The hunt is on!
Trip Start
Sep 30, 2009
1
2
7
Trip End
Oct 11, 2009
Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy
Saturday, October 3, 2009
We spent the morning in the town of Arezzo with our driver and guide, Simoné…today was the day of the huge antiques market which fills the streets of the old town. Arezzo is an old walled (originally Etruscan) city, dating back to the 5th century BC; the current population is approximately 113,000. When we arrived the market was full of milling crowds – locals and tourists. Up one street and down another we saw hundreds of tables filled with all variety of goods – carvings, swords and spears from Africa, blown Venetian glass and delicate lace as thin as a spider's web, hand-woven silk from India in crimson red, turquoise blue, forest green and black as night. Dealers showed stamp, coin, book and photo collections as well as rifles, various fighting instruments, gunpowder, bullets and an assortment of holsters from past wars. Also on display were many pieces of restored and new furniture – I fell in love with many pieces, all I’m sure weighing hundreds of pounds but alas…how would I get them home? Just the idea of haggling for an antique Chinese jewellery chest and then having a discussion about shipment to Bermuda was enough to put me off the whole idea!
On a nearby crowded corner stood an old, female gypsy-style puppeteer/musician – her face was lined from years of laughter, her dress was a splash of red, yellow, orange and green – at her feet were two puppets dancing in tune with the accordion which she played. On the cobblestone street in front of her, children sat mesmerised and were occasionally coaxed out of their reverie by a parent’s request to throw a coin into the entertainer’s basket. To the immediate left, a vendor grilled locally sourced chestnuts coated in a warm drizzled syrup and sold in a small piece of parchment paper.
Arezzo is best known for its architecture, its walls, its churches and its goldsmiths. No less than eight walls have been built to encircle this city as the population and the city have grown over the centuries – some of the original old walls remain while others have been rebuilt in recent years. Arezzo was a major farming center and was one of the most important cities in the ancient word, together with Rome and Capua. The town holds 16 churches but one of its most famous is the Basilica of San Francesco which houses the fresco cycle of the Legend of the True Cross created by Piero della Francesca, a work that is a fundamental to early Renaissance art. The frescoes were styled after a book which follows the wood that was used to make the cross of Christ from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden all the way through to the Annunciation. While not considered historically correct, it is a beautiful depiction of the Christian story and includes frescoes of the King of Solomon meeting the Queen of Sheba and Constantine’s conversion.
Upon returning to La Petraia, it was time to begin our "foraging class." The 165-acre self-sustaining estate is predominantly forest woodland with a small portion designated for vineyard and olive tree cultivation. So, the best way to learn how to cook is to first learn where it is that your food comes from.
Our foraging guide was Guiliano, the resident agronomist and ladies, he is adorable – he reminds me of a tall, tan cherub with his curly brown hair, olive-complexion and beautiful green eyes…foraging, what foraging ;) First, he provided us a historical account of the land on which the farm sits – the farm has been inhabited for some 2700 years and during this time has been at the center of many wars; at times during its history the land sat barren and at other times it provided a significant food source for its feudal owners. Its current owners, Susan and Michael have worked tirelessly over the past ten years to return it to its formal glory – at the same time, they are doing this work in an earth-friendly bio-dynamic manner.
Next, the boys (Guiliano, Alex, and Michael) and I began the climb to learn what the land could produce for dinner (Susan drove my father back to the house). First, we found the wild chestnut groves – there are two types of chestnuts, the Castagna and the Marron. Interestingly, the Marron which is the older, larger and more desirable variety of chestnut is biologically unable to reproduce – therefore it is grafted to the Castagna tree for continued reproduction. It is still a bit early in the season but we were able to find plenty of burred fruit on the forest floor which we crushed to find the nut inside. Of course, we were hoping to find large parasol and porcini mushrooms but Tuscany has seen a few very dry weeks and so we were out of luck. Mushrooms grow best under conditions which include a temperate climate, live trees and foliage nearby, consistent rain and then a short dry period – this allows the mushroom to grow and the dry period provides a good condition for foragers to harvest them. Instead we climbed higher and found out-of-season blackberry and wild apple, ripe juniper berries for gin and medicinal purpose, rose hips for tea and nepatalia, artemis absinthe and wild fennel herbs.
This was no short walk and by the time we returned to the house I was starving. While chatting in the kitchen with our chefs, Michael and Toby, we were served an aperitivo of Prosecco accompanied by Italian sage leaves, angel-hair thin onions, grapes and squash all deep-fried in a very-thin tempura-style batter. Samuel, our waiter, seated us by the fireplace and we began our six-course meal. The menu tonight included an amuse-bouché of grilled pork cheek on crostini, savory wild greens from the forest and a light ricotta tart. Next we enjoyed a wild mint and fennel stamped lasagnette with wild pesto sauce (this was not basil pesto like what we eat in the west but a mixed herb pesto with olive oil and no other additives. I found this pesto slightly bitter which may have been caused by the artemis absinthe herb). The entrée was pheasant with wild boar sausage, sourced by our neighbour who hunts regularly, served on a bed of potato puree, braised purple cabbage and chestnuts from earlier. As if I wasn’t full yet, dessert was delivered – floating islands of incredibly light whipped mousse served in pureed red currant underneath an umbrella of paper-thin chocolate. On a small, hand-cut, black granite plate beside dessert was placed small candies – tiny caramels and shaped chocolates filled with liquefied centers. The meal was again accompanied by the house wines with honey mead and vin santo during the dessert course.
Let us see what tomorrow will bring!
