The next day, we boarding a small fishing boat and sailed into the Gulf of Trieste. We drifted away from the Miramare Castle and into the sea full of rows of buoys. we were mussel farming! we saw how tiny mussels are stuffed into nets, 4-5 meters long, depending, and are attached onto a rope where they continue growing. a mussel field is 10 floating barrels X 10 rows with 12m in between each, connected with two ropes. they say that they are 50 cents per kilo - which is quite extroadinary when you think how much restaurants can charge (aka mum sent me the bouchon menu from when they were in napa valley and they charge $7 per dozen, or $27.50 for maine mussels in white wine, chorizo, pepper and garlic confit served with french fries. must be good for such a prize.) jules pried open some mussels which we ate raw. they tasted of the salty cold sea and were slippery, but left a metallic aftertaste.
raw mussels picked from the sea.
always taking notes. even on a boat.
check and check. cross mussel farming off my internship list of possibilities.
for lunch, of course we ate mussels. we sat by the beach under a viney-covering, and ate lots of seafood - mussels in the shells, fried mussels, pasta with seafood, fried fruti di mare - calamari, shrimp, tiny fishies.
vineyard view.
then it was off to Duino Aurisina to visit the Zidarich winery. it was a beautiful winery with views of the ocean. the mediterranean climate, on a hill with red soil, near the sea with the bora wind all made the wine of high quality, high density and low production. with 8 hectres, they produce 22,000 bottles a year. mostly malvasia and sauvignon, the area's conditions make growing white grapes more suitable than red. down in the cellar, the walls are pure rock - as they guy said, the tunnels are made with love and with care to the area and natural surroundings. he poured us each a glass of white wine directly from the barrel and later we had a small wine tasting of some of their unfiltered wines (can clearly see the difference) and some cured meat (of course) made from their own pigs.
drinking directly from the barrel.
On Wednesday we left Trieste to go to San Daniele del Fruili where we visited the San Danielle prosciutto factory and had lunch at another ham factory Dok Dall'Ava. Whoever does their marketing/artistic stuff is pretty damn good. It was a cool style and they sold really nice products. we were served a plate of cured meat enough for 3 people, had nice thick noodles in a tomato and prosciutto sauce and then salad. i don't think i can't write any more about cured meat.
san danieli prosciutto keeps the foot on.
then we drove into the mountainous Carnia area to Azienda Agricola Pecol - a small farm run by Roberto - so handsome - who helped put together our trip. we were served refreshing fruit juices and learned about his fruit farm. he makes fruit juices that he sells as concentrations - to be mixed with water. he boils the fruit with sugar and needs an acid as a preservative but instead of lemon which is too acidic, he adds white currant as a natural preservative with a pleasant flavor. It was the perfect day - the warm sun shining, the sky cloudless and bright blue, the air mountain-fresh and clean and it was the perfect period of the season to visit - there was an abundance of luscious fruit growing everywhere: tomatoes in bins, rows of apples with their companion zucchinis with sprouting flowers growing at their base, bushes of bright red currants, an array of alternating herbs, blackberries, elderberries, strawberries...it was really beautiful and he made it seem so easy.
in raveo, where were staying 518meters above sea level, we stayed in an albergo diffuso. these are a type of hotel in small villages that are scattered and may not be where a typical tourist would go. the rooms are like apartments, fully equipped with a kitchen. many of the buildings have been abandoned and reconverted into hotel rooms rather than building a new hotel. it promotes tourism for the village and allows the tourist to not only have a sense of independence but see the village through a more local perspective. it was a tiny mountain town, but we were welcomed with a huge basket of local products - illy coffee, biscuits from the factory down the road, roberto's jams.
for dinner, we went to a nearby town to osteria cola - filled with delicious food (pumpkin streudal, local variety of braised raddiccio, fried cheese crisps then a perfect and naturally spicy herby risotto, meatballs and a mini hill of smokey polenta), glass vases of wine, and of course
thumb wars.
