Costumes Friuli – Venezia Giulia

We continue the series of descriptions of folk costumes taken from the book, now out of print, Il Costume popolare in Italia, by Emma Calderini, published by Sperling & Kupfer, Milano. In this issue, we highlight two costumes from the region of Friuli – Venezia Giulia. Click here to see the entire gallery or
Montanara dei dintorni di Udine / Woman of the Mountains around Udine
Blouse of homespun cloth. Close-fitting sleeveless vest of cotton, buttoned up the front. Underskirt of cotton, with a border. Over that another skirt, also of cotton, pulled up. The apron is of a cotton print. Knit stockings. The shoes are a type of wooden clog with a toe that points up and a strap of leather. On the head, a scarf of fringed wool.
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Children’s Abruzzese Fairytale

Gracie Scala Adamson grew up as the youngest of seven daughters in an Italian immigrant family in Australia. Gracie’s mother, Chiarina, was born in Vasto, Abruzzo, and this is one of the fairytales she would tell her children. Le Tre Favette (The Three Broad Beans) was one of Gracie’s favorite stories, but one that she could not find in fairytale books. Inspired by her mother’s storytelling, and driven by a desire to pass on the tradition to her nephews and nieces, she recently translated the story, created the illustrations, and had it published.

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Beautiful Liguria – Travel Concierage

Anna Merulla is the founder of Beautiful Liguria, a travel concierge service that offers everything from touring, hiking excursions, weddings services, cooking lessons, and personal shopping in this great region. In 2009 she decided to begin sharing her personal knowledge of the beauty, the culture, and the history of Liguria in which she’s immersed every day. This article is from ItalianNotebook.com, used here with the permission of the author.

Walnut Sauce

  • 200 grams walnuts
  • 1/2 glove of garlic
  • the soft part of two bread rolls
  • whole milk
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil 
  • salt

Shell walnuts; soak in water in order to remove the bitter inside skin. Place nuts in the mortar with the garlic, bread soaked in milk, and salt. Blend with pestle until smooth and creamy.

When serving with pasta, I suggest that you dilute it with a little bit of the hot water used to cook the pasta and toss with butter and Parmesan cheese.

Pesto Sauce

  • 4 bunches of basil  40 gr Parmesan
  • 20 gr pecorino cheese
  • a handful of pine nuts
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Salt
  • Ligurian olive oil

Wash and dry with paper towels the small basil leaves. (Be careful not to mash them when you dry them.) While the leaves are drying, chop 2 cloves of garlic with a bit of salt. After chopping garlic and salt, add the basil leaves, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese and pecorino cheese, and mix it all with a mortar and pestle, gradually adding the olive oil. The pesto sauce should not be too liquid.

Trofie

Serves 4 people

  1. 250 gr of flour
  2. a pinch of salt
  3. water

Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the water. Start mixing the ingredients until all the flour is incorporated and the dough looks cohesive. (If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour).

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Ballo Abruzzese

This suite of dances from the Abruzzi is a medley of three dances performed in a circle. Dancers and musicians don’t break between dances, and the increasing liveliness of the dances seems truly made for the pleasure of the dancer and of those who watch them. The influence of fashionable parlor dances of the past century is clearly evident. Nonetheless, it is the peasants who dance this. Continue reading “Ballo Abruzzese”