APRIL 17th, 24th and MAY 1st, 2010

(versione italiana)

Fresh, hot bread.  A rush of old memories.   Who can resist the smell of it, or the temptation to rush into the baker’s and buy a slab of hot pizza bianca?

My grandfather had a clever saying on how to remember where the sun rises and sets.  “It’s like bread”, he’d say in his thick yiddish accent. “It rises in the yeast and it sets behind the vest.”

Although small bakeries are getting harder to find in the big cities, we are fortunate to live in a part of Italy where people still make home-made bread that stays fresh for days, baked in their outdoor wooden-burning ovens.

And that’s an experience we’d like to share with you: a hands-on experience; kneading the dough, baking the pizzas and brushing off the loaves of casareccio - mixed with laughter, friendship and fine food.

With the collaboration the Mustilli family, famous for their exceptional Falanghina and Aglianico, Savour the Sannio invites you to spend a weekend in the region where, in addition to learning a few local recipes you will also taste the region’s superb wines.

My grandmother used to say, “If you can bake bread, you can make a living”. Come and learn from locals.

Calling all vegetarians! This is the perfect outing for you!

PROGRAM-Day One (Saturday)

-Arrival in Sant’Agata dei Goti and check-in at the Agriturismo Mustilli

-Welcome aperitivo in the gardens of the Mustilli home for a tasting of their latest wine: Spumante di Falanghina.

-Lunch and wine-tasting at Palazzo Rainone. Owner and enologist Leonardo Mustilli will explain the process of making wine today and guide us through a tasting of his renowned Falanghina and Aglianico.

-Visit to the 16th century wine cellars hewn into the tufa rock.

- Preparing the bread and kneading the dough.
- Cooking lesson: Pancotto.  A traditional recipe made with dried bread, vegetables and extravirgin olive oil.
-Preparation of the wood-burning oven and baking of the bread.
-Dinner with live entertainment at the Mustilli wine bar

PROGRAM-Day Two (Sunday)
-Breakfast
-Visit to the outdoor market
-Guided tour of the city.

PRICE
Adults: 175,00 euro per person with double room occupancy
Children ages 0-3: Free  (you pay only for their meals)
Children ages 3-6: Half price.

Price includes:

- double room occupancy with breakfast
-Welcome aperitivo
- Three course lunch with bottled wine
- wine-tasting
- bread-baking and cooking lessons
- Visit to the Mustilli winery and wine museum
- Dinner and live entertainment
- personal guide and interpreter
- Guided tour of S. Agata dei Goti

Click here to read about last year’s tour.

To reserve your place contact Barbara Goldfield at barbaragoldfield@savourthesannio.com or call 0823.953663 or 347.1416866

This exclusive event is limited to no more than 8 people per date.  The B&B requires two weeks advance notice so please sign up immediately to reserve your place.
We must reach a minimum of 6 people to hold this event.

DIRECTIONS BY CAR TO S. AGATA DEI GOTI FROM ROME
1. take the AI motorway south towards Naples and exit at CAIANELLO (125km from the Roma Sud tollgate).
2. take the SS 372 Telesina (first right) towards Benevento.
3. after 35 km take the exit for S. Agata dei Goti and Naples.
4. you will now be on the Fondo Valle dell’Isclero  (call us at this point.  You are about 15 minutes away)
5. Take exit for Sant’Agata dei Goti.  Follow this road to its natural end, then take a left and then a right.  This winding road will take you to the central square of Sant’Agata where we will be waiting for you.

By respecting all the speed limits the trip should take no more that 3 1/2 hours.

FROM NAPLES take the A1 Motorway north and exit at Caserta Sud.  Follow the signs for Benevento and Telese. After passing the Carolino Aqueduct, take the second exit marked Sant’Agata dei Goti. (call us at this point.  You are about 5 minutes away)  Follow this road for 5 km, then turn left, cross the bridge to central square of Sant’Agata where we will be waiting for you.

(english version)

Pane fresco, fumante portatore di care memorie. Come possiamo resistere alla sua fragrante tentazione o ad entrare dal fornaio una mattina e portarci via mezza pala di Pizza calda?

Mio nonno mi insegnò un proverbio Yiddish tanto arguto quanto intraducibile per ricordare che il Sole, come il Pane, “…sale all’Est (simile a yeast, lievito) e scende all’Ovest (simile a vest, panciotto): una goccia nel mare di detti in ogni cultura sul nostro protagonista.

Anche se le panetterie tradizionali sono rare nella logica delle città, in queste nostre più tradizionali campagne ci sono ancora molte famiglie dove il vecchio forno a legna è ancora in uso per preparare pane artigianale che è buono per giorni invece di ore.

