Ragin' Ragu of Rovigo!

Onorio doesn't speak English. I don't speak Italian except for a handful of discombobilated words. Onorio invites very few people in to his kitchen and I had been pestering him for an invitation -- and was grateful when I was one of three people he recently allowed to wiggle in the back door.

Onorio grew up on a farm in Rovigo near Venice and road his pet pig to school.

So here's his Ragin' Ragu that is well worth the effort...

Saute soffrito (minced celery, garlic, onion, parsley stalks, carrots) - a mainstay base used in many Italian recipes. Add one of those little dried chili peppers for a kick in the okole (butt).

Give that ground beef and sausage (squeezed out of the skin) a nice brown sun tan in the pan with in a splash of olive oil. (My mom would probably make this without the pork and use ground turkey instead of beef...and that would be ok...just don't tell Onorio) Add to the soffrito.

Add sage, 3 bay leaves, rosemary, chopped parley leaves and pinch of nutmeg. Simmer with the meat mixture to release aroma.

Onorio's Raging Ragu!

Is that a slice of tomato pie? No silly...it's fresh tomato paste. Ooo la la!





Add a couple of cans of whole tomatoes, grape tomatoes (grind them by hand or in foodprocessor) , tomato paste and water.

Add one peel of lemon.

Simmer for 5 hours.

Refrigerate and enjoy the next day and no sooner!

Onorio's Italian "Fast Food"

This is as close as you get to 'fast food' with Onorio....

Fresh, Sicilian tomatoes (not those weird little tasteless things you get in Hawaii or Sigonella) with fresh peppery rucola, and buffalo mozarella that melts on your tongue! There's so much flavor in this--no need salt, no need olive oil.



This is another favorite indulgence. It's proscuitto but it's no that paper-thin, translucent limp stuff you tried in Hawaii. This stuff is robust and has more personality than you can shake a pig's leg at!

It had aged 8 months by the time Onorio got his big ole' hands on it. And it's been aging for the last two years in his cellar.

Onorio's Totally Tuscan Pate

In Hawaii, one of my favorite indulgences was to pau hana with friends at Neiman Marcus' Mariposa, watch the sunset, the palms sway, and enjoy a glass of wine with my favorite duck foie gras with a berry glaze.

Later I abandoned such joy once I learned that not only the French but American farmers force feed those lovely ducks by inserting a tube down their throat so they develop juicy, fatty livers (basically liver disease) several times the size that they should be...so that I can have my scrumptious pate. I love pate--but I love animals too and believe they - like us - should be entitled to a humane life and a humane death.



So you can imagine my delight when Onorio schooled me in the art of making Tuscan liver pate from chickens. I don't know why I never thought that perfectly good pate can come from chickens, which of course...are not force fed.



Raw liver has always given me the willies. And I know this looks really gross but it's really tasty, rich in iron and encouraged for those with thyroid conditions!

Here's what you do...

Saute onions, garlic, capers with a couple of anchovies until soft.
Add a bag of chicken liver and simmer on medium until cooked thoroughly.
Add a splash of white wine.
Simmer a little longer.
Throw the mixture in a food processor.
Spread a little bit of this heaven on fresh and freshly toasted Italian bread.
Close your eyes, envision Tuscany...and enjoy!

7.07.07 - My Lucky Revelation

I want you to meet Onorio. I really like this man and his wife Lisa. Onorio grew up with 33 children on a farm in northern Italy. His father and his two uncles each had 11 kids.

We were invited to their 17th wedding anniversary celebration yesterday.

And somewhere between wine, antipasto and limoncello…something occurred to me.

One of the many spirited conversations of the evening was about how people of certain faith believe their bodies are their temples and this is why certain foods and drinks are not a part of their repertoire of pleasures.

But it also made me think...

And as I watched Lisa and Onorio working together – their hands overflowing with hospitality and joy, tossing the pasta, washing dishes, ensuring the wine and ice were flowing and basically working their butts off on their own anniversary to ensure everyone had fat bellies, happy spirits and great conversation, I became even more convinced that the secret to keeping "the temple" in good shape is to keep the spirit healthy by giving generously to others, living with gratitude, loving deeply and serving selflessly.

I think it might be totally possible that if you live your entire life in the same groovy vibe you're in when you are serving as a gracious and generous host and hostess that the temple may just take care of itself.

Knock Knock! Who's there at Villa Romana del Casale?

Just a couple hours from our front door is the 4th century Villa Romana del Casale - a few miles outside of the town of Piazza Armerina. It is the richest, largest and most complex collection of late Roman mosaics in the world! A 12th century landslide aided in preserving the mosaic floors.



All these mosaics pictured here are made from tiny little stones pieced together to create these mega-masterpieces. One - These little stones are not dyed or painted--they're colored by nature. Two - It's believed that an entire colony of master and lower level artisans created these mosaics in this sprawling compound over a 10-year period.



Our friends Maryellen and Kendra brought us here and this day was one of my favorite experiences in Sicily. This is a must-see in Sicily! Tour guide Maryellen explained each room and each mosaic and meanwhile my imagination was going wild -- While only the mosaics and structural remains live on -- I could enivsion the marble columns, the frescos adorning the walls, and the servants and farms and -- the villa in its hey day must've been something to see.



With just a few pillars jutting up from the ground, the villa was largely forgotten the last few centuries and it was in 1920s that the first sincere excavation began.

Long before linoleum, pergo and shag carpets in a land far far away...

The Roman villa is believed to have belonged to a senator if not the emperor himself. And the variety of rooms (floor of the ballroom above) suggests it was both a residence and a place for official purposes.



Looks like a day with the dogs on a hunt...



Indoor plumbing! The toilets are clearly re-created...although not marble seated as it probably was. Water flowed beneath the toilets carrying sewage off to the river.

It also had a complex system of aquaducts and furnaces that provided for heated, thermal baths, steam rooms, heated room for the winter, massage rooms - they had it going on in the 4th century!

Back Ache Mosaics!

Just looking at all these iddy biddy stones all pieced together in a perfect puzzle perplexes me...not to mention makes my back ache in empathy.



Currently, only the manorial portions of the complex have been excavated. The housing for slaves, workshops, stables, etc. have not yet been located. And archaeologists believe an entire city remains to be unearthed nearby.



The mosaics are believed to be created by North African artists in the early 4th century at which time the North African provinces were considered the economic and artistic forefront. Polychrome mosaics were one of the specialities of the North African artists. A substantial part of the tesserae, the small colored stones, used in the mosaics are of African origin, so it seems the mosaicists have brought with them the colors they couldn't find locally.

That's villa curator Maryellen with the tour book! We hired the best tour guide a free lunch could provide...and she as worth every drop of wine and crumb...and then some!



What's cool about this place is that it feels very uncommercial. There's not slick signage, just a few little junk shops, and that's about it. There's sort of a neat vibe about the place...even though you're in ruins in an excavation site...it's still has that peaceful, energetic buzz of a home that was well loved.

More floors to adore!

Check out these little menehunes (mythical little Hawaiian people). They are Cupids at sea.




Macadamia nuts in Sicily? Nah. They're chestnuts.