Eyeitalia

Here in Italy we look forward to an upcoming season because it will bring delicious new foods. One of the (very Italian) advantages of never moving far from home knowing your territory profoundly. Tuscan cuisine has preserved many old recipes for preparing foods that can be foraged on an innocent afternoon walk. What to the untrained eye may seem like a landscape of remarkably pretty farm and woodland is, in reality, a never-ending, organic shopping spree provided by Mother Nature; available to anyone who takes the time to train their eye and learn.

For a different approach to coastal hiking in Liguria, head for the beautiful Parco Naturale Regionale di Portofino on the slopes of Monte Portofino, It’s the perfect antidote for hikers suffering from the “Cinque Terre Overload Syndrome”: chronic fatigue and irritability caused by hiking in traffic jam-like conditions along crowded skinny coastal trails with nowhere to go but straight up—and then down—all those stairs! (And don’t forget, “per l’amor di Dio,” don’t hold up the pace or you’ll get trampled from behind!)

Years ago when walking with a small group in the historical center of Naples around lunchtime, an elderly gentleman seated on a bench greeted us and wished us “buon appetito!” I thanked him but explained that we had already eaten lunch. He paused and responded, “allora, buona digestione!”. My American companions took his salutation literally and turned up their noses “…why would he wish us that?” Simple. After eating well, the second most important thing in life in Italy is being graced with good digestion. Let’s be clear here. In Italy when we talk about “digestione” it’s not necessarily the whole digestive “process.” It refers instead to the settling of the stomach made possible by eating correctly: combining the right foods at the right temperature at the right hour. This magic combo insures health, happiness and ……good digestion!

Picture this: it’s the early 1400’s, you’re a dirt-poor Italian peasant and you’re down on your luck. The plague’s finished off most of your family, the climate changes have ruined your crops and you’re flat out broke. Where does a poor soul like you go for a loan when lending money (for interest) is regarded as a sin? The local pawnshop: Il Monte di Pieta`!

In 1985 a movement called Slow Food was founded in Italy by Carlo Petrini as a response to fast food and the disappearance of biodiversity. Twenty years later this movement is alive and thriving, with over 80,000 members and 850 chapters worldwide. Slow Food’s aim is to preserve cultural cuisine with its associated food plants, seeds, and domestic animals and to encourage farming in tune with its eco-region.