SMAF Ltd

2.10.2020

There is a beatiful Saracen tower in San Nicola Arcella, which represents the typical beautiful integration of nature and culture in the scenery of such wonderful Mediterranean place.

The tower was renamed Crawford for the literary stays of Francis Marion Crawford…and we solicit you to travel and see the beauty of this land, San Nicola Arcella, enjoying both the trip and the delicious food and beverage of Calabria…

FRANCIS MARION CRAWFORD

American poet and writer, who for 25 years chose the tower as his “summer retreat“, Crawford was a distinguished gentleman. He could speak Calabrian very well and, nowadays, the periods spent by Crawford to San Nicola Arcella are being studied for a more precise reconstruction of his life and works.

Born in Bagni di Lucca in 1854, he moved to Sorrento from 1855 until 1909. Fervid and prolific mind has been rediscovered in recent years and re-evaluated with numerous conferences. Author of books of terror, he wrote several ones after his brilliant university career around the world. in fact, he came from a family of intellectuals and artists, was the son of the American sculptor Thomas Crawford and his mother, Louisa Cutler Ward, was the sister of the American poet Julia Ward Howe. We have also to mention that Crawford was a multifaceted author and connoisseur of 17 languages. He had had experiences in the United States and India, where he directed the newspaper “Allahabad Indian Herald” and had studied in US universities, in Cambridge and Concord, and then in Europe in Karlsruhe, Heidelberg and Rome.

His first novel is ‘Mr. Isaacs‘, a brilliant portrait of the life of an Englishman in India mixed with elements of mystery and romantic orientalism. The book was an immediate success! Then followed ‘Dr. Claudius‘ (1883). Also famous are the novels ‘Corleone‘ (1897), the first novel about the mafia and ‘The witch of Prague‘ (1901), an impressive Gothic. He wrote 45 novels in all, as well as numerous historical essays and plays. He loved Sorrento very much and stayed there to live.

His wonderful villa in Sorrento still exists.

This explains why he was deeply in love with Italy. After Sorrento He established his residence in Sant’Agnello and later in Calabria, in San Nicola Arcella, which he reached by sea with his American pilot boat “Alda“. In the 16th century lookout tower “San Nicola”, today called “Torre Crawford”, he lived for several years, drawing inspiration from this place for his conspicuous literary production, not exclusively linked to the “horror” genre for which he is known, especially for the short story “For the Blood is the life”, written and set in the tower.

In any case, Crawford has been recognized in the Anglo-Saxon literary scene of his period among those writers of high rank, like William D. Howells, Henry James, Virginia Woolf, Rudyard Kipling. Among other things, on his most famous novels were based many films produced in the first half of the last century and interpreted by stars such as Clark Gable, Lillian Gish, Ronald Coleman.

THE SARACEN TOWER

…But let’s go back to the Tower of San Nicola Arcella. Built during the Spanish viceroyalty by Charles V to defend the coasts from Turkish attacks, it is located on a buttress to surveil and protect the bay.

The high staircase leading to the first and second floors of the tower is one of the most important elements of the entire building. The stone blocks about 50 cm long and 20 cm wide are supported by two large superimposed arches. The first arch leads to the first floor, the second arch leads to the second floor.

Above the tower, the terrace was used to communicate and warn the other lookout towers about any incursion and this was done through large bonfires.

For 25 years, as mentioned, the American writer spent his holidays making splendid forays with his sailboat. It was for the sea that he fell in love with this strip of Calabria and how to blame him: this sea is crystal-clear and has wonderful beaches.

He adored the Saracen tower, therefore wrote: “The tower stands alone on this hooked spur of the rock, and there is not a house to be seen within three miles of it. When I go there I take a couple of sailors, one of whom is a fair cook, and when I am away it is in charge of a gnome-like little being who was once a miner and who attached himself to me long ago… ”

This is how the writer described the tower in the story ‘For the Blood is the life’. This was a vampire tale and was set in the tower of San Nicola Arcella!

