East meets West: Il Piccolo Mugnaio, Torre Maina

dimanche, octobre 05, 2008

Il Piccolo Mugnaio, Torre Maina

The Watermill

We've been trying for quite a number of months to organise a meal together with the D and C families. Ideally I would have loved to cook them lunch or dinner, but with each family having 3 kids each, I couldn't find the necessary courage. Finally we decided to lunch together in a restaurant and they had the great idea to bring us all to the agriturismo Il Piccolo Mugnaio in Torre Maina near Maranello. And the L family joined us too since they are also acquainted with the other families.

It was a really lovely autumn Sunday. We were 2 Italian families (but not from these parts), 1 French and 1 Germany family making up a total of 8 adults and 12 children. A lovely restored farmstead greeted us as we arrived, with rolling hills, vines, lemon trees...In fact it has a little working watermill that could be used to demonstrate flour making. There is also an eating hall with Chef's kitchen, a small shop selling homemade jams, liquors, balsamic vinegar, honey, soap, sweets...and an outdoor dining area with a lovely view.

For grinding flour

We were seated in a half-covered cellar underneath the machines producing flour. An inconvenience when people decided to hang around them as dust would then make its way down to where we were sitting and join our meal. Otherwise it was a simple and lovely meal starting with fried Gnocco, parmesan cheese with balsamic vinegar and cured sausages, followed by home-made pasta in a ragu sauce, Ricotta-filled raviolis served with funghi porcini and Tigelle with Rabbit and Wild Boar Stews. For dessert we had Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce (very good - I had 3 portions, I know I know...) and throughout the meal we had Lambrusco produced on the farm.

The pasta first courses

The agriturismo is open for school and tourist visits. If you have at least 15 people in your group they could also tailor-make lunches, dinners, conferences, meetings etc.

Half of the kitchen

This is not the best agriturismo we've been to food-wise, but the setting is really lovely and I love being able to watch the cooks at work in their open kitchen. And since it's so near our house we are already looking forward to combining lunch there with walks in the mountain in the near future.