Eraclea… one of my places of the heart, andin cittat of sea ​​and great green views in provincia di Venezia with whom I have had a strong relationship for years. A recall It dictated not only from my origins. In fact, i perfumes of its large pine and the nostalgia ofthe my long walks at dawn by the sea, They bring me there often, for experience the region restoresmembrane the right balance. Simple and natural well-being, and a touch of poetry that is good for the soul. But poetry breaks easily! Sì, especially when feedback that importantthe reality locals are ignored by many. I do not mean some tourists, in ad some people actively involved in the economies of surrounding municipalities that snub and underestimate the potential of this place. and aNutile campanilismo it does no good to the territory. Eh sì, here we go again…

Thea reality that I mean is that of a walnut grove of more than 140 ha, the first private producer of walnuts in Italy: 'Cuor di Noce' Tenuta La Spiga Eraclea. An oasis uncontaminated of great scenic beauty born in the early '900 driven by Alessandro Gaggia, natural heir of the founder family. A highlight of the Veneto region which in recent decades has been characterized in Italian walnut plantations with well 757 hectares of plants. The most common varieties are California's Chandler and Lara French.

Alessandro Gaggia, nell'accompagnarmi visiting the Tenuta, He told me about the reclamation work in the early '900 has allowed us to recover well 3.650 hectares of land for agriculture and livestock. It was the great-grandfather Achille the author of this activity, which over time we have become a thriving farm specializing in the cultivation of walnuts. A closed-end fund that protect nature and safeguard the flora and native fauna. A really nice spot to sustainable farming practices and innovative techniques go hand in hand. Recently forty cameras were placed on the trees along the probes into the soil transmit data to understand the needs of plant.

But now let's talk about nuts ...

The Walnut - scientific name Juglans regia – It is a majestic tree and longevity of Asian origin. Its fruit, la Noce, It is contained in the husk, External green and fleshy part that opens to maturation. The part that we all know is the kernel, the delicious seed of the fruit from the many properties. The Veneto produces 30% National product. Venice – considered the capital of walnut – It produces a third of Venetian production.

Collection : nel mese di September is now harvest time! Every year between September and November, when the husk darkens and tends to break, It proceeds to the collection of nuts which then must be dried on racks outdoors.

Property : Nuts are great allies of the welfare of our bodies for their beneficial nutritional properties. They are rich in vitamins, antioxidants, omega 3 and minerals. Their regular consumption prevents cardiovascular diseases and helps to lower the cholesterol 'bad'. They are energetic and counteract high blood pressure.

daily consumption : tKing walnuts per day and levi the doctor away! However, being very caloric must not exaggerate. Three nuts a day, approximately 15 grams, behave 100 kilocalorie.

storage : theand nuts do not like the heat or humidity, then they should be stored in a cool place, dry place away from heat.

With or without the shell? With the shell I'd say that's a different story! It has a higher retention and quality assurance, thus avoiding risks of oxidation and contamination of mold.

A curiosity: the walnut shells ground into powder are used in the restoration sector blasting of delicate paintings and wooden works.

And in the kitchen ... I've done with walnuts pesto!

Easy to prepare and delicious on pasta. It is obtained by blending 50 grams of washed and dried basil on a towel, joined two garlic cloves, 6 walnuts and a pinch of coarse salt.

Next add 100 ml of good extra virgin olive oil, 5 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese and 2 pecorino. Blend all the ingredients until the mixture is smooth to refrigerate. A real treat of flavors and fragrances!

Tenuta La Spiga - Cuor di Noce www.cuordinoce.it

Via Sette Casoni, 4 place. Torre di Fine - Eraclea (AND)

Per me non c’è mare senza pineta. For this, quando anni fa ho scoperto Eraclea Mare, un tratto costiero in provincia di Venezia con un polmone verde a ridosso della spiaggia, la scintilla è subito scoccata. Ogni volta che torno a Treviso, richiamata dalle mie origini e dai ricordi d’infanzia, una tappa qui è d’obbligo.

Una località la cui attività turistica va a pari passo con il rispetto della natura. Un luogo ideale in cui riposarsi vivendo il mare e praticando attività fisica. Chi sceglie Eraclea Mare per qualche giorno di vacanza non ama ‘il rumore’ che spesso è costretto a vivere nei luoghi di villeggiatura. Cerca solo tranquillità, percorsi verdi, spiagge pulite e mare limpido.

