Parmesan Cheese.

It was  2 km up the small narrow country road, another of our suited up Italian reception guys was taking us and some of the other Antica  Courte house guest on bikes.

What are you crazy have you seen how the Italians drive!!!  not going to get me on a bike in Italy no way. We and another couple follow in the so call safety of our cars,  it was like we were the followup support team to an Italian suited Kermit wearing his large timber-grained glasses and his following Muppets.

It was a nice drive through farm lands and we got to see the country side nice and slow, real slow with cars over taking at great speed. Maybe thats why car drivers drive on the centre line in anticipation of the bikers as they are everywhere. Well the professional looking ones with mussily carves, bottoms than can where lycra, in illuminated signage outfits all training for the Italian Tour, not our bunch of retards in bums that swallow the seats and swerving from side to side. We arrive at the factory a few minuets after the Muppets, gave them some time to un-insert the bike seats, we stopped to view better scenery.....

Well if it's not lycra is doesn't look good on a bike seat..... 

We learnt they use 50 % milk from the afternoon which is not as rich and then 50% from the rich mornings milking. In large stainless-steel vats it is mixed together and with the addition of a rennet it  makes curds and whey. 

From 500  litres of  milk they make only 50 kgs of cheese 1 wheel. 

The byproduct whey is feed to the pigs.

This process happen in the first day and the separated cottage looking cheese is put into wheel moulds to set over night. The cheese is then submerged in a salted bath for 22 days. It is removed and the drying process starts. The wheels are stacked on individual timber shelving some 20 high and as long as the eye can see, each rack has a load of 100,000 kgs. In this shed alone it had 13 of these timber storage racks. As the cheeses dry they loose weight and finish as a 40 Kg wheel. So again with my little calculator out there are 2500 wheels per stack x 13 stacks so some  32,500 wheels on this storage shed.

Each cheese all 32,500 are hand removed every month, rotated and the mould that is developing is brushed off and it is put 1 shelf higher. This is repeated for a  minimum 18 months and up to 36 months.  

Every wheel is tapped each month to check there is no internal cracks forming and if it is they are rejected as seconds and grated and sent to Australia..... 

If the cheese makes the distance it is heat stamped and sold . Only cheese with the Parmigiano Reggiano skin are allowed be sold under this label,  it is also protected under DOC.

The Smell Of Old Money

Over the last couple of day as we walk up to our room via the internal stone stairs worn down over the centuries from  boat people " Italian's eager to pay their taxes" so they can go up or down the Po River. There are 3 long flights to take us up one floor so it gives you an idea of how tall the ceiling in Antica Corte are. There is a musky smell coming from the dark stone stairs well below.

You must know me by now and I'm keen to see what under the main villa, as the doors are locked and the security cameras are on it does seam overly fortified for just a cellar. So with a chat to the young Italian man at reception I discover that the guided tours of the farm and veggie gardens that we have already booked end up back here and under the villa.

The tours starts with a tour of the outer farms of Antica Courte and our young Italian man from the Villa reception all suited up drives us it the farm in Massimo BMW and introduces us to the farm manager and proceeded to translate between us. This was an eye opener as the fields of veggie lined up was so much more than the gardens that fronted the main villa and it turns out that they, Massimo and his brother have another family restaurant in the little village as well and the over flow produce is sold at the local food markets. Following the veggie farm we are then taken to poultry farm where they breed the  Guinea  Fowl. Then to the piggery and this is where they raise 400 black pigs a year + the farm next door raises 1600 white pigs which they slater and make their " famous black pig culatello " the bum cheek bit and + prosciutto and salami  out of the other bits and the white pigs. 

They have a fortified and security alarmed large brick building shrouded in a vine on a small farm next door and this is where the meat is stored to starts its ageing process. 

This building is massive and we are take through the process of how they turn the raw meats into the various products. Well it's more like where they store them and the bacterias and mould in the air of this building and time old traditions does the rest. 

The raw culatello,  bum cheeks bits are wrapped and sown into pig intestine to seal them then bound with a twine to support and hang them, then it is pricked in several places to let the excess moisture drain. They are stored here for 3 to 6 months where the pieces  of culatello go from 7kg down to 4 kg in weight. 

I don't recommend that anyone try's  this one back home !!!!!!!

The other joints, prosciutto and salami have a process and loose moisture also. 

The smell is intense of mould and has a sweet odour and  strangely pleasant. The building is covered with a vine so this helps with temperature control. 

