From Tuscany with Love
Now, when it’s over, I can say it: I do love September.
Together with May they are for me the most beautiful months of the year.
Moreover, September has always been a month of many beginnings, waking up certain memories of the time that has passed. For years it would blow a very distinctive fresh air associated with excitement, anticipation and, of course, the return to school. After a long summer break I could always sense that slightly autumnal and cosy feeling of returning to my school friends, conversations, flirts and laughter, inevitably, there was homework too.
This year, many moons past my school days, the month of September also marked a happy return for us – back to Italy, our adopted home and a happy place.
Yes, that time has come. We said goodbye to our little mews house in London (after a significant delay as life intervened). Not everything has gone as smoothly as we would have liked, and briefly speaking, temporarily we are not fully settled as we are literally waiting for our new – home-sweet-home in Italy to be ready. Without diving into the complicated depths of a housing affair in Italy, we moved out from London almost at the last minute, shipped our quickly packed boxes and a few pieces of furniture across countries – each time a lot more than we had thought we would have, which, inevitably creates even more complications and stress (after Brexit it’s just tedious). Whilst we are waiting for our Italian home to be ready to move in- most likely mid to end of November (after a few difficulties and the past experience I’m almost scared to share more details and confirm anything yet), we’ve found our temporary home from home in Tuscany, on the Etruscan Coast to be more precise, the area that we’ve been visiting ever since we came to know it. Apart from a couple of suitcases we left everything in storage in Florence, and I think we managed quite well given the circumstances.
We are nestled between the sea, it’s so close that I can see it from our window – the sunsets are spectacular, and rolling hills which in turn are covered with immaculate rows of endless vines, olive trees and very tall majestic cypresses, usually indicating a picture perfect drive to an estate.
The hills are not that steep here and the climate is milder. In fact, after a brief drop of temperatures and strong cold winds, it feels like summer again, as it should be, it’s what the locals tell me.
So we are back on the beach at weekends.
Serendipitously, for a certain period of our lives, we are living a dream – in Tuscany.
I don’t want to miss out, even just for a day, on the most scenic walks we can take, especially before dinner when the sun sets a lot earlier by now, backlighting beautifully the vine leaves, with the calm waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea serving as a backdrop. I do ask myself: am I dreaming?
One truly eats well here and we happen to have the best of both worlds: the food of „terra e mare”,
finally being able to discover so many new (to us) eateries. For example, our nearest and unassuming village, which we had neglected in the past, has been the most surprising. A revelation I should say.
I can’t forget about the wine which we can’t get enough of after a lengthy period in the UK (where the choice is fabulous, the pricing less so). This is a relatively young but very prestigious Italian appellation producing predominantly red wines, cultivating Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc as the main grape varieties. From the whites we have Vermentino, which we’ve grown fond of. But still, it’s the land of reds – typically Bordeaux styled blends, mono-grape wines however, are on the rise, of which Merlot is a particular favourite of mine.
Most of our mornings, anywhere in Italy, start with a couple of coffees and cornetti, always alla crema. Here in Tuscany we like to walk to our nearest borgo, which is a good healthy 35 min walk away, making us feel less guilty about indulging in irresistible cream filled buttery pastries, warmed up by the sisters who run the coffee shop. Admittedly, lesser known tourist locations can be hit and miss at times, and we’ve found ourselves on several occasions outside a closed shop. È così.
In that case we need to take the car and go a bit further to the next village, where there are two coffee shops, different atmosphere, but both amazing. Simultaneously I’d also stop at a newsagent’s to pick up a copy of the newspaper that I tend to read, buy bread at the forno, fruit and vegetables from an on-street stand (until recently there were two, one has just closed marking the end of the season), next stop is the butcher’s with a small but a very good quality selection of produce. There I pick up some freshly minced beef destined for the beef and courgette meatballs, cooked with onions and milk, garnished with grated parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil – the Dégustaturs current favourite dish of the week, surely he will have a new one soon. Somewhere in between the coffe shops and the forno we pick up wine for the evening (from the trusted little enoteca), and we all somehow manage to bump into each other greeting ourselves over the morning coffee, which is the beauty of living in a small countryside, where everybody very quickly knows each other. I know I’ll miss it.
Here we don’t have the stunning hills of Val d’Orcia or Val d’ Chiana, laced with a blanket of an autumnal fog, something absolutely spectacular to be able to see. We are surrounded by gentler, more accessible hills that we walk across, but that dreamy fog | can occasionally see from a distance as our house is set on a hill.
What we do have however, is a quite petite windmill, which has been recently renovated and transformed into a cosy meeting place for a pre-dinner aperitivo. It’s open almost every afternoon and for three hours only, long enough to share a bottle of wine whilst basking in the golden pink hued sunsets. As you can imagine, where there is a windmill there are good chances of a strong wind. We’ve had moments where we had to hold our glasses and the basket with hunks of focaccia not to be blown away, but the views of the hills and valleys, wine making estates and villas dotted around, with the shimmering sea on the horizon compensate for it all.
Peaches in White Wine with Basil
Changes are inevitable. The winding road leading to the windmill had been frequented predominantly by the local community, it had been just a simple yet lovely place to walk to with children or friends, destined for quiet enjoyment and gratification, which is what we had done in the past too.
Now we call that windmill our „local bar”, it’s 20 minutes walk away and we can see it from our house.
I can tell if it’s open on the day as the lady who works there wears a distinctive long creamy linen dress as her work outfit, obviously setting her apart. All it takes for me to do is to look out for her and even if not planned, we find our way to see her. Right now, when it’s peaceful and the season is almost over, we have a lot of fun in „the bar” as we’ve already established a firm relationship.
We go out to a lot, making the most of being here, savouring Italian food again, the ingredients, the way of local cooking and the ever growing creativity in the most unexpected places. We were so hungry for it all, and the wine – obviously. Overall our temporary home is great, we’ve been very lucky especially having found it at the last minute. But the kitchen, sadly, has many limitations, hence my cooking is mostly simple but fresh, healthy and abundant, very seasonal dictated by the local produce and traditions. Always generously drizzled with a good olive oil – the liquid gold of Italy as I like to call it.
Hence for now, I’m leaving you with a few new simple and delicious recipes I’ve created here in Tuscany, the dishes that I’ll be making wherever we are in the future:
1. The beef and courgette meatballs, cooked in milk, garnished with grated parmesan and olive oil (find the recipe here). Best courgettes to use are of romanesco variety. I find them less watery and the flesh is firm throughout. The chopped courgettes go into the finely minced beef and parmesan mix, along with just a few other ingredients. Serve them with a fresh salad of your choice, blanched green beens or grilled courgettes, with or without roast potatoes.
2. Ricotta and White Chocolate Pudding with a hint of lemon, not quite a cheesecake, not really a mousse, but something deeply satisfying and enjoyable and, of course, very simple. Decorate it with fresh peaches, figs, plums, roast plums, more chocolate or whatever takes your fancy. Perhaps, if you fill a pastry case with this ricotta and white chocolate spread, you could call it the world’s most simple cheesecake or a ricotta and white chocolate tart (find the recipe here).
3. Pesche al Vino Bianco e Basilico / Peaches in White Wine and Basil to end the peach season.
Wash the peaches of your choice and cut them carefully into smaller segments (one peach per person).
Place the peaches in a glass jug. Pour over some white wine to cover the fruit (the quantity will depend on the number of people you want to serve and the wine to peach ratio). You could dilute the wine with sparkling or soda water. Place a few basil or mint leaves inside, give everything a gentle stir and keep in the fridge for a minimum of two hours before serving.
From Tuscany with love,
Aleksandra xx