Attack of the Calabrone and San Gimingano
Ok. So here’s the thing. Italy has the biggest bugs I’ve ever seen…spiders are big, mosquitos are huge in Venice and love American flesh and leave big red welts like you wouldn’t believe.
Believe it or not, Tuscany has a critter to rival the Venice mosquito…we all came down here licking our wounds only to find BIGGER insects, wild boar run amok and church ladies who do not take kindly to the Bad Fairy’s tutu appearances (no disrespect, church ladies..).
Innocent Fig
Ok, so shortly after I take this picture of a beautiful fig on one of the fig trees outside of our place in Belforte, I attempt to prepare the outside grill so that I can test a little theory I have about a pork and melanzane involtini; I shake out some charcoal that I find under the grill into the grate and turn around to speak to Leone (see below) and I am suddenly stricken and swatting myself under the armpit in the yard.
It’s not that I haven’t noticed that there are hornets the size of small birds flying around and dashing themselves into the fig trees…especially surrounding the figs that have senesced and are oozing sugar…it’s just that I never expected to have one under my shirt.
Leone
These particular hornets are called Calabrone and are supposedly the namesake of the “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Rimsky-Korsakov, according to our host Graziano, and because they are hornets, can sting repeatedly without fear of death or jail time.
Dead offender, Calabrone, to scale
One of their tribe, possibly somehow knowing of the Fairy’s deep-seated fear of flying, stinging insects, found its way under my clothing and began to sting me with what my Mother (a physician) could only describe as “what’s equivalent to an 18 gauge needle” four times.
I began to dance after the first sting, and was briefly completely topless under the Tuscan sun after the fourth. What does this have to do with food? I’m not sure, but the fact that I was attempting to try a dish that was new to me, and the inclusion of the cork to legitimate the size of the hornet will, I hope, help to pass the WordPress censors…
Since then I have taken my revenge at every opportunity….here’s the segue part…
Gelato, San Gimingano
San Gimingano is every bit the tourist trap that I had heard it was…chocolate in the shape of horseshoes, locks and keys, world famous torture museum that the kiddies supposedly love, ultra-expensive tschotchkes from ceramics to snow globes, nevertheless it’s charming and beautiful, has great views and gelato.
Most of the other fare there is completely geared towards tourists…sweet crepes, panini that is passable but predictable and pizza that is completely unremarkable, but there are a few local food shops that carry respectable salumi and one at least that carries one of the things that this town is known for, namely, the best Italian saffron, at a semi-reasonable price.
Most of the shops here are interested in gouging from the get-go (and who can blame them?), charging 3,50E and upwards for roughly 10-12 threads (I’m not exaggerating) of saffron…but if you look long and hard enough you can find, as I did, 2 grams for around 10E…I’ve yet to compare it to Spanish or Iranian saffron, but I can’t wait to test it out.
Olive wood shop, San Gimingnano
There are a few interesting food specialty shops, including this wood implement store, but most sell packaged Italy to non-Italians.
There are some great looking desserts, however, including the Panforte pictured below, and you can find Grappa and Brunello galore if you’re willing to put up with the price…
