Food & Flora in Pozzuoli

Lucky duck that I am, I visited Italy earlier this year, southern Italy to be exact. None of that fashionable, decaying-but-romantic, artsy-wartsy way of life for me. No, siree.

Going down a hill in Pozzuoli showed me this structure- what purpose did it once serve?

 (Although I reserve the right for those to appear in future trip posts, of course)

This time, the idea was to relax, to not rush around sightseeing, to have a home base and merely get to know the pace of life of a different place, this one being Naples and the surrounding area.

It didn't exactly fall out as planned. I took some advice to avoid the trains on the eastern coast because they're old and less reliable, and ended up taking more than a day to travel to Sicily, which I in no way regret. If you have the chance, go and absorb Sicily. It is beautiful.

By the way, those are landscaping bushes for a public park in Pozzuoli, yes, but they're also, wait for it, ROSEMARY! Why didn't we think of this?

Wherever I was in Italy, I was keeping a weather eye out for places that looked like local hotspots for good food. I was not disappointed.

Wisteria vine scenting a sidewalk in Pozzuoli

Since I found so much beauty scattered around southern Italy, I also include here some of the beautiful plants and flowers I encountered.

First off, first meal, all-star favorite: zeppoline. A relative of the doughnut, this version is savory and can include herbs. It tastes salty, has a satisfying crunch from the lightly fried batter, and appears to positively melt in the mouth. I tried to replicate this at home when I returned based on 2 recipes in Italian cookbooks, but it didn't achieve the lightness, saltiness, and snacky delight from those I had in Pozzuoli, my first night in Italy.

This is where I stayed: the Solfatara! Say it softly and it sounds like an incantation... and judging from the sulfurous steam emanating from the various pockets around this dormant volcano, there are some witches nearby brewing concoctions as well!
No, no, not really. I stayed just à côté, with some wonderfully generous friends who live high on a hill overlooking the Bay of Naples. So hard, I know.Not only do they contend with that view, but they also have to put up with the hillsides full of wildflowers, bursting forth with their colors. It was gorgeous, and this was still in mid-April when it was still overcast and foggy.

The second night in Pozzuoli led us to a local bistro-type place facing the bay with an outdoor heated patio, which was lovely for the temperature, but the heat lamp turned all the pictures electric shades of red and yellow. Notwithstanding the bad job of sizing up the light, the food there was excellent. We had the mixed appetizer plate, which contained zeppoline (I'd already fallen in love), mussels, egg and shrimp, octopus salad (another newbie but immediate favorite, unfortunately no good photos of the various 'polpo' we found along the way!), and a couple other things. Would you just look at how they present it? To be so proud of your work that it is a work of art- now there's an accomplishment.

My walk on that same day took me through the public city gardens, called Villa Avellino. It is a very interesting site, with multiple levels, multiple churches, some waterfowl, public fruit trees, public water spigots, and this Dr. Suess-looking tree. Do you know what this one is? So arresting it was, standing out in bright orange and warm dark brown against the leaden gray sky...

Everywhere I ate, there were all kinds of fish- fried fish, fish in salad, fish marinated in vinegar. And they were all good! I normally don't consider myself a fish person, but in the spirit of learning the place, I bit into crispy fish heads and chewy tentacles. I'm glad I did! I hope that one day I will be able to procure the right type of octopus to make such a salad myself. It would have to go down better than the zeppoline.

The simplest, and the best.

Ramping up the Delight

For all you locavores out there, this post is a bit embarrassing...

For me, that is.

Yes, those are ramps up there. Ramps, as in the trend-du-moment harbinger of spring ending and summer beginning. Since we had an awfully long, drawn-out spring (who's complaining? not me), and a peek-a-boo summer, things may have been a little mixed up. And they were. But it's still a bit late to talk about ramps.

But that's ok, I'm not giving a recipe. I'm actually highlighting a delightful observation I made at the time of cutting up the expensive, farmer's-market, little darlings:

I matched my food!

As I looked down and the penny dropped, I felt happily content to be so in tune with the season that I had on a purple top and green shorts- ha!
The ramps went into a lazy-man-scramble with some early tomatoes, and were paired with those all-stars of the sustainability world: anchovies. More specifically, marinated white anchovies, a specialty which the Spanish call boquerones, and the Greeks call gavros. I first met their ilk at Estadio, and later bought these at Vace, an Italian deli-and-pizza stronghold in the Cleveland Park neighborhood.

