Parmegiano-Reggiano

Ahh, Parma! In the Emiglia Romagna, capital of amazing food, home of Parmeggiano-Reggiano cheese, Procuitto de Parma, and traditional Balsamic vinegar. All of these products have DOP protection, which means each individual item is examined and approved by the consortzio before being labeled as genuine. Up first, Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese.

The cheese is made from cow milk, a blend of skimmed milk from the morning and whole milk fromthe night before. Each of these vats is conical, half recessed into the concrete floor. The exterior is stailess steel, with a copper lining. 1,200 liters of milk is contained within. One full vat produced two wheels of cheese, so there are 600 liters of milk used in the production of each wheel of Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese. The time of day the cows are milked, the exact diet they are fed, and the area in which they are raised are all strictly controlled by the consortzio.


A very small (about 4 tablespoons) amount of rennet is added to each vat, and a long, whisk-like device is used to break the curds into very fine grains by hand. Once the curdling is complete, a paddle is used to reach into the vat and pry the cheese curds up from the bottom of the cone. Then, the two guys pictured above very carefully slip linen under the mass, and tie the linen to a pole.The mass at this time weighs upwards of 100 pounds. The pole is then slowly propped up by slipping shivs under each side until the cheese is out of the liquid to drain. Nothing is wasted- the leftover whey and fat are made into butter.

Also, they do not refer to this process as "making cheese", they instead say they are helping to "deliver a newborn Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese into the world". That's quite a lot of dedication.

After draining, the cheese is placed into these adjustable plastic molds, with a plastic "stamp" lining the inside. The stamp has the Parmegiano-Reggiano mark all over it, and also the date and producers of both the cheese and the raw milk. A blank spot is left in the center of the stamp, to leave room for the brand if the cheese is later approved by the consortzio. The rope around the mold is to slowly allow the tightening of the plastic, as the cheese has weights placed on top and begins the process of losing water. 40% of the weight will be lost during this process.

After some time in the plastic, the stamped cheese is moved to these perforated metal molds, where they are again weighted and more water weight is lost.

After being removed from the metal mold, the wheels are placed in saline vats, that are monitored to hold a consistent salt level. The water circulates out and is re-salted before being pumped back in. The wheels must be turned each day, and are still quite heavy at this point. There are no preservatives in true Parmegiano-Reggiano, the rhind is formed only through this salinization process, and osmosis seasons the inside of the cheese, hence the very careful monitoring of salt levels.

When the rhind has formed and the cheese has spent the appropriate time in the salt solution, it is dried and moved to this room. The wheels are allowed to age on these shelves, and you can see in the above picture the levels of oxidization that give the rhind its distinctive color. The cheese must be cleaned daily, as it sweats moisture and fat during the aging process. A special robot moves on a track down each isle, sensors guide it to the exact location of the wheels, which are lifted, brushed on all sides, then the shelf is cleaned, and the wheel placed back in its spot. There are only 4 large shelves like this in the warehouse, and they contain well over 2,000,000 dollars worth of cheese. It smells like heaven.

The wheels are each individually checked with a specially made hammer for maturation- if the sound is consistent all the way around, then the cheese is mature and has no imperfections, and only completely perfect wheels are given the brand of the consortzio. If even a tiny imperfection is found, it will not recieve the consortzio brand, and I mean as small as 1/4" air bubble in the giant wheels. If they are not top quality, they are marked by having a ring carved around the rhind, if they are of third quality (larger or more imperfections) they are sold as grana parmegiano. Second quality is the rhindless cheese you see sold (still for a very high price) in American supermarkets.

In my hand above are three cheeses of different ages. The top one was aged for 12 months. It has a smoother, milky, buttery flavor with a slightly chewy texture. The center cube is 22 months old (this is only the time spent on the shelf in the final warehouse) and you can see the color has darkened a bit, and white spots begin to form. At this point the cheese is still buttery, but is starting to develop a nutty sweetness. The bottom cube is 28 months old, and you can see the dramatically darker color, and the prominent white spots. The cheese is quite hard at this point, and amino acids within have developed into a crystalline formation, which gives the cheese its characteristic crumbly texture with bits of sugar-like crunch between the grains. At this point, the cheese has developed a deep, nuanced nuttiness, earthy flavors, and the butteriness has dissapeared. And by the way, all three were outstanding.