Un’oasi verde dell’Adriatico con oltre tremila pini adulti a ombrello aperto (pinus plinea), per vivere il mare e la natura trovando sollievo dalla calura estiva. Un’area naturale dai tanti itinerari da percorrere a piedi o in bicicletta.

Un biosistema nato da una grande bonifica. Fu infatti verso la fine dell’800 che il territorio eraclense, allora sommerso dall’acqua per ben oltre il 70%, fu soggetto ad opera di prosciugamento. Un intervento che si concluse al termine della Grande Guerra.

Attraverso un sentiero sterrato percorribile all’ombra della Pineta si può arrivare alla Laguna del Mort, un Sito di Interesse Comunitario (SIC) di ben 125 ha, caratterizzato da dune e da un’elevata presenza faunistica che è possibile osservare all’interno di capanne per il “birdwatching”.

Eraclea Mare, una terra dai molti scenari chiamata la “Perla Verde della costiera adriatica“, da vivere anche in autunno, con le atmosfere uniche che questa stagione ci regala.

The recipe : “Bigoli vellututata of sauce with leeks and fried bread”

Come diceva William Shakespeare, there is a story in the life of all men, and hear is my passion.  A few nights ago, sitting next to Kim and Gianni Serandrei, on the 50th 'anniversary of the Restaurant "La Caravella”,  I spent a pleasant evening listening to the story of a Venetian family in a city that always fills me with eyes, the heart and soul ...

“Without memories, we are nothing. So it is with the people. The Italians are the sum of experiences in History. If you lose, returns to be confused that the common people have no voice. So it is with wine and food and wine. The kitchen becomes poor that wealth, wine farmers who becomes DOC. This too is History. Our roots gave birth to the Italian people, with its traditions, with his creativity, with its excellence known in the world”. Giorgio Ferrari, Professor of Contemporary History

Era l’anno 1905 when Zoe Lustig of Hungarian origin, and Ugo Serandrei, Born in Pisa, but moved to Venice, married. They rented a small pension of eight rooms, which they called "International" and began the hotel business.

Ugo, once returned from the Great War, together with his son Renzo he devoted himself to the hotel amplifying and enhancing it. In 1908 nasceva l’Hotel Saturnia & International. Saturnia, Virgil's ancient name of Italy.

Located in the heart of the city, between Piazza San Marco and the Accademia Galleries, the hotel was the ideal meeting point to return, after the war, to that desire for normality that would allow to talk again of art and culture. Under the guidance of Renzo Serandrei, Thus was born the Ciro’s bar, famous club at the time attached to the hotel, who had the honor of welcoming the likes of Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.

In 1963 another turning point. Ciro's bar was transformed by Renzo, great lover of cooking, in the restaurant "La Caravella"So named for the interior who reported memory environments characteristic of an ancient sailing vessel.

The creativity of Renzo, man in constant search, meant that the restaurant might acquire for twenty-five consecutive years, the Michelin star. Fifty years of history and tradition: 1963 – 2013.

The continuity in the family has meant that, after the death of Renzo, follow the activities the child Alberto.  From 2012 The hotel is run by Ugo Serandrei assisted by his sons, fourth generation of the family: Marianna, Gianni, Greta e-Zoe Kim.

From 2000 a new challenge, the’Hotel Ca’ Pisani that, Kim told me how Serandrei, is inspired by the principles of "Design Hotels" reinterpreting the art deco style in a contemporary. Being a passionate story that retrieves antique pieces here and there, I was struck by how, with patience, Beds have collected original '30s and '40s, all different from each other.

Chatting sitting next to Kim, I have noticed his ability to "look beyond". Not all have the, is a skill that you purchase through the difficulties… which gives richness of mind and sensibility. Suddenly, while I told him about my habit of collecting rocks and stones in memory of the places I visit, mi have detto: "Cynthia guess? My mother is a geologist!”

Rossana Serandrei Barbero, a woman to the ground in a seaside town. I asked the reason for his choice of life, and, consequently his extensive studies related to the foundations of Venice, I updated the state of health of the city.

• My choice of life is easily explained. As a teenager I was madly in love with the mountain, of the rocks and, for extension, dell'arrampicata. I joined because I wanted to be a geologist geology in Tierra del Fuego. I studied for forty years underground in Venice and I can say that his health, compatibly with age, It can be described as good. Rossana Serandrei Barbero

During our talk of land and sea, that evening, celebrating fifty years of the history of "La Caravella", it Chef Silvano Urban told us about his cooking simple and respectful of tradition and high quality raw materials.

