I can’t believe it’s the last day of the Grundtvig Project. We’ve come such a long way and made such great friends. The extraordinary conical Trullis of Alberobello glint in the strong sun. (Alberobello is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bari, Puglia. You must visit. It’s amazing.)
We are in for a great surprise today. Little did we know we would be taught by the great chef Domenico Maggi today. We are shepherded into the Eccelsa Catering College and greeted by its administrators. Spotlessly clean, stainless steel work surfaces, big fridge freezers and industrial sized kitchen implements stand firmly like soldiers.
Domenico himself is a charismatic, jolly fellow whose English is impeccable. He welcomes us with open arms and introduces us to his colleague and family friend Pascuale, the Mozzarella Maker. Domenico travels the world teaching Italian cuisine typical of the Apulia region and often takes Pascuale with him to demo the amazing process of making Mozzarella (I am an addict and often sneak a pack into my basket to devour voraciously neat!).
The process starts with a large vat of cow’s milk heated just shy of boiling point, say 90 degrees. Rennet is added (normally made from cow’s stomach but you can get veggie versions made from a type of fungus: microbial rennet. You can also make rennet using safflower, melon, fig leaves or thistles.)
Next up you can season if you like but the amazing thing is that you instantly see curds forming in the milk like little icebergs in the sea. Just keep adding hot water. Using a large wooden baton to stir, Pascuale rolls and lifts, rolls and lifts until the curd joins together to make a large, stretchy ball. The Mozzarella is ready when you can stretch it into a huge thin sheet and allow the light through. When all the curds are conjoined Pascuale then breaks little bits off to make shapes, even animals or Burrata (which means buttery) filled with cream and bits of curd – delicious!) He has asbestos hands, being able to plunge them into the hot liquid with little effect.
It’s hard to explain how happy I am feeling at this moment. I’ll never forget Pascuale, Mozzarellailo!
My Grundtvig colleages with Monaci’s talented Chef
Grundtvig Colleagues
Tucking in
Healthy Meditteranean diet
Squid Salad
Tasting the different dishes
Satisfaction
Adding pasta to tomato based sauce
Steaming away
Making sure the sauce is evenly distributed
Adding Basil
Spectacular
Adding Mozzarella
Getting ready to serve
Double Delicious
Being Served
Fabulous wines
Lavender Field
View from the Top of the Monaci Factory
From the finest wines to the most delicious food, we certainly weren’t expecting this all in one morning. For days we had been treated like royalty and so it continued.
After our fantastic, informative tour of the factory, we had worked up a true hunger. The spread was colourful and a heady aroma emanated. Stomachs growled as our talented chef tossed an enormous pan of pasta up in the air. All the ingredients were locally sourced born from a rich heritage of making do. Surprisingly there was little garlic in this food. With the sea only a few miles away in any direction, seafood featured large.
I was surprised by sweetbreads topped by acidic, tart goat’s cheese, balanced beautifully with a sweet, berry jelly.
It’s very easy to be vegetarian in Southern Italy. Fruit is generously sized and yet the strength of the sun makes flavours sing: no insipid supermarket fare here. A lot is said about the Mediterranean diet contributing to a long and healthy life, but even if it is a load of old twaddle, at least you’re enjoying yourself as your taste buds zing and if it is true , then what a bonus!
We are sitting in the sun, glinting through the panes of what can only be described as an enormous industrial greenhouse. The young lady talking to us is of Venneri stock and her English is easy and fluid. Sporting a short French crop, a scarf casually thrown across her shoulders, she has a facile Italian style, so natural. She is passionate about her family’s environmentally caring heritage, recent modernisation and expansion plan. Her grandfather established the farm pesticide-free and they still farm that way today. Solar panels produce energy for the whole company. The Venneris want people to have confidence in the quality of their products.
We are sipping a thick, viscous touch of bliss, a delicious mix of fresh peach juice and almond milk with a dash of Vincotta Primitivo Balsamico. This is a rich, dark Balsamic style vinegar the family manufactures from reduced local wine Primitivo. Adding Vincotto Balsamico, naturally enhances the flavour of food.
