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Lucca
is a very large Province called La Provincia di Lucca. It is located in
the northernmost part of Tuscany and stretches for miles from the
mountains to the Mediterranean Sea on the west site of Italy. It has the
best of all worlds, the mountains, plains and shores. It is also
diversified in its foods therefore. It is a province rich in foodstuffs;
olive oil is foremost of course, probably the best Italy has to offer.
It is a lush green region, with fertile soil, and loaded with fruits and
vegetables. Its large and tasty chestnuts are the prized by the Lucchesi.
So is the famous torta verde, torta di cioccolata where it can be found
all over Luccan homes and most ristauranti. Certainly, the bakeries
offer these torts or pies along with many other delicious pastries. The
city of Viareggo is one of the prizes of the Province. It is at the
start of the Italian Riviera. It is a grand tourist attraction and a
fond place for the locals also. It has restaurants galore, fine
boutiques, long beaches, and a wonder place for the evening "passagiata",
the traditional walk before or after the evening meal. The restaurant in
Viareggio provides fresh seafood right out of the water. Particularly
enticing are the tiny fresh clams served over linguini, with parsley and
a wonderful seafood broth, no cheese on it, please. Lucca's hills provide
restaurants like Vipore that is undoubtedly one of the best and provides
a beautiful view of the Luccan countryside being situated up high on the
hilltops outside Lucca. One of the oldest restaurants in Lucca is Buca
di Sant'Antonio; The famous Ristorante Giglio, perfectly situated
opposite the theatre; Gli Orti di Via Elisa. Lucca is known for its
grand wall encircling the city. It is a sight to behold; it appears to
be just as grand now as it must have been when first constructed in the
middle ages. The wall encircles all of Lucca and only has a few City
doors available to enter and exit it. Unlike the walls surrounding other
Italian cities and towns, Lucca's wall is immense, containing a park,
restaurants, trees that are hundreds of years old, and a street for
vehicles to use, however, that has been essentially closed off now.
There are restaurants and hotels inside the city, which has been,
preserved much as it was in the
middle ages. It contains a Roman Amphitheatre, a botanic garden, la
piazza (city square) Napoleone, the beautiful cathedrale San Martino,
and well preserved winding city street, boutiques and shops of all
sorts, naturally outside cafes dot the town. The best-kept secret in
experiencing the middle ages is probably Lucca. It was certainly a very
rich and powerful city and it had its day in fighting with Firenze and
Pisa. it was the center of the European silk industry, providing silk
clothing, drapes, etc for the kings and queens, and of course for the
Popes. It was a banking capital, which was so rich it provided the loans
to Napoleon's expanding empire. Lucca was dear to Napoleon; he elevated
his sister to a duchess. Lucca
has many villas and some have been turned into small hotels, among them
la Villa Principessa (fax 011-39-0583-379-1 36), close to the walls; or
the Hotel Villa Rinascimento (fax 011-39-0583-370-238), "immersed I
the countryside between Lucca and Pisa, dates back to the Renaissance
and has been lovingly restored to the charm and elegance of its original
form. It is surrounded by vineyards and olive trees." Of course, Lucca provides a
grand opportunity to stay in many of its villas for the week or longer,
they are situated on the hills, between olive groves, vineyards, fig
trees and at the right time lots of porcini, rosette mushrooms.
Incredible! Va, subito (hurry!) The foods of Lucca are
classic. Probably the Lucchesi enjoy roasting more than most,
particularly when it comes to wild game, fowl and pork. Their food is
light and tasty with a minimum of seasonings. They see excellence in the
simple drippings from the roasts and other dishes. Certainly, it is a
rarity to see sauces being prepared with creams, or diluted with flour
or in other artificial ways. II sugo or the sauce has to be naturale. Of
course, there are ways of preparing roasts al morto, dead, with a
minimum of juice; or, umido, with a substantial amount of natural
drippings, possibly even a porcini sauce to blend with the game, et al.
The cacciatora sauce is light and tasty. It is made with raw olives
right off the trees, olive oil, rosemary, and a tomato paste diluted
with chicken broth. As the chicken is cooking the sauce is reducing and
the olives are tamed. It is the real chicken cacciatora. This sauce,
called the hunter's sauce, is wonderful for any wild game, particularly
wild hare, venison, etc. The Lucchesi love rabbit, domestic rabbit,
which most of my relatives raise at home. They feed them well, and they
are heart healthy with minimum of fat. As a matter of fat, we love to
eat wild game, and it is raised in your country homes. My relatives
raise pheasant, guinea hens, partridge, duck, geese, and quail. These
are considered delicacies and are only cooked for special occasions. The
pasta sauces of Lucca are light and heart healthy. It is not surprising
to see my relatives dish out a couple of tablespoons of sauce on their
pasta. But generally, the pasta will be cooked, then a little of it
placed back in the same pot that the pasta was boiled in, the pasta will
be flavored all over, then served with a couple more tablespoons of
sauce, grated parmigiano, parsley. These recipes are contained
in our cookbook and some of them are on line for viewing and trying.
Enjoy a taste of Lucca.
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