We are staying in the Astoria Hotel Italia. After Vienna’s Hotel Imperial suite, most rooms would seem plain. This room is plain, but entirely satisfying, quiet and comfortable.
We are in the historic center of Udine. The city of Udine is in the Italian region, (there are twenty,) of Friuli Venezia Giulia. For centuries, the cities of Friuli Venezia Giulia were pulled and tugged at by Venice and Austria. It did not settle into it’s Italian nationality until the end of World War II, when it chose to be in Italy. (Though parts of it ended up in Slovenia.) Present day, the people speak, depending on the village: italian, slovene, german and friulian.
In Udine, the Venetian influence is evident in the architecture. The city hall is striped by alternating layers of pink and white marble, reminiscent of the Doge’s Palace in Venice. On a tall pedestal, there is a statue of a winged Venetian lion. Beside it is an ancient statue of Hercules and a wonderful clock. The clock is topped with a large bell in between two huge, bronze, nude men. On the hour, the men bang on the bell with their long hammers.
We are enjoying Udine. We walk under ancient stone porticos from one piazza to another. Each piazza is teeming with local color. Children, accordionists, outdoor cafè life, pampered dogs, chiming church bells.
Our first food was a platter of San Daniele ham. The town of San Daniele is a dozen miles west. It is said, the cold alpine air from the north, as it meets the southern air from the Adriatic creates a special and perfect
climate for curing ham. The San Daniele ham, compared to garden variety prosciutto, seems more sweet and less salty.
Our platter arrived with three local cheeses and an assigned eating order. The mildest, young cow’s milk cheese first. The last was something “salata,” which is soaked in a salt brine. I did not get the cheese names. The busy waitress juggled serving the five tables in the small room. It was joyfully chaotic. The sound of spoken italian was like music. I mean no disrespect to spoken german, but it does not caress the ear, nor induce smiles.
This Italian region is famous for it’s white wines. By now, we have sampled many from a particular region, Collio. The grapes in Collio are typically Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana, Chardonnay, Pinot bianco, Pinot grigio and Sauvignon blanc. Many of the wines are not blended, but made from the juice of a single type of grape. We have also had a red wine called Schioppettino, which, in the ones we have tried, have tasted young, light, fresh and of berries.
Here is a quick romp through visits to the surrounding towns.
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| Chapel of the patron saint of pork butchers in San Daniele. 14th C chapel. 16th C frescoes. |
Cividale de Friuli. Tiny. Seemed affluent. The buildings, residences and businesses, looked in excellent condition. The aquamarine Natisone river rushes through town. Ponte del Diavolo (bridge) crosses over it: constructed in 1442. A chapel, also, overlooks the river. The Tempietto Longobardo chapel was built around the year 750 and still has several of it’s original statues. It’s frescoes are relatively young, just 600 years old. At the start of the bridge is an excellent pastry shop where we had our first taste of gubana. Gubana are like a brioche stuffed with a paste of almonds, raisins, cocoa and cinnamon. It was love at first bite.
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| Natisone river |
The small city of Cormons was part of the Austrian Hapsburg Empire from 1497 to 1918. Today, they still toast, on his birthday, the last Emperor Franz Joseph. Just outside Cormons, we had lunch in what felt like a forest. Under the canopy of mature trees, surrounded by wild shrubs, on tables crafted of rustic cut logs we had lunch at La Subida. We drank the white Ribolla Gialla and the fresh red Shioppettino wines. We ate a salad of paper thin sliced white and green asparagus. They served, yet another variety of cured ham, Oswaldo, which was even sweeter than San Daniele. As if the pigs ate cherries or berries with their acorns. There was also duck breast with perfumey strawberries. And risotto with herbs. And sautéed spinach. And sweet peas.
Dear Venzone is a phoenix risen from the ashes. It is an ancient and tiny walled city. In 1976 it was hit, two months apart, by massive earthquakes. The first one severely damaged it. The second one flattened the town and killed hundreds of people. By 1990, the city was restored. Even the cathedral, 80% destroyed, was reconstructed as close to what it had been. It was an absolute labor of love. I cannot describe the special ambiance of standing in their treasured church, which they loved too much to just cart away the rubble, but had to restore it.
San Daniele, the village where the famed ham is cured has a small chapel, Chiesa di Sant’Antonio Abate. Built in 1308. Believe it or not it is a chapel to the patron saint of pork butchers. It is notable for it’s extensive intact frescoes painted by Pellegrino da San Daniele (1467-1547.) We had an outstanding lunch at L’Osteria di Tancredi. We began with San Daniele ham and wedges of two-month old Montasio cheese (cow’s milk.) And a small bowl of “agrodolce verdure”, which were red pepper, small onion, zucchini, carrot, asparagus marinated in oil, vinegar and local honey. We drank Pinot Bianco (from Strum Vineyard) and Collio Friulano (from Pascolo.) Then came Pappardelle with Anatra (duck ragu) and Tagliolini di Pasta Fresca Artigianale alla San Daniele. The pastas were memorable. As if mamma were in the kitchen putting all her love into the sauces. Dessert was a tiny glass dish two-thirds full with Bavarian Cream, one-third full with fresh cooked wild berries, then sprinkled with chopped pistacchios. I used Google Translate then memorized my lines. I said: Noi siamo molto felici. Ricorderemo a lungo la tua cucina. (We are very happy. We will remember for a long time your cooking.)
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| Agrodolce verdure |
Before we visited those villages. Before we ate and drank all those things. On our first full day in Udine, we had lunch at Al Vecchio Stallo. Wes, during his trip research, found a wonderful book about Friuli. It has an odd genesis. An American pilates teacher visited Friuli for a conference related to the large rubber Pilates exercise balls. She fell in love with the food and the villages and the history and she put it all into a book. So for our first lunch, we, more or less, ate what she ate and where she ate it from, which was L’Osteria Al Vecchio Stallo. The building is a former horse stable. The interior is eclectic. Very sweet. Full of personality. And not a word of english spoken. Which was great for us. Impossible to be shy, we plunged in with our best effort at Italian. We were grateful for their patience and great suggestions. We began with Gnocchi di Sauris. Then Cjalsons. Then fennel. And caponata. Followed by a plate of Frico with polenta. And a plate of salami with polenta. The gnocchi were made, not from potato, but from bread. Cjalsons are stuffed pasta. Take a circle of pasta dough, stuff with greens, fold over, crimp shut, boil, then serve grated with Ricotta Affumato (hard smoked ricotta cheese.). The fennel was braised. The caponata was stewed eggplant with capers, olives and tomato. Frico is a significant wedge of Montasio cheese seared to a crisp on both sides. It is served with polenta. But the polenta is white not yellow and is toasted and similar in appearance and texture to crustless toasted white bread. The salami was more sausage than salami. It was cooked in something tasty. All the dishes had sauces full of wonderful and sparkling flavors. I did not have the time nor the language skill to decode everything. And I am certain all the recipes are in the book by the Pilates teacher with the most wonderful taste in food and destinations.
Wes and Marlow
Udine, Friuli Venezia Giulia
18 May 2019
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