Giorno nove

Wow, what a day…

Early start with an espresso right around 7:30 a.m.

Today, we had plans with Silvio, a local food historian who makes his living by touring the eager from town to town in search of culinary treasures. We had plans to meet in the Piatza in some town but we were unable to find it. Over an hour of circling and asking for directions and driving in the pouring rain I might add, and we were able to locate Silvio.

Based on abrupt phone conversations, his lack of empathy for our tardiness, “Is no New York. How do you get lost,” and the fact that he carried a little jar of honey to put in his espresso wherever he went, I was as excited to spend the day with him as I would be to plant my tush on a frigid toilet seat. This feeling persisted well into the morning but would pass. And like the day’s morning shower that blew over leaving a gorgeous Tuscan afternoon, I grew to very much appreciate his company. But enough about Silvio.

Our day began with a trek to a distant town in the foothills to visit a man who run’s a 4th generation pasta mill. He is well known throughout Tuscany and for a very good reason. He is one of 5 artisanal producers that produce dried pasta in a very special way. They start using only the best local grains. Aside from this, what really separates them from the bulk of industrial producers like Decceco and Barilla is the drying process. His pasta is dried slowly at a low temperature preserving the natural gluten and that perfect al dente consistency. Having had it for dinner the prior night, I never would have known it was not made on the spot. It will be hard to go back to the dried pasta I typically purchase at the supermarket.

From there, we drove to the most picturesque town ever. Let me repeat myself, EVER. This medieval town called San Donato in Poggio is the Central Park West, Rodeo Drive…of Medieval Tuscan villages. It was so perfect that I felt I was on a blockbuster production set. Here, the Parti family, 3 generation inhabitants and butchers run there local shoppe. Their fresh local meats and salami production are bar none, except for Sopressatta. For that, we had to drive to another town to another butcher shoppe which Silvio insists, is the best Sopressatta around. Sopressatta is a form of “head cheese”, a cooked and pressed blend of cheek, head, ears, tounge…Not for the faint, but truly amazing. However, before we could taste and enjoy this Soppresatta, we had to drive 20 minutes away to pick up some Pecorrino cheese from a local herder who tends to a flock of 50 sheep. A brief tour and then we were off to the town of Montefioralle another 30 minutes away to finally sit down and enjoy a meal with Fernando, a small artisanal wine producer from the Chianti Classico region.

Fernando didn’t speak a lick of English but he spoke the language of food by producing some great everyday wines and foremost, for his wife’s Ribolita soup, which is a porridge-like vegetable stew thickened by day old bread. Unbelievably delicious, healthy and resourceful. After a nice spread of meats, cheese, bruschetta, Fernando’s small batch of house olive oil and the Ribolita, we treated ourselves to some Pecorino with Acacia honey and some of his very small batch of Vin Santo.We were offered a much needed espresso but declined as Silvio planned for us to take espresso at another village that overlooked the Chianti foothills. Another 20 minute drive and an espresso, and I was in a full comma.

The only cure was a small hour-long hike through the Chianti countryside. Bit of a struggle uphill with my newly gained 5 lbs but well worth it. If it sounds like a full day, it’s not over.

After our hike, we went to the Collie Orientalli to meet Carlo, who produces exceptional olive oil from his 30 hectares and 2,000 trees. Carlo like most of our other hosts was passionate and warm. In his spare time, he carves little wood cities out of the roots of the olive trees, but his real passion he says, are puppets. Carlo carved and built a set where he plans to tell the story of Pinocchio much as it has been for thousands of years. We loved Carlo and his oil so much, especially his Lemon flavored oil using Italy’s prized lemons from the Amalfi coast, that I am trying to import a whole palette of 300L of oil for us to use and sell. I will keep my fingers crossed that we can make it work despite the unfavorable exchange with the Euro.Lastly, from Carlo’s, I now find myself in the warm and modest house of Gianni and Luccia.

Luccia is teaching Ryan how to make a home cooked Italian meal, and I am sitting here drinking there local wine and absorbing the magnitude of the moment. This tiny kitchen is now packed with 5 family members each offering their take on the progress of the night’s meal and I am simply staying out of their way. I have offered my services with the dishes and will earn my meal.

Dinner consisted of bread topped with a mushroom ragu, polenta with Cavalo Nero “Black Kale” and house-cured pancetta and little fried polpettines of cauliflower. For dessert, some more Pecorino cheese with pears they grew in their yard. It wasn’t the best meal but it certainly has been my favorite and most memorable one.

As we always like to say, it’s not just what is on the plate but how it got there.