Nowadays, the tower, after having changed several owners and risking becoming a nautical club and a restaurant, is owned by the Calia family of Naples, who have recently presented a project to transform it.

THE LOCAL MEMORY OF CRAWFORD IN S. NICOLA ARCELLA

Until a few decades ago there was still someone in the historic center of the town (which at the time was called Casaletto), who remembered a staid and aristocratic Anglo-Saxon gentleman who came to spend the summer there to devote himself to writing.

The novelist often returned to San Nicola, where he completed one of his latest novels ‘The diva’s ruby’ (1907), staying there in search of places and traces of the medieval past of this area, an ideal setting for his stories steeped in mystery.

This is why you should visit the Place more than once!

23.9.2020

So called prickly pears or “Figs of India” (fiku d’innia in local dialect), Imported since ancient times in Calabria , are the only fruits not treated with any kind of chemical additives, because they grow spontaneously and in abundance in the warmest areas.

This fruit with purifying and refreshing effects, typically maturing in summer, appears to be among the most purchased in Calabria in the period from May to September.

PART OF THE LANDSCAPE

It is impossible to cross Calabria and not to notice the numerous plants of prickly pears, present above all in stony places, an integral part of the South Italian landscape. They stand out with their intense green color enlivened by the red, yellow and orange of the fruits, so characteristic as to constitute an aspect of the Calabrian territory, and in a particular way in the areas of Tropea and its neighboring countries.

Prickly pears (in Botanic latin: opuntia ficus indica) belong to the Cactaceae family, they arrived in Italy after a very long journey. Native to South America, this plant lives luxuriantly in the Cordillera of the Andes and in the Mexican greenhouses. The plant made her first appearance in Europe thanks to Christopher Columbus who would take prickly pears to Spain. Some historical sources instead declare that it would have been the Saracens to introduce the figs of India in Italy when, in 827, they landed in Mazara, in Sicily.

A BEAUTIFUL FORM OF LIFE

On the other hand, the plant is very pleasant to see. Both from an aesthetic and a botanical point of view, this plant has fleshy leaves full of thorns, which overlap thus generating a shrub.

Its flowers are yellow and the ovoid-shaped fruits grow on top of spiny large “blades” (some large fleshy leaves). Their pulp, juicy and rich in vitamins, contains numerous woody seeds.

A MUST OF MEDITERRANEAN DIET

As said before, the prickly pear has an important peculiarity: it does not require chemical interventions to develop and is therefore one of the very rare varieties of fruit that is not tampered with by man.

It is therefore a product recommended for our tables and for the Mediterranean diet, in which it enters fully for its quantity of vitamins and water.

NUTRACEUTICAL PROPERTIES

Prickly pears have many beneficial properties and have a purifying function also in the liver, therefore they are recommended in cases of kidney stones as they favor diuresis. Taken in the right quantities they have a laxative effect even if the woody seeds contained in the pulp can cause constipation. In addition, the large fleshy leaves of the plant are used to treat various diseases such as angina, tonsillitis, coughs, fevers, suppurations and abscesses.

A DIFFICULT HARVEST

Harvesting of prickly pears requires a technique that is still not mechanized as today the characteristic “coppo” is used, a sort of cone-shaped container on the tip of a stick, employed in order to avoid the annoying and very numerous and light thorns.

THE PRICKLY PEAR OF CROPALATI

Cropalati, the city of the prickly pear, in Calabria (it deserves a so called DOP mark of quality, as already exists in San Cono in Sicily, where it is grown for export). Here the figs are harvested in the period from July to August, the plantation here as in Calabria is native to Mexico, derives from the opuntia ficus-indica, a succulent plant of the Cactaceae family, naturalized for centuries in Calabria and Sicily. It came after the discovery of Christopher Columbus, from what were thought to be the Indies and were instead the new American continent.

