by Maureen | Oct 9, 2019 | Blog, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Italy, Sanremo
Sanremo. In the far, far northwest along the Italian Riviera, in the region of Liguria, roughly a 20 km stone’s throw from the border with France. Only about 42 km from Monaco. There are palm trees, blue skies, a beachside promenade and bike path, a large casino, a Saturday market that draws foreigners, and traffic that would make anyone swear off driving.
There’s also Sandra, my landlady when I lived here from 2009 – 2010… and our friendship. When I first met her, I had been here in Italy only a couple of months and could speak very little Italian. But I’m sure she was thrilled to be renting to a “mature woman” instead of rowdy students. She invited me to visit them at their home… and I’ve returned every year since then. I travel there with my apron, and we chat while we scrub mussels and clams for spaghetti, or she makes Sardenara—typical Ligurian focaccia topped with tomato sauce, anchovies, taggiasche olives and garlic cloves.
A few years ago, Sandra told me about “La Pigna”–PEEN-yuh–and dropped me off there to shoot photos while she went to an appointment. Wow. I wandered and gladly crisscrossed the rabbit warren maze of narrow passageways, tunnels, arches and tiny courtyards. I was amused and pleased to see elders as they scaled the upward sloping, irregular, stepped paths. They must know every path’s intersection. The place was fascinating.
Founded around the year one thousand,
Sanremo Vecchia is called
La Pigna due to its characteristic massed streets and its medieval fortifications in the image of a pine cone. The village was continuously expanded and reinforced until the sixteenth century to defend it from pirate attacks.
La Pigna starts from the 14th century
Porta di Santo Stefano, an arch of stone in Gothic style that constitutes a sort of connection between the modern city and the ancient one.
The inhabited core is completely clinging to the hill in concentric rings with covered passages, small courtyards, arches, fountains and stairways, in a succession of bold architecture. (Read more)
I generally seek out the the historic center—“centro storico”—of any town or city I’m visiting. Rarely am I seeking out the bright lights and polish. A place like “La Pigna” continues to fascinate me with its history, its wandering passages, its rough texture and intrigue.
by Maureen | May 28, 2013 | Featured Articles, Genova, Incredible Locations, Italy, Journal, People, Photos, Sanremo
Mention a trip to the “Italian Riviera” and one envisions palm trees, beaches, hot sun and relaxation. In fact, Russia had a heat wave that forced the cold polar air south to Italy, so it was very mixed and generally chilly weather along the Ligurian Sea in Italy over the weekend.
When I was living here in Italy for an extended period (June 2009 – July 2010), I rented an apartment from Sandra, who lives in Sanremo. I met her in person 4 months after I had arrived in Milano, when I spoke limited Italian. But she, her husband, Mauro, daughter, Valeria, and I sat and chatted as best we could. At the end of our chat, she invited me to come visit them sometime.
I took the train to go see them in February 2010, after which Sandra said, “You always have a place here with us.” I’ve have now been there five times. A trip to see them has become a requisite “must-do” for me while in Italy.
The four-hour train ride takes us up and over the hills from Milano to the port city of Genova (what Americans call “Genoa”). At that station I had 15 minutes to transfer to the slow train to travel along the Ligurian Sea shoreline, stopping at a half dozen towns along the way until we arrived at Sanremo.
Just a stone’s throw from the border with France and Monaco, Sanremo is a destination for tourists enjoying the lovely setting and climate, the casino, and the yearly musical festival. There are street markets, beach umbrellas for rent, historic centers and gala events. Traffic is chaos and life is beautiful.
See more pictures and read more stories about other visits to Sanremo:
“Pinch Me”
“Sanremo on the Riviera”
“Signs of Sanremo”
“Home Construction, Italian Style”
“Storm and a Blue-sky Day in Sanremo”
“A Ligurian Lunch”
“Sardenara – Not Quite Pizza with Anchovies”
Milano had been having a crashing, pouring rain all night and all morning, and I had to walk to the subway station to then get to the train station. I hate having wet feet and imagined having my shoes drenched and cold for 4 hours on the train. So I tied plastic bags onto my feet. So very chic. So high-fashion. (Somehow they got damp anyway.)
It would be fine with me not to see McD’s in my life ever again so it pissed me off to see their ads plastered onto every turnstile at the Milano Centrale train station. Damn. Hate that.
I was standing at the train platform, looking up to the Genovese hills. (Click to enlarge.)
People watching while waiting for the train in Genova. (Click to enlarge.)
We encountered sunshine along the coast, close to Genova and Savona, but then it got grayer and cooler as we approached Sanremo. (Click to enlarge.)
Riding along the sea, so blue in the sunshine. (Click to enlarge.)