The meat sections are hung and stacked high on drying racks and are all checked and rotated every month by hand and the white mould is brushed off, if the mould is green the piece it is discarded.

From the farm we are taken back to see under the villa and this is what I have been waiting for. We walk past the internal stair to our suite that I have been seeing and smelling over the past few day. We walk through the 4 beautifully  decorated ancient reception rooms on the ground floor with their vaulted high ceiling all painted with amazing frescos and head to the far end of the villa. This time down a  very deep stone spiral stair case, my excitement over takes my fear and soon we are under the main villa. OMG is all I can say, it opens up to 100s of meters of brick and stone vaulted cells that firstly support the villa but were made as the cellar and the store areas back in the 1530's to store this age old process of the cured meats. A scene of this also appeared on Master Chef where the contestants had to find their names on a joint, that must have been daunting as there are 1000's of joints hanging. But to actually be in this space was amazing the smell was sweeter and muster than that of the shed and with centuries of use as it history.

The floor also in a brick and had a oiled feel under your shoes as we walked through. There are names on many batches of the joints which are prepaid to make sure the lucky customers get some of the famous black pig culatello, many names on many batches but one stands out more that the rest being Armani and sure enough this selection the Armani's per order each season. 

We weave our way in and past the hanging mouldy joints of meat,  the vaulted ceiling are only 2.4m high so you actually walk with your eyes right at the hanging meats, not a good place for a vegetarian or for people with confined space issues! So with a spray under the tongue I move forward. 

The cellar space only has one window to the south side which over the centuries brings in the fog and humidity from the Po River during winter. The meats stay here for between 18 to 27 months depending on the flavory required. 

We come out of the meat storage area of the villa area to another large brick vaulted vast area that is used for large functions and is connected by a dumb waiter to the kitchen us stairs.

Now more of the bigger picture is being revealed they have large corporate function and last night the reason for all the staff upstairs in the kitchen was because of a function for under the villa.

With my typical integration of questions the " famous black pig culatello " works out at 95€ a Kg and down to 75 € a  Kg for the prosciutto and salami.

Me with my internal calculator working on overload 2000 pigs so 4000 culatello cheeks at 4 Kg alone = 16,000 Kg 

say average 85€ a Kg  =  1, 360,000.00 € so add in the prosciutto and salami serious €

So as for the excess staff in the kitchen I saw on day one they are not going to drain the Old Smelly Money bank account too much !!!

Massimo Guinea Fowl

So dinner last night was back at the villa, after all it's not often that we can eat in this quality of restaurant back home so taking all the opportunities while they are right in front of us.

The Guinea Fowl was just a perfect small dinner, we opted for just a main Nhooooo to the antipasto and Nhooooo to the pasta course tonight.

The fowl is wrapped in black pig culatello cooked  in the Po river mud and in true theatre it was presented on a side table and the head waiter open the clay to reveal the moist bird and proceeded to debone it and present it to us with some beautiful veggies from the garden and it tasted better than it even looked on the master-chef show...

Massimo Strawberry, Raspberry, Capsicum Jam

It may only be a jam class but it is amazing what little tips you pick up of the pro chef along the way.

Strawberry, Raspberry and Capsicum Jam 

650 grams each of Strawberry and Raspberry 

150 grams Capsicum

750 grams sugar

25 lemon juice 

Clean Strawberry and deseed Capsicum and with the raspberry and 1/2 the lemon juice into a large pot on mid heat for 1 & 1/2 hours

When cool blitz 

Set aside in the fridge for 24 hours

Bring out and back on to the heat for another 1 hour put the last of the lemon juice in right at the end.

This leaving over night and re cooking makes the pectins work and the flavour was just beautiful with the spice of the capsicum.

Bottle and heat upside down in a water bath to seal the lids.

He tells us it is used in dessert tarts or mouses or as glazes to meat dishes, but never on bread and butter as that would be to easy.

Well I just had it on bread and butter back in our room and it was amazing, so lets keep that to ourselves then !!!!

Meeting The Master & Enjoying His Food

Massimo Spigaroli is a very humble and quiet man with a food passion.

He is world known for his food and holds a Michelin star, which he chooses not to display it as he feels it is unnecessary! He meets us on arrival at the restaurant with a shy smile and firm hand shake we felt very special as the other arrivals did not get the same treatment. That good old Retreat business  card sure works a treat, it is amazing the doors our it  is opening for us, we are really meeting food giants. 

