This is citrus season in Italy and Basilicata is an abundant fruit basket. We can buy oranges and clementines that were picked less than 100 KM away from Trivigno. The colors, juice and flavor of these need no mucking with. We can buy 3 kilograms (6.6 lbs.) of oranges for 2.50€ at the weekly mercato. There is also a vendor who drives into town once or twice a week selling oranges from the back of his small truck.
I’ve written before how I wasn’t much of a fresh fruit eater before we moved to Italy. The fruits and vegetables here are bursting with flavor, not the half-ripe bland fare one finds in the northern parts of the US during this season.
We purchased a stainless steel hand press for making spremuta ( juice) several years ago and it has been an excellent investment. Slice several oranges, a quick pull of the lever and in a few minutes you have two glass of spremuta di arancia that is sweet and fresh without adding sugar. Nothing works better to fend off the cold and flu season than fresh juice.
Unfortunately we are starting to approach the end of the citrus season so we will enjoy this fresh sweetness of the Lucanian sun as long as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment