Author: La Ciociara

I was born in the U.S., but my heart belongs to Italy. I have developed this blog to talk about all things Italian, including travel, art, food, history, and life in general. I lived in Italy when I was a child, in Milano, went to first grade there, and, even though I was so young, it has left quite an impression on me. In fact, to this day I have been trying to find my way back to a life there, but having a family makes it a not so easy thing! Of course, I go there every chance I get, having my father's side of the family there, mostly in the Lazio region which is in central Italy. By the way, here's a bit of useless information - my name, Marcia, means belonging to the Roman god Mars. In Italian, it's actually spelled Marzia, but my name is in Portuguese.

The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci, Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan

The Last Supper Tickets, Milan

Posted on March 19, 2022 by La Ciociara

***This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links at no extra cost to you

With Last Supper Tickets Guaranteed Reservation and Entrance Tickets you will be able to see Da Vinci’s masterpiece, The Last Supper, in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Milan. Learn the history of the celebrated, 15th-century mural, and about the groundbreaking technique that Leonardo used when creating it.

In addition to skip-the-line-admission to the ‘The Last Supper,’ you can see the ‘Atlantic Codex,’ a 12-volume bound set of drawings and writings by Da Vince in the late fifteen and early sixteenth century, or go on a tour of Milan.

IMPORTANT: Last Supper Guaranteed Tickets are available only for certain dates and times. If you find a date and time combination that is convenient for you, consider completing your purchase right away as ticket availability can quickly change.

CLICK TO ORDER TICKETS: Da Vinci’s Last Supper Tickets, Milan

Palazzo Vecchio Tours, Florence

Posted on March 19, 2022 by La Ciociara

***This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links at no extra cost to you

The Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza della Signoria is one of Florence’s most famous buildings. It has been the symbol of this Renaissance capital’s political power for more than seven centuries and still serves as Florence’s City Hall.

The courtyards, official halls, and private apartments feature elaborately decorated ceilings and statues by such luminaries as Donatello and Michelangelo, giving a sense of the wealth of the Medici, Florence’s most powerful family during the height of the Renaissance.

Buy skip-the-line tickets and get access to the museum, the Salone de Cinquecento, and the underground excavations, and climb to the top battlements of the tower for magnificent views over the city.

CLICK TO ORDER TICKETS: Palazzo Vecchio Tours, Florence

How to Jar Tomatoes, Italian Style

Posted on July 27, 2021 by La Ciociara

Updated 07/27/21

When I was growing up, I always knew when it was almost the end of summer just by the smell of ground up tomatoes that filled the air. Yes, it was time to “do the tomatoes”, which meant that all the Italians on my block were busy grinding up tomatoes by the boxes and jarring them so that they would have homemade tomato sauce for the next year. And let me tell you, there’s nothing quite like eating homemade tomato sauce made from fresh tomatoes!

You can jar tomatoes anytime, but here in the Northeast they are harvested locally from mid-August to late September, and so are the freshest and cheapest to buy. A 20 lb. box of plum tomatoes yields about 9 jars of sauce. Make sure that the tomatoes are ripe. If they’re not, the sauce will be a little sour. Also, boil the jars or run them through the dishwasher before using them to kill any bacteria. You can reuse lids as long as the inner part that covers the jar has no scratches or rust on them.

Cover the table and chairs (if you’re using them) with a big garbage bag so that it will be a little easier to clean up afterwards by just removing the bag.

25 lb. Boxes of Tomatoes

Here are instructions on how we’ve always done it at home:

What you will need:
fresh basil leaves
box of salt
20 – 25 lb boxes of fresh plum tomatoes, depending on how many jars you’d like to make
Mason jars
tablespoon
ladle
sharp knife
2 or 3 large garbage bags
several large plastic bowls
2 or 3 large pots
towels, to clean up and also to wrap jars

1. Add about 3 fresh basil leaves and 1 T of salt to each jar.

Preparing the jars with salt and basil leaves

2. Using a sharp knife, cut the tomatoes in half or in quarters, depending on the size, so that they are easier to put into the strainer.

