A journey through the Pontine's olive groves with Paolo Mastrantoni.

The olive oil of Itri is better than that of Sonnino? What is the difference between the olive of Itri and olive of Gaeta? The good oil is sweet or bitter?
To these and many other questions will be answered in the new book by Paul Mastrantoni published by the Mannocchio Editions.
The book traces the history of olive and olive oil in the province, reviewing the varieties of olives and visiting to the oil mills.

There is no comparison between the oil of the past and what comes now from the mills. “Olio e olive delle Terre pontine” also wants to be this: a point of reference to understand how to recognize a quality product.
The book comes out in a very lucky period for the pontine oil . Less than a year has been finally approved the DOP certification “Colline Pontine” and local producers get better placings in national and international competitions.
News of these days that an oil of Sonnino has won a first place in “Hercules Olivari”, the most important national competition in the industry.

Fifteen years ago companies in the province and their product were total strangers, have now gained the limelight. A chapter of the book is also dedicated to the olive brine.
The “Itrana” is a dual purpose variety, that gives oil and is suitable also at table.
Already famous in the Middle Ages were Gaeta Olives but locally the fruits were also prepared in a thousand other ways.

Even those who want to extricate this parallel world oil find lots of information in the book of Mastrantoni. The book can be purchased on the publisher site: www.mannoccio.it

Vermicelli alla Formiana: a good Pasta recipe directly from Formia.

A good pasta recipe directly from Formia, the problem for those who play outside "home" will find the goods ingredients! 

"Vermicelli alla Formiana"

400 gr. of spaghetti,

300 gr. of clam,

300 gr. of mussel,

8 lobsters

6 fresh tomatoes,

a wisp of parsley,

3 pieces of garlic,

5 spoon of olive oil,

Hot pepper, salt.

************************************

Wash the scampi, clam and mussel.
* In a frying pan, pour them, make them open with the warmth, add an olivs oil spoon and a wisp of mince parsley, when the valves are opened, pull out of the fire.

* In another frying pan, pour the mince garlic with an olive oil spoon , pour the fresh mince tomatoes , Hot pepper and salt, cook it during 10 minutes, mix the content with the other pan, cook for 3 minutes.

* When the pasta is nearly cooked, take 3 pasta water spoons ( previously salted ) and pour it in the sauce, cook for other 2 minutes.

* Drain the pasta, pour the sauce on it, add a little of olive oil and mince parsley.

Buon appetito!

Gaeta celebrates St. Anne.

Gaeta July 22, 2011 - Fruitful, whose bunch is Jesus of all the women who came before, none has been chosen to become the Mother of the Mother of God and the Messiah sweet Ava. "

Here, clearly, we can see that Mary is likened to the mystical "fruitful vine" that bears fruit, and then "in the fullness of time" the Divine Bunch, Jesus Christ our Lord. S. John of Damascus confirms the above comparison and, in his wonderful Oration II "De Nativitate Virginis", with accents of joy, as he exclaims: "Hasten, all you peoples, and be glad: She who is born today is the joy of the whole universe . Today, the tree of Jesse lies down on a branch of the world where the flower bloomed. From Anna sprouts a fruitful vine that produced the cluster of grapes ".

From these brief quotations, we may infer, then, that the kind gesture made by our gardeners has value not only merely a propitiatory for the incipient harvest, or due to expression of thanksgiving to the Lord, but keeps within it profound theological motives that would useful to know, precisely in order to correctly understand, beyond every form of petty devotion while respectable, the deep content of catechesis inherent in this beautiful tradition that still stands, despite the changing times and social customs.

Step, we note that the offering of first fruits was renewed, always at Gaeta, in the famous "Party of Christ", ie the Corpus Christi parish at one time were held during the summer and have so much edification and spiritual elevation produced in many generations that have preceded us in the sign of faith. In particular, the processional cross, the massive introitante Eucharistic Procession, was artistically decorated with juicy vine harvests as soon as, the Offertory of the Solemn Mass, the altar is also wearing a colorful basket containing the first fruits of the season, genuine gift Our fertile countryside of the fertile sod, luxuriant in their exuberant polychromy, heady scent of bursting in the whirling wind that scatters around. Parents of Mary, the Saints really protect our gardens and crops, for the healthy general well-being and social progress.