The Threshing Machine

My beautiful husband has been calling me the above moniker for a few weeks now. Hmph.
He'd be beyond forgiveness save for the delightful idea of bringing me to Europe.
Two years ago, we were staying in Tuscany and took a drive to Volpaia, a tiny 13th Century village near Radda in Chianti. There was a bar and one restaurant, La Bottega. It had a terrace with a view of vineyards, rolling hills, forests and a stately house or two. We looked at the menu - roast pork with herbs for E6, handmade pasta with truffles for around the same price. We ate there a few times, and declared it one of our top two favourite restaurants in the world. And vowed to come back.
So, we invited our good friends The Wynns to come and rent a house in Volpaia for a week, and join us in eating our way through the menu. The house was a three storey terrace house, E88 a night for the four of us. We could eat out every night and stay within our budget. Each day we'd excitedly ask each other what we were going to have that night. The rabbit stew or the beef in chianti? Paul decided the wild boar stew was his favourite, Belinda liked the spinach ravioli with sage butter, but Steven and I couldn't make a firm decision (we loved it all).
One day, beautiful husband and I walked for two and a half hours along a dirt track between Volpaia and Panzano. Views of forests, pencil pines, wild boar (behind a fence, so obviously domesticated wild boar!), chianti pigs, vineyards, olive groves, more stately homes. We arrived in Panzano hungry, and discovered that the famous butcher I had read so much about was open for lunch with a choice of a E10 "Mac Dario" or E20 "Welcome". As soon as we walked in the door, we were handed a glass of wine and invited to try the nibbles on a table in front of the meat display (it is a real butcher shop!). I passed on the lard on toast, but the salami was fragrant with herbs, and we sprinkled perfumed salt and olive oil on bread. Seated upstairs, we ordered the Mac - a burger with rosemary potatoes, vegetables and bread. I stabbed my burger, and for a second wondered how chef had managed to get red wine inside....
Crunchy and hot on the outside, bloody on the inside. The wine was E3 for a quarter litre, and for dessert, delicious olive oil cake and mocha coffee for E2.
A few days later we went back and shared the Welcome. Four dishes - all cold. Steak tartare (strips not mince), shredded pork, pork roast with crackling and meatloaf with red pepper sauce. The meal was fantastic. Communal tables filled with excited and delighted Italians and tourists, all gobbling up huge amounts of meat and chatting to fellow diners about how they knew about this wonderful place.
It is a unique restaurant, and Dario is a genius.

Piedmont is the new Tuscany.

Those of you who read my previous post, know that we are big fans of the chambres d’hote/B&B. We particularly enjoy them when they offer evening meals.
There is always an element of surprise – you’re never sure what you’ll get, whether you’ll be eating alone, with the hosts and/or other guests. Often the vegetables will come from their garden, and they will serve typical local food.
The meal will definitely be larger than what we are used to at home, and if we do it every night, we’ll be larger too.
Our first night in Italy was spent in a small village near Bergamo. We ate with the hosts, their English-speaking son (all artists) and a Dutch couple.
The first course arrived: spatzle made from spinach with potatoes and pork. A smallish bowl, but very tasty.
The second course was six different cheeses, radicchio and artichokes marinated in oil, salad from the garden, and bread. Followed by biscotti and dessert wine.
All delicious, but seemingly round the wrong way. We were a bit confused, so it felt a bit too light. (Considering how much food we’ve eaten this trip, that is a good thing).
The next night we ate at the local bar, which our hosts recommended.
My first course was a pasta made from pizza dough, boiled and served with sage and butter, and Steven’s was gnocchi with pork sausage and asparagus. Both very rich.
Second course was a round cheese (similar to camembert) and vegetables, all cooked on the grill, the cheese oozing over the vegetables. This is the way they do things in Lombardia. The second course is either cheese or cold cuts. No hot meat dishes.
On to Piedmont and another B&B, with dinner.
First, some sage leaves dipped in batter and deep fried. Crispy and salty, and I’m going to try cooking that at home!
Then, Fontina cheese from the nearby alps, served with our hostess Raffaela’s jam/chutney made from the last of the summer fruits (grapes, peaches, apricots), cooked for 36 hours with no sugar added. Tart and rich and spicy.
Next was tagliatelli with fresh tomatoes, parsley and garlic.
I was expecting dessert. But no.
Pork in orange sauce, accompanied by spinach salad with sheep’s cheese, pine nuts and lemon dressing.
Okay, Raffaella, I’m pretty well done.
We had almost finished the Grignolino wine when dessert arrived: fresh raspberries (the sweetest I’ve ever had) and home-made lemon sorbet.
And then a glass of Genepy, an Alpine liqueur to wash it all down.
We finished our wine standing in the garden, looking at the lights of the surrounding hill towns and the shadowy, snowy alps in the distance.