Signora Rosa: Our favorite stop for 'bottarga'

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When you see the following sign driving on the Via Provinciale per Vibo Marina, between Pizzo and Vibo Marina, then STOP !
 
 Dalla Signora
Rosa
   Prodotti tipici
artigianali

Next to her home, Signora Rosa has a small store, the door is always open, a curtain protects from the sun. You will find a nice choice of local home made mouthwatering products. We love to stop here and buy black olives, sun dried tomatoes, paté of sun dried tomatoes with chili, spicy anchovies,  .... 

Signora Rosa in summer 2012
 
.... but what we love most is bottarga! Bottarga from Calabria is made of dried tuna roe cured in sea salt. It is also called the "caviar of the South" and it's sold in form of a stick, and you can grate it on top of your spaghetti aglio olio peperoncino! So yummy!
 
We always buy for us, for friends and for Italian chefs back home ... This bottarga is stronger in taste than the one from more Northern Mediterranean regions. I guess, it is also more salty since the sea down in the South is more salty. 
 
Bottarga di Tonno ! Our favorite product made in Calabria!
( 7 Euro / 100 gr ) 
 
Signora Rosa's little warehouse and shop from the street
  
Singora Rosa in her shop in April 2013, selling us due chili (2 kg)
 
When we passed by in April, her shelves were almost empty. But the shop was open and Signora Rosa came over from her house to sell us some bottarga sticks. For better transportation in our suitcases we changed the anchovies and sun dried tomatoes from glass jars to shrink-wrapped bags. Actually, I really like the simply styled product label:
 
Anchovies in chili oil
 
This small family business has no website, no email address, no colourful brochure. They just concentrate on their skills and on the product quality. They are happy with what they can sell. They live with the season. No need to expand.
 
However, what la signora has for you is a little paper of bottarga recipes (I usually wrap those around the product which makes the gift perfectly authentic):
 
(click to enlarge picture) 

(When we are grating a lot of bottarga on pasta, we usually do not add salt into the boiling water, since the bottarga itself is already very salty)
 

Spring in Pizzo

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As time goes by, I realised, I have not posted much about our "spring break" in Pizzo last April.

I summarized our special April 

here

 though, but with only one photo - and even those entries from our 

Facebook page

seem not enough to cover our impressions.

You remember, how we arrived at the airport and drove to Pizzo, encountering goats on the way? If not, have a look

here

.

So here they come, more visual impressions from spring in Pizzo:

I like Calabria for its crystal clear sea. But during those April days, the sea appeared to be even more clear. So clear, that the fishing boat seemed floating in air.

Marina Beach empty in April

I hardly saw any Italian kids playing on the beach those days, even after school and on weekends.

Niente bambini

. Maybe it is when you have it in front of your door step that it is less interesting? Or maybe Italian kids don't want (should not) get dirty? A "

bella figura

" thing? Or is the beach only for swimming in summer? Anyway, our son couldn't be stopped to dig holes whenever we passed the beach.

digging sand holes

One day, I observed the clouds in a distance and I saw that they have a shadow on the water. I was pretty fascinated of that sight and took a dozen pictures. Not sure if you see what I mean. I like the reflections a lot. All kind of reflection on water I like a lot.

stunning reflections

There is not much else to observe from the balcony aside some fishermen passing by in rowing boats. I wonder if those two with their relatively large net just fish for their family dinner, or maybe for a restaurant?

fishermen at work

I think I was on the balcony all afternoon that day - just enjoying the beauty of nature - until the sun set above Stromboli, the volcano in the distance.

sunset above Stromboli

Another day, while reading on the sofa, I had to constantly look at our beautiful ceiling with its faded fresco. (I should say manually recovered fresco). I like it so much, I took those pictures below. And we finally ordered two ceiling fans for the empty spots (no lights, enough of those).

part of the living room

ceiling with recovered faded fresco

Beside sitting on the balcony and reading on the sofa, I have also been drawing a bit:

agrume

, pears and oranges

 And I played tennis!

When my friend asked me to join her playing tennis, I discovered that Pizzo has a "Center Court"! So funny, the door is seriously locked, no one has a key. But the fence's hole on the side is so big, that it seems now to me that there was no fence on the side... and they even have a grandstand! I promised to practice to join the match in summer (I have not been playing for over 20 years!) It will be fun! 

Pizzo's "Center Court"

This time, we often had lunch in piazza. It was just too beautiful - warm sunshine and very few tourists. The church bells ringing at noon and the organ play (I posted a few seconds of this sneak peek into

paradise on Facebook

). I can't describe in words this special moment of the day. Absolutely peaceful. - We saw the school bus coming, parents picking up their kids. We met the locals and really felt like

Pizzitani

our self. So, instead of having a tomato salad and a pasta at home, we had a salad, or a pizza, or a pasta or

cozze

at one of the small restaurants in piazza.

And yes, we also - sometimes - indulged in tarfuffo ice cream as well.

invented in Pizzo:

il tartuffo nero

The scent of oranges was in the air, everywhere. It smells sweet like jasmine. Very intense.

sweet scent of oranges from the neighbour's garden

The neighbour's garden seen from our guestroom (photo below). A red and white band from the street construction was blown into the trees. The commune of Pizzo is restoring the old street pavement in the historic town center. But this will be another post.

neighbour's garden and street work in progress

--- 

I found too many photos to post. 

I have to split them up into more stories, like street work progress, prima communione, Signora Rosa, Catanzaro. Stay in touch! 

Until soon.

Saluti!

What Italians and Thai have in common - Food

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Do Italians and Thai have anything in common? Well, you will be surprised how much!

When we first came to the land of smile in 1998, we realized, that Thai people love food as much as Italians do. And then, with time, we found more and more common ground.

