Fëta di Teteun at Gignod

Teteun - Yes it's a part of a cow, but would you wager to guess which part? The answer may just surprise you. This festa celebrates an exclusive specialty of Valle d'Aosta, that, if one is willing to cross that bridge, takes a little effort to wrap your mind around the whole idea. Adventurous palates, take note.

A product achieved by soaking a bovine udder in a brine of salt, garlic and other flavorings, teteun is then boiled for a length of time until tender. After draining, it is pressed into molds to obtain a shape that is easy for slicing. Ever had baloney (bologna) sandwiches? The texture is the same - a little spongier perhaps. I went in with an open mind, knowing full well that in the history of many cultures, no part of the animal goes to waste. This is one subject where you can say that these mams aren't fake at all (preservative-free too), and the flavor wasn't bad either!

A cafeteria-style setup made it easy to select dishes that you wanted, paying at the end. Public reception must be good as this is held for 4 days. I would definitely go again! Evening entertainment, cocktail bar and the election of Miss Teteun rounds out the rest of the fun.

Teteun [teh-TEHN] 3 ways: sliced thin (great in a muffuletta!), plain and served with salsa verde (right), stewed in a tomato ragu (center). Grilled vegetables, assorted cheese and an apple custard tart made up the rest. Grilled meats and french fries for shy non-udders.

Sagra del Cinghiale

Use of image courtesy of Flickr member curlybob0161 / CC BY-NC 2.0

Yes they are the cutest things at this age, but encountering an adult cinghiale [wild boar] in the forest could easily scare the daylights out of anyone unless he (or she) is a hunter. Wild boar dishes are a popular item on this mediterranean peninsula, but I have no doubt that for large events, farm-raised boars are used to feed the masses. Let's have us some pork!

The 9th edition of this sagra was held in the small town of Pontey (15 miles east of Aosta) and attracted a growing assembly of very hungry folks by the time we left the premises. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any more photos after the Canon gave out, and cellphone pics were a disaster. I've added the menu for that Saturday evening (August 22), to make up for the lack of visuals. Everything was delicious, but they could organize things better to get the chow line moving a little faster!

Antipasti: Assiette di salumi di cinghiale (small plate of wild boar salami)
Primo: Gnocchi al ragu di cinghiale (seen below)
Secondi: Civet con porcini e mirtilli (chamois with boletus mushrooms and blueberries) or grigliate di cinghiale (grilled wild boar)
Contorni (sides): Polenta, patate con pancetta (polenta or potatoes with bacon)
Formaggi misti con mostarda di peperoni (cheeses with sweet-sour bell pepper preserves)
Dessert: Torta ciliega (cherry tart)

Medieval castles but not a knight in sight

Counting castles...what we need now is a lively jousting event and fair maidens. Valle d'Aosta is the land of castelli (castles), and spotting them is almost like engaging in a game of punch bug. I felt that it wouldn't be right to leave out such historical detail, but the sharp contrasts...you'll see what I mean in the photos.

Now I don't know if it's due to Walt setting the standard on what a castle should look like, but through the dozen or so times that I've been here, not once did I make any real effort to appreciate these medieval landmarks that have withstood the test of time - save one. That would be the Castle of Sarre (3rd image), where we had our wedding photos taken. I believe that most castles are open to the public, and further info can be found here at Valle d'Aosta Castles. The Disneyish-looking one is Castle Saint Pierre (at right). It's a small world after all.

Parking sign [P] and picnic tables (not shown) in front of Castle Sarriod De La Tour.

I can only imagine what Sarre's royal landscape must've looked like centuries ago, long before the invention of the autostrada.

La Thuile (home of the best little cheese shop in Valle d'Aosta)

Delectable orbs of goat cheese coated in a tempting assortment of spicy and nut flavorings.