Sandra was making her wonderful Ligurian-specific “Sardenara”. It’s “not-quite-pizza”, with anchovies, Ligurian Taggiasche olives, tomato sauce and garlic. (Click to enlarge.)
Sandra, Mauro and Angelo stand on the deck of Angelo and Renata’s new house that’s near completion, right at the Ligurian shoreline. (Click to enlarge.)
Sanremo is known for the flowers it grows for Europe. These are some of the many greenhouses on the hills.
We spent some time watching the Giro d’Italia. The poor cyclists rode amidst snow fields and glaciers in the pouring rain.
In the Sanremo train station waiting to head home. Here’s the automated restroom, coin-operated and self cleaning. I think the whole stall hoses itself down after each use. (Click to enlarge.)
My train compartment fellow travelers for part of the ride from home. A cross-section of the world was represented here and we all enjoyed the varied chat. (Click to enlarge.)
These red-and-white striped chimneys were Dr. Seuss-like against the storm blue sky on the way home.
by Maureen | Oct 4, 2010 | Featured Articles, Food!, Incredible Locations, Journal, Meals, Photos, Quips, Sanremo, Seattle
The inspiration of living in Italy will likely continue on for a very long time. I recently split fresh figs and stuffed them with a wedge of goat cheese. I wound them with jackets of prosciutto slices and garnished them with young leaves of basil. The plate of appetizers disappeared in 30 seconds. Late-comers were out of luck.
When in Milano in late July, riding my bike alongside the canal, I passed many fig trees heavy with ripening fruit. I kept watching the progress, wondering if the figs would be ready before my departure on July 31. They weren’t. But at half-ripe, they were already twice the size of the the California figs I recently bought here.
Eating figs here in Seattle reminds me of eating figs for lunch with friends in Sanremo along the Italian Riviera in early July.
by Maureen | Jul 7, 2010 | Food!, Incredible Locations, Journal, Meals, Photos, Quips, Sanremo
When it’s beastly hot outside, what could be a more perfect lunch than sublimely-ripe melon with culatello prosciutto, and some near-fist-sized, plump, fresh figs? Add artisan pasta dressed with flash-cooked summer cherry tomatoes, olive oil and basil, nibble some ciabatta and sip some rosé on the side. This is how to eat!
by Maureen | Jul 6, 2010 | Discoveries, Featured Articles, Food!, Incredible Locations, Journal, Meals, People, Photo of the Day, Photos, Sanremo
Last Friday, after my whirlwind morning in Genova, I continued on to Sanremo for what was likely my last visit with my “landlady” Sandra and her husband, Mauro, before my departure from Milano. I had visited them a couple of times in winter and at my departure then it felt as if longtime friends were bidding “arrivederci“.
It was hot even in Sanremo, which is usually milder than the inland. Sandra and I sat in the cool of the house, and later on the porch swing, covering every topic from food and family, to health, spirituality, friendship and life approach. (Not bad considering it was all in Italian.)
Mid-afternoon, it was time to start dinner: homemade Sardenara and Focaccia, carpaccio of Tuna (thin slices of raw tuna), and insalata di gamberi e rucola (salad of shrimp and arugula).
Sardenara is specific to Liguria, the part of Italy up north and west along the Riviera, approaching France. You can’t quite call Sardenara “pizza”, but rather a focaccia pan bread with very specific ingredients. Sandra made a dough of a specific semolina flour purchased especially for this recipe. A friend, Angelo, had shown her how to make this.
She rolled and formed the dough into the square baking pans, then set them aside to rise.
After the dough had risen, Sandra selected one pan for a simple focaccia with coarse salt and olive oil. The finger indentations in the dough, and more than a splash of water (!) poured on top before going into the oven, were two secrets important to the recipe.
Next came the very simple, yet specific, Sardenara preparation: a base of peeled, cooked tomatoes; taggiasche olives, local to the region; salted anchovies; garlic cloves, olive oil, oregano, coarse salt, water.
The Sardenara cooked up to a half-inch thick bread with a wisp of tomato and the pungency of olive and anchovy. It began our dinner.
Mauro, Sandra’s husband, was hungry and ready for dinner.
A perfect summer meal, begun with fresh Sardenara, and followed with a simple salad of arugula and shrimp, and tuna carpaccio. All light and delicious for a hot day.
Sandra and Mauro’s friend, Sandro, joined us for the meal. We had all spent time together in the wintertime, (including our trip to Monaco and a meal of Sandro’s special pureéd rabbit liver sauce over freshly-made pasta). He dished up the tuna carpaccio, which had been doused with fresh-squeezed lemon juice and olive oil. It was fantastic!