So lets recap on last night dinner

Our little starter was cold green soup of zucchini  with a ricotta island and an anchovy with a Parmesan crips. 

Then We both had a starter of crayfish terrine which was art on a plate and not like any terrine we have ever seen. It was on a long rectangular glass plate everything was deconstructed the terrine was little rounds cylinders with the finest shelled crayfish tails sitting on top only the size of a small prawn.

Around the plate was flowers, caviar, crayfish caviar, Melissa leaves, a new taste for us like a soft mint  but  not quiet, mayo and raspberry vinaigrette.

Then I had a  agnolotti  with green stripes how they have done this is was amazing and it was filled with partridge served on a bed of celery purée garnished with asparagus tips and foie gras. YUM. 

Sandy had Parmesan gnocchi  with hens broth served at the table from a silver ornate carafe into her dish was a beautiful chicken wing turned inside out with the bone cleaned perfectly and left for silver handle to hold it, it looked so posh.

My main was entrecôte of black pig matured for 120 days. It had a strong  taste and was a bit fatty for me maybe an acquired taste, but still enjoyable.

Sandy's main a lightly spices Germana duck twice cooked with herbs and mustard grains. 

After dinner we headed out to the courtyard and Massimo joined us for a coffee.  We got to sit and talk about the veggie  garden and our passion for gardening and food also just the three of us. It was a bit of a challenge, but again it is amazing what understanding of each other you can get with the same passions, persistence and miming skills.  Massimo asked us to join him the next morning just the two of  us on a private veggie garden walk and with a translator for some of " my " more difficult questions we managed to understand each other and he thanked us for taking the time to look at his veggie garden with him..... hello..... It was our pleasure......Massimo's passion for his veggie garden goes back to his childhood and the need in Italy at that time to be able to survive from what you could grow.

So lunch today we prepared it with one of his top chef in the kitchen after we picked salad together from the veggie garden. The salad was a modern arrangement of leaves, flowers and a poached egg on a square black slate it looked amazing, I took photos so I can " try " to recreate it back home but it was a work of art is all I can say.... 

His gardeners  were planting new herbs as an experiment and he was intrigued  by how Sandy used some especially the Asian herbs he has not used before. It was funny to see the look on his face when Sandy was talking about Vietnamese mint and coriander pesto! So before you knew it they were swapping recipes.

Tomorrow lesson  will be jams and preserved veggies cooking lesion.

Sitting On My Throne

Sitting on my throne at Antica Corte "no not the toilet" but on a large beautiful carved dark timber and tapestry throne is the only way to describe it and in fact there are two so one for my queen, but alas she is still sleeping while I sit and blog. 

Our room is in this 1530's rustic farm building that started life as customs tax office for boats coming through this area of the Po River. We are now just north west of Parma about 20km and in the country. The ceiling in our room is original and has 2 extra large rustic timber beams, criss crossing and sitting on top of these beams are smaller beams at 500 mm spacings and in between the smaller beams are further divided into 500mm squares and are the decorative dark wood panels that we have come to see lots of in Italy. Still the original paint with a central flower motive with a boarder of  in very muted colours, several shades of olive and burnt burgundy with a gold high lights. The rest of the room has original brown slate tile  flooring and the walls are washed in a stone beige.

There is a fire  place in the corner and  a old writing side table with a milk maids chair that is sooooo small that if I sat on it well I think you get the picture.....so it's the throne for me. Beside the thrones are next to the window with a great view to the field and some cows the towns small but very tall clock tower which is chiming away. 

Our room is one of 6 that have divided up the top second floor of the villa and were completed in 2010. The top floor space was originally for the tax workers to sit at desks and view the Pow river that run at that time right next to the villa. The retro fitting of the 6 on-suite rooms has been done very well and not to take away from the original use or grandeur of this space. Frosted glass panels makes the bathroom into a corner and with the bath taking advantage of one of the small port holes that the tax men would have used gives a nice small view of the fields below today when one baths.

 " Antica Corte " meaning Antique Court and it is on the river flats of the Po River just outside a small farming town of Pallavicina. Antica Corte is owned by chef Massimo Spigaroli and has been in his family since the 1940's as a derelict building on the edge of the farming flats of the Po River. 2000 started a 10 year restoration and the installation of 6 guest suites on the top 2nd  floor. A 30 seat restaurant in a modern glazed space between the accommodation wing and the the vast restaurants kitchen. Seams like a lot of infrastructure for a 30 seat restaurant but there are two large open air spaces that house some out door tables with another 50 seats. Last night there were only 4 tables of 2 and 1 of 3 but the staff in the kitchen was 8 + Massimo and 4 in the restaurant doing service and looking after the 11 of us, no wonder the Italian economy is struggling, send some staff home I say!!! 

