Several Italian organic producers from Abruzzo, Calabria and Puglia have also contacted us and asked about possible collaboration with Vinitours in 2011 and in the future. We feel that this will bring our clients an even greater range of choice and hope to have a few tours to these regions of Italy by the Autumn of 2011.

The City of Fermo in southern Le Marche

In Le Marche our aim to is where possible only work with small producers who are certified organic and we are lucky to know several great artisan producers who we believe offer some of the best produce in the whole of Italy as well as just Le Marche!!

All the tours that we have on offer have been specially designed to offer both the novice and experienced traveller and hope we can provide an experience that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. All of us both in Le Marche and in Umbria hope many of our clients will now be tempted into taking part in the tours we have on offer and for more details please do visit our sister website at  www.vinitours.co.uk

Montedoro Olive Oil Mill

In Le Marche the weather is proving to be quite a problem as it is very changable with rain and wind interspersed with hot dry periods, so making it diffcult to plan work on the harvest day to day. This means long hot tiring days for the workers harvesting the olives when the weather is good enough for them to work on the trees. The best olive oil is still made from olives hand picked from the trees and not by large mechanical harvesters, but this can be back breaking work, not the romantic olive picking often seen in books and films about Italy.

Granite rollers at the Olive Oil Mill

A very good friend helps run a very busy mill, the Frantoio Montedoro which is situated near the Adriatic resort of Senigallia. The weather had been good that day, dry and sunny so work had been progressing well and many producers were turning up well into the evening and night to deliver their loads of olives. At this time of year the work continues where possible for 24 hours a day and will continue all the way through to Christmas in the larger mills but the result will be a bountiful harvest of sweet green olive oil, perhaps one of the best for many years. I have tried some of the new olive oil and it is quite superb and so I now plan to keep my blog updated with all the news from this years harvest and will be importing the new Le Marche extra virgin olive oil into the UK in December.

We have pleasure in introducing a variety of gastronomic pleasures for you to enjoy.  Be it wine tours and tasting with olive oil appreciation workshops to cooking courses, some of which wil be hosted by a celebrity Swedish Chef, held in some of the most beautiful areaa of Tuscany, Umbria, Le Marche and Sicily.   Venues include an 11th century ex Benedictine Monastery to a 1000 year old Castello and its 18th Century Country Villa in the mystical landscape that is Umbria, to a beautiful 4 star historic Relais with spa facilities in Cortona, Tuscany, or an enchanting Castle with 19 century frescoes in Le Marche and only 15 km to the Adriatic Coast.

Here is a scrumptious slice of the areas and venues we are inviting you.

TUSCANY

Think of Tuscany….synonomous with the cypress tree..   A beautiful  evocative landscape of rolling undulating hills, vineyards, olive groves and fields of sunflowers.  A region rich in tradition, art and culture, history, architecture and birthplace of the Renaissance..  Hamlets and farmhouses, rusticos and palazzos, castles and  colonicas  all  come together to combine a rich tapestry that is Tuscany.

TUSCAN FOOD

Tuscan food traditions are very strong and fiercely regional and a wide range of peasant foods. The basis of all Tuscan food is fresh local, seasonal produce: pork, beef, game, beans, olives, funghi porcini and truffles. Meats are simply roasted or stewed. Side dishes (contorni) or simple vegetables or sformati (patties made with vegetables)) and of course olive oil. Tuscan Chianina cattle, produces the epitome of steak and hence the succulent Bistecca Fiorentina!  The largest bovine animals in the world and reared over many centuries and recognisable for their porcelain-white coat

A sample of typical dishes include:

Prosciutto: cured hams are available in a vast range of flavours from sweet and moist to musty dry.

Stinco di Maiale  (shin of pork) roasted in the wood fired oven

Rosticciana  (pork ribs) roasted or grilled, try them simply with lemon juice

Salciccia (sausage, generally pork) eaten with beans

Tagliata di Manzo Fiorentina (beef steak florentine)

Tagliata di manzo al forno (a chunk of beef steak roasted quickly in a hot oven then sliced and drizzled with oil) usually serves 3 or 4 as a smaller roast would dry out.

