May 2024 news from Elizabeth
New tours, fun links + lemon jam recipe
Happy May Day from a slightly drizzly Umbria. We’ve actually had the fireplace lit since it seems colder inside than outside this time of year. Luckily, it’s also the time of year when I finally get to wear all the jackets I bought for the season, which literally lasts about five days. But the wisteria are in bloom, and things are starting to happen in the vegetable garden.
My current project is to finish up the cherry tomatoes, green beans and zucchini soup that are still in the freezer from last summer. Of all the things that came out of 2020, our purchase of a huge freezer turned out to actually make sense. I’ve never been one for canning, and while I sometimes am moved to make jam (see below), in reality, I don’t really need that much jam. But a freezer full of soup? Bags of parboiled wild asparagus that I foraged? Jars of arugula pesto from the surprisingly abundant crop last week? These are all things I not only enjoy but also use. It also justifies my making way too much of anything. For instance, today’s lunch is the leftover artichoke lasagna from Easter, which could have fed 10, even though I knew we were only 4.
What are your feelings about freezing? Do you love it? If you do freeze things, do you end up using what you freeze? Or is it just a longer route to throw leftovers away? Let me know in the poll and in the comment section.
WHAT’S NEW
We had three fun tours in Puglia during April. I hosted one, Sophie hosted one, and our good friend and colleague Annie hosted one. While the itineraries remain mostly the same, we each bring along something a bit different to each week. Sophie considers herself half Pugliese (Domenico is from Bari, so that makes sense!), but she’s also put down a lot of personal roots in Puglia, developing strong friendships with many of the people we visit during the tour. Annie (a.k.a. Brain Health Kitchen) puts the pleasures of the foods of Puglia within the context of the traditional Mediterranean diet and its health benefits for the brain. And during my most recent week in Puglia, I shifted around some of the usual stops since it was a national holiday (April 25) and included a day in Matera which was picture perfect (like the photo below).
If you’d like to make a last-minute decision to join Sophie at the end of the month, May 27-June 1 , we still have a couple of spots left on her Bari-based Puglia tour. This five-night tour includes a day in Matera as well as the chance to try the famous Spaghetti all’Assasina. Spaghetti all’assasina is the dish that Sophie introduced Stanely Tucci to in Bari . We’ll be closing sign ups for this tour next Wednesday, so let us know.
You can find our full schedule of Puglia tours for the fall here, and the big news is that we’ve just added one more: our good friend and well-known radio show host, cookbook author, and chef Evan Kleiman will be hosting a tour in October.
If you still have the soundtrack of The White Lotus running through your head, we have some Sicily trips coming up in the fall, too. Our friend Odette Williams (author of the best-seller Simple Pasta) will host a week based in Ortigia from September 15-21.
Annie Fenn will lead two Brain Health Retreats for us in Sicily. The first week is in Ortigia, and the second is in Palermo. If you sign up for both, you’ll receive a 5% discount.
WHERE I’VE BEEN
I made a quick trip up to Florence this month while putting the final touches on October’s Florence tour with my friend Rolando. Besides being good friends we make a very good pair to host this week, since we each know sides of Florence the other doesn’t. For instance I took him to one of my favorite restaurants in Florence that he had never been to: All’Antico Ristoro di Cambi. We’ll be having our welcome dinner there, and while we will certainly be ordering their famous bistecca alla Fiorentina, I also hope some of our guests will try what I consider their best dish: fried rabbit.
Instead, Rolando took me to a few private palaces where we will be having some of our meals (Rolando is the kind of guy who manages to get invited into private palaces). At Palazzo Corsini, I was, of course, seduced by the wisteria-filled formal garden. But I was also equally impressed by the hand-painted toilet. I kid you not.
Another thing I discovered during my travels last month was right here in Rome. If you’re a subscriber to the Premium version of this newsletter, then you’ve already read my most recent post on Taking Trains in Italy. I thought I knew everything about Trenitalia and especially about Rome’s Termini Train Station. It turns out getting to the station WAY too early is a good thing since I discovered the extremely fancy Freccia Lounge that is open to certain ticket holders or members. You can see a video I made of it here. The Lounge is open to holders of the Gold or Platinum Freccia Card or holders of an Executive Class ticket. They are located in Rome, Milan, Bologna, Florence and Naples. And if you don’t have a Gold or Platinum card, you can buy a daily pass (€25) if you’ve already bought a 1st or Business class ticket.
