There is nothing I love more than a food festival! Italy rocks for all the festivals they have. Some are simple parties celebrating a local speciality like Cinghiale, wild boar or they make celebrate food in general! This weekend in Certaldo, where I live, the hilltown had their Fall Food Festival called Boccaccesca. This year, due to Covid, it was a little smaller than normal but still a fun way to spend a few hours. I like to go the first day and beat the crowds. There is a funiculare, a cable car, to the upper old village. Certaldo is a beautiful untouched little village. It has only a few shops, a hotel and a couple of restaurants. The lower town has everything. So it’s a great base for touring Chianti and beyond.
This palazzo is the old city hall, the facade is covered with Della Robbia ceramic family crests. Inside is a museum. This weekend the loggia outside had a saffron vendor and roasted chestnuts.
On the main street are several food stands from all over Italy. Puglia, Ammatrice, Abruzzo, Naples where just a few of the visiting areas. Local artisan beer and a wine tasting in the old chapel.
Norceria di Pesce
My favorite new stand was this Norceria di Mare. Norceria means Pig Butcher. The man who turns the pig into salami. These two friends owned a fish restaurant in Empoli and had to close during Covid. The recreated themselves and started a new business! The port of Livorno is where they get their fish and trasform it.
Very creative recipes. Tonno Porchettata, Mortadella di Mare, Bresaola, Lardo di Seppia,Finocchiona and Tuna-nduja! We did a tasting and then bought several items to take home. They also sell online ( am sure they can’t ship to USA).
From Abruzzo were my favorite little spiedini… grilled lamb skewers, called Arrosticini.
At the last edition of Boccaccesca, I discovered these beans from Calabria. They are GIANT and taste like chestnuts. They are called Ciavattoni or Diavoli dei Sibillini. I started to google around and found some great recipes. I put them in a bowl to soak overnight and then will make a stew or a soup tomorrow. Finding new ingredients is so much fun.
Look at the size of these beans!
This month I am cooking with Beans,Greens and Grains for my online video library classes! You can sign up anytime if you are interested! Single recipes are also available on my site, I have the entire library online.
So many of these festivals happen around harvest time. People work hard on the farms and a festival is perfect to celebrate and enjoy some great food and wine.
When you are driving around, look for the signs for a SAGRA. Usually held on weekends, most of them open in the late afternoon and go on to hold dinners as well.
I am hosting a Culinary Week Retreat in November for Food-Lover’s! It is the best time to be here. New oil, White truffles and New wine!
This year the olive harvest has already started! I can’t wait to get my first bottle. While we tour, you can also shop and ship home. During the week we meet up with artisan cheese makers, butchers,bakers
and go on a Truffle hunt! Tuscany has truffles all year long and it is white truffle season now.
If you can’t come to Italy now, maybe you need to create your own Sagra… and celebrate Italy at your table!
Let me know if you need help.