Pulling out Pulling out of Altamura our Fiat 500 was filled with the smell of fresh bread still working its magic sitting in the sun on the back seat. Looking forward to a brisk jaunt of twisting scenic country road to our next destination, Matera, I was sadly disappointed with a new boringly straight stretch […]
Panificio Di Gesù and Altamura’s DOP Bread
Half-asleep or half-cut I awoke to the sound of the shower running. Nat was already up but it was going to take a lot for me to get out of my envelope of comfort and warmth in our cozy hideaway in Altamura. The rain was still pouring down but the weather was expected to improve […]
Tales from the Table: Pein Assutt
Getting to Altamura After the snow, rain, sleet, construction, high street and low, we found ourselves approaching the glorious little town of Altamura in the comune of Apulia in the province of Bari. The sun had popped out and I made an awesome sighting of a group of wild boar (cingale) that barreled over a […]
Montasio DOP: a perfect model of Italian industrialization
Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Montasio Several emails back and forth with the Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Montasio had us scheduled to visit a cheese factory a couple of hours outside of Trieste in Udine. We arrived in Udine and promptly located our host Isabella in the parking lot and after a […]
Gorgonzola, Protected Designation of Origin
Otherwise occupied Getting up early, I check the train schedule, grab some fruit and head to the station by myself. Tim being otherwise occupied with a virus that is draining his body of all fluids. The train to Novara is on time and as it makes its way towards the mountains, I notice the frost […]
The straight DOP (& IGP) on balsamic vinegar
Modena If you’ve been following along you know that we had a pretty full dance card in Bologna. This day would be our longest yet but absolutely worth the effort. We woke up before the sun and made our way to the train station in order to make it to Modena to meet our hosts […]
The Extraordinary Italian Taste
The extraordinary Italian taste Have you ever returned home from the grocer only to discovered that the expensive bottle of what you thought was Italian olive oil is actually not Italian at all? The label sure looks Italian and the name sounds Italian, but what’s in the bottle has never set foot in Italy. It’s not […]