Foraging in Montalcino
Recently I enjoyed reading a post by Elizabeth Minchilli in her blog about “the good stuff in Italy.” It was about her foraging inferiority complex and included a recipe for some greens she had ended up “picking” off the shelf at the greengrocers. I have done this myself and share her feelings of guilt and shame since while the idea of foraging is wonderful, the unwelcome reality is that I’m not very good at it. Being able to wander through the property, collecting the necessaries for an incredible, invigorating salad would be such an excellent way to start the day.Well, finally, help is at hand.
A tour company here in town is now organising personal foraging lessons in Montalcino with an interpreter if required. This is a lovely way to spend a morning in the Tuscan countryside, incredible views on all sides. The guide is Ada, amazingly nimble for her 79 years, a living testimony to the health benefits of her foraging diet and her self-taught white-witchery. She and her daughter live in a small house attached to Il Greppone. They were once seamstresses but have re-invented themselves in a world where made-to-measure wedding dresses have become too much of a luxury.The day starts at 9 am at their home with coffee. Participants are told to wear tough shoes and long trousers and are lent a basket, knife and stick. It’s not a brisk walk by any means but more of an amble with lots of stopping and stooping. The lesson includes a booklet with line-drawings of 38 species along with their Latin names and their uses. The plants all have incredible evocative names in Italian; spaccapietre (literally stone smasher, Rustyback for Anglophones, famous all over the world for its diuretic properties) or barba di becco (cuckold’s beard in Italian a.k.a. Meadow Salsify).After nearly three hours of hunting and gathering as we walked from Il Greppone, past Il Greppino and finishing at Il Greppo[1], we retired to Ada’s place to clean and prepare the greens. Lunch was spelt pasta, made from their own crops and served with home-dried olives and herbs, salami, cheese and rustic wine, prepared and eaten together in their beautiful home. The salad, bright with flowers, full of interesting tastes and textures, was an unforgettable experience.Just one more lesson and I might be able to do it myself.Salad flowers : erba roberta, timo serpillo, timo, calendula, cinquefoglie, rosa canina, veronica, margheritina, papavero, acaciaSalad leafs : cicoria, finocchio, rapastrello root, strigoli, porro, crespignoloGiovanni Paris can be reached via http://www.montalcinowinetours.com. He can accommodate groups and personalised requests though of course foraging is seasonal and therefore not possible in all months of the year (July, August, December and January are the off months). He also organises Aroma Workshops that start in the fields and end up with blindfolds and barrel tastings at a Montalcino winery.Elizabeth Minchilli’s post: http://www.elizabethminchilliinrome.com/2011/05/foraging-for-strigoli-in-umbria.html