The salad was dressed simply with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Dinner was a lovely time with my new “old friends”. And the making of it was as much a part of the pleasure, as was the conversation throughout it all.
by Maureen | Mar 1, 2010 | Cheese, Featured Articles, Food!, Incredible Locations, Journal, Meals, People, Photos, Sanremo
Dinner the night before was followed by a long lunch the next day. Renata and Angelo, who live in a town within walking distance from Sanremo, were having some friends over on Sunday and I was invited to come along. So gracious! It’s a real treasure to have people open their doors and ask me to join them in their homes.
By a little before one o’clock, 8 people had clustered in the kitchen and around the dining table. Renata and Angelo had been cooking all day for us and piled the table high:
- Genovese focaccia – plain, with oil.
- Sardenara – Ligurian specialty focaccia with tomato sauce,
anchovies, olives, oregano and garlic.
- Carciofi Impanati Friti – breaded, deep-fried, small young artichokes.
- Maiale Cicioli – breaded, deep-fried pieces of pig fat.
- Patate – little baby potatoes, roasted with olive oil.
- Polenta Taragna Concia – a regional style of polenta with ground buckwheat and 1 kilo of cheese. It cooked over the stove in a copper kettle for more than an hour, with a motorized stirring paddle to mix it and keep it from sticking.
- T-Bone Steaks – the thickest t-bones I’ve ever seen were grilled outside ’til rare. The meat was cut away from the bone, then sliced and served.
The sweets at the end of the meal included:
- Bugie – (which means “lies”) crispy, fried, sugar-dusted twists of dough.
- Nutella-topped sweet buns
- Baked Pears – Angelo got up from the table several hours into the afternoon and prepared baked pears by crushing amaretto cookies, mixing them with chocolate and liqueur, and pouring this blend onto the pears before quick baking.
The food went around. The home-bottled chianti, extra-proof, flowed, as did the conversation. I understood most of it and jumped in when I had something to add. Though I had shot photos of Renata in the kitchen when I first arrived (feeling comfortable since we’d had dinner together the night before), I kept my camera tucked away for the first couple hours of the meal. These people didn’t know me and I didn’t want to be rude.
To lubricate the conversation, we had begun with the chianti, then moved on to champagne, grappa, rum and caffé. Time was passing and everyone was loosening up. I was treated to a display of classic Italian hand gestures, mannerisms and animated speech. So theatrical, you would have thought it had been scripted. Eventually, my camera came back out and I had fun snagging images as the hours ticked by.
The first part of the day had been blue-sky serene, the kind of day that brings the crowds to the Ligurian* seaside. As we passed the afternoon in lively discussion at the table, the sky had darkened, a wind picked up and waves were crashing at Renata and Angelo’s bulkhead. It was time to go home at close to 7:00.
*Liguria is the “Italian Riviera”, that northern region of Italy that includes Cinque Terre at its southeastern end and arcs from there northwesterly to France.
by Maureen | Feb 28, 2010 | Food!, Incredible Locations, Journal, Meals, People, Photos, Sanremo
It’s a natural for friends to gather for food and conversation. This is worldwide, but I find that the Italians do it well and do it often.
Last weekend, in Sanremo, seven of us got together for dinner around the table: my landlady, Sandra, and her husband, Mauro, and their friend, Sandro (all of whom I had spent the weekend with two weeks earlier), plus two friends of theirs, Renata and Angelo, and another friend of Sandro’s, Livio. Everyone came with food in hand, and we had a lively time.
Below, left to right: Livio, Angelo, Mauro, Renata, Sandra, Sandro.
We started with some salame that Livio had made. (Yes. Those are chunks of fat.) I had made a loaf of mixed-grain Irish Soda Bread that we ate with it.
Sandro had cooked a fabulous mix of seafood, including mussels, shrimp, squid, pescatrice (that funny, deep-water fish with the “lure” hanging off the front of its head), and tiny 3 inch fillets of a local, sand-versus-mud fish. There was just a tad of hot pepper oil in this dish which added a touch of zing.
Renata had baked a fresh tart, beautiful with apple wedges emerging from the deep gold, dense, pound cake. This was pretty darned good with some of the array of gelato that Sandra and Mauro had picked up at the town’s best Gelateria. We ate and talked for close to three hours. (Yes. All in Italian.)
by Maureen | Feb 28, 2010 | Featured Articles, Food!, Incredible Locations, Journal, Meals, Sanremo
It’s an old time, secret family recipe and I took an oath not to reveal the ingredients, but I can show a couple of photos and give just a sketchy description.
Essentially, you cut up a rabbit, brown the chunks, simmer them in all the right liquids* with all the right seasonings* ’til the meat is tender*.
In the meantime, you take a big fistful of raw rabbit livers and pureé them with all the appropriate Italian ingredients* until you’ve got a smooth, pink slurry.