I was really giddy after seeing all of this, and the day just kept up with this amazing pace. Up next: Procuitto de Parma.

Oh, by the way, please ignore any spelling errors. My blogspot account's spell-check feature re-set itself to Italian, so if I try to run it, it tells me that I've spelled nearly everything wrong... except for the scattered Italian. Too funny!

The Farm

Finally, internet!!!


Sorry about the lack of blogs, but travel has it's little inconveniences sometimes. I'll have to write a couple more blogs tomorrow, to cover our amazing trip to Tuscany. But until then, I'll tell you a little bit about this past Wednesday...


One of my... obligations (ha!) here is to complete 130 internship hours, and alot of our professional visits count. But, to log some hours, and because I thought it would be fun, I spent the day on one of Chef Polegri's friends' farm, in the hills outside of Orvieto.

These two fine ladies run a small farm and trattoria (traditional, rustic, casual restaurant) and have a little vineyard as well. They don't speak English... but are quite hospitable and friendly. They open their little dining room (the kitchen is smaller than the kitchens in many houses) for a few hours at lunch and dinner, Monday though Saturday.

After doing a small amount of actual work (raking some twigs and cleaning a few tables) they insisted that we sit down for lunch. This lasagna was awesome, it's just layers of fresh pasta, homemade cheese, and slowly simmered tomato sauce. You can't beat Italian Grandmother's lasagna. We ate with Nonno (Grandpa)... the elderly father who was a bit senile, but adorable. He puttered around having lengthy conversations with their fluffy white cat, who really seemed to enjoy it as much as Nonno. I think the cat was the only one there who understood him... aside from the dog.

That richness was followed by a spectacular platter of fried eggplant, lamb chops, and chicken (rooster, I think). Ah, to be polite, I had finished my lasagna and praised it highly, whilst trying to decline seconds of the pasta, when this second course came out (the Italians don't seem to understand the concept of "full", refusing seconds is tricky business, they may take offense) and despite my complete satiety was really happy for the battered and fried meaty perfection.

To work off lunch, I walked around the farm to visit with the animals. Two other students were there (only the 3 Bachelor's students were interning at the farm) and both were very happy that I knew some Italian, as they knew none! Anyway, both were quite suprised that I knew my way around livestock, I was a bit flabbergasted that the southern boy with the Georgian accent had never been on a farm. Anyway, I took the above picture because I thought the random bottle of Asti on the bench gave it some authenticity.

They raised two breeds of cattle, both for beef. The above breed is a very traditional, native Italian breed. It was used at one point in a breeding program to "re-introduce" the Aurochs into Europe, because of it's very primitive look. These cattle are quite small, however. The one above was young, son his horns hadn't reached their full length. What truly impressed me was thier docility... this was a barn with 20 BULLS in it!! And all of them allowed me to pet them on their noses, and several were quite happy to wrap thier tounges around my arm in greeting.

Another breed, also bulls, I decided to conversate with. They liked me.

Cavalli! The sorrel on the left was a big guy, and super sweet. It felt really, really awesome to spend time with the animals, I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. Later on, because I liked the horses so much, she took me to her friend's place to see his horses, he raised Arabians (Arabi) and an Italian breed I couldn't pronounce. They were quite beautiful, and hot blooded. Once again, I was impressed by the fact that there were no geldings... just stallions! (stallone)

Then she took the farm of a friend that had just moved to Orvieto from Sicily, who raised goats for cheese. His goats all had names! The kid is his son, who was a bit shy around us, but perfectly at home herding the goats around. They had just purchased the farm to renovate, and he promised (insisted) to send some of his cheese to Chef Polegri when it was ready.

Being out in the countryside was absolutely wonderful, it really made me happy to be around the animlas and on a farm again. I love how close the whole community is, everyone does something they're passionate about, and seems to know everyone else around as well.

