Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Wine and Food of the Giro 2020 Stage 11: Porto Sant' Elpidio to Rimini

Where are we? Heading from the Marche to Emilia Romagna. 

Porto Sant' Elpidio From the Giro: Porto Sant’Elpidio stretches for over 7km on the Adriatic coastline and, with its renovated city centre, is one of the youngest and most dynamic cities in Fermo province.
Traditionally renowned for high-quality handmade woman footwear’ production and for being a shoes shopping district, in the last decade become a popular tourist destination.

Specialities: The local cuisine is linked to the seafaring culture and the main ingredient is fish. Traditional recipes include “Sardoncini a scottadito” grilled breaded Sardina fish that can be tasted during the food festival in August, and dried cod fish cooked (Stoccafisso) in different variations and served at the food festival “Stoccofest” happening in October during the celebrations for the city’s patron San Crispino.

Rimini: From the Giro: Rimini, the ancient Ariminum, is also a city of art with over 22 centuries of history. Under the Arco d’Augusto (Arch of Augustus), history has passed: here two of the most important roads of ancient Italy joined, the Flaminia, which goes from Rome to Rimini, and the Via Emilia, which from Rimini crosses the whole Po Valley up to Milan.
From here, after crossing Piazza Tre Martiri (Three Martyrs Square) -the ancient Forum – you reach the bridge that, Augustus first and Tiberius later, between 14 and 21 A.D., erected using Istrian stone over the Marecchia, the river that with its ancient name (Ariminus) baptized the city. Emblematic representation of this ancient heritage is the Domus del Chirurgo (Surgeon’s House), the archaeological site in the central Piazza Ferrari, where you can admire a third-century house. Prestigious mosaics and frescoes describe a residence for private use intended for the practice of medical-surgical and pharmaceutical profession.
The medieval city grew within the Roman city. The spectacular Piazza Cavour (Cavour Square), with the Fontana (Fountain) – described by Leonardo da Vinci when he passed through Rimini in 1502)- and the most important public buildings.
Renaissance is not mentioned without mentioning Rimini, the cradle of this European artistic movement that has in Castel Sismondo (Sismondo Castle), to which Filippo Brunelleschi contributed, and in the Tempio Malatestiano (Malatesta Temple) by Leon Battista Alberti,  two emblematic monuments.

Specialties: You cannot leave Rimini without having tasted a real local piada. Difficult to resist the dozens of kiosks present in the city. The Rimini piada is thinner than that of the rest of Romagna. You can fill it as you wish: ham and squacquerone or wild herbs, vegetables au gratin, up to – but do not tell the purists! – chocolate. These “little kiosks” are protagonists of the travel guide www.riministreetfood.com: a web app to find the best place to taste local street food. Key player of the typical cuisine is the blue fish from the Adriatic. Mackerels, mullets, mantis shrimps, sardines, tub gurnards and the legendary sardoncini.



The stage: What should be a straightforward sprint stage.
Our likely doomed break of the day:
At the sprint point around 38 kilometers to go, their gap was still over two minutes.
On a roundabout, crash for Viviani. Hard to tell if it was caused by the motorbike or not, but it was very much involved and to be honest, it looked much like it just rode into Viviani.
Sure enough, they break would be caught, setting up the expected sprint. The also not unexpected winner, Demare.




The wine: La Staffa Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico
From the importer: La Staffa's Verdicchio di Castelli di Jesi is grown organically (moving towards certification) in limestone-rich clay soil at about 400 meters (1,300 feet) above sea level, close to the altitude at Colle Stefano, which is about an hour away (and much closer as the crow flies); high altitude vineyards preserve acidity during the growing season, and La Staffa has almost the same lip-smacking fresh green-apple zing as Colle Stefano. The grapes are picked into small boxes, pressed immediately, and fermented (using both indigenous yeasts and cultured yeasts) at cool temperature in a mixture of stainless steel and cement tanks with temperature control for about 15 days; the wine is bottled in the spring following the vintage after aging on the fine lees for about six months. The wine in tank is left outside during the winter for a mild natural cold stabilization, and is roughly filtered (not sterile filtered).


The food: Piada, recipe from Thekitchn

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 1/2 cups (23 ounces) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup (2 ounces) lard or vegetable shortening
  • 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) water

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Drop the lard into the flour and use your fingertips to gently work the lard into the flour until no large pieces remain. Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the water. Stir with a spatula until a shaggy dough is formed. It's ok if not all the flour is absorbed at this point.

  2. Turn the dough out onto your counter and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes, until it forms a soft and uniform ball. Alternatively, you can knead the dough in a standing mixer with a dough hook on low speed for 5-8 minutes.

  3. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover, and let it rest for about 30 minutes. The dough can also be refrigerated for several days.

  4. When ready to cook, transfer the dough to your work surface and divide it into 6-8 pieces (6 pieces for large piadine, 8 for small ones). Shape each piece of dough into a roll and cover.

  5. Set a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot enough that droplets of water sizzle as soon as they hit the surface, begin cooking the piadinas. Use a rolling pin to roll the first piada out as thin as possible, about 9 inches across and 1/8 inch thick. Roll it over the rolling pin (like transferring pie dough) or drap it over your palm, and quickly settle it in your pan. Prick the piadina all over with a fork to prevent it from puffing up.

  6. Cook for one minute on each side, or until you start seeing toasted brown spots all over the piadina. Transfer the cooked piadina to a clean dishtowel and cover with another dish towel to keep it warm. Continue preparing the rest of the piada as described above.

  7. Cooked piada are best when eaten right away, but will keep in a plastic bag on the counter for a few days. If you're not planning to eat all the piada right away, it's best to refrigerated the dough and bake the piada as you need them.

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