Chiusi, Todi & Pitigliano: enjoy the unexpected

Twenty of the surrounding towns

We are passed the two month mark of our adventure in Umbria and have managed to visit around twenty of the surrounding towns and cities. As we have mentioned before, Italy in winter is a whole different beast, with relief from the sometimes staggering heat and oppressive crowds, replaced with the quiet and crisp winter breezes. The countryside has a different look to it with freshly planted crops sprouting green, and grape vines trimmed to look identical, like new recruits lined up for roll call. The temperature drops down to near zero during the night when we build a roaring fire to sit near and make long cooked meals to warm us from the inside.

We spend our days crisscrossing the valleys and winding around the hillsides to visit a small town or village we may have chosen the night before while lying in bed thumbing through travel guides and brochures.
Expectations are a funny thing and seem to get the better of us every time, so we have learned to lower them as much as we can when heading out and accept interesting moments when they come, instead of being disappointed when we don’t find them where we expect them.

Chiusi

An example of this happened on a recent jaunt to Chiusi, just outside of Umbria in Tuscany. We had planned to visit the Etruscan museum, promising a huge array of Etruscan artifacts, and expected to be wowed by its contents. Chiusi is ground zero for Etruscan history with many archeological finds in the general area and a solid history of Etruscan and Roman inhabitants.

The museum is the focal point of Chiusi and the town plays greatly on its Etruscan connections. However the museum (to me) was a let down with very dry and lifeless exhibits of fragments of pottery and finds from different archeological sites. The history was there but for me it did not transport me to that time; this combined with no heat and absolute silence, broken only by the staff chattering about their daily lives, while following us around as if we were cat burglars looking for pottery shards, just did not do it for me.
Exiting the museum, church was letting out from the cathedral in the center of town and the local folk milled around outside, chatting about the weather and smoking cigarettes.

The Cathedral of San Secondiano, appearing slightly regular from the outside, looked as though it contained yet another take on a large Italian church. A quick read of a billboard outside the Cathedral revealed that it indeed wasn’t just another church but a Cathedral with history dating back to the 6th century, still having parts of an Etruscan road exposed in one of its apses. That was enough for us to venture in to the now dark cathedral which still held some lingering warmth from the parishioners that had just left.

In many large Cathedrals you can find coin operated machines that will turn the lights on for a few minutes so you can view the artwork within and for €0.50 we felt it would be worth it after having a glimpse of the frescoes that covered the walls.

Illuminated, we had an amazing experience and photo opportunity, finding ourselves alone in this church with elaborately painted frescoes done in a mosaic style. It was an occurrence we had not planned for and one that was that much better as a surprise discovery.

Food and restaurants can also be more exciting being left to surprise and we have taken many chances on small vendors promising homemade bounty and have been rewarded.
That same trip to Chiusi is where we found a tiny shop that, among other things, was selling “Nonna’s tart” a homemade and simple version of the shop owner’s Nonna’s pine nut and custard tart that we recreated on a previous post.

Todi

The beautiful town of Todi gave us an amazing restaurant experience based on a friend’s recommendation that we did not expect at all. We had spent the morning walking up and down the gorgeous streets of Todi and thought we would end our visit with a nice simple lunch before the drive back.

The restaurant, Pane & Vino, is a cosy and friendly place with a tight menu of regional goodies. My eye was immediately drawn to their special antipasti that sounded delicious as a nice appetizer. What followed was a multi plate tasting of olive oil varieties followed by local salume and cured meats followed by warm house specialties like Roquefort cabbage involtini, crispy pancetta with balsamico, warm blue cheese crostini with honey and more.

Our antipasti, the first course that could have been a meal, ended with a large bite each of strong Pecorino Staggionato enhanced by a dollop of sweet white wine jelly. It completely exceeded our expectations and as our pasta was arrived we struggled to find room to put away an amazing plate of truffled umbrichelli, just loaded with grated black truffles, for me, a plate of saffron risotto, made with locally grown saffron, for my sister in law and porcini & chick pea soup for Nat. The service was excellent and friendly, the wine was delicious and the patrons were all local. It was a simple lunch that turned into something extraordinary and made us feel like regulars living la dolce vita, a treat we could not plan.

Pitigliano

Pitigliano, another small hill town in Tuscany, was a place that we had expectations of enjoying a nice lunch and visit but upon arrival we discovered that most of the restaurants in town were closed for the winter including the one we were going to. Slightly let down, we ventured forth to discover one of the most amazing and almost surreal towns we have visited.

Perched on a huge tuff cliff, the town almost defies gravity with its streets and alleys wiggling through a maze of old buildings that, from a distance, reminded me of an Escher painting. Pitigliano is another town steeped in history, this time Jewish history, well preserved in the Jewish Ghetto Museum with its ritual baths, wine cellar, Kosher butcher, Synagogue, bakery and dye house. It was not a specific thing about Pitigliano that struck us but the town as a whole, especially when we stood on the opposite hill looking back and imagining it over the course of history remaining very similar to the way we were seeing it.

Culinary history

We enjoy our drive back up the now familiar roads leading to our base. Many times out we will pick up a regional ingredient like lentils, sausage, cheese or dried beans, so for me, getting back in the kitchen to cook dinner lets me explore the culinary history and delights of a region once again at the stove. Recreating something I have seen or a recipe I have read builds on my repertoire and reinforces our Italian experience letting us live like locals and consume history. As a cook and a chef the ingredients, dishes, smells and cooking rituals are what I live for and again so many times a finished dish will outdo my expectations spurring me on to get out there discover more.

Have you unexpectedly discovered something fun and interesting during your travels or even in your home town?