Tomorrow I'll (attempt to) upload my photos from Tuscany...

Slow day, just classes and homework.

I didn't really do anything but homework today, and class. I went to the restaurant a little early, had some espresso, and sat down for 'global operations'. After class I shadowed Chef Polegri for a bit, and talked to him for a while as part of my internship hours.


We ate some food the students made, nothing spectacular but hey, free. I'm attempting to plan some side trips, but I think I will enlist chef's help to get the best possible deal.


Tomorrow I am going to one of the farms the Zeppelin's produce is sourced from, which should provide ample opportunity for pictures.


Now... I'm going to work on some more homework, to get ahead.


Buena notte.

Finally, redemption!

Well, today was a looong day, but I now have my bag, and a new camera is on the way. I only took one picture, when I finally got back to Orvieto, the sunset from my window was just etheral.


This morning I woke up early and went to the restaurnt to call Alitalia to be sure they had my bag. After a doppio espresso, I set off to catch a train to Rome.


I bought an Italian magazine, to avoid people in the city assuming that I was a dumb tourist. Had some more espresso, then hopped on the train. I *heart* train travel, I am now convinced that it's the way to go.


Arriving in Rome was... a bit overwhelming at first. I think my Italian accent is a little too believable, because whenever I tried to ask someone a question, they went off in a big long speech, and then I would give up. What I eventually gathered was that there was a train that ran to Roma aeroporto, but it wouldn't be running again until the afternoon- when the baggage counter would have been closed.


So... I found a cache of taxi drivers, and asked how much it was to Roma Fuma-whada-hou-da aeroporto, and it turned out to be... alot, 40 euro! I asked how to walk there (all in Italian) and they were being dramatic Italianos, talking quickly, and my pleas of "parla lentamente, por favore!" seemed to go unnoticed. Finally I shouted "Io non sono italiana!! Parla lentamente!!" and they stopped and started apologizing profusely. They hadn't realized I wasn't Italian, which was actually pretty inconvenient for me, I found that sometimes NOT utilizing the language was actually more helpful. Finally, I found out the the airport was 25 kilometers away, and I would never be able to walk there. I got a taxi- whose driver was really excited about practicing his exceedingly minimal english, and set out on my way.


If you've ever been in a car in Rome, I'm sure you're aware that traffic laws don't really matter, and lanes are a non issue. As long as your tailgating skills are on par, and your horn works well, you're good to go. Add to that my taxi driver's Italian-English dictionary gripped in both his hands, open, in front of the steering wheel, and him being far more concerned about practica inglese than driving... and yeah. Luckily, driving in Vegas has me well adjusted the the casual nature of vehicular homicide in large cities, so I was... just not alarmed. C'est la vie.


The airport was... I hate Alitalia with the burning passion of a thousand dying suns. After asking everyone who worked for them, being directed to circle half the airport twice, and going through (the comapratively lax- I didn't even have to remove my shoes, LOL) the baggage counter person tried to tell me to go somewhere else, and I finally lost it and just shouted "NO!". She looked at me, felt the searing glare of doom emanating from my now firey eyes, and murmered "er, I will walk with you."


Got to the baggage claim room, they looked at the wall of bags that nowhere near matched the description, and I walked to the other side and grabbed my bag, fuming, because at this point I had spent over two hours walking circles around the airport.


When it's all said and done, I highly reccomend NEVER EVER EVER EVER flying Alitalia for ANY reason. They are... big piles of poopie.


I skipped out of the airport as fast as I could, got my biglietta (ticket) for the 15:06 train back to the Roma termini, ran down the aisle, and got to the door of the train just in time to see the whites of the door guy's eyes as he shut the door and stared blankly at my hopeless despiration. Luckily the next trena was only 36 minutes away, but it was just... a jerk move.


Arrived at termini, the next train to Orvieto wasn't until 18:20. I didn't have enough time to do anything great, and the bag was heavy, so I tried to walk as far away from the the station as I reasonably could, but still ended up having to eat a mediocre and overpriced tourist meal. I did, however, look over my maps and orient myself to Roma's layout, and was beginning to become proficient with the rail system, so I take that as a positive.


