Valle Nuova

Photo of the day: quinces

2011-12-06T13:57:00.000+01:00

Photo of the day: bitesize pickled sweet peppers

2011-10-09T22:38:00.000+02:00

Photo of the day: PUMPKINS!!!

2011-09-21T23:35:00.000+02:00

What can you do when, arriving at home after a long day, you find a wheelbarrow filled with pumpkins?
I guess that start thinking about how to wash and store them and look for recipes! :)

September is here!

2011-09-09T23:48:00.000+02:00

The temperatures are unusually high, we haven't had any rain for over 40 days, September is being quite unusual this year... but luckily, as we do every year in September, we are enjoying the best sunsets!

Photo of the day: Chicca on Monte Catria

2011-09-05T00:10:00.000+02:00

Photo of the day: Visciole (with recipe)

2011-07-19T15:42:00.001+02:00

Sour cherries (a wild local variety called visciola) sitting in the sun.
To prepare an amazing syrupy preserve fill a jar with sour-cherries leaving some space between the cherries and the ridge, top it up with sugar, covering throughly. Close the jar and let sit in the sun for a couple of months shaking (during the hottest hours) during the first days to dissolve the sugar.
Serve with Panna Cotta!

A new green step

2011-07-04T17:21:00.001+02:00

It's been a long and busy spring, well, actually it's been a long and busy winter, spring and summer is not proving anything easier...
We are trying to survive the attack of all the paperwork needed to install photovoltaic panels and start putting energy back into the grid.
Yes, we installed more photovoltaic panels and the last one has been connected last week so now we officially have a 166Kw plant (divided in 5 plants, two for internal use and three for selling) that should be enough to provide energy to around 60 households.

Most important, all our plants are located on the roofs of existing buildings: stables, cow-sheds, barns. We think that producing green energy is very important but we do not want to stop farming to devote the land to energy production (we do not plant energy crops either) and we do not want our beautiful hills to be spotted with huge mirror-looking photovoltaic plants instead of the shades of green of alfalfa and the oak woods, the golden wheat or the geometrical patterns of the vines.

So, please celebrate with us that Valle Nuova is now making another tiny effort for conservation and a cleaner world!

Photo of the day: liqueurs, different stages

2011-07-03T00:00:00.000+02:00

Left to right: nocino wine (two steps and it will become an amazing syrup for mascarpone cream), artichoke liqueur, uva fragola (concord grapes) liqueur, quince liqueur (2010, it will be ready for drinking in 2014...), tangerine liqueur (my great grandfather's favourite recipe), (front) apple pip liqueur.

Photo of the day: English roses at Valle Nuova

2011-06-30T16:09:00.000+02:00

David Austin Teasing Georgia loves it here at Valle Nuova!

Photo of the day: Marchigiana cows at Valle Nuova

2011-06-26T18:00:00.000+02:00

Our Marchigiana cows happily roaming in the fields below the Locanda.

Valle Nuova on Travel + Leisure

2011-06-17T01:40:00.002+02:00

July issue of T+L features an article about the best Agriturismi in Italy

Agriturismi: Italy's Best Affordable Spots by Anya von Bremzen

Le Marche: Locanda della Valle Nuova
You can’t help wondering what a woman like Giulia Savini—fluent in three languages and with two international master’s degrees—is doing living in Le Marche raising white Marchigiana cows and pampering guests on her 185-acre farm. But Savini and her parents, who also live on site, are as passionate about the environment as they are about hospitality. A short drive from the Renaissance town of Urbino, their 1980’s farm, with six modern guest rooms and three apartments, is as eco-conscious as it gets: crops are strictly organic, the stove is fueled by tree prunings, and electricity is generated by photovoltaic panels on the roof. If you don’t care for morning horseback rides or excursions to artisanal producers, stay here for the food. Loyal to her Piedmontese roots, Giulia’s mamma, Signora Adriana, makes an unforgettable beef bollito misto as well as a rich tagliatelle, made with eggs from her henhouse, that’s tossed in a deep-flavored wild-boar ragù. The best she saves for last: some two dozen house-made liqueurs culled from the pantry, crammed with colorful jars of elderflower and sour-cherry preserves.

2011 kittens

2011-06-06T00:20:00.000+02:00

Almost one month ago we sadly discovered that one of the farm cats had an accident and she had left 4 kittens all alone in the cow-shed.
When I tried to catch them I got lots of hissing and a bleeding scratch on my cheek, but they soon understood that I was not so bad when I fed them a wonderful mix of warm milk, cream and egg yolk (about 200 g of warm milk, 2 tbsp cream, 1 egg yolk with no white whatsoever, it's very bad for kittens!).
This is how they looked all well fed and relaxed on their second day at home:

They grew, they begun eating more and more milk, I started mixing some beef baby food to their milk, they destroyed 2 bottle nipples biting them with their sharp growing teeth, they started to eat soft food and to lick milk (so funny when they first tried!) and now they're lively, greedy eaters, playful and ready to find a new family and a new home.

Photo of the day: home-made salami, ciauscolo, sausages

2011-06-04T00:32:00.000+02:00

Photo of the day: roses for jam

2011-05-30T00:10:00.000+02:00

Photo of the day: the first rose of the season

2011-05-11T21:34:00.000+02:00

6/4/2 Herbal liqueur

2011-04-15T16:35:00.000+02:00

Here's another of the liqueurs that I prepare for guests at Valle Nuova.This is a good herbal liqueur, not sweet that is made with herbs that can be found at Valle Nuova (wild or in our herb-garden) and spices that are easily found in any kitchen.

6 basil leaves (Ocimum basilicum)
6 sage leaves (Salvia officinalis)
6 laurel/bay leaves (Laurus nobilis)
6 mint leaves (Mentha) any variety (I use Mentha aquatica)
6 lemon leaves (Citrus limon)
6 lemon verbena leaves (Aloysia citrodora)
6 cloves (Eugenia caryophyllata)
6 cm long rosemary sprig (Rosmarinus officinalis)
4 juniper berries (Juniperus communis)
4 pinches of tea leaves
4 pinches of dry camomille flowers (Matricaria recutita)
2 pinches of ground nutmeg (Myristica fragrans)
2 pinches of saffron (Crocus sativus)

1 litre 95% alcohol

1 litre water
300 gr sugar

Mix the herbs and spices and alcohol and let rest in a cool and dark place for 1 week. Filter twice using a cloth or paper filter.
Mix the sugar and water in a pan, let boil for 2 minutes and let cool. Mix the syrup and the alcohol.
Bottle and let rest for 3 months before drinking it.
Enjoy!

Photo of the day: cherry blossoms

2011-04-10T10:24:00.000+02:00

Marco's Way: Food and Wine tours in Le Marche

2011-04-02T21:01:00.004+02:00

This is an important time of the year for wine producers, it's pruning time and pruning is basic if you want good quality grapes and thus good quality wine.

I have been willing to participate into one of Marco's food and wine tours for a long time, and a few days ago the occasion arose.

We started visiting Cantina Luigi Giusti that stands in the Lacrima di Morro d'Alba d.o.c. area (do not guess that this wine has something to do with Alba, Piedmont and read this article for more information).

The Lacrima is a very unusual wine that is only produced in Le Marche, after Luigi Giusti showed us how they prune the vines and explained why, the tasting began!

We tasted different wines all made with the same grapes including 2 beautiful Rosé and Vino di Visciole (a yummy dessert wine made with red wine and sour cherries).

The second visit was Caseificio Piandelmedico in Jesi, they produce cow and buffalo cheeses including a beautiful mozzarella and more unusual buffalo blue cheese and taleggio style cheese. They are so good that I didn't even think about taking a picture!

After a good lunch prepared specially for us, accompained by wines from different cantine of Le Marche, at Antiche cantine del Porticello in Jesi we headed to the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi d.o.c. area.

Vallerosa Bonci farm produce some of the most awarded Verdicchio wines. We tried classical and excellent spumante and also a great (and not too sweet) Verdicchio Passito.

I normally prefer red wines but I really enjoyed those Verdicchios!

The last cantina that we visited is located in the Conero Natural Park near Ancona and produces mostly Rosso Conero wine: Moroder is probably one of the best known wineries in Le Marche but it's still a family business and visiting it with Marco (who worked here years ago) is perfect, actually everywhere we went we felt informally welcome, none of the officiality and stiffness, just people that show their love for what they do.

We visited the beautiful old and new cellar and tasted some wines sitting outside, chatting and drinking until sunset.

Farms in Le Marche are family run, not big businesses, the wineries of Le Marche produce some very fine wines, most of them still little known, but very interesting.

With Marco you have the possibility to get to know people, farms, wines and other typical products (not only cheese but honey, extra vergin olive oil) that would be difficult to reach without his kowledge of the area and the people.

Marco is a wine and olive oil producer himself, loves and knows Le Marche and speaks good English (he's been living in the UK and Australia for a long time) and he's the perfect person to show the best of Le Marche wines to experts and novices alike.