It was a simple, filling, and nutritious meal. Eggs and anchovies = good proteins and fats; tomatoes, ramps, and herbs = 2 fruit and vegetable servings for the day. And that's pretty much how I do my food accounting. It's not overly complex.

Moments when you match what you're chopping... now THAT's ENTERTAINMENT!

I'd love to hear how you all entertain yourselves with your own passions. These types of stories sustain us as we follow our dreams. So do be a peach and tell us a story, eh?

I am currently trawling for students for my next cooking class, possibly next week. The armchair travel theme is Southern Italy (oh, aren't you dying to see where I went? Soon!), and the menu will be different from the last one- modified to include Pizza, as only southern Italians can make it. (And those who have learned from southern Italians, of course!) Send me a message if you or someone you know may be interested!

**Sincere thanks to all who have like the new Taste Life Twice Facebook page! I'm delighted to have another way to connect with people, and look forward to enjoying the recipes, stories, and opportunities to be shared.

Montreal and The Road Trip: Part Three

 For this post, I think I'll follow a different blogger's example and just lay it out there...

Attendez le signal...until signaled forward!

Corn, Canada

Yellow field, Canada

Montreal

Happy Friends

Notre Dame

Les Couleurs de Notre Dame

McGill University

Le "Mont" de Mont-Real

Architecture gem

Crouching Statue

International Commerce Center hotel chandelier

International Commerce Center Statuary

International Commerce Center Indoor Architecture

Canada Substation

Pylon Landscape

Vermont and The Road Trip: Part Two

So there I was, halfway to Vermont.

 I began to see many landscapes like this one above, composed of single barns, silos, and happy cows.

The weather was accommodating, with only a slip of sprinkles and general overcastness making it easy to leave the windows cracked.

 Then I arrived at Smuggler's Notch (what a name) to find Sue and Nigel, all ready to go with gorgeous snacks (a small meal!) and ideas for outings to see waterfalls before the sun went down. Don't mind if I do! :-)

 As you can see, it was really hard on the eyes.

 We even saw fresh evidence of beavers! This fallen tree was neatly chewed through, a few feet away from a serious beaver dam (difficult to get a good shot though-- you'll have to go visit).

 We finished with seeing a covered bridge. Why does New England have (so many) covered bridges? Sue and Nigel expected me to know since it was Americana, but I come from the complete opposite coast, where such things were quite rare: Strike 1 from me. So we asked the waiter at our restaurant that first night, who, while quite entertaining, turned out to be from New Jersey. Strike 2 from Vaughn.

But don't think we were completely without contribution ladies and gentlemen-- I gave it a college try. My theory was triangulated from the facts: the large amounts of snow, the timeframe these bridges were built (before steel was commonplace) and the remoteness of the location. It was probable that a sloped roof was necessary to slough off the snow so that it didn't weigh down and destroy the wooden bridge, making the way impassable all season.

Vaughn seemed to support my theory.

 Again, hard on the eyes, waking up in the Green Mountain State.

 This after the sun warmed itself up and got out of bed.

And this is one of those shots I made Nigel pull over for-- Sue told me to do it!

It was just the perfect time for fall foliage/ leaf-peeping/ whatever you want to call it, and I am so glad I was able to make the time to visit such grand friends and experience such beautiful vistas!

Near Jeffersonville (I think), the eminently competent driving team stopped at this 'Old Mill' so I could snap another couple photos. What caught my eye was the river flow- so full!- after a night's steady pounding of rain. You know, just enough to make cozying up with a good book inside a resort just the thing.
The Mill was also the site of a museum on a local celebrity: Wilson A. 'Snowflake' Bentley who proved that no two snowflakes were alike under the microscope. I didn't go in, but Sue and Nigel had been fascinated when they saw the exhibit. I was more interested in the interesting effect of the cross-hatched wooden outer wall- never seen anything like it!

Finally, there was a foodie find here, ladies and gentlemen, that I hope none of you miss if you are ever in the neighborhood (meaning Vermont). It is an unassuming, prepossessing place called The Family Table. We all indulged in appetizers, which meant that unfortunately 2/3 of my entree was toted home in a take-home container. But hold the phone, Irene, what was the appetizer?

"Fried calamari tossed with hot peppers and black olives, garlic, lemon, basil, white wine with a side of marinara" 

I haven't tried making it at home yet (still experimenting with those Scottish delicacies), and I must say calamari is pretty intimidating, but... it's definitely earned its place on The List. It had that combination of spice and sourness, crisp and crunch, that rendered one incapable of stopping shoveling it into one's mouth.

Next up: Day Trip to Montreal.