I also witnessed a totally awesome and dramatic hand-waving-knuckle-biting-chin-brushing argument between some old man and the waiter over a cappucino. It was truly awesome and stereotypical in every fun way possible, and I had to cover my face with my menu because I was laughing so hard. After yelling, hand waving, and insulting each other's grandmothers, the guy sat down and quitely finished his coffee, then a few minutes later laughed and joked with his waiter about it as he paid for his drink. When in Rome!


I arrived back in Orvieto, and took the funicolore (tilty-cabley-slanted-streetcarish-mountain dealy on rails) up to the plateau, which drops you off on the exact opposite side of the citta from where I live.


Er, Dad, I'm not sure if your suitcase wheels will ever be the same after surviving a mile uphill on cobblestone... sorry about that in advance if there's some collateral axle damage.


Upon arrival at the B & B, I quite pathetically dragged the suitcase up four flights of stairs, on my butt, one step at a time, groaning. Upon reaching my bedroom, I threw open the window to witness the glorious sunset electronics just can't do justice to, pictured above.


I had my stuff, and I was back. I laid down for a second, then walked to the ristorante to let Chef Polegri know that I had arrived safely. One of my awesome roomates had collected to-go boxes of all the meals they had that day, because she feared that I may have gone hungry.


So... in the end, all is now well. I have socks (calzini) in abundance!

Ciao! Buena sera.

The glory of cinghale

Aaaaaahhhhhhmmmmrrrrrmmmmm. That's all I can say about the continual poop that wants to land in the proverbial cornflakes of my time here. (Yessir, I am a master wordsmith) But, it's still amazing, and I refuse to let the little things get me down.


More specifically, my camera was stolen last night. Luckily, I upload all of my pictures nightly, so there wasn't much on there, but a few of the pics would have been really nice to have. One of wonderful roomates has offered me copies of her pictures from yesterday, so I will get those before I leave.


We were on our way back from dinner out at Buca di Bacco (Baccus' Basement) when we found a little Italian band playing out in the street by the Duomo (the cathedral) and thought it was too awesome to pass up, especially since they were playing old American songs. It was so great! People of every age were dancing together on the cobblestone streets, drinking beers and generally enjoying the frivolity. Some old Italian man (l'uomo vecchia) grabbed Michele's hand and started dancing... the guy had slick moves! We later found out that he was the Mayor of Orvieto! We all started dancing (his wife and a couple of her friends were there as well) and having a great time. It was really funny to hear the Italian version of some classic songs- the guy didn't know great English, so some of the words were just... what English sounds like to a non speaker, and it was hilarious! Sometime during the Twist, I realized my camera wasn't in my hand bag. I looked on the table- gone. Asked the bartenders, all the people inside, and everyone around, and no one had seen it. Double checked everywhere.


At that point, I had to walk away and get a grip on myself. I called my Father, and he was able to calm me down. When I returned, my roomies had been searching (this is when we found out our dance partner was the Mayor, whose son was also the lead singer of the band), his wife had been watching our table for us, and even she said the person must have been super fast, as she would only have looked away for a second. Everyone was super cool about it- the band even announced it over the microphone and had everyone look for it, alas, it was long gone. I thanked everyone profusely for their help, and decided that I couldn't let material loss get in the way of having a great time.


Anyhoo, the following pictures are off of my Blackberry (I have no idea how I would continue living without this thing right now!!!) which has a flash, zoom, and actually takes really damn good pictures.


Our landlord gave us these this morning when we came downstairs (I think she's Austrian or German, she speaks good Italian, and damn fine English), for Easter. It's some kind of fruit flavored (ie: fruit liquor flavored), cream filled marzipan treat, and it was really sweet of her. These were far, far too sweet to eat a whole one!! 1/8th and I've had my sugar fix for the day!


The sad part about losing my camera was losing the pictures I had of a pastry chef demonstrating how to make these chocolate eggs- it's really interesting! They're hollow, usually with a treat or toy inside for delle bambini. (the kids)

Roomie Michele and I decided we wanted pizza for lunch, so opted out of the group luch at the Zeppelin, also because the restaurant was fully booked and we felt a bit like the servers (who are great) were overburdened as it was. And our pizza was... well...

