Tag: South

Vallelunga, South Tyrol still to be discovered – Italian Cuisine

You say South Tyrol and you already practically say everything. Yet, in addition to the most famous and well-known destinations of this land, there are still hidden and equally spectacular corners, capable of returning that wild spirit that, at times, the rest of the region does not give. One of these is Vallelunga, in Val Venosta

You say South Tyrol and you already practically say (almost) everything. The Italian mountain par excellence (even if it does not speak Italian), beautiful to seem fake and comfortable even for the elderly and children, has always been one of the most popular holiday and relaxation destinations in our country, and in particular this year. Usable in any season and, as we said before, for all ages.

Yet, in addition to the most famous and popular destinations of this land – Val Badia, Val Gardena, Valle Isarco, Val Pusteria – there are corners remote and hidden equally spectacular, capable of restoring that wild spirit that, at times, the rest of the region does not give. One of these is definitely Vallelunga, the last outpost of Val Venosta, on the border with Austria and Switzerland, which can be reached by passing through Curon and its famous lake of Resia (the one with the bell tower that emerges from the water, so to speak). It is one of the most pristine valleys in the entire Alpine arc, immersed in a rural and peasant landscape, dotted only with small settlements, solitary churches and farms. Center for winter sports, it is an ideal place (also) for those who love walking surrounded only by the silence and the brilliant colors of these enchanting mountains. IS pure nature: beautiful, immense and lonely.

The village of Melago (1912 m) is the last town in Vallelunga (then there are only meadows, rocks and mountains): just to get there you will fill your eyes with wonders, but the best will come at the end, when, after passing the car park, it will stand out to you the glacier of the Palla Bianca Group. Basically, you will find yourself in front of one Windows XP background. Only more beautiful. And most importantly, true. From here – almost entirely flat, nestled between sunny pastures and, indeed, glaciers, with benches with views distributed here and there – you can walk the forest road n. 5 which descends towards the small wooden bridge over Rio Melago and, after passing a wooden gate, which proceeds to Malga Melago (1970 m), where you can properly refresh yourself before returning (the word says nothing to you dumplings?). It is 4 km in total, easy, with some steep climbs.

The more experienced, on the other hand, after Malga Melago will be able to continue along the glaciers didactic path set up in 2007 and which leads to Pio IX Refuge , literally at the end of Vallelunga, and which offers an even more exceptional view of the mountains and glaciers. The route is located at a high altitude and therefore requires some experience and a sure step.

For admire Vallelunga from above, then, there is an excursion that starts from Curon Venosta at the Resia lake, from which you follow the trail no. 5 which, through a very open larch forest, allows you to enjoy scenic views of the valley and the surrounding peaks. It passes through the Rossbödenalm (2364 m), the Pedross lake, the Valles pass (Valzerschartl, 2672 m), the southeastern ridge of Wölfelekopf, i Gschwller ponds, and then you begin to descend until you meet the Alta Via (trail no. 11), in thehigh Melago Valley. Once in Melago (with an initially somewhat steep descent, then gradually softer), you can take a bus to return to Curon Venosta. And obviously the path can also be followed in reverse.

A regatta on Lake Resia, 6 kilometers long, around the submerged bell tower of Curon Vecchia.

Widely named (and how could it be otherwise?), Lake Resia, nearby here, is the best known and busiest crossroads of Val Venosta and Trentino-Alto Adige in general, but it does not deserve a stop for this. The 15 km tour can be done on foot or by bicycle, and even running: every year the Tour of Lake Resia – Reschenseelauf, particularly impressive. There cliché photo in front of the bell tower is a must, all the more after the Italian series of Netflix Curon which has recently (re) brought it to the fore. Despite the very iconic romantic image, however, tourists should remember that the history of the bell tower of this (formerly) Romanesque church it is anything but idyllic, because it is the daughter of a real one usurpation: in the aftermath of the Second World War, 150 families were forced to leave their homes and their belongings (in the face of poor compensation), to make room for the construction of the artificial lake. In the summer of 1950 the water rose and 677 hectares of land were completely submerged, however, giving posterity a landscape that has become magnet for visitors …

Welcome to SOUTH. How to eat at Marianna Vitale's restaurant – Italian Cuisine

The winner of the Michelin Chef Donna by Veuve Clicquot 2020 Award cooks pasta, lots of pasta, makes you eat with a spoon and rethinks Neapolitan cuisine (without ruining tradition). And all this happens in Quarto, on the outskirts of Naples

SOUTH is a state of mind and is a geographical place. It is the fatigue, the closure, the marginalization, the isolation, and on the contrary the opening to the other, the sense of hospitality, the joy of life and the love for cooking. SUD is the restaurant in Quarto, province of Naples, of Marianna Vitale, winner of the Michelin Chef Donna by Veuve Clicquot 2020 Award.