The family have been working with nutritionist Alfredo Balliaro, whose focus is Nutrigenomics, the study of identifying and understanding molecular-level interaction between nutrients and other dietary bioactives with the genome. What I think this means is that it’s possible to tailor nutrition to the individual’s genetic make-up. For instance, we are told, local dish combination Ceceri é Trie (pasta and chickpeas) is supposed to be a very healthy combination.
Ceceri é Trie – Pasta and Chickpeas
Whole steamed Fennel – A digestive
Chicory
Mr Vinneri’s Cacti
Mr Vinneri’s Hobby- Cacti
Mr Vinneri’s hobby
Ms Venneri extols the virtues of their Vincotto products as being high in anti-oxidants. The farm comprises 10 hectares, of which 6 are given over to making vinegar under organic certification. 3 kinds of wines are used to make Vincotto. She elaborated, claiming that consumption of Vincotto Balsamico will prevent health problems and that mass manufactured Balsamic Vinegar contains e150D, a chemical caramel, seen to promote Cancer. Vincotto has no ‘e numbers’, being rich in polyphenols and anti-oxidants. Adding Vincotto to pulses during soaking can help eliminate undesirable flatulance. You will be able to see the gasses escaping from the mix, so keep adding occasionally by spoonful until this stops. It’s an excellent replacement for Balsamic as a salad dressing and is less expensive.
Next up, we sample Vincotto Ingentilito, great on meat and fish, we’re told. It’s a natural flavour enhancer unlike Balsamic Vinegar which can be too strong and shield the true flavours. Ingentilito is aged for only 6 months. It’s an excellent replacement for Balsamic vinegar, made locally from Salentino vinegar. It is combined with Primitivo wines and heated until the alcohol evaporates. Currently it exports to the UK, Spain and shortly to Japan.
Cuetto is an even sweeter version, a traditional recipe dating back to the 1800’s. High in iron, it is also good for coughs and acts like honey to soothe the throat. It is used in desserts such as Panacotta or over fruit.
Lastly we are shown the latest edition to the range, coming in a small bottle, a culinary glaze Glassa Di Vincotto. Ms Venneri explained that over-heating the product can change its molecular structure making it carcinogenic: slightly confusing after driving so hard down the healthy route. In the UK we think of a glaze as something we can put on food before roasting to change it’s appearance, so I challenged her on the product’s health claims which returned a rather frosty response! Hey Ho!
Enter Mrs Venneri….another pasta demo ensued. This time we all get a chance to have a go. The light has a very special quality, simultaneously hard, crystal clear, yet diffuse. We watch Mrs Venneri knead the pasta, fry it. Ms Vinneri gives us a run-down about the history of Saragolla Wheat. Originally brought to the Adriatic Coast by the Bulgarians in 400BC it was a low yielding, inefficient type, tall growing and susceptible to weather damage. The Vinneri family are attempting to grow this wheat again and the Tria Pasta we are making today is made with it.
Mr Vinneri’s passion is Succulents and Cacti. There is one entire greenhouse given over to them. Spiky and ferocious in shape, it’s strange to see so many in one place but I’ve always found them photogenic. Standing to attention in rows, they seem military.
I can only feel gratitude to the Venneri family for taking the time for just one day, to give us a glimpse into their life.
We had started the day meeting the little kids in Carpignano Serrano, Scuela de Infancia – Castriniano. With all their lives ahead of them, they were so sweet, all lined up in a row, waving their National Flag proudly as they sang Nursery Rhymes. I felt very privileged to be thought of as an ambassador.
The day had continued to the Olive Groves, where we had experienced the heritage and manufacturing process of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and were shown around “La Furca” a beautiful Farmhouse B&B in Pozzello. (This was a new venture for the owners and so sadly there are no website listings for it as yet.) And then, to experience the Martyrs of Otranto in its Cathedral, it occured to me that the flavours of the region’s wines reflected extremes of life and death. Gazing up at the piles of bones and skulls presented behind glass either side of the alter was chilling and certainly food for thought. It was 1480 July 28th, when a fleet of ships carrying Ottoman troops, attacked the citizens of Otranto who were seeking shelter in its castle. The castle was sadly lacking weapons and the people were soon over run. 12,000 Catholics were beheaded, refusing to give up their beliefs.
Ottoman troops massacred Catholics for refusing to give up their beliefs.
