UMBRIA the People , the Places , the Food CHRISTINE SMALLWOOD
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Selected Press Review AN APPETITE FOR UMBRIA The People , the Places , The food CHRISTINE SMALLWOOD FOLIGNO Foligno , Umbria’s third largest town ( after Perugia and Terni ) , lies between branches of the Via Flaminia and the Topino river and has been a town of trade and industry since Roman times . More unexpectedly perhaps, it is one of the few historic towns of trade and industry since Roman times. More unexpectedly perhaps , it is one of the few historic towns not sited on a hilltop. In 1470 , only six years after the fi rst books were printed in Italy , German printers arrived in Foligno with their presses and printed the fi rst Italian book , Dante’s Divina Commedia . More recently , Foligno was badly bombed in the Second World War , although it remains a busy commercial centre. IL BACCO FELICE Salvatore Denaro Il Bacco Felice Opening Hours: 12.00 - 16.00 Via Garibaldi 73/N and 18.00 - 24.00 Foligno Closet: Mon T:+39 0742 341 019 Holiday : Easter and Christmas +39 33566 22659 Covers: 28 No smoking, or use of mobile phones. “ The wine that I like has soul : it doesn’t just respect its label but its grape .” The translation of enoteca , “wine bar “, clearly doesn’t begin to do justice to Salvatore Denaro’s extraordinary establishment and its passionate , expansive owner , a wine lover for 43 of his 46 years. When you ask Salvatore to suggest a wine from his cellar , he knows them all well enough to fi nd a superb one , to suit not just your food but your mood . In fact if you just went for the wine , il Bacco Felice would never be a wasted visit .But add traditionally cooked food , sourced with a zeal for purity , taste and variety – often grown by Salvatore himself - and you have a culinary treasure that rises way above the bland implications of the term “wine bar”. But there’s no pretension in Il Bacco Felice . To prove it , there’s no menu . However , when he isn’t tasting the food and wine , bursting into song at regular intervals , and encouraging an atmosphere so relaxed that guests get up and carve themselves some ham when he is otherwise engaged , or walk around tables looking for leftover wine that is the same as theirs , Salvatore and his staff will be delighted to describe , animatedly , what’s on offer today . He selection of dishes changes every few days , but that’s hardly surprising . Salvatore relies on fresh , seasonal produce that spends as little time as possible in the fridge and no time at all in the freezer. Il Bacco Felice means The Happy Bacchus , an image of wine and laughter Salvatore loves – and encourages . But don’t let the almost daily party atmosphere mislead you. The food , like wine , is sought out with enormous care. It is cultivated , chosen and cooked with an attention to detail that attracts diners and drinkers not just from the region but from as far afi eld as Germany, Holland, Belgium , the Us- even Australia and Japan . The establishment is small with an unprepossessing exterior , but has a steadfast following of regulars and both venue and owner www.arnaldocaprai.it have huge reputations. In fact given its popularity , it is a marvel of compactness , to put it mildly . Getting into the main the main dining area involves fi nding your way through an anteroom , rows of bottles , bowls of drying chillies and past the kitchen where the host can often be seen slurping a glass of wine while turning the meat on the grill or chopping up vegetables . The kitchen itself is tiny ( if a couple of guests wander in it’s full ) and yet , somehow , quite extraordinary food comes out of it. Once they do fi nd a table , how the guests all fi t into Salvatore’s wine bar is something of a mystery , let alone how they fi nd the room to add their comments to the many scribbled on the walls. Salvatore positively approves of this epidemic of graffi ti , which is hardly surprising : it’s his enthusiasm for seeking out authenticity and fl avour that inspires the uniformly approving messages . As he says : “ What’s important in a recipe is the standard of the basic ingredients . Tomatoes , aubergines and garlic are all life choices”. He adds “ Today I was sent salt from Sicily and garlic - a particular garlic from Nubia , a small village next to Trapani. It smells amazing .” Similarly the cheese served could be any of a number cultivated in a time - honoured fashion for hundreds of years : a Pecorino , says , from Sicily , Tuscany or Sardinia. He never buys from supermarket , but from trusted small producers . However , quality control