Summer night in Montefoscoli

Summer night in Montefoscoli

Montefoscoli is a little village, the village where I live, and each year there is a festival.

Every year the topic of this festival changes, this is year the theme is “Live in Montefoscoli in the year 1900”

The inhabitants of Montefoscoli wear strange costumes and hairstyles, the women wear a long brown skirt and brown shirt, their hair is gathered in a chignon.

The men instead wear brown trousers and plaid shirts.

The whole village is festooned with bales of hay and olive tree branches and around Montefoscoli you can feel the atmosphere of  the early 20th century.

This year the festival was held on 20^th of August, but every year the date changes.

During the day there were performances, the inhabitants marched through Montefoscoli.

In the evening there was a dinner around the village, you could eat at very peculiar tables, bales of hay transformed in table and chair .. It was a fantastic idea! The people who came to eat found this thing amazing!

You could taste classic Tuscan foods, like “zuppa”(cabbage soup), “trippa” (tripe)  “tortellini alla montefoscolese” (tortellini with cream and tomatoes), “lasagne”, grilled bread and grilled meat; and delicious desserts like “tiramisu” (cocoa powder mascarpone, Italian cheese, and Pavesini buiscuits), “torta della nonna” (grandma's cake, with cream and pine-kernels).

After the dinner in the upper part of Montefoscoli some guys played the guitar and sang, instead in the lower part of the village some girls danced.

All those who went to Montefoscoli this day were happy, because by now no one organises this kind of festival any more! 

                                 Asia Giuliotti

The White Night of Bientina (Notte Bianca)

The "White Night" is an occasion for the shops to be opened all night. This event comes once a year, in June. The purpose of this event is to show and sell the products, it's like an incentive for the people to buy, seeing the dramatic situation that we are living in our country at the moment. In my town, Bientina, this occasion presents a different theme every year: 


               Two years ago the theme was Hawaiian,

last year the theme was Western, 

instead this year the theme was Ancient Rome.

 

This occasion isn't only celebrated in the city center, but along every street of the town. Seeing that it's a themed night, everybody takes part in the theme dressing up. The buildings are decorated with lights, music and various decorations, in this way the occasion takes colour! Everybody is welcome to participate to buy products and taste the traditional foods of Tuscany that every shop has to offer on their stands outside every shop. It really feels as if travelling back in time and to live the ancient civilization. The nice thing about it is that every year it's a surprise for everybody, because the theme is announced a few days before, so that the shopkeepers and the citizens can prepare themselves in time. You never know what to expect until that day.

 Benedetta Perotti

Panzanella

 PANZANELLA

Panzanella is the name of a Tuscan summer dish; a poor dish that was eaten by the farmers, who were working in the fields all day long.The main ingredients are: stale bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, basil, salt, pepper, vinegar and oil.

Ingredients

- 15  leaves of basil
- salt
- black pepper

- 400g of bread

-1 cucumber

- 3 spoon of white wine vinegar

- 1 big red onion

- extra virgin olive oil

-2 tomatoes

To prepare Panzanella you should peel and cut the red onions into thin slices(1) and put them soaking in a small bowl with some water and 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar (2), for at least two hours. Peel a cucumber too (3).




Cut it into thin washers and put them aside (4). At the end wash and cut the tomatoes into small pieces (5). Take four slices of Tuscan bread and remove the crust with a knife (6).




Wet them in a solution of water and vinegar without drenching it too much (7). When the bread is soft, squeeze it and break it with the hands and put it in a salad bowl (8). Drain the red onions (9).




Mix them with the bread (10) add tomatoes (11)  and cucumbers (12), 




and some hand chopped basil (13). Mix gently all the ingredients with a spoon.  Flavor the panzanella with some extravergin olive oil, and some salt and pepper too (14). Let the Panzanella rest in the fridge for at least one hour. The Panzanella is ready! (15)

                                                                                        Beatrice Landi

Pagnifico

                                                             

The place where I like going out for dinner is Pagnifico.
Pagnifico is a typical italian restaurant; you can eat pizza, pasta, meat and something really special, and the menu is very reasonably priced.
The chef is friendly and funny, you can speak with him while he cooks. If you want to eat pizza you can see the chef while he rolls out your pizza, because he makes it in front of you.
The dining area, which is upstairs, is really nice.
The waiters are very friendly and helpful.
I went there with my friends on saturday night, it's in Montefoscoli so it is near my home!
The atmosphere is relaxed and it is a very quiet restaurant.
I have recommend Pagnifico to many people over the years.

                                                                                          Asia Giuliotti

 

 

 

" DA REMO "
My favourite restaurant is "Da Remo", which is located in Monsummano Terme. I went there for my first time with my dad. The restaurant is very nice and cozy, it has some big rooms inside and a terrace outside to have dinner outdoors in the summer. It is very expensive but it is very beutiful for a ceremony or something special. The atmosphere is very relaxed and the waiters are very kind. The kitchen offers typical tuscans dishes and if you want you can eat pizza too, because it is also a pizzeria. My favourite dish is "penne with scampi ", pasta with a kind of seafood called prawn in English, which is very good. It's delicious! 

La Montacchita in Forcoli

My favourite restaurant is " La Montacchita" in Forcoli, near Pontedera. I went to Montacchita restaurant when I was 5 years old with my family, my cousins, my grandparents and now I often go to Montacchita with my friends because for me it is a special place. It Is a traditional Italian restaurant with a lot of Tuscan products. My favourite dish is "zuppa" where you can eat vegetables, beans and bread together: these foods are very important for our Mediterranean diet.

By Elisa Bilancia