We always say, when Singapore is considered to be the Switzerland of Asia, then Thailand is the Italy of Asia.

pad thai, spaghetti al pomodoro, kao soi soup


Let's start with Food:

Eating well, choosing good and healthy food, and having regular meals at a set time, is important to both, Italians and Thai. Both nations always have a variety of dishes to chose from for each meal.  Eating alone is not fun. Especially Thai would go in a group to enjoy together the pleasure of eating. Eating with friends, and with the whole family on weekends, is very common for both nations. Thai people eat even more than three times a day. Sometimes it seems they are always eating. But it is probably five times a day, and mainly small portions, which is very healthy. Also they tent to eat early, lunch around noon and dinner around 7pm.

Talking about food at any time of the day, is what Italians do, and, well, Thai too. Asking what you ate (when not having eaten together) is a popular topic. Sometimes it is almost like a greeting: "Did you ate yet?". And "Buon Appetito" is what you might hear around lunch time in the streets of an Italian village. However, talking about recipes, knowing where to buy the best ingredients, is maybe slightly more Italian, since working middle class Thai often don't cook themselves. But every Thai is able to tell you where to find their best favorite dish.

And what is on the menu? Loving all kind of noodle dishes, is typical Italian - and typical Thai. Thai have at least as many different types of noodles as Italians. Egg noodles, rice noodles, short, thin, wide versus spaghetti, linguine, penne, farfalle, orecchiette ... OK, Italians have more shapes. Although Thai love it more spicy than Italians, the most loved foreign food by Thai is the Italian cuisine! That is why Italian restaurants are very popular in the land of smile. And you will see many Italian chefs with a big smile on their face.

But, when it comes to cooking, there is another slight difference. In Italy, la donno di casa cooks herself. In Thailand, you usually have domestic help and a Thai puying (wife) would have one or even two helpers to prepare a dinner for guests. In Thailand it is also popular to buy ready cooked food in the supermarkets, restaurants or even in street stalls, since it is so cheap - and always yummy. Young, working middle class people who often do not have domestic help would rather go to a restaurant or buy food to take home.

When it comes to eating food with others, especially eating in restaurants, there is another small difference. Thai would put all the dishes in the middle of the table and everyone can try everything. Even a plate of pasta would be shared. While Italians would only share a mixed appetizer plate, and then everyone orders its own dish(es).

If you think all Asians eat with chopsticks, you are wrong. Thai eat with spoon and fork. There is no knife. All veggies and meats are cut bite-size in the kitchen. With the fork you would shuffle the food onto the spoon and eat from the spoon. (Since many Chinese have immigrated into Thailand in the past, there are of course dishes and regions where chopsticks are used.)

This reminds me of a funny observation I made at one of the finest Italian restaurants in Bangkok: There was this very elegant, elderly Thai lady, with a bulky hair style. She was sitting well-mannered and slowly eating a fish. She carefully shuffled with her fork the food onto the fish knife - which, well, had a bit of a spoon shape - and then ate from the fish knife!

But what the Thai lady has in common with Italians is the love for good (Italian) food!


+++ this post belongs to the new "Life in Asia" label where I will write about observations on life in Asia +++ we spend time in spring and summer in our house in Italy +++ the rest of the year we live in Thailand +++
 

Pizzo Harbour Project (Update Spring 2013)

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oh, this looks so nice, crystal clear sea
 
 
the harbour project of Pizzo in April 2013
 
 
but what is this?
 
 
it's not finished!
 
The harbour project of Pizzo, still unfinished. I introduced this wonderful project that kicked off in November 2010 here. It will add so much value to Pizzo. In my previous posts I also explained why the works were stopped.
 
The new mayor (since May 2012) wants to continue though - however, as I understood, he also is reviewing the entire project.
 
In my last picture above, I indicated the missing parts of the original project: A long area of the harbour should still be excavated, and the entrance to the grotto is not realized yet (see blue space). A bridge (yellow) would allow pedestrians to cross the waterway and view the grotta azzurra from outside.
 
Sometimes, in the mornings, I see anglers on the new mole. Sometimes, I see a group of teenagers taking a walk. Once, I saw a small motor boat entering the basin for a curious tiny "harbour round trip". At least from time to time someone is using the unfinished construction.
 
 
MORE INFORMATION:
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Our big fat Renovation Project: Palazzo Pizzo

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All began in 2006 when we were falling in love with an over 200 year old house on a cliff in Pizzo (Calabria), in the South of Italy.
For several reasons it took us five years to renovate and decorate the palazzo.
It's now our beautiful European home base, away from our expat home in Asia.


Here are some milestones from our project:

How we got the palazzo? - about having a dream in summer 2006
 
Facade - before and after - photos from above
Facade - before and after - photos from front and side
Facade - before and after - photos from the Sea

Before and After Photos - all "before and after" posts show the long way we came

Fanfare! - the renovation starts with good vibes in November 2007

online renovation - how to deal with a long distance project
 
My crazy tile mix for the kitchen - turns out sensational!

Now I have to live with this - the "mistakes" we made
 
Maybe the biggest shock - the struggle with a TV antenna
 
Popular posts about everything bathroom and kitchen
 
Resource links - my file for resources (international, Italian and local)

Restoring - the whole documentation of the renovation progress
 
Press: The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune feature our renovation project in the article "Expatriate Bloggers chronicle details of Home Renovation"

The Guest Residence - the vaulted cellar of the palazzo with its private garden terrace became a pleasant guest residence which we are letting to vacationers. 
 
Visit our "Best of" Photo Gallery  for more impressions

 
 
Palazzo Pizzo logo 2006-2013
 
 
 
Palazzo Pizzo logo since 09/2013