See Ya’ On the Other Side!

A few blog posts ago (When I’m 64!) talked about mortality. I’m sure that we’ve all heard the phrase, “See ya’ on the other side!” But, I’m quite unsure what it means; the other side of what?

The Wall?
The Street?
The World?
Or more cosmic – The Universe?
More spiritual – life/death?

These are things that I ponder when I’m riding my bike. Heavy, world altering thoughts!

Table of Contents

Actually, I’m writing from Matera, Basilicata, Italy now. Believe it or not, I’m planning to get up at 2am (only 4 hours from now) to watch the Browns and Stillers on my VPN from here in our cave (yes, cave, our hotel is in the side of the mountain in Matera, and we’re staying in a former cave turned hotel room!). So, if you are reading this on September 19, 2023, I’m in Matera watching the Browns and screaming as best as I can without waking Cathy!

So, I’ll see you on the other side of the Atlantic!

Nebaladan Word of the Day – Nebaladan

Now that we’re in Napoli (well just left, but will be back tomorrow), let me clear up something…

Nebaladan (aka Nebalatan) is a slang term for an Neapolitan-American.

If I say the word Nebaladan in Napoli, it get strange looks. There is no such word in Napoli. A native of Napoli is a Neapolitan. At best, I will get a reply from a Neapolitan such as, “our language has changed in 100+ years since that type of word was used here in Napoli.”

Just as most of the “Nebaladan Words of the Days” are unlikely to be heard in Napoli.

Although, this past spring, I was having lunch with Cathy at Angelo’s in Venice, FL. My friend, Manlio, from Napoli, and I were talking about Napoli Calcio when his coworker from Roma walked by and said, “Forza Juve.”

Immediately, I shot back in a way only that I could have learned from my mother (Grandma Joanne), “Bah fangoo!!!!!”

Manlio was temporarily stunned, then cracked up, and repeated with a laugh, “Bah fungoo?! Forza Napoli!”

My exclamation, “Sempre!”

Most of the time that I’ve spent in Italy has been in Campania, but we’ve also spent time in Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Calabria, Sicily, Basilicata, and Puglia.

We’re currently in Puglia. On my last trip here, it was part of a cross Southern Italy bike ride beginning in Monopoli, Puglia, traversing the Apennine Mountains ending in southern Campania then up the Amalfi Coast to Sorrento.

Like each region of Italia, Puglia has several dishes that are Apuglian origin (though like many dishes are found in most of Italia now). These include taralli, pasticiotta (see a previous post), and fava beans and greens porridge (Matera, although in Basilicata).

Don’t Forget the Focaccia

Bari, Puglia is known for a salty, cherry tomato, focaccia (see Wikipedia here) and white focaccia, cut down the middle, and stuffed like a sandwich with prosciutt crudo (baked ham) and local cheeses. In Puglia, that cheese is likely to be cacciocavallo (see Wikipedia here). The Bari style is a close cousin to my beloved pizza, but more like a thick pan pizza versus a Neapolitan style.

I’m no expert, but I ate focaccia 4 consecutive days in Bari, Alberobello, Lecce, and at a small roadside bar in San Basilio Matollo (near Taranto), all towns in Puglia (and one more beautiful than the other!

Bari Focaccia

As you can see from the cut above, focaccia is similar to a Tomato Pie in that it is baked in oil to brown and crisp the bottom, but instead of sauce and cheese, it’s cherry tomato cut in 1/2 and pressed into the dough, and then plenty of salt. The Bari style has tasty dough due it’s pan fry and tomato but is a little to salty for my tastes (and heart!).

Alberobello Focaccia

As you can see from the sign below, many joints in Puglia are a combined pizzeria/focacceria.

As you can see from these focaccia from Alberobello, these are the stuffed style. One is salami stuffed in a Bari tomato style focaccia. The other is a white rosemary and oil style stuffed with rigott and prosciutt crudo.

These were both very good, not nearly as salty as the one in Bari, but a nice amount of spice from the salami on the one, and a mellow, pleasant taste from the rosemary and rigott on the other.

Lecce Focaccia

We also had Bari style focaccia in Lecce, but we had something even more special…for the next blog post!

San Basilio Matollo (near Taranto)

One of the most surprising things in Italy are the roadside bars. A bar in Italy is a combination espresso bar, cafeteria, grocery store, and alcohol joint.

We stopped at a dumpy looking joint just before crossing the provincial line into Basilicata in the Taranto region of Puglia. The focaccia was really good!