The southern question

Fourth is the normal normality of a southern town, a programmatic name chosen not by chance by the chef for her entrepreneurial and gastronomic adventure. And let's face it, Quarto, it's not a beauty, it's not a tourist destination even though it potentially could be. Everyone in the world could know it, but it is a foreign place even to the Campania region themselves. The air smells of sulfur because this is the center of the Phlegraean Fields, between Cuma and the Regional Archaeological Park: an area of immense natural and historical beauty. “In Quarto, however, we live in an eternal present made of concrete, a dormitory area that is more than quiet, immobile. We could be in the center of the Phlegraean Fields and instead we are on the outskirts of Naples, without connections and without infrastructures , explains Marianna Vitale.
"You are the most important person in QuartoA local shopkeeper once told her.
"SOUTH is the only thing that exists in Quarto, it's not that it took so long," Marianna replied. Unlike many other starred in Campania, from SOUTH they work mainly with Neapolitans, and this frankly is a guarantee of quality.

"My name is Marianna Vitale but friends call me Chef"

Born in 1980, Marianna Vitale was not born in Naples, she was born in Porta Capuana, in that historic center that in the Eighties was off-limits to the Neapolitans themselves, where the normality was that of news stories, where you quickly understand that for leave you have to work. And she with a beautiful summa cum laude degree in languages in the end remained. Self-taught, he opened SUD in 2009, Michelin star in 2012. SUD is not a restaurant inherited from the family, it is not one of those lucky cases that happen in life, it has never been a good restaurant, but a project born together with Pino Esposito, partner, patron, sommelier, then husband of Marianna and always the other half of the SOUTH sky. No romantic dream, but a project that could aspire to a Michelin star in two years, the time to understand if it could work. It worked.

Eating the South

In Marianna's kitchen there is no reinterpretation of a single ingredient or a family recipe. "Cooking in Naples is a mentality, so creativity means rethinking tradition". The tomato is investigated in its evolution, with a Neapolitan ragù served to make scarpetta in four different firings: zero, four, eight and twelve hours. The seafood salad becomes a soup that is enriched with seasonal vegetables and fruit. "Sea anemones were traditionally served fried as an appetizer in the Phlegraean area, but I discovered this later", explains Marianna speaking of Spaghetti with sea anemones, another SUD signature dish, actually born during an underwater dive in which he collects these "seafood spaghetti" and tries to cook them. "It is as if God had seen me for the first time," he says.

"Cooking in Naples is a mentality, so creativity means rethinking tradition"

Mixed pasta with tomato and mussels, in general a lot of dry pasta and some risotto (which were also the protagonists of a tasting menu dedicated to first courses) and the insistent use of spoon more than a fork, for a true experience of comfort food at the highest level. In the SOUTH there is a lot of fifth quarter "that it is not presented as recovered food, recycling or an ethical choice. Concepts that lower the level of the product . The Linguine with the fifth quarter of squid they are not made with waste products, but simply with a new ingredient that Marianna wants to share with you. Not to forget, the Cod cheesecake, which has remained on the menu from the first menus of SUD, «which is now very distant from other dishes and which I cannot make it evolve because it is useless to transform it. It is the word of mouth dish, removing it is a wrong to those who want it, even if the restaurant and I have changed . But how tradition must be known to be able to subvert it, the history and philosophy of a chef can also be understood from the path taken, and from the dishes of the past.

SOUTH is no longer what it used to be

«When we opened we did a perfect fine dining restaurant service, but it didn't represent us, it was a ritual. Over the years we have preferred to work in terms of ethics and savings, offering a more genuine and spontaneous hospitality, less obvious. We are not El Celler de Can Roca, we cannot do crazy things. I eliminated the overabundant pre-dessert, small pastries, which were often abandoned on the tables, the opulence in a contemporary key of things like the basket with a thousand different loaves. We make a loaf of homemade bread and cut it into slices, and only because there isn't a good enough baker here in Quarto. " The only goal is "to make you feel good. It has always been my desire, a life principle. It is the sense of welcome found in the SOUTH, it is part of the identity of the South ". In fact, the welcome is so genuine and sincere that it may seem normal for those who were born and lived there in the South, but which appears unique, special and often unexpected for those arriving from the far North. After the experience in Michel Bras's kitchen, they sowed a vegetable garden for aromatic herbs, for a couple of years: I don't have thirty interns who wake up at five, if I go to the port to wait for the boats I would have already lost half working day at the restaurant. I'd like to, but it's unreal, I have to run a company with two premises ". The other is called Angelina, a rotisserie on the road to the sea in Bacoli.

