Thoughts From A Newly Transplanted American In Italy
I’m archiving my personal notes today (we don’t have anyone at the B&B this week, so I’m sort of on a mini-vacation…). I guess I never found time to post these happenings at the time they occurred…But here are some of the more interesting commentaries on new life in Europe…(**Please excuse the GROSS grammatical errors in my Italian, at the time I obviously knew nothing about the language!**)
This excerpt I wrote on the train from Milan to Paris on the day I arrived in Europe
March 16, 2005
16:00
Central Train Station, Milan
“Salgo a Paris!” And boy am I tired. Ho sonno — ho un puo di sonno. (I’m sleepy. I am a little sleepy). I can’t believe I made it onto this train; everything went fairly smoothly. I managed to find other people who were going my way or were willing to help. Andiamo — Solamente due minuti tarde(Let’s go! Only two minutes late).
Fell asleep for a long time–woke up in the Alps! There are a lot more people on the train now. I’m pretty hungry and still tired. I can’t believe I’ll be living in Paris for…who knows how long?! Eee! I haven’t felt like crying at all yet on this trip –very much in control so far! Good! Definitely needs to stay that way. It’s foggy in the mountains. We’re going through lots of tunnels…”
After a week in Paris, I moved to Italy. Here are some of my first impressions:
“Life here so far is a little like camping, but that’s not how I think living in Italy will always be. The construction zone we’re in right now makes getting settled a bit more dificile (difficult). I think when the major masonry and construction work is done and the dust has cleared out it will feel more like a home.
We’ve been forced to eat out everyday because we don’t have a kitchen yet. This has been great for me because I’ve gotten to see a lot of the typical food in the area and taste it too! Also getting to see what the local restaurants are like: very homey, not much like the restaurants in America. At one yesterday there were no menus. The cook recited the menu to us at the table.
The antipasti still seem very exotic to me–boiled meats and homemade salamis… The waiters bring out strange parts of animals that I’ve never seen before, much less eaten (and certainly not eaten at a restaurant!!). Very unusual.
And the pasta. For all we hear about the Italians liking their pasta al dente, we’ve only been served al dente pasta once in two weeks! One of the more traditional dishes here is tagliarin (homemade flat spaghetti) served with meat sauce. After having one that was done “right” I can honestly say that I just do not like the stuff. Served with the traditional bagna rossa (red sauce), it tastes like spaghetti-Os from a can! Yuck! The sauce is thin and without much flavor. They hardly put any meat in at all! And the pasta barely has enough sauce to even cover it. It’s just not a dish I enjoy. And now that I think about it, I never really liked thin spaghetti and red sauce. (As a result of getting desperately ill after eating spaghetti and red sauce at the LB Grand in LeRoy). I suppose I’ll have to adjust my palate now that I’m an international citizen. I want to be able to appreciate the traditions of this culture.
Okay, so they don’t like a lot of sauce on their pasta and they don’t believe in condiments or salad dressing. It seems somewhat barbaric to me, but the Italians probably say the same thing about us eating potato chips and microwave dinners.
Desserts. Oh Billy. SO different. They’re a whole nother animal. In the US our desserts are composed, we think about them as much as the main entrees. In Italy perhaps they do think about dolci as much as they think about main courses, it’s just that by nature the menu items are much less complex. Italians don’t garnish. Usually. Every once in a while you’ll see a sprig of sage on some plin (little ravioli), but it’s not the same thought process that we go through in the States.
At Three Birds and Bouchon the plating philosophy was basically “keep the plate clean. Garnish everything. Season Everything.” None of those apply to the cuisine in Piedmont. (though I need to work in some restaurants here to fully understand what the local philosophies are). For now I’ll say that “just like Grandma used to make” is the flavor and presentation they’re going for. Keep it traditional, don’t make it too fancy. (Basically they just plop it on the plate and “Voila!”)
The sauces are so far from clean it’s not even funny. They’re hearty sauces. Thickened with a whole bunch of flour. Very starchy. And not shiny. The sauces hold their shape on the plate too much–and anyways they’re not on the plate for decoration. Whereas in America we decorate the plate with one or two sauces, in Italy if there is sauce, it’s there because it’s part of the meal. And you better bet it’s coming to you poured directly on top of the meat and NEVER drizzled prettily around.
OH the vegetables!! Not often are they cooked a la minute, but rather, boiled (for hours seemingly!) & held at temp until needed. SO far from crunchy. Perhaps the overcooked vegetables stem from there being so many elderly in the community & the tight-knit family structure. Everyone lives together–whole families. Perhaps not in the same house, but as the family grows and the original house gets too small, they’ll build another adjoining house, and another, and another. I imagine everyone must eat together pretty often as well. Thus the need for soggy vegetables that the old people can chew.
People here don’t seem to throw things away/get rid of stuff like we do. I swear there’s a guy in Sinio who’s been riding the same bike for the last 70 years!
I want to talk to the younger (teenage/college) people and see how they feel about this. And families with new babies–are they happy living in the same place in the same house all their life?
Don’t the younger people want to explore? How do they find someone to marry? Are they curious to see if there’s someone outside their town/area that might be absolutely the right person for them to spend the rest of their life with. Do the Piemontese people have the curiosity to see the world? We met a man the other day –75 years old–who has only been to Alba three or four times in his life. Alba is only 20 minutes away from here!!! He said ‘Why would I want to go there? Everything I need is here.’ “
Artisan doors are very big in Verduno. In fact, I’ve started a photo essay on the doors in Italy. Here’s my new door. The apartment was once a Macelleria (butcher’s shop) and B G stand for the last names of the two men that worked together: Brero (Luca’s relation) and G something something that no body seems to remember. At least the people I’ve talked to so far. I’ll have to ask Zio–I share the cortille (courtyard) with several people, two of which are Luca’s great Uncle and Aunt (Elisa). I don’t know the uncle’s real name because everyone always refers to him as Zio (Uncle). He’s very inquisitive and proud of the fact that at 87 he still drives the tractor on the farm. He’s convinced that if he takes a walk and drinks enough coffee everyday, he’ll live forever. It’s worth a shot!!
Lots has changed since we last spoke!! The biggest news is that I’m a proud new owner of an old Italian car and that I’ve officially moved out of Sinio and into Verduno, where I have my own apartment. The hotel and restaurant are officially open and all of the castellani are working like maniacs around the clock to keep up the four star standards.
Ciao, tutti! . Sorry I’ve been remiss in my web-missives lately. Things here are BUSY! The hotel/restaurant hasn’t opened yet, still waiting for the operi (workers) to finish the restoration and for the government to approve the hotel and restaurant licensing. But we’re getting closer! The bathrooms are all installed, the furniture is starting to arrive, and the pool is almost done!