April 2023 News from Elizabeth

Spring vegetables, Parma & Puglia

The other day my phone reminded me of what I was doing 3 years ago and so I started scrolling through photos of Easter 2020. And not just Easter, Passover too. 2020 was the year I had enough time to go all out for every single holiday. I not only dyed eggs, I put up my Easter bush. I even made pastiera , which was excellent if I do say so myself. I had So. Much. Time. 2021 wasn’t that much different, since Italy was still not fully open to travelers. That was the year I made a special Umbrian easter cake (and here’s a video) and a film crew from Rai came to chat with us about our family easter traditions.

Which leads me to this year . Sophie and I will be arriving back from Puglia (where we are leading a tour) on Saturday morning. That means we will be taking the train up from Bari, meeting Domenico in Rome and then driving up to Umbria in time to spend Easter Sunday and Monday. We won’t really have time to do that much shopping and/or cooking. My plan is to order an artichoke lasagna from my local pasta shop in Rome. Main course done! And since I’m already delegating, I’m also sending Domenico to the market on Friday to load up on vegetables. I’m thinking asparagus, peas, artichokes and fave. Sophie has decided it’s to be a vegetable based Easter this year (so no traditional lamb) and that is fine with me. I’m not really making a fixed meal plan. I think all that meal planning during 2020 kind of burnt me out for planning ahead. Also, after years of celebrating Easter in Bari we don’t really have long standing traditions for celebrating it in Umbria.

That’s not to say I don’t have ideas. (see the list of recipes below). But now that work has started, and I find myself planning every minute of our tours, when it comes to down time at home, winging it seems about right. Is Easter a big thing where you are? Do you have any plans?

WHAT’S NEW

Sophie and I are busy working on our new tour to Western Sicily or next year. I’m heading down to Palermo again this month, to stay in a different hotel (we always check them out a few times), try out some restaurants, and explore Palermo’s markets. You know, research. You can follow along on Instagram to see what I get up to.

Since it’s March we’ve started up our spring tours. Sophie was down in Bari for two weeks, with two different groups. They had mostly great weather, but any drizzles or clouds was made up for by the fact that there were no other tourists. We specifically choose to lead tours in March since for us the greatest luxury is being on our own. If you visit places like Alberobello in June or July, besides the heat, you can barely make it down the small streets for the crowds. Instead if you go in March it looks like the photo above. It’s magical. If you’d like to join Sophie there next year, we still have some spots left for Puglia and Basilicata Week March 11-16, 2024. You can read about it here, or send us an email to receive a full brochure.

I had a great time up in Parma with Melissa Clark. Melissa and I have been traveling around Italy together for about 20 years! It’s always so great to be able to work together, especially when it means we get to share things that we love (like prosciutto, parmigiano and balsamico in Parma) with our guests. We’ll definitely be traveling together again in 2024, and if you’d like to join us (not sure exactly where yet) make sure you’re signed up for the Premium (paying version ) of this newsletter to be the first to know. The trips sell out fast.

You can find all of our tours listed here. I’m always adding new dates, so keep checking

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WHERE I’VE BEEN

I spend a lot of time in Parma and so am constantly updating my list of places to eat. I LOVE it there. If you go (and you should ) you can find my updated list of where to eat here. Be forewarned. There is not a lot of vegetables going on in this part of the world. There is, however, things like tortellini in heavy cream which I think everyone should try at least once in their life.

Our lists for Puglia are always being updated too, and you can find them here:

• Bari

• Monopoli

• Lecce

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WHAT I’M READING

Loved reading this engrossing article about the ancient festival in Ivrea. The writer really captured the completely consuming energy that grips the locals for this slightly violent and definitely colorful festival.

A truly excellent - and personal look - at Roman pizza from Sara Jenkins.

Since I’m never in the USA this time of year, I sadly always miss out on Springtime in these beautiful gardens right outside of New York.

I’m sure you read about the whole Michelangelo’s David incident in Florida. But maybe you didn’t hear that Mayor of Florence offered the dismissed Principal a trip to Florence?

Since I (like everyone I know ) hates airline food, I love the idea of packing healthy travel snacks. (and it might cut down on my last minute panic buying of a tube of pringles)

Here is a great list of useful tips if you are traveling to Rome. (not things like restaurants and hotels, but the stuff you really need like a manicure place or a doctor)

Everyone seems to be talking about Carbonara these days.

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WHAT I’M EATING

Even though we don’t have a fixed menu set for Easter next Sunday, I do have a shopping list. These are some of the spring time recipes I’ll probably be choosing from:

• Wild Asparagus Frittata

• Rice with Peas and Asparagus

• Risotto alla Vignarola

• Artichoke and Ricotta Salad

• Fave & Pecorino Bruschetta

• Fave & Spring Pesto

• Strawberry Ricotta Cake

• Spring Minestrone

• Artichoke Lasagna (I’m ordering mine this year, but you can make your own)

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AND FINALLY

Thanks The Travel for including us in your Italian Culinary Tour round up.

Here is Sophie chatting about her life as a food guide in Rome. It’s in Italian, but I’m sure you’ll get th gist. It’s so cute!

And Conde Nast Traveler chatted with Sophie about her Rome favorites.

x,Elizabeth