ARRIVAL IN CORTONA
Four weeks in Tuscany – a perfect place to spend a summer off-island and an ideal location for Philip and I to reunite after two months apart (respective travels: P – Madagascar, me – England).
We were to stay in the beautiful, fortified hilltop town of Cortona, near the border of Tuscany and Umbria – perfectly located for visiting all the well- and lesser-known sites.
Cortona is like a mini volcano protruding out of the flat plains of the Valdichiana region – I could say valley, but that would be a tautology, Valdichiana meaning ‘valley of the Chiana’. The medieval town of Cortona tops a 600 metre hillside with a magnificent view of the landscape below.
The town itself is set in a time warp, with two main ‘piazzas’ (squares) that buzz with local daily life. Its beauty attracts the attention of visitors, albeit mostly Italian or hardy foreign tourists prepared to face the steep gradients on foot (traffic is forbidden within the town walls). In fact, there is only one level street in the whole of Cortona – Via Nationale – which is thus the principal tourist trap, so good to avoid! The other streets are incredibly narrow and winding, flanked by very tall, old stone buildings, bedecked with wrought iron balconies and plants cascading from terracotta pots.
We stayed in a beautiful apartment, in what was formerly a large Tuscan house set within a cobbled courtyard. It was located just off one of the piazzas, so right in the heart of all the buzzing activity, and was deliberately chosen to contrast with our island life. However, there was to be more lively action than we had anticipated, as the said courtyard was in fact the en plein air dining room of a small trattoria!
Thankfully it was a modest affair with select clientele, so noise levels were restricted to pleasant chitter chatter combined with cutlery on china and clinking glassware. It also became an entertaining topic of interest when we dined on our balcony above – the best seats in the house to view the fascinating trattoria clientele and the mouth-watering culinary creations, which whetted our appetite for the delicious Tuscan cuisine that we were yet to sample.
CUISINE
Our culinary adventure began with breakfast bought from a local ‘panetteria’ (bakery), which was an interesting exercise. Firstly on account of communicating in my very basic Italian that I had gleaned from previous trips, combined with new phrases from our little guide/phrase book. I also found myself reverting to Spanish which, to my surprise, was often understood and sufficed in selecting a few Italian croissants, known as ‘cornetti’/ ‘cornetto’ (singular).
However, these are quite different to French croissants, being made with less butter, so are like a cross between a brioche and a croissant; in fact some of the panetteria call their cornetti ‘brioches’. The second interesting discovery was the surprise filling inside such cornetti (cream or different types of jam), obviously not at all surprising to those more fluent in Italian! We quickly realised that the Italians have a very sweet tooth, as it became very difficult to find plain cornetti (I later learned that one should ask for ‘cornetto vuoto’, meaning empty, presumably linked to ‘void’ … anyway, it makes a good aide memoire!).
Another delicious breakfast item, at least for me, was a ‘pane pescatore’ (fisherman’s bread), which is a biscuit-like rock cake filled with raisins that, apparently, fishwives used to bake for their husbands’ fishing trips. This dense, hard biscuit would certainly be a practical snack, being rather durable and not prone to crumbling; the tradition may still continue?
Espressos were a key component of our dining experience; we had been quite content with French coffee, in both France and St Barts, until we tasted Italy’s perfect balance of taste and strength. Being double in strength, Italian espressos are practically half the size of those elsewhere, which was initially difficult to accept, so we ordered a ‘doppo’ (double) espresso to compensate. This would certainly make one buzz and think that life was ‘fantastico’, but I began to find this quantity too overpowering in taste, so reverted to a single shot for the pleasure of ‘less is more’.
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| Tagliatelle al Tartufo |
Evening dining offered a wonderful menu of fresh, wholesome ingredients simply, yet creatively, combined, at incredibly reasonable prices. Philip therefore decided to do the ‘Italian thing’ and order all (well almost) of the ‘piatti’ (courses) proffered – antipasto, primo, secondo and dolce. The size of each course was relatively modest, which made the long menu not too overwhelming. The antipasto was usually a small plate of fresh meats, different cheeses or a salad such as ‘tricolore’ (mozzarella, tomato and basil). The primo was a pasta dish – a perfect size for me to enjoy as a main course when combined with an arugula salad with parmesan shavings; my favourite being the ‘tagliatelle al tartufo’ (tagliatelle with truffles) – simply delectable! Philip was more adventurous enjoying the local hunting fare, such as ‘lepre’ (hare) or ‘fagiano’ (pheasant), garnishing a pasta dish! The secondo was a simple meat dish, again from the forest, so ‘cinghiale’ (wild boar) was a popular option that Philip liked to select.
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| Pistachio Gelato |
Last, but certainly no means least, were the delicious post-prandial gelatos, often bought from the specialist ‘gelateria’; one of which was located next to our favourite piazza café which kindly allowed us to eat our gelatos with our espressos, amaretto or otherwise. The range of flavours was quite breath-taking and all made from a host of interesting fresh ingredients; my favourite being pistachio, coconut, fig and mascarpone; whilst Philip preferred the various types of chocolate, plain or combined with different types of nuts or even orange, reminiscent of the ‘Terry’s Chocolate Orange’ so treasured in our childhood – the orange flavoured chocolate segments, disguised as an orange in bright speckled foil, to be ‘tapped and unwrapped’ according to the ad!