Visit his webpage for more information about the tours and have a look at the sunset that he prepared to finish our day with him! :)

Photo of the day: pratoline

2011-03-30T22:11:00.000+02:00

Everything Elderflower 2: Elderflower liqueur

2011-01-23T19:49:00.001+01:00

Winter 2011 is cold, it snowed for a couple of days and I'm snowed in, hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get out of here!
Spring and Summer colours, smells and flavours have a great appeal when everything outside is cold and silent snow, so here's my Elderflower liqueur recipe: smells of Spring perfect for Winter consumption! :)
First of all you need to collect and dry your elderflowers, you can see how I do this here.
Once you have the flowers you need:

50/60 big elderflower heads
2 lemons
300 gr of sugar
450 gr of 95º alcohol
550 gr of water
(If you can't find 95º alcohol use a strong Vodka and reduce the amount of water accordingly)

Make a syrup by boiling the water and sugar for 1 minute.
Mix the syrup, alcohol, juice of the 2 lemons and the "leftover" rind in a glass jar that you can close tightly.

Leave in a warm place for 6/7 weeks.
Drain, discard the lemon rinds and filter the flowers using a clean cloth. "Wash" the flowers with 100 gr of alcohol and filter again squeezing as much as you can.
Add a syrup made with 100 gr of water and 50 gr of sugar.
Let rest for 4 months minimum (1 year is better).
ENJOY!

Alimentare in Cagli

2011-01-19T19:27:00.000+01:00

Alimentare opened in Cagli on August 5th 1999, a place to buy or taste the best foods and beverages from Le Marche.
It's a shop where you can buy amazing cheeses and salamis, yummy sauces and preserves, the best pastas; it's a wine shop with the best local and Italian wines (and artisan beers); it's a friendly café for a coffee or an aperitivo; it's a restaurant for home-made lunches made with local quality ingredients.

Ketti and Ale will help you choose the right product and cuddle you with their recipes and attentions. Visit their brand new website.

Pesaro Urbino Le Marche Discover Test and Live

2011-01-13T01:23:00.000+01:00

The Province of Pesaro & Urbino presented today "Pesaro Urbino Le Marche ONTDEK, PROEF EN BELEEF" a small guide of the Province in Dutch.
You can download it here

Preparing cooking classes for 2011

2011-01-08T22:02:00.002+01:00

NEW!
We will start offering cooking classes at Locanda della Valle Nuova!

At the moment I'm planning, studying and experimenting and more information will be available soon.
The photo below (Piadina a flat bread that is typical in the coastal area of Northern Le Marche and neighbouring Romagna) is part of the process, I'll post more soon.

Please leave your suggestions below if you wish.

Where to go when. Italy

2010-12-04T18:50:00.001+01:00

Locanda della Valle Nuova is one of the suggested accommodations in Le Marche in the brand new "Where to go when. Italy" DK guidebook

Persimmon

2010-11-04T23:30:00.000+01:00

Photo of the day: preparing liqueurs

2010-11-01T15:14:00.000+01:00

Some of this summer's liqueurs, left to right: artichokes, dandelion, elderflower (back), herbs, orange with coriander and anise.

Recipes will follow soon!

Peperoncini ripieni (stuffed peppers)

2010-10-29T00:28:00.000+02:00

Here goes my family recipe of these traditional Piemontese delicacies.

STUFFED PRESERVED PEPPERS
For about 50 tiny round peppers (can be hot or semisweet, as you prefer)

Half a litre of white or apple vinegar
Half a litre of white wine
1 1/2 tsp of salt

About 200 gr of good canned tuna
80 gr of very good quality anchovies
50 capers
Good Extra virgin olive oil

You will need plastic gloves if using hot peppers!

Wash the peppers and take away the stems. Wear your gloves and empty, so that you get rid of all the seeds and white bits inside (I use one of those tiny scoopers normally used for melon or watermelon).

Now bring the wine, vinegar and salt to a boil and cook the peppers for 5 minutes (calculated from the moment when the liquid boils again after adding the peppers). Drain and let cool upsidedown over a cloth.
Prepare the filling by putting the tuna & anchovies (desalted if needed).
When the peppers are dry and cool fill each of them with about 1 tsp of the filling and add a caper on top, pressing a bit.

Pack as tightly as you can without squeezing the filling out of them in glass jars and top with as much olive oil as it takes to cover them completely. Make sure that there are no pockets of air!
Close the jars and wait 3 or 4 weeks before eating them!
ENJOY!

Valle Nuova through an unknown guest's eyes

2010-10-24T22:41:00.000+02:00

I have a perfect memory of the guest who left me this amazing photo of our swimming pool at sunset, I suspect that he stayed two years ago in September (because September sunsets are THE BEST), but, I'm totally, absolutely, completely sorry to say that I don't remember his name....
I found the photo today, my computer broke down two years ago and I never finished passing all the files from the hard-drive where I stored all of my old computer to the "new" computer... it's just too beautiful not to be published!
So, if you recognize your photo please write me, I'll be more than glad to publicly aknowledge your photo!

Photo of the day: Peperoncini ripieni

2010-10-23T22:18:00.001+02:00

This is just a small portion of the peperoncini (small peppers) that we filled today.. inside there's tuna, anchovies and capers (recipe soon).
Divine!

Photo of the day: October landscape

2010-10-23T02:42:00.000+02:00

October landscape around the Locanda: the fields are ploughed and the colours of the leaves have started changing.
Our house is the pink one at the bottom and you can see this view taking one of our recommended walks starting on our doorstep.

Valle Nuova through your eyes: Chris Harden

2010-10-16T19:23:00.000+02:00

Thank you Chris and Julia for your photos taken during your visits in June and October this year!
We hope to see you again soon!

VALLE NUOVA THROUGH YOUR EYES: Jeremy Llewellyn-Jones

2010-10-03T22:58:00.000+02:00

When I received these photos I did not know that he's a professional photographer and documentary maker and I felt so frustrated for my poor photographs!

You can read about him and see more of his photos on his website and his blog.

©Jeremy Llewellyn-Jones

Photo of the day: September landscape

2010-10-02T01:42:00.000+02:00

Photo of the day: september sunset

2010-09-24T01:24:00.000+02:00

EATALY: not another “eating rules” article!

2010-09-21T22:41:00.002+02:00

I quite dislike “do and don'ts” and “eating rules” articles that are so commonly found on the internet and guidebooks... First of all because there are no “eating rules”, but only “eating habits” so, basically what I'm trying to do is not giving you a list of things that you should or should not do, but answering questions that I'm often asked and trying to help you clarify doubts that my guests at Valle Nuova often have.
My suggestions should be taken as an explanations of how things normally work in Italy, rather than rules.
The other reason why I do not like the “do and don'ts lists” is that, as an Italian, I do not respect some of them and nobody at a restaurant ever told me off because of it and I feel that, if you know why you should avoid a certain behaviour you will be able to behave properly even when “breaking the rules”.

1. BYO or not BYO?
Italians do not bring their own wine at restaurants, it's just simply something that we do not do.
For this reason doing so is regarded to as a sign of mistrust towards the restaurant (either I think that your wine is not good or I think that you'll charge too much for the wine... if you think either of these things of a restaurant, just do not eat there!).
What we do sometimes is “Bring your Own cake.”.. for birthday parties it is accepted that someone brings a cake (maybe home-made) to celebrate, but this has to be agreed upon with the restaurant.
p.s. (for British readers) Italian restaurants are always “licenced”... wherever you can find food you can also find alcoholic beverages.

2. Cappuccino anyone?
One of the “don'ts” I partially disagree with is the “no cappuccino after 10 a.m.(or 11 a.m. or whatever time during the morning)” concept.
First of all it's perfectly ok to have a cappuccino in the afternoon! Instead of a cup of tea or a hot chocolate in a chilly Winter afternoon, I really enjoy my frothy cappuccino and I never received a disapproving look.
Italians do not normally have cappuccino at the end of a meal simply because we consider that it's something of a small meal by itself: a big cup of hot milk is enough nourishment for a some hours.
This said, I normally have my after meal coffee very long (Americano) possibly with an unusual amount of cold milk in it... this is definitely something very un-Italian, and so what?
By the way... talking about coffee with milk... in Italy if you ask for a “latte” you're actually asking for a “milk”, just that, as any dictionary can easily prove.

