Just a month ago Lorenzo Togneri took over the reigns officially at the well known bar in Barga Vecchia – Da Aristo’s (article here) and although the look and feel of the place remains more or less the same there are one or two subtle changes taking place for those with an eye for the details.
The menu is gradually changing with new additions to the traditional cheese, salami and prosciutto which was on offer during the time that Marino ran the bar.
There are any few more tables and chairs outside as the spring weather gradually warms up and visitors are starting to arrive once more in the city.
And its on those tables this weekend that some table decorations arrived which many people will not have seen before but are in fact a tradition dating back generations in nearby Garfagnana.
Roberta Conti explaining how she made these beautiful decorated eggs using some of the wild flowers growing on the hillsides and carta crespa – crêpe paper, (textured tissue paper)
As you can hear in the above short interview (in Italiano) with Roberta Conti the eggs are decorated using wildflowers which grow only at this time of year and can only be done with eggs laid by free range chickens as they have a shell strong enough to resist the process.
The flowers are placed around the raw eggs which are covered in coloured crêpe paper and then bound in string and boiled,then allowed to cool to reveal intricate designs and colours printed onto the eggs.
We’re now used to the idea and concept of seasonal eating how about this for the added idea of seasonal decoration ?
