Table of Contents
- La Mia Famiglia?
- The Grand Tour!!
- Nebaletan Word of the Day – PERFETTA/PERFETTO!
- Pizza Rating – Food Truck, Tony Tomato’s Tuscan Wood Fired Pizza
Another long one….
I’m continuing my series on Serino, Campania, with this sixth entry about our Spring 2024 trip. It’s my ninth post about Serino from my two trips. #9 (nove) is my favorite number…and this might be the favorite of my stories!
The last post (here) ended with us taking a 7+ mile round trip hike from our B&B (Anema Home) in Sala to Canale di Serino.
Upon our return, we had a delightful late lunch provided by our friends at Anema e’ Gusto. Since Anema e’ Gusto, and almost every other ristorante in Serino was to be closed on Sunday evening, Cathy and I walked around Sala in search of an open grocery store to shop for food and local wine to prepare our own meal in the B&B’s kitchen. Once again, Marissa and Renato graciously set up their kitchen for us!
Another tremendous day in Serino!!!!
La Mia Famiglia?
The following morning, once again, we awoke to a wonderful breakfast courtesy of Marissa and Renato. It was Monday, and their ristorante, like most in Serino, was closed. Our bags were packed, ready for the drive back to Naples and our subsequent flight.
Renato inquired about our departure time. I shared our plan to first visit Solofra, Grandpa Lucio’s birthplace, and then to Marigliano, the town of my mother’s family, along the way.
To my surprise, Renato offered us a personal driving tour of Serino on his day off—an offer that left me astonished!
And this is where something happened that I WILL NEVER FORGET!
To that point, I had not asked our hosts their last names (surnames). Although Italians readily recognize my surname is Italian, Southern Italians are initially hesitant with strangers; one must gain their trust.
Due to my readings, I understood that these mountains have been invaded by strangers for over 3000 years! Romans, Muslims, Christians, Barbarians, Northern Europeans, the Papal States…the Nazis used many of these hilltop towns as control points while killing many local men and raping the women and young girls.
Knowing this, I didn’t want to press our hosts about their surnames. Then, upon our departure, Marissa gave me a hug. It was a hug that one receives from a long, lost relative!
We climbed into the Fiat Punto, the same car we’d spotted during our hike to Canale. Renato proved to be an exceptional guide, taking us back to Canale and pointing out his and Marissa’s family home.
Then I felt at ease to inquire about Marissa’s surname, which Renato shared without hesitation. Though her surname doesn’t appear in our family tree, I can’t help but wonder if there’s a familial connection. I certainly hope so!
The Grand Tour!!
Back in the 1600’s, it was customary for the rich from Northern Europe to take the “Grand Tour”! The Grand Tour was like a finishing school for the rich to enlighten them to the arts and letters of the European world of that day. Venice, Rome, and Napoli were typically part of the Grand Tour. It soon became clear that Renato was providing us the Grand Tour of Serino!!
Renato continued our tour through Canale. The road twisted and dipped past several castagneti (chestnut groves)! I told him that Grandma Ruocco would roast castagne (chestnuts) ogni Natale (every Christmas) just as everyone in Canale.
Renato told us that he wanted to show us a “Secret” of Serino. On the way, I asked that we stop at an overlook along the road to gather some better pictures of Monte Terminio. More info here – Monti Picentini – Wikipedia.
We continued our winding and dipping road trip through Irpinia, but soon Renato was lost looking for the “Secret of Serino”. But after a few turn arounds, we pulled into a parking lot. The secret turned out to be two historic sites that have long since been abandoned.
Initially, we witnessed an archway to a Feudal Castle from the 800’S!!!! See this – Serino – Feudal Castle – Museum of Castles (museodeicastelli.it)
Google Maps identifies the site as – Cliffs of the Ripe dei Lecci (Falesie delle Ripe dei Lecci – Google Maps)
We got out of the car and walked the property. Behind the arch and wall, we found the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace (Santuario della Madonna delle Grazie – https://maps.app.goo.gl/x6tTAVEv7zZy8kgj8?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy).
Look closely at the picture above, you can make it out the yellow Sanctuary behind the wall. The Sanctuary sits on top of the Feudal Castle..
More details can be found here – Sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace | REperTUR (openirpinia.it)
After about two hours of driving around the vicinity of Canale, Renato had another surprise for us! The San Giuseppe Moscati Shrine (see here – Cappella San Giuseppe Moscati – Google Maps).
The location of a chapel along the side of the road and built into the woods was stunning!
That was truly a Grand Tour! Una giornata PERFETTA (a perfect day)! Unfortunately, we needed to leave Serino for our next destination. But, after this, it was challenging for me to let go. There’s so much more for me to see and learn.
