Keeping things nice and cool
Well I should've known that the chestnut forest would catch up to the rest of the peninsula in temps, and that it would happen during MotH's week off from work. It reached 30°C (86°F) for the first time yesterday - peanuts compared to the lower regions of Italy - cancelling plans for a 12-mile hike around these mountains. What do we do instead? We head out to the local mercato first thing in the morning for the best pick of summer's fruits. We also escape to the chain supermarkets for some welcome air-conditioning. Oh yeah, and we eat gelato.
Dragon's Blood plums. How can you resist these with a name like that? Sweet, plump, juicy... bought these at the Tuesday mercato in Calolziocorte for 2.80€/kilo. They are excellent eaten right out of hand with the red juice dripping down your chin.
Habanero peppers. What variety! Until recently I've only seen scotch bonnet peppers in ethnic stores but these were brought in by supermarket chain Esselunga from a grower in Tuscany (Aromatiche Picchi). I'm loving the chocolate habanero aka Congo Black which is totally new to me. So far we've used the red one in a classic pasta dish of spaghetti, garlic and olive oil. Spicy food does make you feel cooler, however they wanna explain away that one.
Add one more gelateria to my list of favorites. L'Esquiman is bit out of the way from the main pedestrian area in central Lecco, but the selection of flavors is great. That absinthe gelato was interesting (anise flavor) although now I'd really be into tasting the actual thing. Corso Martiri della Liberazione 10, Lecco.
Labels: gelato
scribbled from the chestnut forest by Rowena... at 6:41 PM
11 Comments:
As we discussed earlier in the week then, it reached 31C in my cool study here this afternoon when I retreated from the 37C heat. May just need a trip to the town for gelato this evening.
LindyLou - a couple of weeks ago we were doing mighty fine at 24°C tops. How silly of me to think that it would continue to stay that way.
I cannot believe the heatwave you are all having .. France and Italy. It is cold here today.
What a fantastic array of chilli peppers , love pasta with them too. And the plums look very very tasty !!
Soooo hot. All I can think of is escaping to the Dolomites.
Anne - funny that you should mention your weather because I googled weather in the UK and came up with the mention of autumn temps! We are more accustomed to the cold/cool than this kind of heat. And we are not the siesta type either.
scattered moments - we initially thought of heading out to the Dolomites this summer but plans fell through. Time for another splash in the shower!
30 is not hot. When it's 30, I am cool as a cucumber down here in Puglia! ;-)
Saretta - well I don't know precisely where scattered moments is blogging from but if she says hot then I believe her! Indeed, 30°C is not hot, and I am sure you noticed that I never said so in my post, but it certainly isn't cold either. ;-)
Rowena, you had me at gelato but I have to say the Dragon's Blood plums are looking delicious! And what a wonderful photo! Lovely! How I wish that was the temperature in my neck of the woods. Here we're faced with clouds, drizzle and changing temperatures that have you in strappy sandals one minute and an hour later, rain boots! Argh!
The thing we loved to do on a hot day was drive down to the local fruit stand. They always kept the watermelons ice cold and when you purchase one they would pull it out of it's icebath slice off a quarter of it and hand it to you with a fork or spoon. We would plop down at one of their tables with the other locals and enjoy every single bite. On a hot day not even gelato could compare to a refreshing hunk of ice cold watermelon. My mouth is watering even thinking about it.
I wish we could try one of those juicy red plums. They must be devine!
Bella - I wouldn't mind having your kind of weather right now. Water rates shot up substantially within the last 6 months and I'm thinking atleast when it rains it's all for free!
Frizzy - now this I have yet to experience (the part where local fruit sellers keep anguria on ice). You are right about gelato though. A person can only eat so much before worrying about their waistline.
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