May 2020 Newsletter from Elizabeth Minchilli

Elizabeth Minchilli
EATING MY WAY THROUGH ITALY

May 2020 Newsletter

Hello from Umbria. We’re still here! Phase 2 began in Italy on May 4, and things are slowly beginning to restart. A few more categories of shops have opened, as have many offices and factories. In other words, people are going back to work, but piano piano. Restaurants and bars have also been allowed to reopen, but so far only for take out. Although this isn’t ideal (it’s not sustainable in the long run), at least it’s a step in the right direction. We’ve already ordered take out from our local trattoria and I can’t tell you how happy it’s made us!

A lot of people have asked when we’ll be going back to Rome. For now there are still restrictions about traveling from region to region. But even when those are lifted (June 1 maybe?) we’ll probably just stay up here in Umbria for the time being, with short trips back to Rome to take care of business things. At the moment I have my office set up in the guest room (that’s Kitty below, sharing the current view from my desk) and I’m more than happy to spend the rest of the month enjoying our roses (which I usually miss each year). Eventually we hope to travel around Italy this summer. Not only because we can’t wait to travel, but also to help support all the hotels and restaurants that will need our business is they are to survive this crisis.

As you have already realized the tourism industry around the world is suffering. We are not immune to this. Our Week in Umbria tour was due to start this Sunday. Obviously that’s not happening. But Sophie had a wonderful idea. Since we are here in Umbria anyway, why not take you on a virtual tour? Starting Sunday evening (today!) Sophie and I will be sharing photographs and videos from our Week in Umbria tour. But with a bit of a difference. We’ll be focussing on the people here in Umbria that make our tours possible, introducing you to our friends and colleagues, who we hope will be sending us little clips so you can meet them too. We’ll also be linking, where ever possible, to their websites and ways that you can ‘participate’ virtually. And by participate I mean eat and drink! Many of the folks we work with are happy to ship, whether it’s wine and olive oil, ceramics or lentils, or even truffles! Even if you can’t come to Umbria, Umbria can come to you.

Since our tours are food based, sadly we can’t actually have you taste and drink your way through Umbria with us. So even though you won’t be able to sit down to lunch and dinner with us, we’ll be sharing the recipes of many of the dishes, so you can recreate them at home as well as resources for the actual hand painted ceramic dishes. Also? We’ll be doing a few cooking lessons too, right here in our kitchen.

You’ll be able to join along via Instagram. You can follow me here (@eminchilli) and Sophie here (@sminchilli). And we’ll save them to our highlights in case you miss them. And of course we’ll follow up in the next few weeks with virtual weeks in Sicily and Puglia too!

What's New

If 2020 was the year to stay home, I’m thinking that 2021 is going to be when you want to get as far away from your couch as possible. With that in mind I’ve packed my schedule for next year with more tours than ever, including some exciting brand new ones.

You know I’ve been talking about Abruzzo for a while, and I’ve finally organized not one but two trips for next year! The trip is a bit different from our other weeks, since it focusses not just on food but crafts as well. And the exciting news is that my friend, cookbook author and radio host, Evan Kleiman will be joining us! We’ll be based in one of the most uniquely beautiful hotels in Italy, Sextantio, and our days will be full of food (of course) but we’ll also be exploring the ancient crafts that are still practiced in this part of the world, including weaving and ceramics. And of course Evan, along with the local nonnas, will be leading cooking lessons in the gorgeous rustic kitchen. Send me an email if you would like to learn more.

I’ve also added an extra Sicily week in April 2021 since the other two weeks are already sold out. So if you tried to join us before, but there wasn’t any space, there is now! Send me an email for the details.