Ottoman troops massacred Catholics for refusing to give up their beliefs.
Lyn Bertramelli (Second from left) and friends prepare a fabulous meal for us
Toasting Our Hosts’ Health
A diagram of the different taste zones on the tongue on the slide behind us.
Learning Sevillana with our Spanish friend Maria.
Our Spanish friends demonstrate Sevillana.
After touring the lovely city, we found ourselves back where we started, at the school, which had been transformed into a lecture theatre and dining room for us. I made a visit to the kitchens to see Lyn Bertramelli and her friends prepare our meal. Lyn’s English was very good because she is married to an Englishman and she explained how they were prepping the dishes. There was the obligatory pasta, platters of local cheese with walnuts and Pezetti di Cavallo (chunks of horse), a peasant meat stew with various things floating around in it including what appeared to be fatty, jelly stuff. Once again Chicoria, Zorin’s favourite, made an appearance. I stuck to the cheese!
Our hosts, Viaggiando Con Le Pro Loco and some local dignatories from The Association of Serrano and Agenzia Ulisse, greeted us with a welcome speech. Vita, our Guide, asked me to speak on behalf of all of us. I’m not a great public speaker but it was easy to say positive things: we had had such a brilliant time. Glass after glass of wine flowed, whilst we tasted the different flavours. From the freshness of a local sparkling Rosé full of life, to the intensity of the Primitivo and Negroamaro (dark and bitter), our tongues were set to tingle.
You know that really tired feeling, when your head throbs slightly and things seem a little distorted? We had had such an amazing day but it wasn’t all over yet. Vita certainly had packed a lot into our Grundtvig week.
We walked in a chattering group, through the beautiful, noisy and vibrant streets of Lecce, past the Roman amphitheatre near Piazza San Oronzo. It was amazing how easily we made friends. I can understand a little Italian and a speak a good smattering of French, so with a few flowery hand gestures, was able to make myself understood. Bobby and Patrick, two other Embrace volunteers, were really relaxed. Bobby’s thing was film and video, Patrick’s teaching photography and both full of excellent ideas too.
The Amphitheatre, Lecce
Through a grand portico entrance on Via Augusto Imperatore, just west of Piazza San Oronzo, we were treated to a very special evening. The Risorgimento was where Vita had her wedding breakfast a little under a year ago she told us proudly.
Vaulted ceilings and golden Lecce stone, pitted and worn, were all around us. Although we did miss out dining al-fresco at the roof garden, I was relieved as the nights here are a little bit nippy in November. Feeling a little bit underdressed, it was rather sobering to think that here we were….The Risorgimento had partnered up with Wine Experience Cantele, a local family winery business, to give us the taste of Puglia.
With our starter, a beautifully presented vegetable terrine, (accompanied by Pittule local dish of deep fried dough) we tried first a Cantele Chardonnay, then Verdeca. The Negromara Rosé was quaffable and slipped down. The terrine was a little fussy for my taste and unexpected as up until now, we had sampled simply prepared foods. Our glasses were filled and refilled, so that by the time our main course of Crusted Sea Bream arrived we were at ease with the world. This was my favourite dish of the evening. The fish was succulent and soft, done to perfection. I wasn’t sure if the crust was polenta but nevertheless it was delicious, arriving balanced on a potato cake sitting in tomato broth.
Pittule: deep fried dough
Vegetable Terrine
Sea Bream on Potato Cake
Orange Torte
Grundtvig Delegates
Grundtvig Delegates
Grundtvig Delegates
Toasting the chef
In anticipation
Grundtvig delgates with the chef
On to the reds……. now….deep….rounded….Negroamaro……mmmmmmmm……then Primitivo…stronger….more robust……..mmmmmm………nothing wasted here I can tell you! I could get used to this…..very….
Here comes the pudding….dusted fruity orange torte finished off with a sprig of mint. And indeed it did finish me off.
We gathered around the chef for a photo-call….cheering and clapping. Saluté!
Just 40km South of Lecce is the sleepy little village of Specchia Gallone. Slap bang in the centre can be found the Church of Sant’ Anna, whose architecture dates back to the 1300’s. Inside, the walls are covered in frescoes ‘Il Ciclo Pittorico’ (possibly 1600’s) depicting the Old Testament on the left of the altar and the New to the right. The colours are gorgeously subtle.
