Living with passion, Tuscan-style – is your life ‘in tune?’
Are you ’singing in tune’ with life? I’ve written before about the importance of paying attention to each detail of a process. We used the freshest of eggs as an example of detail: http://www.examiner.com/x-854-Tuscan-Living-Examiner~y2008m9d11-Tuscany-Italy-Passion–In-Cooking-or-Art-Loving-Details-Create-Sublime-Results
Tuscans use this approach to life in general, paying attention to each aspect or each moment along the way of any process. It is with each inspired brush stroke that Leonardo painted his masterpieces and with each perfect note that Puccini constructed his melodious operas.
In fact, music can be used as an analogy to many ways in which Tuscans approach life; paying attention to each single note, not going “off-key” or “out-of-tune…”
I was recently reminded of the “off-key” aspect in a conversation I had near Lucca with Maria a.k.a. “The Pasta Lady” at the villa Maionchi estate. Maria and her sister-in-law Alba take 100 of only the freshest, newly-laid eggs each morning to make pasta by hand for the Villa Maionchi restaurant. They also make those amazing vegetable soups (with bread or farro) found only in Lucca.
I have tried to replicate the Lucca soups by using the classic recipes. Soups made anywhere else never taste quite like those in Lucca. The reason for this is that the Lucchesi (people from Lucca) are famous for the use of Erbi (wild greens) found in the surrounding areas of Lucca and in the Garfagnana region. There are wild asparagus, tomatoes, lettuces, bitter greens, etc.
Maria attended classes in Lucca at a cooking school dedicated to these Erbi. She shared with me that there are more than 100 varieties of Erbi and that it takes much studying and field experience to learn them all. I found this interesting because, until now, the mothers and grandmothers from the Lucca area (including my own grandmother) have gathered Erbi for thousands of years handing down their knowledge from generation to generation. I suppose it’s a sign of modern times that aspiring cooks are going to an official cooking school to learn Erbi!
Besides soup, Erbi are cooked in pies, as a side dish and even in some desserts. Maria explained that the most important thing she learned at this school was to always use the right taste and balance of Erbi in any preparation. She was taught to be sure that the preparation contained no wild green that “stonava” (stonare means to be “out-of-tune” or “off-key”). In other words, when cooking, you should always make sure there is no ingredient that clashes with the others and that everything blends together harmoniously.
The concept of food being balanced and “in tune” is one often used in Tuscany. It goes side-by-side with the philosophy of paying attention to each detail. All ingredients used in each step along the way should complement each other and form a great-tasting end result like the notes in a musical symphony. Tuscans use the “out-of-tune” guide as an aesthetic barometer in many ways: In fashion, art, cooking, architecture and in family life, it is important to make sure things are always “In tune.” Do you cook in tune? Is your life in tune?
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