Affordable Italian Escapes: At the Agriturismo
A Lovely Pause in Tuscany’s Maremma Region
by Mary Tolaro Noyes
Sometimes it’s easy to forget the essence of being a traveler. In the enthusiasm for packing as much as we can into our journey to a longed-for destination, we forget that the most authentic moments, and often the least expensive, are those when our lives intersect with the people we meet along the way.
“Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Fiorella, as she opened the kitchen door for Leo, who had just parked the truck out back and was approaching the house. “You went mushrooming without me,” she shouted, grinning with mock indignation. Leo flashed a full toothy smile when he joined us in the kitchen and proffered the basket of porcini mushrooms to his wife. He held a Frisbee-sized porcino like a football under his other arm. His red baseball cap was worn back with brim tipped up, allowing his tanned countenance to beam with pleasure as he greeted us.
“Oh, so Fiorella’s got you working, I see,” he said in his quiet manner. “Bene, bene, bene...that’s good,” he added, the smile never diminishing.
My husband Tom and I were happily ensconced at the Agriturismo Poggio Moretto (farm-stay guest house) after a hectic two and a half week trek around southern Italy and Sicily. We needed a vacation from our vacation! A pot of farro (spelt) and bean soup simmered on the back burner, filling the homey kitchen with an aroma earthy as the thick forests of its Maremma territory in southern Tuscany. We were the Materazzi’s only guests for the week and Fiorella had graciously invited us into the kitchen again to help with dinner. An autumnal storm was blowing in across the restless Tyranean Sea, and the gray afternoon sky was edging toward darkness. We were just about to begin the ciaffagnoni, crepes that we would later pack with a variety of sweet and savory fillings, when Leo had arrived laden with gifts from the Maremma forest gods.
While Tom headed back to our room to grab the camera, Fiorella, an expert chef, decided the culinary fate of each mushroom: appetizer, soup, filling for crepes, salad, or...later. After the photos, she shooed Leo, who had been tromping through damp fields and forests all afternoon, toward the shower and put us to work cleaning mushrooms. She is small in stature with an innate gentleness that belies her strong and forthcoming nature. We donned thin rubber gloves and wiped each porcino down with paper towel. “I am a farmer’s wife, Mary,” she told me, “but I had a dream to one day operate an agriturismo and offer guests the chance to enjoy the riches of the Maremma. Leo really wants to be just a farmer, but he has indulged me in this. I am very fortunate – and happy.”
While my own indulgent husband took notes on recipes and technique, I stood at the stove next to her, savoring the rich aroma of the bubbling soup, flipping each ciaffagnone at just the right moment, cheered on by her gentle advice. Tom and I were both content.
The four large, completely renovated guest rooms were once stalls. Each room, with wood-beamed and terracotta-tiled ceiling, is furnished in the old Tuscan style. They are located next to the main house, each with a private entrance from the garden, modern bathroom, television, refrigerator-bar, and sofa. An abundant breakfast is served every morning in the Taverna, a communal room where guests, and often the family, socialize and enjoy the warmth of the fireplace on cool evenings. The Materazzi family will also prepare an evening meal if requested beforehand. We usually ate there in the evening, after a day of enjoying the myriad towns and sites of the region, and eventually begged them to fix fewer, smaller portions because we could not eat the abundance they placed before us. Once Fiorella even took the day off and accompanied us on our search for Etruscan and Roman ruins. We traipsed around the ancient outpost of Cosa, and slid inside the Tagliata Etrusca, imagining the Romans with their ships, hidden safely from attack, ready to defend the port. She is both knowledgeable and passionate about her territory, telling us stories of her family’s roots as we zipped along the road home.
Only the vociferous ruminations and clanging bells of herds of sheep and cattle interrupt the tranquility as Leo moves them from the barn to the pasture on the dirt road. Chickens and roosters strut and cluck in the garden and lazy cats lounge in sun-warmed corners. We enjoyed exploring the farm as Leo explained its workings. When two wobbly newborn lambs, escorted by their mother, joined the herd in its saunter to the next field, his pleasure radiated bright like the sunny morning.