La mia famiglia? In these situations, how does one separate family from friends, friends from mere acquaintances, and acquaintances from those you simply pass on the street without thought? If Renato and Marissa, their daughter, Annalisa, and Massimo weren’t my family before our trip to Serino, I feel we are now! And, what about my true family, Grandma Ruocco and Grandpa Lucio? Can’t wait to return…but there’s more!
Nebaletan Word of the Day – PERFETTA/PERFETTO!
The following word is not one in which I grew up, but I learned in my first Italian class in college (47 years ago)!
- That word is PERFETTA/PERFETTO!
- Definition – perfect.
- Pronounced Per-Fet-Ah (feminine) and Per-Fet-Oh (masculine)
Although I didn’t use PERFETTA/PERFETTO as a kid, I use it often now, especially in Italy.
There’s also a hand gesture that goes along with PERFETTA/PERFETTO!
Also, DON”T BE AN AMERIGAN and say “perfecto”…it’s PERFETTO!
Pizza Rating – Food Truck, Tony Tomato’s Tuscan Wood Fired Pizza
Spring and summer fly by in Upstate NY. The calendar from Memorial Day to Labor Day is packed with festivals. On a typical weekend, there will be two or three street festivals throughout the Rochester Area. The start of the festival season is our world-famous Lilac Festival in early May. Since May weather here is iffy, the true start is Fairport Canal Days which is the first weekend of June.
Fairport Canal Days celebrates one of the larger Erie Canal ports from the early 1800s. As with most of these festivals unfortunately, the original meaning has been lost by choochkie craft vendors and food trucks that if you miss at this festival, you’ll certainly see them again next week hocking their leftovers (oops…I mean creations!).
To minimize my pain of walking around Fairport Canal Days, I went on a very long bike ride with the expectation that my wife and daughter would get their festival fill while I was gone. Much to my surprise, they waited for me to return from my 5 hours on the bike…crap!
In any event, I was famished. I took a quick shower and took a beeline through the throng of the crowd toward the food trucks. On the way, I passed TK’s Pizza (one of my favorites in Fairport) which turned out to be a grave mistake. But once pizza entered my brain, no other food truck would suffice.
I passed food truck after food truck with lines of people. That wouldn’t do. I was going to start eating my fingers at this point. There was one booth with no line and IT HAPPENED TO BE PIZZA! Oh my! That food truck happened to be Tony Tomato’s Tuscan Wood Fired Pizza. Gotta’ try it!
| Date | June 1, 2024 |
| Pizzeria | Tony Tomato’s Tuscan Wood Fired Pizza |
| City/Neighborhood | Fairport Canal Days/Fairport, NY/Food Truck (actually a booth) |
| Website | Tuscan Wood Fired Pizza – Tuscan Wood Fired Pizza and Tuscan 2GO – Italian Restaurant in Webster, NY (tuscanwf.com) |
| About Us | Not a separate section on their website, though there’s a little blurb on their homepage, but it was not very detailed. What’s funny is that Google Maps shows a storefront with takeout (see here) but there’s no mention of this on the web. |
| Style | Other – their title says Tuscan – but their homepage displays, and booth signage says, Roman-style rectangle (Al Taglio) – and their website menu shows round pizzas – and then, I was served Squares from a Sheet Pan al la a Sicilian Style. Seems schizophrenic! |
| Ambiance | Food booth |
| Beverage Pairing | Diet Coke, ugh (not even Coke Zero) |
| Rating Criteria | |
| Shape | Square, Rectangular |
| Dough/Crust | Tickness – Tick Cook – Soft, Crispy, Burnt, Chewy Flavor – Bready like Ciabatta The cheese square was over-reheated with a burnt bottom and dried out! The pepperoni, although burnt, was not as dried out |
| Cornicione | Crispy, Spongy/airy/Bubbly, Chewy and BURNT |
| Toppings | One Square – Pepperoni nice cup and char, very nicely spicey and Cheese The other square – Cheese Fresh – unsure, it’s hard to call a food booth with re-heated pizza fresh! |
| Sauce | Tangy, Bitter Dried out especially along cornicione where there was no cheese cover to protect it from the over-reheat. Better on the pepperoni, I liked the sauce. It was actually quite good Too bad, need to be consistent |
| Cheese | Cheese Type – Moozedell Cheese Distribution – All over Dried out! |
| Cheese to Sauce Ratio | Sauce – Medium Cheese – Medium to a lot Balance – not too bad, too bad about the dried-out and burntness |
| Value | Might be the worst value ever! At $5 for a 4×5″ square, that’s $113 for a 12″ equivalent!!!! Holy CRAP…why don’t you just hack my credit card account and take it all! |
| Overall Rating | Meh |
| Would I Go Back? | No way, NON PERFETTO! – but even at that, it’s difficult to turn down pizza after 70 miles of wind and heat on your bike |
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