LIFE: The Fairest of the Fairs

CHIAVARI, Italy – This past weekend Chiavari hosted the 156^th Tigullio Fair. The fair was made up of artists and artisans of every type, including sculptors, painters, those who work with mosaics, those who create the designs in the piazzas using black and white cobblestones, people who make macrame’, lace, silk and velvet, transform blank walls into works of art using the ancient technique of trompe l’oeil, those who paint on silk, on porcelain, pottery makers, and even those who make the Chiavari chair, the number one product that put Chiavari on the map. And more.

 Raoul Cuneo' Castillo and Cinzia Caloma

The more included people who run small workshops making everything from boats to children’s clothing. It reminded me of the days before business became big business and everyone knew the town shoemaker, the dressmaker, the carpenter, and the guy who could fix your roof or shoe your horse.

 Cookie Maker

Italy has always been a country of small businesses, family owned, antique traditions handed down from father to son, generation after generation. And that included farmers and wine makers as well as those who produced olive oil.  

 I Miei Bijoux by Elena Augelli

The fair itself is a long-held local tradition. It was organized by the Economic Society of Chiavari, which was founded on April 15, 1791 by a local Marquis and a group of nobles and businessmen. The sole purpose of the organization is to promote and protect the culture, economic activities, art, education and environment of Chiavari. The Society is nonpartisan and does not favor or discriminate against any political party, religious, social or school of thought. That is straight from their web site and I must say, I’m impressed.

 La Buccia by Magdalena Mirca

I met some pretty amazing people at the fair, including a woman who makes children’s clothing, another who makes jewelry, one who makes handbags and yet another who makes wedding dresses – all handmade, all Italian and all top quality goods.  I didn’t have a chance to talk to the boat maker, but it looked to me that the boat on display was the type used to teach kids how to sail. This is a land of sailors, after all, and just about every town along the sea offers sailing courses for kids during the summer. The small boats are called ottimisti, or optimists, which is the most perfect name for them, as all the kids are optimistic at this stage of the game.  

 

 The Famous Chiavari Chair

Most of the time I get caught up by the food end of things and I confess this time was no different. The local products of this area are olive oil, wine and pesto, so of course there were a number of stands selling those products, but there was also a cookie maker and a few farmers selling fresh produce. And, oh, I almost forgot the fashion shows and cooking demonstrations, concerts and encounters with local writers. It was enough to tucker a girl out. 

 The Optimist

I'm sorry to say wasn't able to talk to everyone or get their name, but I wanted you to see them, or at least their product anyway. I'll try to do better next year. 

Vallelunga Cerimonie

I didn’t know what to expect from the fair, somewhere in the back of my mind were visions of guys selling slicer/dicer/cabbage shredders and miracle knives that can cut through steel, but it wasn’t like that at all. It was more like a ‘getting to know you’ party, with people happy to talk about how they spend their days producing things we actually need and use. It was nice.

  

  

AUNTIE PASTA: Besto Pesto Redux

CHIAVARI, Italy – Big doings in Chiavari last weekend, it was one party and event after another from Friday until Tuesday, none stop from morning till night. I confess I am all tuckered out. One of the most important events, at least from Auntie Pasta’s point of view, was the qualifying event for the upcoming Genova Pesto World Championship sponsored by the Palatafini Organization.

 

 2012 Pesto Championship Finalists

The Chiavari competition took place over a two day period with lots of contestants, all vying to see if they were good enough to move onto the next level. And then on Sunday – drum roll please – we had a winner: Pietro Bartalini of Chiavari.

 Pietro Bartalini

Make no mistake, this is the World Cup of Pesto and it is a very big deal for pesto lovers, which includes just about everyone in Liguria.  But not only. As I write this, people around the world are competing in local competitions just like Signor Bartalini did. He will be one of the final 100 chefs, professional and amateur, who will  complete in the sixth Genova Pesto World Championship that will be held at the Dodge’s Palace in Genoa on 29 March, 2014.

Last year Sergio Muto, an Italian chef who lives and works in Germany was crowned World Champion. Runners-up included a Norwegian woman, a French consultant and a Russian businessman. And a few years before that, Danny Bowien, a young Korean-American chef from San Francisco won the coveted title. Danny later confessed that he had a secret weapon, his executive chef, Paolo Loboa, whose family is Genovese. It was Chef Loboa who taught him how to make pesto, not just any pesto but the secret Laboa family pesto recipe that had been handed down from generation to generation of Laboa women, starting with the chef’s great-grandmother.

 The Pressure is On

The rules of the pesto competition are simple. Competitors, young and old,  have 40 minutes to prepare their recipes, all using the same ingredients and the same technique, i.e. pounding the bejeebers out of them. Pounding is what pesto is all about as the word pesto comes from the Italian verb pestare, which means to pound, even in the sense of being beaten up.  

 The Judges

Since all the competitors use the same ingredients and the same techniques, you’d think they would all come up with the same taste, but the truth is most pesto makers claim to have “secret” techniques, so technically no two cups of pesto are ever the same. And there is a difference. Some pestos do taste better than others. I always thought it was the quality of the oil and  quantity of the cheese used, but if everyone is using the same ingredients, it must be some other kind of pesto voodoo. 

 A Little Basil, a Little Cheese, a Few Drops of Oil  . . . . and Magic Happens

If you’re thinking what’s the big deal, how hard can it be, here’s the official competition recipe for you to try. Who knows, you may be winning pesto maker too.

World Cup Pesto Recipe

4 bunches (60-70 grams) of fresh PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) Genovese basil
30 grams of pine nuts (2 tablespoons)
445-460 grams of Parmesan cheese,(a little less than 2 cups to – 2 full cups)
20-40 grams Fiore Sardo cheese (Pecorino Sardo) (4+ teaspoons – 3 tablespoons))
1-2 garlic cloves from Vassalico (Imperia)
10 grams coarse salt (Kosher salt) (2 teasp.)
60-80 cc PDO extra-virgin olive oil from the Italian Riviera (4 tablespoons – 5 1/2 tablespoons).

Preparation

Marble mortar and wooden pestle are the traditional tools used to make pesto.

Wash the basil leaves in cold water and dry them in a kitchen towel, but do not rub them.

In a mortar, finely crush the garlic cloves and pine nuts until they are smooth. Add a few grains of salt and the basil leaves. Then pound the mixture using a light circular motion of the pestle against the sides of the mortar.

When a bright green liquid starts to ooze from the basil leaves, add the Parmesan cheese and the Fiore Sardinian cheese.

Pour in a thin layer of PDO extra-virgin olive oil to blend the ingredients   
Work as quickly as possible to avoid oxidation of the leaves.

It's best to use your pesto right away but you can keep it in the refrigerator for a few days if you float a little oil on top of it, or put it in the freezer. I freeze mine in small cups and just defrost what I’m going to use, and just as a by-the-way, it is better to let it defrost at room temperature than zap it in the microwave because pesto should never be heated.

Photos Courtesy of Associazione Palatifini www.pestochampionship.it

LIFE: Notable Noto Redux

CHIAVARI, ITALY – There is something about Sicily that makes me break out in adjective-itis. Words like fanciful, fantastic and extraordinary seem to pop up out of nowhere and take up residence in almost every sentence I write about the place.

 Noto, Piazza Duomo

Take Noto for example. Strictly speaking it’s just another small town on a island full of small towns, but unlike my adjective heavy sentences that are forgotten as soon as they are read, there is something about the place that sneaks in and takes up residence in your soul.

It may have something to do with all those baroque nymphs, mermaids, lions, trolls and other mythical creatures that look down at you as you walk along the streets.

 A Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Balcony in Noto

Or it may be the way the town glows in the late afternoon as the sun slowly sets in the west, reflecting off of the soft limestone buildings. I don’t know. My only consolation is that I’m not alone in my unabashed admiration for things Sicilian, and Noto in particular. It seems to affect everyone who comes here.

“Go to Noto,” wrote the Sicilian writer Gesualdo Bufalino, “it is a place where if one happens to come in, he is trapped and happy and never goes away.”

Bufalino was right. The danger is real.

 Via Nicolaci

The day I got to Noto, artists were on their hands in knees on Via Corrado Nicolaci, putting down the outlines for the various sections of a brilliant tableau of flowers.  Via Nicolaci is one of the prettiest streets in town, rising gently from Corso Vittorio Emanuele. Under the watchful eyes of the grotesque gargoyles that decorate the balconies of the elegant baroque buildings that line the street, artists were following patterns that resemble the canvases in paint-by-number kits. There was an aura of excitement in the air as the town prepared for the annual spring Infiorata, a week-long celebration of concerts, handicraft fairs, parades and special events.

The Noto we see today is a relatively new town, at least new by Italian standards. The original town, Noto Antica, is about ten miles away, up on a nearby hill. In 1693 Noto Antica was completely destroyed by an earthquake, and rather than rebuild over the damaged site, the survivors decided to try their luck elsewhere.

Earthquakes are a problem in this part in Sicily. In 1990, a minor earthquake caused a wing of Noto’s Jesuit College building to collapse, and a few months later cornices from building facades began to tumble to the ground. But the most tragic event of all happened in 1996 when the roof of the 18th century Cathedral of St. Nicholas fell into the nave, leaving a gaping hole and exposing the treasures within to the elements.

 Cathedral of Noto

I remember standing in the Cathedral shortly after it happened, looking up at the lions, winged horses, allegorical putti, bizarre Hellenic demons and grotesque stone masks that make up the interior. Pained faces frozen in time and space staring out at me through eerie, hollow eyes, as if to say, do something.

The roof is repaired now but it took more than ten years of plowing through bureaucratic paperwork and complicated maneuvers through the world of Italian and Sicilian politics. In the meantime, as the roof waited, Noto was added to the list of Unesco World Heritage sites. At least the world appreciates its treasures, and that’s good, don’t you think?