My long afternoons under the Tuscan sun
I was born in Florence, Italy and as a child I used to spend long vacations in the nearby countryside. My family on my mother's side is from a place called Cevoli, a village deep in the Tuscan countryside. There, among the hills, my grandmother and my aunts had a beautiful villa where I spent long summer days playing with my restless cousins. Inside the old house everything was the perfect picture of order and cleanliness (I still remember the crisp smell of the freshly pressed fine European linens). But as children, our interests were outside--catching lizards and climbing trees in the large garden full of light and dust. One vivid memory that reminds me of that lovely period is the traditional Italian "merenda". I do not think there is a literal English translation for such a word, since it is something quite different from the American idea of "snack." It means a small meal offered to kids in the late afternoon, around five o'clock. In Italy one does not usually have dinner before eight o'clock (and it is a major affair with casual dinnerware and precious linens), and a little bite to eat before dinner is highly appreciated by the energetic kids. Merenda has no rules. The only thing that is certain about it is that it is served in the afternoon (and that kids love it). Every aunt or grandparent had their own way to prepare merenda. My aunts used to call us from the door of the villa and show up with a big plate of something wonderful. Usually it was fresh Tuscan bread with some kind of special toppings, although the options were nearly endless: bread with tomato and olive oil, bread with butter and sugar, bread with wine and sugar, bread with butter and salt...
As the years passed by and the kids' tastes and bodies matured, the merenda's ingredients slowly changed. From bread with butter and sugar, we progressed to bland ham sandwiches, and then to salami or mortadella sandwiches. Our tastes were slowing leaving childhood whims behind and evolving towards more spicy and tasteful foods. As my cousins and I grew older, merenda also became increasingly rare, until the tradition disappered from our lives completely.
Still, every so often, I toast a thick slice of country bread, break a ripe fresh tomato on it, dress it with olive oil, pepper and salt, and happily munch away the melancholy thinking back to a time when, with my cousins, I climbed trees and caught lizards in the warm afternoon sun of a Tuscan summer.
posted by Essentials for Entertaining @ 5:16 PM
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