No. 14: La Torre, Castello Del Nero
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Having fearlessly embarked upon the international leg
of our challenge, we had one week to sample the culinary delights of Tuscany. My wife and I had been joined on our adventure
by my son and his girlfriend.
Our first restaurant visit was in the charming hilltop
village of San Donato in Poggio, at La Toppa trattoria restaurant. It took no time at all to establish that none
of the waiting team spoke English, or indeed my second fluent language,
French. This did not hinder us tackling the local specialities, mainly because the owner had decided that as we couldn’t read Italian we had no need
for a menu, and that he would just feed us what ever he fancied. Novel, but fun.
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Our first course was four local pasta dishes, one with
duck, another goats cheese and truffle ravioli, homemade pici pasta, and spaghetti
with tomato and garlic. As we enjoyed a
fine bottle of local Chianti, we managed
to establish that the owners mum was in the kitchen doing the cooking. Our main courses were three Beef in balsamic,
and one of us had the Beef stew.
Finally we topped this
all off with a type of Strawberry sponge with chocolate sauce, and a Tiramisu,
which was unlike any Tiramisu I had seen before, and more delicious too. Mama had proved to be a pretty good cook.
Over the week we visited the supermarket at least six
times, each time returning with copious amounts food, especially local breads, cold hams & meats, cheeses,
and naturally, plenty of local wines. (NB: The Italian’s still have a lot to
learn from my French brothers about chocolate, cakes and pastries.)
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Quattro Cantoni Pizzeria in Siena was our first day
for pizza and ravioli. The mixed toppings
and giant calzone were a great re-fuelling for our journey around these wonderful
streets. A few bottles of Peroni were also the call of the day. Before leaving,
it was important that we sampled the local tiramisu and panna cotta, so we did,
and it was certainly worthwhile.
Later
in the afternoon, We also had the first of very many Gelato’s, each of us with
two scoops of varying flavours. (Even my
wife’s dismissed her healthy eating in favour of the true pleasures of the week!) The massive frozen displays
were a sight to be seen, and our commitment to trying as many Italian ice
cream flavours as possible was achieved with flying colours as we worked our way
uncomplainingly throughout the week.
In Florence, the amazing sights and enthralling experience
knocked us off our stride for planned eating.
I of course became a little light headed and wobbly when I realised this. Fortunately before I collapsed, my wife
spotted a great panini style takeaway and few yards away a gelateria, so
disaster was averted until something more substantial could be found.
A visit to Greve in Chianti provided another opportunity
for a scenic drive and this time a meal at Caffe Lepanto, on the outside terrace
overlooking the picturesque village square.
Pasta and a bottle of Chianti was once again the order of the day,
followed of course by a gelato. The
triple chocolate almost proved too much for a younger member of our able team, but after a desperate
fight against the pure chocolate rush, the battle was won.
Our dining highlight was at the Ristorante la Torre in
the fabulous Castello del Nero in Tavarnelle Val di Pesa. Situated on the hilltop, opposite our own
hilltop country house retreat, we had admired the splendid building for several
days. The rolling hills overlooked their
own olive groves and vineyard. On arriving the eleven Ferrari’s in the car park
indicated we were somewhere quite special.
As we took our table in the sumptuous restaurant the staff were as attentive as they were
plentiful. In perfect English the menu
was explained, and we did our best not to dribble. Even as we were deciding, a plate of warm
homemade speciality bread arrived, with six different rolls for each
person. It soon became clear that this
taster menu was actually going to be quite a challenge!
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I ordered our Chianti wine (what else!) in my best French. The sommelier was impressed
with my multilingual skills, although a little confused. Having all decided to go for the taster menu,
we were all soon enjoying an amuse bouche of Porcini mushroom soup.
Our first course was Prosciutto, the thickest
hand cut grey ham I have ever had, with crispy Tuscan flatbread and an
amazing Pecorino cheese crème brulee, To treat and surprise us yet again,
another amuse bouche arrived, this time a homemade local pici pasta with beef ragout.
Soon we would get to our main course,
but not before we were treated to a Ribollita della tradizone, a traditional
Tuscan vegetable soup.
Our main courses were Baby cockerel from Chianti with
potatoes and rosemary, which continued to keep the taste buds tingling. Finishing our wine, our sweet of Zuppa Inglese
was theatrically presented to our places. Described as a ‘Trifle, the Italian
way’, it was nothing like a trifle, but; Ice cream wrapped in sponge. I was pleased that they had not tried to compete
on the ‘English trifle front', as they would lose hands down to my Mum &
Nan, however their version was a great end to a fabulous meal.
As we enjoyed a drink in the ancient brick lined walls
of the bar, and discussed how close to heaven we were, the petit fours
arrived. My son’s taste buds almost
exploded from the chocolate filled caramel, and it took a little while for his excitment to subside. As we demolished the glorious
selection of sweets treats, I was pleased to have discovered that there was someone in Italy who
certainly did know how to make chocolate.
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The next day, needing something less filling, we found
Il Caratello in the town square of Tavernelle.
Prior to this we had gone into other restaurant, but when we saw the
woman owner looked like an axe murder, and her face looked like she was have a particularly
bad day, we had made a hasty retreat.
Our new host spoke perfect English, so my French skills were not called into
action on this occasion. Part wine shop, part restaurant,
the menu was limited, but tasty. I
especially enjoyed the Crostini with homemade chicken liver pate. He was proud to tell us that the
complimentary bread was served with their own brand olive oil and balsamic vinegar
for dipping. For our main course a couple of us had
Beef in balsamic with Tuscan salad, while a couple of us opted for the house pasta dish. Still
reeling from culinary banquet the night before, I was the only one who kept up the challenge, by
enjoying a tiramisu for pudding.
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Our final stop was Pisa. As we took our seats at the trattoria in the
shadow of the seriously leaning edifice, we enjoyed yet another tasty
meal. It was no surprise that the food
had been great everywhere, however it was surprising the great value prices we had enjoyed everywhere
we had been.
I certainly get why people love Italian food, and I
quite agree. However, a man also needs
curry, Chinese and a variety of other culinary delights, so whilst I will
happily return, I shalln't be considering emigrating, just more holidays!
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