I must've looked like a crazed, dangerous woman entering into La Maison du Fromage. With nostrils instinctively twitching, flaring, and breathing - no, inhaling - the bold pungency that exuded from within, it took every ounce of willpower to stick to "the plan". The plan? That's right, a plan to buy only what we could reasonably finish and not burn a hole in MotH's wallet. I had been waiting for months to finally make it to this place...such is our lust for cheese. Run by a mother, daughter and granddaughter team, they entice the cheese gourmet with the best the region has to offer - local prosciutto, sausages, breads... A plethora of pasta and local products beckon seductively from racks and shelves, ensuring that you simply can not leave without making a few purchases to bring home. The dumbstruck gaze on my face with Canon in hand said enough. "Signora, plain or with nuts?" the young woman asks me. She was offering a free bar of chocolate as MotH had engaged in lively conversion with the owner. It pays to be an amateur foodie journalist?

1. La Thuile (center town) 2. Inside La Maison du Fromage 3. Arnad le Vieux salami
4. Tegole 5. Pan ner (black bread) on a rastrelliere 6. Capriolo - a soft cheese made w/cow & goat milk

...and then there's chocolate

A short walk up the street from La Maison du Fromage, a chocolate shop appropriately named Chocolat beckons like the lure of a siren call. We answered the call alright, but they were closed for the afternoon siesta. See you next time...

“Olives from Provence” - toasted Provence almonds coated in layer of dark chocolate then coated again in white chocolate that has been colored green and black.

...and places to stop in for a bite

Having a cute kitchen in the apartment rental meant buying local produce and eating in. An exception was lunch while we were in La Thuile, for which I am so glad that we stopped in at Brasserie du Bathieu. Lardo (cured fatback) is a specialty in this region, and I had the most exquisite sandwich made with only pane nero (black bread), lardo, and honey. That's it! I honestly wasn't expecting anything amazing, but since the goal is to eat what's typical in any given area, lardo/honey sandwich it was. The "Bathieu" - yes it had a name - wasn't going to win photo awards, but it was so surprisingly good that, naturally, we bought some pane nero and lardo to make this again at home. Ecco! Voila! Mid-morning snack to save the day.

Little Saint Bernard Pass & Lago Verney

Lago Verney — It didn't seem right to visit the Great St. Bernard Pass without following up with the Little St. Bernard Pass (and there must be a joke in there somewhere) which was the destination we set off for on day #2. Just before the border between France and Italy, a natural body of water (pictured above) lent an ideal opportunity to set the dogs loose along a well-worn path that circles the entire shore of the lake. I was also particularly interested in taking some photos of alpine flora, namely, Eriophorum or Cottongrass, even if suspicious looks were shot in my direction by a small group of fishermen there. Either those boys were iLLitErAte or just plain sneaky, but clearly written signs state that fishing was not allowed. So not sorry that I invaded your illegal spot with the Canon. {laughing} In the summer months when the snow has melted, this area is a fine picnic spot for lovers of nature.

Bed & Breakfast recommendation

La Vieille Cloche (the old bell) — my husband wrote a brief post with images [link] of which I'll also add that credit cards aren't accepted. The apartment "Dotto" (Doc in Snow White and the 7 Dwarves) is roomy enough for a family of 4 and comes equipped with stovetop and refrigerator. It also has a wood-burning fireplace to use in winter. I'm already looking forward to staying here early next year while there's still snow on the ground. Hot chocolate and panettone in front of a cozy fire...yeah!

Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste

Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta - Tourism — a wealth of great information for the traveler. I especially made use of the site to learn about foods, traditions and events in the area. Written in italian, french, english, german and spanish.

The Great Saint Bernard Pass

Colle del Gran San Bernardo — While the lovable, slobbering Beethoven may have earned Hollywood star status for his kind, Barry the Saint Bernard carried much more credit to his humble name. The Great St. Bernard Pass that leads into Switzerland wasn't far off from our lodgings, so a visit (by car) to where monks used to train the large breed as a rescue unit was a sort of salute to the canine world. Did we see a bunch of Saints? Well, yes and no. It depends if you're intent on seeing tables lined with stuffed pooches instead of living, breathing, panting hounds. Those rescuing days are long gone, having evolved into the hi-tech methods of modern times. I only remember having seen the dogs once on italian news where they were part of a search team. We didn't cross into Switzerland as Maddie and MrB had no passport, but we did take a short stroll around. The views are so unbelievably gorgeous in the Alps - no matter from where you are in the midst of it all.