Cutting the tomatoes to make it easier to grind.

3. Place one bowl to catch the tomato liquid/sauce, and one to catch the ground up tomatoes under the tomato strainer. Keep replacing bowls as needed. Slowly put in pieces of tomatoes into the strainer and push down on them with accessory provided.

Dad grinding the tomatoes with an electric strainer/food mill

Grinding the Tomatoes for Sauce

4. When the bowl is full of ground up tomatoes, throw the ground up tomatoes into a garbage bag. Using a ladle, scoop up the tomato sauce from the other bowl and fill each jar with it, leaving about 1 inch empty on top to give it room to expand when boiling.

Tomato sauce consistency

5. Put each jar in a large pot then add enough water to cover up to where the tomato sauce is in the jar and boil for 20 minutes (see photo above and below).

Boiling pots of water with jars of fresh tomato sauce

6. Remove jars from the pot and place them in a warm oven. If there’s no more room to put them all in the oven, wrap jars with a towel.

As the jars cool, you will hear the tops of the lids “popping” as a vacuum is formed inside the jars. This is what preserves the tomato sauce for such a long time. You can then use the tomato sauce right out of the jar by heating it up, or adding meat, etc. to it.

Leave me a comment at the bottom if you’ve tried doing this and let me know how it worked out for you!

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Originally posted 10/20/17

Mangia Che Ti Fa Bene!! (Eat It, It’s Good For You!)

Posted on May 30, 2021 by La Ciociara

There’s nothing quite like eating a panino (small sandwich) of prosciutto sliced thinly and mouth-watering mozzarella made from buffalo milk, usually still warm when you buy it, while listening to the birds singing and the scent of jasmine and oleander wafting through the air. Just the thought of that makes me want to close my eyes and go, “Ahhhhhhhhhh…”, as I am transported back to Selvacava, standing on the balcony of my father’s house, looking at the other towns across the valley on a sunny summer day.

View from the balcony of my dad’s house in Selvacava, province of Frosinone

A lot can be said about Italian cuisine. For one thing, the idea that Italians cook with a lot of garlic is not true. Garlic has a wonderful taste but it should not overpower the main ingredients of the dish. Also, Italians (in Italy) don’t eat spaghetti with their meatballs. The meat usually is eaten after the pasta, as the main course.

In fact, much of what Americans consider to be Italian dishes actually originated in the United States with the many immigrants who came here from Italy at the end of the 1800’s to the early 1900’s. These Italians were mostly poor and once they saw that they could actually buy foods here that were out of the question in Italy because they were so expensive, they adapted their dishes to include all these delicious meats, fish, etc.

But, getting back to real Italian cuisine, it can be traced back to before the Roman Empire, over 2,000 years ago. It started out as Etruscan, but was greatly influenced by the Greeks. It has evolved much over the years with influences from such places as Northern Africa as well as Northern Europe. Northern Italian cuisine has been influenced by Germanic culture, while Southern Italy was influenced by the Arabs. As Italy formed independent city-states during the Middle Ages, each region developed its own cuisine, which is why there are so many differences in typical dishes from one area of Italy to another.

It is believed that what is known today as French cuisine was actually inspired and built upon Italian cuisine. It was introduced to France in the 1600’s by Catherine de’ Medici, of the wealthy and prominent Medici family that came to power in Florence in the 13th century, who brought her personal chefs with her when she married King Henry II.

Today’s Italian cuisine varies from region to region. Because the climate is colder the farther north you go and, therefore, olive groves are scarce, olive oil is not used as much to cook with in the north, but rather the dishes are cooked in butter or lard. Cream or cheese sauces, such as pesto, are popular instead of tomato sauces since most of the dairy farms can be found in regions such as Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna. Polenta and creamy risotto dishes are common, as is filled pasta such as ravioli and tortellini, and game meat dishes, such as rabbit, and osso buco.