We are here on the Grundtvig Project, visiting the Caroppo Bakery to see how the locals make Pane Casereccio. “Cucina Povera” or the regional peasant food which is largely plant based, high in fibre and unsaturated fats is considered by the medical profession to be conducive to a healthier, longer life.
The main ingredients usually present in Salento cooking are oven baked bread or pasta. Any meat present is usually chicken or mutton because the land does not support resource-hungry beef. Good, fresh veg such as courgettes or aubergines feature high on the list. They don’t seem to put much garlic in the food here. I’m told the further West and North you go, the more you find.
“Frisella” or Frisa is a local kind of bread which keeps a long time. Hard as rock, it is made with dark wheat or barley. To soften, drench in sea water for 30 seconds and top with chopped tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper. I’ve seen something very similar in Malta…and it is, well….yum, although make sure you’ve got access to a good dentist! It’s nutritious, light and low in cholesterol. The dough is left to rise for 3 days and the yeast remains active which grows on top of the bread, creating craters and dimples on the surface.
Caponata, for topping Focaccia, is a veggie stew with peppers, zucchini and yellow tomatoes, a real taste of Summer. Legumes such as split yellow peas, influences from North Africa are often to be seen in ceramic pots bubbling away by the open fire. Another topping used is sheep’s cheese with olive oil. You can also make sweet versions with stewed fruit for pudding.
Pane Casereccio, home style bread, is baked in the oven at between 3-400 degrees. The yeast remains live in the centre and so it’s recommended that you cut the bread from the end to avoid bloating. The modern habit young Italians have of drinking beer with pizza means that two differing yeasts linger in the tum and cause havoc. A local wine like 14% Taranto is a much better idea! Made by a cooperative vineyard, its price is kept as low as possible so that everyone can benefit. Fresh raw Fennel is used as a digestive to clean the palate between courses.
Casereccio dough is very wet and has the texture of Mozzarella, slippery and stretchy. You can stir into the mix whole olives before baking. The water you use is also very important. Traditionally, the water was from Naples and the flour from Puglia, which went well together and were rich in calcium and minerals.
We are treated to a veritable feast, accompanied by a local band (although Sorin is not impressed by bitter Chicoria). One of the lads has fallen in love with a gorgeous girl, the bakery proprietor’s daughter, who dances La Pizzica with such stamina, she is wearing me out just filming her. Sporting blue jeggings that leave little to the imagination, she gyrates and rotates to everyone’s delight.
Thank you Specchia for making us all feel special.
Wouldn’t the Internet be a wonderful place if you could taste things? If I could give you a scratch ‘n sniff card, I would. (Now that’s giving away my age isn’t it?)
We’re on the Grundtvig Project visiting one of Lecce’s fabulous Gelaterias, Crem Bar (viale Marconi angolo viale Lo Re, Lecce, Italy). How privileged to be watching the manufacture of one of the best Hazlenut ice creams I have ever tasted: smooth as silk, every girl’s dream.
The Irinox blast chiller is operating at -18 degrees celcius, critical temperature for creating the texture of this wonderful Gelato. It’s cramped down here in the bakery and curiously hot considering we’re making ice cream. The reason….in the ovens, croissants rising.
Crem Bar is one of Lecce’s favourite lunchtime venues. With the most delicious range of pastries, including the traditional cream filled Pasticcioto, how could you fail to be in love?
Colleagues from the Grundtvig Project outside Instituto Antonacci, Lecce, Puglia.
Rich aromas of baking bread drifted towards me as I meandered around the streets of Lecce last week. Just in the shadow of an old amphitheatre in Piazza San Oronzo was what could be described as a farmer’s market, thronging with visitors. It was intoxicating, the musical sound of the Italian language, the hues and scent of the food.
Part of a multi-national delegation, I was representing the UK with two of my Embrace colleagues. There were Brazilians, Italians, Latvians, Spanish, Turkish, French and Romanians. One way or another all of these people present had taken positive action for their communities by volunteering, raising money or teaching. Vita and Francesco were our guides, very knowledgeable and friendly too.
The European Commission’s Grundtvig Project aims to bring life-long learning to all age groups and funds a range of activities including exchanges, study visits and networking opportunities. The project is aimed not only at learners but also teachers and anyone involved in education and training.