Cinghiale (wild boar) roast or “in humido” (stewed) with olives

Coniglio (rabbit) al forno or in humido is a common country dish and excellent

Tuscan vegetables include: fagioli (beans) carciofi (artichoke) spinaci, and of course pomodori

Farro: a grain similar to pearl barley is used in thick soups, with oil and tomatoes as a salad side dish.

Pecorino cheeses: sheep’s milk cheese, fresh or “stagionata” for at least 12 months which brings out the sharp flavours: try it with honey and walnuts

Pastas: As in every part of Italy there are local varieties of pasta. Maccheroni is a flat broad ribbon or square usually eaten with rich game sauces such as lepre (hare) or cerve (venison) or porcini. Ravioli is traditionally filled with ricotta cheese and vegetable such as spinach or chard. .

Pasta fritta is a dough (similar to a pizza dough) rolled out thin and cut into slices then deep fried. It puffs up like a pillow and is dusted with salt.

Tuscan breads include the dry unsalted loaf, “pane patate” with added potato flour (which helps it to last longer) and oily focaccia.

UMBRIA

A mystical and enchanting land, famous for its Saints, evokes a shrouded mystery from its green verdant hills, unbelievable sunsets, to its lakes; Trasimeno, favourite lake amongst Italians, its stunning medieval hilltop towns and villages, some of which are world acclaimed.  Assisi, Spoleto, Orvieto, Todi to name a few,  Castles and Towers over populate the Umbrian landscape   Enticed?

Umbrian cuisine….The most noteworthy characteristic is its simplicity.   It relies strongly on seasonal produce such as mushrooms and wild asparagus, on wild delicacies such as truffles, vegetables including black celery, cereals, regionally reared meat – particularly lamb, pork and game – either cooked over the fire or worked into cured hams and salame.  Umbrian extra virgin olive oil is amongst the best with 6 DOP varieties.

Ttruffles in particular play an important part in many Umbrian dishes, starting from hors d’oeuvres such as crostini al tartufo – made with black truffles, crostini alla norcina – made using anchovies, truffles and chicken liver, and chicken liver crostini – made with chicken liver, capers and a squeeze of lemon. Or smply enjoy fresh umbrian pecorino cheese with black truffe.

Probably the most typical Umbrian pasta dish are spaghetti – or strangozzi – with black truffles. Other pasta course highlights include umbrichelli in salsa di Trasimeno – with perch filets, shallots, garlic and chilli pepper –, spaghetti col rancetto – with bacon, cherry tomatoes and fresh pecorino cheese –, pappardelle alla lepre – with hare ragout, bacon and cloves. Ciriole alla ternana is a variety of pasta made using just water and flour, and is usually served with a garlic, oil and chili pepper – a dish that appears also in the traditional cuisine of both Narni and Spoleto, only with the name of strangozzi. Besides an abundance of meat dishes, generally either grilled over the fire or cooked on the spit with an abundance of herbs, Umbria also boasts two particularly tasty soups: one made with chick peas and the other with chestnuts.

Among the region’s most typical main courses is colombaccio selvatico, or palomba (turtledove), generally cooked on the spit. The area around Orvieto specialises in the so-called gallina ubriaca (literally, “drunken hen”) chicken cooked in plenty of good Orvieto wine. Specialities from Perugia include roast lamb’s head and torello alla perugina. Umbrian desserts are almost always baked in the oven, with ingredients such as almonds, spices or candied fruit  The Assisi rocciata, a spiral kind of pastry sausage which resembles a strudel. The classic rustic bread known as brustegnolo includes dried fruit in the mixture, .

Chocolate has a long standing history in Umbria. Founded in 1907, the Perugina chocolate factory rose to international popularity and fame with its Baci, made with ground hazelnuts and dark chocolate.