3. Antipasto, primo, secondo e dessert
“Normally Italians have multi course meals”... this is another half-truth.
Any restaurant menu will divide the dishes available into these categories (and more), but you're definitely not obliged nor supposed to have them all! I rarely have the whole meal when I'm out for dinner and you can do the same.
Some places are famous for some dishes or you just may prefer to have a lighter meal and it's perfectly ok to just have a first course or an appetizer and a second course or whichever combination you fancy. If there's more than one person at a table and each one is having a different combination, you can tell the waiter what you prefer to be brought together.
Moreover... if you're not sure if the portions will be big or small, it's not necessary to order your whole meal at the beginning, you can as well order one or two things and order more if needed.
Sharing a dish with someone is also perfectly fine (it's quite common infact having 2 different pizzas and swapping half of it or sharing a dessert because you fancy something sweet but you can't eat a whole one, sometimes the waiter will bring extra spoons even if not asked).
I'm famous at a local restaurant because years ago with 2 friends we shared 2 first courses, a huge steak and 5 desserts!
Ah, vegetables are not included in the second course... you have to ask for them separately (contorni).

4. Wine glasses
I'm quite often asked for a wine glass by my guests even if there's already one in front of them... no, I don't have an unusually high number of blind guests, it's just a small cultural misunderstanding that is worth clarifying.
Depending on wherther you are eating at home or out and on the “level” of the restaurant (and thus of the wines served), wine is not necessarily served in long stem glasses. The traditional wine glass is small and thick rimmed (definitely not a fancy high stemmed glass), at home (outside everyday meals when you have both wine and water in the same glass) it's common to find two similar glasses, one slightly smaller than the other (that is the wine glass), nowadays every restaurant has it's own theory regarding glasses... high or low, round or square, transparent or any colour they like (usually colours only apply to water glasses... you want to see the colour of your wine).


traditional wine glass

5. Tipping and “coperto”

Restaurants in Italy usually apply a small charge to your bill called “coperto” (in the past “pane e coperto”). It is explained as the cost of washing the linens and providing bread (thus the name “pane e coperto”) and other free items such as grissini, oil, vinegar... The amount (usually 1 or 2 euros) is specified on the menu.
You may think that this is weird, but it's basically normal everywhere in Italy and well, you'll have to cope with it :)
On the other side the cost of the personnel is payed by the restaurant and tipping is not a necessity. Apart from the “coperto” all you are charged is what you eat, no extras. Leaving a tip is surely appreciated and it's ok to round up the bill and leave the change (a few euros) for the waiter. Anything more than that is usually done only as a special acknowledgement for a specially friendly and helpful service.

This said I'm quite sure that many Italians will disagree with most of what I wrote...
And this is the third reason why I do not like “Italy eating rules”!

Fano Antique Market

2010-09-13T23:15:00.000+02:00

Every second Sunday of each month Fano hosts a great Antique Market. Fano is a very pretty town on the coast just 40 minutes drive from Valle Nuova and I will soon add more photos (and a suggestion for a great fish restaurant!).

It's a great opportunity for buying old furniture, pottery, objects, books or just take a walk enjoying the festive spirit and the mix of interesting things and the weirdest objects ever seen on sale!

Other Antique Markets in the area:

First Sunday of the month: Urbino
Third Sunday of the month (June to September): Pesaro
Fourth Sunday of the month (except July and August): San Giovanni in Marignano
Last Sunday of the month: Rimini

Photo of the day: newly born foal

2010-09-12T18:53:00.000+02:00

He was born this afternoon after letting us wait for him almost 2 weeks longer than expected...

Photo of the day: mantis

2010-09-11T11:20:00.000+02:00

Beautiful mantis this morning in the geraniums by the pool.

Change for the oceans: new FreeRange Studios video

2010-09-03T00:38:00.000+02:00

A new FreeRange Studios video featuring John Cleese (his voice, that is).
"Given enough time, sea life could adapt to climate change. Sadly animals evolve far too slowly. But we can change as quickly as we choose to. Small actions can make a real difference. What will you do to help ocean life and our future?"

Photo of the day: perfect sunset

2010-08-24T15:57:00.000+02:00

Photo of the day: perfect afternoon

2010-08-19T18:47:00.000+02:00

Photo of the day: kittens!

2010-08-15T19:00:00.002+02:00

Photo of the day: wall in Piobbico

2010-08-08T22:12:00.000+02:00

Carbon neutral?

2010-07-28T22:38:00.001+02:00

Our 50Kw Photovoltaic plant is up and running now!
It produces enough electricity for approx 18 households and I calculate (even if it's really hard) that (along with our existent smaller plant, sustainable heating and hot water system, organic farming, home produced or zero miles food, energy & water saving, recycling, low packaging - no disposables - no cans policy) will make the Locanda and the farm carbon neutral!

Photo of the day: le Marche hills

2010-07-28T01:31:00.000+02:00

Today has been a gorgeous day: the sky was blue with only the right number of clouds, the temperature was perfect for walking, I had some free time and some good friends to share it with!

Photo of the day: a new guest at the Locanda

2010-07-26T23:34:00.000+02:00

Found it this morning on the terrace, it was all tied up with a plastic thread and some of the feathers are badly broken or bent, but it's eating well and it's quite lively....

Before and after: sour cherries

2010-07-23T22:20:00.000+02:00

Tonns of sour cherries this year!

We made jelly, put them in syrup, preserved with sugar in the sun, ate and we even made juice!

Beautiful colour and even better taste!

Photo of the day: relax by the pool

2010-07-20T00:42:00.000+02:00

The horrible heat has gone, the flowers are in bloom, the honeysuckle still spreads its wonderful perfume in the air, the figs are ripe, the cows are out in the pasture and can be seen in the distance. Today no sightseeing: just relax by the pool!

Before and after: zabaione (recipe included)

2010-07-15T15:25:00.000+02:00

Fresh organic free-range egg yolks from our hens.

Beat with 1 tbsp of sugar for every yolk, mix with a half egg-shell of Marsala or Vin Santo or your favourite Passito, cook the mix at bain-marie wisking constantly until the lines that your wisk marks stay for a while. Cool quickly in a cold bain-marie.

Eat hot or freeze it!

Photo of the day: the sausage spiral

2010-07-13T16:43:00.000+02:00

Home made organic sausages.
Some fresh for cooking, some have been dried and are currently in jars with laurel leaves, garlic and lard. Deli-ish!

The organic farmers' shop in Urbino

2010-07-06T23:45:00.001+02:00

The season started and time for long posts is long over. Nevertheless I really want to write about a fab new place that opened just over one month ago in Urbino.
Farmers are having a hard time everywhere and Italy is not an exception. Agriturismo (farm inn) is a great way to increase farmer's incomes: not only for the farmers who actually run an agriturismo who have the possibility of making the most of their own produce by transforming it into breakfasts and meals for their guests, but also for other farmers of the area who have the possibility to sell their products directly to the agriturismos. Yes, direct sales are the other big deal for farmers these days: farmers markets, farm-shops.. not having to deal with middlemen and shopkeepers makes products cheaper for the consumer and more rewarding for the seller.
This is why a group of organic farmers from Pesaro Urbino province, in northern Le Marche, decided to open their own shop.
It's located in the courtyard of the Collegio Raffaello, an imposing building by the main square of Urbino that hosts, along with other interesting places, an art gallery, Piero Guidi shop (famous handbag designer from Urbino), Caffé Basili (where you can sip a cappuccino in the quietness and the refreshing shadow of the portico) a bookshop and soon other shops.
Back to the Galleria AE (Gallery of the different economy), producers sell their gorgeous products there (cheeses, vegetables, salamis, jams as well as wine, pasta and legumes, all farmed organically within a few km of Urbino) and you'll also find FairTrade and ecological products such as soaps and more.

A great initiative that every farmer and every person concerned with the environment and the wellbeing of nature should support.
I hope that you'll shop at the Galleria AE when you visit Urbino!

Before and after: apricots

2010-07-06T19:20:00.000+02:00

A new series of posts showing you our farm product "before and after": from beautifully fresh from the field to transformed into scrumptious compotes, juices, jams, pickles and much more.
Hope you enjoy it!

Sweet and sour apricots (to be served with cheeses and cold cuts) and beautiful apricot juice for breakfast.

Photo of the day: objects from the past

2010-07-01T10:52:00.000+02:00

Guess....

Photo of the day: apricots!

2010-06-29T00:46:00.000+02:00

Take 50 kg of apricots in our orchard, subtract 25 kg to make apricot juice, eat some, 8 kg for jam, 6 for yummy apricot liqueur, eat some more, you still have quite a few apricots, so I decided to try this recipe of "sweet and sour apricots": sugar, vinagre, salt, laurel and apricots.

It sounds interesting, will report as soon as it's ready for trying it.

Photo of the day: have you ever seen my mill?

2010-06-27T20:05:00.000+02:00

Today I've been milling over 4 kg of wheat, the result: flour (type 1) to make bread, whole-grain coarse flour to make my zucchini bread and bisquits, semolina to dust & a lot of bran for the hens (they love it!).

This is my mill (and super tecnological sifter).

La via della Ceramica tra Umbria e Marche. Renaissance majolica exhibition in Gubbio

2010-06-26T00:32:00.001+02:00

From today, until January 31st 2011 in Gubbio Ducal Palace: Renaissance majolica of Umbria and Le Marche from private collections.