Riddle me, riddle me, riddle me this

Filled with hot embers,
I'll smooth things right out
A crease pressed to perfection,
not ever a doubt
But woe is the foot,
in its path should it fall
The outcome I fear,
won't bemuse one at all

[We're back after a thoroughly enjoyable visit to the region of Valle d'Aosta. Will update daily until I'm all caught up, but for now, a riddle. Easy!]

Swiss horn players in Aosta

Swiss horn players in Aosta, originally uploaded by Rubber Slippers In Italy.

In 8 hours we're outta here.

This is the only relevant photo I have of the region we'll be visiting, but I have a long list of what to see, what to do, and foods to taste crammed into 4 busy, busy days. Bordered by both France and Switzerland, Valle d'Aosta (Aosta Valley), is in north-western Italy. The capital town of Aosta is where the MotH and I were married 6 years ago...!

A brief list of what I hope to report on when I get back:

Dente del Gigante - the Giant's Tooth
Battle of the Queens
Sagra del Cinghiale - food celebration of the wild boar
caillettes - cabbage rolls filled with a mixture of pork liver and lungs(!) and braised with onions and red wine.
tegole valdostane - typical cookies from the area. Made with almonds.
pierrade - food cooked on a hot stone
And the towns of La Thuile, Pré-Saint-Didier, Aosta, just to name a few.

Okay, now I have to get done frying up the arancini for snacking during the ride!

Who ate the other half of the cheese?

Luna Gennaio, originally uploaded by Rubber Slippers In Italy.

January Moon - after reading perhaps one too many sentiments on how the days will soon begin to shorten, I remembered this photo that I had shot just after 7:30am on a January morning of this year. At 7:30am these days, it is already well-lit in the valley, and Mr B is usually making pleading noises for everyone else to wake up (I will have to record him one of these days - it's hilarious!). Two more days to go!

On monster zukes, chestnuts, and Hello Kitty

I honestly don't know how this one slipped past my eagle eyes, but it always happens that at least one of 'em doubles, triples, even quadruples within the timespan of a couple of days. A good thing that I ducked out of the flight plan of a fat bumblebee which almost had me kissing the ground (it must've been making a bee-line for home). It was then that I spied this 20-ounce mutant. That's what bat guano will do for you in the garden.

Speaking of garden, theoretically these young chestnuts aren't in my vegetable plot but since we're surrounded by acres and acres of chestnut trees, they may as well have my name on it. It looks like it'll be a banner year for the castagna harvest, and I'm narrowing down my picks on which sagra to attend. The somewhat sorrowful thing about chestnut season is that winter and cold weather are soon to follow. Unfortunately, no trip to Hawaii for me this year.

And lastly, how is it, or why is it, that when you know you're about to embark on a long road trip and vacation, all previous commitments to maintaining a healthy "eating" lifestyle goes out the door? Today at the market I had potato chips, beer and Pepsi atop the S. Pellegrino. Not too bad really, but it was when I stopped in front of the gelato selection did I lose all, I mean ALL self-control. Strawberry marshmallow-flavored Hello Kitty cream bars. Cute, no?

Making merry at Sherwood Abbey

Beer, pizza (authentic from a wood-burning oven kind), and more beer. If the title alone is anything to go on, then these images give merry proof, and believe me, it got so jolly that I don't remember putting the dogs back into the car. This has been our second visit to the pizzoteca/birroteca Abbazia di Sherwood. As the name implies, it's all about pizza and beer here - darn GREAT pizza with the kind of thin, crispy crust that only wood-burning ovens put out so well. Mind you, not all pizza and not all pizza shops are created equal in Italy. Some establishments will serve the nastiest stuff (same in the states), so it's a work of pizzamania in finding the really good ones. So far we've found only 2 in Lecco.

