A Venetian Style Restaurant in Padova

June 13, 2022 by Joanne Bartram in Italian restaurants, Italy travel, Padova, Padua

Part of the fun when visiting a new part of the world is experiencing the culture through its food. In Italy, each region has some common elements - freshness, local origin, and bright flavors - but each region also has its own special version of Italian cuisine. Think of Bologna with its filled pastas, Ligurian pesto, Tordelli Lucchese, Pici in Siena, Amatriciana from, well, Amatrice, Peposo from Impruneta. Learning about these dishes gives insight into local history and culture.

With so much of Italy surrounded by the sea, it is no surprise that coastal areas serve amazing seafood. In Venice, that seafood often shows up in cicchetti, an Italian “nibble” similar to tapas. These small plates are served in bars, bacari in Venetian dialect, especially as part of an aperitivo where they pair perfectly with a glass of wine, a Prosecco, or a Spritz.

The tradition of bacari and cicchetti fortunately extends inland to the town of Padova where I was delighted to discover the Bacaro Frascoli, a combination bar and restaurant serving Venetian style cicchetti and wonderful seafood dinners. The atmosphere is lively, with just the right murmur of voices. The staff is friendly and welcoming - come back a second time and they will greet you like regulars!

My first visit to Bacaro Frascoli was for dinner. The menu was enticing, as were the specials written on a large chalkboard. A separate chalkboard near the bar listed wines. The atmosphere was casual, but the food was elegant.

Dinner began with a glass of Prosecco, followed by an appetizer (shared with my travel companion) of gorgeous scallops in a fragrant herb scented broth, served glamorously on the shell and with slices of bread to soak up the tasty broth. You can bet that not a drop of that heavenly broth went to waste.

Next came a bowl of Spaghetti alle Vongole (Spaghetti with Clams). This is a simple dish, an Italian classic, and one of my favorites. I am just a bit fussy about how it is prepared and served. A good Spaghetti alle Vongole makes the most of simple ingredients - small clams, a touch of garlic, good extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of parsley, black pepper, and a bit of salt. The starchy broth from the cooked pasta adds a silkiness to the sauce.

No fancy additions please, and leave those clams in the shell! The dish served at Bacaro Frascoli checked all the boxes; it was outstanding. Fragrant, delicate, yet tasting of the sea.

Although the grilled fish specials sounded wonderful, I passed on another course. Ah, but how bad could dessert be if my friend and I shared it? The simple plate of biscotti (cookies) was served with a dish of cocoa dusted sweet custard for dipping. A perfect ending to a wonderful meal.

The dinner was so good that we decided to return the following night, this time to try the cicchetti.

The bar section of Bacaro Frascoli is up front and has a long communal table along with several individual tables. The counter displays a variety of cicchetti, small dishes to mix and match as either an aperitivo or, in this case, a simple, light dinner. Just mix and match what looks good, going back for more if you like.

There were several different types of bruschetta including a wonderful whipped baccala and one with gorgonzola topped with melanzane (eggplant). In addition to bruschetta there were a number of other dishes including octopus, polpette (meat balls), and variety of fried offerings. We choose some fried anchovies, tuna polpette, and an anchovy and cheese wedge. All were delicious and in combination with a glass of Prosecco made for the perfect light dinner. The spirited, casual atmosphere contributed to the fun.

It is rare for me to go to the same restaurant twice on a short trip. Usually I choose to sample a variety of places. But in the case of the Bacaro Frascoli in Padova I was happy to make a return visit. The two experiences were quite different - one a full meal and one a selection of cicchetti - but both were wonderful. I will definitely include this spot on my next visit to Padova. I hope you will too!

Bacaro Frascoli Via del Santo 93 Padova

email: info@frascoli. it

phone: +39 049 660 505

closed Mondays; lunch only on Sundays

From my Italian Kitchen: A Spring Pasta

April 01, 2019 by Joanne Bartram

Last spring I was introduced to agretti - an italian veggie with a very short season. Agretti, with its slender chive-shaped leaves, is considered a delicacy and its appearance in the market is always greeted with excitement.

Agretti, roots and all, comes wrapped in paper - clean and trim before using.