Over 150 Renaissance majolica pieces coming from some of the most famous private collections in Italy. The exhibition, that includes some specimens that have rarely been displayed, connects towns renowned for their ceramic tradition during the Renaissance: Deruta, Gubbio, Castel Durante (nowadays called Urbania), Urbino and Pesaro.

Gubbio is the connection between these towns and the two regions (Umbria and the Marches) since it now belongs to Umbria but during the Renaissance it was part of the duchy of Urbino. From and artistic point of view it connects the Deruta tradition of the end of the XV century and the "metaurense" tradition (Urbania, Urbino and Pesaro).

Gubbio stands just 45 minutes drive away from the Locanda and it makes a perfect daytrip.
(images from The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Photo of the day: home made liqueurs anyone?

2010-06-25T23:36:00.000+02:00

In the store-room trying to arrange all the home-made liqueurs.
Un assaggio?

Photo of the day: pecorino di fossa

2010-06-17T23:09:00.001+02:00

Gorgeous organic formaggio di fossa d.o.p. by Luca Pala.
Pecorino di fossa is a sheep’s milk cheese from the area between Le Marche and Emilia Romagna. Wrapped in a cloth sack and buried in underground caves (fosse) to age for 3 months, Pecorino di Fossa is typically loaf-shaped and yellow in color with a rich, earthy and persistent flavor.Served with quince jam, onion jam, honey or salame di fichi (a specialty of Le Marche and Slowfood "presidio": a mixture of minced dried figs, almonds, walnuts, aniseed liqueur, wrapped in a fig leaf and shaped to resemble a salami), it's delicious!

Valle Nuova through your eyes: Silke vF

2010-06-13T17:43:00.002+02:00

Here's another interesting point of view about Valle Nuova from a guest who just left and was kind enough to send very nice shots that she took during her stay here.
Photos by Silke vF, Bollschweil, Germany. Thank you very much!

Anyone who would like me to publish his/her photos, please drop me an e-mail!

Photo of the day: coppa or capocollo?

2010-06-11T22:45:00.001+02:00

I call it "coppa", they call it "capocollo"... the only really interesting thing about it is that it's absolutely gorgeous!!
If you ever stay near Grottazzolina, look for our friend's Doriano Scibé's farm-shop and buy some!

Photo of the day: strawberries!

2010-06-08T23:37:00.001+02:00

The first batch of strawberries from our organic kitchen garden has been collected today, it's about 3 kg and we will start making jam (one of my favourites along with gooseberry and raspberry) and a gorgeous syrup to serve with home-made gelato. ...when the second batch comes we'll have to think of new strawberry-goods, we're having a huge production this year!
... strawberry liqueur?

Some Summer 2010 events: music and more in Northern Le Marche

2010-06-04T00:49:00.001+02:00

Just a few proposals of things to do in Northern Le Marche this summer.

Every Wednesday afternoon from June 2nd to September 29th you'll have the possibility of visiting Villa Imperiale, one of the finest Renaissance villas, situated on the hills near Pesaro. More information here.

From June 17th to June 20th, in Pennabilli, a nice village on the border between Le Marche and Emilia Romagna, will take place the XIV edition of Artisti in Piazza (Artists in the square) - International buskers festival.

During the festival, all the streets of Pennabilli medieval center become stages for italian and international artists.

A handicraft market is also on during the festival, visit their web page for more information (also in English)

I've been trying to participate for some years now, but I never was able to do so... will I succeed this year?

From June 12th to July 22nd: Ville e Castella. Fourteen different locations (including fascinating places off-the-beaten-track even for the locals, monasteries, churches, museums and natural settings) for over a month of music, conferences, dance and theatre. This year Moni Ovadia, Trio Khiyal, Enten Hitti Sleeping concert (until dawn), Maurizio Mastrini and many more.
Visit their complete program.

The 18th edition of Fano Jazz by the sea will be on from July 24th to 30th. Some of the artists this year will be Marcus Miller group, Gonzalo Rubalcaba trio and James Carter quintet. More information soon on their website.

From July 4th to August 13th in various locations around the province you'll be able to attend concerts of the Antique Music Festival: Musicae Amoeni Loci.

Rossini Opera Festival is on in Pesaro from August 9th to 22nd. The program is available here.

Read also my post about the Urbino Antique music festival 2010: July 19th to 28th.

Everything elderflower 1: Elderflower jelly

2010-05-13T19:18:00.003+02:00

I love elderflower!
I love it in cakes (just add a fistful of dried flowers to your favourite plain cake batter), I love elderflower cordial during summer with fizzy water, I love it with white wine for a different aperitivo or dessert wine, I love elderflower jelly and elderflower liqueur.

First of all you have to collect the elderflowers, the flowers have to be fully but just about open, make sure that the elder does not grow very near a busy road or any other dirty place because you can't wash the flowers.
Dry the elderflowers: I usually make small bunches of 10-12 flowers that I tie with a string and hang on a clothes-horse (heads down). Make sure that you put some paper or a cloth underneath because they loose some pollen while drying.
Now you have the elderflowers, ready for any of the uses mentioned above.

ELDERFLOWER JELLY

For the elderflower "juice"
1/2 liter of water + approx 100g
200 gr of sugar
15 flowers
1 lemon

For the jelly
800 gr of elderflower "juice"
800 gr of sugar
1 sachet of pectine
(or use the amount of "juice", sugar and pectine suggested on the package).

Prepare the "juice" by boiling the water with the sugar until the sugar is well dissolved, put the elderflowers and the hot syrup in a bowl (that you can cover), squeeze the lemon and add the juice and the whole "leftover" rind of the lemon to the bowl.
Cover and let sit for 24 hours.
Filter the syrup and use some warm water (approx 100 ml) to "wash" the flowers, squeeze well and filter and obtain 800 gr of liquid (syrup + "washing" water). I normally use a cloth for the filtering that makes the washing and squeezing easier.
Let cool and use as you would use any fruit juice to make a jelly!

ENJOY!

Caprifoglio, my favourite flower

2010-05-08T01:55:00.002+02:00

Wild honeysuckle is in bloom outside my house.

Fermo Province: hilltop-towns, ceramics and the best organic salamis

2010-05-02T00:43:00.006+02:00

Yesterday I had to go and provide some pork goodies for the season at the Locanda. My favourite producer in the world is Doriano Scibé, from Grottazzolina in Fermo Province.
Fermo is the latest Le Marche Province, created only a few years ago, but the area "il Fermano", formerly included in the Ascoli Piceno Province, has always had a strong character: an interesting dialect, yummy gastronomic peculiarities and probably the highest ratio of hilltop-towns in the world... about 90% of the villages are called Monte-something... Montottone, Montappone, Monte Giorgio, Montefortino... and I could go on for a while! :)
The drive is about 2 hours, so I decided to take it easy and spend the day visiting a few things in the area.
In spite of the high number of hilltop-towns, the first place where I stopped was Servigliano, a very flat and very unusual village, entirely built during the XVIII century: the plan is square and very regular and scientifically calculated.

Next on the list was the village of Montottone, where I know a great pottery producer.
Montottone hosted, until just after WW2, 48 pottery producers that created pots, dishes, jugs and much more for the whole area. This tradition is currently pursued by the Bozzi family.

Emanuele, showed me some pieces that were traditionally used for producing cheese, the milking "pail", the "pigna", where the milk curdled, and the containers used to drain the cheese.

I love cheesemaking (I also make a very simple fresh cheese) so I couldn't resist and ordered a whole set, made just for me! I'll post pictures as soon as they arrive.
Finally, I headed towards Grottazzolina to buy some Pancetta (amazing pork belly cured with salt, pepper and orange rind), Capocollo, Ciauscolo (a typical very soft, fresh and spicy "salami") and my personal favourite: Salsiccia di Fegato (liver sausage) that is apparently not a hit outside the area because of the strong flavour... My suggestion is: if you happen to be in the area, DO TRY IT, it's gorgeous!

A great day in a different part of Le Marche... every time I venture in other areas of this region and appreciate the diversity of landscapes and traditions I remember why it has been defined "Italy in one region".

Il palio della rana: of men, frogs and wheelbarrows

2010-04-18T22:13:00.006+02:00

Take a man, a frog and a wheelbarrow and imagine a race... yes, you chose the right option: the man pushes the wheelbarrow with the frog on it.. it sounds funny enough, no need to imagine other possibilities!

Of course the frog will not specially like the idea of standing still on the bumping vehicle and will jump off, the man drops the wheelbarrow and catches the frog and off he starts pushing and running again.

Take the 7 contrade of Fermignano: Cà L’Agostina, Calpino, La Pieve, La Torre, San Lazzaro, San Silvestro and Santa Barbara, each one wearing different colours, all running for the Palio, take drums, beautiful Renaissance dresses, falconers, lots of people and fried frog-legs, this is what you can see if you visit Fermignano during the weekend following Easter Sunday (this year they had to move the celebration due to the bad weather).

