A Stop in San Pellegrino Terme
Plus a recipe for fried squash blossoms and sage leaves with a sparkling water batter
WELCOME to Buona Domenica, a weekly newsletter of Italian home cooking and baking. I’m a journalist, cooking teacher, occasional tour guide, and author of eight cookbooks on Italian cuisine.
FOOD WRITERS IN PIEMONTE, FALL 2025: Join Kathy Gunst and me next fall for our second Food Writers in Piemonte workshop This five-day workshop and tour will take place Oct. 3-8, 2025. The itinerary will be similar to our sold-out May workshop. If you are interested in this small-group experience, please send me an email at domenica@domenicacooks.com for more information.
This week’s newsletter features a walkabout in the town of San Pellegrino Terme, plus a recipe for Fried Squash Blossoms and Sage Leaves in a Sparkling Water batter for all subscribers, with a printable option for paid subscribers.
Click here to browse through the newsletter archive. If you’re looking for a particular recipe, you’ll find all Buona Domenica recipes—173 and counting—indexed here, ready to download and print—a function for paid subscribers. If you are able to do so, please consider supporting my work by becoming one.
Also: if you enjoy this weekly newsletter, please click on the ❤️ icon to like this post. This one gesture really helps to spread the word, and I appreciate it.
While I was staying in Bergamo a few weeks ago, I took a side trip one afternoon to San Pellegrino Terme, a half-hour’s drive north into the foothills of the Alps. I had heard about a cookie that originated there, and I wanted to learn more for the book I’m working on. It had been raining hard all day, but by the time I set out, a bright sun was shining, pushing away the violet clouds. The air was fresh and the trees and brambles along the road sparkled with rainwater.
It wasn’t until I hit the traffic circle at the town’s southern entrance, where the words SAN PELLEGRINO TERME are prominently displayed in giant letters, that it clicked (duh) that this was that San Pellegrino, the spring water and limonata and other sparkling drinks San Pellegrino. I admit I am not the swiftest person, but on the other hand, there are numerous towns across Italy called San Pellegrino, including one near my house in Penne that is little more than a bend in the road with a single trattoria.
This was not that. As I drove up the Via de Medici, the main street, I passed the bottling plant, a vast, partially open steel structure with vaulted roofs and red delivery trucks moving to and fro. It felt a bit like driving onto a Hollywood set. (I later learned that the plant is part of a newly built headquarters, designed by a Danish architect company and constructed in the last five years.)
Further along, to my left, the tree-lined boulevard was dotted with shops and bars and bakeries and small hotels. To my right, the river Brembo, swollen from the recent rain, was churning ferociously, drowning out all other noise. The river cuts right through the center of town, and on the far bank stood a palatial brick and stone Belle Epoque building, the Grand Hotel. I parked and started walking. I could see the hotel was shuttered and looked like it had been for some time. Like Montecatini Terme, in Tuscany, which I wrote about last summer in this post, San Pellegrino was once a renowned resort for the international bourgeoisie in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Wandering around, though, it was clear to me there was more vitality here than in Montecatini, in spite of empty structures sprinkled here and there. I turned up a side street and found myself at the entrance to a lush garden with a decorative waterfall, curlicue pink wrought iron railings, and footpaths leading up a hill. As I walked up, I passed an Art Deco ticket booth. It was not in use but it had clearly been restored. Other people, looking like extras in a movie, were also walking along the paths, some headed up and others down. They didn’t seem to be tourists; most were dressed in (nice) workout clothes and carrying bags and most were speaking Italian.
Their destination, I soon found out, was San Pellegrino’s historic thermal baths, located at the top of the hill, with mountain peaks forming a magnificent backdrop. The baths, and an adjoining casino originally opened at the end of the 19th century, though apparently luminaries like the painter Leonardo himself came here to “take the waters” in the 15th century. The spa and casino closed and reopened several times during the tumultuous years of World Wars I and II, eventually closing for good in the 1940s. About a decade ago, according to this Forbes article, an Italian luxury spa company started by two brothers restored the frescoed spa facility and reopened it. You can now soak in the fizzy waters of San Pellegrino or get a massage or any other number of spa treatments. The opulent casino, meanwhile, can be booked for fancy weddings and other events.
