Buongiorno a tutti!
Today (Feb. 15) was another unforgettable day in Italy.
In planning our trip with Antonio from Savour Italy Tour Company, we were tempted by his suggestion to include a luncheon at the restaurant of Pietro Zito, a world famous chef. Antonio explained that it would be a once-in-a-lifetime food experience, and he was absolutely right. Here's an excerpt from his suggestions to us:
Be prepared for a tremendous "fresh" experience as he does everything from whatever is available that day/month from his vegetable garden. The tasting menu has a LOT of courses (samples), but they are filling, so please pace yourself with that lovely bread and olive oil on the tables...!
Words to the wise!!!!! Just look at these pics - they are everything that was served....
Inside the ristorante (here before the crowds!)
Pietro's own olive oil, local balsamico... ... & house wine Amuse-bouche: pumpkin soup
Antipasti
Pane with pumpkin seeds and 1. basil & olive oil & 2. black olive tapanade
Pesto puree, smoked mackerel and chili pumpkin puree on burrata
Starting with the stone with 2 sticks - spicy cured meats ; in behind, pecorino cheese with carmelized red onion; next, by the bread bag: 3 flans - 1. yellow pumpkin parmigiana with black olives, capers, anchovies, scamorza and homemade tomato sauce; 2. black charred leaf stuffed with thyme carrots and slightly acidic ricotta; and 3. Fennel and black cabbage flan with stracciatella and fragrant bread; moving to the right, just below Vince's hand: fresh cow ricotta, honey and carmelized celery; and in the foreground: Margherita di Savoie onions Arraganati (baked onions with bread crumbs and cheeses)
Vulture Capicollo with seasonal vegetables
Primi Piatti (First Courses)
Burnt wheat orecchiette with grass peas cream, grilled olives, salted ricotta & new cortatina olive oil
Wholemeal strascinati (pasta) with turnip greens, cardincelli mushrooms, and "Al filo" cherry tomatoes
Secondi (Second Course) - Mixed Grill a) Slow cooked pork neck with roasted potatoes, carrots & fennel salad
b) National beef cut, lemon and knife point pork sausage
Vegetables
Apple, orange and purple carrots and chicory with olive oil and balsamic
Green leaf salad with turnip
Dolce (Sweets)
Homemade Limoncello & Amaro
"Never Miss" Carmelized almonds, "Almost" cow ricotta and almonds cassata
In the centre: Natural flour "Baba" with homemade egg cream
And last, but not least...
Other sweet surprise: apple tart
Phew!!! Are you stuffed???? Holy smokes, we sure were. The best gastronomic experience ever!!!! Believe it or not, we actually had ANOTHER activity after lunch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- A Wine Tasting at one of the best Puglia producers, Boca di Lupo (part of the 26 Antinori family of wine producing estates across Italy)!
First, the whites
And now, the reds...
Mmmmmm! Aglianico!!!!! Soooooo good.
We learned some interesting info from our guide, Michele, the estate's wine-maker.
Here he is in the barrel room explaining the fermentation process in oak barrels. I had no idea, but there are as many as 300 bottles of wine in each barrel. Holy grapes, Batman!
Pardon the personal note here, but I had to take this picture for two reasons: to show how tall Michele is and to get you to check out how BIG his hands are!!
Here we are in the beautiful wine-tasting room. We had a great conversation about Pugliese wines and how they have developed over the years. Based on what we learned, we predict that North America will see a whole lot more Primitivos and Negromaros in the coming years. And that's a good thing (to quote Martha Stewart!)
So, as you can imagine, it was a really full (and filling) day. We sure didn't need dinner, and just toast with cappuccino the next morning!
Will chat with you tomorrow, as we move our adventure to Trani and the Masseria Montenapoleone.
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