Tonight is the start of the festa! It begins with the traditional Cena Lungo Il Borgo, or the long dinner in the village. A long table is constructed with boards resting upon sawhorses and covered with a paper tablecloth. This runs the entire length of the main street between the two piazze, also called the Borgo. Reservations are strongly suggested this year for two reasons. First, this is a popular event, and not only must enough seating be calculated, but the food must also be purchased and prepared for this large group. Trying to get Italians to provide the organizers with a firm headcount for this dinner is like wrangling cats. Leonardo, one of the organizers of the festa, must have consulted with Maria Giulia twice daily in the days leading up to the dinner. Her numbers fluctuated each time, even well past the deadline. Just last night Leonardo approached us during our evening game of burraco and the best he could get from her was “10 – but it may scale up or down”. Second, the region of Umbria has imposed further rules and restrictions on festas in an effort to reduce competition between towns competing for the public’s festa euros, and to make a little profit for themselves. This year, for the first time, any event that draws over 200 people must pay for ambulance services. The cost of this makes it prohibitive to hold the Cena Lungo Il Borgo, so Leonardo and his team must cap the attendance at 200 people. Close to 300 people were able to attend this event in past years, but sadly, no longer.
We arrive at Maria Giulia’s home along the Borgo at 8pm. There are already 3 to 4 women seated in her living room. As we’re introduced she produces a chilled bottle of prosecco which she asks me to open and pour into champagne flutes which she’s laid out on a huge decorative wooden serving tray. More guests arrive. A toast is made and our party of 10 makes its way outside to find our place at the table. Leonardo has done the impossible and the seating chart does in fact show “Maria Giulia – 10”. The majority of the 7 others in our party are all former coworkers of hers from SuperConti – some of which still work there today even though the family owned business and all of its 40+ groceries were purchased by Coop, their main competitor, 3 years ago.
Dinner is comprised of 4 courses, each named after each of the 4 regions of the town. Our region, Il Colle, is first up as the antipasti consists of a cup of panzanella, beans, prosciutto atop focaccia, a small crostini with an unidentifiable topping, and a soft cured pork sausage. All are delicious. There are bottles of natural and frizzante water on the table along with pitchers of red wine and baskets of bread. While the Americans tend to think that Italians drink lots of wine, it’s not true. The women at the table take very small pours of wine in their cups, only to dilute them with water. The pitcher is more than enough for our group of 10.
Next up is the pasta course, representing Il Borgo, and is short penne pasta in a tomato meat sauce. Very simple. The region of San Sebastiano is represented in the next course with a grilled sausage and a piece of fatty grilled pork belly. Let me take a moment to say that what American’s think of as “Italian sausage” – sausage seasoned with fennel seeds – is not very common in Italy. Sausage in Italy is almost always made with pork, olive oil, salt and pepper as its only ingredients. The pork belly is grilled perfectly, but is a challenge trying to cut with the plastic fork and knife. The younger people of Torre Orsina are hurriedly serving each course, many managing four plates at a time, and oftentimes forgetting where they left off, so dinner is a slow process. This gives everyone time to walk along the table to chat with family, friends, and those just arriving in Torre Orsina for the festa. The space behind our bench is a constant highway of parent with toddlers and newborns as well as older kids running back and forth playing in the cool summer night. A band is set up in the piazza and music begins as we get around to the dessert course of Il Buchi. The plate has a large cream puff and a dollop of something resembling chocolate pudding. A small tent is set up in the piazza which is selling food for those not wanting, or unable, to attend the main dinner. They are selling 7 sticks of grilled pecora (sheep) for €5, bomboloni (long cream-filled donuts) for €1.50, and small round crostata of albicocca (apricot) or lampone (raspberry) for €1 each. They also serve drinks. As the ladies at our table see the large trays of bomboloni pass from the kitchens to the tent, they immediately run to buy some for the table before they sell out. As the dinner draws to a close, one of Leonardo’s team is walking the length of the table collecting the €15 from each guest. It’s a lovely night enjoyed with family and friends in a magical setting.
Now stuffed, we don’t pass up the opportunity to stop by the tent and pick up a couple bomboloni for ourselves, along with two of each flavor of crostata, to bring home for breakfast the next morning. After all, the 10-day festa has begun and we’ll need our energy.
Dinner is comprised of 4 courses, each named after each of the 4 regions of the town. Our region, Il Colle, is first up as the antipasti consists of a cup of panzanella, beans, prosciutto atop focaccia, a small crostini with an unidentifiable topping, and a soft cured pork sausage. All are delicious. There are bottles of natural and frizzante water on the table along with pitchers of red wine and baskets of bread. While the Americans tend to think that Italians drink lots of wine, it’s not true. The women at the table take very small pours of wine in their cups, only to dilute them with water. The pitcher is more than enough for our group of 10.
Next up is the pasta course, representing Il Borgo, and is short penne pasta in a tomato meat sauce. Very simple. The region of San Sebastiano is represented in the next course with a grilled sausage and a piece of fatty grilled pork belly. Let me take a moment to say that what American’s think of as “Italian sausage” – sausage seasoned with fennel seeds – is not very common in Italy. Sausage in Italy is almost always made with pork, olive oil, salt and pepper as its only ingredients. The pork belly is grilled perfectly, but is a challenge trying to cut with the plastic fork and knife. The younger people of Torre Orsina are hurriedly serving each course, many managing four plates at a time, and oftentimes forgetting where they left off, so dinner is a slow process. This gives everyone time to walk along the table to chat with family, friends, and those just arriving in Torre Orsina for the festa. The space behind our bench is a constant highway of parent with toddlers and newborns as well as older kids running back and forth playing in the cool summer night. A band is set up in the piazza and music begins as we get around to the dessert course of Il Buchi. The plate has a large cream puff and a dollop of something resembling chocolate pudding. A small tent is set up in the piazza which is selling food for those not wanting, or unable, to attend the main dinner. They are selling 7 sticks of grilled pecora (sheep) for €5, bomboloni (long cream-filled donuts) for €1.50, and small round crostata of albicocca (apricot) or lampone (raspberry) for €1 each. They also serve drinks. As the ladies at our table see the large trays of bomboloni pass from the kitchens to the tent, they immediately run to buy some for the table before they sell out. As the dinner draws to a close, one of Leonardo’s team is walking the length of the table collecting the €15 from each guest. It’s a lovely night enjoyed with family and friends in a magical setting.
Now stuffed, we don’t pass up the opportunity to stop by the tent and pick up a couple bomboloni for ourselves, along with two of each flavor of crostata, to bring home for breakfast the next morning. After all, the 10-day festa has begun and we’ll need our energy.
Menus for each of the two dinners posted in town using the local dialect.