I began to cook with it last spring (see link at the end of this post to read last spring’s post). Experimenting was fun, but before I knew it the agretti season was over.

Since I’ve now waited a whole year for agretti season to roll around again, I was quite excited when I found the first agretti of the spring at my local ortofrutta (small fruit and vegetable market) recently.

I first cooked it as a side dish, a simple sauté in olive oil and garlic finished with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt. This is a classic preparation, no recipe needed.

Next, I decided to try agretti in a pasta dish. I proceeded without a recipe, combining flavors that are classically paired with agretti - lemon juice and olive oil - along with ingredients I had on hand, including pancetta, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and penne pasta. The dish tasted bright and lemony, just like spring. I will definitely make this dish again and, if you come across agretti in your local farmer’s market, I hope you will be inspired to try it as well.

Penne with Pancetta, Agretti, and Lemon (Serves three as a main dish, four as a “primi piatti”)

250 grams penne pasta (amount 8 ounces)

2 Tablespoons good olive oil, divided

200 grams cubed pancetta dolce (about 6 ounces)

90 grams agretti (about 3 ounces), roots and thick stems removed, rinsed well, and rough chopped

Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 Tablespoons)

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil - add penne and cook al dente.

Meanwhile, rinse agretti well, remove roots and lower stems, rough chop into strands about 2 inches long. Heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a sauté pan, add pancetta and cook over medium heat until cooked through but not crisp.

Add cleaned and chopped agretti. Cook until softened, stirring from time to time. This shouldn’t take more than about 10 minutes over medium low heat.

Season with salt and pepper.

Drain the penne pasta and return to the pot. Add the lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon olive oil, and the pancetta / agretti mixture and give it a stir. Add the grated Parmesan and toss.

Serve immediately with more grated Parmesan on the side.

This makes a nice, light main dish or a flavorful side with chicken or fish. It pairs well with a crisp white wine. -post by JMB

For more info about agretti:

http://www.twopartsitaly.com/blog/2018/5/1/agretti-a-taste-of-spring-in-italy

Fattoria di Fubbiano - A Winery with Tuscan Views

June 11, 2018 by Joanne Bartram in Tuscany, Lucca, Italy travel, Walking, Italy, Travel, Wine, Cooking

If you close your eyes and picture the perfect Tuscan landscape, what comes to mind will likely look a lot like the area surrounding the Fattoria di Fubbiano. If your picture includes rolling hills, tall cedars, ancient farmsteads, vineyards, olive groves, and a small hill town in the distance, then you have it just right.

The direct translation of the Italian word fattoria is farm - but direct translations don't always capture the essence of a word. A fattoria can be anyplace involved in agriculture - from the classic farm with rows of vegetables and barnyard animals to a terraced hillside where grapes and olives are grown. The Fattoria di Fubbiano is the latter - 130 some acres of vineyards and olive groves tucked into the hills 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of Lucca just below the hilltop town of San Gennaro.

A fattoria has existed in this spot for a long time - the property dates to the late 1600s. Local tax records list an even earlier date for the first cultivation of vines and olive trees here. Ownership of the fattoria has changed hands many times, with the current owners purchasing the antique property in 2002. They have since restored the fattoria buildings and original villa, converted some buildings into guest quarters and tended the gardens and view terraces.

The biggest project was the construction of a new and very modern cantina. This is where the harvested grapes arrive and where the Fubbiano wines are produced and bottled. The original cantina, a beautiful building with arching brick ceilings, now serves as an events space.

Several wines are produced at Fattoria di Fubbiano, including three reds, two whites, and a Vin Santo. All are DOC-certified (which assures place of origin as being from the Lucchese hills, as well as variety of grape and quality). Also produced is a rosé (labeled Schiller, the name of the family that owns the fattoria) and a super Tuscan (labeled I Pampini and a personal favorite). Along with these excellent wines, the grapes are used to produce grappa and a wine vinegar. The wines are well respected locally and internationally. Thirty percent of the produced wines are exported to the United States.

