A SUNDAY OF SAUSAGE, CELERY AND SAGRANTINO

Last weekend we drove across Umbria, past the vineyards of Sagrantino, past the olive trees waited to be harvested, to Trevi. Trevi is famous for the beautiful celery that grows in the region. It's sweet, stringless and so dark green it's called black celery. We arrived early, as is our style, and on a Sunday afternoon this meant we were able to find a parking spot just outside the centro!

Stalls were set up selling antiques and knick-knacks, candy, and, luckily for us, onions from nearby Cannara. I bought several braided bunches of the flat sweet variety, perfect for roasting in the oven, some 'regular' onions for cooking, and a small bunch of garlic. Before we'd even entered the centro the trip was a success!

On our way into the centro we stopped in a small side piazza where potted herbs, apples, wine and grains were on sale. The pictures of the grapes in the previous two posts were from one of the booths, hosted by CANTINA BARTOLONI, one of the many producers of SAGRANTINO WINE. At €15 a bottle, this was our best bargain of the day.

Once finally into the centro we were surrounded by crates of beautiful celery and the smell of sausages on the grill. I'm guessing that this was the festa of sausages and celery because a festa with only celery wouldn't be quite as tasty! Art and I split a sausage sandwich and I resisted Art's urgings to buy more celery than we needed, knowing that we'll be back in Trevi on November 2nd for the FRANTOI APERTI. Hopefully there will be more celery for sale like there was last year.

For the drive home we took a new route, one we weren't sure of, but one we knew would get us to our destination.....eventually. The leaves of the Sagrantino grapevines are just starting to turn, and in a few weeks the vineyards will offer a dazzling display of reds, oranges and golds, our answer to fall color here in Umbria.

As always, more photos on OUR FLICKR PAGE.