Amazing Italy:
Visiting Villa Grimani Molin with Maria Cristina Buoso
By Maria Teresa De Donato
Dear friends, Today we are continuing to travel to our amazing
Italy with my dear friend and colleague Maria Cristina, author and blogger. Maria Cristina has participated for
years very actively, together with other colleagues and friends, in this
column, and I invite you all to read the other articles to be inspired by the
various places that have been presented as well as the very appreciative
recipes that you can enjoy visiting especially its territory, that of Rovigo
and surroundings. Given that, I wish you all a good read!
MTDD: Hello,
Maria Cristina, and welcome back to this Blog and Virtual Cultural Room.
MCB: Thank you, Mary Theresa, for hosting me again.
MTDD: Will
we be visiting another Venetian Villa today?
MCB: That’s right. Today, although only virtually, we will be
visiting Villa Grimani Molin Avezzù.
MTDD: Excellent! What can you tell us about this Villa, and
what are its most salient features?
MCB: Villa Grimani Molin
Avezzù is located in Fratta Polesine near Villa Badoer. The architectural similarities are evident, and their
stories have been intertwined since the beginning due to the friendship between
the client of Villa Badoer and Giorgio Loredan, who was the owner of the land
on which both villas were built. Upon Loredan's death, the properties of Fratta
were divided between the sisters Lucietta and Lucrezia, respective wives of
Francesco Badoer and Vincenzo Grimani. It is thought that it was Vincenzo
Grimani himself who commissioned the transformation of the Loredan house, in
the same period in which Villa Badoer was built, around the middle of the
sixteenth century. Since the two construction sites were close and Palladio was
present on site, the possibility of the intervention of a student of the
architect in the work of this residence was considered. The facade was made in
such a way as to recreate an ideal angle with that of Villa Badoer. You can see
a rusticated podium with arches supporting the front, columns, and a tympanum.
However, the relationship between the central part's composition and the
building's volume seems disproportionate. The villa's interior has fresco
decorations with grotesques based on the themes of love and fertility, perhaps
made by the same Giallo Fiorentino who also painted the rooms of Villa Badoer.
It hosted numerous meetings of the Polish Carbonari in the
mid-1800s. Lawyer Antonio Avezzù was linked in friendship with former President
of the Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro and is said to have often been a guest in
the Villa. Prince Avezzo Pignatelli was also a friend of another great Italian
politician, Alcide de Gasperi.
Those who wish can find further information at the
following links:
https://www.gentepocket.it/the-most-beautiful-venete-ville-to-see-in-rovigo/
https://www.progettotoriadellarte.it/2020/07/03/villa-grimani-molin-avezzu-a-fratta-polesine/
MTDD: This is very interesting. Congratulations on all this
research and the information you provide to our readers. I am sure they greatly
appreciate your work.
MCB: I hope so. Italy's artistic richness is remarkable, and
even Veneto and the province of my city, Rovigo, have no shortage of treasures worth
visiting.
MTDD: I'm sure. Let's conclude today with a local recipe,
shall we?
MCB: Of course. Happy to do so. Today, I suggest Bigoli in
anchovy sauce.
Recipe
Bigoli in anchovy sauce
Bigoli in anchovy sauce, or more simply
Bigoli in sauce or with anchovies, is the first course of the Venetian culinary
tradition, particularly Venetian. It is an easy recipe with few ingredients and
can be made quickly while the pasta cooks. Bigoli are large spaghetti made,
once with a press called bigolaro, and invented in Padua in 1604, at the
time of the Serenissima. They are prepared with soft wheat flour, water, and
salt but can also be found by adding eggs or a mix of other flour. But if you
don't have Bigoli, any spaghetti will do, preferably large. Web photo
Preparation First, clean and wash the fresh anchovies; in a pan, sauté the
onions, finely chopped, for about 15 minutes; add a little of the pasta cooking
water and then add the anchovies that you will have to melt to make everything
become a cream. Once ready, add the Bigoli after draining them and stir well
until everything is mixed. I forgot to salt the water where you put the pasta,
but do not overdo it with the salt, as you can also add it at the end. A quick
version that is made at my house. Instead of fresh anchovies, use those in oil,
but be careful because they are very salty, so no salt in the water, and do not
use the anchovy oil. Please put them in a pan with olive oil; let them melt
quickly, and then pour in the pasta once ready...
Enjoy your meal!
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