Above is the leg of wild boar (cinghale) proscuitto that sits on a little stand in the center of the dining room at Pizzaria Charlie. The server uses the long, thin carving knife to hand shave paper thin slices from the leg.

And here's our cinghale selection antipasti. In front is cinghale soprasetta, back right is cinghale salumi, back left is the aforementioned procuitto. And all of it was nothing short of spectacular.

Ah, a bit of a story behind all the cinghale (I think I've eaten at least a little boar every day that I've been here), wild boar are in abundance in the outlying (not on the plateau) sections of Orvieto. At some time in the past few centuries, they cross bred with the deomestic pigs, so the Orvieto boars are larger than normal boars.

They cause the farmers no end of problems, rooting out gardens, eating smaller livestock, and absolutely destroy vehicles and cause tramatic accidents when you hit them with a Fiat. The residents despise them... so eat them at every opportunity. Every norcieria (cured meat shop) in town has at least 5 varieties of boar salumi/sausage/procuitto, and the meat is sold cheaply in the grocery stores.

Let me just tell you, I want to take up boar hunting as a hobby when I get back. They may quite possibly be the tastiest animal I have ever eaten, and I really, really will be depressed when it's not completly available and cheap.

Then we had this beautiful pizza with heirloom tomatoes and awesome basil. This place has bar none the best pizza I have ever had in my life.

This pizza had sausage, speck (a style of bacon) and truffles. Yeah, that's right, truffles are cheap, and on everything here. This was pizza nirvana.

I also love how the restaurants only have wine by the bottle... and it's pretty cheap. You can get a great local vino for 8-9 euro in a restaurant, 4-6 in the store. The wine shop next to the Zeppelin is great, the little old lady there recognizes my roomates and I (we're the likable ones) and gives me a hug when I walk in the door, then scurries around undoing her careful arrangement of bottles to excitedly show me new wines.

The rest of today I spent doing homework, as most stuff was closed for Easter, it was nice to have a slow day. Dinner was at the restaurant, nothing super fancy, but also delicious.

Tomorrow, (after I have chef call to double check the existance of my bag) I am taking a train into Rome to try to collect my baggage. Chef gave me special permission to stay in Rome an extra hour or two- I'm already known as the responsible one who translates for everyone (D'oh!!). But, wish me luck!!

Buena notte!

Things were much more laid back today, which was good for me. The extra super bonus was the awesome sleep I got last night! We had our second Italian cuisine class today, and being in a kitchen working with food inevitably soothes me.

This is the kitchen we work in. Quite a bit smaller than most of the restaurant kitchens in Vegas, (though I have worked in smaller) but with a homey, Nonna-around-the-corner-with-a-rolling-pin vibe. I particularly enjoy it because of the wide screen door that allows the fresh Umbrian air to circulate inside, it's not hot or stuffy at all, even with all (lol only six) burners blazing.

Above is the lovely courtyard, the planters in the background are overflowing with fresh herbs and fragrant laurel trees.

Our first course (antipasti) for lunch was this little slice of pizza, with some red pepper sauce on top. It may not look like much, in fact all the food is sublimely simple to make, but the quality and freshness of the ingredients make everything taste heavenly.

Our second course (segundi) at lunch (pranzo) was gnocci with a tomato sauce and some pecorino cheese. Quite nice, the sauce had a certain umami to it, given by ground pork, and a nice kick from red pepper flakes.

Our third course at lunch (yeah, I know, ouch! But, I limit myself to a few bites of each, which keeps the calories in check but still satisfies) is sauteed slices of eggplant, bound together with mozzarella cheese and some roma tomatoes, with a yellow pepper, herb, and cheese sauce. The cabbage in the background was... the most over salted thing I've ever had, but hey, the students are there to learn, right? (As long as I'm not the one messing up I'll tolerate it)

Just in case looking at these pictures hasn't caused you to loosen your belt a notch, here's a ricotta and chocolate chip tart with cinnamon-chocolate gelato. I will happily show you how to make this...

