The Dolce Vita Diaries. Cathy Rogers
huge house we had unfeasibly fallen in love with, in all its madcap glory. At the distance given firstly by e-mail and secondly by being thousands of miles away in a city where the overriding philosophy is ‘If you want it, you damn well go out and get it’, we found ourselves composing an e-mail.
At first we played it slightly coy. There was some neighbouring land with lots of olive trees on it, which we would be interested in buying, too. If the agents could confirm whether there was a possibility of our buying this in addition to the house and its existing land, it would make our decision a good deal easier.
A few days later, an e-mail came back confirming that the owner was interested in discussing the possibility of our buying up to two hectares of land in addition to the house.
This was more than enough to puncture our coyness. Our next e-mail could only be described as…an offer! In our excitement we even forgot the usual etiquette of offering below the asking price and instead just girlishly sort of said ‘We want it!’ The asking price was 155,000 euros.
Our hearts skipped every time there was the ping of a new e-mail popping into the inbox. But strangely there was no word that day, or the next day, or the next. We sent another e-mail checking that our first had been received safely.
The next day came back the following reply. ‘The owner of the house is being rather naughtie and has increased the asking price, on the basis that she has someone interested in paying it. She now wants euros 206,500.00. We are a bit vexed that this has happened as you can well imagine, and wait to hear how you feel about it.’
Quite apart from the insult of the spelling of naughty, this was just a joke, especially given how much we would have to spend on doing up the house. And even more especially since in the meantime we’d learned that the house had been on the market for twenty years. May it long remain there.
That evening, over a consoling beer in the sunshine of our porch, we cheered ourselves up by booking tickets for our next trip back to Le Marche to see more houses. Even though Upupa wasn’t to be, there was no going back now.
Orecchiette pasta with cauliflower
Orecchiette al cavolfiore
Ingredients for 4 people
Cauliflower—one medium sized
Garlic—1 clove
Chilli—1
Extra virgin olive oil—2 tablespoons
Orecchiette—500g
Salt
Parmesan—grated to serve
This is a different take on the more common orrechiette with broccoli, which we found at a lovely little trattoria in Urbino.
Cut the cauliflower into little florets, cook in salted boiling water for 5 minutes and then drain. Peel the garlic and seed and chop the chilli. Heat the olive oil (Marchigiani if you can find it) and gently cook the garlic and chilli for a few minutes. Add the cauliflower and cook for a further 5 minutes so there’s a bit of colour to the veg.
Cook the orecchiette in salted water according to the instructions on the packet. Once it’s al dente, drain and toss into the cauliflower. Serve with a generous handful of grated parmesan.
Pan-fried trout with polenta crust and almonds
Trota in padella con impanatura di polenta e mandorle
Ingredients for 4 people
Trout—2 whole ones gutted, rinsed and patted dry
Polenta—1 cup
Olive oil—2 tablespoons of the peppery kind
Lemon—cut into wedges
Almonds—2/3 of a cup, slivered and blanched
Always hungry to extend our cooking repertoire, Cathy and I did a course called ‘Flavors of Olive Oil’. It was run by Deborah Krasner, an olive oil aficionado who efficiently taught us the multitudinous uses of fine olive oil, from soups to cakes. Cathy’s favourite was the pan-fried trout with polenta crust. Even the crunchy skin was delicious. I was turned on by Deborah’s orange and caraway seed cake. It uses olive oil instead of butter, so it’s guilt free (low in saturated, high in monounsaturated fats) and apparently very forgiving to make for a cake novice like me.
Roll the fish in a plateful of the polenta. Shake off the excess.
Heat a cast-iron frying pan, and when it’s hot, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. When the oil is hot add the fish. Brown the fish on both sides, about 4 minutes per side depending on the thickness. Once they’re cooked put each fish on a plate with a wedge of lemon.
Wipe the pan and heat the remaining olive oil. Brown the almonds over a medium-high flame and stir continuously. As soon as they are golden and aromatic pour the almonds and oil over the fish. Serve with a flavoursome green salad.
Orange, almond and caraway seed cake
Ingredients
Unbleached flour—300g
Sugar—250g
Fine sea salt—1/4 teaspoon
Baking powder—1 teaspoon
Bicarbonate of soda—1 teaspoon
Eggs—3 large ones
Full fat milk—300ml
Olive oil—100ml of the fruity kind
Orange—grated zest of 1
Vanilla extract—1 teaspoon
Sliced almonds—80g
Caraway seeds—1 tablespoon
Icing sugar
Preheat the oven to 180°C / gas mark 4. Grease a bundt mould tin (one of the ring shaped ones) with a bit of olive oil and don’t forget the middle funnel bit. Sift the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate through a sieve into a big mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the eggs, milk, olive oil, zest and vanilla.
Using a whisk, beat the wet ingredients together in the centre of the bowl, gradually drawing in the dry ingredients as you do so. Continue until all the ingredients are blended. Now add the almonds and caraway seeds and mix lightly with a spatula or wooden spoon.
Pour the smooth batter into the bundt tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the cake is cooked through (if you stick a metal skewer in it will come out clean) and golden brown. Cool it in the pan on a rack then run a knife around the edge and invert it onto a serving plate. When it’s completely cool dust with icing sugar, admire it for a minute and then eat a slice with a cup of tea.
‘Choking priest’ pasta
Ingredients for 4 people
plain flour—250g
Eggs—2