Actually, it was the beer which drew us in first. Serving more than 200 artisan-style brews from 'round the globe, it was tantamount to finding the Holy Grail of Suds. I mean, I'd like to taste 'em all! Everytime I flip through the list, my mind is squealing with delight - there are just too many to decide between bottle, from the keg, or on tap. Note the different types of glasses that each beer is poured in. As everything in this world has its own place, every beer has its own drinking vessel. Moth's tastes run dark, bitter and potent, while I run with everything except those that taste like water. BeerAdvocate has a fine bunch of quaffers so I put my trust in their 2 cents and have linked to the respective pages. Another plus? Dogs allowed on the premises, and you don't have to be dressed like a debonair Robin Hood to get in. 2 (12-inch) pizzas, 4 artisan beers, 2 coffees - 36.50€
Abbazia di Sherwood - Via Cava di Sopra, Caprino Bergamasco (Bergamo) - tel: 035 782939

The Abbazia: pizza sauce, mozzarella, mortadella and red bell peppers. It's a common thing to see at least one pizza named after an establishment. This is the first time that we've seen 2 (these here), and despite the non-typical combos, both were delicious and filling.

The Sherwood: pizza sauce, mozzarella, pork sausage and french fries. Yes these are "flash" pictures, but you know, I can't be wielding the macho Canon around all the time.

Urthel Hop-It: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1339/26159

Trappistes Rochefort 10: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/207/645

Pulehu #4: grillin' and chillin' on Ferragosto

Ferragosto is the big holiday of summer, as the 15th declares that everyone in Italy is, or at least should be, off from work and having a ball. The meaning of the term comes from an era when gods and goddesses, all-knowing deities in the eyes of man, were still around before christianity gave them the boot. Be gone you pagans! Such is life - and the end of the toga.

August 15th is also supposed to be a very hot day, and in all of the previous years it seems to me that this has always been the case. Well, climate's a-changing and right now, at high noon, it's 76°F and cloudy. We've got stuff ready to throw on the grill and I'll be updating this entry with more food photos. For now I've got Mister B in his bachelor pad. We recently had it "outfitted" with airconditioning...a steal, really, at only 3€ for the little sign.

6 hours later...

Well I should've just shut my mouth on the weather. An eventual 85°F under a hot sun was plenty enough for the grillmaster. The flies started coming around, a lizard dropped down from nowhere and landed on the terrace, and all around the valley you could hear the pleasant chatter of families enjoying their ferragosto holidays. Too bad that summer is almost over.

It's Slippah Time!

I can think of only one occasion where I encountered italians who were vacationing in the islands. They were a young couple from Milan, and while I grabbed the opportunity to practice what little italian I knew (MotH and I weren't married yet), it was impressed upon me how thrilled they were to meet a Hawaii girl with plans to marry someone from Italy. It is a small world after all.

Fastforward several years later and I "meet" yet another italian couple who are visiting the islands at this very moment. My blog had been discovered, and from there not only was it revealed that another Slippah was in its infant stage of blogdom history, but also that the blog owner himself loved pidgin english! While I haven't met Fabio and Sonia, it was hilarious swapping snippets of pidgin english and italian dialect between emails, and I made a promise to mention their website (in italian) when a post was written from Hawaii. Good golly I feel like dancing the hula, there's another Slippah in the virtual universe, and a photo meant just for me! Wala'au braddah Fabio, it's Slippah Time!

Patience is a virtue, balance is a skill, and biting is a no-no

The supper routine: waiting for the ok before digging in. He won't eat until we say Okay!

Picking up where I left off on 'Hannibal' Bentley, we had the perfect opportunity to see how Mister B would behave when my inlaws came over for lunch the other day. I knew that he would be very upset infuriated with the newcomers from the get-go, so we secured him to a leash in the middle of the yard...and let him bark his lungs out.

