Hot off the New York Times

Breakneck Tour of Central Chianti 

Despite making little mention of the sights to be seen between stops, this article from the New York Times has some (largely gastronomic/hedonistic)  pointers for

a 36-hour trip to Chianti

 - although no one should be foolish enough to imagine it suffices!

Mille Miglia Vintage Cars

The Mille Miglia Thousand Miles Rally 

May 2013

Mille Miglia poster: "the most beautiful race in the world"

It has been a cold and rainy May this year, the wettest in 200 years people are fond of telling you, with astonishment and dismay. But for the Tuscan sector of the Mille Miglia this year the sun emerged, the rain stopped falling and blustery clouds raced over clean blue skies for the duration. We had other commitments, but managed to see a part of the rally from a stretch of the SS2 (the ancient Roman Cassia) between Tavarnelle and San Casciano in Val di Pesa. The rally stopped for lunch in San Casciano again this year, so the lucky sightseers and car enthusiasts who converged there were treated to a long and considered inspection of the 400 odd (and some are truly odd) cars parked in the main square while the drivers dined. 

Le Panzanelle - a special local restaurant

a must-do at Le Ripe

Traditional yet stylish, friendly and good value: Le Panzanelle is a must!

The day we first saw Le Ripe in September 2003 we also first lunched at Le Panzanelle which had been open for little over a year. It was a significant day for us which could not have been celebrated more appropriately. 

Founded by two women, friends from Panzano, it owes its lilting name to them: 'the girls from Panzano'. We are extremely lucky as the restaurant is right at the bottom of our hill. You can even walk there and back (it takes about 15 to 20 minutes each way, down and uphill), although we advise taking a torch for the return journey in the evening, unless there is a full moon. The most beautiful time of year for this walk is in the first half of June when there are fireflies everywhere in the fields and over the river: truly magical.

fireflies in June

Nada and Silvia are helped by their husbands (it's an excellent arrangement as they do turn and turn about so that there is always someone at home with the children), but there are more cooks in the kitchen and friendly waitresses. One of the best things about the restaurant is its popularity amongst locals as well as tourists. When Le Panzanelle celebrated its 10th anniversary there were crowds of locals and friends at the party.

main dining room Le Panzanelle

Antipodes

Our Sister Slope

Three Peaks with its three hills and farmhouse

Far away on the other side of the world from Le Ripe, in another hemisphere and in another season, stands Le Ripe's Sister Slope, Three Peaks. Sister Slope, because linked by family ties. And because similar in its aspect, size and topography, if starkly different in its flora and fauna, and considerably different in its climate  (milder in winter than Le Ripe).

Black Angus steer calves eating hay

Home to passing kangaroos and resident wombats, the occasional koala and myriad birds, but also host to introduced species such as fox and rabbit, unlike Le Ripe, Three Peaks is an active farm where steers are raised for market. It contains a spacious one-storey home and its surrounding native garden nestled within 30 hectares of pastureland characterised by three hills which inspired the farm's name.

kangaroo photographed at Three Peaks

wombat photographed at Three Peaks

Australia

Not Le Ripe!

The scene changes radically.

This is not Le Ripe, not Tuscany nor even any other part of Italy.

I write from Australia, from another landscape and another season.

flowering gum

Here it is spring, there are swallows, wrens, honeyeaters, lorikeets, magpies, cockatoos, willy wagtails and sacred ibis

nesting, feeding, soaring, singing, darting and hopping everywhere.

Butterflies on the native shrubs, bees on the lavender, blossom on the trees.

How lucky to enjoy a breath of spring before winter arrives in the north...

rainbow lorikeets

Southern Bounty

part of the tomato plantation 2012

Pomodori

No, this is not Le Ripe, this is my sister in law's farm in southern Italy. We visited them last week and witnessed the incredibly labour-intensive job of making bottled tomato passata with their wonderful Rio Grande tomatoes. Here are just a glimpse of their organic tomato plantation and one moment of the 'procedura' as they call the entire process once the tomatoes have been harvested.

 

cooking the washed, selected tomatoes

First the tomatoes are washed, chopped both for quicker cooking and to check that they are sound inside (this does not happen in industrial processes) and set to cook in enormous saucepans. They boil at least two hours until they have reduced and softened. Salt is added at the end. This is for taste and to help preserve the sauce. Then the hot pulp is poured through a small machine which mashes the tomatoes, discarding the seeds and skins. This is the only mechanized aspect. The 'passata' - so-called because it has been 'passed' through the filter and become a rich red sauce - is immediately bottled with some leaves of basil. The bottles are piled in large saucepans filled with water and boil for about two hours; they are then left to cool overnight.

This year my sister in law, who is a real hero, will make 3000 half-kilo bottles of passata sauce with a handful of helpers. If anyone is interested in buying this wonderful, fresh, natural, organic tomato sauce they can have a look at this blog which also shows images of the 'procedura'.

The best use for the passata sauce (which can of course be adapted to countless recipes) is to simply pour it over a dish of freshly-cooked 'al dente' pasta, add some good olive oil and maybe parmesan and fresh basil. 

fruit of earth and sun

It is fruit of the earth and the sun, 

the best of the best!

If you would like to find out more about my sister in law's produce, have a look at their site.