Saluti da Revello

Hi everyone! I am currently in the picturesque mountain village of Revello, far up in the north near Turin.
The smell of wood fires floats through the air, the people are incredibly friendly and the scenery is amazing.
I've never really spent any time in the northern parts of Italy, so this is really exciting! Being such a small town
(Circa 4,000 inhabitants!), I'm having a hard time finding a cafe with a Wi-Fi connection. Hopefully I will find
someplace soon! Lots of pictures, lots of beautiful sights....coming soon!!!
A presto!

Underground Naples

Naples is a fantastic city to see, but like many Italian cities, a lot of the history is underground. (Basically cities were built vertically, new buildings on top of the old ones.) Here, there are three different choices to see the subterranean city. I'll eventually visit all of them, but a few days ago I visited the most popular. Right in the historical center of the city, the tour is an interesting way to see a part of Naples that lots of Neapolitans haven't even seen.

The tour begins in a very typical apartment called a "basso." (The name refers to the fact that the apartment is "low," or on the street level.) From this unassuming abode, my group simply walked down a few stairs to the family's cantina. Not just a place to keep wine and food, this basement area was actually the backstage of an ancient Roman theater!

From there, we went to an ex-woodworking shop. This area, back in the 1st century, was part of the seating area of the amphitheater. Now, it's a quick stop on the tour and filled with nativity scenes. (Naples is famous for this and vendors sell nativities and figurines nearby year round.)

The bulk of the tour, though, takes place in a much more ample underground space. Here, you go underground and back about 5,ooo years. The tour visits both the Greek and Roman cisterns. (The private Greek cisterns were much smaller in comparison to the public Roman aqueducts.) For World War II buffs, this is also where 3,ooo or so Neapolitans lived during the war. Naples was heavily bombarded during the war, so many took refuge underground during that period. Unfortunately, claustrophobia may set in here, since many of the passageways are (incredibly) narrow.

The underground is so interesting, however, I must say a great tour guide can make all the difference in the world. My tour was led by Alex, a super-personable, knowledgeable, and fun guide, who spoke perfect English. (And Spanish! He even translated so a Spanish couple could understand everything he had to share!)

Napoli Sotterranea is a must-see, even if you only have a day here. It is open every day and tours leave roughly every two hours. The entrance is located in Piazza San Gaetano, off of Via Tribunali. Tours cost 9.30 euro, a deal for such an interesting experience!!!

Around Naples Today...

Walking around today, I found some pretty interesting sights. It would be easy to walk past both without knowing it!

There is this great apartment building on via Foria (close to the Archaeological Museum), which is a true mix of architecture and art. The statue busts on either side of each window turn this rather typical building into a more interesting sight.

As for another 'interesting' sight, I came across a few eyes this evening off of Piazza Bellini. I believe they are part of a temporary exhibit, but I think they should keep them up! The colorful eyes are a nice contrast to the white building and the night sky.

The Egg Castle

So many aspects of life in Naples are bathed in legend or superstition. Castel del Ovo, literally translated the Castle of the Egg, is no exception. Frankly, the history/legend behind this site reads like a long and complicated fairy tale. There are names like Conradin of Swabia and Alphonse of Aragon and a very interesting "reason" behind the structural integrity of the castle. Let's take a look....

The history of this castle dates back to ancient Roman times and before. Way back when, this piece of land was actually an island called Megaride. It was where the Greeks supposedly first landed in the city, and later became a holiday resort/fortress for Roman leader Lucio Licino Lucullo. The isolated location also later served as a rather popular place to lock people up. Over the next few centuries, the land and existing structures were used by monks.

After the Normans conquered the city in 1140, the castle was used as the palace of King Roger. In the years to follow, many changes were made to the castle in order to make it a fortified structure with high towers and walls capable of protecting a king and his treasures.