For dinner (my group's production) we startes with panzanella, a bread salad with mirepoix, tomatoes, olives, and herbs. This version was a bit different than other panzanellas I've had, and it was pleasant, but I've had better. I think it was the decision to let it set in molds- I personally prefer to toss everything together last minute and plate it loosely, but it was still good. The sauce to the side was mozzarella cheese, milk, herbs, olive oil and garlic, and I enjoyed that immensely.

Now this... this was awesome. Spaghetti with a creamy mushroom sauce. I could have easily eaten the whole plate, but for my waistline's sake stopped before I did something I'd regret. But seriously, wow.

And just in case you thought spaghetti was a simple pasta, this is how it's made by hand, in the super traditional manner. The pasta dough is made, then allowed to rest, and small pieces (look in the foreground) are rolled by hand into the long noodles (hence the noodle size irregularity in the prior picture- students). Of course, store bought noodles are pressed through a die, but the texture of these was just unbelievable, more similar to the slightly chewy, toothsome udon noodles from Japan.

I really should have taken another picture of this after cutting through the red cabbage, because it's filled with really tasty beef slow cooked with sundried tomatoes, onions, and red wine. It. Was. Awesome. (Er, maybe I'm biased because it was my dish). The bread next to it was great too, it's a potato bread that was light and fluffy inside and crisp on the exterior, and that's a dried cherry in the center of the roll. I will defininetly be making this beef dish again, as it was super easy, and something that could be tossed in a slow cooker and left for a while.

This dessert will definetly remain in my repertoire, Ricotta mousse with a red wine reduction and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. My roommate made this, and I'm for sure going to keep in touch with her, she did an excellent job on it.

In other news, apparently Alitalia has my bag, but wasn't going to deliver it until next Tuesday (Martedi) wich Chef Pollegri found quite unacceptable and immedeately tore up his frequent flyer card after insulting thier mothers over the phone (man I love that guy!!). But, after our moring activities he's having one of his cooks drive me to Rome to pick it up. I'm really hopeful that it will be there, but at this point I'm kind of skeptical about it. When I get it in my hand I will be quite overjoyed.

I'm also glad my accomadations are with the other three older ladies (yeah, I'm one of the old ones) at the B & B, not at the hotel with the younger girls, as they're a... bit too excited about the lack of a drinking age (if there is one you really couldn't tell, I've never felt so old at a bar!) and have gotton themselves into some troubles, as have the younger guys. Apparently, someone drank far too much and made a spectacle of himself in front of some townies, who all know Chef Pollegri and he was given a stern talking to about it. Along with that, someone in the guy's quarters either lost 400 euro, or had it stolen from him, and sadly, they suspect another student, the aforementioned drunkard, because as I'm told by some of the girls he's spent 800 euro in the last three days, mostly on alcohol, which would be super impressive (booze is quite cheap here) were it not for the really terrible aspect of the situation. It pains me to know that kids like this are out there, giving a very bad impression of Americans to the rest of the world. At the same time, I really think the U.S.A. needs to revisit it's drinking age policy, as the 14 year old Italian and German kids I've met are far more responsible with thier drinking.

But fortunately, my roomates continue to be great. We are all much more chill, and are happy sitting in our common room sharing wine and generally being relaxed and enjoying the good life. I really feel as though all three of them will be my good friends for years to come.

Ah, that's them returning now! Buena notte all, ciao.

Day three... whoa.

Today was really long, and really overwhelming in several ways. My bag has still not been found, and I wasn't able to get to the shops to buy clothes yesterday, tried to do my laundry in the sink last night and hang dry it, but it was still wet this morning, so I traveled in borrowed clothes. Also, I'm plagued with persistent insomnia that may drive me crazy, I've been able to sleep for only about two hours- since I've been here! But, I am determined not to let these things impede my experience, so I'm being as much of a trooper about it as I can manage.


We walked for miles today, and I never knew there were this many stairs in existence...


First we went to the market, very early in the morning.


