November Newsletter
Celebrating the Summer of San Martino
The sun is out after the torrential rains and flooding all over Tuscany.
I always get a little scared about the rains in November, as Florence had a huge flood in 1966 that took the city to its knees. My husband’s home is on the right in the photo, the white house with the window shutter popped open at their apartment. Via Pisana at the Porta di San Frediano.
To give you an idea, this is a foto of piazza Santa Croce with signs marking the water level.
The longer line is from 1557, and the smaller one is from 1966. The arch is the top of the front door and the window is the first floor. Terrifying.
You can find signs all over town.
This year, southern Tuscany and Emilia Romagna were flooded. My village also experienced flooding near the river in the lower part of town. The next town over Castelfiorentino suffered much damage from the river overflow. You never know when it will hit. A wall on the hillside down the road from us fell apart, into the road, but we can still drive by. We are grateful it wasn’t worse.
The Italians celebrate “l’Estate di San Martino”. I discuss the holiday in an article on my website, Italian Life Coach.
It’s a busy time of year. The wine harvest is done, and the olive harvest has just begun. Those that harvested early had water-logged olives and a lower production ratio. Those who waited for a few days of sunshine before they harvested were rewarded. I go to the local cooperative and buy my oil there. Last year, there was a problem with the “mosca,” a fly that attacks olives. This year, there was no damage from the flies. Tuscans tend to pick their olives green, which gives the oil a peppery bite.
New oil is a time for celebrating with seasonal specialties that feature the oil.
Here is a video I made about tasting olive oil. These delicious oils are what we call finishing oils. It would be best not to cook with them but to add them at the table.
That peppery bite makes it perfect on Fettunta, the toasted country bread rubbed with garlic and then drowned in oil! Fette means slice, and Unta means greasy.
When the olives turn black, I will be preparing some under salt.
After they have given off their “water”, you can preserve them in your pantry.
I like to serve them with orange zest, garlic and chili flakes.
Be on the lookout for fresh porcini mushrooms! I was in Florence the other day with friends and saw them at the door of the trattoria.
I stop for Porcini
Entering the trattoria, on their daily specials, the porcini was served fried or trifolati- stewed.
I always choose fried. These were done in a very light batter and the mushrooms just disappeared in your mouth. Pure Porcini Pleasure.
Florence is still packed with tourists. It was just a three day weekend, so many of the tourists were Italian. Now things will calm down some. I can highly recommend coming off-season, which will be until Easter. Think about and visiting and booking classes. If you don’t want to study Italian, think about cooking classes or an artisan workshop. Learn a new skill and slow down and enjoy the city.
I had friends visiting this weekend, and one of the things we did in Florence was attend a demonstration at an artisan marbleized paper maker. You can book a workshop. I have taken classes in paper decoration, bookbinding, and covering things with paper. Riccardo has also created leather products decorated with marbleized paints.
I'll see you next week. My memoir series has two more months.This year has flown by.
It’s gorgeous now as it quiets down in the city and we enjoy beautiful light. It’s one of the reasons when I arrived in Fall, I stayed.
Judy, you bring back such happy memories for me. Thank you!
My suocera prepares olives the exact same way. She gathered some that had dropped from the trees at our house in Montalcino, brought them back to her house in Rome, and when we visited a week later, they were ready.