And this little piggy went to market

Last Saturday I went to Siena with my Italian/English friend Julia. It was nice to have girls day out.  I miss all of my beautiful friends in Tasmania that only needed a phone call or email to arrange  lunch, dinner or  breakfast  – often accompanied by a wine… and sometimes one with a ‘h’ as well. (Whine)

I always love to visit Siena and its wondrous piazza Il Campo. I still marvel at the unique character of this 'city square,' it's history, stories and important continuing role for locals and I am not surprised that it attracts hordes of tourists each year.

Siena is in incredibly parochial place. It is even more parochial than Tasmania. Twice each year this comes to a head with a  spectacular traditional competition between the 17 regions around the city. That  bathroom sink shaped piazza becomes a race track for  horses.  I would love to join the throngs  and witness all of the excitement and  traditional pomp and ceremony that accompanies these historical horse races. In the mean time I can only imagine what an amazing spectacle  it would be. 

The vital role horses played historically In Italy is extra apparent here as you can see in these photos. How many horses have been tethered to these rings that line the piazza to create such wear in the walls?

At the top of the piazza constructed in the 15th century is Fonte Gaia – the Happy Fountain. Every town needs one of these to spread good vibes.

The view over the piazza below is taken from beside the fountain. It is difficult to appreciate it's unique shape from this photograph. All the other piazza’s I have seen are flat, which would have to be more practical for traditional markets, parades, etc.

Our motivation to visit Siena today is the pre-Christmas market. A showery start to the day does not seem to have dampened peoples enthusiasm and when we arrived it was a sea of umbrellas.

Many of the stalls overflow with produce of the region. Most Italians I have met prefer to eat  food that is in season and produced locally. This also gives them cause to celebrate each food as it comes into season with mini festivals. Autumn has festivals for mushrooms, truffles (fungi), chestnuts, olive picking and pressing. Freshly pressed olive oil is considered a real delicacy.

The opening of the new seasons wine  is also a cause for celebration. I've often seen it drank  in preference  to a more aged red wine.  Friends brought some to share when we invited them up for roasted chestnuts  a few weeks ago.

So far I have not seen any warm, spicy mulled wine in this area. On a cold night that's a perfect way to warm up from the inside out. I will have to make do with a hot chestnut in each pocket as hand warmers.

Mr Smiley obviously noticed my camera was pointing in his direction and wanted to look his best. Mid table is bread drizzled with new olive oil for tasting.

Each area also makes it's own pasta varieties. I took home  some ravioli and pici which is similar to spaghetti. I made a meat sauce for the pici which I  contaminated with too many vegetables according to Giorgio. He did concede that it tasted better than it looked. He is very particular about what sauce must be served with each kind of pasta and for the rest of the pici he made a sauce that translates as 'angry' sauce. The main ingredients are tomato with chilli.

The market offered  a colorful array of seasonal vegetables to get my mouth watering.

I am not sure what the celery like stalks are but think they may be related to thistles.  Italians eat many greens that taste bitter and are unidentifiable to me. I often see them digging up their greens (aka weeds?) along the sides of roads.

That fungi is the most wonderful shape. I have not seen it at other markets and would love to taste some. But it would have to taste special to beat the scrumptious but ugly fungi porcini that looks like something a horse left behind.

The pile of plaited garlic waiting to be tripped over had me thinking of Merian's recent blog post about harvesting her garlic crop. I wonder how hers measures up next to this. You can be inspired by Merian's gardening stories   here: http://singingbirdwillcome.blogspot.com/

One thing that will be on my wish list when I get back to Tassie is good butternut pumpkin. All the pumpkin I have had here is mushy and tasteless, more like a marrow. I was disappointed  by some butternut look a likes. 

In the land of pasta and pane (bread) I was pleased to see a selection of gluten free products available.

Another vital part of the Italian diet is cheese. A slab is cut the size you want, and just as well as they make some massive cheese wheels.

This producer made cheese from goat, sheep and cows milk, one variety had combined all three.   Suspended from the tent poles is a soft cheese in a nest of straw. I brought some pecorino here for Giorgio as cheese is his favorite food and this also has straw stuck all around it ... instead of cutting rind off we cut straw off!

 The most popular meat is pork turned into assorted varieties of ham, sausage and salami using traditional methods. I would dearly love something similar to bacon for a change so I added it to Giorgio's shopping list as 'cinghale morte con sale', which literally translates to 'wild pig, dead, with salt'. My creative Italian amused him but he didn't bring bacon home. 

It seems there are no food safety regulations here, or like many other laws they are ignored.  Meat would never be handled like this in Australia,  'pre-loved' and cuddled as it's cut. I wonder if it ended up arm pit flavoured?

Sweets from Sicily seem to be popular through out Italy. They have been available at every market or festival I have visited and usually ooze marzipan and ricotta so don't tempt me.

Other more familiar sweet treats such as nougat and chocolate are presented with Christmas inspired flair. One shop window had a detailed nativity scene constructed from chocolate.

Julia had expected the market to offer more Christmas gifts and decorations, art and crafts. To my disappointment a lot sold commercial crap but there were a number with interesting creations worth sharing with you.

I love finding some more creative ceramics to inspire me as so much of what is on offer is traditional Italian majolica. This artist made very cute tree decorations.

This colorful wooden chair had my imagination in over drive as I tried to understand why it has a hole. Does that make it   windy hole or a hole for wind?  Quirky!

 

I was enchanted by this menagerie of cute critters created with recycled timber. Perhaps this will inspire some of my crafty friends that like to tinker in the shed.

I yearn to speak Italian fluently when I meet people like this. But instead I silently watched as he  animatedly demonstrated how his beautifully crafted wooden tops worked. His face and hands have so much character and he exuded such energy, passion and pride in his work.