We left Meda early and enjoyed one last good colazione with the Longhi famiglia at this charming 80 year-old pasticceria Ravagnati at nearby town Mariano Comense, where we creamed over the best cappucino and pillowy brioche oozing with cioccolato. According to Elena, Ravagnati had the best pastries which were gleaming in neat rows behind the glass counter. We just had to porta-via (ta-bao) some of my favourite aragoste and also these tubby cannoncini rolls filled with crema custard (Ele's cure on her blue day). We wolved them down in the car and gave Ele the thumbs up!
Alla stazione, we all hugged and kissed goodbye, and sweet Paolo smiled his shy toothy grin at us one last time. Next year when I see him again, he'd be 2 years old and his italian will probably be better than mine! We got to Milano and tried to get a rimborso (refund) for our missed Eurostar treno from Venice, ma non e' possibile. Boo-hoo. A good S$90 down the canal. We got to nearby Parma (an hour away) quickly where I helped a Chinese man to get to his next stazione (he only spoke cinese!) and we dropped our bags at the consistently excellent tourist office (in fact the best I've encountered in Italy) and literally hurried to locate our next pitstop, Sorelle Picchi Salumeria e Trattoria on via Farini. We came to Parma per solo una ragione - PROSCUUIITTOOOOO!!!
The 40-seater family-run eatery was recommended by Mingers and also held in great esteem by testimonials and reviews online. At lunchtime, the joint got packed quickly and we got down to business with some vino rosso and 2 plates of proscuitto (9E) and culatello (12E) con melone (3E). We mms a foto of my intoxicated red face next to the heavenly slices of ham to Fiona in S'pore and she was so gelosa, haha! The waiter kept looking at our table and finally chatted us up in giapponese 'Oishi?' to which I said 'No.. buonissimo!'.
We could see the 2 women chefs in the tiny open kitchen trying hard to keep up with the lunch orders including our next pasta courses - generous servings of tortelli di zucca (pumpkin/ 8,50E) and cappelletti in brodo (small round mounds stuffed with meat in a light tasty broth/ 9E). Ferne bought 2 etti di culatello (16E) for Patzy and then promptly went matta (mad) at il negozio vicino 'Specialità di Parma where she carted back a 3kg leg of proscuitto, 3 bottles of Lambrusco, stick of bottarga, block of parmigiano for home and a platter of lean proscuitto as our snack (all for 80E only!). After all we did promise our amici that we'd at least smuggle the ham for them otherwise there'd be no pace (peace)!
With no time to spare, we had a quick look around town as I pointed out the more significant palazzi to her. We then quickly repacked our bags and ran with our heavier load to catch the 4plus treno to Borgo Val di Taro. I had been waiting so long to see Iris and Gianluca again at Casa Lanzarotti and finally we were here! The scenery was the same as I remembered, surrounded by lush green mountains and cool streams below.
After paying the rude, obnoxious cab driver 13E (troppo!), I skipped down the path into the casa and found Iris in the kitchen (sempre) with an American Woofer Kim and we hugged in the familiar cosy dining room. Gianluca came out from his office and shook my hand and met Ferne too. We recalled my farm stay 2 years ago and they updated me about the fattoria and loved the presents we brought, including a CD of foto I took last time. I was glad that they'd be able to use the pictures for their refreshed website and brochures.
They gave us the lovely bedroom on the ground floor next to the cute bathroom where I loved to peep out at the wondrous valley and lush hills. Excited to be back, I gave F a tour as if it was my own fattoria. The animali were still there; Giacomina la cavalla looked better than I remembered, sempre con le sue pecore. However the 2 pigs which I named Porky and Penny were eaten last year and had been replaced by 4 curious fatty bomboms that came to investigate us as we attempted to photograph their snouts upclose.
Henry the rooster was also replaced by un altro gallo giovane con tante galline. According to Iris, one hen had hatched 5 chicks that were always running behind their mamma among the bushes but we didn't see them at all. The old ram that was in love with Giacomina was also morto. The worst news was that Puffo, the friendliest cat among the 3 gatti, had also died in winter in Febbraio from an intestinal virus. Si, e' stato veramente molto triste perdere Puffo, lui era un gatto troppo simpatico.
I was consoled that Puffa and Georgina both looked great and were friendlier than I recalled. In fact Georgina had strangely taken a fancy to Ferne and took every opportunity to curl up and nap on her lap. We also went to the backyard where my beloved 'spacepod' caravan was, and just when I was about to enter the enclosure, F pointed to Toro the black menacing-looking bull which came charging from far. I backed up in time, pissing in my pants amused and relieved. Apparently he's very sweet and just wanted some apple treats from his visitors!
La verdura and la frutta especially the wild raspberries all looked lovely in the greenhouse and fields. We found an overgrown melazana and gigantic pomodoro in the storeroom and laughed like mad posing with them as if they were the latest Bottega clutch purses. The fig tree had also grown and bore fruit so we plucked some ripe yummy ones to eat before we washed up for dinner.
We shared our proscuitto con melone for the starter, followed by Iris' homemade tagiatelle with nettle tossed with zucchini e pecorino fresco. The Lambrusco we bought was a gorgeous nero and full-bodied, and went very well with the manzo con polenta and insalata di pomodori misti (the mixed tomatoes were dancing with colours and flavours). Finalmente somehow we found room to stomach il dolce di panna cotta with homemade marmalade - oh how I've missed Iris' cooking!
We kept piling Gianluca with vino and the poor guy had to print out 100 brochures for una sagra dei funghi domani (mushroom festival tomorrow). He was so funny telling us about his encounters with magic mushrooms and that he had a travelling marbled hand and imagined he was a snail! That night I slept like a log, contenta to be back at my casa.