LE MARCHE

Tucked away in a corner between the Adriatic sea and the Apennine mountains, le Marche is a mosaic of lovely old hill top towns, hidden valleys, dramatic gorges, snow capped mountains, vine clad slopes, agricultural fields and long sandy beaches.  The Adriatic Coast  consists of 180km of beautiful, clean sand or pebble beaches and secluded coves and makes Le Maarche the perfect holiday destination.

Food wise, having both the sea and the land as its reward, Le Marche benefits two-fold.   Again, like its close neighbours Tuscany and Umbria, Le Marche is renowned for the quality of natural ingredients which go into the production of  its regional dishes and food products, an abundance of mushrooms, truffles, wild boar and chestnuts, lamb, proscuito, pecorino cheese and olive oil

Pasta triumphs in the Marche, with preference given to homemade versions.  Wide tagliatelle and maccheroni filled with exquisite flavours.  Try “vincisgrassi” a pasta made with eggs, stretched to lightness and cut in rectangles which, are layered in a casserole with a sauce made from chicken livers and mushrooms dusted with grated cheese, covered with bechamel sauce and baked in the oven.Pesaro,on the Adriatic is famous for its “brodetto” or fish soup made with 13 species of fish – no more no less.   Also prepared along the coast, the “brodetto marchigiano” made with fish dipped in flour, fried in a mixture of oil, onion and parsley, and flavoured with saffron. In some areas, stewed snails (lumache) occasionally creep on to the menu.  Try spaghetti dressed with vongole, or baby clams, or spaghetti allo scoglio, “on the rocks” dressed with seafood.

Another specialty is the “pecorino di San Leo”, a cheese made from sheeps milk, “ricotta” (a kind of cottage cheese) from Urbino, “bazzott” (a local fresh cheese) from Fano, and the “olive ascolane”, big white olives filled with a mixture of cheese, egg, nutmeg, white meat chopped and mixed with prosciutto, mortadella and salame, lemon peel and parsley, then dipped in beaten egg and bread crumbs and fried in oil.   Formaggio di fossa is a strong flavoured cheese aged by being walled up in limestone holes in the ground!

For an antipasto, mountain salt-cured ham and lonza (salt-cured fillet of pork) try ciauscolo (a soft, spreadable pork salame). Try “passatelli”, strands of pasta made from breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and egg cooked in broth. Apart from the ever-present meat grilled alle brace, on embers, delicious stuffed pigeons (piccione ripieno) and rabbit cooked with fennel (coniglio in porchetta) are a Marche speciality.

SICILY

A place that conjures up many thoughts - traditions and soul immediately spring to mind least it beng the largest island in the Mediterranean, with a diverse landscape of colours from Etna’s top covered with snow to the warm and wild coast of the Zingaro nature reserve, to the verdant Madonie, from the Greek temples of Agrigento tn the West to the windmills and salt pans of Trapani.  Few other regions can boast such a variety of natural landscapes and nature reserves like Sicily. Added to this, Sicily boasts the best climate in Europe.

Sicilian food  and wine echoes the colours and flavours of a generous land, changing from province to province, village to village, each different taste to be savoured,  succulent  fish dishes bundles of breaded swordfish filled with sardines and couscous to popular dishes such as pasta with cheese, “stigghiole” roasted entrails of lamb, “panelle” croquettes made up of chick/pea and fried, “arancini” fried rice balls filled with butter and ham or with ragout);  “farsumagru”  browned calf meat filled,  to“aggrassatu” roasted lamb filled  to the tempting sumptious desserts……..cassata” cake with butter-milk curd cream, candied fruit a, “cannoli” fancy cakes filled  with fresh butter-milk curd cream or chocolate cream, “granite” grated-ice fruit flavoured drinks, “pasticciotti” kind of pastries, “frutta martorana”almond-paste based and usually fruit-shaped pastries. Perhaps that is why Sicily’s food is kept a secret.

