The American Farmer’s Table

Bufalina has now been open for just about three months and WOW, it has been one wild ride. Who would have thought that a restaurant measuring less than 325 square feet would require so much blood, sweat, and tears. No complaints though as we love what we are doing and all of the wonderful customers we have met along the way. Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions at Bufalina:

1. Scamorza is a 30 day aged mozzarella that we blend with regular mozzarella to add more depth of flavor. Both our scamorza and mozzarella come from Liuzzi’s in North Haven.

2. Buffalo mozzarella is mozzarella made from the milk of water buffalo who live in the fertile plains south of Naples. In Italy, mozzarella made from cows milk is actually referred to as fior di latte, while mozzarella di bufala is considered standard mozzarella. The cheese is tangy and delicious and sold in bags of whey and is extremely perishable. The Bufalina pizza is our signature pie and meant to be slightly soggy from the natural wetness of the cheese. In Naples, the proper way to eat a Bufalina pizza is either with a knife and fork or by folding an entire pizza into quarters and eating it like a giant sandwich.

3. Salame piccante is a slightly spicy Italian pepperoni. We source ours from an Italian family who makes unbelievable cured pork products in Pennsylvania. They raise free range black Berkshire pigs whose taste is the closest thing we have experienced to the charcuterie we have eaten in Italy. They also make a delicious pancetta (Italian bacon) that Bufalina uses as well.

4. All of our pizzas our 12 inches (a generous small) and are hand shaped with their own distinctive charred bubbles and blisters from being baked in Bufalina’s 900 degree wood fired oven. We recommend that for take out, if you know that you won’t be eating them for a while, that we under bake them slightly and leave them uncut, perfect for reheating at home to ensure a hot, well done pizza. Just let us know when ordering.

5. Our lasagna is made with crepes instead of noodles and is a recipe taught to us in central Italy. It is light, airy, and delicate, and great on its own with a salad or as a warm up for pizza.

6. Every morning we bake all of our desserts in our brick oven, when its temperature is perfect for biscotti, cookies, and cakes.

7. We share our parking lot with the barber shop next door who close when we open. If full, there are plenty of spots on Fair street a half block down from Bufalina.

8. Bufalina accepts reservations – due to our size the suggested seating time is one hour. Bring down your favorite bottle of wine and join us at the counter!

Well after a long summer of renovations – Bufalina is finally open!
Hours:
Tuesday – Thursday: 5pm to 9pm
Friday & Saturday: 5pm to 10pm
Sunday & Monday: Closed

Come see us at
1070 Boston Post Rd.
Guilford, CT
(203) 458-1377

visit us online at:
www.bufalinact.com

To see our menu click the link below:
bufalina_menu_sept2(1)

We finally handed in our manuscript to our publisher and are off pursuing our next project, but before I divulge the information I want to share a little story with you about the photo above. While researching for our second book we stayed at a farm located in Paestum in Campania, about an hour south of Naples. Besides being home to some pretty impressive ruins that date back to the Greeks, it is also the area where some of the best buffalo mozzarella is produced. During our stay we couldn’t get enough of not only the cheese, but with the large, personable animals that produce it.

One of our goals has been to open our own wood fired, brick oven pizzeria and today that dream is becoming a reality. So what does the wet nose of a water buffalo have to do with it? Well – it gave us a name to call our place. So for any of you who are passing through Guilford, CT please come and visit us at Bufalina for some pizza.



Believe it or not, the winter we have been experiencing in Southern Italy has been somewhat similar to the weather back in CT. We have seen snow a few times, it has been bitterly bone chilling cold, and trying to take inspiring pictures of farms when everything is dead and brown has proved to be quite a challenge. This all changed however, when we crossed the straights of Messina and arrived in beautiful sun kissed Sicily. It has been an explosion for the senses of colors, scents, and beauty as we tour the island. Hills of green grass, enormous palm trees, and fields of yellow and orange wildflowers pop against a backdrop of blue skies and shimmering oceans.

The last agriturismo we visited grew a variety of citrus and we were lucky enough to be there for a day of picking blood oranges. While most of the fruit makes its way into the kitchen, a portion of their yield is also sold for the making of perhaps Italy’s most delicious soda, Aranciata. We ate this appetizer one night at the Tenuta Roccadia agriturismo, and thought it to be a delicious wintertime bite of sunny Sicily.

The Vatican’s presence in Italy may have many believing that Christmas throughout the country to be a devoutly religious day, but we are beginning to think that the holiday is another excuse for Italians to eat.  Throughout this entire trip, we have heard about all of the specialties prepared for Christmas.  In every region, city, and small town we have visited, we have been told about the wonders of Christmas feasts.  As we are approaching the 25^th, the kitchens of some of the farms are beginning to buzz with the holiday spirit and the last agriturismo we were at, Casale Verdeluna in Lazio, was in full force preparing cookies to sell in gift bags along with their wines.  Knowing that people at home are busy doing the same, we thought that we would share a recipe we learned with you.

Our itinerary for this trip has us changing farms every four nights and what we look forward to most at every new agriturismi is the anticipation of what our room will be like, as it will become our home, office, and bedroom during our stay. A popular question asked to us about the Italian agriturismi is always about what the accommodations are like. I think people hear the word “farm” and they can’t quite grasp the concept or understand the attraction to spending precious vacation time amongst animals, manure, and flies. Well, we decided for this blog, to post a few of our photos from some of our favorite bedrooms we have stayed at during this trip, to displace any preconceived notions about sleeping in haylofts. Here are a few of our favorites.

