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| firing my oven |
I have returned to Flagstaff, resettled, fired the oven, and begun to organize all the notes, photos, and thoughts that I've collected during my time in Italy (there are a lot!). As you can probably imagine, this blog has been only a snapshot of my trip. As such, I will be posting my
Italy 2010 daily log at pizzicletta.com. I posted my daily notes from my
trip in 2007 and I received great feedback from fellow cyclist and foodies, so I plan to also provide more details of my 2010 trip. So this post is sort of a "head's up" to keep your eye on the above mentioned website if you want to read more about the trip and it will be a short summary of some highlights of my return to Flagstaff, which includes, pizza, wine, and bread... all themes that were so prevalent during my trip that I feel they could be included here. As I mentioned in
my last post, I was excited to return to Flagstaff. As those who live here or have visited know, its a special place for a countless number of reasons.
Finally, I wanted to mention that I will be starting a new blog on the pizzas and breads that I will be making over the next few months. I'll provide a link on this post in the future and will keep people in the loop on Facebook too.
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| my Mom and I in Sedona, my backyard |
Now before I go on about my return, I'll reflect briefly on my time in Tuscany. When I was at
Sesti, Elisa told me that a meal in Tuscany must include three things: bread, olive oil, and wine. This includes breakfast (which in the countryside is around 10 AM after many hours of work in the field). In my opinion, its hard to beat this combination as a meal and while I have not fully embraced this concept, my return to Flagstaff seems to be full of these three components of a meal. Another conversation I'll briefly reflect on was my time at
Podere Ciona with Franca and Franco during which I had the pleasure to spend the afternoon with Franca in her kitchen. I asked Franca what she thought about the term "Italian cuisine." In general, my thought is there is no national cuisine of Italy because of the focus on regional specialties. Franca's response was that Italian cuisine is "what our mothers and grandmothers taught us." I really liked this answer because it really speaks to how Italians pass on traditional cooking. Yes, there are cookbooks in Italy, but learning from one's Mom is the most common introduction to food and cooking.
Okay, now back to my return home. I'll start my discussion with wine. My Mom (Laura) and her friend, Gary, were here this week for Thanksgiving and we decided to head to Sedona and
Page Springs Cellars (PSC) for some the sights and some wine. Gary had never been to Northern Arizona and the red rocks of Sedona is a must for any visitor. Since we were in the area we decided to have a tasting at PSC (this also gave me the opportunity to pick up my quarterly wine release). PSC is a small vineyard in Northern Arizona that focuses its production on Rhone-style wines. Their wines reflect many you can find in the southern Rhone of France.
PSC grow a lot of syrah, mourvedre, and grenache, which are the main varietals you'll find in the Rhone. Most of their wines are blends and could be classified as fairly rustic with the heavy use of syrah. I really enjoy this style of wines and my time drinking wine at PSC was really was what tipped me into the oenophile category from the casual sipper. Another aspect I really enjoy about PSC is their staff in the tasting room. I know most of these folks by their first name and they always make me feel like a king when I am there. It was a great afternoon and it was really interesting to compare the wines with all I had been drinking in Italy. Overall, the spice I tasted in these wines (mostly from syrah) was a bit of a shock in my mouth. Thinking about it more, I had realized that I didn't drink a single syrah in Italy, so this perception shouldn't be too surprising.
From wine, I'll proceed to bread. With the construction of my oven a few years ago, I've really enjoyed making hearth breads in addition to pizza. I think this is an internal craving I have from my time at
Lorenzo's. Unfortunately, there are no good bakeries in Flagstaff baking traditional hearth breads, so I crave it and will purchase it whenever I have the chance. With my oven, however, I can bake my own. I've started a tradition on Thanksgiving of baking and delivering hearth breads to friends. Essentially, I spend half of Thanksgiving day preparing the dough, firing the oven, and baking. Then, I make some deliveries and return home for dinner. I really enjoy providing something unique to friends in town and they too really appreciate it. This year, I made three different types of bread: Rustic Bread, Potato Bread, and a 100% Whole Wheat Bread. They all turned out pretty good and everyone was thrilled to receive a loaf. The Rustic Bread was a new one and it was my favorite. It had a nice hearty flavor from an addition of rye and whole wheat flour.
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| a loaf of my Thanksgiving Day Potato Bread |
Since I was firing the oven and I've been itching to make some pizza, I decide to make a few pies on Thanksgiving as well. As I've mentioned, this was Gary's first time to northern Arizona and its hard to not make pizza for someone who just met a guy who had built his own pizza oven in his backyard and had spent over a month in Italy researching pizza.
For those who know me in Arizona, I've kind-of become the local pizzaiolo so it just seems like a must to make pizza for any guests I have. Of course, my time in Italy was incredibly inspirational with respect to pizza, so it didn't take much convincing for me to make some pies. I've been ithcing to try some new dough prep techniques, topping combinations, and serving styles.
