Every Wednesday morning, I climb up a stone stairway. At the top, trucks line outside the walls of Castiglione del Lago snaking up into the centro storico along Via Vittorio Emanuele, the main drag. Everything from the best local & regional fruits, vegetables, and plants to inexpensive cotton towels, cheap socks, tee shirts, shoes and house wares can be found here at a “good “price.  Hence the term “buon mercato” referring to the “good prices”.

Going to the mercato is not a chore where you have to pick up your provisions, but rather a thoroughly enjoyable social event that can last up to 3 hours. The vendors get to know you by name.  Everything begins with an enthusiastic “Buon Giorno” followed by a little chiacchiere “chatter.

Over the years, I’ve come to love the fruits and vegetables from Gianluca & Carla at TuttoFrutta.  I never “touch” anything.  Instead I ask. They pick out the best, bag it, and hold it until I’m finished shopping.  You see, a true seller knows that too many hands spoil the produce.

Next, it’s on to the center of the town where I’ll slide by the stalls and walk into the antico forno to ask Paola for my daily dose of some focaccia and biscotti.  The focaccia changes daily, from onions, salt or rosemary to artichokes, tomato, zucchini or prosciutto.  As for the biscotti there is a select variety of dry cookies studded with all sorts of nuts or filled with jam or chocolate, all made by hand in small production. You won’t find their delicious bombolini (doughnuts filled with either jam or cream) until Sunday. However, there is a selection of small tortas filled with apples or jam.

There’s a Libreria Cartoleria Marina (bookstore) stocked with any topic you need (providing you read Italian), in addition to a select assortment of language books, dictionaries, gardening, cooking, fountain pens, paper, gift cards, birthday cards, anniversary cards, gift wrap paper, etc, etc.  The donna (woman) is dedicated to helping you find what you need.

“ La Cantina” offers a highly prized selection of Italian regional products.  I can get my most favorite 12 or 8 year balsamic, DOP olive oil and some truly wonderful wines, legumes, honey, & farro.

A small shop called Calosi Cashmere sells locally produced cashmere sweaters & scarves, for both men & women.  I started acquiring these two years ago when the famous fog of Umbria descended during the winter months and I look forward to weather that stimulates another trip to Colossi.

And , then there is Ceramiche San Marco, store…. A gentle elderly man oversees his family’s shop of hand painted and fired ceramic.  If I see something that I’d like in another design, he can usually order it for me.  I’ll have it within a week.

Roberto, the proprietor of Osteria Le Scalette, houses a great selection of regional wines from Umbria and Tuscany at fair prices. Tell him what you are serving for dinner and he may suggest a Sagrantino di Montefalco, or a Sangiovese, Grechetto, Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Rosso di Montepulciano or Orvieto.

The Battilani Family sells from 5 different shops, 4 of which are in the center of town.  Here, you can purchase some great salumeri, stagionato pecorino from Norcia, regional wines .  One of their shops is now selling panini for the hungry traveling by foot or bike. For those who have the luxury of cooking for themselves, the Battalani’s have a renowned macelleria overseen by Signora Alda, 81 years with the energy of a 20 year old.  What I love about Signora Alda, is her furtive look as she slips me the end of a prosciutto bone or a few extra sausages.

Further on down outside of the main center is Laura’s Pasticerria…. This is another great place for your morning cornetto & cappuccino.  Laura’s cornetto has made me appreciate the technical difference between a cornetto and a croissant.  The cornetto is crisp, light, laminated, but less rich.  I like it filled with jam.  This is the perfect example of a local café.  Newspapers are available on the tables, locals come in and are greeted by name, and there is always lots of chatter .

From Castiglione del Lago…. arriverderci until my nest blog.

I love making fresh pasta and I love eating it. My freezer is kept stocked with my favorite homemade sauces: bolognese, duck ragu, wild boar ragu, and tomato sauce.  At any time, I can whip up a batch of pasta either by hand or with a Kitchen Aid.  I roll it out immediately on the first setting until it reaches the width of the pasta roller.  It gets covered with plastic wrap and rests on the counter while I heat up the sauce and grate the cheese.  Depending on the type of sauce, it is either a meal in itself or prelude to a simple roast or sauteed meat.

Fresh Egg Pasta for Tagliatelle

100 grams of 00 flour per person

1 large egg per 100 grams of flour

Place the eggs in the bowl of a mixer .  Add all the flour . Mix on low speed using the dough hook.  Every few minutes stop the mixer and push down any flour that has collected on the sides of the bowl.  Continue to mix the dough until it forms a soft ball that comes away from the sides of the bowl.  The dough will be soft but not sticky.

Cut the dough into 100 gram portions.  Flatten each piece out and run it through the first setting of the roller.  Fold in half, and continue to run it through the first setting.  Repeat 5 or 6 times until the dough is smooth and shiny.  Wrap in plastic and let it rest while you prepare your sauce.

Once again, flatten each piece of dough and feed it through the first setting. Follow with the second and continue up through the sixth setting.  By this time your dough should be thin enough for a flat noodle like tagliatelle.

Lay the sheet of dough on a cool, lightly floured surface. Each sheet should be about 15 inches long.   Bring each end into the center . Bring the outside folds into the center again.  Using a chef’s knife, cut the dough into 1/4 inch slices.  Unravel each ribbon.  If the dough sticks to itself, you need to add more flour.

Scatter the ribbon noodles on a lightly floured pan.  Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  When ready to serve, add the pasta to the boiling water , stir once and boil the pasta for about a minute.  Test one by biting into it.  It should be toothsome, not mushy.  Drain in a colander and return to the pot.  Add just enough of your favorite sauce, toss, sprinkle grated parmegian cheese and open the wine.

This past week I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of students in “Using Public Relations as a Marketing Tool” taught by Howard Geltzer at New York University.   As I was preparing my presentation I felt compelled to bring real food into an academic environment since my business is about food and culinary travel. Of course, I don’t think Howard expected me to devote time to a tasting.  While he was presenting the agenda, I was trying to figure out where I could slip this surprise in without causing too much disruption. I was a guest and Howard was the host, educator and consummate PR man.

Words can be powerful but they are no substitute for the sensory experience of taste and smell.  If I was going to talk about my business, Cucina della Terra, a cooking school in Italy, 3000 miles away, I needed to demonstrate how certain foods are distinctive and worthy of a trip to the country of origin.

By the time I reached the classroom I was loaded down with shopping bags filled with napkins, paring knife, parmegiano reggiano, an Argentine reginatto, a 25 year old balsamic vinegar and a highly commercial unaged balsamic, sliced ciabatta, and two bottles of olive oil: one from my own harvest in 2008, and one from Sicily that was unfiltered but with no DOP status, and of course some wet wipes. While everyone else had briefcases and computers slung over their shoulders, I was schlepping shopping bags of food.  Talk about feeling like the New York bag lady.

In a very simple way, I created a contrast of tastes.

To a group of students focused on a topic in business, there attention was diverted to thinking about the food in front of them.  Packaging became less important than the experience of taste and the quality of what we tasted.   Ultimately where our food comes from and how it is produced is far more important. So, the next time you are reaching for a highly publicized product, think about why and for what you are putting your money down  - and ask yourself if it’s worth it.