Pomigliano Jazz Festival - XX Edition, August 29 - September 13, 2015

The Pomigliano Jazz Festival is back with its 20th edition.  I had a chance to go last year (here) and am really looking forward to this year's lineup.

As last year, the Mt. Vesuvius crater will be among the various festival locations.
The link to the full program can be found here.

NOTE DI GUSTO/NOTES OF TASTE in collaboration with Slow Food Vesuvius, Naples and Agro Nolano, will also be present during each concert to promote wine, food and tourism with the aim to present the  Agri-food biodiversity of the  territories and the importance of preserving it in time to a large audience.

Devotion on a Dish - Ristorante Lo Stuzzichino, Massa Lubrense (Na)

Pesce bandiera grattinata al forno  con provola affumicata.  
That's what  Mimmo De Gregorio told me as he set the plate in front of me and poured me another glass of wine. Silver scabbard fish  'au gratin' stuffed with smoked provola cheese.  This was surely going to be a treat, I thought.  It sure looked delicious.

From my table, I could hear the voices of the kitchen staff, including Mimmo's dad, Chef Paolo De Gregorio, and his wife Mamma Filomena.  Voices that reminded me of home.
As I took my first bite, I thought about what into creating this simple dish.
I thought about how much time and dedication it took to carefully clean the fish removing the large quantity of tiny bones.

Then stuffed with just the right amount cheese,

sprinkled with bread crumbs,

a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil  (Massa Lubrense  has some of the best I've tasted ).

This is what makes a simple dish so special.
Time, dedication...
and devotion

Our Daily Bread - Km 0, Sant'Agata Sui Due Golfi (Na)

My favorite bread when I was young was Home Pride Butter Top Wheat Bread.  I remember the commercial, the knife cutting through the loaf..hot melted butter drizzled on the top.  I remember how soft it was, how it lasted for almost EVER thanks to preservatives and all that fun stuff.
Since then, I have become pretty particular about the bread that makes it to my table.  Bread that is made fresh, preferably in a wood burning oven.  Even better with lievito madre, aka sourdough.
Like the type of bread that amico mio Mimmo De Gregorio uses in his family's trattoria Lo Stuzzichino, (recently named La Guida Espresso's Trattoria of the year for 2015!).
So after our morning on a shrimp boat, I went with De Gregorio to pick up some bread at his friend Peppe
s house.  Peppe, along with his wife Pina have an artisan bakery located at their home in Sant'Agata Sui Due Golfi not far from Mimmo's trattoria.
The dough is made rigorously by hand every day.  Then, always by hand, shaped into the various fors required.

After rising the required time, which can vary depending on the humidity and temperature, it is placed in a wood burning oven.

During our visit, Peppe prepared us a loaf of  pannuozo bread.  A loaf of normal bread needs about an hour to bake, but pannuozo, designed to be stuffed with all kinds of delicious goodness.

With our bread in paper bags and seated on the back seat of Mimmo's car, it was hard not to pull over and tear off a chink or two to eat on our way to the trattoria.
Thank goodness the ride to the trattoria took less than five minutes!
It didn't take long for that pannuozo to meet its perfect match.  Lo Stuzzichino's eggplant parmigiana!

All local, all Km 0 ...
All good...

Saxaphones, Summer and Slow Food . - An Evening at the Pomigliano Jazz Festival

Kenny Garrett

Summer is  full of music festivals.  I mean, hanging outside listening to your favorite band is a perfect way to spend the long steamy evenings that accompany the season.  This year, my curious eye caught the schedule for the Pomigliano Jazz Festival, this year in it's 14th edition.  This time my schedule and the dates of the festival matched up - I was able to attend the Kenny Garrett Quintet concert scheduled for the 16th of July in a small town in Cimitile (Na).  The venue was not a stadium or auditorium. Oh, no.  But nestled on the grounds of the town's Basiliche Paleocristiane, a complex with about 13 building/churches dating back to the 5th century. 

 Basiliche Paleocristiane, Cimitile (Na)

  I arrived early ish for a stroll around the grounds and to take a look at some of the stands sponsored by Note di Gusto and  Slow Food Vesuvio. 

First stop - Madrenatura Agricultura Biologicaàs booth.  Even though the sun was setting, it was hard not to notice the sensational colors and quality of the vegetables on display. 

 Note to self, stop by to pick up a few tomatoes after the concert.

Second stop - Chef Ilaria Aulicino of Da Nini in Bacoli (Na).  She was the chef of the evening, and for jazz lovers like me who wanted a bite to eat before the show began, she had two dishes to share.

Fresco Baccala' with cod, black olives, yogurt, cherry tomatoes, capers and green pepper.

Yogoalbicocca -  starring apricots from Mt Vesuvius, almond milk and yogurt.

Third stop -A self tour of the Basilica.  Amazed at the history around me.  Curious about the dates of the frescoes and origins of the symbols and artifacts located throughout the complex.  

Note to self- come back for a guided tour., maybe in the fall when it is a little cooler.

Fourth stop - My seat.  Row C, seat 18.  It was there that I spent the next two hours along with a few   hundred jazz fans jammin to Kenny Garrett and his quintet.

 So much summer goodness packed in one evening.  Looking forward to next year's program. 
Oh, and I did purchase a kilo ish of tomatoes.  Spaghetti anyone?

6th Annual Disfida del Soffritto-Pasquetta with Slow Food

The 6th Annual Disfida del Soffritto put together by Slow Food Irpinia Colline dell'Ufita e Taurasi was held this year in Savigano Irpino on Pasquetta, Easter Monday.  I had a chance to sit at the judges table to help decide which soffritto recipe was the best among those participating in the contest.  There were 9 teams representing 9 different counties spread throughout Alta Irpinia as well as a group as well as a first; Casa Greta, a team representing a home for the disabled in Vallata (Av).
The judging began at lunchtime so those of us who arrived early took a twirl around the various stands for a light brunch.  Then it was time to get down to business. Ten dishes using the basic recipe...pork and/or pork innards and peppers.  Each team then gave it their personal touch according to local traditions and family recipes...

Savignano Irpino

Ariano Irpino

Flumeri

Paternopoli

Grottaminarda

Casa Greta

Carife

Teora

Montecalvo

Taurasi

Wine?  When in Irpinia, Aglianico is the grape of choice.  At my table we shared a few bottles of Campi Taurasini 2009 from Luigi Tecce, Di Prisco, and Mier Vini as well as Taurasi DOCG 2007 from Cantine Lonardo and a 2008 from Cantine Caggiano...

It wasn't easy to choose, but in the end, the winning teams were Flumeri, who won the judges vote, and Carife who won the popular vote...



Congratulations, and we'll see you next year!

Italian Version