we’re getting restless, we hear music and voices and realize there’s a parade going right through the middle of town. There are people of all ages, wearing traditional costumes and singing and playing drums and other instruments. We would have missed it completely if we hadn’t been delayed. Suddenly it doesn’t matter that we’re running late. A lesson to take home: Stop. Breathe. It’s not all about the schedule.
Our maneuverings become a specta- tor sport, with a couple of dozen men gesturing and shouting advice in Italian. An hour later, thanks to folding side- view mirrors, we’re on the road again. We finally arrive at Frantoio Mafrica, an artisan olive oil producer. It’s a family business that now uses a state-of-the-art production facility but also maintains the original building the owner’s grandfather built. We tour the
facility and the family’s olive grove, where they harvest the organically grown black and green olives by laying tarps down and mechanically shaking the trees. They don’t use any olives that fall naturally. “Those make good, some- times very good olive oil,” the owner tells us, “but they don’t make excellent olive oil. And that’s all I’m willing to produce.” After all, his family name is on the line.
Pasta alla Tropeana by Dave Caputo T
his dish, or some variant of it, is served through- out Tropea in Calabria. Many of the ingredients, including the unique Tropean red onion and spicy Nduja sausage, are found only in this area. We have listed approximate substitutes. Serves 4.
Ingredients
1 lb. pasta (preferably handmade Calabrian fileya or casarecce, or substitute a long penne or similarly shaped pasta)
½ cup diced eggplant
¼ cup Nduja (likely unavailable unless you are in Italy—substitute ½ cup crumbled or ground spicy Italian sausage)
A lesson to take home:
Stop. Breathe. It’s not all about the schedule.
We learn that lesson again when
we leave Tropea for Siracusa on the island of Sicily. Partway up a mountain road we’re turned back by a rockslide, so Dave and Rynn turn the vans around (no easy task) and find an alternate route. We head down increasingly nar- rower roads and end up in a small town called Nicotera. It’s a rainy Sunday, and the town square is full of people who just left Mass. They stare at our vans, which are obviously not meant for these medieval roads, as Dave and Rynn try to navigate a sharp left and then a sharp right into the narrow al- ley that will lead us out of the square and back on our way toward Siracusa.
2 Tropean onions, diced (substitute local sweet red or Vidalia onion) 1 cup fresh chopped tomatoes or crushed tomato
freshly grated young pecorino cheese (substitute a mix of parmigiano reggiano and pecorino romano)
extra-virgin olive oil
Directions Fill a pot with enough water to cook 1 lb. pasta. Salt and bring to a boil.
Warm a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add some olive oil, then the onions. As they become translucent, add the sausage (if Nduja, add with the tomato).
When the sausage is almost cooked through, add eggplant and cook until it begins to soften.
Add tomato (and Nduja, if using) and cook for a few minutes more. Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Add strained pasta to sauté pan and toss with sauce for 1 minute. Salt to taste.
Remove from heat, add a small dusting of the grated cheese to your liking, toss and serve. Buon appetito!
natural awakenings July 2014 27 Rynn & Dave cooking
Tropean Traditional Festival
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