Tuscany
Buongiorno Friends, So, I just finished reviewing last month’s results regarding visits to our TATM website. I was, I guess, not completely surprised that whenever my Blog posts were about sharing stories, memories, and musings about my lifelong love affair with food, and particularly my deepening affection for Tuscany, these were the most viewed. Nope, not those posts about my dear Tino unless I mention him as my Sous Chef which leave many of you scratching your heads wondering what my little man might do to assist me in the kitchen? Answer…he keeps the floor clean of food scraps & droppings. But, I love that these are the posts you enjoy as I think it speaks to a deeper love…food can only be so good…it’s about the sharing and celebration that elevates the enjoyment and experience. For me, this is goes all the way back to the first meal I ever prepared for my family as a teenager. I remember that give me a type of joy that I had never experienced…much different than piano recitals or achievement in sports. I didn’t realize it right away, but eventually I came to learn that there is something special about creating a food experience for people who share it with camaraderie of being together. That’s why I have so gravitated toward the Tuscan lifestyle, their food and the way they celebrate every meal…large or small…savoring their pasta….stopping for an afternoon espresso…lingering over gelato. There is just something about Tuscany that feels less like a place and more like a rhythm your body remembers even if you’ve never lived there. A way of moving through the day and the world that says: slow down, taste this, look at who’s sitting across from you, let the moment be enough. It’s not curated…it’s simply how they live. It’s very easy to fall in love with that ease….the way a Tuscan morning begins with the smell of espresso drifting out of a kitchen window, someone slicing fruit, or tearing bread with their hands. The way lunch isn’t a break from life but the center of it. The way dinner stretches, not because anyone is trying to linger, but because why would you rush something so sacred? The Toscani don’t ‘host’ the way Americans host. They welcome.. they fold you into the table like you were always meant to be there. Food isn’t the star….it’s the language. Don’t get me wrong…their food is marvelous always starting with incredibly clean, pure and flavorful raw ingredients that are simply enhanced to bring out the best in them. A bowl of ribollita says ‘you’re safe here’. A plate of pappardelle with wild boar ragu says ‘this land has fed us for centuries’. A drizzle of EVO says we ‘honor the hands that made this possible.’ No one is trying to impress. They’re celebrating the everyday…the tomato that tastes like the sun, the bread that taste like the village, and the wine that tastes like the hillside. They celebrate each other too…and Oh…do they LOVE their dogs…(another reason I like them). The laughter, the arguments, the stories get louder as the night deepens. Loving the Tuscan lifestyle is really loving the idea that life is meant to be shared…not in grand gestures, but in small, repeated daily rituals that say….’I’m here…you’re here…let’s enjoy this together. My dream is to someday retire in Tuscany or at least be able to spend most of my time there. In the meantime, I will continue to write about my love for it in the hopes that, if you haven’t been….you will make plans to spend some time there…..soon. Ciao… David & Tino