By the way, this is a very serious issue and there's a veterinary who checks that the frogs are sound and fit before and after the race, and apparently the Guardia di Finanza (financial police) is also somehow involved in the inspection!

The biggest calf ever

2010-04-16T19:18:00.002+02:00

I rarely talk about my cattle here, but today I started the day helping a cow calving and a massive, enormous, gorgeous calf was born, so they deserve an entry of their own!
The calf is really huge, it took 3 of us pulling like crazy while my neighbour Giovanni supervised and directed.
When a cow has so many problems calving we always fear that she might refuse the calf, or at least be too stressed to take care of it properly, in this case we had no problem: the cow "gli vuole bene" (lit. she loves him) as the farmers in the area put it (sweet, isn't it?).
The only problem is that the calf is so big and he was pulled so strongly (weakening his front limbs) that he has problems standing up, he's lively and strong so he can stand for a while, but at the moment not enough to get near his mother and suckle so today we're all collaborating to feed him (it's very important that he takes the colostrum, the first milk that contains antibodies and gives nutrients in a very concentrated low-volume form.
Well, I will not bother you with more technical issues and will leave you to the pictures of the event!

My neighbour Giovanni watching the cow and the calf for signs of any problem.

Curious calf taking a sneak peek of the newly born (almost twice as big as he is!)

Trying to stand up!

The proud daddy! :)

Tartufi

2010-04-12T21:03:00.001+02:00

A truffle (tartufo) is a type of chocolate confectionery, traditionally made with a chocolate ganache center coated in chocolate or cocoa powder... no, no, no... this is not the kind of truffle I want to talk about!

Truffles are delicious fungi with a pungent smell that grow underground.
Pigs or dogs are used to find them since there's nothing over the surface that indicate their presence.
Acqualagna, just 5 minutes drive from Valle Nuova, is the biggest trading market in Italy for truffles even if Alba, in Southern Piedmont, is much better known.
There are many different species of truffle and Northern Le Marche, specially the area around Acqualagna, is the only area in Italy where truffles can be found and collected year-round.
The species that can be collected in Acqualagna area are the following (along with collecting seasons). They are listed from the best "Tuber Magnatum Pico" down to the "Scorzone" that in my opinion should be avoided since you risk being charged a lot of money and being served Scorzone (that is hard and pretty tasteless) + artificial aroma.
Tartufo bianco (Tuber Magnatum Pico from October 1st to December 31st)
Tartufo nero pregiato (Tuber Melanosporum from December 1st to March 15th)
Tartufo bianchetto o ‘marzuolo’ (Tuber Borchii Vitt or Tuber Albidum Pico from January 15th to April 30th)
Tartufo nero estivo o ‘scorzone’ (Tuber Aestivum Vitt. from May 1st to December 31st)

I don't like scorzoni but they are surely BIG! This one was found in our woods.

There are three truffle fairs in Acqualagna:
Tartufo nero pregiato fair: Sunday before the last of February
Tartufo Scorzone: First weekend of August
Fiera Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco: 3 weekends between the end of October and the beginning of November.
During the month of October, every weekend, Sant'Angelo in Vado hosts a white truffle fair and an expo and market of truffle hunting dogs.

In October we organize truffle hunting walks with our neighbour Giovanni and his dogs, we'll also be glad to suggest the best place to buy some truffle to bring home and to buy some fresh truffle and prepare it for you!

Valle Nuova through your eyes: Laura

2010-04-08T11:09:00.001+02:00

During Easter holidays some friends from Spain came stay at my place. We walked and chatted, ate and drank, played cards and "mended the world" a few times talking over and over again about this and that.
We also took quite a few photos, specially Laura, she always had her super camera with her and the click accompained us everywhere.
She showed me some of her shots and it was so interesting to see the very well known landscapes, trees, cows and cats through her eyes that I decided to ask her some of her shots for this blog and start a series of "Valle Nuova through your eyes" photos. I'll ask more friends and guests to participate and if you think you have something interesting to show here please contact me!

So, these are some (just a few) of Laura's photos, taken during Easter 2010 near Locanda della Valle Nuova. Thank you Laura!!!

THE video

2010-03-26T10:42:00.005+01:00

In july, I had a visit, Richard Johnson, founder of It's a green green world, and his wife Lynne, came to the Locanda to film a video about us.
Now the video is on youtube and it looks great!
Thank you so much Richard and Lynne!

The people singing by the organ in the church in the video is the Ensamble Bella Gerit from Urbino, you may remember listening to their music through this blog. I didn't know they would be in the video until I saw it! :)

The Locanda on metronews.ca halifax

2010-03-24T22:47:00.004+01:00

This afternoon I gave a look at the site's statistics (I admit I'm a bit of a statistics-addict :) ) and spotted quite a few visits from Canada... I was curious so I checked where they came from and found a small article on "metronews.ca halifax" with suggestions for spending your holidays on a farm, there are four addresses and the Locanda is one of the four! ...and we're in very good company indeed!

This is what they say about us:
Blissfully charming 200 acres of super-organic crops, cattle, pigs and poultry close to Urbino. Delicious home cooking and truffles in the woods. Stables, a pool, gorgeous rooms and lovely staff who live by the farm motto “one should tread lightly on the earth.”

You can read the full article here
...I'm sure that you'll be able to spot the Locanda inspite of the interestingly spelled name... I think we should have chosen an easier name for the Locanda...

Dustin Hoffman reads "L'Infinito" by Leopardi in Le Marche

2010-03-18T01:52:00.004+01:00

Urbino Ducal Palace with the Torricini, Frasassi Caves, Senigallia "Rotonda", the Conero Riviera, Furlo Gorge, the beautiful Montefeltro hills and much more in the long version of the promotional video for Le Marche featuring Dustin Hoffman.

New Le Marche tourism website

2010-03-15T13:56:00.009+01:00

A new website about tourism in Le Marche is online, it includes lots of information and nice new features but at the moment it's a bit weird to navigate... If you choose to browse the site in English you're redirected the Marche Voyager site that is very interesting and includes great information about travelling and relocating in Le Marche, there's also a newsletter you can subscribe to if you want to receive the latest news about expos and events. If you have a bit of Italian do visit both sites because they complement eachother quite well!
There's a new "multimedia" section that contains PDF versions of some of the pubblications of Le Marche Tourist Service, since they're not easy to access, I'm posting links to them (actually while writing this post I lost a page I wanted to link to and it took me a few minutes to find it again...)

The Coast "A 180 km long coastline, beautiful beaches, 26 seaside resorts on the Adriatic Sea where you can spend quiet holidays, the sea port of Ancona and 9 marinas. The shores of the Marche stretch from the promontory of Gabicce Mare to the mouth of the River Tronto. It is divided in two parts each facing a different direction starting from the promontory of Mount Conero which is the most peculiar feature of the entire Adriatic shore north of the Gargano. The coastline is one of the many examples of the great variety of landscapes which nature has so highly bestowed upon every tiny bit of the Marche territory.
Promontories, creeks, and small coves mark the northern coast like jewels underlining natures wild beauty creating a strong visual impact."

Exploring Inland "The Marche is a Region of Italy where history, culture and countryside have helped to create a unique and extraordinary world that is worth discovering.
Visiting its inland areas offers tourists a chance of enjoying the peaceful, well ordered atmosphere of its quiet, gently rolling hills. It also provides an opportunity to find inner and cultural enrichment from works of art and the historical, literary and legendary significance of places in the most unexpected corners of this extensive area."

The Cities of Art "The writer Guido Piovene considers Le Marches’ landscape as one of the most typical Italian countrysides, defining it as
“a sheltered and civilised land, or better still the most classical of our regions”. It is possible to trace back the outlying historical development of the region by
admiring the various artistic works showing the cultural traditions over the centuries. A combination of experience, history, influence and nature makes Le Marche one of the most culturally interesting regions of Italy."

Ancient Villages The Apennines on a side, the Adriatic coast on the other, and, in-between, a sea of soft hills, which are filled by old villages, protected by ring walls: these are the Marche.
It’s a pleasure to surf in a sea earth of our own roots, immersed in the purity of the landscape and the harmony of architectonic.
Whereas the beauty of the art towns in Marche is known and appreciated all over the world, it is necessary to recognize that the heart of the region has to be found in the little villages that they pointing out around the territory, ignored by hurried tourists and often unknown to the most people of the Marche themselves."

Complete PDF files clicking the titles of each book
.... mmmh... The texts above are excerpts of the pubblications... sorry about the translations...

The video featuring Dustin Hoffman reading "L'infinito" by Giacomo Leopardi and images of Le Marche landscapes and monuments can also be seen on the new site.

Mascarpone cream: tiramisù or not?