So will need to get to the bottom of that one today when we have another cooking class. 

The Villa and the village are all enclosed by a very high levee banks to hold back the Po river in time of flood. The Po river today is some 1 km away from the villa as over the centuries it has changed it's path, so not so good for the river tax man today.

Parmesan Cheese

So we check out of our old hotel in Correggio after 2 great nights enjoying the small village and its life. We head a little further west but only about 80 km today to village of Pallavicina about 30 km northwest of Parma and on the way we want to check out the traditional Parmesan cheese in this area. We come across one on the way as we travel on the small village roads past green fields and no cows. So where are the cows? well as it has been a later winter and spring has been so cold so they are still tucked up in sheds that can't be seen from the roads that we are traveling.

We pull into a factory and are greeted by a local Italian lady who speaks no english,  this is again the norm as we are not on the tourist tracks.

So it can't be that hard, in the counters are wheels off Parmesan cheese and the lady quickly work out that we are Aussie and are wanting to try some cheese.

We had only a few to try the first one was just like unsalted butter and is used in cooking and then we try the 3 aged one's that we have come for, a 22, 30 and a 36 month.

The difference was not so great the 22 is a good eating cheese and is a bit creamy and milder, the 30 was stronger and normally as eating and cooking and the 36 is the strongest and has developed a crystal texture and is normally for cooking but is beautiful with honey, it's was very crumbly and hard.  

So with the tasting over let's try to buy some, the lady gestured that we can have them cut to what ever size we want and they can be vacuumed bag and that we have to keep them in a fridge. Yep got all that we can achieve this as we have our flat pac esky and freezer blocks ready in the car waiting. It was agreed that we would get 250 grams of each and can enjoy them over the coming weeks, but we come out with  6 separate vacky blocks of 250 grams so missed something in the translation but what the hell. We have weeks to go and people to see so we will get ride of them anyway. So back to the car and are off once more.

Once we have wandered all over the country side it is amazing how a 80 km trip can take so long. We are still 40 Km out of Parma so it's time to hit the tollway for the first time other wise we will be late for this afternoon cooking classes. It was a bit daunting at first as it was 5 lanes each way in some places. Working from the slow lane now being in the far right and even though I have clocked up some 1300 km I'm still very cautious. It is still a bit off putting when some one comes up on your left side and is flying past at great speed.

Again with my hands welded to the steering wheel for the first 20 km until I get the feel of it and it time to get out of the slow truck lanes and start to over take myself. It's all backwards and the other driver just weave in and out of the traffic with meter to spare and not a blinker used..... So it back to the slower truck lanes where I'm feeling more comfortable until I need to over take another truck again but after 40km it's not so nerve racking now. The last 30 km to the cooking school is again back on small country roads. We pull into the small village and up a tree lined road to the  cooking school with a couple of hours to spare and time to explore before class.

In fact the place we are staying for a couple of nights featured on Master Chef last year when they took the top 10 to Italy. For the master chef watches it was the place that has the large kitchen garden and the 10 contestants walk into the courtyard over a large timber mote bridge through a brick archway and sat under a grape trellis looking at the George and Massimo cooking a tiny Guinea fowl wrapped in clay which the contestants got the mud/sand to make the clay wrap from the banks of the Po River then it was cooked in in the wood oven.

It was just the same as on TV the grand villa sitting behind the beautiful laid out vegetable garden, I'm going to love it here.

The Hunt For Some Real Balsamic Vinegar

After the rice purchase at the markets we head 12 km to go to a balsamic making vineyard that has been recommended by some locals.

So just a 12 km or so trip out of town on a country road so that won't take long.....wrong it is the scariest 12 km across the flood plains on roads that are 2 way but really are only just wide enough for a car and a push bike. Oh and to make it just a bit more of a challenge the roads are the levy banks so with drop off of 2 m each side with no verge, so no room for errors. The fields to either side were a maze of different crops from chard, spring onions, corn, eggplants, zucchini all 1 acres and grown right next to wheat crops.