My visit to the Fattoria di Fubbiano was to tour the grounds and winery and then to participate in a cooking class in the old cantina building. The winery tour was informative and interesting (even if it was hard not to be distracted by the amazing views of the surrounding vineyards and hillsides). The cooking class, offered as an afternoon cultural excursion by Lucca Italian School, was a delight. Together we prepared an appetizer of fried zucchini flowers with a filling of ricotta, basil, and pecorino cheese, a handmade-filled pasta (Tordelli Lucchese), a fragrant roasted pork, and a classic local dessert (Zuppa Lucchese).

After the meal prep was complete, our group of about 20 shared an aperitivo of Fubbiano wines and the crisp, melt-in-your-mouth zucchini flowers out on a wisteria-covered terrace overlooking a stunning Tuscan landscape. Sitting on that terrace in the soft light of a spring evening, sipping wine, and talking to the interesting people who come to Lucca to study Italian, was a special kind of wonderful.

Eventually we went back inside to eat the meal we had prepared. We dressed our salads with olive oil and vinegar from the fattoria, and had some of the white and red Fubbiano wines to accompany our dinner. Everyone agreed that all of the work to prepare the meal was well worth the effort, producing a delicious cena (dinner). Cooking classes are always a highlight of my time in Lucca and when combined with the setting of this characteristic Tuscan fattoria, they are especially wonderful. -post by JMB

A cooking class in the old cantina, Fattoria di Fubbiano

Contact information:

Fattoria di Fubbiano 55010 San Gennaro, Lucca, Italy. Website: Fattoria di Fubbiano.it

Lucca Italian School. Via dei Bacchettoni, 25 55100 Lucca, Italy Website: luccaitalianschool.com

Agretti - A Taste of Spring in Italy

May 21, 2018 by Joanne Bartram in Italian markets, Italy travel, Italy, Cooking, Tuscany, food

The springtime markets in Italy are full of wonderful vegetables - asparagus, little purple artichokes, and fava beans, to name a few. I have a strong memory of my first taste of fresh spring fava beans, eaten raw with a little bit of pecorino as I sat on a bench outside a neighborhood market in Rome. Heaven! Big piles of spring artichokes look like art to me, and taste amazing when used as the filling for a light-as-air lasagna. And asparagus in a delicate pasta primavera? Is there a better way to celebrate spring vegetables?

Along with these more common vegetables, the spring markets in Italy also have bunches of what look like thick grass or chives. They are dark green with long, thin tapered leaves and are often wrapped in wet paper to keep the intact roots moist. The appearance of these in the markets is a cause for excitement in Italy. They are only around for a short time in spring and are considered a delicacy. So what are these mysterious grassy bundles?

They go by several names. In Italy they are most commonly known as agretti or barba di frate (frair’s beard). In English, saltwort. The proper Latin name is Salsola soda, a member of the Chenopodiaceae (Amaranth or Goosefoot) family, which includes spinach, beets, and chard.

Agretti grows well in salty water, which means that the Mediterranean coast is the perfect place for it to thrive. It also means that it has become a rather unwelcome and invasive species following its import to coastal California - perhaps because we Americans don’t eat it often enough! And although agretti leaves look like chives or spring onions, they are not related to onions at all and the flavor is completely different.

As an interesting historical note, agretti were originally grown to be burned to ash. The result was soda ash, used in making soap and glass. Imagine how useful this was to the Venetians - why eat a product that could be used to make beautiful Venetian glass? Today, however, there are better ways to make glass and agretti is raised as a food crop.

Agretti can be eaten raw (it’s crunchy and tangy, with a slightly bitter mineral taste). Raw, it’s a good addition to salads. It’s also healthy - high in fiber, low in calories, and a good source of vitamins (A, B, and C) and minerals (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and iron).

More commonly, agretti is served cooked, either as a contorni (side vegetable) or incorporated into a frittata or a pasta dish . Can you say spaghetti con agretti five times fast?

There are two basic cooking methods. The most simple is to drop the cleaned agretti briefly into boiling water until crisp tender, and then drain and sprinkle with olive oil and lemon. It can also be sautéed with olive oil and garlic (and perhaps pancetta or anchiovies) and topped with a squeeze of lemon juice. The lemon juice is key to bringing balance to the slightly sharp, spinach taste and bringing out the bright, fresh-as-spring taste of the agretti.