Mushroom risotto

In the south, olive oil is almost always used to cook with, and the sauces are mostly tomato based and spicy, eg. pasta all’arrabbiata. Agriculture plays a major part in the food industry here due to the warmer climate, as well as fresh seafood. Dried pasta is eaten every day, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. Citrus fruits are grown in this part of Italy, along with wheat, olives, figs and peaches. The meat dishes tend to be of lamb, mutton, or pork.

Prepared lamb with rosemary, ready for cooking.

The cuisine from central Italy is what the rest of the world knows as Italian food. It is very simply made with few ingredients. The sauces are mostly tomato based and foods are cooked in olive oil. Meat dishes, as well as dried or fresh pasta, are eaten daily. This is where most of the well known cheeses and cured meats come from.

Fresh pasta

Hanging prosciutto

And by the way, it’s not gravy, it’s sugo (tomato sauce) or ragu (meat sauce)!

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Civita di Bagnoregio, Province of Viterbo

Civita di Bagnoregio – The Dying City

Posted on April 24, 2021 by La Ciociara

So a few weeks ago, while we were in the small town of Selvacava where my father was born, wondering what to do next, I had the brilliant idea of driving to Civita di Bagnoregio, a sort of “ghost town” in the lovely province of Viterbo, north of Rome. Not only was it 3 hours away but it was a very hot summer day, in the 90’s. I have to admit, it was worth it.

Civita di Bagnoregio, also known as “La Citta Che Muore”, or “The Dying City”, is an ancient town in an area called Tuscia, in the Tiber Valley, which was first settled by the Etruscans who chose this area because of the landscape – it is very hilly which made it easier to defend against invaders. It is also the birthplace of St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan monk born during the Middle Ages who became Cardinal and Bishop of Albano.

Tiber Valley

When the Etruscans settled here and in the surrounding towns, they built their fortressed towns on these hills made of “tuff”, a porous volcanic rock, and fragile clay, which unfortunately over the centuries have either broken off bit by bit due to landslides and earthquakes, or worn away from the rain. Many of the buildings in Civita are long gone and the land continues to erode, which is why the town is empty except for tourists and a few people who still live there year round, and is on the list of “100 of the Most Endangered Sites”. Thanks to the efforts of the mayor of Civita and the main town of Bagnoregio, tourists are now required to pay a small fee to cross the footbridge which is used to help preserve the town’s beauty. The regional government of Lazio has also pledged to invest in preserving this important site.

Looking towards the comune of Lubriano from Civita di Bagnoregio

The drive to the province of Viterbo from Selvacava is a long one on the Autostrada A1, which crisscrosses from Lazio into Umbria, but once you get off the Autostrada the road cuts through the peaceful countryside dotted with picturesque medieval towns such as Orte and Vitorchiano.

When you arrive in the main town of Bagnoregio, you find yourself driving along narrow cobblestone streets, as in many small towns in Italy, hoping that the oversized car you rented (which at the time seemed like a good idea with all the luggage you brought with you thinking about all the homemade cheese and olive oil you would take back with you) will not scrape along any of the buildings as you drive past them. It is a pretty little town filled with little shops and restaurants, and homes, most of which were built during the Middle Ages. There are not many hotels within the town itself but you can find many houses and apartments for renting short term in the surrounding towns.

In order to get to the actual site of the ghost town, which is a suburb of Bagnoregio, you have to drive all the way to the end of the road and park your car in a parking lot. Stop at the restroom (WC) now, if you have to, which by the way you have to pay to go in, because it is a long walk to get to the hill. From there you walk down to the ticket office, then walk along a long bridge to the hilltop because no cars are allowed at the site to prevent further damage, and believe me, when I say long I mean a long road going uphill all the way. There is even a small first aid cart that rides up and down this bridge in case someone is in distress. I had to stop a few times to drink some water and catch my breath!

Bagnoregio, Province of Viterbo, parking lot

Parking lot near ticket office

Town of Bagnoregio

Civita di Bagnoregio, view from the rest area

Front gate to one of the houses in Civita di Bagnoregio

Santa Maria doorway

As I walked within this medieval town on this hot and sunny afternoon, I felt like I was being transported back in time, only to be brought back by the sudden appearance of a souvenir store. There are also several cafes and small restaurants along the way, with tourists, many tourists, snapping photos and filling their water bottles at the water fountain in the piazza where the church of San Donato can be found.