But the Italians still drive even on the country roads like they have escaped from a mental institute, straight at you and at high speed. Thankfully for the occasional driveway that you both seam to rush too so that you have just a bit more space to squeeze by. 

I finally arrive more than a bit frazzled and looking more of a drink to soothe the nerves rather than a balsamic vinegar.....

This balsamic vineyard is a 5th generation business, so young in the balsamic industry, it is a great big stone warehouse and the old farm house has been turned into the tasting rooms. We are greeted and shown around by the current owner the grandson and with a law degree, he has decided to take on the family business so one would think that it a pretty good business to give up your law degree. We are told that balsamic vinegar dates back to the 10 century when one king gave it to a noble person in another country and over the centuries it was mostly made by monks.

Balsamic vinegar is made from juice of crushed lambrusco and trebbiano grapes and heated in large vats to low temperatures (90 deg)  for 12 hr producing what they call mosto cotto. It looses 50 % of it volume  at this stage. This is then put into big timber barrels for several years letting them naturally evaporate and ferment. After the time in the big barrels it is then taken upstairs into the ageing rooms which are ventilated only to allow for air circulation but not for temperature control, so the 40 deg hot summers down to the below 0 winter all work their magic on the balsamic. 

Each year the barrels graduate down in size until you end up with a small barrel of about 20 litre. So from 200 litre the remaining liquid due to evaporation is put in a smaller barrel of different timber they use chestnut, cherry, walnut, oak and hazelnut.

Suba another product that they also make and is a sweet molasses non fermented product used as a glaze for meats dishes. We had in on the eel dish at Osteria Franchescanna last night so the memory of that sweet rich caramelised eel dish is quickly bought back. Suba is made from the same grapes as the Balsamic vinegar and is also heated in large vats on low temperatures (90 deg)  but for 30 hr producing what they call Suba. It looses 70 % of it volume over the cooking stage and is then bottled ready for sale. 

We try several of the younger 8 year old sweet balsamic more used for dressing on salads. We then move to some aged 15, 20 and 25 year these are more for a drop or two on a finished dish and the memories of the tasting that we did some 10 years ago come flooding back.... they are so rich, smooth and delicately sweet. We are hooked again and a sale is done. The laws have changed in the last 10 years and we are only able to buy in 100 mm registered  bottles shape. 

They are now DOC also to help protect the balsamic  industry. The 3 little bottles average out at about 70€ each so $95 ish per 100 ml so if you equate it to a bottle of wine it would cost about $750 so it is an expensive drop one could say, but with the years to make and the work to create it, one would never quiver over the price, in this life you get what you pay for.

The Markets Are Here !!!

So it 6am and again I am awaken by the noise in the square below this time with the sounds of some 100 white vans that appeared in a convoy into the historic old town square below. It takes about an hour for them to set up ready to start business in this little town this week. The vans are like the transformers toys and with all sorts of wind out and up canopies that transform a little van into it own little shop with under cover area that ends up being 3 to 4 times bigger than the van it's self. So within no time the beautiful cobble stone square below disappear and now from above it starts to look like a shanty town of all sorts of white tent roofs.

In years gone by the food and clothes markets were a very important part of life for the small village people as it was their connection and a life line for all the important things that a department store in the big city's would have offered.

As we have been to several of these small town markets it would appear that today it's is more a group of Gypsy's moving in and fleecing the local business on a weekly basis. Thus taking the towns money and not paying any taxes.

There are of course the original genuine Italian food and veggie stalls and in the past this gave diversity and was needed and welcomed but now it has been overtaken by the cheep imported goods sold by illegal immigrants.

But not all the markets that we have been to have been this style some are still as there have been for years and don't let in the unwanted store holders so it still gives the town a chance to have opportunities but not take away from the main town shop that support the local community.

Today I do fine one of the original Italian rice sellers and manage to score some Carnaroli Rice so we can make a traditional risotto later in our journey. 

The Sweet Earthy Smells Of The Old Town

Is a beautiful morning, well it 4 am and the sounds in the streets below of a cat fight woke me. This has let me experience the very early morning earthy smells of moist cobble stone street below wafting gently into our window.

It is yet another one of those little memories that you want to suck in and enjoy.

I'm also waiting in anticipation for the arrival of the weekly market people who will be apparently taking over the square and the streets around and should start to set up their stalls around 6am. I'm curious how it will change the street scape below.

