Ingredients (serves 6 )
. Six cups of fresh, excellent strawberries
. 3 tbsp butter
. 4 tbsp sugar
2. tbsp lemon juice
. Salt, white pepper
Method
In spite of its name, this recipe is really a dessert. At this time of the year it should be possible to buy wonderful, juicy strawberries – if possible, choose the organic ones.
Wash the strawberries under fresh running water, eliminate the green stems but do not cut the fruit. Heat the butter in a large pan, add the fruit and move the pan around to let them braise at quite a high heat. Add salt and pepper, and the sugar and keep cooking for 5 or 10 minutes until the fruit caramelises.
Finally, pour over the lemon juice, keeping the pan moving until a sauce is formed. Serve hot or lukewarm in a bowl just like real soup, topped wwith milk, ice cream or freshly whipped unsweetened cream.
The Lardo of Colonnata
Marble is the reason that the tiny village of Colonnata exists, but the Lardo has made the town famous. This poor man’s food that was once served on bread rubbed with a tomato and onion, now commands top prices and draws visitors to this remote mountain area in the heart of the Carrara marble quarries. But what is it, and how is it made? Why is Lardo di Colonnata so special, not just a piece of pork fat, used to flavor soups and stews, but a highly prized treat?
The preparation of lardo has been documented for nearly as long as written history has existed. The laws of Justinian demanded that legionnaires be fed ample doses of lard to keep them healthy and energetic. In the 13th century, the first statutes regulating lard making appeared. Lardo was a part of the rural life of all of Italy.
In Colonnata, the local marble became tubs to hold the lardo, chiseled from the stones that were unfit for artists and artisans because of their brittle nature. These chiseled tubs still are used in the making of Lardo di Colonnata. They are bigger now, but their shape and use are the same. This marble is dry, glassy and porous, too fragile for use in statuary or decoration, but perfect as refrigeration: it protects the lardo from humidity, and lets oxygen circulate around the curing fat. There are no refrigeration plants in Colonnata. Preservatives are banned; it is the marble and the special curing that allow this product to exist so naturally.
The marble basins are washed and treated with vinegar each September. When they are ready, the lard making process begins and lasts until spring. The pigs arrive from farms that are regulated by the Parma and San Daniele prosciutto consortiums; they must be at least nine monthsold, and weigh 160 kilos. When the pigs are butchered, the curing begins.
The walls of the tubs are rubbed with garlic, and the slabs of lard are massaged with sea salt, which is then rinsed away. The bottom of the tub is covered with another special salt, then layers of lard are added, one on top of the other. What makes the Lardo di Colonnata unique is layers of ground black pepper, chopped garlic, and chopped rosemary that are added between each slab of lard before the entire tub is left to cure for six months. Additional spices, such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, oregano, star anise, and sage are added according to the special recipe of the individual lard maker. The basins are sealed with marble slabs, and for six months they are checked to make sure the curing is coming along as expected. The resulting product is amazingly sweet and delicate. In Tuscany, they say “it dissolves in the mouth.”
The bread of Altopascio and the collective marque of “Pane di Altopascio”.
Altopascio has a particular historical and artistic importance linked to the welcoming of pilgrims who even today pass through. In fact at that point of the Via Francigena (a pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome), particulary awkward because of the two swampy areas of Bientina and Fucecchio, the “Domus Hospitalis Sanctis Jacobi de Altopassu” sprang up erected in the second half of the 11th century.
The historic centre of Altopascio, ringed by walls of which parts including theree gates still survive, corresponds to what should have been the nediaeval hospital which appeared as a real fortress.
The current three piazzas were the three inner courtyards where the various buildings were located which were used by the friars to care for pilgrims, offering them food and lodgings, and baking the famous bread. Even today Altopascio is known as the baker’s town, where they produce a bread famous throughout Italy.
The bread of Altopascio has a rectangular (bozza) or long (filone) shape, a soft consistency inside, and a light gold crust. It is made withoput salt and the weights vary from 500 g. to 2 kg.
It is produced all year round. The bread of Altopascio owes its tradition to the dexterity and axpertise to people who have gained specific experience over time, the original taste as well as the use of water from the local area.
The Lucca Chamber of Commerce owns the Collective Brand “Pane di Altopascio Tradizionale” (traditional bread of Altopascio) a pilot project for the enhancement and safeguarding of typical local products, a means of promoting the development of the local economy.
The registration of Collective Brand was obtained after a long process, to which the municipality of Altopascio first “city of bread” to be recognised in Italy, and the province of Lucca both contributed.
The Collective Brand “Pane di Altopascio” is an opportunity for bread makers and a resource for consumers , the former if they possess the necessary prerequisites, can safeguard their own production against possible imitations, and profit from any promotional campaigns by the owner of the brand. Consumers can buy a bread with a guaranteed quality of ingredients and production process overall a higher quality than similar products.
In Camaiore the “Demetra” show of strawberry, flowers, and products of our land.
Capezzano Pianore (Mon), 21-23 May 2010
43 ° “Show strawberry, flowers and products of our land”
Treasure Island:
Demetra: the history, myth and work of agriculture in Versilia area.
It came back the trhee days dedicated to Camaiore’s ortho.
The 43° edition is inspired to the Stevenson’s novel.
At Villa The tableland, heart Capezzano, the traditional appointment with “Demetra” between exposure to flowers and vegetables, fruits and plants, floral art demonstrations and talk shows, taste trails, shows and typical products.
Olive oil cultivation has distinguished the province of Lucca since ancient times a deep rooted tradition of olive growing which shows how precious and typicl this crop is, today more than ever, constantly looking to safeguard an irreplaceable heritage.
The landscape has alwys seemed to be richin olive trees, which were once cultivated on hillocks and steep mountain terraces. In the Lucca area olive cultivation developed in the 14th and 15th centuries with production increasing at thet time.
Statues were drawn up in the various communities with precise rules of behaviour which influenced the quality of local production, even identifying the varieties most commonly grown. Varieties were assed in the province of Lucca which are still cultivated today. With time the olive oil became, thanks to the ability and tenacity of those who had always grown it, an opportunity for commercial development. In the Lucca area the olive oil has always represented not just a factor for economic growth but also a way of life. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the product which more than any other characterises the province of Lucca and its gastronomic tradition, both in the interland and the coastal area.
The olive oil of Lucca is not only one of the most famous in Tuscany, and as such was the first in the 19th century to cross the borders of Italy and Europe, but also has outstanding characteristics which make it difficult to confuse with oil produced in other areas of the region.
Its characteristics have made it part of the staple diet, not only for its olfactory properties but also dietary ones, for a healty and correct diet. This oil comes from the typical Tuscan cultivars Frantoio, Leccino and to a lesser extent, Pendolino and Maurino.
However, the peculiarities of the terrain, the altitude and the position make the oil unique for its fruity flavour, its golden yellow colour with hints of green, and for its overall aroma, such that today many professional taster from the various oil producing areas of Italy take back a sample of extra virgin olive oil from lucca to use as a yardstick for purchasing olive oil for the companies that they work for.
It is not by chance that the extra virgin olive oil from the hills of Lucca has earned the right to mention additional geographical distinction, in terms of IGP, obtained from DOP Tuscan oil.
This makes it very easy to recognise a bottle of extra virgin olive oil from Lucca.