Questa è l’esperienza che vi invitiamo a condividere: un’intera giornata centrata su questo antico mestiere, un’esperienza pratica, con la lavorazione dell’impasto, cottura delle pizze, finitura delle forme; ad accompagnare questo divertente “lavoro” lo spirito della buona tavola e del cibo genuino.
In collaborazione con  la famiglia Mustilli, già molto apprezzata nel mondo del vino, Savour the Sannio vi invita a trascorrere un fine settimana in una zona da scoprire ed approfondire, gustando le ricette locali, accompagnate dai famosi vini della Casa.

Un’altra perla di colorita saggezza, dalla nonna stavolta: “Se sai fare il pane hai un mestiere per campare!”.

Andiamo a conoscerlo all’origine.

Un’occasione ghiotta anche per gli amici vegetariani!

Programma (Sabato, 25 Aprile):
-Arrivo a Sant’Agata dei Goti e check-in all’Agriturismo Mustilli. Degustazione del nuovo Spumante di Falanghina.
-Benvenuto e aperitivo nei giardini della residenza privata dei Mustilli.
-Pranzo e degustazione vini. Il titolare ed enologo Leonardo Mustilli ci guiderà in una degustazione dei suoi premiati prodotti tra cui Falanghina ed Aglianico.
-Lezione di panificazione- Incontro con la famiglia (compresa la Madre del lievito), e preparazione dell’impasto.
-Visita alle antiche cantine (16° secolo)
-Lezione di cucina: Pancotto- minestra campagnola con pane casareccio ed olio extravergine d’oliva
-Preparazione forno ed infornata del pane
-Cena al Wine Bar con intrattenimento musicale dal vivo.

Programma (Domenica, 26 Aprile):
Colazione
Shopping al grande mercato all’aperto
Visita guidata al paese

COSTO

Le quote di partecipazione individuale sono di Euro 175,00 per gli adulti.
Bambini 0-3 anni: partecipazione gratuita - eventuali pasti al consumo.
Bambini dai 3-6 anni: metà prezzo.

Le quote prevedono:
- sistemazione in doppia con bagno in agriturismo con prima colazione
- aperitivo
- pranzo e degustazione
- lezioni di cucina e l’arte del pane
- visita alle cantine
- cena con intrattenimento dal vivo
- guida per i due giorni

Per prenotazioni contattare Barbara Goldfield a barbaragoldfield@savourthesannio.com o telefonare a 0823.953663 o 347.1416866

Questo evento esclusivo è limitato a sole 12 persone.  L’agriturismo ci metterà a disposizione 4 stanze doppie ed una suite con altre due doppie, ma richiede la conferma delle prenotazioni con due settimane di anticipo, quindi aderite per tempo! Il tour sarà effettuato al raggiungimento di 8 adulti partecipanti

DIREZIONI PER S. AGATA DEI GOTI DA ROMA
1. Prendere l’Autostrada del Sole AI verso Napoli e uscire a CAIANELLO (125km dal casello di Roma Sud).
2. Prendere la SS 372 Telesina (prima destra) verso Benevento.
3. Dopo 35 km prendere l’uscita per S. Agata dei Goti e Napoli.
4. Siete sul Fondo Valle dell’Isclero  (Chiamateci a questo punto.  Mancano circa 15 minuti di strada)

5. Prendere l’uscita per Sant’Agata dei Goti.  Seguire questa strada fino all’ultima uscita, girare a sinistra e poi a destra.  Questa stradina vi porterà al Monumento dei Caduti all’inizio del centro storico dove vi aspetteremo.

Rispettando tutti i limiti di velocità il tempo di percorrenza non supera 3 ore e mezza.

DA NAPOLI prendere l’Autostrada del Sole A1 verso nord e uscire a Caserta Sud.  Seguire indicazioni per Marcianise o Benevento.  Circa 1km seguire indicazioni verso destra per Benevento/Maddaloni/Telese.  Dopo 3.5 km uscire a destra per Benevento.  Dopo circa 4km girare a sinistra seguendo indicazioni per Telese/Sant’Agata dei Goti.  Dopo aver passati sotto l’Aquedotto Carolino, dopo circa 9km prendere la seconda uscita che indica Sant’Agata dei Goti. (chiamateci a questo punto.  Mancano circa 5 minuti)  Seguire questa strada per 5 km, girare a sinistra e attraversare il ponte che vi porterà al Monumento dei Caduti all’inizio del centro storico dove vi aspetteremo.

I met a girlfriend on the street the other day in Sant’Agata dei Goti.  Caterina was carrying two big plastic bags.  I asked her  what they were and discovered that she was taking some greens from her garden to an old lady living down the road.  In one bag was the ubiquitous broccoli raab, which in Campania is called simply broccoletti.  In the other was what looked like a heap of weeds.  Caterina’s family owns land that produces grapes for the Mustilli winery and her mother - from the generation that lived through the vagaries of war - always picks the edible weeds in the garden; and in the first warm days of early spring, still roams the fields in search of that wonder of wonders: wild vegetables or le verdure di campo.