With last nights dinner still firmly set into my mind and my taste buds it truly was a great night and a wonderful opportunity  for 2 little country kids to experience. As for the bill let just say that we have done our bit to help the Italian economy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bononotta for a couple more hours

Please read the parts in order as my system had a meltdown

Part 5

12) Opps sorry we have dropped the lemon tart. 

What fun firstly the plate looked like it had shattered obviously made just for this dish. Actually every plate had been designed for the food no expenses spared on anything. Now back to the tart. It was upside down as you would expect with the shortest thinest pastry and broken with lemon curd splattered on the plate and the filling was lemon verberum meringue with. Hint of toasted thyme and curbs of glassed orange and lemon peel. Glasses were filled with a verjuice. A perfect end.

13) To finish was were served caffe with petite fores which had a sweet jelly with the tartest raspberry on top dusted with raspberry dust, liquid chocolate in the finest chocolate ball dusted wit cocoa and rich chocolate brownies with a peanut crumb. 

Massimo again joined as and we chatted about his decision to keep the restaurant the size it is (24) people per night. He told us this way he keeps complete connection with the food, staff and people. He loves to cook which is how it all started and doesn't  want to loose that connection and strive for excellence. He really enjoys connecting with people who are interested in food and was very happy to chat and share. We left with a little present of his DOC balsamic vinegar and a big smile small and kisses on both c!

Part 4

11) Next we were given a blended wine of Pinot Gris, Pinot blanc and Pinot this has a sweet smell but was not considered a sweet wine. So again a play on your senses. This desert was interesting it had the look and smell of fallen autumn leaves  without the compost taste ...thankfully! The dish was made up of fresh leaves from sage, cabage and pumpkin cut in leaf shapes which had been dipped in the finest bitter caramel toffee and bitter chocolate. Giving a crunchy sweet taste which dissolved as soon as it went in your mouth. This set on to of 3 seperate mouses of chestnut, hazelnut and pumpkin with a truffle cream. Mind blowing! 

Massimo returns for a longer chat, I think he is intrigued as to why we are taking so many notes and photos. He was just lovely so passionate and talked about food being his dream and passion. He told us his food was for him poetry in everyday life. 

Part 3

9) the dream of a French  chef! 3 Beautiful ravioli filled with foie gras, black truffle and leeks in a Riesling cream soup then a second coloured sauce was a reduction of Saba and leek with shaved truffle on top! This was our winner  dish of the night. This was served with a late harvest wine which had a sweetness. It was heaven in the glass and complemented the dish beautifully.

10) At last a sharp instrument every thing to date has been served with a spoon.  And finally a serious glass for a  2006 red San Fereolo Dogliani from northern Italy. This was served with a pigeon breast with a beetroot reduction. It sat on the plate with the finest shaved shaped pickeled beetroots, celeriac and potatoes then as a final flourish the waiter came to the table and shaved fresh horseradish. The wine had Shiraz characteristics but it was not peppery.

Part 2

6)  this was in a large oyster shell with is lid still on as usual we have a waiter each and each life simultaneously life the lid off to reveal what's inside. Our head waiter tells it is a play on the eyes and the taste buds what you see is not what you eat. It looks like a raw oyster but in fact it is lamb tartare, an oyster moose giving a salty creaminess an apple granita to give coldness and seaweed to give texture. Once the food was finished we could not wait to taste the white spirit ...it was strong and smokey like a great scotch with a menthol after taste different from any morning walks we have been on.

7) with our spirits glasses retained our wine waiter now fills them with water and now, to keep your moth fresh ( frankly I right they were being cheap skates but it was very appropriated and you could still taste the spirits. The cycle of life on life on a plate this they tell us is what the cows eat. It was a granita of fresh peas, chlorophyl of green vegetables, truffles, asparagus tips, oregano, mint , fennel fronds, sour red vegetable  pickles, fine sliced white radish and green beans, this was the given a sauce of Parmesan cream wow cows eat well here!

Don't read on a full stomach PART. 1

This is how I recall our night from numerous notes and photos. It is very descriptive so we can relive it in our old age. So. Big warning don't read this on a full stomach. Just note we at the end did not feel in anyway over feed or watered. The serve sizes were tiny and just the perfect. Combination of flavour and textures.  It was a total experience form ambience textures smells tastes and service unfaultable! Very deserving of its ranking.