Sicilian wine…..journeying through country lanes full of vineyardsl, sample from their wine cellars,  the most famlus Sicilian wines,   il Marsala, il Moscato, il Nero d’Avola, il Cerasuolo di Vittoria, il Bianco d’Alcamo, la Malvasia di Lipari, il Passito di Pantelleria. We  hope we have whet your appetite !

For an antipasto, mountain salt-cured ham and lonza (salt-cured fillet of pork) try ciauscolo (a soft, spreadable pork salame). Try “passatelli”, strands of pasta made from breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and egg cooked in broth. Apart from the ever-present meat grilled alle brace, on embers, delicious stuffed pigeons (piccione ripieno) and rabbit cooked with fennel (coniglio in porchetta) are a Marche speciality.

In the northern Marche look out for piadina, a flat, unleavened bread often served with cold meats at roadside bars.

We are passionate about the extra virgin olive oils produced in the Le Marche region and will also be focusing on oils made from just one olive variety. These monovarietal olive oils are quite rare even in Italy but we already have 4 or 5 of these wonderful olive oils available to import and sell in the UK.  Unfortunately at the moment we are mainly confined to London and the home counties so far, but we hope to increase our availability to more of the UK and also the US in 2010.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 The new Olivaverde website is now online and we at Marchetownhouses and Livinginlemarche.com are very please with our cooperation with website designers Oli and Tori from Passionfruitdesign in Norfolk. We know that the website will prove popular with our clients and a more general audience of  people who love good food and fine organic Italian produce. We are also very please at having been able to have also add culinary holidays, tours and courses not just in Le Marche but also in Umbria, Tuscany and Sicily. Please do get in touch with dermott at  www.olivaverde.co.uk and we look forward to welcoming you to a truely memorable experience at one of our outstanding holiday destinations in Italy.

Le Marche Olive Oil

Olive Oil is one of the great pleasures in life and we at Marchetownhouses are passionate about the fine Organic Olive Oil and especially single estate and mono varietal Extra Virgin Olive oils that are produced in our region. Over time we aim to promote many of the better small producers from both Central and Southern Le Marche and their excellent Organic Extra Virgin Olive oils.

We have found that small producers of fine Organic Olive oils have largely been overlooked by importers in the UK and US and so decided to where possible try and help producers from the Le Marche region become better known outside of Italy. Also most Organic Olive oils on the market were normally made up of blends of different Olives and we are trying to source Olive Oils made from only one variety of Olive, normally the Sargano, Ascolano or Leccino, as these offer a new experience in taste to the consumer.

History of Olives and Olive Oil

Olive oil has been produced from prehistory in the Mediterranean and was used by the Greeks, Egyptians and later the Romans. It’s use permeates the culture of this area and the production and use of Olive oil has now spread throughout the world and to places as diverse as Australia and California.

The Olive tree is a very longeval plant of ancient Asian origin and can live to several hundred years in the right environments. The tree can grow up to a height of 20 metres and is often twisted and has a cracked bark. The leaves are a beautiful pale green and the plant is evergreen and only looses many of it’s leaves when subjected to extremely low temperatures.

The plants are very hardy and in cases where they have been accidentally cut level with the ground, within a few weeks and months they have started sprouting new shoots and quickly re-establish themselves. But Olive trees do need to grow in areas which experience both hot dry weather for most of the year, but also the trees need to experience frosts to produce flowers and therefore olives for the following years crop.

Le Marche Extra Virgin Olive Oil

There are many types of Olives grown throughout the world and in our region of southern Le Marche the Sargano olive is one of the most widely planted. The olives are harvested when they turn purple and in most cases the Sargano olive is blended with oils from other olives such as Ascolano, Leccino, Moraiolo and Frantoio. The Leccino and the Frantoio olive varieties are the base of nearly all the oils produced in Le Marche and these are often combined with other less well known varieties. In other areas of Le Marche we find Carboncella in the Ascoli Zone, Raggia and Rosciola in the province of Ancona and also varieties such as Pendolino, Moraiolo and Maurino.