Local Explorations
Day or half-day trips abound. The hill town Manciano is close by, with its panoramic view of the surrounding countryside, all the way to the sea. The vista from the Rocca (fortress) changes with the season and the whims of nature. Sometimes the green rolling hills with patches of trees are visible and the distant well-tended vineyards seem like lush Turkish rugs decorating the horizon. Sunflowers and seasonal red, purple, and yellow wildflowers often blanket the fields delineated by files of tall cypress and umbrella-shaped pine trees. Sometimes the fog moves in, making the town seem like a long ago place, only our footsteps echoing in the silent alleyways. A study holiday is possible since the Cultura Italiana, an Italian language school in Manciano, offers courses at all levels of expertise to foreigners who wish to immerse themselves in Italian life.
In Montemerano one can visit the Romanesque Church of San Giorgio, consecrated in 1430. Frescoes inside from the Sienese School date from the fifteenth century. Saturnia with its Etruscan legacy is home to thermal baths, twenty minutes away by car from Poggio Moretto. The Terme di Saturnia provides both thermal and beauty treatments and includes numerous swimming pools. In the countryside not far from the complex, the falls of the Cascate del Gorello allow free enjoyment of the warm cascading waters.
Pitigliano, Sovana, and Sorano are soaring hill towns built on tufa bluffs. Pitigliano offers notable historical monuments and striking views of the fertile river valleys. Sorano is characterized by its Rocca that in 1550 was the impregnable fortress of Niccolò IV Orsini. Sovana, smallest of the three towns, is an ideal place for tranquil walks and exploring numerous Etruscan excavations in the nearby countryside.
The Monte Argentario seaside is thirty minutes away by car from Poggio Moretto. A number of beaches, like Feniglia and Osa, and charming towns like Porto Ercole, Porto Santo Stefano, Talamone, and Orbetello hug the coastline. The Parco Naturale della Maremma, created in 1975, provides a variety of outdoor activities as well, including one of the few existing pristine coastlines to investigate.
The wines of the Maremma are also worth exploring. The Materazzi family produces their own and is well-informed on the multitude of possibilities. The Morellino di Scansano is just one type from the area that Tom and I enjoyed during our excursions. Of course, delving into the local food specialties offers equally sublime adventures.
Back at the Taverna on that last evening at Poggio Moretto, Fiorella and Leo joined us at the large table spread with plates of crostini (grilled slices of bread) topped with a porcini mushroom spread and ciaffagnoni filled with the same delectable mixture or with home grown pecorino cheese. Next we drizzled the family’s olive oil over bowls of thick, fragrant farro soup, swiping the last smudges from the bottom with chunks of Tuscan bread. We had successfully discouraged Fiorella from preparing a platter of braised rabbit as a second course, since we had hoped to enjoy another dab of the soup. Thinly sliced fresh porcini with lemon juice and a crisp green salad followed. Then we sampled the dessert ciaffagnoni, spreading one of the delicate crepes with homemade strawberry jam and filling another with cheese and a smear of thick honey. Wine accompanied each course, and plenty of friendly banter. The conversation centered on family and life -- and friendship. Eventually we helped clear the table and embraced our friends as they closed down the Taverna for the night. Tom and I trundled off to finish packing for the morning departure, our spirits renewed for the ongoing journey after savoring the bounty of Tuscany’s Maremma.
Fiorella and Leo Matterazzi are welcoming hosts who make everyone feel at home, even though their English is limited. Their daughters speak and write English well and assist with the arrangements. The Agriturismo Poggio Moretto is a terrific place to unwind, to get away from the hectic pace of the usual Italian holiday.
Prices for 2008 vary between 35 and 40 Euro per person, per night, with breakfast included. A 20 Euro supplement can be added per person per night for the cena (supper), everything included.
To make a reservation via the Internet contact:
Cristina Materazzi (daughter) c.materazzi@alice.it
or Agriturismo Poggio Moretto: info@poggiomoretto.it