We oohed and aahed a little while about wild greens and then went our separate ways.  Next day however, my doorbell rang and Caterina appeared with two even bigger, bulging bags, both filled with the same delightful assortment I admired the day before.

I happen to have a weak spot when it comes to wild weeds because no other vegetable can compare to the green, bittersweet, ancient taste of this mixture.  Furthermore wild edible plants define the term ‘fresh’: they must be cooked as soon as they are picked because they begin to wither immediately.  It’s not often one gets a chance to get a bagful of this stuff and I was so thrilled that I had to take pictures.  As Caterina explained how to clean them, I put a big pot of water on the stove.  As the water came to a boil I threw a handful of sale grosso together with the greens, cooked them for five minutes, strained them and voilà, done.  They can be eaten all’agro with a little olive oil and lemon, or ripassate in padella (pan-fried) with garlic, oil and peperoncino, or pancotto by adding cubed pieces of dried bread.  Added to beaten eggs it makes a mean frittata.

One day I hope meet Caterina’s mother so that she can teach me how to identify the edible herbs: ortica, cicoria, piscialetto (literally bed-wetter or dandelion), asparagi, radichiello, borragine and cardillo from the inedible ones; and when I do, I promise to organize a field day for food lovers, so that the next time you’re walking through a grassy field you’ll be able to do more then just pluck a few flowers, but to be able to pick and delight in these delectable edible weeds.

It started out as a convivial challenge. “I need to find a name for my new product.”

Our friend Berardino Lombardo, rugged maverick chef-turned-farmer-and-breeder, had done it again: by applying the old italian adage, del maiale non si butta niente (nothing of the pig goes to waste), he’d forged his latest idea into an extraordinary example of cured meat, the result of tying together the lard, bacon and loin of pork.

Accompanied by our photographer Claudio Corrivetti, we trudged deep into the chestnut forests of his 40 hectare estate, to the hut where Berardino prepares and smokes his products. There amidst the prized prosciutti, capocolli, soppressate and sausages hung something new. It was odd-looking: the entire back of the pig folded in half like a wallet, pressed together between two pieces of wood and firmly tied with string all along its length.

These, however, were no ordinary pigs, but the rare black maiale nero Casertano, an ancient indigenous breed which (it is said) Berardino single-handedly saved from extinction. (To cure this cut of meat, it is salted, seasoned, smoked for two months over a smouldering aromatic fire of pines and bay leaves and then matured for another nine months in tufa caves).

Berardino hoisted a big piece onto his shoulders and climbing up the hill to his 18th century casale said, “Now let’s see what it tastes like.”

We sat, ate, drank and talked about this wonderful new …’thing’. It was extraordinary: delicate, rich and juicy, with a spicy, round flavour. Looking at Claudio’s photos I said the word “string” out loud in English. My husband countered with the Italian “stringa”.  Claudio paused, then blurted, “I have it! Stringata!”

At that’s how the Stringata got its name!

It’s too bad the holidays are over.  In December we look forward to Christmas and anticipate visiting with extended families and eating wonderful seasonal recipes. Then it’s time to greet the new year with spumante, panettone, cotechino and lenticchie.  And finally presents and candy-coal are bought to stuff the children’s stockings for la Befana.  After this prolonged food orgy, a kind of lagging fatigue sets in; it seems there is hardly anything worth living for until Easter.  If it wasn’t for the pigs, January would be a dull, cold month indeed.

U’ puorc (as the pig is called in Campanian dialect), is the prince of the season. Now as in the past, this is a time of celebration for rural farmers and an excellent reason for the whole family to get together once again. A fat, healthy pig signifies ample food for the winter, with tasty delicacies such as prosciutto, culatello, salami and capocollo or soppressata,. The saying goes “E’ una festa per tutti tranne che per il maiale” (It’s a party for everyone but the pig).

Whereas everyone has heard of these wonderful Italian pork products, there are other, lesser known ones as well. “Del maiale non si butta niente” (nothing of the pig goes to waste), goes another old saying, and nothing could be more true of this generous, multi-purpose mammal.  There is the unusual sausage called sanguinaccio, which comes from the word sangue or blood.  After the pig is slaughtered it is hung and drained of blood.  In Campania (as in other regions of Italy) the blood is quickly collected and mixed with raisins, pepper, salt, grated cheese and hand-made tagliolini (or wheat, rice or spelt).  For the sweet version, the cheese and salt are substituted with sugar and cocoa.  It is then either fried, baked or boiled and afterwards sliced and served.  Inevitably, as more animals are bred and fed industrially, this ancient recipe is becoming harder to find.

Old-time farmers still use this as an excellent remedy for anemia, but it has a strong taste and is not for the faint-hearted!