L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano U mbria is the heart of Italy, quite literally: i t i s a l m o s t perfectly at the center of the peninsula, nes- tled as it is between Tuscany, Marche, and Lazio. It is also k n o w n a s t h e " g a r d e n o f Italy," because of the beauty of its hills and fields, and of the gentle symphony of col- ors they gift every visitor throughout the year. B u t U m b r i a i s a l s o t h e heart of our national spiritu- a l i t y b e c a u s e i t h a s b e e n h o m e t o S a n F r a n c e s c o d'Assisi and Santa Chiara, patron saints of our nation, a n d o f S a n B e n e d e t t o d a Norcia, who protects – at l e a s t f o r C a t h o l i c s – t h e whole of Europe. A place to be, definitely. A place where you can nurture t h e s o u l , t h e e y e a n d , o f course, the belly! Because Umbria has also an incredi- b l e c u l i n a r y t r a d i t i o n . I t brings together the richness of flavors of Tuscan cuisine, with the insular characteris- tics of a landlocked area. You'll find refined, full-bod- ied wines and simple veg- etable dishes, born of the need to make do with what the land offered, but also rich c o l d c u t s a n d m e a t delicacies. U m b r i a i s a b i t l i k e t h e t r e a s u r e c h e s t o f Italy because here you'll find some of everything beautiful, meaningful, and good we have in the country. Perugia, for instance, is o n e o f I t a l y ' s c a p i t a l s o f chocolate, along with Turin a n d M o d i c a . H e r e , i n 1 9 0 7 , L u i s a S p a g n o l i founded Perugina, which is still today one of the most popular Italian chocolate brands in the world: who hasn't tried a Bacio before, or offered one to someone they fancied, hoping that either its intense creaminess or - at least - the love message writ- ten on its wrapping, could win their heart? I l B a c i o P e r u g i n a w a s born in 1922, thanks to the i n t u i t i o n o f l a s i g n o r a Luisa who, just like any other woman of that time, knew that when it comes to food you can't waste anything. She c r e a t e d a c a n d y f r o m t h e chocolate and hazelnuts left from other preparations, and bang! An Italian icon was born. Funnily enough, she christened her creation "caz- zotto," which means "punch," p e r h a p s b e c a u s e o f i t s intense flavor, but one of the c o m p a n y ' s c o l l a b o r a t o r s , Giovanni Buitoni, convinced her to call it "bacio" ("kiss") instead. Perhaps, chocolate baci led to real ones, because s o o n L u i s a a n d G i o v a n n i became an item… If we leave the Umbrian capital and travel towards the hills, we are soon surrounded by the beauty of local vine- yards. Here, varieties like Grechetto, Sangiovese, and Trebbiano – which are also used to produce Vin Santo – have been grown for cen- turies. In more recent years, international grape varieties s u c h a s p i n t o g r i g i o , chardonnay, or merlot, took up some popularity, too. If you are interested in the his- tory of winemaking in the r e g i o n , y o u s h o u l d s t o p in Torgiano, a town known for its Sangiovese produc- tion, and visit its Museo del Vino, which by the way, has been crowned the best wine museum in the country by the New York Times. Not far from there, you'll also find another museum dedicated t o a n o t h e r I t a l i a n – a n d Umbrian – excellence, olive oil. In nearby Todi - which Italian literature lovers may be familiar with because of poet Jacopone da Todi, a contemporary of Dante – you c a n d r i n k t h e b e s t Grechetto , made from a variety called, you guessed it, Grechetto di Todi. Indeed, t h i s i s o n e o f t h e m o s t ancient grapes we have in the country, if you think that Pliny the Elder wrote about it i n h i s N a t u r a l i s Historia (published, at least in part, in 77 AD). I always find that Umbria and Piemonte have a lot of things in common: they are both landlocked, they are characterized by their hills a n d m o u n t a i n s , t h e y a r e great winemaking regions, they both have a passion for c h o c o l a t e . A n d t h e r e i s another thing they share: truffles. Just like Piemonte, Umbria has a long tradition of truffle searching, and of using truffles in its cuisine. If P i e m o n t e h a s t h e C u n e o province and Alba with its white truffles, Umbria has the Valnerina, known for the tartufo nero pregiato di N o r c i a , t h e t a r t u f o estivo and the tartufo inver- nale. L a s t b u t n o t l e a s t , w e should talk about Norcia. Home of San Benedetto, the medieval town has suffered t h r o u g h o u t i t s h i s t o r y because of war and earth- quakes – the one in 2016 almost entirely destroyed San Benedetto's Basilica - but its resilience is inspiring. Just like a phoenix rising from its own ashes, the basilica is s l o w l y b u t s t e a d i l y b e i n g rebuilt, and we all hope to be able to visit it again soon. In the meanwhile, Norcia has other interesting things to offer, especially for foodies: it is, in the end, one of Italy's capitals of salumi, so much so that a synonym of salu- miere, a vendor of cold cuts, is norcino, or, "person from N o r c i a . " F r o m s a l a m i t o sausages and hams, Norcia is a heaven if you enjoy this kind of stuff, and it even has i t s o w n I G P p r o d u c t , the prosciutto di Norcia, a statement of quality that can be indeed extended to all local delicacies. Umbria, a walk through history and good food CHIARA D'ALESSIO Traditional Umbrian meat products (Photo: Shopartgallerycom/Dreamstime) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS The beautiful Basilica in Norcia, before the 2016 earthquake (Photo: Cellai Stefano/Dreamstime)

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