The Sunny Kitchen - An Italian cook in Amsterdam

Sunset on the sea, Bari, March 2, 2010

Marche: true unknown beauty

 

Driving from Tuscany to Puglia I stopped in the Marche, one of the most unknown Italian regions and not only for foreign visitors: I had NEVER been there before except for a short stop in Ancona to take the ferry to Croatia a few years ago, seeing practically nothing but Ancona's harbour.
Shame on me for I missed a lot, and now I know that. Le Marche is a surprisingly beautiful area with amazing panoramas, breathtaking old cities and absolutely great food and wine.

I just stopped for a night in Recanati, a city that got me in total awe with her beauty, the place where Giacomo Leopardi, one of Italy's greatest poets, and famous opera singer Beniamino Gigli where born. There I enjoyed the great hospitality of the Gallery Hotel Recanati with its beautiful and comfortable rooms and its fantastic restaurant.
The fish menu made me a happy woman - the Marche region is famous for both meat and fish dishes - together with a great Verdicchio di Matelica, one of the many good local wines chosen by the hotel's sommelier to go with the creative and traditional dishes the kitchen served us. One among many: wonderful paccheri (big maccheroni) with cuttle fish and green peas, a classic of the Marche's cuisine. Mmmmm...

Wanting to leave for Puglia reasonably early the morning - ahem, afternoon - I didn't have a lot of time to visit Recanati but had a taste of it thanks to my enthusiastic and dedicated "guide", Marisa, who works for the Gallery Hotel and whom kindly accompanied me to visit the center of town with its beautiful Persiani theater and a great food shop (Maria Pia Cappella, Piazza Mazzagalli Marotti 4) where I bought fresh sausages, the lovely pecorino di fossa cheese and the famous ciauscolo, the soft salami typical of the Marche region that can be spread on bread and crostini or eaten in little chunks when a bit more mature. Something NOT to be missed if you're in the Marche.

I promised myself to stay longer next time I go.
Very soon, I hope.

Room with a view 1

Room with a view 2

Recanati's main square

With Marisa :)

Bari, summer is already here...

Just arrived in Bari, Puglia.
We landed last night at 2.00 after a nice - and a bit delayed - flight with my friend Claudio, also living in Amsterdam and born in this beautiful southern Italian city to which I come back so often, lately.
My dog Mirtilla was sitting in a travel bag at my feet, panting a bit and looking a tad unhappy, but stoic enough to stay in the small bag for two hours without protesting, just looking at me from time to time to make sure I was still there.

This morning I got up early and took her out for a little walk along the shore - my mum is lucky enough to live in a beautiful apartment overlooking the famous (and sometimes infamous) "Pane e pomodoro" beach.
It's already soooo hot at eight in the morning that it's no good idea to take Mirtilla to the park to play with the ball, she would be panting and sweating after 2 minutes, so we'll wait till around sunset time.

At 8.30 the beach was already alive with people bathing, playing or just lying in the sun which, at this time, is already quite hot.
What a difference in temperature from the 15°C of Amsterdam yesterday evening when we left!
Here it's already summer and Mirtilla is not the only one who's panting now...

"Pane e pomodoro" beach this morning

 

 If you decide to drown after six it's your friggin' problem ;)