Finally we arrive at how the castle got its current name, Castel del Ovo, around the 14th century. It may be because the castle has a vaguely egg-shaped plan. More frequently, however, the name is attributed to the famous poet and magician Virgil. According to legend, Virgil himself hid an enchanted egg somewhere in the castle to insure its future. It was believed that if the egg broke, Castel del Ovo was then doomed to destruction as well. So, if we are going by the legend, the egg is still intact somewhere in the castle to this day!

Castel del Ovo was actually used by the military up until 1975. Now, it is open to the public every day, for free. There are often very few people there, which gives it the feeling of an abandoned, fortified medieval city you could definitely get lost in. There are great views of the city and the bay from the top. (This facility also has elevators!) Just try not to break the egg when you go!!!

An Introduction to the Nardecchia Family

Trying to come up with a great pine nut recipe, I asked my mom for some help. Little did I think that in about 15 seconds, I would have a recipe and a post sent to my e-mail! (She must have been planning this...) So, without further ado, here's Joy recounting a great recipe for stuffed peppers and the first time she met my father's family.

Nardick's Grocery Store, Main Street, Fonda, NY, May 1980

I walked into an old, dark store. There weren't many groceries on the shelves and not hardly as many people as I had anticipated to be there. That was until I walked past the cash register into "il ristorante" and "la cucina." There they all were...the matriarch, Aunt Fanny, the chef, Aunt Liz, and the baby, Aunt Millie and their respective families.

The aroma was amazing. The sauce simmering on the stove, the smell of freshly baked rolls, and the heavenly aroma of Italian stuffed peppers. Here is the family recipe.

12 long green Italian frying peppers (bell peppers work fine too)

2 cups flavored breadcrumbs

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

1 cup golden raisins, plumped in water

1 1/2 cup pinoli (pine nuts)

1 can petite diced tomatoes or 1 1/2 cups fresh diced tomatoes with juice

salt, pepper

Split peppers and clean the insides. Mix the rest of the ingredients together well. (More olive oil can be added at this point if the mixture seems too dry.) Fill the pepper halves with the mixture and place in a baking dish coated in olive oil. Sprinkle with a few pieces of diced tomatoes, some more cheese and oil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Pinoli!

I had to do a bit of a double-take when I was walking past a fruit and vegetable stand the other day. Amongst the apples and the eggplants was something strange: a pine cone. Hmm, I know pine nuts come from pine cones, but I've never seen one for sale!

Well, I had to give it a try. Three euros later, I had 3 rather large pine cones. Ideally, they go into a warm oven for a few minutes until the cone starts to open. (This is where I went wrong. As a first time pine nut gatherer, I left them in for far, far too long.) Then, you have to pry it open to get the nuts out.

We're not done quite yet. After the nuts are out, they still need to be shelled! Popped out of the black shell, we have the finished product: a pine nut.

Pine nuts are known for being incredibly expensive, and I can completely understand why! They really are a pain to collect (especially if you don't know what you're doing) and there weren't any more than 20 nuts in each pine cone. Now, let me show you all the results of all my hard work.

Ta-da! That's all of them! And here I was, ready to make 2 or 3 dishes with pine nuts....

I'm still going to make them, but maybe with store-bought, ready to use pine nuts!

Snack time!!

Around 6 at night, something special happens in the Vomero neighborhood of Naples. Friggitoria Vomero is open and that means you're going to be seeing a lot of these hand-rolled paper bags around. Nestled inside is what this place does best, a mixture of freshly, expertly fried goodies. And that is the only thing they do.

There are smooth potato croquettes flecked with black pepper, crispy blocks of golden polenta, and the traditional algae fritters. Balls of rice, eggplant, spinach, all fried to perfection. Even the plain pasta cresciuta is too good to be just dough, fried. All this for less than 2 euros!

I know, fried food isn't good for you. Well, there's fried "food" and then there's fried food. This is an experience, a must. Sometimes you have to fight through the crowds, but that's a good sign. Straight from the fryer, the food goes to the marble serving counter. It's there for a few minutes at most before it is wrapped masterfully into a tight little package of good, fresh food that just happens to be fried. Can't argue with that.