Panzano-in-Chianti

Panzano, Italy, is at first glance another typical Chianti town (a region of Tuscany). You know what I mean:  the vineyard-studded rolling hills, the blue skies, the many stores that sell the local vino (wine), the cute piazze (squares) in the center of each town where locals sit and chiacchierata (chat and gossip). Chianti is just so cute and particular.

Panzano has at least one item, though, that sets it apart from the other Chianti towns.  Walk up to a building painted outside with red-and-white horizontal stripes and a couple of cow statues on the street, and that is where "typical" ends.  Enter Antica Macelleria Cecchini to the music of AC/DC blasting full volume on the stereo and be welcomed by a man who balances a teetering stack of 10 or 12 glasses in his left hand and a giant jug of Chianti wine in his right.  His pants share similar red-and-white stripes as are painted outside the store, only on him the stripes are vertical.  He smiles broadly with a bit of an impish look on his face.  It feels like a Fellini movie set.  He doesn't say a word, but as he leans in close, he expects you to remove the top glass for him to fill with the local red wine. You can't help but wonder what this man has been smoking. Do not be alarmed:  This fellow obviously loves his work.  He is completely absorbed.  Say hello to Dario.

Dario pinching some "ciccia" (meat, fat, flesh)

Dario Cecchini is a macellaio (butcher) but far from ordinary. Famous throughout Tuscany and beyond, and even in America, especially California since he married a woman from Berkeley a few years back. When you are in the store and welcomed with a glass of wine, there is also true Italian hospitality with salume (cured pork meats) and toasted bread with fresh olive oil and special spreads... Really, you could get away without ever going upstairs to sit down for lunch.  If you are even the least bit goloso (gluttonous, gourmand, tempted by food), all the aperitivi (appetizers) just whet your appetite.

Degustazione (sampling, tasting)

A butcher Dario is, but upstairs is Dario's restaurant. Italians and tourists flock to the place. I have been a handful of times over the years but only at lunchtime when he offers his MacDario menu, a choice of two meals for 10 and 20 euros. The quality of the food is excellent, healthful, and absolutely delicious.  He has his own catsups and mustards and aromatic sea salts, which he sells in the store and we enjoy with our meal as well.  For those of you who do not eat meat, Dario offers a vegetarian meal as well.  See the photo of my friend's vegetarian option, which she said was very tasty.

 Pinzimonio (raw veggies with olive oil and sea salt for dipping)

It may not look like anything special, but IT IS AMAZING!

MacDario Sushi

Vegetarian option (changes daily and is not on the menu)

If you visit Florence, getting to Panzano is one of the few places in the Chianti region easily accessible by public transportation.  By SITA bus, the trip takes barely an hour and drops you off 20 meters from the entrance to Dario's butcher shop.  Eating lunch at Dario DOC is a fun experience and a lovely day trip. And if you can get yourself up and out of your chair after the meal, you can even enjoy the quaint hill town of Panzano in Chianti before returning to Florence.

Good times, good friends

in the sun with a full belly at Dario DOC's

Buon appetito.

FAGIOLI SERPENTI / TUSCAN SNAKE BEANS

Beans of all kinds are a staple of the Italian diet.  Today I was in the mood to experiment with a different vegetable.  At Mercato Centrale, I asked my fruttivendolo (greengrocer) the difference between the string beans and the serpenti beans, which look like a skinnier, longer (~18 inches long) version of string beans. He explained that the serpenti beans are much more flavorful and a Tuscan specialty this time of year. Sounded precisely what I was looking for.

He then taught me how to prepare them, and now I will share with you the simple instructions for these delicious beans.

Ingredients:

one bunch of serpenti beans or green beans
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
onion
an abundance of ripe cherry tomatoes
sea salt

Preparation:

Break off and discard the tips of the beans.  Then break into semi equal size in thirds.  Wash the beans
Boil a pot of water with sea salt.  Throw the beans in the boiling water for about 20 mins.