2010-03-11T14:24:00.006+01:00

Tiramisù is, in spite of its quite short history, definitely a classic Italian dessert and, like most classics of Italian cuisine, there are probably as many recipes as families in Italy!
Liqueur or no liqueur? Cream or mascarpone only? Sugar in the coffee or not? Cooked cream or (very very fresh) raw eggs? Egg whites (beaten along with the yolks?) or not? Zabaione?
Of course I have a personal point of view on tiramisù and my recipe is a no-liqueur, no-cream, no-sugar one, a few egg whites beaten along with the yolks. I love zabaione (I'll soon post the recipe) that is gorgeous all alone with no need of mixing it with other ingredients.

So, here it goes (serves 6):
250 gr mascarpone "cheese"
1 (very fresh) organic egg
2 (very fresh) organic egg yolks
2 tbsp sugar
1 pinch of salt

About 200 gr savoiardi bisquits (lady fingers)
Coffee
Bitter cocoa powder

Make coffee and let it cool.
Beat the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and salt until the sugar is well dissolved and the mixture is light and foamy.
Put the mascarpone in a bowl and mix it until it's a uniform cream. Add the egg-sugar mixture bit by bit stirring gently (if you overwork it it will separate and curdle!).
Dip the savoiardi in the coffee, I like them well soaked (no cruncyness in my tiramisú) but watch out, you don't want them to be soggy!
Spread a few spoonfuls of cream in a rectangular mold and cover with the bisquits, add more cream to cover and repeat until the ingredients are over, finish with cream and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

But....
I have to admit that, even if I really appreciate a good tiramisù from time to time, I prefer to experiment with mascarpone cream a bit and create new desserts.

Just a few examples:
- Arrange in individual bowls and serve with nocino (green walnut liqueur).
- Put some broken amaretti bisquits on the bottom of individual bowls, cover with a portion of cream and sprinkle with fresh peaches cut in small cubes and marinated in a little marsala wine & sugar (I do like to keep the cruncyness of the amaretti here so I make this just minutes before serving).
- Marinate some fresh strawberries in vinsanto, marsala or other sweet wine. Arrange in individual bowls and cover with the cream.
- Serve with your favourite red wine reduction (1 part sugar, 6 parts red wine and let reduce until thick).

Give it a try and let me know!

XLII Festival di Musica Antica 2010

2010-03-04T11:08:00.004+01:00

This year's Antique Music Festival will be held in Urbino between July 19th and July 28th.
The programmes for classes and concerts are not out yet, but I trust that it will be as great as ever!
Just a tiny video of one of the groups that participated last year.
From Urbino, Ensamble BELLA GERIT: “Nuptiae factae sunt – Musica ad Urbino al tempo di Raffello” (First performance of the “Medici Codex 1518”)

Hope you enjoy it and to see you next July!
Some of the programmes of the courses are available at the FIMA website (there's an English version, scroll down and look for the flag on the left, but the site is being updated and only some pages work).
I'll post more once the programme of the concerts is online.

Visit a Saffron producer in Le Marche!

2010-02-28T17:56:00.007+01:00

According to Greek myth, handsome mortal Crocos fell in love with the beautiful nymph Smilax. But his favours were rebuffed by Smilax, and he was turned into a beautiful purple crocus flower. The deep orange-red stigmas of the beautiful purple Crocus sativus are what we call saffron. It takes the stigmas from 100.000 to 200.000 crocus flowers to make 1 kg of saffron.
Experts believe saffron was first documented in a 7th century BC Assyrian botanical reference, it's use - first as a therapeutic drug, later as as spice - has been documented ever since.

Saffron cultivation was introduced in Le Marche by the Duke Federico da Montefeltro and this spice was cultivated in the Ducal Palace's kitchen garden.
A very active and resourceful couple is trying to revive this old tradition in their small farm near Urbino and they're offering visits to their zafferaneto (saffron field) to our guests.

Visit the zafferaneto, learn about cultivation and production, listen to Silvia's fascinating insights on saffron tradition and use, buy some beautifully packed saffron stigmas from their own produce (also makes a great present for your family and friends!) or buy some bulbs and give home-production a try!
Read more on how and when to visit.

The Guardian GREEN TRAVEL LIST 2010

2010-02-23T15:57:00.006+01:00

The Locanda is the only Italian property included in The Guardian Green Travel List 2010!!

Locanda della Valle Nuova, Italy

Like most agriturismos, food and wine are the focus at Locanda, a 1920s farmhouse run on solar power near the hilltop town of Urbino in northwest Italy. The owners grow organic wheat, fruit and vegetables, raise cattle, pigs and poultry, and make their own pasta, jam and wine. In autumn you can gather truffles from the woods and return to a wood-fired stove fuelled by coppicing from the 185-acre farm.
• +39 0722 330303, vallenuova.it From €55pp B&B.

You can find the full List here and read more about it here.

The last article of 2009

2010-02-12T22:11:00.005+01:00

I missed an article that was out in November 2009 on the Lonely Planet Magazine: "Our favorite places to stay (for under 99£), the Locanda is included!

Suggestions for a greener home 2: mail

2010-01-27T13:22:00.004+01:00

You may be wondering what mail has to do with living in a greener way...
Well, look what I found a couple of days ago in my mail:

(Bottom right: my "legitimate" mail)
Have you ever calculated how much unwanted paper and plastic you receive every day in your mail? This not only means that you have to waste your time checking and throwing things away, but of course the biggest problem is that unwanted mail means more paper, more plastic, more travel, more ink, etc. and if you don't take the time to separately throw away it also means a great increase in undifferenciated rubbish.

And now you'll ask: and what can I do?
Well, first of all do take the time to separate the rubbish you receive in your mailbox (even those envelopes with plastic "window"... just tear the plastic bit up and throw separately).
And why not write (an e-mail!) to the publishing company that sends you your favourite magazine every month - all wrapped in plastic and with tonns of extra papers inside advertising things you're not interested in - and tell them that you'd rather have it wrapped in bio plastics or recycled paper.
You can also send the unwanted mail back. It takes some time but it works in the end... you should have seen my pile of mail a couple of years ago!

The first article of the year: Farmstays go global

2010-01-18T12:01:00.006+01:00

Italy, Le Marche: Locanda della Valle Nuova

Just outside the Unesco World Heritage-listed town of Urbino, this is a rigorously organic farm (pure-breed Marchigiana cows, wheat, fruit, vegetables) with solar heating and other green initiatives, all set on 185 acres. It has a pool, stables with horses to hire and woods that, in autumn, have truffles. There are six chic, modern rooms (no roughing it here) and two apartments for two.

From £50pp per night, B&B, or £75pp, half-board; 00 39 0722 330303, vallenuova.it. Fly to Ancona, an hour’s drive away, with Ryanair (0871 246 0000, ryanair.com)

This article was on the Sunday Times yesterday.

(we're on page two with a slightly wrong name, but I'm sure you'll spot us!)

Suggestions for a greener home 1: waste

2010-01-13T18:37:00.004+01:00

I have been contacted by the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) that is running a project called Hotel Energy Solutions that will "deliver information, technical support and training to help small and medium sized hotels across the 27 EU countries to increase their use of energy efficiency and renewable energy".

In order to be included in a publication about "best practices" (accommodation businesses already working hard for sustainability), we were asked to fill in a very detailed questionary about our energy usage, renewable energy and many other features that make the Locanda a sustainable accommodation.
When filling in the questionary I realized that I consider quite a lot of the actions that we take as "normal" and I do not think about mentioning them unless specifically asked for. I also realized that it can be the other way round too.. I mean, quite often we do not realize how our daily behaviour affects the environment, so I will start posting a series of suggestions to keep your home and your life greener. I'm sure that most of you already practice most of this and much more, so please share your suggestions and thoughts.

Waste is one of the first things that comes to mind when thinking about a greener house, most of us recycle and are quite conscious about the importance of doing so. There are great differences from place to place regarding what you can recycle and how so I'll approach the issue from a different point of view.
Why not reducing the quantity of waste that you produce? Concretely, why not stop buying things that you will throw away straight away?

Some time ago I complained at my local supermarket because they changed the packaging of a cheese that I sometimes buy. Every piece is wrapped in plastic, put in a small polystyrene tray and wrapped AGAIN! The nice lady I was talking to assured me that they weigh the cheese BEFORE packing it so that I was not paying for the plastic.... I had a hard time explaining to her that we were ALL paying for it!
So my suggestion today is: when you buy something try to go for the minimum possible packaging and of course make sure that the packaging (if really necessary) is easy to recycle.

More electricity

2010-01-12T00:31:00.002+01:00

We installed our photovoltaic panels this past summer and we're now producing enough electricity to power our inn and cow sheds, now we're taking a further step: we just signed a contract to install almost 50 Kw of photovoltaic panels (meaning 60.000 Kwh of electricity produced per year) on the roof of our cow shed.

This means that our roof will produce the electricity needed to power over 15 average households and we will feed it into the local network. This is our way to offset the carbon that we still produce with our tractors, our car, the gas we use for cooking, the cars that our guests use to reach us. Calculating the carbon produced is not easy but we consider that the whole farm and inn complex will be carbon-neutral.