WHAT I’M READING
I’ve been collecting Piatti di Buon Ricordo for ages and have at least 60, so I’m set.
I agree that Hit and Run Tourism is ripping out the heart of Florence.
I love it when writers come along on our tours, and then I get to read about it. Author Shauna Niequist perfectly captured our time in Palermo last month.
I wouldn’t mind a frescoed dining room.
I definitely need to plan a trip to Milan. Here’s a great list of recommendations in case you are going.
After much planning and discussion, Venice has started charging a fee for daytrippers. For now, it’s in a trial phase. Here is everything you need to know, but be warned, it might change in the future.
WHAT I’M WATCHING
You want to know where I really want to travel to in Italy? The Italy that is on screen in the TV show Ripley. This show has completely blown me away. Not necessarily the story, which is kind of gruesome. Not even the acting, with the completely astounding Andrew Scott. But the texture of the film itself. It has got to be the most beautifully shot TV show I’ve ever seen. Filmed in black and white, the scenes of Rome, the Amalfi coast, and Naples are heartbreakingly beautiful. But it’s a beauty that is intensely real. This feels so true to the way Italy was until very recently. It is not the fake beauty, full of color and sun-drenched landscapes. It’s often raining, dim and dark. The sun, when it comes, is blinding and perhaps harsh. But it so perfectly captures a moment in time in Italy. It makes me nostalgic for an Italy that I never knew.
We are finally watching The New Look, which is fascinating.
On my ‘to watch’ list is All The Light We Cannot See. It was one of my favorite books, so I am very much looking forward to this since it just popped up on Netflix.
I always have one series I keep to watch while I’m traveling on long train trips. I’m currently downloading Narcos, which somehow I never watched. It’s perfect for travel-watching.
WHAT I’M EATING
I spent as much time as possible up in Umbria last month. While there is not a lot going on in our vegetable garden yet, I was able to harvest a basket load of lemons from a few of our trees. Like many ‘farmers’ in central Italy, we have a few lemon trees that we bring in during the winter. We keep them in our garage, where they get some light but are protected from the frost. And they actually make tons of lemons. The only problem is what to do with them since I really don’t like limoncello. But while I was in Sicily in March, I had some lovely lemon jam. It was served with caciocavallo cheese and was nicely tart, and just sweet enough. It also didn’t have thick peel, like traditional citrus marmalade. Daniela, our host, kindly gave me her mother’s recipe, which I’ll share below. Unlike traditional marmalade, which uses the entire peel, this recipe eliminates the pith. This is a bit fiddly to do, but it also eliminates the process of boiling the peel or soaking it. This one is more of a jam and very common in Sicily. Here’s a video which doesn’t show a lot of the process, but does show you my lemon trees, of which I am very proud.
Lemon Jam Recipe 🍋
1.3 kilos untreated lemons
900 gr sugar
1/2 c water
Using a peeler, remove zest from lemons and set aside.
Now you have to remove the white pith, which I did using a knife. It’s a bit tricky since you don’t want to waste any of the pulp or juice. Do it over a bowl to catch all the juice.
Then, divide the segments, removing the membrane and seeds. This is technically called supreming, and here is a pretty good way to do it.
Place pulp, zest, sugar, and water in a pot and cook for 30-40 mins. If you have a jam thermometer, it should read 105C or 220F. You can transfer immediately into jars or do as I did and use an immersible blender to chop up the zest.
Transfer to hot sterile jars. If you’d like to store the jam for longer, process it in boiling water for 10 minutes.
AND FINALLY…
I am very happy that I moved my newsletter to Substack. It’s allowed me to connect with a lot more readers (thank you for subscribing!) but it’s also introduced me to a lot of writers I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. I thought I’d start sharing a few at the end of each newsletter.
I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!
x,Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth! I loved your comment about wanting to travel to the Italy on the screen in Ripley! While watching Ripley I shared a similar thought with my husband: "I want to travel to the Italy of the 1950s!" I think I primarily wanted to stroll the close-to-empty streets and wear the cute outfits!
We have 3 (!) freezers and by October they are full of B.C. berries, stone fruit, and veggies to enjoy all winter long.