95. Oh, the Food

Of course, going to Italy, you know you’re always in for a treat, food-wise. But one’s wildest imaginings don’t come close to the home cooking we were treated to in Grazia and Rosanna Creanza’s kitchens. Grazia, Tonio’s 85-year-old mother, and his sister-in-law, Rosanna, who lives upstairs, provided three meals every day to our band of olive-picking volunteers. It is a major catastrophe in our household if I am called upon to host one small dinner party a year, yet they sat at least a dozen for dinner every night, for three and sometimes four courses. In addition, Mrs. Creanza senior got up at 4:00 every morning, to prepare the pre-work breakfast and pack the lunch to be brought out to the orchards.

Every dinner began with a pasta dish made with in-season vegetables; meat, if present at all, played a minor role as just a bit of flavoring. Then came the secondo, usually another vegetable dish like fried zucchini or eggplant parmigiana. The exception that proves the rule was the night we had lardo, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Then fruit, or a sweet like fig cake or homemade stuffed figs. And finally a choice of limoncello, or walnut or pomegranate liquor, or all of the above.

Sunday, the day of rest, is never a day of rest for the women of a kitchen, and this past Sunday Grazia and Rosanna pulled out all the stops. First came the massive tray of lasagna. Then the porchetta roast. Then the roasted chestnuts. Then the tiramisu and the homemade chocolates. If we had a meal of that quality in a restaurant in New York, or even Rome, we’d be talking about it for the rest of our lives.

Why don’t we eat like that in America? There are many reasons, but a big one is that we would be afraid to. We have been thoroughly indoctrinated into the idea that all fat is bad, pasta-carbs are to be avoided, and for sure, you don’t eat raw pork fat or pour extra olive oil on everything. Yet all of these people were hale and hearty, and of perfect weight. I’m more and more convinced that our joyless regimen of fat-free this and low carb that is leaving us both fat and underfed, as we try to fill the void with junk.

So I return home tomorrow. Will I adopt an Italian diet? Will I begin pouring Creanza olive oil on every dish, and cook with a cup of it instead of my usual teaspoon? Will I only eat food that is unadulterated, local and in-season? Probably not. But it might be worth a try.