Rick Steves-La Dolce Vita Tuscan Style

Angela

Angela

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Rick Steves visits the Etruscans in Volterra, stays in an agriturismo near Pienza, goes on a truffle hunt and visits a winery in Montepulciano...Along the way he eats a lot of good food, and gets introduced to the "Slow Food" Movement.

You'll also get a chance to see real, live, Tuscans.

As to Volterra, he takes you not only to the museum but to an Etruscan tomb. Amazing that such a priceless ancient tomb is left to the care of the farming family that found it on their land. It's moldering away, but what can you do? Every time someone puts a shovel in the earth some ancient artifact pops out.

 
Angela said:
Rick Steves visits the Etruscans in Volterra, stays in an agriturismo near Pienza, goes on a truffle hunt and visits a winery in Montepulciano...Along the way he eats a lot of good food, and gets introduced to the "Slow Food" Movement.

You'll also get a chance to see real, live, Tuscans.

As to Volterra, he takes you not only to the museum but to an Etruscan tomb. Amazing that such a priceless ancient tomb is left to the care of the farming family that found it on their land. It's moldering away, but what can you do? Every time someone puts a shovel in the earth some ancient artifact pops out.

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LOL, not very Tuscan "Ma che ce frega, ma che ce 'mporta Si l'oste ar vino cià messo l'acqua; E noi je dimo, e noi je famo: Ciai messo l'acqua e nun te pagamo...". :)

Volterra area is extremely beautiful and, just as most of central and southern Tuscany, is very little anthropized.
 
Angela, very interesting point of view of French chef Eric Ripert on Tuscany and Tuscan cuisine.


"On this episode, join Eric as he experiences the lifestyles of culinary artisans up close in Tuscany."

 
Pax Augusta said:
LOL, not very Tuscan "Ma che ce frega, ma che ce 'mporta Si l'oste ar vino cià messo l'acqua; E noi je dimo, e noi je famo: Ciai messo l'acqua e nun te pagamo...". :)

Volterra area is extremely beautiful and, just as most of central and southern Tuscany, is very little anthropized.
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You think Tuscans DOP wouldn't know it and sing it? :) They would have to be migrants? Besides, Rick Steves, bless him, with his fractured, simple, horribly pronounced Italian would hardly know or care. No disrespect to Rick Steves, who is always respectful in his attitude toward Italy and Italians.


Btw, what did you mean by your last comment?
 
Angela said:
You think Tuscans DOP wouldn't know it and sing it? :) They would have to be migrants?
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Everyone knows that song in Italy, but it's not only a traditional (modern) Roman song, but it is the (modern) Roman spirit. Tuscans DOP wouldn't sing it, they are too jealous of their own identity and accent. Can you immagine people from Lunigiana sing "Banda dei Magnaccioni" trying to imitate the Roman accent? :) More likely they are a mix of locals and recent migrants.

Angela said:
Btw, what did you mean by your last comment?
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I meant that central and southern are the least densely populated areas of Tuscany. This makes the nature even more beautiful.

Have you watched the Eric Ripert's video? This is another video and trip of Eric Ribert in Tuscany, in the Chianti area, hunting of wild boar.

From min. 6:20

 
Pax Augusta said:
Angela, very interesting point of view of French chef Eric Ripert on Tuscany and Tuscan cuisine.

Pax Romana: "On this episode, join Eric as he experiences the lifestyles of culinary artisans up close in Tuscany."
Click to expand...


Thank you...I hadn't seen this one. Ripert is such a gentlemen; I don't know how he can be such friends with Anthony Bourdain! A little of the latter goes a long way for me.

However, how to ruin pasta alla carbonara...the French can't seem to resist putting cream in everything!

She, on the other hand, is a master...I take my hat off to her...many good tips...and even my mother broke down in her later years and used a rolling machine.

Quite the hardest things to do in terms of cooking, in my opinion...making pasta dough and making pastry dough. You have to know the techniques...the tricks...but you also have to do it over and over again, because it all comes down to muscle memory. I'm still not totally happy with my pie crusts. :)

Tuscans love their beef...if you're ever in the neighborhood...and talk about the aspirated "c"!
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Here are some more Rick Steves videos on Toscana. This is about the hill towns in Tuscany and Umbria. He does a good job on this one.

This one is about Lucca, where I spend quite a bit of time. I have American friends who live here...a lot of English speaking expats from all over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AekC_l7KZe8

This one about Lucca by an American tourist is more fun, frankly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MGWIXnAPiw

He's right, in my opinion, about the food. I think it's the best in Toscana. The food in other areas can be pretty basic, if good tasting and hearty.

Pax Augusta said:
I meant that central and southern are the least densely populated areas of Tuscany. This makes the nature even more beautiful.

Have you watched the Eric Ripert's video? This is another video and trip of Eric Ribert in Tuscany, in the Chianti area, hunting of wild boar.

From min. 6:20
Click to expand...

The Lunigiana and the Garfagnana are very rural too, if you consider them Toscana, and beautiful in their own way, but most of it is mountainous.

We also do a lot of boar hunting, and not just because they taste good. They come out of the forests and do a lot of crop damage, even to garden plots behind houses. In some years their numbers grow so large that they organize large scale hunts for them.

It's a very dangerous undertaking, as Eric Ripert discovered. If you haven't seen them up close and personal it's difficult to appreciate their ferocity, speed, and the sheer size of some of them.
 
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