Antonio and Karin’s creative style has given each room their own personality. While Antonio built the beds, Karin hand stitched the linens and pillows, giving San Martino Agriturismo in Tuscany charm and character.

This county house in Umbria has been in the family of the owners of Fonte Antica for many generations. After a large earthquake left the house inhabitable, Paolo, Gionvanni, and Elisabetta reconstructed the house and created an agriturismo. Today each room is decorated with the original furniture.

The rooms at Torre Vecchia, in Puglia, were once the stables that housed the farm animals.

The rooms at Le Magnolie have fantastic views of the surrounding Abruzzese landscape. With original tile floors, that I want for my house, and great modern art depicting the countryside.

The countryside of central Italy comes alive in the fall with the rhythm of the olive harvest. The annual event can last for weeks depending upon the weather, and this year’s torrential rains delayed things well into our arrival in Umbria last week. This made our stay at our last farm, Malvarina, particularly special, because we were able to help out and join in the fun. On a narrow and winding street flanked on both sides by thousands of olive trees and aptly named “Via degli Ulivi (olive street), Malvarina has a large grove of trees. The entire street is lined with the cars and mopeds of the families picking their olives and the shouting and laughter of Italians at work fills the air. Large nets are spread out below the trees and air compressed clappers are used to knock the olives from the higher branches while hand rakes remove the lower lying fruit. There is a smooth and efficient system to the process that involves designated roles that has the nets being moved from tree to tree in perfect timing with one tree’s completion. As the pickers move onto the next tree, the netters gather all of the fallen olives and scoop them into large burlap sacks.

At the end of the day the sacks are collected and brought to the mill where it gets pressed for oil. It’s hard work but a great experience to be a part of and we found that our favorite part was definitely lunch. In typical Italian fashion, we would break everyday at one, and go back to the farmhouse. Everyone would sit down together at a long wooden table set with jugs of wine, baskets of bread, and bottles of neon green just pressed oil, for a four-course harvest feast. Flushed with fresh country air and the shared comradeship of the harvest, we were sad to see our time at Malvarina end. Here’s a simple country dish from one of the lunches that was one of our favorites.

During this trip we have visited our fair share of small Italian towns. We’re not huge museum goers and after seeing about our 200th church, our philosophy about Italian churches has evolved into something like, seen one, seen them all. We usually just walk around the historic center and poke our heads into the bakeries, butchers, and cheese shops, and see what’s interesting. Le Marche for us, was a first time visit and while we both have ancestors originating from there, neither of us had ever made the trip. Needless to say, we were very impressed with the many, perfectly preserved villages that populate all of Le Marche. One morning we were out discovering the center of Ripatransone when we spotted a sign that immediately piqued our interest.

Now this was interesting! We made our way down a few narrow streets, even thinking that several of them could be contenders for the proclamation of smallest alley in Italy, until we came to one that was undoubtedly the narrowest street we had ever seen. Squished between two buildings, was a ridiculously tight passageway, and as we walked down the claustrophobic alley, our shoulders brushed the brick buildings on either side, and then two incredible events happened in our thirty-second descent into the darkness. First, halfway down, we had to turn around because somebody else was actually making their way up the smallest alley in Italy and second, as we were walking back up, Matt proceeded to step in a pile of dog poop that a dog had left in the smallest alley in Italy. What an adventure!

We just left a great farm in what has become our favorite region, Abruzzo.  Campo Letizia is a fun and hip agriturismo owned by a young and really enthusiastic couple, Nicola and Livia, who share a passion for preserving indigenous products of their land.  On their own farm they have olive trees, vines, chickens, vegetables, fruit trees, and native free range black pigs.  They have also joined a sort of farming cooperative that grows a particular ancient strand of semolina flour known to only grow in the mountains of Abruzzo.  The dark colored flour produces a toothier, nutrient rich pasta that is far superior to the mass-produced, industrial giants of Italy’s pasta making world, who source a majority of their wheat outside of the country.  One day for lunch Livia took us into the olive groves to look for wild greens.  In about fifteen minutes she had a basketful of wild chicories that to the naked eye, (our eyes anyways) looked like ordinary weeds.  She cleaned and boiled them and they were served with spaghetti from the co-op.  Toasted breadcrumbs replaced Parmigiano and gave a pleasant crunch to the dish, which was extremely satisfying and delicious.  We think that this would work great with whole-wheat pasta and with arugula and swiss chard.  Give it a shot – tell us what you think!

Cooking in Puglia has been a real treat for us. The cuisine relies heavily on vegetables, cheese, and homemade pastas. However, almonds also play an important role in their cooking, as almond trees flourish throughout the region. They are used mainly in desserts and at Serragambetta, Zia Nina whipped up a traditional treat for us that they make around the holidays. We got to help out in the preparation, but the best part was stealing the little bits that broke apart when she cut the brittle into squares. It is simple to make, but difficult to stop eating, and now that fresh almonds are making their way into the market we recommend you give it a try.

Take 8 oz. of fresh almonds and chop them up. Put them in a heavy-duty skillet with 8 oz. of granulated sugar. Put the skillet over medium-low heat and cook, stirring continuously, until the sugar begins to caramelize and the almonds are nicely toasted, 5 to 8 minutes. Pour the mixture out onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper or onto a lightly dampened marble surface. With the back of a chefs knife spread the mixture out into an even layer. Let cool slightly and then cut the brittle into squares.