We left Meda early and enjoyed one last good colazione with the Longhi famiglia at this charming 80 year-old pasticceria Ravagnati at nearby town Mariano Comense, where we creamed over the best cappucino and pillowy brioche oozing with cioccolato. According to Elena, Ravagnati had the best pastries which were gleaming in neat rows behind the glass counter. We just had to porta-via (ta-bao) some of my favourite aragoste and also these tubby cannoncini rolls filled with crema custard (Ele's cure on her blue day). We wolved them down in the car and gave Ele the thumbs up! 
Alla stazione, we all hugged and kissed goodbye, and sweet Paolo smiled his shy toothy grin at us one last time. Next year when I see him again, he'd be 2 years old and his italian will probably be better than mine! We got to Milano and tried to get a rimborso (refund) for our missed Eurostar treno from Venice, ma non e' possibile. Boo-hoo. A good S$90 down the canal. We got to nearby Parma (an hour away) quickly where I helped a Chinese man to get to his next stazione (he only spoke cinese!) and we dropped our bags at the consistently excellent tourist office (in fact the best I've encountered in Italy) and literally hurried to locate our next pitstop, Sorelle Picchi Salumeria e Trattoria on via Farini. We came to Parma per solo una ragione - PROSCUUIITTOOOOO!!!
The 40-seater family-run eatery was recommended by Mingers and also held in great esteem by testimonials and reviews online. At lunchtime, the joint got packed quickly and we got down to business with some vino rosso and 2 plates of proscuitto (9E) and culatello (12E) con melone (3E). We mms a foto of my intoxicated red face next to the heavenly slices of ham to Fiona in S'pore and she was so gelosa, haha! The waiter kept looking at our table and finally chatted us up in giapponese 'Oishi?' to which I said 'No.. buonissimo!'.
We could see the 2 women chefs in the tiny open kitchen trying hard to keep up with the lunch orders including our next pasta courses - generous servings of tortelli di zucca (pumpkin/ 8,50E) and cappelletti in brodo (small round mounds stuffed with meat in a light tasty broth/ 9E). Ferne bought 2 etti di culatello (16E) for Patzy and then promptly went matta (mad) at il negozio vicino 'Specialità di Parma where she carted back a 3kg leg of proscuitto, 3 bottles of Lambrusco, stick of bottarga, block of parmigiano for home and a platter of lean proscuitto as our snack (all for 80E only!). After all we did promise our amici that we'd at least smuggle the ham for them otherwise there'd be no pace (peace)! 
With no time to spare, we had a quick look around town as I pointed out the more significant palazzi to her. We then quickly repacked our bags and ran with our heavier load to catch the 4plus treno to Borgo Val di Taro. I had been waiting so long to see Iris and Gianluca again at Casa Lanzarotti and finally we were here! The scenery was the same as I remembered, surrounded by lush green mountains and cool streams below.
After paying the rude, obnoxious cab driver 13E (troppo!), I skipped down the path into the casa and found Iris in the kitchen (sempre) with an American Woofer Kim and we hugged in the familiar cosy dining room. Gianluca came out from his office and shook my hand and met Ferne too. We recalled my farm stay 2 years ago and they updated me about the fattoria and loved the presents we brought, including a CD of foto I took last time. I was glad that they'd be able to use the pictures for their refreshed website and brochures. 
They gave us the lovely bedroom on the ground floor next to the cute bathroom where I loved to peep out at the wondrous valley and lush hills. Excited to be back, I gave F a tour as if it was my own fattoria. The animali were still there; Giacomina la cavalla looked better than I remembered, sempre con le sue pecore. However the 2 pigs which I named Porky and Penny were eaten last year and had been replaced by 4 curious fatty bomboms that came to investigate us as we attempted to photograph their snouts upclose. 
Henry the rooster was also replaced by un altro gallo giovane con tante galline. According to Iris, one hen had hatched 5 chicks that were always running behind their mamma among the bushes but we didn't see them at all. The old ram that was in love with Giacomina was also morto. The worst news was that Puffo, the friendliest cat among the 3 gatti, had also died in winter in Febbraio from an intestinal virus. Si, e' stato veramente molto triste perdere Puffo, lui era un gatto troppo simpatico. 
I was consoled that Puffa and Georgina both looked great and were friendlier than I recalled. In fact Georgina had strangely taken a fancy to Ferne and took every opportunity to curl up and nap on her lap. We also went to the backyard where my beloved 'spacepod' caravan was, and just when I was about to enter the enclosure, F pointed to Toro the black menacing-looking bull which came charging from far. I backed up in time, pissing in my pants amused and relieved. Apparently he's very sweet and just wanted some apple treats from his visitors!
La verdura and la frutta especially the wild raspberries all looked lovely in the greenhouse and fields. We found an overgrown melazana and gigantic pomodoro in the storeroom and laughed like mad posing with them as if they were the latest Bottega clutch purses. The fig tree had also grown and bore fruit so we plucked some ripe yummy ones to eat before we washed up for dinner. 
We shared our proscuitto con melone for the starter, followed by Iris' homemade tagiatelle with nettle tossed with zucchini e pecorino fresco. The Lambrusco we bought was a gorgeous nero and full-bodied, and went very well with the manzo con polenta and insalata di pomodori misti (the mixed tomatoes were dancing with colours and flavours). Finalmente somehow we found room to stomach il dolce di panna cotta with homemade marmalade - oh how I've missed Iris' cooking! 
We kept piling Gianluca with vino and the poor guy had to print out 100 brochures for una sagra dei funghi domani (mushroom festival tomorrow). He was so funny telling us about his encounters with magic mushrooms and that he had a travelling marbled hand and imagined he was a snail! That night I slept like a log, contenta to be back at my casa.
No comments:
Post a Comment