Do not think that we are satisfied... we still have a long way to go and our next plans are about further reducing water consumption. I'll keep you informed!

Urbino Physics Laboratory & Museum of Scientific Instruments

2010-01-08T16:26:00.007+01:00

In Italy we have too much art, architecture and museums... You may wonder how these things can be TOO MUCH, easy: we do not have enough resources to have them all open and available for people to see and/or we do not have enough interest in things that are considered "minor" only because of the abundance of the "major" ones.

A few days ago some friends from Spain came to visit and one of them has a special interest in representations of the "Noli me tangere" episode of the Bible. Months ago I could see a beautiful painting portraying the "Noli me tangere" by Timoteo Viti in Sant'Angelo Minore church in Cagli, I took some pictures and sent them over to my friend who was thrilled and wanted to see the painting. When she decided to visit for New Year's Eve we didn't hesitate in defining the visit to Sant'Angelo Minore as one of the highlights of her visit.
After a very nice meal at Alimentare we headed towards the beautiful little church that features a small loggia before the main entrance. ...of course the door was firmly locked...

Luckily in Italy we may have too many things to see, but definitely also many unusual ways to obtain what we want. We asked a kind lady next door if she knew when the church would open and she called a neighbour who directed us to Ermes, "down at the household appliances shop" who keeps the keys. When the shop opened he was very nice and opened the church for us!

Going back to where I started, something that I always wanted to visit and never could (it only opened for groups upon appointment) is the Gabinetto di Fisica e Museo di Strumenti Scientifici in Urbino. It's been just relocated inside the Collegio Raffaello in Piazza della Repubblica and is open daily from monday to friday 10,00/12,00 - 15,00/17,00.

It's a gorgeous collection of scientific instruments that range from optics to magnetism and from acoustics to atomic physics dating from the end of the XVIII century to the beginning of the XX century.

Piero della Francesca: the invisible landscape

2009-11-24T23:11:00.007+01:00

People often thought that the great painters of the Renaissance created imaginary landscapes.
Nowadays some of those landscapes have been found
they were hidden within the Montefeltro hills

(Music: Bella Gerit, Urbino)

We produce electricity!!!

2009-09-12T23:57:00.002+02:00

After a 3 months wait due to, guess what, bureaucracy, our photovoltaic panels started producing electricity yesterday!!!
We'll soon have an online system to know how much electricity we're producing.
It feels great knowing that we're not polluting every time that we switch a lamp on!

Peperoni anyone?

2009-09-03T15:43:00.003+02:00

This year peppers have been growing, and growing and growing... so we've been eating, stuffing, frying, making peperonata and preserving.
These are some of our peppers preserves.

From the left: sweet green chiles in vinegar, peperoni sottolio, tiny peppers stuffed with tuna, anchovy and capers, pepper spread and (in the back) sweet and sour sweet green chiles. YUM!

San Leo

2009-08-31T23:07:00.004+02:00

The ancient land of the Montefeltro, lodged between the regions of Le Marche, Romagna and Tuscany, which Duke Federico (1422-1482) drew together, counted a large number of fortresses, built in medieval times to control and safeguard an impervious terrain that would otherwise have been easily conquered by enemy forces. Nonetheless, previous existent fortifications could not guarantee the strong selfdefence required by Federico da Montefeltro. This led to an ambitious project: the transformation, with the help of architects and ballistic experts, of the original fortified area into a new instrument of wartime defence, making the boundaries of the duchy impenetrable.
Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439-1501) was entrusted with this task of strengthening many of the fortresses in the area, including San Leo.
The fortress of San Leo is an imposing defensive structure that seems to be an extension of the rock that supports it.

San Leo itself is a tiny hilltop village with a few houses and two beautiful Romanesque churches.

Fonte Avellana Monastery

2009-08-27T00:00:00.005+02:00

Fonte Avellana Monastery is a Roman Catholic hermitage founded at the end of the X century that stands about 30 km south of the Locanda, near the Umbrian border. It was once presided over by Saint Peter Damian, and it was described by Dante in the Divine Comedy

«Tra ' due liti d'Italia surgon sassi,
e non molto distanti a la tua patria,
tanto che ' troni assai suonan più bassi,

e fanno un gibbo che si chiama Catria,
di sotto al quale è consecrato un ermo,
che suole esser disposto a sola latria».

Così ricominciommi il terzo sermo;
e poi, continüando, disse: «Quivi
al servigio di Dio mi fe' sì fermo,

che pur con cibi di liquor d'ulivi
lievemente passava caldi e geli,
contento ne' pensier contemplativi.

Render solea quel chiostro a questi cieli
fertilemente; e ora è fatto vano,
sì che tosto convien che si riveli.

In quel loco fu' io Pietro Damiano,
e Pietro Peccator fu' ne la casa
di Nostra Donna in sul lito adriano.
(Dante, Divina Commedia, Paradiso XXI)

It's a beautiful building and it stands in the middle of unspoiled oak woods.

The Monastery can be visited including the amazing scriptorium where the monks used to spend their days copying manuscripts, some of them are still in the old library of the Monastery.
Guido d'Arezzo, progenitor of the "do-re-mi" scale, whose syllables are taken from the initial syllables of each of the first six musical phrases of the first stanza of the hymn Ut queant laxis, probably spent some time here as head of the library.

Sustainable travel in the Mediterranean: the Locanda is in the press.

2009-08-02T10:13:00.004+02:00

As I wrote before, the Locanda has been included in a new Rough Guide: Clean Breaks. Today an article about the author's favourites in the Mediterranean is out on The Observer. You can read it here.

Agriturismo? The interview is online

2009-08-01T00:01:00.003+02:00

I wrote a few days ago about a group of young American journalists visiting the Locanda and the farm.
Now a multimedia story of their experience here is online, with photos, an article and a video. It's very interesting to read and see a different point of view on what we do and I love the video! You can see it here.

By the way, this is a photo by Scott Burry taken at Valle Nuova: even weeds are beautiful here :)

Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World

2009-07-23T00:58:00.004+02:00

The Locanda has been included in the Rough Guides book Clean Breaks: 500 new ways to see the world by Richard Hammond and Jeremy Smith.

"Clean Breaks unearths 500 unique experiences and new ways to travel that make a real difference to the lives of local people and the planet. Discover a wealth of new adventures from sleeping in houseboats in Kerala and witnessing the zebra migration in Botswana to taking the train-hotel from Paris to Madrid. Whether you fancy living like a local in a tipi with Native American Indians, riding with cowboys in Venezuela or staying in a bunkhouse barn in the Brecon Beacons, this guide is packed with the how, where and when to plan your next extraordinary experience.

Authors Richard Hammond, Green Travel Correspondent for The Guardian, and Jeremy Smith, former Editor of The Ecologist Magazine, combine cultural sensitivity with practical advice, hand-picking the best hotels, resorts, and tours run by earth-friendly people who are passionate about what they do, assuring a spectacular choice of inspirational travel ideas without compromising on the quality of your holiday. Whether you wish to experience a climate-friendly home-stay or simply want to see the world in a new light; make your next trip a Clean Break."

The book will be out on August 4th, it looks great, filled with useful information, interesting places to visit and great photos. Take a sneak peek at it here.

Say: "cheese"....

2009-07-17T23:35:00.006+02:00

This week we haven't had many guests, the season is being slower than usual (even if not nearly as bad as I expected and much better than I hear from other people), but somehow we manage to be as busy as we are on a busier season... mistery!

During the last week we had two very interesting visits that kept us busy in an unusual way.

More than one year ago I discovered a very interesting new website that features green accommodation all around the world: It's a green green world. It was more or less just starting but now it features almost 700 different places and they all look gorgeous, just give me time and will start visiting one by one!
Founder Richard Johnson and his wife Linne arrived on Monday since they're travelling around Italy and they are working on some new projects. They filmed and took pictures of the house and the farm and they will produce a short video about this place! All aspects of our daily life were touched, from hay collecting to preserving. It was great fun and a great honour to be around with them!
Thank you Richard and Lynne!

On Tuesday and again today I had another nice visit.
Urbino hosts a journalism course and internship program by San Francisco State University and photographer Scott Burry chose Agriturismo and organic farming as the focus of his work during the course (have a look at his blog for some great shots of Urbino). They also have a blog where they share experiences from their stay in Urbino.
He came with his fellow journalist friends and again took photos, filmed the farm and the house and interviewed me. It was a nice experience (even if I'm not very sure that I want to see myself on video ;) ) to share this place and the meaning of our work with them. Again it was an honour to help them with their work and it was a fun experience (I hope they also enjoyed it!).

Probably the farm, the guys working here, my storeroom and myself have been phtographed more during the last 5 days than during the past 28 years! Say: "cheese"!

"Luxury travel and local communities" by Gloria

2009-07-16T01:22:00.003+02:00

Can luxury travel be responsible? What are you looking for when choosing your travel destination and the way you're going to travel? Should tourism contribute to improve the lives of the local communities? Should luxury accommodation (and all accommodation for that matter) be ethical and invest in their environment?