  So setting the scene we arrived after our 30 min taxi ride from Corrigio to a narrow cobbled lane way with no parking so a taxi is the best option and as we have been known to have a drink or two sounded like a plan. Sandy is looking gorgeous as usual and much less stress than she would have been if I had driven with Gloria! I was dressed  in my new Italian jacket and shirt. Arriving at Osteria Francescaino's unassuming dusty pink facade proudly displaying discretely,  his gold plaques at an A 4 size but with so much weight having just been named No.3 restaurant in the world. A lot of restaurants we have seen in medieval towns have very little street signage but this was even more discrete the only thing that was on the road outside the door was a metal pot with a lavender. 

Our driver stops, jumps out and presses the door bell..a bit premature for us as I wanted to straighten my jacket and photograph the front of the building. The glass doors seamlessly slide back revealing a line of 6 staff ready to greet us...ouch this is going to cost!

We were firstly asked to wait until they checked we were kosher and not a ring in without a reservation...once we passed that test we were then  taken to our table in one of the 2 dinning rooms. This room had 5 large round tables for two, the flooring was a rich chocolate carpet walls pained beige and decorated with modern art. ....hmm coloured round circles one per picture no bigger than 40 mm diameter but inside a 500 x 700 frame in total 22 around the walls.    The ceiling was the only indicator of history with large bearer and joists with the typical decorative carved timber square. 

Our table was set with beautiful glass ware and Laumoge Gold presentation plates and no cutlery. Our food waiter...Denice believe it or not very Italian except the name. 3 options Classico, traditional, or sensations all 13 courses which was described as the chef playing in the experimental kitchen...so being who we are we just had to do that one and we opted for the matched wines or beverages in the case.

Bread was a warm sourdough rye bun served with their olive oil. 

1)  taste of the sea - Sicily as its origin ..granita almond flavoured ice with sweet sour orange peel, black salt and capers, on a separate plate to be eaten in conjunction there were 2 tiny 20 cent size meringues, in the savoury meringue was an anchovey sashimi with a cream , the second had an oyster moose in a sweeter meringue.  A play on sweet and salty and matched with a 2012 white sherry for Sicily which was sweet and dry. 

More breads arrive this time 400 mm long very thin crustinies and assorted little breads

2) from Naples fresh cod poached sitting on a rich sundried tomato caper and onion salsa then they came and poured a rich green olive and tomato soup with not a hint of red in site. This was topped with a breadcrumbs and thyme. This was still served with the sherry. 

3) how to burn a sardine in 3 days! The wow factor is just not describable. It was on a huge white plate with a black line down the centre on both sides was a tiny sardine shaped burnt black fish....which was actually a prawn moose in a red mullet fillet with its tail and a skin made from black see weed and lemon deep fried and was then sprayed wit black squid ink giving it and the plate a charged look. This was teamed with a 2012 white from Sicily with the grapes being kept on the skin for 12 months giving it rich dark colour and to the nose it was salt and honey....and it was salty to the taste but bizarrely perfect. 

4) risotto from the Po river . This was described to us as a catabolic sauce so who are we to dispute that. It had five pea shaped balls of cat fish sitting in a seafood risotto and chlorophyl  peas with tangerine and mustard dots. 

Again with the same wine

Next we are presented with a beer for Bologna pair from a great heigh into. Huge red wine glass and described and being made with smoked chestnuts and junipers. We were told to taste this first to cleanse our palette. 

Wow now Massimo appears at it table  in white lab coat, black pants and white runners,  full of interest as we have been taking notes and pictures of everything thats happening..We jump to out feet it is just like meeting a rock star we shake his hand and thanks him for fitting us in at such late notice. He was humble and gracious that we were so interested in what he was doing. We chatted for quiet some time. He quickly did the room and it was interesting to see the other guest dismiss him like kitchen staff. 

Now this was a dish

 5) this was special and won both our awards for the night. It was a strip of eel from the Po river and had been glazed with Saba glaze ( see the balsamico day info) and grilled and dusted on each end with ash of blackened onions, served with a artistic splodge of creamy polenta  and a green apple reduction. As eel is very rich and oily the beer and apple  just cut the richness and was a prefect match. 

Now we were presented with a clear spirit which was described and being the smell of a morning walk in a Forrest with the moist earth as it is basted with fresh rain hmmmmmm our instruction was NOT to drink it ....just smell it until you have finished the next dish....there is 2 teaspoons worth in the gkss Nd it was 43 % alcohol. Now food

Correggio

---Correggio----

After driving some 150 km today, through the first 30 km in the rain and still in the mountains it was a nice change to drop into the plains of the Emilia Romagna region, now with some 1500 km under my belt it was great to see a straight road and my nerves are grateful !!!

