This weekend one of our good friends, Saverio and his wife, Pina have invited us to their lovely farm in the picturesque Sassetta on the Tuscan coast. Annette hasn't seen Saverio for five months as he has had a double attack of cancer and some major surgery. He's lost twenty kilos and nearly died, but fortuntely now is making a good recovery.
An early start on the Saturday morning means we have several hours to relax on the beach before joining our hosts. We decide on Riva degli Etruschi, which turns out to be our last visit of the summer. As ever it's a sunny morning, but the sea a bit cooler. We enjoy our morning and packed lunch and then head up the hill to Sasetta to meet Saverio. It's great to see him in such good spirits after his operation, he looks a lot thinner and treats us to a pre-dinner prosecco at his local bar. He escorts us to his farmhouse to a waiting Pina. She has been busy preparing a banquet for this evening with her sister and brother-in-law. the farm looks great, Saverio has cleared some ground ready to plant some new olive trees and he shows us some other fruit trees and picks us some figs and pears. the chickens are running all over the place and we fire up his new outdoor oven, which he has had built along with a large outside seating area and is the size of a small house!
We catch up on all the latest gossip before beginning our feast...
The menu goes something like this...
Home made schiacciata (which Annette has helped to make)
Cucumber relish and pecorino cheese
ham and cream canelloni
Baked Cinghiale and roast potatoes
Chestnuts soaked in rum
freshly picked pears and more pecorino
All washed down with our Vernaccia di San Gimignano white and Nipozzano red wines
Sunday
Am and we drive to nearby Castagneto Carducci for a cappuccino and pastry breakfast in an outside bar. I indulge in a little wine tasting and purchase a couple of bottles of the local red Bolgheri wine. On our drive back to Sasetta we bump into Giovanni, a local steel worker we met at Saverio's May 1st party last year. He treats us to a prosecco and a little pre-lunch gossip. Pina has returned to the farm with her sisters and is cooking up a banquet lunch to compete with last nights feast.
Menu no. 2
Antipasto- Prawn cocktail and anchovies
Primo - Farfalle with Scorfano fish
Secondo - Mormore fish and potatoes
Dessert - pears, fresh figs, chocolate cake and Spumante.
Happy birthday Saverio!
Suvereto and Bolgheri
Suvereto and Bolgheri
And so it's goodbye to Saverio and Pina. We promise to come back and help tyhem with the olive harvest... we drive on to a small town called Suvereto, which turns out to be a real gem of a place. There is a Sunday market on, so the walled town is packed. We meet a Scottish guy who lives here, called Alan. He is selling little wooden toys on one of the stalls. We stop at an outside bar and enjoy a glass of wine from local winery, 'La Tua Rita' and soak up the great atmosphere here.
Next we drive onto the town of Bolgheri. Even though we've driven down the famous avenue of cypresses several times we've never actually been to the town at the top. Today we fix that and very pretty it is too! There are some little windy streets and several small squares with many enotecas selling the famous Bolgheri wine, the Giosue Carduuci museum and some pretty impressive views of the countryside. We have a pleasant time here before heading home after our wonderful weekend.