Have a look at what my friend Gloria writes about responsible (or ethical, as she sais) travel in her blog: At home in Tuscany.

OGGI SCIOPERO - TODAY STRIKE

2009-07-14T01:37:00.002+02:00

It will be the first strike of bloggers ever.
On July 14, 2009, Italian bloggers will muzzle themselves in the Web as well as in Piazza Navona in Rome, at 7PM where they will meet to protest against an Italian government bill (the Alfano decree) introducing a number of new rules which will limit the freedom of expression in Italian internet.
The so-called "obligation to rectify" imposed to the manager of an information site (blogs, social networks such as Facebook, Twitter etc) clearly appears to be a pretext. In fact such imposition, in termsof bureaucratization of the network and of very heavy penalties for users, shall make of the new decree an internet-killer.
The practical effects shall be to cause the independent sites and blogs to cease or materially reduce their publications. The apparent intent of introducing criteria of responsibility hides the attempt to make life difficult or impossible for bloggers and users of shared sites (for example: You Tube...)
The fact is that bloggers are already entirely liable, from a penal standpoint, in the event of crimes such as insults, defamation etc: there is no need to introduce unbearable penalties for "citizen-journalists" who do not intend to submit themselves to the bureaucracy and the burdens contemplated in the Alfano decree.
The plurality of information, regardless of the media, internet, newspapers, radio and tv networks etc, is a fundamental right of men and citizens, on which democracy and freedom are based. The Alfano decree is an attack to the freedom of all media, from the major newspapers to the smallest blog.
For this reason we invite all Italian blogs and sites to a day of silence, in the day in which newspapers and tv networks will also remain silent. It is a message of all operators in the media world, who jointly shout to the political world: "we don not want to be gagged".
We therefore invite all citizens with a blog or a site to publish this logo and mantain it for the entire day of July 14 next.
Defending the press, the tv and radio networks, the journalists and the Web, we firmly defend the basic freedom of information and the future of our democracy.
Alessandro Gilioli
Guido Scorza
Enzo Di Frenna

DIRITTO ALLA RETE

Consumers' power? Dsl connection and vegetable oil.

2009-06-11T22:14:00.005+02:00

During the last weeks my dsl connection has been working very badly: it usually disconnects (or works only for a few moments and then disconnects again) from 11 a.m. to 9 or 10 p.m. Apparently there's nothing wrong on my line... but it keeps disconnecting.

After working on it for days, the answer by my telephone company has been: downgrade your contract from 2 Mb to 800 Kb and everything will work again! ...strange answer isn't it? After asking a lot and listening to the workers that came here I now think that I have the answer: the wires that get here are old and there's a long distance from the box to the Locanda, so the conditions are not good. Moreover the company keeps signing contracts with new users (including dsl connections) without upgrading the system or changing the wires... so my dsl is being "stolen" the possibility of working normally.

The only answer they have is "downgrade your service" and I feel that, even if the people working on it have been very helpful and apparently they tried all they could, I will be obliged to do so.

I feel very frustrated, as a consumer I feel that my rights have not been respected or that, simply, I have no rights at all...
Of course, as I suppose in every other country, you're no longer allowed to talk to someone at the company who knows about your problem and maybe is willing to solve it, but you keep talking to some poor soul who has to fill in a stupid form asking quesions like: is your router plugged in? Did you check that your wire is working?
I just plainly hate it!

At midday, feeling angry and frustrated because of this (luckily I like working at night, otherwise I'd have serious problems with my bookings and marketing), I decided to make myself a prosciutto cotto, lattuce and mayo sandwich.... (summer comfort food) and, having no time to make my own mayo, I opened a jar of a famous brand here in Italy (yes, even us, organic farmers, cooks and innkeepers sometimes do things like this! :) ).

... Suddently I felt better... not much because of the comfort coming from the sandwich, but because I was tasting one of the few consumers' victories I know of during the last years...

This famous brand changed the mayo recipe months ago.. they started using not-better-specified "vegetable oil" in their recipe and the product changed completely: I mean, jarred mayo is not the best nor healthyest product in the world, but I promise that it was just bad.
I stopped buying the product and promised myself that I would write them.
A few months ago I started seeing ads of this brand advertising that the "traditional taste" was back!!!! I do not know if there were complaints or if just a drop in sales, but I feel that they would not have gone back if not pushed by consumers somehow.

It's so good to know that we, consumers, have some power over the producers!
And it's so sad to think that apparently we only make use of it when someone spoils our mayo...

Hertz Green Collection

2009-06-07T01:40:00.003+02:00

Some time ago I posted about Green options to reach the Locanda. Today I read on Traveling the Green Way that Hertz has launched its Green Collection in Europe to meet increasing customer demand for eco-car rentals. A range of fuel-efficient cars across 70 major airport and downtown locations in Europe are now available.

The Green Collection offers eco-friendly models selected according to the company’s enhanced CO2 emissions policy. All cars from the Hertz Green Collection offer a CO2 output level of less than 140g/km, making more environmentally friendly than most other cars. Hertz Green Collection cars also have guaranteed make and model reservations, so you know the car you book is the one you'll be driving away in.

In Italy Hertz has introduced the Fiat Punto Natural Gas power model into its Green Collection. Gas is widely available in Italy and this is certainly the "greenest" rental you can be offered at the moment in Italy.

As for today the Green Collection is only available at Roma and Milan airports but I hope that the demand grows so that other locations can be added!

Lower your environmental impact when visiting Locanda della Valle Nuova by renting a green car!

Bread, roses, honeysuckle (and rain)

2009-06-05T00:39:00.002+02:00

The season started. When you arrive at the Locanda everything smells like roses and honeysuckle (I LOVE honeysuckle!).
Once you're inside hot bread smell fills the air, I'm sorry the internet do not allow me to post smells.. but at least I can post this pic of the Locanda with all the roses in bloom (of course it was taken just before it started raining cats and dogs! :) ).

BTW, the rain stopped, the sun shines and everything is greener than ever!

Urbino Ducal Palace

2009-05-19T23:54:00.004+02:00

Sometimes friends visit me here, I'm most grateful since they also give me the opportunity of re-visiting places and seeing them with "new eyes". During the last month I've been very lucky and some very good friend visited me: here's a small choice of photos taken during their visits.

The Locanda in Alastair Sawday's Green Europe

2009-05-14T16:03:00.002+02:00

Green Europe, the latest Alastair Sawday's title is out, and the Locanda is included, of course!
"Our Green Europe collection features special places that go the extra mile to provide responsible holidays. You will find over 170 authentic, beautiful places to stay that champion organic food, use eco-friendly technologies, contribute to conservation, or have a positive impact on their community."

LOCANDA DELLA VALLE NUOVA
In gentle, breeze-cooled hills, surrounded by ancient, protected oaks and on the road that leads to glorious Urbino, this 185-acre farm is an unusual, unexpectedly modern place whose owners' motto, that "one should tread lightly on teh earth", colours every aspect of their lives. The cork-insulated farm, dotted with horses and two riding arenas, has been certified organic for nearly 25 years and nearly all of the delicious food and wine served by Signora Savini and her daughter Giulia is home-produced; the rest is sourced from local organic producers. In an area historically renowned for hunting, here it is forbidden, providing a haven for wild animals. Water is purified for drinking, showers are heated by the hot Italian sunshine, and prunings from the farm's woods, where truffles are gathered in autumn, feed a low-consumption wood stove to heat the house. It's worth asking for one of the bigger bedrooms, preferably with a view; all have bed linen and towels made from 100% natural fibres. With solar panels soon to be installed, La Locanda defines Italian eco agritourism.

Talking about "greenness"... here's a photo of the hills around the Locanda just a few days ago!

Cagli again (plus Giovanni Santi frescos)

2009-05-05T19:02:00.007+02:00

The focus of the exhibition Raffaello e Urbino is not only on Raphael's own paintings but also on his influences, first of all Giovanni Santi, Raphael's father. Until July 12th the Church of San Domenico in Cagli will stay open to give everybody the possibility of seeing Giovanni Santi’s last work, the Tiranni Chapel, arguably his masterpiece.

In the same church you'll also be able to admire the Battista Tiranni funeral monument with a fresco of Christ in the Tomb between Saints Jerome and Bonaventure (1481).

Giovanni Santi is not the only reason why you should visit Cagli, a very lively tiny town with a nice Piazza where you can sit and sip a coffee while people-watching and "Alimentare", a very interesting food-shop that also serves yummy pasta courses, salamis and cheeses paired with the finest local wines in its small but light-filled backshop.
After the gastronomic stop walk down to the Francesco di Giorgio Martini Tower, remainder of the Cagli city-walls.

The Torrione only opens on Saturdays and Sundays and there's a 4000 steps tunnel that ends up the hill where a Castle used to stand.