I made a few margherita's and my version of the mister, the pizza I had at
Il Portatico in Venosa. The pies were good but, as usual, I found something I would have liked to improve. Specifically, these pies did not have the char and leopard-pattern on the crust that I strive for. The flavor and topping combinations were great, nonetheless.
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my version of the Mister... tomato, mozzarella, prosciutto,
arugula, cherry tomato, and grana padano |
And now the olive oil... While there is nothing specifically olive-oil focused upon my return, I have found myself in the kitchen a lot and making heavy use of this wonderful nectar. This past week, I found myself in sort-of a reverse role with my mom. Of course, she fed and cooked for me all of my youth and I had the pleasure this past week to make her a few dinners, pizza, and hearth breads. With this opportunity, I decided to make some of the dishes I had enjoyed in Italy. Most were fairly simple. For example, fresh, thinly-sliced fennel lightly dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar or gnochi with olive oil and grana padano. All the dishes were amazingly simple, which is a hallmark of most Italian dishes, and I served them with fresh hearth breads. It was really great to spend time with my Mom and Gary in the kitchen... and it made me think back to what Franca told me about how Italians pass on the teachings in the kitchen.
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| a loaf of Rustic Bread... the crust of this bread was exceptional. |
For those who know me in Arizona, I've kind-of become the local pizzaiolo so it just seems like a must to make pizza for any guests I have. Of course, my time in Italy was incredibly inspirational with respect to pizza, so it didn't take much convincing for me to make some pies. I've been ithcing to try some new dough prep techniques, topping combinations, and serving styles.
Perched on a hill overlooking the Chianti region of Tuscany, Podere Ciona is in a dramatic setting. Once I saw the aerial photo on the website, I knew I was in for tough ride up to this little hamlet but that I would likely be rewarded by another unique opportunity to hear the story behind this vineyard's origin. Before I dive into the wine, the warmth of Franco and Franca, and another one of my fondest days in Italy, I'd like to give you some background on the region and Podere Ciona. Il Chianti is the region of Tuscany between Firenze (Florence) and Siena. The landscape, cuisine, and wine is probably what many Americans think of when Italy comes to mind. This is not by accident, but rather amazing marketing of the region. I've spent a fair amount of time cycling through the Chianti region and so I can tell you first-hand that there is a vineyard around every hairpin turn (and there are a lot of those). Because so much wine is produced in the area and its so popular around the world, quality can suffer. I think most people would agree that small businesses, restaurants, or vineyards allow for greater quality and consistency. So, I was very excited when I arranged visits through Small Vineyards, which is an importer of Italian and Spanish wine based in Seattle. Podere Ciona is a vineyard with about 100 acres of land, of which 10 acres are used to grow grapes (about 2.5 hectares). The vineyard is about 7 km north of Gaiole in Chianti. Gaiole is famous for a cycling event that takes place every October, L'Eroica. The ride involes dressing in vintage cycling attire and riding around Chianti on a vintage bike, drinking wine and enjoying the mutual love of bikes and wine. Sounds fabulous... I think I will have to return.
For my visit, I was to arrive at noon on Monday, the 15th. The vineyard was about a 40 km ride from Siena. Franca had sent me directions that includes descriptions such as "look for a stone under a Madona shrine with 'Ciona' written on it." Hmmm, I dutifully copied all the notes directions into my journal and hoped for teh best. Actually, the directions were spot on and I arrived promptly a few minutes before noon. I was greeted by Franco and the two family dogs. Franco was much kinder than the dogs and invited me into his home to talk and rest before the tour. The house was warm with beautiful views overlooking Gaiole in Chianti with Siena in the distance. I was not the typical guest to Ciona as I was arriving on bike and also, as Franco told me, they were expecting someone much older. I told him my age, whch was a surprise, and then explained why I was in Italy (Franco and Franca both speak perfect English so our dialogue was able to be in-depth). I told Franco I was wanting to identify small wine producers, learn their story, and share this experience and his wines with my community. I explained and related mu knowledge of wines produced by small vineyards, and how they've been some of the best I've had. I knew I was successful in making my point as Franco replied, "Ah, this is very good" and thus the tour began. 
So onto the wines. We tasted four wines and I made heavy use of the spitoon (Siena was still 40 km away and the sun was on its descent). I started with the '09 Rose I.G.T. Its 100% Sangiovese. Sound familiar? Yes, I'd had a similar Rose at Sesti. Roses are growing in popularity here, and to a lesser extent, in the US.This one was nice and refreshing with a tang of acidity to finish. Next, was the Vino da Tavola. This unlabeled bottle was 100% Sangiovese. Transparent, medium bodied, and with a bit more tannins that the wines I'd had at Sesti. I believe this too was the everyday wine here at Ciona.
