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[Val di Sangro area]

The Valley of Cooks

When he got to the hotel Cipriani in Venice, Jimmy Carter asked the chef Giovanni Spaventa (from Villa Santa Maria) baked bass with potatoes. Galeazzo Ciano, before going out of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, used to call Giovanni Di Lello (from Villa Santa Maria) – who worked for him in his house in Rome – and asked him to prepare simple, typical Italian dishes. However, when he had meetings with diplomats, he asked more refined, French dishes. These are just two examples of how Villa Santa Maria - a small village with 1500 inhabitants – is an incredible resource for tracing the tastes of international leaders as well as sportsmen and performers. It is just not possible to count all the chefs that left Villa Santa Maria – the little village on the southern slopes of the mount Vecchio, on the left of the river Sangro – to work in the most famous hotels, embassies and upper-class houses. Do not ask an inhabitant of Villa Santa Maria who the best chef was, because they would not answer. Not because of envy or jealousy, but because it is impossible to make a classification. Therefore, in order to get into this age-old tradition and understand why Villa Santa Maria is known as the Land of the cooks, it is necessary to start from its heart: the house where san Francesco Caracciolo was born, dating back to the 16th century and standing in the centre of the village. Francesco, born here in 1563, was the second son of don Ferrante Caracciolo and donna Isabella. After healing from a serious disease, he decided to give up all his riches and aristocratic titles to make a total commitment to serve God. He founded the Order of the Minor Clerks Regular, was beatified in 1769 by Pope Clemente 14th and canonized in 1807 by Pope Pius 7th. Then, in 1996, Pope John Paul 2nd declared him the patron Saint of the Italian cooks. According to tradition, at the time when Francesco lived, princes were used to organize sumptuous banquets with chefs coming from this village. So, the love of the inhabitants of Villa for good food was handed down from generation to generation. Next to the palace of San Francesco Caracciolo, on a lower level from the street, there is also the 17th-century church that was built as the private chapel of the palace. Moreover, another trace of the saint can be seen in the bronze statue outside the palace. However, above all, going to the land of cooks means getting to know the history of many families that handed down this activity through centuries, but also to enjoy the marvellous nature of this area: Mount Pallano and the lake of Bomba. Reached by the motorway, towards Colledimezzo, mount Pallano overlooks the valley of the river Sangro between the municipalities of Bomba and Tornareccio, the town where honey and dairy products are produced. The nature-archaeological park of mount Pallano features traces of human presence from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic, to the Hellenistic-Roman era. Five paths with different difficulties allow to visit the archaeological area, with a perfect combination of history and nature. The site offers several services, including an equipped relax area with refreshment bar, a shop with typical products and a playground for children. Then you get to the lake of Bomba, an artificial lake that represents the natural habitat for several species of fish: chub, crucian, carp, eel and trout. The lake is a destination for many visitors and offers fishing activities as well as accommodation in the various tourist resorts, villages and campsites surrounding it. Then, the land of cooks is a little ahead. The landscape have been ruined by an imposing viaduct. Nevertheless, it is still a fascinating landscape with its houses very close to each other, next to the rocky wall. While the core of Villa Santa Maria is the square dedicated to the saint, if you keep walking you will access one of the gates of the town and get to piazza San Nicola, overlooked by the church of San Nicola di Bari and its stone bell tower. But the main element of Villa Santa Maria is always its love for good food. From piazza San Nicola your reach via Supportino, where the new Museo dei cuochi (Cooks’ Museum) stands. Here there are documents and pictures that illustrate the great adventure of the local chefs; from the Monzù, the name given to the great chefs working for noble families who wanted to improve their social superiority, to the chefs who have succeed in the whole world, up to the tradition turned into a school. Nowadays, many young people – including many girls – study to continue the activity of their parents in one of the most ancient hotel management schools in Italy: the Giovanni Marchitelli institute, founded in 1939 and now boasting over 500 students. Before leaving Villa Santa Maria, you can reach the sanctuary of Santa Maria in Basilica, where the first settlement of the village was. This church hosts a statue that is worshipped a lot by the local people and portrays the Virgin with the Child standing on her knees; the statue is made of painted wood. The culinary art of Villa Santa Maria, also known for being the birthplace of the musician Michele Mascitti, has important representatives of the other villages of the medium valley of the Sangro: Roio, Rosello, Borrello, Bomba and Colledimezzo. However, the people from Villa are not glad to talk about it and prefer to support their leadership by telling their stories to the tourists or showing them a book with the story of the village. The achievements of so many dynasties of people from Villa – the Spaventas, the Stanzianis, the De Sanctis, the Falconis and the Di Lellos, have been illustrated in the book titled “Villa Santa Maria. Storie e memorie dei grandi maestri della ristorazione” (Villa Santa maria. Histories and memories of the greatest chefs (publisher Rocco Carabba), written by Nicola Tantimonaco, who has been teaching at the hotel-management school for 25 years.
The rassegna dei cuochi [cooks’ festival].
Since 1977, during the second weekend of October, Villa Santa Maria hosts the feast of san Francesco Caracciolo and the festival of the cooks of the river Sangro, which celebrates the tastes of this land. During the religious ceremony, the cooks coming from all parts of Italy, offer the sain some oil that will keep the votive lamp throughout the year. After the celebrations, the chefs prepare delicious dishes that are then put on display to be admired and tasted on a very long buffet during the last evening of the festival. As a matter of fact, the last day of this festival features impressive and decorated tables with all sorts of delicacies, attracting many people from other regions. (www.rassegnacuochi.com )