On the Way to Cinque Terre

I’m excited about where we are right now – outside the village of Pontremoli, county of Lunigiana, region of Toscana (Tuscany)  - and are having a real Slow Food experience.  Our original destination was Levanto in Cinque Terre where we had a reservation but it was getting late with at least an hour’s drive to go so we exited the autostrada to find ourselves in this beautiful, scenic valley. Seeing signs to agriturismos we made a left following one that said, Il Podere Benelli Offre.  The narrow, winding drive went on forever until we were just about ready to find an area wide enough to turn around when we came upon a grouping of houses.  There was no answer at the podere so we went next door to inquire about a room.  The Signora was very helpful and found Signore Benelli for us, but, mentioned that she also had rooms to rent.  Signore Benelli said he couldn’t possibly get ready on such short notice so we went back to Signora’s and rented her best room en suite with breakfast, € 50.

We inquired about dinner and she offered to prepare it for us.  In the meantime we went back to Signore’s for a tour and wine tasting only to find that he was active in the local Slow Food presidia and had attended Salone.

We exchanged cards and he proudly showed us his display of Slow Food memorabilia and photos, several with Carlo Petrini.  He said that Carlo was fond of this area and came here often.  We bought 2 bottles of wine from him (Pollera, Val di Magra) and returned to Signora’s for a home cooked dinner.

Polenta with Porcini sauce

Torta di Verdure (I wrote down all the vegetables/greens but I’ll have to wait to look them up in my large dictionary at home - the only one I recognized was zucchini)

Platter of sliced carrots, small onions, green pepper and tomato, all from her garden (orta), served with her own vinegar and olive oil

Platter of salami, prosciutto and cotto

Bread basket

Carafe of house red wine

Crostata di frutta

Espresso

House grappa

Limoncello (about the only thing she didn’t make, besides the salami)

WHEW!  What a wonderful, agriturismo experience!

Cost of the dinner €15 per person

Oppilo Agriturismo Filippi

Localitá Oppilo di Pontremoli