In another pot, with a little olive oil, place the tomatoes cut in half into the pan.  Add sea salt.  Add garlic.  In this case, crush the garlic with your hands and break the cloves into four or five pieces instead of mincing or chopping it. Add chopped onion.  Simmer.  To allow the tomatoes to reduce, I let it simmer while the beans were boiling.

Drain the beans but reserve some of the water to add to the sauce as the liquid evaporates.

Add the beans.  Simmer five minutes with another clove of garlic if you, like me, can't get enough garlic.  Add some of the reserved water, if necessary.

Enjoy.  I just did.  Yummy.

I would also steam brown rice or add a protein of my choice if I wanted to make this into a healthful and complete meal. A friend from San Francisco visits Firenze, and we will eat out tonight, which made this small meal a fun experiment in my kitchen. Now I have another yummy vegetable dish for the winter months.

Ortobello Farmers Market and Fuori di Taste

We went to the farmer's market that is part of a weekend event in Florence known as Fuori di Taste.  

In the rain and with my arms full of farm fresh milk and vegetables, I captured a few photographs of the food I love to eat, in season and locally grown.

Fruttivendolo (Greengrocer)

In California, we are spoiled because we have an enormous variety of fruits and vegetables available year round. In Tuscany, we have fewer choices, but we are better off eating mostly what is in season and locally grown, and we also have choices not found in California. In California, we have farmers markets; in Tuscany, we have the fruttivendolo (greengrocer). I frequent the fruttivendolo, but my preference is to go directly to Mercato Centrale because I am guaranteed to have a fun experience.

Bitter melon is what this fruit is officially named and makes for some interesting and raunchy conversation. Originating in Southeast Asia, China, Africa, and India, this particular selection of bitter melon was cultivated in the province of Arezzo (about 80 km/50 miles from Florence). Italians generally don't eat it, but the immigrants buy it and fry it. It is a cugina (cousin) to the cucumber, melons, and squash families. And for those of you who don't know, it is technically a fruit because it has seeds. A fruit can also be a vegetable, but a vegetable can never be a fruit. While we're on the subject, I'll tell you that tomatoes; cucumbers; squash and zucchini; avocado; green, red, and yellow peppers; peapods; and pumpkins are all fruit, not vegetables.

The outside has an interesting texture -- long, delicate, rubber-like to the touch, with warts and ridges, and a bitter flavor -- whereas, inside the fruit has a pulpy cavity with ripe, red seeds that are slightly sweeter to the taste. (No, I didn't taste it! I trust my friends who described and tasted it in my presence, thank you.)  It comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Bitter melon is known to have medicinal uses. Among the many uses, it stimulates sluggish digestion. I could imagine it would stimulate something. Clinical tests revealed links to aiding in the treatment of HIV and cancer as well as type-II diabetes.

Throughout Italy, bitter melon is more commonly known as pisello di coccodrillo, which I don't think I am permitted to translate on a public website.

How creative are you? How would you prepare this fruit? Do you eat it raw or cooked? Share your recipe ideas...

-- Josslyn "Giosalina"
Firenze, Italia

What I'm Eating

Fruit.  Mostly stone fruits.  And a lot of it.  Sweet.  Juicy. Delicious.

Peaches.  Plums.  Apricots.  Nectarines. Cherries.

Locally grown.

It's been scientifically proven that stone fruits are low on the Glycemic Index, bursting full of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, fiber, antioxidants, phytonutrients, lutein, polyphenols, and so many other important vitamins and minerals.  Eating a diet that includes stone fruits, it is believed, may reduce one's risk of heart disease, cancer, eye ailments, arthritis, and diseases associated with aging.

It's summer.  How about taking advantage of the farmers' markets, getting outdoors, and enjoying the summer fruits and vegetables that are so abundant?

-- Josslyn "Giosalina"
Firenze, Italia