is ever easier if you can grow your own produce. And he does that too. It’s all cultivated predominantly for the enoteca and arrives with Salvatore at the restaurant as the day begins. Luckily he has a big garden . “ I grow pumpkins , courgettes , artichokes , cardoons , wild chicory and a number a number of traditional wild Umbrian Umbrian herbs , “ he says , adding that he loves cooking with his own home- grown chillies. This is no casual boast : he grows ( at the last count ) 55 different types of chilli , not to mention 54 types of tomato and black and white mulberries that he uses to make jams for tarts . He also raises chickens - chickens that he agrees are smaller , lighter and take a lot longer to mature than their industrially produced counterparts but which are consequently delicious . If they’re on the menu , try them , he says , cooked with chillies and truffl es . if not , make sure you’re there when they are . It’s worth the wait. And them there are the pigs. Visitors to Salvatore’s home near Bevagna who fi nd their way past the Charles Heidseck champagne buckets , piles of boxes , feed bags , Tommy the cat , Rosa the dog and, bizarrely , a US mail box , cannot fail to notice the pigs. They’re fed a mixture of grains and chickpeas , showered twice a day with a hosepipe and given their very own cherry tree from which they love to pick morsels , standing up on their hind legs. And of course , they taste wonderful - or they did until he grew so fond of them that he no longer had the heart to slaughter them . He now keeps them as pets. Nevertheless , using his own or equally fi ne porcine examples , he has gained a reputation for production of quite superior pork dishes - one of which may have inspired the customer who called him “ the king of pork or the king of cork”. Salami especially is a subject dear to his heart . “ it’s very hard to make good salami, “ he explains. “ The colour is often good , but that doesn’t guarantee fl avour . In fact I don’t believe you can fi nd good salami in shops any more . The salami I make with a friend uses the whole pig and it’s made without preservatives . It has the taste and that is what matters”. His Knowledge of local foods is astonishing - all the more so when you realise that Umbria is not his place of birth - or ever upbringing . In fact , he fi rs stopped there on is way from home in Sicily to study economics. He may not come from Umbria but he does know a cooking culture when he sees one: “The cooking that you fi nd in Umbria is long - established but also creative , innovative cooking that represents colour, sensations - all the necessary techniques of cooking - yet still maintains its soul , “ he says .” Cooking is still centred around the olive here ; and the olive and its oil are very important to me . Also , the wild seasonal vegetables are astoundingly good”. Had the Slow Food movement not existed , you feel the Salvatore Denaro’s evangelical championing of small specialist producers might , on its own have spread the word . As it is , he is a member of , and actively proselytises for , a movement that has helped to ensure the survival of producers of once endangered joys such as Trasimeno beans , Tuscan salami or capocollo made in Puglia www.arnaldocaprai.it with almond shells . And the message is getting across . Small producers are fi nding a market through Salvatore and like – minded restaurant and bar owners . And he sees hope for the quality that is his obsession . .” Agriculture has become industrial . Our entire food system has changed to one in which there are no longer any smell , colours or fl avours , “He says “ In big towns there a re still small specialist shops but everything else keeps getting bigger and less interesting : “ standard” in fact . But I think we have begun to realise that the true riches are in the earth “. And with produce this good you don’t need to over - elaborate . Highlights from the kitchen , and his marvellous cooks Giulita and Tiziana , include a dish of pork cooked with olive oil and white wine, served with boiled , sliced and oiled potatoes and green beans. Or a handful of Salvatore’s home - grown vegetables and herbs , boiled and sautéed in a pan with chillies in oil and added to grilled or over - cooked lamb. Or quite sensational stuffed courgettes . Or a simple but mouth - watering chicken and potato tart. Salvatore is a passionate about his wine bar . His commitment is such that for the fi rst seven of its 12 years he ran it by himself - working until two in the morning and sleeping above it . Even now he often puts in more hours than many of us would spend awake.