MAPPING TUSCANY

I'm writing a book (which has been published in the meantime). Hence I raise the word count by cutting down on aperitifs (not an easy feat in my Tuscan village ),  and I keep the storyline going  by dodging invitations to Sunday lunch. But when I know that the table will look like this... and the food like this it's hard to resist... Hence we drove to the Chianti and followed the crowd through the woods  to jump into  the midst of the clatter, chatter and laughter of a Tuscan Christmas gathering, which was cleverly interrupted by countryside walks to make sure there was room for more, until - inevitably - the moment arrived, when all the plates were licked and the last bottle of Chianti was emptied and it was time to go home (you said you drive, right?).  INGREDIENTS FOR A TUSCAN GATHERING Lunch was organized by Emiko Davies and Giulia from Juls' Kitchen , who with the help of their respective partn...

Ochre, terracotta and any existing shade of burnt sienna are the colours that come to mind when thinking of the famous rolling hills. However, for a few months each year, the Tuscan landscape doesn't look like something coming out of a pottery workshop, but like Ireland in summer. Minus the rain. And the Guinness.  TUSCANY IN SPRING It won't last though. Unless Tuscany's warm season is unusally wet like the  incredibly rainy summer 2014 , the landscape will look like this by the end of spring.

Sniffing out the good olives - not that there were many A combination of bad weather (very mild winter 2013/14 followed by a rainy summer) has led to Italy's most disastrous olive harvest of the century.  Right, the century is still young, but we can only pray that we'll never have to see our grove looking as miserable as this autumn until the end of it. To explain what I'm talking about here some facts and figures from the last three olive harvests in our Tuscan grove and the resulting yield of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO):   In 2012 we picked 542 kg of olives and pressed  74 kg  of EVOO (yield 13%). In 2013 we picked 713 kg of olives and pressed  78 kg  of EVOO (yield 11%). In  2014 we picked   90 kg of olives and pressed    8 kg  of EVOO (yield  9%).  The 2014 olive harvest is just over a tenth of last year's, but we have to consider ourselves lucky that we actually managed to taste our EVOO 2014. Many oliv...

If my Tuscan native is going to leave me one day, you'll know why. Nobody could for ever put up with my never-ending ideas for a change in interior design. Or rather exterior design.  We must have about five tables around our house. One for every time of the day and amount of sunshine. I would have been happy to move them around according to the season, but my brother-in-law preferred to cement them into the ground for eternity. Hence, my need for another one. To enjoy the winter view from our olive grove.  A trial meditation last December with the table I normally use on our terrace (the only movable one left) It was just before Christmas that I realized that I couldn't possibly get through another winter without a table in the midst of our olive trees. Not just for  picking breaks , but for quiet contemplation and morning meditation. Which, no need to say, is all about coffee in Italy. 

Summer in Tuscany and I'm hot and bothered. Since temperature remains over 30 degrees. For weeks. Inside our house . Summer in Tuscany and my Tuscan native is constantly grumpy. Since the construction sites he works in and the roofs he climbs upon are definitely under the Tuscan sun. It's summer in Tuscany and our two  kids are endlessly bickering. Since - autumn, winter, spring and summer - that's just what they like to do.  Once dreaded August 15 is on the horizon - and with it Ferragosto hell  - our ill tempered little family leaves the touristy hill towns and jellyfish invaded beaches behind and happily drives off to a better life. In Switzerland. Where temperatures drop and rain fall starts the moment we cross the border. And all we'll remember of the crowded, irritating and unbearably hot Tuscan summer is this.  Contemplative Cappuccinos before the heat sets in  and early evenings at Fiumara beach mornings spent collecting tomatoe...

On top of a green hill Campagnatico seen from the South - East When approaching Campagnatico during stormy weather, one isn't surprised that the Tuscan village got a mention in the book of books: Dante's Divine Comedy . 700 years later, Campagnatico doesn't look too different from what Dante must have imagined - but probably never saw in person - as the ideal backdrop for a scene in the purgatory: a Maremma nobleman's repentance over the errors he committed during his life (too much haughtiness was already an issue in Dante's time!).  Campagnatico seen from Villa Bellaria Picture perfect (probably more so now than in the Middle Ages), the hill town in the Maremma has a lay-back atmosphere. Cats and the elderly sit on benches and the town's only bar tender is busy making Cappuccino, preparing Campari or selling newspapers. Population is low, but still high enough to allow for the survival of two  alimentari (small food stores), a post office, a p...

When they say a Tuscan hilltop town... Saturday morning chat at the barber

Where to start with that haircut? With Tuscany's extra virgin olive oil being famous world over, it may come as a surprise that the region's olive tree pruning is notorious for its rather cruel approach: Tuscan farmers used to prune only once every two years (and often still do). Pruning is very time consuming, and cutting the tree a Mohawk hairstyle means you can skip a winter before having to get up the ladder again with shears and saw in hand.  I'm no expert on the matter of pruning, but from looking after our very own Tuscan olive grove I've discovered two crucial points for pruning success, which are not always mentioned in olive grove manuals.   In my experience the best preparation to pruning is by doing the olive harvest in the very same grove the year before. The chosen pruning style depends on the technique used during olive picking (i.e. harvest by hand or with a particular type of machine). Once you've been driven mad by unreachable olives du...

For reasons to me unknown (or at least too complicated to be explained), fate has me walking Massa Marittima's picture perfect town center every year once during winter. And each time I can't but stop and marvel at the timeless beauty of Massa Marittima's monuments against the backdrop of a crisp blue winter sky.  No need for a Fellini film, if you can spend a morning people-watching on the  tourist free main square  in front of the gorgeous cathedral (building it in an oblique angle towards the rest of the piazza was a true act of genius!). This February morning serendipity even went so far as having me run into Donna, the blogger behind Maremma Guide , who writes one of the most informative and useful websites for people exploring this part of Tuscany.  The archaeological museum and a slice of the cathedral