Olio Nuovo:The freshest olive oil around

I have had the distinct pleasure of being in Sonnino right after the the first olives have been pressed for their oil (olio nuovo). This oil taste amazing and only last for few months. I recently found a place in California that gets high grades for its olio nuovo and sells it at a reasonable price.

The company is called the "California Olive Ranch". You need to pre-order the olio nuovo in the early fall...mine is being shipped right now! The link to "California Olive Ranch" is below as well as some more information about olio nuovo.

http://chefs.californiaoliveranch.com/

------------------
– For starters, Olio Nuovo is the freshest possible extra virgin olive oil you can find. It’s practically like drinking milk from a cow. When you put a spoonful of Olio Nuovo in your mouth, you experience a peppery, fruity, pleasantly bitter burst of fresh olive oil taste.

– Chefs like to use our Olio Nuovo with freshly harvested vegetables such as tomatoes to accentuate the taste of the vegetable. It’s also a great way to celebrate the fall harvest. When he’s at home in his own kitchen, Georges at the Cove chef Trey Foshee simply likes to toss Olio Nuovo with pasta.

– Olio Nuovo heralds the new olive oil season. But it’s fleeting. Its limited shelf life means the oil must be used within a few months. California Olive Ranch employees bottle Olio Nuovo only once a year, in the first half of November. It’s an olive oil you can’t get every day. We make it to order – and we’ve just begun taking orders.

– Olio Nuovo also is the healthiest extra virgin olive oil. It delivers a higher level of polyphenols – the chemical substances found in plants that may reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.

Sonninese Holiday Sweets: Cannelicchi

Someone recently left a comment looking for Sonninese holiday sweets/cookies. I talked with my cousin in Sonnino and she said that "Cannelicchi" are a traditional dessert. The ingredients are in Italian with an admittedly poor English translation below them (I used a free translation service. Enjoy!


Ingredienti:

4 uova
circa 1/2 kg. farina
un barattolo di miele
olio
fogli di limone o piccoli cestini di carta


Preparazione:

Impastare le uova con la farina, fino ad ottenere una pasta abbastanza consistente, ma non tropo dura.
Lavorare la pasta e tagliare a bastoncini della grandezza di un mignolo. Ritagliare come piccoli gnocchi.
Friggerli nell'olio ben caldo e scolarli.
Versare il miele in una padella, scioglierlo al fuoco e, unire i cannolicchi. Amalgamare bene il tutto fino a quando non si sente il profumo del miele.
Togliere dal fuoco e disporre i cannelicchi in piccole porzioni sulle foglie di limone, precedentemente lavate e asciugate oppure dentro cestini di carta o ancora tutti insieme dentro un piatto (v. foto).
---

Ingredients:

4 eggs about 1/2 kg. flour a lemon of sheets oil honey of can or small baskets of card

Preparation:

To mix the eggs with the flour, until to obtain an enough pasta consisting, but not hard metaphor. To work the pasta and to cut small sticks of the size of a pinkie. To clip like small gnocchi. To fry them in the quite warm oil and to drain them. To pour the honey in a pan, to dissolve it to the fire and, to unite the cannolicchi. To amalgamate well everything until does not hear itself the perfume of the honey. To remove from the fire and to arrange the cannelicchi in small portions on the leaves of lemon, previously washed and dried or inside baskets of card or still all together within a dish (v. photograph).

Sonninese olive oil gets rated one of the best!

Check out the article...I'm looking for a way


http://en.greenplanet.net/news-in-brief/news-in-brief/1174-flos-olei-the-world-best-olive-oils.html

Restoration of San Michelle Arcangelo

This a book my family sent along about the restoration of San Michelle Arcangelo. They did a beautiful job on the church and you should check it out if you visit. I'l be posting pictures of the inside of the church soon.

Rastime: Te Pozzeno Da No Lampo!

As I have writen before, "rastime" are old Sonnninese sayings that, while sounding rude, are said with love.