And so it was that the following morning, after meeting at the door of Instituto Antonacci (an institute for the blind which also doubles as a B & B), we embarked on what can only be described as culinary heaven.
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Gianni Delana, proprietor and chef of Il Ristoro Dei Templari Pizzeria ( Via Ascanio Grandi, Lecce), stood proudly in front of us in his whites. Luigi was on call to help him with any prep. The restaurant had vaulted ceilings, very common in this region and the walls were a lovely mellow ochre. Will, our lovely US ex-pat interpreted in style.
Italian cookery is admired worldwide, the most well known dish being pasta of course. Originally dishes were made without tomatoes until the 1500’s when they were imported from the Americas. There is an abundance of vegetables in the cooking which is connected to the Jewish tradition. Catholic, Jewish and Islamic cookery came together with the introduction of legumes (pulses) such as chick peas. Chicoria (Chicory) and Augergines are very common being used in the delicious Melanzana Parmiggiana. (Mala – Insana : Not healthy!)
This is a deliciously simple Middle Eastern dish using boiled pasta, fried pasta and ceci (chickpea) soup: pure flavours, full of protein and yet no animal product at all. If you do fry the pasta, make sure the olive oil is not past its smoking point of 190 degrees, as this damages the molecular structure of the oil and ruins its health benefits as well as spoiling the taste. The pasta should be golden brown and crunchy when done. The soup can be made simply by frying chopped onions, adding vegetables and stock, spices, salt and chick peas.
Ceceri e Trie, boiled pasta, fried pasta with chickpea soup.
Garlic versus Onions
While I was in Lecce, I noticed an absence of garlic in many dishes. Will explained that onion is used towards the Ionian Sea while in Northerly climbs, the use of garlic is more common: down to personal choice really.
Pasta
Puglia, Campagna and Graniano regions are all famous for pasta making. The yellower the pasta, the richer it is in protein. Combined with lamb is common because it is not connected to religious rites and sheep were easier to raise on the local terrain. Salsiccia salentina o di Lecce, a local sausage is made from offal and comes from the need to use all of the animal.
To make pasta according to this region’s traditions, couldn’t be simpler. Make a well in the middle of a heap of local hard flour made from Durum wheat, pour in some water little by little and knead until the dough is elastic and pliable. Then make a ball and lay to rest for 30 minutes. Make your shapes (Oriechetta – Little Ears or Maritata – conjoined pasta), leave for a further 20 minutes to harden, boil in salted water…. There you go!
Little Ears or Oriechetta Pasta
Fat
The use of locally grown olives in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, high in anti-oxidants, gives the food unique flavour and is used both in savoury and sweet dishes. Production started in 200BC when it was introduced by the Greeks via Sicily. Jewish culture forbids pork fat so olive oil was a convenient substitute. Surprisingly, the oils from this versatile plant were also used for lighting! Will explained that the further North in Italy you travel, the more batter and animal fat is present in dishes.
With Columbus visiting the Americas, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes became an important addition and changed the direction of Mediterranean cooking. The potato, which had just been an ornamental house plant before, was used to feed the starving during famine. Pasta and tomatoes became loved in Italy and were exported wherever Italians went. (Mac-Eroni: Noodles and Tomatoes.)
Pizza
The origins of White Pizza are less well known. Its roots are from the Middle East/ or Egypt where people wanted a flat vehicle to carry food, such as ‘Pitta’ or ‘Piadina” which means flat bread. After the discovery of yeast, it was possible to create a light bread. Around this time humans evolved from hunters into farmers. This bread could be cooked on stone similar to Tortillas in South America.
Modern Pizza
Rumour has it that when Queen Margherita visited Naples in the 1860’s, the Neapolitans developed the idea of serving the national colours on a plate. This became Pizza Margherita and the National dish.
Green, white and red on the European table….Green for basil, red for tomatoes, white for Mozzarella!
With only 4 hours to visit the largest horticultural show in the UK, I was hard pushed to get round it all. Following the Edible Bus Stop’s crew through each stage of the build via Twitter and Facebook, I was determined to hit their installation first and wasn’t disappointed.