“Today we talk about food in many ways: we move from show food to the food art, from media food to the concept food up to the food design. In my view the time has come to back to basics, or to a kitchen in which the research is based precisely on the study of product, without vulgarity, without excess and the desperate attempt to spettacolizzare at all costs.”

At the end of my story I want to bring the recipe for the main dish chosen by Chef Silvano Urban, a dish of traditional.

Bigoli and salsa, served warm with creamed leeks and fried bread

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

• 200 g of onions;
• half a cup of olive oil;
• sale as just;
• 300 g of dark bigoli (whole wheat spaghetti);
• 75 g of salted anchovies;
• a pinch of pepper;
• bread crumbs.

Procedure:

Peel the onions and slice finely. Then, pour half the oil in a pan and add the onions; let them dry on low heat. Bake in covered container, for about 15 minutes, wetting the onions occasionally with a little 'water (not more than a glass throughout), stirring the mixture until it will be reduced to a pulp. Meanwhile, put on the fire water for cooking pasta: just bubbles, add salt and the pasta.

When the onions are cooked, add the anchovies previously washed, desalted and boned; mash with a fork repeatedly, until a brown sauce. Then turn off the heat and add the remaining oil to the sauce, mixing. Drain bigoli, rovesciateli in a bowl, toss with the sauce and the fried bread crumbs.

Cut into rounds 200 grams of leek; let it dry with a little olive oil and a little water. Correct the mixture of salt and when it is cooked, whisk all getting a soft cream, but sustained, that will accompany the recipe. Finally, completed the dish with bread crumbs and fried extra virgin olive oil

The addition of the last ingredient, or leeks, aims to mitigate the strong taste of anchovies. "It 'a dish explained by the same chef,  that makes no compromises with modern culinary visions ".

Venice, unique city in the world ... Some people love it and some people hate it. For me it was love at first sight, Venice because it fills you eyes… Wherever you look you see art, history and beauty. Come dice Friedrich Nietzsche, if I were to find a word that replaces music, I could only think of Venice.

The paths in this magical city are many ... Best History, of art, di culture. In my last visit, however,, I wanted to privilege in a particular location… a path of taste!

That said, as I say ... ready, via!

After my usual walk walking the street in Venice, I went to visit a friend met at a dinner in Milan, Alberto Fol, Executive Chef at the Restaurant La Cusina dell’Holtel The Westin Europa& Regina. This historic hotel overlooking the Grand Canal, born from the union of five ancient palaces of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Alberto was born in Treviso, but thanks to the hotel of the parents in the Belluno Dolomites, grew up breathing the mountain air. It all started from there, the passion for cooking, by nature, for producers who follow sustainable farming practices, for ancient flavors, for tradition…

As for all of us, There are people in our memory that have influenced our choices. His grandfather, bringing a child in the garden, introduced him to the true taste of vegetables freshly picked. I myself have similar memories and unforgettable, like the taste of freshly picked tomatoes from my grandmother in the countryside in Treviso, Red and meaty… indelible memories etched in memory that take us back to the rural world, Earth.

Together with his second, the shy and introverted Chef Riccardo Porracin,  I spent a pleasant evening tasting the delicious dishes prepared by him, e conoscendo l’uomo appassionato che pian piano le mie provocazioni scherzose hanno fatto emergere. Davanti a noi un suggestivo scenario della Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute illuminata dalla luna.

But that's not all, because my journey of taste is continued the next day all’Antinoo’s Lounge & Restaurant del Centurion Palace Hotel.  Its name is due to a currency Antinoo found during the work that led to the opening of the hotel overlooking the Grand Canal. On arrival I hit the front with a strong Venetian Gothic style, entering the cozy garden with ivy and bamboo plants, and the entrance of the hall a crystal chandelier shaped gondola! Spectacular!

To welcome the kind Micaela Scapin Press Office, and Massimo Livan Executive Chef.  I came back to mind the words of Richard Porracin the previous day: “Cynthia, Massimo is a big talker, your equal say, if not more!” Challenge I said to myself, challenge I won! 😉 But to get me to shut up Massimo easily found the way, its excellent tasting menu has meant that my concentration was dedicated to the creativity of its dishes.

As I often say, sit at a table and enjoy food and wine, is a true celebration of the products of the Earth, led by the cook through experience and wisdom gained.

 I am convinced that we can create a great dish even using only two ingredients. The skill of a chef is also measured in the ability to dare, experience, ingegnarsi. Massimo Livan