This weeks rastime is : Te pozzeno da no lampo

This translates to "I hope you get struck by lightening"

Zio Nicola and family

Here is another picture of my great-uncle Nicola who passed away this week. In the picture from right to left is my cousins Matteo, Mauritzia, Matteo's wife Kai, my great-aunt Adele and Uncle Nicola. This picture was taken this past Christmas. He will be dearly missed.

Pescrai - post crass

The Sonninese dialect is a living, breathing language with adaptations and inventions. My relatives in Sonnino have been a great resource in helping me understand the unique characteristics of Sonninese.

"Postcrai" is an example of a word that has ben adapted by Sonninese speakers. It means in 3 days in Sonnninese but in Latin really means in 2 days . Click below to listen.

Powered by Podbean.com

A sad passing

Two days ago my great-uncle Nicola D'Angelis passed away. When my wife and I first visited Sonnino, Nicola was one of the first relatives we met. He threw his arms in the air and gave us huge hugs and then immediately told us that we had to come over for lunch! He told us stories of working in the butcher shop with my great-grandmother when he was a child.

Every time we visited Sonnino we were greeted by that same excitement. Spending time with Uncle Nicola was something we always looked forward too and will miss profoundly.

Le Torce 2008...

This was our view coming down the mountain toward Sonnino Scalo.

Nganiaturo per la pittia: Pasta board

The Sonninese word for the board that you use to roll out the pasta is "nganiaturo per la pittia". My spelling is probably off. I have my great-grandmothers pasta board that I use when I make my own pasta. Click below to hear my cousin Maury.

Powered by Podbean.com

Sonninese wine in Tennessee?

Yes indeed. The Ippolito family, who are origionally from Sonnino, own a B&B and winery in Tennessee. They make a wine called "Sonnino Sunset". CHeck out their website below. They have information about ordering their wine.

http://www.coreyippolitovineyardbandb.com/our_wines.htm

Book of Sonnino postcards

This is a great book of Sonnino postcards that my cousins sent me a few months ago. There are some wonderful classic pictures of Sonnino. If people are interested I can try to find out where the book can be purchased. They sent along a few other books that I'll best posting about.

Sonninese word: Alluccare

I found this very interested. We often hear about the Latin roots of english word, not the other way around. My cousin Maurizia told me that the Sonninese word "Aluccare" comes from an adaptation of the english "to look". She said that this started being used when Americans were in Sonnino during WWI. Click on the button to listen to the pronunciation.

Powered by Podbean.com

Video of religious procession (the Madonna) in Sonnino

I found this video in a Google search. It's a nice little montage and has some good pictures of Sonnino. Click on the link to view the video.

Ogni sette anni - la processione della madonna delle grazie di Sonnino

ogni sette anni - la processione della madonna delle grazie di sonnino

Alley in old Sonnino

I took this video so that people could get a real-time experience of what it's like walking through the historical section of Sonnino. This is one of the longer alleys...it was tricky trying to video and walk down the the smooth cobblestone steps at the same time!

Sonnino's on Priceline.com

Who knew. I recently typed in "Sonnnino, Italy" into Google and saw that about 7 links down there was a link for "Hotels near Sonnino". If you click on the link Priceline does indeed provide a list of hotels near Sonnino...I've even stayed a few of them. Give it a try.

NMR and statistical study of olive oils from Lazio: A geographical, ecological and agronomic characterization

If you have some time it's about olive oil from the region Sonnino is in.

ScienceDirect - Food Chemistry : NMR and statistical study of olive oils from Lazio: A geographical, ecological and agronomic characterization

Market day in Sonnino

Yummy picture from Jim Epolito

Jim recently visited Sonnino and had lunch with his relatives. According to Jim, this is a picture of the best lasagna ever, made at Teodoro Ippoliti's home. I can't vouch that it's the best lasagna ever but I will try to find out the next time I'm in Sonnino!

Sonninese Expression of the Week

I made good use of my digital recorder on my last trip to Sonnino. Here is recording I made of an expression I heard many youngish people using. They said it's Romano. I magine it's spelled something like "A-ou" and it's used to get a person's attention. Have a listen:

Powered by Podbean.com