May 21, 2023: A Day in Spoleto

 I started my morning with another hike up the hill to Corciano, however, this time, there was no cappuccino to have as a reward. A lot of the local shops are either closed or open up later in the day on Sundays. 

We then had a quick breakfast and hopped on the bus to Spoleto. I took my laptop with me to work on some homework since we had an hour drive into town. We exited the bus and had a walking tour of the historical centre.  

There were probably four sets of escalators that we went up to get to the top of the hill in Spoleto. There were posters up on the walls for the Spoleto Festival di Due Mondi that happens in July. This festival was created in 1958 by Gian Carlo Menotti. The opening production was Giuseppe Verdi's MacBeth. The festival showcases all kinds of arts both visual and performance types. Al Pacino was a participant in the festival. It was nice to see that there is still such a wonderful appreciation for the arts in Italy. 




We got to the Rocca Albornoziana or Albornaz Fortress. Pope Innocent VI ordered the building of the fortress in order take back spiritual control of the area. The pope's closest relatives resided in the fortress. Catia mentioned Lucrezia Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI in 1499. Lucrezia married an important man in 1495 and was sent to govern the area. He was a Lord of Pesaro named Giovanni Sforza. On our way down, we took a sip out of the Fontana del Mascherone which had incredibly crisp and fresh water. 




We stopped by the Cathedral in Spoleto. It was absolutely beautiful (like all of the cathedrals that we have visited). The front of the church had, "Voi siete la dimora del Dio vivente". This translates to, "You are the abode of the living God." This cathedral was built in 1821. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It contains Romanesque architecture and was built after the city was devastated by Frederick Barbarossa's troops who was the Holy Roman Emperor. I thought it was interesting that the inscriptions were in Italian and not in Latin like they have been in other cathedrals. I thought that this was due to how late the cathedral was built, however, this was due to the emperor being unable to read and understand Latin. 










We then went into town and had some free time. Nicole and I popped into some shops and took pictures near this juice bar that had beautiful floral arrangements outside. Not much later, we met back in the center of the city to go as a group to lunch. The lunch was incredible. It consisted of five courses. 




The first course was a little bit of a charcuterie platter. The slices of bread had both liver and mushrooms. There was prosciutto, pepperoni, bruschetta and a delicious red cabbage salad with raisins and apples. My favorite part of the first course was the pepperoni slice and the salad. 



The second course was risotto which was incredibly creamy and tasted like it had a buttery or chicken broth type of flavoring to it. The third course was the best lasagna I've ever had. I will miss the taste of the Italian tomatoes when I leave. The pasta was also perfectly thin and could easily be cut with the side of one's fork. I notice back home that lasagna will be slightly over cooked to where it is difficult to cut into. 

The next course included a side which was a seasoned roasted potato and it was accompanied by roast beef marinated with mushrooms. Every course was incredibly flavorful. I love how Italians relish every course and bite of their meal. They see meal time as an experience and prioritize it. 




For dessert, we had a sort of chocolate and amaretto flan with some strawberries. It was so delicious. I was able to pair this with an espresso which was perfect in helping my afternoon slum.   

We then made our way to the Antico Frantoio Carletti oil manufacturer. This facility produces only extra virgin olive oil which is considered the best. The height and slopes of the property provide wonderful water flow for the plants. 

Carlo, the owner, showed us the oil extraction process which is carried out through a traditional system involving Sardinian soil, hydraulic presses and a separator. This process is important because it allows the company to advertise that their oil is "cold pressed". Once the olives have been pressed, the kneader distributes it onto the circular diaphragm or "fiscoli" and they are inserted into the press. It is naturally decanted so there is no artificial filtering process involved. 






It really was amazing to hear again on how seriously Italians take the process of their food and how they are not concerned with quantity but with quality. Every olive is hand picked and checked for freshness. If an olive is not suitable enough for consumption it will not be used or will be used in other forms. The United States is so concerned with supply and demand. With how urban our country is, we don't have the luxury to be picky. We are so focused on mass production in order to feed the millions of people in our country that the quality suffers, unfortunately. 

The owner, Carlo, was so charming and hilarious. He seemed to fancy me and had me step on the lift and insisted that I be the "taster" for the olive oil products we would be trying. The oil was more of a green flavor than in the United States but was so fresh and delicate. He then had some regular oranges and blood oranges which he poured olive oil over with sugar. It was very delicious. 



I decided to purchase a small bottle of extra virgin olive oil for my parents to go with the pasta I picked out for them from Cortona. I also grabbed a container of their body lotion infused with olive oil. They explained to us how the oil that is not good enough to be used for consumption usually is used for beauty products. I have used it every night since I've purchased it and my skin feels incredible. 


We went back to the villa and had yet another cooking class. We cooked our own pizzas. The process was way more involved than I expected. We each received a pan for our pizza and lined the bottom of it with olive oil, so the dough didn't stick to the pan. We had to stretch the dough out from the center carefully. I found that I am pretty good at stretching the dough. We'll keep working on the kneading though! 

Our pizza a couple of days prior was so delicious, so it was very hard to compare the cooking class pizza to that one, but the crust was nice and soft. There was a little too much olive oil on my slice which made the crust greasy, but now we know better for next time. 

What I learned this day was that good things take time. Italians make every meal time an experience. In the Christian faith there is a saying, "your body is a temple". The Italian people treat their bodies as temples. They only fill it with the highest quality foods. My future patients are going to have many different restrictions whether that be allergies, intolerances, finances, preferences, etc. and my job will be to still provide great quality items for them. Italians are not as intentional about following the food pyramid or meeting every nutritional need, but they make sure that they have variety in their foods. 

As I have gone to multiple markets I have seen the importance of eating seasonally. Not only will this provide great quality items, but due to them being in season, they will be cheaper. Teaching future patients where to go to eat healthy while saving money is as important as teaching them what to eat. I will remember to give patients ideas on where they can get the best deals near them with foods they should eat and be a fully involved mentor. 





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