tastes
I HAVE just returned from Tuscany, in the midst of the chianti classico country, where I was staying with my old Candid Camera mate Jonathan Routh and his wife Shelagh. They live on a huge terrace bedecked with jasmine and Bougainvillaea looking out over one of the staggering landscapes you can see from every house you visit. There are two large dinner tables which Shelagh seems to fill with people at a moment's notice, thinking nothing of pro- ducing lunch for 16 at the drop of a hat, let alone a hat-pin'. We were surrounded by porcupines, peacocks, plenty of wild boar and even a tame leopard up the road which roared like an old sawmill at dawn.
Unlike the typical accounts of 'Chian- tishire', we were not solidly in the company of Brits, many exciting people passing through the terrace who live round and about: Russians, Poles, Goans, even Ita- lians, Germans (dear Heidi from Books for Cooks I found on my first evening - fancy) and a splendid bunch of Jamaicans who had come over for the football and gave a great Jerk party. Charlie Johnstone who owns every banana stalk that leaves Jamaica promised I could go there in one of his boats, thus fulfilling an ambition of a lifetime to travel on a banana boat. We had Corpus Christi and St John the Baptist while I was there, stupefyingly celebrated in the church at Castellina, with five girl guitarists playing and singing the Italian version of Bob Dylan's song about the answers blowing in the wind; very different from our own dear Oratory in London. However, it was all a great ball despite the rising heat, which always terrifies me.
We all know quite a bit about Tuscan food by now, but we forget the wonderful natural produce out there, the gorgeous gnarled tomatoes, the buffalo mozzarellas, figs, pears, peppers and cheeses which really taste, great stuffed whole roasted pigs in the market, grilled pigeons of melting tenderness and vast veal chops all cooked on the charcoal fires. Our little local restaurant couldn't be faulted, either for food or sweetness of nature and ser- vice.
We had a very good lunch at the house of Julio Ruspoli who produces a very excellent chianti classico red which we imbibed. The lunch was delicious but the dish that caught my fancy was an unusual potato mixture. Let us call it:
Potatoes Ruspoli 11/2 lbs potatoes
2 good-size onions 2 large yellow pimentos 3 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 pint good stock' parsley salt and pepper
Use new or waxy potatoes that will not dwindle into a mush. Scrub or scrape them and cut into smallish chunks. De-seed the pimentos, cut away the pith and slice fairly thickly into diamond shapes. Chop up the onions and fry gently in the olive oil until soft, add the potatoes and the pimentoes, mix well with the onions then pour in half the warmed stock. Cook until tender, uncovered, adding more stock if necessary (I used the full 1/2 pint). When ready, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and sprinkle with a good handful of chop- ped parsley. Serve with any meat, poultry or fish dish. It is also very good when cold as a salad.
A variation on the mozzarella and toma- to salad was given to me by a man who had just arrived from Sardinia so I am not quite sure where its true locale is. It has a beautiful appearance, though I know beet- root is anathema to some poor folk.
Ricotta and beetroot salad
1/2 lb fresh ricotta 1/2 lb cooked beetroots vinaigrette fresh mint, parsley and chives
Buy fresh firm ricotta from an Italian delicatessen so it is possible to slice neatly, and so do. Slice the beetroots and inter- leave with the ricotta on a dainty shallow dish. Make the vinaigrette with red wine vinegar, a squeeze or so of lemon juice and five times as much fruity olive oil, add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Pour liberally over the salad and leave for at least an hour before eating. Sprinkle with a good chopping of mint, parsley or chives or all three mixed together.
An exciting tidbit given to us with drinks was fried sage leaves, very good news for anyone who grows it, as it is always so prolific. Dip little branches of sage into well seasoned flour, then into a well beaten whole egg. Fry in sizzling sunflower oil until crisp and golden, drain and eat at once.
Jennifer Paterson
Previous page