Souvenir store in Civita di Bagnoregio, Province of Viterbo

Tourists hanging out in one of the cafes

Church of San Donato

Wooden door to one of the buildings

As I said before, I picked a very hot summer day to visit so it was not very pleasant walking up the long road. My advice is to go during the spring or fall when temperatures are a little cooler.

For tour arrangements, go to Civita di Bagnoregio Tours.

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Blueberry-Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Posted on May 23, 2020 by La Ciociara

I made the best blueberry-lemon cake recipe I ever had the other day. It was so moist it melted in my mouth and it is so easy to make. I used a Betty Crocker yellow cake mix, fresh blueberries, and freshly-squeezed lemon juice. Yumm! I also baked it in a bundt cake pan, which makes it look even prettier.

Pasta with Zucchini

Posted on April 2, 2020 by La Ciociara

When I feel like having pasta for dinner but don’t want to have it with sauce or any meat, I love to eat pasta with zucchini.

This is a simple recipe to follow. I like to use Goya Chicken Bouillon but if you don’t have any bouillon on hand you can use salt, or you can also replace it with chicken or vegetable stock.

Church of Santa Maria di Correano

Posted on February 15, 2020 by La Ciociara

The church of Santa Maria (or La Madonna) di Correano is located in Ausonia, in an area known as the land of fairies, or La Regione Delle Fate, named after a mysterious underground cave, La Grotta Delle Fate, which contains a tomb-like structure believed to be in honor of a divinity of the Etruscan people who lived here in ancient times.

The church is believed to have been built sometime in the 11th century on the site of an ancient Roman villa, although according to local stories, this church is the first church that was built outside of Rome. It is said that St. Peter was brought here by Roman soldiers to preach to the local people after landing on the shore of Scauri, about 15 minutes away.

Augustus Caesar had a villa in this area and would often come here with senators to discuss important matters. In fact there were documents signed by him which were stored in the local library in Ausonia but unfortunately were lost or destroyed during WWII.

Pillar in front of the church of Santa Maria di Correanowith inscription "Augustali Colonia... Neronensis Claudia"

Pillar in front of the church with inscription “Augustali Colonia… Neronensis Claudia”

It is rumored that the sarcophagus in front of the church contained either the wife of Emperor Nero or one of his daughters.

Sarcophagus in front of the church

Inside the church you will find an altar which is believed to have belonged to the Convent of San Martino, a wooden statue of the Madonna and Child, and frescoes that were painted during the 14th century.

Church altar

Wooden statue of the Madonna and Child

Fresco inside the church

While it was being restored, an ancient Roman road was discovered underneath the church.

Ancient Roman road.

For travel arrangements, go to Travel and Tourism.

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Salted Cod (Baccala) Croquettes, (also known as bolinho de bacalhau in Portuguese)

Codfish Croquettes

Posted on June 6, 2019 by La Ciociara

Usually, I write about Italian food and recipes, but this time I decided to post a recipe that is very popular on my mother’s side of the family, which is Brazilian and Portuguese, as well as Italian.

This is a recipe made with salted cod, dried codfish which has been cured in salt. It is known as baccala in Italian, and bacalhau in Portuguese. You can usually find salted cod at any market. It is especially popular around Christmas and Lent.

The Mysterious Montagna Spaccata in Gaeta

Posted on May 10, 2019 by La Ciociara

The mysterious sea grotto of Montagna Spaccata, or Split Mountain, is a natural wonder found on Monte Orlando, a protected natural park in Gaeta.

According to local stories, God was so distraught at the crucifixion of Christ that He made the earth shake and let out a lightning bolt which created three giant cracks in this mountain. The Sanctuary of Santissima Trinità, or Holy Trinity, was built during the 11th century by the Benedictine monks to honor this event.