Heirloom tomatoes and zucchini with the blossoms still attached. The quality of the food here is... remarkable.
A pile of oranges, and the most beautiful artichokes in the universe.

I took a ton of pictures of the cathedral, and none come close to showing an iota of its true beauty. This church took over 200 years to build, and is truly one of the most remarkable structures in the world. I took many pictures- I'll give you guys a slide show when I get back, because this requires far more in-depth discussion than I can muster in this format. It's very hard to tell from this image, but anything on the facade with a tinge of yellow, is REAL gold.

I've never seen so much detail put into a building. Or anything, for that matter.

A closer image of one of the decorative pillars, showing the gold inlay. As I mentioned, I have around 100 pictures of this church, and I- I feel tiny now. I never, ever even knew that humankind could produce something this spectacular, this telling of devotion, display such attention to detail. Here's another close up of a pillar, showing the gold inlays., and these are the LEAST beautiful part of it. It's the most humbling display of the power of art I've ever experienced, and the feeling you get witnessing it is indescribable.

We then made our way to the underground part of Orvieto. A little background first; Orvieto is a completely fortified city, situated on two gigantic shelves of porous volcanic rock, the exact geologic composition of the upper layer is found nowhere else in the world. Under the volcanic rock is clay, so water flows through the layers and only stops thousands of feet down when it hits the clay. Underneath the city, 400 caves are accessible, two are open for tourism, the rest are connected to private residences and are still in use. BUT, over 1,200 of these caves are known under the city, ALL carved by hand with pickaxes, and they believe there are more that have never been discovered.

The Etruscans were the makers, around 3,000 years ago. They used the caves for everything, and there are even pipes cut into it to carry water into the caves, read: the Etruscans had indoor plumbing. 3,000 years ago. To store potable water, they carved 500 meters down from the center of the cave, to gather as much water as possible, since it would rapidly seep through the rock and be gone. It's still not understood how this was done, but it's quite remarkable. The next inhabitants filled these wells with trash, so only about 200 meters are still open.

During the Medieval times, the caves were re-purposed. They were used to process olive oil, because they maintain a consistent temperature all year round, as olives must be harvested in the winter. The inhabitants of this time added fireplaces and olive presses.

Above is one of the Medieval olive presses, which would have been driven by a donkey, another stone wheel would be placed on top and used to crush the olives. The top layer of volcanic rock was used to make concrete during these times, and is still used in the construction of the houses in Orvieto today. Throughout the centuries, the caves have been used for homes, protection, storage, pigeon raising, mining, cattle, food storage, bomb shelters, and who knows what else. They are still in use today.

While we were in the caves, chef Pollegri gathered wild fennel fronds and rosemary (both of these and mint grow wild absolutely everywhere here) to use in the restaurant.

After the caves we went to the tower, which is... way up there. Here's the cathedral as viewed from the top of the tower.

Interestingly, Orvieto is one of the oldest, and most intact cities in the whole of Europe, because of its extreme height, it was IMPOSSIBLE to siege. During WWII, the allies even made a special deal with the residents, and never bombed Orvieto proper because of its historical significance, though they did take out the radio stations in the countryside surrounding the plateau.

This is the well, as viewed from the top looking down. The stairs were made for donkeys to travel on, so are very long and flat. Also, they spiral around the center in a double helix formation, like DNA, so they never had to turn around to return to the top.

Aaaand the well from the very bottom, looking up.

And then a very special plate of cured salumi, onion preserves, and pecorino cheese serve to us by a local vinter...

Who just so happens to use his Etruscan cave to store his wine. He even opened up a 47 year old bottle for us- Chef Pellegrini is a much loved figure in Orvieto, so he gets us some pretty special treatment. The bottle was a bit... musty, but it's the thought that counts. The cellar and the older bottles in it are kept mostly for historical significance, and the methodology used to make wine has changed drastically in the last two decades anyway, so the bottle was more a symbolic sampling than one meant to taste amenable.

I am exceedingly tired, so now I'm off to bed. I have no idea what we're doing tomorrow, but I'm sure it will be awesome.

Buena notte, ragazzi!