 We pulled into this little town Correggio of 3000 people.... twice! thanks to Ms Gloria... At first glance it was without the usual old world touches that we are looking for in our travels, but once we turned Ms Gloria off as she had taken us up a one way street the wrong way and to a seedy part of town we left the town and drove on to the next and headed to the next village only to have no luck so we headed back this time to the CBD we came across a amazing old.... but Peter they are all old.... hotel on a wide wide main cobble stone street. I jag a nose in park right out the front, and that was where I was going to say for a couple of days. I get out of the car and venture in, what is on the out side doesn't truly paint a picture of the inside. The out side looked like so many  buildings in Italy with its old muted sandy coloured paint work and dark green shutters that could  do with a paint job. It was a early 1800's hotel  and was purposes built just as it was intended way back then. Sure their has been  upgrades but the internal lay out was original and laid out over 3 stories.

The grand stairs to the rooms were of white stone and ornate wrought iron in black and they just effectively  transported you as the treads were so wide and low.

I asked to view the rooms prior to committing as we are starting to get a bit in need of a little more comfort after our last couple of places we stayed and my eyes need a bit of a rest from the last place wonderland bed head.

The first couple of rooms were at the back of the hotel and were a typical tourist trap, you know once you have paid there just isn't any other room in the hotel  available with windows!!!! Sorry don't you have any rooms with views or at least a window??? I'm a bit closterphopic and would prefer a room with a window..... Sure I can show you some front rooms but sir they are dearer....

So how much dearer are we talking.... About 30€ sir, well lets lash out and have a look at a room with a window then. Whats the point of being in a cupboard in Italy when we have options. It was more than I hoped for, 2 large windows both onto the main square below where we had abandoned the car, so now we can watch the village life below. It was a huge 2 room suite it's amazing what difference 30€ makes. The room was with high polished timber floors high ceiling and was in a old-world with contemporary Italian style and had internet service, not that that is the be all and end all but help when you are researching the area. 

We turn on the I pad and to our surprise we have got a table at a restaurant that a friend Gail had sent as a email to say that it was just awarded No. 3 in the world and if we were in the area we may want to check it out.... It is near by in the main city of Modena and called  Osteria Francescana. We were hoping on the off chance to get a table but had not had a response to our email of several days ago. Even this morning we asked Bea one of the granddaughters at the farm to ring and see if we could get in but at that stage it was a nohooooo and they have about a 3 month waiting list.

But in the email Sandy had sent last week she said we were traveling through and from Australia and would dearly love a table and sent a link to our Retreat and it was that that got us in, as they had a last minute cancelation for tomorrow night and they wanted to give the table to us, as a local could come later... So cool and we are stoked. So it looks like my 8€ jacket will get it first official outing. But my white shirt that I bought with me is looking a bit beige from all the hand washing so it down to see if I can get a " new Italian white shirt " but as it is only 2pm the shops won't be open for another 1 or 2 hours yet.

We walked the town and checked out all the old building and the several spectacular CBD buildings. They were renovating the bell tower so all 4 bell we set on the main square and on the hour every hour and some times just because! the bells would go off, a real crowd stopper. 4 burley men with ear muffs on would play the most amazing sounds and it was a delight that we were there to watch. There was a stage set up in the main square with a 

local town concert due on later tonight, and it turned out that it was their towns Saints Day Festival so that was why the bells were also being rung so long and so often. Well that's  the nights entertainment sorted so let's find a shirt.

This shirt shop was for the locals, small locals, and the lady inside was not going to let me go till I bought something either. So with her determination and both our lack of communicate skills I did come out the other side and with a shirt and a laugh too boot. It was a beautiful old shop with all the shirts in boxes stacked high on shelves, she was short and had a big ladder that she used to get down many shirts. Now that's  a challenge as I would like to feel and even try it on to make sure it fits, no problem the boxes were opened and the wrapping was taken off and all the pins removed. She would hold it up to me and shake her head Nohoooo Nohoooo molto granda moltogranda. Thanks, I get the idea " not going to happen then " but wait if see goes further up the ladder and she keeps looking at me and putting the boxes back on the shelves saying Nohoooo piccolo piccolo..... So not making me feel to good about myself, but she was determined and after 1/2 an hour I walk out the door and we were both happy and a great experience and a beautiful  white Italian shirt.