SOUTH today

Women have a pragmatic approach to things, like a “good family man”. "With the reopening we had to eliminate the card", explains Marianna. "For us, the menu was essential, because we have a clientele mainly from Neapolitans, who return often or who are not yet ready for the idea of the tasting menu. But we had to streamline production to make the restaurant line and the modern diner line at the same time, Angelina . Now in the SOUTH you can choose between two surprise tasting menu cut on market availability and customer tastes: the South Menu, 7 courses for € 60, € 95 with matching wines, or the Marianna Vitale Menu, € 100 for 12 courses or € 145 with matching wines.
The wine list edited by Pino pays homage to Campania, to the wonderful wines of the Phlegraean Fields and Irpinia, but a small part is dedicated to the "immigrants to the south" of foreign origin. «No bells bubbles, we are not ready yet, Pino confesses to me. "We know how to do better." The tasting menu of first courses only is temporarily suspended. On the other hand, courses appeared possible only in a tasting menu, which can be eaten in a single bite, such as a spoonful of sea urchin, kombucha vinegar and Jamaica pepper, served before desserts. While waiting for better times to return, this is an opportunity to eat something unique.

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South Africa's street surfers who recycle and save the ocean – Italian Cuisine

Thousands of kids, speeding through the streets of South Africa, collect and recycle tons of plastic waste, protecting the ocean. The documentary "Street Surfers" tells their incredible story

In South Africa only 10% of all waste generated is recycled while tons of garbage end up in the ocean, contributing to marine pollution and the global environmental impact. A few months ago the local environmental activists of The Litterboom Project, a project created to shed light on the seriousness of the problem and to convince the government to take action, shot and distributed a film made in the port city of Durban. In this video we see an alarming scenario, that is hundreds of plastic and garbage bottles that float in the waves and that cover a large part of the coasts. Although the resolution of this problem still seems far away, there are involuntary heroes who make a difference every day, or the so-called street surfers.

Ride the wave of change

Thousands of people in South Africa wake up at 3am every day they travel up to 50 kilometers, wandering the streets of the cities aboard a trolley with wheels, and rummaging through the rubbish they collect plastic and other materials to be recycled. rebaptized street surfer, as they dart with elegance and at high speed on the asphalt and in the traffic, there are over 100 thousand young people who, with their daily efforts, contribute up to 90% of the country's recycling. Yet these champions of the noble environmental mission are children who struggle to survive and who live in conditions of extreme poverty, without electricity, running water and sanitation. Recycling is their only source of income. Risking their lives every day, they do their best for a cleaner ocean and a paltry gain, or around 300 rand (15 euros) per 1000 kilograms of recyclable materials collected. Society snubs them and car drivers often try to impose themselves dangerously on the road, but this does not prevent these guys from finding energy every day to go on, without ever ceasing to smile.

"Street Surfers", the documentary by environmental surfer Frank Solomon

He told us about this incredible reality Frank Solomon, professional surfer and environmental activist of Cape Town. After learning about the work of these "surfers" he decided to make a documentary on their history, called Street Surfers. In particular Solomon decided to focus on the story of two of them, Thabo Mouti and Mokete Mokete. In the video we witness, in fact, the day spent together, first around the streets of Johannesburg aboard the trolleys, then in the collection center where the bottles and collected waste are sorted by them and finally in their humble home. Despite the stories about the daily difficulties to face, these friendly and welcoming kids they transmit energy, willpower, warmth and positivity and show the importance that family and a sense of community have for them.
To thank Thabo and Mokete for the welcome and for what they are doing for our planet, Frank Solomon takes them to see the ocean for the first time, and to ride that sea that every day help to make it cleaner. The documentary ends with an emotional gaze, lost in the waves of the sea, and a positive message: "In the world we are billions of people and if each of us, every single day, even collects just a plastic waste, we could live in a completely different world .

For some months now, the South African surfer has also launched a campaign, still active, on BackaBuddy for raise funds to be donated to Thabo and Mokete, in order to provide them with food, clothes and other basic necessities.

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