November 3rd – 4th

A window in the library

The first day we came into a several course lunch of a cabbage salad, followed by pasta in a broccoli sauce and fennel granitee with pecorino as our contorno. I thought perhaps this was just a special welcoming lunch, with the way everything was set up - wine and bread and olive oil and individually labeled cloth napkins. But I have come to realize that this is just the norm, and not even as detailed as it could be. For dinner that night we had three courses: Crema di Ceci, Leek Sformato, Roasted Pork with apple sauce and again, cabbage salad. We even had dessert which was a lovely chocolate and cream sponge roll. Every meal is finished with tea and fruit, something I have found to be a really pleasant way to end the meal.

Everything we ate was produced on the farm, and both dinner and lunch had several courses. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the carb heavy diet. It was mostly those who are very worried about gaining weight. But at the same time, people complain about being too full. I think people are overeating because they because there wasn't an (obvious) protein source, and they were afraid they wouldn't be full. It really made me think of our obsession with getting enough protein in the United States. How much is really necessary? Much can be supplied by grains, dairy and legumes, but we talk about it as though our only protein source is animal flesh.

Meanwhile, we read Counihan’s work about the eating habits of Tuscan peasants. Under the mezzadria system, they were essentially bound to the land and expected to work every day of their lives. Yet according to the memories which Counihan collects, they survived mostly on bread. No doubt, they were not as healthy as we are. But there is such a difference of class, medical technologies and access to care that is impossible to compare the health of the average American to a Tuscan under the mezzadria system. Nonetheless, they did taxing physical labor every day, and survived mostly on carbohydrates. Despite having one meal made entirely of pasta, beans and potatoes (and the requisite salad and bread), I was not dissatisfied nor was I hungry later. This is something I would never make for myself, despite being a really cheap and filling dish, because I see it as too imbalanced according to American standards. It has made me think specifically about carbohydrates, which are becoming the new demonized foot category, like fat was twenty years ago. Yet, like fat, it seems as though it really depends on the source of the carbohydrate, the production, the additives, and how it is cooked.

The Olive Grove at Spannocchia

Something that has surprised me is how dull many of the dishes appear - they have no flash of color, they often looked overcooked. Yet they are all flavorful and with perfect texture. The meals were perfectly salted, and in contrast to the unsalted Tuscan bread, which tasted almost sweet.

The lower garden, where we worked

We worked in the garden, I helped pick beans for dinner. While it was not actually taxing work (we were mostly sitting down, chatting while we did it), but I still felt a sense of satisfaction from having done something for dinner. It made me think about how cooking is one step of connection I am very familiar with - but production I am not. Cooking is often just about connecting to human tastes and desires. I know I want a zucchini that looks a certain way, but I have no idea how that is achieved. Wine connoisseurs know what years were good for certain wines - based on the rain fall, when the grapes were picked, how much sun they received. Yet as cooks, we don’t think the same way for produce. But what if we talked about homemade canned tomatoes the same way? Like stocked up on the 2011 pasata because there was so much sun that summer? It reminded me of Farm For the Future, wherein the narrator explains how one biodynamic farm does not think of itself as a farm, but a garden. What of instead of chefs, we thought of ourselves as conduits? Direct connections between people and food, which is a part of the earth?

The scary thing about thinking of ourselves as food connectors, instead of just food fabricators/added value producers - is that we must be so much more aware, so much more connected that we are. It's opening a Pandora's Box. All of these awful things rush out. We are suddenly aware that despite it's healthy properties, we can't just eat any salmon, nor can we eat it year round. We become aware that yes meat is good, but not all meat. Sometimes it feels as though you have to choose between healthy and local and cheap. It becomes overwhelming, a bit hopeless.

But of course, like in Pandora's Box, hope is at the bottom. I see that in Spannocchia. They bypass the typical American conundrum "what is the true best way?" by simply doing what they have always done. One could definitely talk about the unsustainable parts of burning food for heat, or living in an ancient villa - but it is reassuring to see a system so sure of itself.

A corner of the secret garden