In Le Marche Olive oils one finds that a typically light and sweet taste prevails. The oils are fruity and slightly spicy but the taste and aroma is pleasantly balanced. As Le Marche becomes more and more popular for holidays and for second homes, the Olive oils are increasingly gaining in popularity both in Italy and in the UK.

The Olive oils we will be highlighting are all high quality Extra Virgin Olive Oils and all are produced by organic methods. Olives are grown all over the Le Marche region in both small and large Olive groves, and most are grown by small producers who normally only distribute their produce in their local area. Some of these small producers are now managing to export small quantities to other parts of the European mainland and even to the UK.

We at Marchetownhouses have been able to import small quantities of high quality Organic Olive oils from three or four producers since early 2009, coming from the harvest in late November 2008.

Le Marche is blessed with many fine small Olive Oil producers and we believe we have chosen the best small producers in southern Le Marche to supply our Olive Oil. Most of the groves are situated in the Ascoli Piceno province in the south of Le Marche. We are passionate about Organic Extra virgin olive oils from Le Marche and also in helping the small organic producers reach a larger market outside their region.

So far we have one Organic Olive oil from a producer in Montedoro area of central Le Marche, one from a producer in the Ripatransone area and one from near the Ascoli Piceno area of southern Le Marche. They are all fabulous olive oils and very typical of the light and full flavoured olive oils found in the Le Marche region. We also hope to have a producer from the Offida area of southern Le Marche who also offers a selection of Monovarital olive oils. We will be happy to supply full details of availability and prices should you contact us and also arrange shipping to any address in the UK and US.

From early 2010 we will also be importing into the  UK, Olive oil and Pasta from other regions of Italy. Our aim is to help small producers from other regions of Italy including Umbria and Puglia import their wonderful organic produce in to the UK and make it much more widely known to the consumers outside of Italy. This range of new produce will include pastas, jams, pastes and honeys as well as our normal selection of fine organic Olive oils. We do hope that anyone interested in knowing more or even willing to offer advice and help with this project will get in touch with us at Marchetownhouses. We have already had some help from the Slow food movement in London and hope to build on this with free tastings in the winter of 2009 and early 2010. These tastings of organic Olive oils will take place in some of the larger London markets such as Borough market near London Bridge and Marylebone market just off Baker Street in central London..

For anyone interested in learning more about Olives and Olive oils we also highly recommend that you read a wonderful book by Mort Rosenblum. It is titled, “Olives, The Life and Lore of a noble fruit”. It traces the history and also the cultures that have grown up around the olive and is a true appreciation of this wonderful fruit. The different countries that produce Olive oil are explored at depth and the various varieties and methods of production of Olive oil are also covered in this fascinating read.

Please do contact us today if you would like to have more details on the range of Organic Olive oils that we currently offer and also Olive Oils that we hope to offer in the near future.

Marche Town Houses, as a company, has grown impressively despite a general slow down across the European (and worldwide) property sector. We have found that 2009 is a year when the property market in Italy slowed down but also that clients have now become more discerning in the types and quality of property that they will purchase either as a permanent home or for holiday use.  Our continued growth, we believe is down to our commitment to provide excellence in customer service across all aspects of our business. Because of this, we enjoy enviable referral rates from our happy, satisfied customers.

As a result, we have expanded our range of services to meet the needs, requirements and wishes of our growing customer base. One prime example of this is our entry into the house finding/search market. We have found that many clients do not have the time to spend months if not years searching for the right home in Italy. Because Marchetownhouses now has associates based in three out of the four provinces of Le Marche we can offer a bespoke property search service in the provinces of Ascoli Piceno, Macerata and Ancona.

 We also now supply three varities of the highest quality Virgin Olive Oil, fresh right here from Le Marche. Some of our clients in the UK  are so impressed by the taste and sheer quality of our locally produced Olive Oil that they have asked if we could arrange a regular shipments. Word had spread and we now find ourselves with yet another service that we can provide to clients, so please do look at our Olive oil section or do get in touch to get more information on all the wonderful organic olive oils we now offer!