It was a large plot replicating the original Edible Bust Stop community project site in Landor Road, Stockwell. It was as though they had picked it all up and whizzed it through the air like Dorothy’s house in the Wizard of Oz. The amount of work that must have gone into it was staggering. They had thought of every little detail, actually laid a real road. A large graffiti’d wall, brightly painted served as a backdrop to an old derelict red phone box and a replica of the bus stop itself stood proudly at one end embellished with the words EDIBLE BUS STOP.
Inspired by the violent events of last Summer 2011, EBS wanted to create a controversial, thought provoking offering, illustrating the benefits of green spaces in cities and the way plants, when left to their own devices, reclaim and soften harsh city-scapes. Will Sandy, one of four EBS founding members is a landscape architect and passionate about the built environment while Mak Gilchrist, ex-model, has levered her extensive contacts book to raise their profile. In fact, it was Mak who sourced all of the ‘props’ for the show arranging support from many sponsors.
Essentially, the Edible Bus Stop is an educational programme, bringing the joy of planting to all people. Through their open days, kids learn about planting seeds and where food comes from, turning derelict plots of land into vibrant lynchpins, bonding communities together.
One lady passed by with her friends and said: “Eurgh…I don’t think that Mum would like this….” very loudly. But surely she’s missing the point? This is the future of gardening. Cutting edge stuff.
In July, I invested in a Canon 5d Mk 2 and just as well that I did because I a job came in to work at an event in Oxford which turned out to be a real challenge. (Despite the reviews on the newest pro level Nikon being better, I had to stick with Canon because of my lenses.) As soon as I arrived my client expressed: NO FLASH. I walked into the lecture theatre and the first thing that struck me: how pitch black in there it was. The projection screen was dim too and save for a few pools created by halogen spots, the areas where the speakers stood were dark: extremely dark. It was also the kind of place that needed discretion, the use of a long lens was de rigeur to avoid upsetting the high profile academics.
I had to make a compromise between retaining detail on the projection screen and losing detail in the shadow areas of the speaker.
I’ve struggled for a couple of years, feeling that my existing camera, although excellent in the studio and in average daylight conditions, was a bit limiting. I flew by the seat of my pants covering the Funny Women awards at the Hammersmith Palais and were it not for the phenomenal Canon image stabilised lens I hired , would have failed miserably. The Canon 1ds Mk2 was everything I wanted in a camera and more when I got it 5 years ago, but how things have moved on. The kind of work I’m getting has changed too. I’m doing more stage stuff, more events indoors. I remember covering a belly dancing troupe in a local pub and although the pictures were beautiful, they got rejected by my library Alamy for being too noisy despite the noise reduction function in Capture One Pro working over time. There’s a limit to what you can do. Sometimes the most creative shots are not the most technically correct, but a compromise made under certain conditions.
When the speaker was directly under a spot light, the level of detail and lack of noise was amazing.
I had done a camera test the previous week which ascertained that 6400 ISO was the highest I was prepared to go. The 5D Mk2 does go higher but I didn’t like the feel of the files and wasn’t prepared to take a chance on a job. So that’s where I stuck. The exposures had to be bang on, because any pushing at a later stage would increase noise. The drop-off in light level was felt most as the presenters swayed in and out of the hot spots, a difference of several stops. I deliberately had to make a decision to under-light the speakers when they were pointing at the screen so as to be sure to keep the detail in the projection. I pre-determined a minimum shutter speed of 1/160th to eliminate camera shake and had image stabiliser on the whole time.
I hadn’t banked on having to up-grade my version of Capture One Pro either, which gave me funny colours like cross-processing, when I tried to process the RAWS. So luckily I still had Lightroom 2 ( they’re on Version 4 now) on my computer to use and as its noise reduction facility is excellent nevertheless, it helped me to reduce digital noise in the shadows. (Digital noise has many causes, can be down to sensor size or the chip over-heating in Summer.)
Having so much more to play with was a joy. Where I used to struggle at 1600 ISO, it was now a breeze. Using faster shutter speeds meant that hand holding was now possible. I did notice the lens hunting a bit due to lack of contrast in certain situations, but hey! Whaddya want? I was now shooting at 6400 ISO, 1/160sec and f4. Way to go! Can’t wait to try the HD video…..but that’s another story.
trish gant 