eccoci qui! Piemonte, land of truffles, cheese, vino rosso, enchanted forests, and lovely, happy, healthy italians. i always think when i go to a new place in italy, my god, this is IT, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE. but...i think this time thats for real. i am just floored. rolling hills of green, brown, white, and blue; forests and valleys and thousand year old castles on the hill tops. the first clear thought was that this place has to be magical, like with elves and faries and shit. its just too good. so. angela and i are living in a 700year old farm house on a mountain top in piemonte. we are the only house for miles, and i know this because we can see that far. its made of stone and cherry wood and oak, red tile roof and windows so old the glass is sinking. we have our own bed and bath and balcony overlooking the garden. there are KITTENS. Mario and Isa, the proprietors, are as of now internationally renowned cheese makers, aknowledged by none other than Carlo Petrini himself (my hero!) as a beacon of hope for the Slow Food movement. they run a bed and breakfast style thing out of another section of the house, and people can reserve rooms, dinners made fresh (miraculous cooks...lord...), and absolute tranquility here on the hill (sounds like an advertisement, but im serious, you cant beat it). its rustic, its beautiful. and today, my friends and family, today, i acomplished one of my greatest goals in life:
I MILKED A GOAT! and sheep! they have a barnyard full. mario and i woke up at 7 this morning, drank a coffee with fresh boiled sheeps milk, and went to work. taking 5 sheep\goats at a time, we hooked them up to this feeding trough and got behind them with metal pails. the utters feel like...utters. it took me a bit to get the hang of it (like in movies, when the milk squirts all over the place, in the eye, etc), and i managed to get more of it on me then in the pail (and then occasionally the goat would kick over the pail, spilling what little i had managed to salvage), but i think, all in all, i did very, very well. after that we took them out to pasture. mario handed me an actual walking stick (a staff, i believe they're called) and we hearded the animals up through the fields and into the forests. we walked for a long ways, all wild blackberries and castles and mario explaining how truffles are found, and then he stopped, and rolled a cigarette. "ok, they're gonna eat for about an hour or so", he said, and layed down in the grass. i followed suit. i just layed there and smiled from ear to ear and giggled and watched the sky and figured that, once again, i had done something very right. on the way back we lost about half the heard in the forest. mario said, "its ok, ill take these up, you go grab the lost ones." found them all back in the woods, and i took charge. "c'mon please, time to go...ok, guys, lets move...you there, with the beard, yes you, come toward me...no, stop, to the right! right!". for a while they just stared at me. finally got the hang of it and led them all back to the road, up through the hill, and into the barn. am a natural!
mario and isa are incredible cooks. all the food is fresh from the farm, vegeatbles and wine, and meat and CHEESE. today for lunch we had a dish of raw veal seasoned with ****** (secret recipe) sprinkled with shaved black truffles, rigatoni in a sauce of zucchini, mint, and ricotta, fresh fruits and salad, and homemade bread. i swear i am writing all this stuff down. its just...pretty much my dream come true. and i want to thank all of you right now who helped me get to this point. thank you. thank you. thank you. i love you all! i cant promise you repayment in monetary form (lord help me), but one day, i swear, i will cook you a feast and tell you stories and do something wonderful with this wealth of knowledge and make you all very proud of me.
anyway. so yes. i am here, i am happy, healthy and whole. and brokenhearted.
ok, actually, i cant even write anymore, im going to go have myself a good cry. i miss him so bad my bones ache and sometimes it knocks the wind out of me. ill be ok, though, i know it. ill write more later, its just too hard right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment