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.

  

  

AUNT PASTA: - Oil Change

SARONNO, Italy - It’s time to prune my little herb garden and I'm going to use the trimming to make a couple of bottles of flavored oil. I bought the oil last week, extra virgin olive oil from Liguria, which I like for flavored oil because it is light. You can use other oils, peanut or sunflower, but oilve oil is the most pure and does the best job of capturing the flavor of the herbs. You can use almost any combination of herbs, it just depends on what flavor you are looking for and the type of food you want to use the oil on. The method is always the same.

An Italian cookbook I picked up a few years ago called ‘Cooking with Aromatic Herbs’ suggests that after you’ve decided on the flavor you want, cut your herbs into small springs and wash them carefully. If you are using more than one herb, tie them together with a piece of kitchen string. Push the herb bundle into a clean, dry bottle and cover it with oil. If you use the oil daily, keep refilling the bottle with oil as the oil level goes down. If you don’t use the oil often, it’s best to only make a half a liter because after a while the herbs tend to break down. They recommend the following herb combinations for one liter of olive oil.
For fish, grilled or roasted meat: sprigs of sage, rosemary and black peppercorns.
For spaghetti: 2 cloves of garlic, 4 small hot red peppers and a small spring of rosemary.
For white meat (turkey, chicken, pork): thyme, marjoram and white peppercorns
For pizza: 2 springs of oregano, a scallion, 2 small hot red peppers
For red meat and game: 2 bay leaves, 3 black peppercorns and 3 white peppercorns.
While ‘Cooking with Aromatic Herbs’ recommends tying the herbs together and keeping the peppercorns, garlic and hot pepper whole, I find that chopping the herbs and breaking up the garlic and peppercorns releases more flavor. And I tend to use more herbs and spices than they do. I’ve also found that making two bottles of flavored oil at a time works better than adding fresh oil to a bottle. It takes at least a week for the oil to infuse with the flavor of the herbs and, in my opinion, if you add fresh oil on top of your flavored oil, it dilutes the flavor.

My favorite combination is rosemary, garlic, black peppercorns and hot red pepper. For a liter of olive oil I use three or four long sprigs of fresh rosemary, at least 5 inches long; one or two garlic cloves; a pinch of salt; about a teaspoon of black peppercorns; and depending on how hot they are, one or two little red peppers.

I start by washing, drying and then stripping the rosemary leaves from the branches. Then I chop the leaves into very, very small bits and set them aside. I peel the garlic and chop and mash it with the side of a large knife. Then I add a pinch of salt and start to pulverize the garlic and salt together with my knife blade until it is mushy and completely broken down. The salt creates enough friction on the garlic to reduce it to pulp, and releases more flavor in the process.

The black peppercorns get broken up using my meat pounder. I just put them between some kitchen paper, fold it up and pound away. They just need to be in pieces, they don’t need to be pulverized or have any particular size or texture. The last step is the red hot pepperoncini. If they are really hot, I just make a small slice in the side of the pepperoncino and leave it like that. What I want is for the oil to penetrate inside the pepperoncino as the heat is all in the seeds. If they are not particularly hot, just cut them along the side so they are half open.


Then put everything in a clean bottle, fill it with olive oil, put the top on it and put it in your cupboard for at least a week. Chopped bits of rosemary may not look as pretty as entire sprigs but they do give the oil a more intense flavor.

For me, rosemary and pepper oil is the best for everyday use. I put it in and on everything including salad. The only problem I have is keeping enough of it around. A friend of mine is coming to visit the week after Easter so this weekend I’m going to make a couple bottles of oil to have on hand while she is here, and enough so she can take a bottle home if she wants to.

If you try any of the ‘Cooking with Aromatic Herb’ combinations, or my recipe, let me know what you think.
Photos: (1) flavored oils; (2) bunch of sage; (3) garlic