I had seen agretti in the markets on previous trips to Italy, but never knew exactly what they were or how to cook them. After a discussion with friends who recently moved to Lucca and were experimenting with cooking local produce, I bought my first bunch of agretti in one of Italy’s spring markets. After trimming the roots and washing it well (it can be pretty sandy), I sautéed the agretti for about 10 minutes in olive oil along with 2 cloves of garlic. A little salt (it doesn’t need much), several grinds of black pepper, and a generous squeeze of lemon juice later and it was just right as a side dish to a lemony chicken fillet and some rice.

I can’t wait to try it in a frittata next!

-post by JMB

Sautéed agretti alongside pan-sautéed lemon chicken and rice.

A meal-size salad with fruit, cheese, nuts and a balsamic glaze, Santa Cristina Enoteca, Lucca.

Insalata - Salad, Italian Style

February 19, 2018 by Joanne Bartram in food, Cooking, Italy, Restaurants Italy

Panzanella Salad, Osteria Cantine Bernardini, Lucca — Panzanella Salad, Osteria Cantine Bernardini, Lucca

Salads in Italy come in many varieties, including simple insalata verde (green salad, just a big bowl of lettuce), insalata mista (mixed salad of lettuce, carrots, tomato, perhaps some fennel), and meal-size insalatone (big salads filled with cheeses, meats, seafood, fruits, nuts). There are also delicious specialty salads such as caprese (tomato, fresh mozzarella with basil), panzanella (tomato, cucumber, red onion, basil and crumbled bread with olive oil and vinegar), and carciofi (fresh shaved artichokes with Parmesan and olive oil). All are delicious, especially when made with local fresh ingredients and eaten somewhere in Italy!

I enjoy each of these types of salads but, secondo me (in my opinion), the absolute best salad in Italy is an insalata di bresaola. Bresaola is not well known in the U.S. (at least not outside of cities with big Italian communities like Boston, New York, and San Francisco), especially compared to the more familiar Italian salumi (cold cut) products like prosciutto, salami, and mortadella. I first tasted bresaola on a trip to Rome many years ago and it's always one of the first things I want to eat when I return to Italy. And, because it is low-fat and low-carb, it is one Italian food that I never feel guilty about eating.

Thinly sliced bresaola, with just a hint of marbeling.

Bresaola is a beef cold cut, made from what we in the U.S. would call the top round cut. It is a specialty of the Valtellina, an alpine valley in northern Italy. Like prosciutto, bresaola is produced through a process of salting and drying. But, unlike prosciutto, the beef is trimmed of all visible fat before being rubbed with a salt and spice mixture. Also, the aging process is shorter, usually two to three months. The final product is deep red in color, soft (never leathery), delicate in texture, and fragrant. It's served very thinly sliced and is so very delicious.

Bresaola is typically served as an antipasto, often as a salad with peppery arugula (but also good on crisp lettuce). It is topped with shaved Parmesan and dressed with olive oil and lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. I can easily make a meal out of this salad, especially if I have some focaccia on the side.

Bresaola filled with ricotta and mint ( Lucca Italian School, Speak and Cook Italian class)

There are other ways to use bresaola as well. In a cooking class (at Lucca Italian School), I learned to fix it as an antipasto in which round slices were topped with a mixture of fresh ricotta mixed with chopped mint, folded over into half moon shapes, and drizzled with thick balsamic glaze. Heavenly! Bresaola also goes well with a variety of meats and cheeses on an antipasto platter and makes a great panini (sandwich) on salty focaccia with some tomato and a soft cheese. Or just pick up a slice and eat it in your hand as a quick snack. It's hard for me to find at home, so I always eat plenty of it while I'm in Italy.

-post by JMB

Contacts:

Lucca Italian School Via dei Bacchettoni 25, 55100 Lucca, Italy. Lucca Italian School.com

Santa Cristina Enoteca. Via XX Settembre 10, 55100 Lucca, Italy Santacristina.enoteca@gmail.com

Osteria Cantine Bernardini Via del Suffragio 7, 55100. Lucca, Italy. Cantinebernardini.com