Wine and cheese are ageless companions, like aspirin and aches, or June and moon, or good people and noble ventures. — M.F.K. Fisher
I’m off to bella italia soon and one of the things I’ve been thinking about — especially since I just wrote a guest blog post about Sulmona and food for L’Esperta — is cacio e pepe. It’s a local Abruzzese pasta dish with only three ingredients: pasta, black pepper and pecorino romano cheese. No oil, no butter, no milk, no nothing. Just those three ingredients. Macaroni and cheese for grown-ups.
The amazing cacio e pepe!
I had read about it long before I tried it last fall at Ristorante Il Vecchio Muro in the centro storico di Sulmona. They add a little twist to it by serving it in a fried cheese “bird’s nest.” I’m a firm believer that you can’t have too much cheese. Well, actually, I’m no longer very firm and maybe that’s why.
The wine that Ms. Fisher talks about will also be consumed in some quantity: the noble Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, the crisp Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, the rosy Cerasuolo and the miraculous Pecorino (the wine, not the cheese, although I can imagine consuming both at the same time).
Once we hit forty, women only have about four taste buds left: one for vodka, one for wine, one for cheese, and one for chocolate. — Gina Barreca
I have no idea who Gina Barecca is, but I love this quote. It used to be totally true for me, but I’ve since given up on the vodka, so now I concentrate on the wine, cheese and chocolate. I’m so glad that the Pelino people in Sulmona have used a bit of chocolate in some of their marvelous confetti. I’m looking forward to that, too!
Confetti has been a tradition in Sulmona for more than 500 years and you can’t walk
Candy coated almond flowers spring up everywhere!
down the main corso without practically tripping over displays of candy flowers. What a way to go!
The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese. — Gilbert K. Chesterton
I’ll try to work on that while I’m over there, assuming I don’t OD on cheese, chocolate or wine! And, people: try to make spring happen while I’m away . . .grazie mille!
Buon viaggio!
Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…
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