When the meat chunks are done just right*, and with the heat OFF, pour the rabbit liver slurry into the pan with the meat and stir it all around. The remaining heat in the pan and in the meat will “cook” the liver “enough”. The liver will actually coagulate rather than remain saucy.
Scoop up some of the thickened “sauce” and serve it over fresh tagliatelle pasta. It’s appropriate to eat the chunks of rabbit with your hands.
If you’re a fan of liver, this is fabulous! If not, well…
I’m grateful to chef Sandro, in Sanremo, for preparing this for me and letting me watch and take notes!
*If you’ve had enough experience in the kitchen, you can use your imagination to figure out what these things MIGHT be.
by Maureen | Feb 28, 2010 | Cheese, Food!, Introspection, Journal
In reading my blog posts about what I’m eating here, I hope that you’ll realize how much broader the Italian culinary range is than the stereotypical American concept of “Italian Food”. There is SO much more than pizza, spaghetti, lasagna and ravioli. “Fettucine Alfredo” is a figment of the American imagination, and I’ve been told emphatically, “NEVER serve tomato sauce on spaghetti!” Italians have laughed at that idea.
You can travel a mere 100 kilometers and encounter regional, traditional foods you couldn’t have found at your last stop. There are foods unique to specific communities!
As an example, depending on the region, the starch base will be different. You may encounter polenta, pasta (of a shape specific to that region), rice (risotto), focaccia or other bread. Wines, meats, cheeses and seasonings all vary by region.
For instance, in my last visits to Sanremo, I was treated to:
- Sardenara – a focaccia bread with tomato sauce, anchovies, garlic and olives (no cheese), specific to Liguria.
- “Branda Cugnon” – A delicious mash of salted, dried white fish (cod?), potato, parsley, olive oil and garlic. (Don’t ask about the bawdy origin of the name.)
- Rabbit with Sauce of Pureéd Rabbit Livers – A secret, family recipe in which the rabbit livers are pureéd with other ingredients (I’m not supposed to tell) until they become a thick, pink slurry. The sauce is then stirred onto the hot, stewed rabbit parts, and is “cooked” only from the residual heat.
- Polenta Taragna Concia – Yellow, coarse polenta (cornmeal) with ground buckwheat and a kilo of cheese stirred and cooked into it over the stove for an hour.
The next time you want to go out for “Italian Food”, stretch beyond what you’re familiar with and either go to a restaurant that offers more authentically prepared foods, or pick something off the menu other than your tried-and-true favorite. Order something you can’t identify. I do it all the time!
Below is a map that I saw on the wall at Ristorante Re Enzo in Bologna. It mentions just a few of the noted food and wine specialties for each region.
by Maureen | Feb 26, 2010 | Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Journal, Photos, Sanremo
Having swooned at the sunny, blue sky and t-shirt day along the seaside path in Sanremo three weeks ago, and having made new friends in town there, (and being up-to-my-ears in Winter in Milano), last weekend I went back to Sanremo for another dose of Springtime.
The train route goes up over mountains, and we rode through a landscape of fresh snow in Ronco.
Saturday gave us some early sunshine, followed quickly by an absolute drenching rainfall, requiring a quick, sopping-wet dash into the “bar” (as they call the coffee shops) for a caffé with the locals, also in out of the rain. There was a stormy sky out over the Ligurian Sea, some crashing waves and my favorite sound of stones tumbling in the surf.
After the coffee was down (3 sips if you stretch it out), and the rain had subsided, the stroll through town continued.
“Attenti al cane.” Beware of the dog.
I’ve seen these signs in other small towns at stores selling fresh meat (beef, sheep, goat, pork, poultry and rabbit, bagged and fresh), skimmed and partly-skimmed milk and seed oils. (I’d love to get my hands on a set of these signs to bring home with me. Better than a Prada handbag.)
This is a concrete, pre-fab, railway storage shed from the 1920s. It’s roughly 12′ x 9′. I hadn’t noticed them before, but after seeing this one, I later noticed a few of them along the train tracks heading back to Milano. Isn’t there something Japanese in style about it? I’d like one of these for my garden tools and supplies.
Saturday evening was spent laughing and eating with a group of seven.
Sunday morning dawned bright and brilliant blue, exactly what I had hoped for! The old train track route has been converted to a long, seaside, walking/bike path which links towns for many kilometers in the region of Liguria. On such an early-Spring Sunday, the path was filled with families, couples, old folks pushing other old folks in wheelchairs and cyclists in their decorated racing jerseys. Everyone was out moving under the sun and fresh, salty air.
There’s something psychologically uplifting about blue sky and palm trees…
The sky has been so GRAY in Milano for so long! It’s been a “heavy” winter and a blue sky like this is a balm for the soul!
