In the Land of Lucca

After leaving the Italian coast, we boarded the train towards Tuscany. We thankfully decided to make a quick overnight stop in Lucca. Our only mistake is that it should have been a long stop. After arriving, we knew that this was a magical place that we would have liked to stay for many nights -- not just the one night stop-over we had booked. Walking through the center of the old walled town to the amazing bed and breakfast Evelina, we were blown away by the charm of the place and its awesome hosts. We will definitely go back there one day. This is a city where I could spend the rest of my life.

Our first taste of pizza in Italy (and our first meal in Lucca) was at Pizza da Felice, a place recommended to us by the proprietor at Evelina. We ordered a cheese slice and a cecina, which is a thin pizza-like flatbread made of chickpeas. They were each pretty damn good and with a couple of beers it was a nice light afternoon lunch. We didn't go crazy. We had to save room for some gelato!

After hobbling around Lucca all day, my knee was showing signs that I'd just spent four days walking Cinque Terre. We were pointed in the direction of La Bottega delle Cose Buone. This is a place for locals. Most tourists would not even know that there was a restaurant hidden in the back of this little market. It is pretty much a one-man show run by the kind gentleman that I am sitting with below. He prepares all the dinners by himself and we were treated to truly rustic, Tuscan cuisine.

We started with an appetizer of cannelini beans with rosemary and ham -- a pretty basic dish that was good, but a little too salty. It went nice with some bread to tame the sodium injection. 

Regan ordered the orecchiette in a beef and pepper ragu. It was really rich and a little on the greasy side, but yet another way to utilize all that Tuscan bread. We knew we were not going home hungry. I think she enjoyed it. She didn't take it to go to feed the pigeons.

I decided to take a gamble and order the wild rabbit with tomatoes and olives. This is a signature dish in this part of Italy, so I knew I had to try it. It came to the table and had the strangest smell. I wasn't quite sure what to think. The table next to us also ordered the rabbit, and they were waving the smell into their face as if it was the aroma of perfection. Maybe I am just not insanely cwazy over wabbit. It was good, and I am glad I tried it, but it wasn't something I craved during the rest of our time in Tuscany.

The atmosphere of the place and the chef are what you dream exists in Italy. I would recommend the place on this alone. The food is also prepared with love and there were many great looking dishes being served around us. I wouldn't hesitate to go back and try another gamble off the daily menu.

The next day, we awoke to a beautiful breakfast on the balcony of our b&b. It consisted of really strong coffee, some special Lucca sausage (that was mainly fat), yogurt and peaches, and some chocolate chip cake.








The best part was the view from our room and balcony where their were hundreds of swallows flying in and around the bell towers.

After breakfast, we rented bikes for a couple hours to ride along the top of the walls of Lucca. It turned out to be two of our favorite hours on the entire trip. Riding along the walls and into the heart of this fascinating city was a perfect way to end a short affair with one of the most enchanting places in the world. 

We had one last bite before heading to the train station: a tall mug of beer and a prosciutto flatbread sandwich. Nothing spectacular, but it was enjoyed in front of an incredible cathedral in the heart of Lucca. What's not to love?

Dig That Beet!

I recently became quite obsessed with a fermented beverage called beet kvass. It is a popular health tonic in parts of Russia and Eastern Europe. It is said to have many health benefits, such as a blood purifier and liver cleanser. I picked up a bottle one day at a local market because it looked oddly compelling -- a deep purple drink with a slight tang and a whole lot of beet goodness. I was hooked and started to spend $20 a week on this damn beverage! It was also only available at a couple local markets so I would I find myself biking there several times a week for this beet tonic. While Zukay makes some freakin' good beet kvass, I started looking around online about this drink. It turns out that it is quite simple to make and much cheaper to do so. I was a bit worried about the outcome of a fermented drink after a major failure with making pickles several years ago, but I decided to give it a go. It was a great success, and I am now on my 3rd batch! Here is all you need for 2 quarts of kvass:

I started this most recent batch with three medium-sized organic beets. I would have liked to have four, but I had one left over from the last kvass that had sadly turned soft, so I ditched it. Cut them up into decent sized pieces, not too small or big.

Next, get a teaspoon of Celtic sea salt and a packet of kefir, and dissolve both in a little tepid water at the bottom of your 2-quart jar. Make sure the jar has been cleaned really well. I poured some boiling water in the jar to rinse it after washing it.  There are other recipes online that say if you can't find the kefir packets, you can use whey -- which can easily be strained off of yogurt. For a vegan version, just use a pinch more salt and omit the kefir or whey. The whey and the kefir just help along the fermenting process.

Add the beets to the jar (I also added a few slivers of fresh ginger) and fill it up with filtered water. I placed a towel and a rubber band over the lid and put it in a dark corner on the countertop. Some recipes say to leave it for 2 or 3 days, then put in the fridge for a few more, but some say to leave it fermenting on the counter for a week. I tasted it after a couple days, and it did not taste right, so I ended up leaving it out for 5 days. It turned out awesome! You can let it continue to ferment in the fridge for a long time, if you can wait to drink it. Supposedly, it will get a little more sour and delicious with prolonged time in the fridge.










Strain the beets, and you will have a super nutritious and crazy purple drink that the kool-aid man would envy. I saved several bottles of the Zukay Kvass so I could bottle my own version, and now I have an extra $20 in my pocket this week.

You can re-use the beets for one more batch with a half cup of the kvass, a pinch of salt, and more filtered water. It will be a little weaker than the first round but will still beat your ass! I recommend watching this groovy beatnik classic while you are waiting for your bucket of blood to ferment. Dig it!