WHEN IN TUSCANY, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE FOOD

 We are busy getting ready for our spring trip to Italy to, once again, house sit for Caroline and Pino at IL MOLINO DI BORDONE  in beautiful Tuscany.
They will be away part of April and most of May operating their walking tours in Italy.  At the present time we are in a packing frenzy because we leave in just one week and will be gone until near the end of May.  There are many things to do before we leave, hope we get them all done.  The picture on the left is the main entrance to IL MOLINO.  Once you pass that gate a paradise of ten acres awaits you.  Pino and Caroline spent may years developing this beautiful property to its present day splendor. I hope you also get  the opportunity to pass through these gates soon, so you too can enjoy this wonderful place in under the Tuscan sun,


                                                                                          

 When in Tuscany, besides the great historical sites that abound the area, it is also about the food.  Here most everything is cooked fresh.  This is a picture of the Co-Op in the town of Camucia which is about 20 minutes away from us at Molino.  For us Americans it looks like the inside of Costco's or B.J.'s but actually you need not belong to it to shop there.  It is just a regular super market serving the general public. When we traveled to other parts of Italy, we found them in almost every bigger city.  We found all the meats, vegetables, and fruits to be extremely fresh.  Each time you shop there you get a free box of pasta when you check out.  You probably have to spend a certain amount of money to get the pasta, but we had no problem doing that.  They also have a great wine and liquor selection, and tons of fresh baked bread and pastries.

Of course one of the largest sections is the olive oil isle.  Here you can see some of the selections.  The bottles on the top shelf are the most expensive and the bottom shelf has the cheaper bottles.  They say the the average Italian family consumes about one liter of olive oil a week.  One liter is equal to about a quarter of a gallon.  If you tasted the Tuscan olive oil, the best in Italy, you would understand why so much is consumed.  I am not sure if you can make out the brand labels, but some of them are sold in the U.S. However, I did notice that here in the U.S. even though the name is the same the oil isn't.  Sometimes it is not the first cold press oil and if you read the label, not all the olives are from Italy.

Here is a picture of the vegetable and meat section of the store.  They have a great way of selling the fruits and vegetables.  You get a bag and put your items in it and at the end of the isle there is a scale that weighs it and prints a label with the price printed on it.  When you get to the check out counter the line goes much faster because the items are already priced.  In the background is the sliced meat section. There are many choices of meats some of which we did not recognize so we didn't buy them.  We stayed pretty much with the salami and hams. Hanging there in the background is the cured prosciutto.  They slice it for you fresh right off the bone.  How can you resist?  The best is the prosciutto from Parma.  It is the most expensive, but once you taste it you will know why. 

 This is the fish counter.  You could see there on the left some salmon.  That I recognized, but most of the rest of the fish was not familiar to me. Except, of course, the shell fish and the squid.  We never really did buy any fish there.  But, come to think of it, we never buy fish in a market anyway.  I just catch my own. One thing I found interesting is that you buy most of the fish whole, they weigh it, then fillet it for you.  You pay for the whole fish but just get the fillets.  I didn't price any of the fish so I don't know if perhaps the price is less for the whole fish.  We did buy frozen shrimp from the truck that comes to the house and that was good, especially with pasta. Hey, we had so much pasta from all our trips to the Co-Op, that we had to use it up. 

If you remember any of my blogs from last fall, I talked about the open air market in Camucia.  Here you can buy anything from meats, vegetables, fruits, olives, fish, socks, pants, underwear, T-shirts, live chickens, you name it.  It is held every Thursday from early morning to 1:00P.M..  That's when just about everything closes there.  Get there early because you won't find a place to park.  Although the marked does not re-open until the following Thursday, most other stores open again at around 4:00 P.M. and usually stay open until 7 or 8. In Europe the would be 19:00 or 20:00.  You don't use AM or PM there.  This picture shows one of the vendors selling all kinds of meats and sausage and, as you can see, several kinds of cheeses.  The best I ever tasted, bar none.

Yep, you got it, what's Italy without Porchetta.  Here you can buy it by the etto or kilo. An etto (not sure if that is the correct spelling) is about a quarter of a pound and a kilo is about 2.2 pounds.  I would always ask for "etto due"(pronounced duay).  That's about one half pound.  Or sometimes just tell him to slice it and signal him to stop when you think there is enough.  He weighs it, and that's it you don't have to worry about kilo's or etto's or anything else.  Sign language works everywhere.  I must say, though, that everywhere you go in Italy, you do not really have to speak the language.  We found the people extremely helpful.  They always try to help figure out what you want.  Sometimes it is pretty funny and you both end up laughing about the situation.

Well, here we are back at IL MOLINO. Our bags are full of food and now all we have to do is cook and eat it.  Eating it is the best part.  Here is a picture of the olive grove.  When picking you start at the top and work your way down.  The climb to the top is interesting, but you only have to do it the first day of picking.  As Pino says you start at the top and work your way down then you don't have as far to climb the next day.  I look forward to the Fall when I will be, once again, helping with the harvest.  Brenda and I hope you can come to Italy and enjoy this wonderful place with us.  Without a doubt it will be your best vacation ever.  More to come soon.