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 Mafalda and her famous figs | In the last few years, I had made a lot of preparation for my trip, but it appeared that the only place available for us to stay was at my cousin Adrianna Torchia’s house. I only had two addresses in Sersale to write to, and neither Adrianna or my other cousin, Teresa Riccio, have written to me more than once a year, so when Adrianna offered her house, we took it, something being better than nothing! Adrianna lives in the house that my great grandfather built in 1910. All of the cousins 40 and older, were born there, because the house was originally 5 separate apartments, and everyone lived in it. My grandfather had 5 brothers and sisters, and he was the only one that left Italy for America with his father. My grandfather was the oldest son, and HIS father was a bit irresponsible, so my grandfather ended up sending money home to Sersale for YEARS. Everyone else stayed in Italia, but a few did move to France eventually. The rest grew up in this same house. Everyone has moved out now, except Adrianna, and they all live in beautiful houses in the nearby area. Adrianna’s apartment was a kitchen, a large bedroom, a small one, and a bathroom. Also two terraces, both with great views. Adrianna told me her grandmother used to sit on the terrazzo, and cry for my grandfather, her boy, who she missed very badly. (note, no mention of her husband!) |
 Adrianna and Mimi | The apartment had a water heater, but its use was never offered to us (it was never plugged in, so I don’t even know if it worked), so we made do without. We washed as we could. After delighting in Rome with the convenience of the bidet, our cousin Adrianna’s bidet was in rough shape, so we didn’t use it. The house was very clean but sparsely furnished. Adrianna is about 43 years old, is the youngest child of my great uncle. Her mother died when Adrianna was a teenager, so she never married, and took care of her father until he died several years ago. After medical problems, she no longer has a job. So she’s not wealthy by any means, but is not starving either, as her expenses are quite low. She has an inheritance of some sort. So we stayed with her, at the "Casa Torchia." |
During the course of our visit, we were invited to stay with three other families for our next trip. THAT should be interesting. (how do you accept one without insulting the others!)
Breakfast was not much of an affair, but our hostess made it her business to make espresso for my husband and tea for me every morning. She always put out cookies (biscotti) that were tasty and perfect for dipping, but I eventually asked if I could have bread instead (and figs)
For every other meal we were at someone else’s house, eating INCREDIBLE meals which varied greatly. We finally had fresh sardines, about the size of smelt (I have been hearing about them for years) they were tasty and crispy.
We watched with fascination as cousins threw thin fillets of meat onto a pan without oil, and then added oil for the last minutes! One cousin made her rigatoni by boiling the water dry, and then serving the (perfect) pasta.
 House of Giuseppe Mercuri (la cena) We ate veal, beef, chicken, pork, sole, salmon, and clams. I asked for but did not get goat meat (Probably just a matter of not enough time). We ate lots of different vegetables, with an emphasis on Pomodori, (Tomatoes), and Melanzana, (Eggplant). Everyone that served a tomato salad served it a little differently, we both love tomatoes and always scarfed up as much of them as we could! We had some fantastic roasted potatoes and some boring French fries. | |
House of Francesco Torchia, la pranza | |
 Giuseppe e Daniele with a few tomatoes | In general, they used a lot more salt than I am used to, but contrary to what I have heard about Calabrian cuisine, MOST of the food wasn’t really spicy. Piccante red peppers (Pepperoni) was used as accents, and an occasional pickled dish might be really spicy. But in general, most foods were not “hot”. CHEESE. Did you know that each town has its own unique cheeses? the first day in Sersale, Adrianna served us a special type of ricotta. its texture was more solid and sweeter than normal ricotta and it was made only in Sersale. No, you can’t even buy this stuff in Cerva, the next town over. No kidding! And bread. If I could have only taken 20 lbs of it home with us! There were a lot of different types. At one point, Adrianna served us a warm loaf of bread that her sister had made for us. It had been baked in a traditional oven; Forno al Legno. |
 Peppino in front of Fico di India Plant |
Did I mention figs and grapes? and Fico di India? Everyone had figs for us to try. And now, taste one from THIS tree. No, this tree is different. try one from That tree now… And the grapes. Everyone had table grapes, wine grapes, and some for both. What zingy tasty grapes. At one table, (early on) I ignored the grapes. Finally my cousin said “ have you tried these? I grew them” They were so huge and perfect that I never imagined they might be home produce. And of course, they were delicious. Fico di India, for those of whom don’t know, is a cactus, similar to what you can find in the American southwest, with roundish peachy pink fruit. if they are hot when you eat them, they are insipid. but if they are cold, they are delicious. Some of these trees (cactus) had trunks over a foot around. OLD TREES. Now I am not the biggest of olive eaters. I like them, but they are very salty to my taste so I cannot eat very many at a time. I now have about 10 pounds of them in my fridge and there are a couple varieties that I found to be excellent even to my tastes. All of them are home-prepared from family owned trees. We also were given some preserved eggplant, and of course, olive oil. |