Travel Reference
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“And of course I vary the grind every day based on the barometric pressure. When it's rain-
ing or about to rain, the moisture in the air makes the coffee less absorbent so I always use
a finer grind.”
This is small town Tuscany. Think about having a cup of Bruna's coffee. Then, think about
that pot ofFarmers Brothers that was made forlunch and is still onthe burner at 4pm when
you walk in.
Rather than continuing to rave about the marvels of Italian cooking and the sophistication
of Italian appreciation of food, I want to veer off into a less explored direction—the rituals
surrounding preparation and eating of foods. It's one of those areas that requires a certain
depth of cultural immersion before it begins to become visible.
***
“Breakfast served 24 hours a day”. It's a sign you'll find in small cafés and truck stops all
over America. You won't find a single one in Italy.
Breakfast is eaten only in the morning and typically consists of coffee and a sweet roll. By
noon many of the bars have been cleaned out of their pastries except for a few odd strays.
It's not like Starbucks or Peets where you can get an apple-walnut muffin to go with your
whipped-cream mocha any time you like. In our part of Italy, near Siena, people have lunch
starting between 12:00 and 1 p.m., and dinner starts any time between 8:00 and 9:30 p.m.
By and large, everybody from pierced-lip teenagers to tottering elders eats at these times.
If you walk through our village at 1:30 on a summer afternoon when the shutters are closed
but the windows are open, you'll hear lively conversation and the scraping of spoons on
plates from every kitchen window. At that time, and for the next couple of hours, no one
is outside. An elderly woman who is hard of hearing has her television set turned up rather
loud, but apart from her the streets are empty and silent.
In addition to broadly shared mealtimes, convention also embraces the ways in which food
is prepared. Unlike French cuisine, with its intricacy and intellectual complexity, Tuscan
dishes are based on the use of very few ingredients, simply combined. What makes the
food wonderful is the freshness and quality of the ingredients, the careful balancing of fla-
vors, and the perfect timing with which everything is prepared and served. The menus that
you see in restaurants throughout Tuscany are virtually interchangeable: mixed crostini,
gnocchi with pesto, tortellini in broth, grilled sausage, torta della nonna. People generally
patronize a particular locale because they prefer the way they make their favorite, familiar
foods.
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