As I sit and glare at the drizzle that dampens both my California window and my spirits (when, oh when does it rail in California in June? Never? Huh!) I am reminded of the deliciousness of Italian summers by the babble about food festivals rising up in my twitter stream.
It’s sagra time.
Let me tell you about some. I will start with foods that will not make most of you drool, thus saving those precious chicklets on your keyboard from acidic drenching.
First off: Ranocchiocciola! I’ll bet this “word” has you tip-toeing towards the dictionary. I’ll save you the time. Frog-snail. Yup, the Massarosa treat(s),
Ok, so you’re not so excited as I am. You see, Massarosa is near lake Massaciuccoli, another word that your tongue will find difficult to wrap itself around. Massaciuccoli is a fine lake you can stroll along, featuring interesting walking trails raised above the marshy shores. Every once in a while there’s a “blind” where you can set up your camera with its humongous telephoto and click off pictures of shore birds unobtrusively while you sit upon a suitably rickety chair.
Frogs love the marshy environment. So, in the interest of local cuisine, you eat them.
And snails? Yes, there are those. I never understand why people don’t eat them. Yes, the taste is earthy at best and the texture not unlike that of a rubber band, oddly formed. But the ancient, noble rite of eating an enemy you have difficulty getting under control should be revived (a garden enemy at that!)…with garlic as your flagbearer.
But this caught my eye:
In Bozzano, on the way which drives you from Versilia to Lucca, between end of July and mid August, one of oldest festivals takes place, called “Sagra della pupporina and tordello”. The “pupporina” is a sweet round-shaped cake, which resemble a little poop…
Oddly rendered English aside, who could resist a sweet little poop?
Of course, there are also wine festivals embedded in those Italian summers. The Gutturnio Festival celebrates the fizzy reds of the Colli Piacentini, the hills around Piacenza. I find it hard to like these wines when I’m home sipping in the evening, but walking around a lively festival with a lively glass of sudsy wine? Well, it sounds great, doesn’t it? There is a place for everything.
How do you find a sagra on your own? Well, you look at and read the Sagra Posters that spring up all over the place.