Well that only lasted for so long until we got fed up with the noise. It was time to put on the muzzle and let him loose! Worst case scenario would be that he immediately pawed off the mask and charged for somebody's shin (and it certainly wouldn't be ours).

What do you think he did? Sparing not 1 second, Hannibal B charged my father-in-law...and bounced right back upon impact. Much later, he charged for my mother-in-law, but upon realizing that muzzles were ineffective for maiming shins, he hid under the bed like a chicken. Eventually he did calm down somewhat, and resigned himself to the fact that the strangers were not going to leave anytime soon. A plus was that it was possible to have my inlaws pet him without fear of being bit (I can imagine what choice words were running through his little mind then).

In a week we intend to disappear from the middle of the chestnut forest, so for reasons of pure entertainment, let it be known that an entry will be posted daily until Wednesday and then...hope you all have a swell 2009, or what's left of it. Kidding. We are taking a long weekend for a good old-fashioned sagra, more CHEESE, and some hiking. Fortunately, archery lessons are not part of the program, for which I am sure Mister B is highly relieved.

Mister is working hard to perfect his balancing skills.

Baking muffuletta in the home kitchen

If, like so many others and myself you're determined to reconstruct your own Central Grocery muffuletta sandwich, the trickiest part (in my opinion) is getting hold of the muffuletta bread itself. Using anything else disqualifies it as being a proper muffuletta, and settling for anything but a "muff" after spending a fortune on italian deli meats, cheese and ingredients for that olive salad is just plain sacrilegious.

I was able to work out the following recipe using descriptions of various muffulette produced in Sicily. The muffulette required 4 basic ingredients: durum wheat flour, yeast, water and salt. Anise (or fennel seeds) and black pepper are also added, depending on the style in which the town's bakery makes them. Sesame seeds are used as a topping, but muffulette can also be left plain as seen in this photo. General specifications include a very soft, round-shaped bread that is approximately 8 ounces in weight (before baking) and roughly 5½ to 6 inches in diameter with a fine crumb. The most common way to eat muffuletta is with anchovies preserved in oil, salt, pepper and if desired, fresh ricotta. It is also interesting to note that muffuletta is traditionally tied to several religious observations.

Makes 4 muffuletta buns

3 1/3 cup durum wheat flour [500 grams] - for bread, focaccia, pizza, etc.
1½ cups warm water [350 ml]
1 package dried yeast granules [25g fresh cubed yeast]
2 teaspoons salt [10 grams]

For Muffuletta di Barrafranca: to the dry ingredients add 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper and 1 teaspoon dried anise or fennel seeds. After shaping, make an incision in the center.
For Muffuletta di Caltanissetta: to the flour and salt add 2 teaspoons of anise seeds (more if you like the flavor). Sprinkle with white sesame seeds after shaping.
For Muffuletta di Niscemi: for those who like it plain and simple, this version does not have any added spices or seeds.

Combine the flour, salt and other flavorings as necessary in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the water. Sprinkle in the yeast and let dissolve before stirring to combine to a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10-12 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl; cover and let rise in a warm spot for 60-90 minutes or until doubled in size.

Clockwise from upper left: Barrafranca style, Caltanissetta style, Niscemi style

Turn dough out onto work surface and divide into 4 equal pieces. Shape into ball and roll out to approximately 5.5 to 6 inches in diameter. Place onto a heavy, parchment-lined baking sheet and set in a draft-free area for about 25-30 minutes, but not until it has doubled in size. In the meantime, preheat oven to 400°F (temperatures vary from oven to oven, but what you want is a very hot setting to be able to bake these quickly). Bake for about 15-20 minutes until lightly browned on the outside. Keeps for about 2 days in an airtight container.

Source references:
www.ilcucinario.it/RICETTE%20STAMPA/RICETTE_NONNA/RICETTE/RICETTA_70.htm
www.ars-alimentaria.it/listProdottiRegione.do?siglaRegione=190&idCategoria=15&tipologia=