We also added a special Summer Edition Week in Puglia in July. It’s a bit of a twist on our regularly scheduled Puglia tours, since we’ll be taking advantage of the warmer weather. In addition to our trips to towns like Ostuni, Lecce, and Altamura, we’ll also be visiting seaside towns like Gallipoli. The warmer weather also means we’ll be able to enjoy long lunches by the sea and evening dinners under the stars. I’m happy to send you the brochure, just let me know

We also still have a few more spaces for our Pasta Grannies Week (Parma November 2021) and our Culinary Retreat with Melissa Clark (Puglia September 2021)

As you can see Sophie and I are super excited about getting back on the road. We hope you are too! You can always see our current schedules of tours here, and the detailed itineraries here for Sicily, Puglia and Umbria. Or just send me an email and let me know what you’re interested in. Dates for 2022 are coming soon!!

What I'm Hearing

Somehow I haven’t really been watching that many movies or tv shows lately. My attention span is just not that good at night. What I have been enjoying is listening to podcasts during my walks. Here are some that I’ve loved recently:

Interview with Stephen King on Fresh Air, A fascinating discussion about just the right type of horror we want to read about these days to take our minds off the real one.

Interview with Robert Caro on Fresh Air about political power seems apt right now.

Anything and everything on The Moth. This podcast always takes me away with their stories.

Loved the story of Nathalie Wood on My Favorite Murder, which in general is a podcast I've been very much enjoying these days.

I was so glad to see one of my favorite podcasts, Strangers, reappear with a story of the mayor of Helena, WA (and the twist is that he’s NOT from Helena) You can sign up for the podcast here, which includes access to the entire archives. I LOVE this podcast

What I'm Reading

Thank you to the millions of people who sent me the article about turning your focaccia into a work of art.

Loved this piece by Beppe Servergnini about how Italians have coped during the past two month, and why (for the first time in history?) they followed the rules.

After listening to that fantastic interview with Stephen King, I immediately downloaded his new book of short stories.

What I'm Eating

Our meal plan project is still going strong. Each Sunday Sophie and I have ‘meeting’ to go over what we’ll be cooking during the week. It’s partly based on what we have in the fridge, what we can get at the market and what we are craving. But it’s also tied to the videos we’ve started making. Both Sophie and I have been posting cooking tutorials of some of our recipes on IGTV. We each have our own channel and you can find mine here and Sophie’s here. It’s been super fun. Actually too much fun since both Sophie and I film each other and often end up laughing too much. (There are a LOT of out takes)

One thing we’ve realized about the meal plans is that we can only plan so much ahead of time. We usually lay out the main dishes and then add in the side dishes as we go. As the week goes on we empty out the fridge of the seasonal vegetables from the market. But we are very excited to start cooking more from our own vegetable garden. So far it’s been mostly lettuce from our orto, but yesterday we planted tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, string beans and cucumbers so stay tuned. And if you’re planting your own garden this company is a great resource for Italian seeds.

The other big news is that Sophie had morphed into a real baker. Not only has she got a sourdough starter going for all of her loaves, she’s been baking cakes and tarts like a maniac. And speaking of baking, my Strawberry Ricotta cake has proved popular with just about everyone. I’ve never received so many photographs from followers of their own versions. Have you made it yet? Quick, hurry, before strawberry season ends! (just kidding, you can make it with any fruit you want)

One thing we haven’t done, is make fresh pasta. It’s just not our thing and after 8 weeks of having oodles of time on our hands it’s still not our thing (although Sophie says she is making cavatelli this week) But it is my friend Helena’s thing, and if you’d like to learn from an expert she’s giving online classes.

And finally.....

Although this newsletter is all about cooking and meal plans and food tours and other grand plans, my favorite time of the day is still aperitivo time. And while I could pretend I get fancy like my friend David, who would I be kidding? Come 7pm every evening you’ll find me with a Vodka or Gin Martini (dirty with a pickle) and a bowl full of potato chips, watching yet another day come to an end. Cheers to that! Do you have a cocktail hour ritual? If so, then know I am toasting you virtually every evening as the sun goes down (or before depending on the day I've had!)

x,Elizabeth

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