Okay. Hands-down. Without a doubt. Really and truly. It just does not get any better. Punta. Basta!
That is, it can't get much better here, on Earth. I'm sure that God has reserved the Best Place on Earth award for Heaven. But, until I get there, I will take this and the past almost three weeks as an example of how very, very nice the world can be.
Up early here, just as I am at home, I can hardly resist the first passegatta of the day. Strada Chiafele is a country road, lined with ancient stone walls, just high enough to border expanses of properties that showcase the bounty of each owner and just high enough to support wild flower clumps, hedges of jasmine and wild bunches of rosemary, lavender and other earthly delights. It's quiet (as it usually is), with evidence here and there that a work day has begun. As I stroll along, I make way for small vehicles driven by people who must leave the area for their day, and tiny work trucks. Dogs bark, roosters crow, all blending into what I can safely say is a perfect morning. Fresh air. Sun. Soft breeze. Just me and my thoughts
Halfway down the road, I encountered a lovely couple who were chatting with a man in one of those little trucks. Ciao, ciao, they sent him back on his route and greeted me with huge golden smiles. "Buongiorno", my first of the day. Suddenly, my words came back to me and together, without the stress that has stopped me, I joined in a simple conversation in Italian about the beauty of Puglia and the special time of day. They knew that I was staying here with Mimma and her family and did a sign-language tribute when I told them that I was Americana. That always makes me feel extra great. My new besties.
Yesterday. well, it's hard to describe. Mimma put us in touch with an English speaking resident last week, one who volunteers her time in her retirement from her career as a high school English teacher, as a local resource person. We spoke with the lovely Anna and had a few questions answered and were told to call anytime we needed assistance. She also mentioned that she teaches cooking classes and would we be interested in taking one, complete with a full meal and hospitality, on Tuesday of the following week. Who could resist such an offer!!!
So, yesterday morning we set out for the country home of Anna and Paulo - which is five minutes away from their city home. Needless to say, our GPS sent us up narrow (but lovely) roads, through miles of countryside until we had to admit that we were hopelessly lost (again). We were told to just stay put, help was on the way and within minutes, Anna and her daughter, Lori, rescued us and brought us to their home which we would never, ever have found on our own. Paulo was there to greet us, warm smile, looking very much like my beloved Uncle Peter, my grandfather's elder brother. A vision from the past.
We were escorted into the home, and told that for the day, it would be "our" home, and immediately we became part of the family. Theirs is a house made up of a series of trulli, with walls several yards thick. Small rooms, arches, stone floors, authentic in every way. This part of the house dates back to Paulo's grandparents who built it. Twenty five years ago, Anna and Paula added on a "lamia" section, open and spacious, filled with love and the reminder that here, connecting nature and humanity is the most important part of life. In the U.S. this is now called "open concept" and it's a trend. Here, it's a way of living. Room for family, for cooking and for enjoying. So, together, we got right to it in the kitchen.
Anna and Paulo are people with whom we have much in common. Similar ages. Married within a year and a day of each other. They have two daughters and a son, four handsome grandsons. We bonded quickly.
Anna, is Lidia Bastianich personified. Personality and enthusiasm are what one sees at first meeting and it only grows better as we prepare our big meal. Lori becomes our sous chef and makes a batch of orecchiette pasta as we struggle through our own attempts at cavatelli and orecchiette under the tutelage of Anna and the pontification of Paulo. Watching Lori, I am reminded of a violinist, plucking strings during a symphony. This is not her first symphony! With practice, perhaps we can make some music but for now, piano, piano (slowly, slowly).
Our menu consisted of toasted peppers, cavatelli with broccoli rape, braciole in a pomodoro ragu, topping our just-born orecchiette. We're told that part of the goodness comes from the simplicity and the use of only the most local and fresh of products. Eggs, huge and golden-yolked, make very good pasta. Herbs are from the orto just outside the door. Sage, wilted in olive oil and set aside while cooking the cavatelli, then joined with that pasta. Sage, we're told, prevents dementia. Basil, cooked, is poison. It must be green, and used last minute.
Our pastas made, sauces completed, typical Puglian cakes, one filled with a pastry cream made first thing, the other with a quince preserve that Anna made months ago and jarred, snack done, we were ready to sit down as a family to one gorgeous Puglian lunch outside the kitchen, next to the heavenly pots of flowers and herbs, adjacent to Paulo's "Pizza Hut". Local wines, fabulous conversation, the best home-made cordials (walnut is beautiful), and what Joe describes as the best espresso he's ever had, and we were in Paradise.
Anna and Paulo filled us in on so much of the local culture about which we had been curious. They are skilled and sainted teachers, preservationists of their heritage, authors of their own sweet lives in the land of their ancestors.
A gorgeous, unforgettable day with memories that surely will last a lifetime and the best part.....well not the "best" maybe, but extraordinary.......we arrived back at Strada Chiafele without getting lost!
Thank you Anna, Paulo and Lori,
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