Among the Aztecs, the prickly pear was considered a sacred plant with strong symbolic values due above all to the colors of the fruits, reminiscent of those of the leopard, and economic-commercial, as the precious carmine color was extracted from them. The plant presumably arrived in Europe around 1493. With its characteristic branches with flattened and thorny blades, colorful flowers and succulent fruits with a thorny shell, it was a great discovery. In the year of the return to Lisbon of the expedition of Christopher Columbus, it appeared for the very first time in Europe and it found the ideal microclimate in the areas overlooking the sea, spreading thanks to the birds that spread the seeds, thus becoming an integral part of the landscape and culture of many Mediterranean countries.

The figs are an excellent supplement, they have digestive properties and act as a psychic balancer, promoting the growth of hair and nails. In fact, the figs help intestinal functions, make assimilate less fat and sugar, increase the sense of satiety, promote diuresis, reduce the risk of kidney disease and have strong antioxidant properties. Therefore, in Cropalati in the prickly pears everything is used: from the peel, which was preserved in brine, to the flowers, eaten raw in salads or to prepare a decoction against kidney diseases, to the blades that are they cooked like normal vegetables.

The most common are the very sweet yellows (sulfarini) and the whites (muscaredda), the rarest and sweeter reds (sanguigne). The largest, called in some areas and in Sicily bastarduni, are the most durable and arise from the second flowering.

RECIPES BASED ON PRICKLY PEAR

Prickly Pear Jam

Perfect to spread on bread as a snack or for breakfast, it will also be perfect for making various types of cakes and pies.

Ingredients

• 1 kg of prickly pears

• 400 g of sugar

• juice of 1 lemon

Preparation:

The first thing you need to do to bring a delicious prickly pear jam to the table is, obviously, clean the fruits thoroughly to remove the annoying thorns on the outside. This is a simple procedure but must be carried out with extreme caution.

First, try not to touch them with your bare hands to prevent the smallest thorns often invisible to the naked eye from hurting you. Put the prickly pears in a colander and rinse them with plenty of cold water. So keep them to soak for an hour to soften the larger thorns.

Now, using a fork and knife, clean the prickly pears. Insert the fork in the center of the prickly pear and first remove the two ends with the knife. Then make a vertical cut in the center and lift the edges with the knife. In this way you will gradually remove the peel and the ugly will appear in all its goodness.

At this point, the prickly pears will be reduced into small cubes and added to a large pot where you will have to cook them for about 20 minutes or until they are very soft. at this point pass them with a classic vegetable mill. In this way, in fact, you will eliminate the seeds present inside, which can be particularly annoying.

Now put the juice and pulp obtained back into the pot together with the sugar and lemon juice and continue cooking for about 40-45 minutes or until your jam has started to thicken and has therefore reached the right consistency…

So you just have to sterilize the jars in such a way as to allow proper preservation of your jam. Then boil both the jars and the caps in a pot for about 30 minutes. Let it cool and add the jam inside when it is still hot.

Cover immediately with the lid and let them cool upside down. At this point you just have to put in the pantry, in a cool place away from sources of light to rest.

If you want, you can also prepare this preserve without adding sugar but sweetening it naturally with honey or using other sweeteners.

Another very tasty variant is the prickly pear jam with the addition of cinnamon. Cinnamon will be perfect to give a spicier flavor note to your prickly pear jam. Alternatively, grated ginger will also be excellent. If, on the other hand, you want to enrich the flavor you can also use apples, which will give an even more particular taste.

Finally, the jam can be kept for several months if stored in a dark place away from heat sources. Once the jar is opened, however, it should be kept for a maximum of one week in the refrigerator.

Other Recipes

In practice, prickly pears are also used to cook tasty fried peppers, which they flavor.

The fruit can be dried or baked (very energetic in this case). A well-known Calabrian distillery in Limbadi also produces a distilled liqueur, known as “Indianello“.

Other very popular culinary preparations are the prickly pear ice cream, the prickly pear peels with red onion and mulled wine, the prickly pear tart, the prickly pear syrup, the fig peel fritters of India, Risotto with prickly pears and Mustard with prickly pears.

San Nicola Arcella and its Famous Tower

Figs of India (Prickly Pears) in Calabria