I approached two women wearing thick white bathrobes and sitting on a low stone wall. They were Canadians, and like me they had happened upon the town and were surprised to find the baths open. They had decided to take advantage of their luck and have a good long soak in the mineral baths. They looked rather beatific so I let them be and walked back down into town, feeling buoyed myself, as though I had breathed in some of the town’s effervescence.
I don’t know why I find these old spa towns so attractive; maybe because of their air of nostalgia, or the decorative buildings and surroundings, with their pretty stone and wrought iron flourishes, or the fact that I went to college in a spa town (Saratoga Springs). It is easy to imagine them as they once were, but seeing them and wandering through them as they are now is what I find most alluring.
At a local coffee bar the owner told me the abandoned Grand Hotel will also be getting a new lease on life. It was bought by a group of American investors last year and is undergoing renovation. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this is all good news and not the beginning of Disneyfication for this gem of a town.
The Cookie
I found the cookie I was looking for. Somewhat ironically, it is as plain as the town is gilded. But like the town, it has a colorful history, which I’ll be sharing, along with a recipe, in my forthcoming book.
The Water
San Pellegrino the company began bottling water in 1899, and through the decades expanded to include a variety of sparkling fruit drinks. Here’s a short and fizzy timeline of the company’s history, which somehow neglects to mention that it was bought by the Swiss food and beverage conglomerate Nestlé in 1999. Nevertheless, San Pellegrino’s water is real spring water. According to the company, it takes about 30 years for the water to flow through the porous rock of the Alps and down through the Val Brembana to San Pellegrino, where it is carbonated—the water itself is not naturally sparkling—and bottled.
I use it in my recipe for pastella (batter) in which I dip squash blossoms, sage leaves, and other fry-able things. The carbonated water acts like a leavening agent. If you’ve not made fried squash blossoms (or whatever you like to batter fry) this way, give it a try. You’ll be surprised at how light it is.
Readers: What’s the most surprising place you’ve been to in Italy, or anywhere?
Recipe: Fried Squash Blossoms and Sage Leaves
Battered and fried squash blossoms and sage leaves make a pretty and tasty fall appetizer. The simple batter is enriched with an egg, but also lightened with sparkling water, making the fried vegetables seem light. While they may look lacy and delicate, they are actually quite rich so you only need a few per person. If you have leftover batter, you can use it to fry broccoli or cauliflower florets, bite-size mushrooms, or anything that strikes your fancy.
This appetizer is best served hot, so pass the plate around as soon as you are done frying. If you happen to have leftover blossoms, don’t toss them. Store them in the refrigerator. Although they will have lost their crispy texture, they are actually delicious tucked into a sandwich—layered with cheese and ham or prosciutto.
Makes 8-plus appetizer servings
INGREDIENTS
1 cup (125 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup sparkling water
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Sunflower or vegetable oil for frying
24 squash blossoms
24 large, unblemished sage leaves, with stems still attached
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Clean the squash blossoms. Wipe any grit off them; then gently open them and pull out the stamen at the bottom. This is optional; I often leave it in, as it adds a mildly crunchy texture. But it can also be slightly bitter, so when I’m not feeling lazy I do remove it. Wash the sage leaves and pat them dry.
2. Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the water, stirring well to avoid lumps. Add the egg and whisk until incorporated. Set aside.
3. Pour oil into a frying pan to a depth of about 1/2 inch (1 cm) and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot (check by dropping a small bead of batter into the oil; it should sizzle and immediately float to the surface) begin frying the squash blossoms in batches: Hold it by its stem or bottom and dip it into the batter, then gently lay it in the oil. Add as many dipped blossoms as will fit comfortably in the frying pan without crowding. Fry until light golden, 2 to 4 minutes, using a fork or tongs to gently turn the blossoms and fry evenly on both sides. Scoop them out with a skimmer or slotted spoon and transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate or draining rack.
4. Fry the sage leaves in batches in the same way, holding them by their stems and dipping them into the batter, then laying them in the oil. Transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate.
5. Season the fried blossoms and sage leaves lightly with salt and serve.
Click below for the printable version, a feature available to paid subscribers:
Thanks, as always for reading, subscribing, and sharing.
Alla prossima,
Domenica
I always pack a bikini even in winter, because you never know if you will come across a hot spring!
Such beauty, in both your words and scenery!
PS: I love this sage recipe!