Off the Tourist Track -- a "Sagra" in Tuscany
Rosticciana (pork ribs roasted with rosemary) was meaty and salty (Duchess had the bones under the table) and the vegetable dishes were simple and wonderful -- white beans with tomatoes (fagioli all'uccelletto) and fresh, leafy spinach cooked with diced pancetta. The food was cheap, too -- the meal cost us far less than we had paid for any restaurant meal during our trip.
One of the best things about a meal in Italy, no matter how fancy or rustic the surroundings, is the marvellous amount of time it takes. Dinner can last for hours, and this one did. Wine, food, and good conversation -- about one fifth of which we could actually understand -- kept us busy for a couple of hours, after which we wandered outside (perhaps slightly unsteadily) to see the rest of the festivities. The eating and drinking wasn't over yet, though -- our next stop was the booth containing the enoteca, where we bought small glasses of various local dessert wines, including Vinsanto, the sweet wine made from slightly dried grapes. There were desserts in another booth -- Pinocchiati, a sticky, crunchy confection made with pine nuts (finally!), and a torta of some kind that we were simply too full to try. Duchess hung around, waiting for more crumbs to fall her way.
In the twilight, five or six teenage boys were kicking a soccer ball around, shouting the kind of friendly insults at each other that sound the same in all languages. The band started playing, opening with an enthusiastically performed Italian version of a Madonna song. They moved on to their Phil Collins repertoire soon after, with a couple of Police songs thrown in, all in Italian. At the outdoor tables, a group of men smoked and talked, arguing good-naturedly about sports by the sound of it, while their wives cleaned up in the kitchen. Three teenage girls were promenading near the boys with the ball, occasionally stopping to chat and flirt with the two good-looking young men who staffed the wine bar. Young children played in the adjacent playground, while their mothers sat chatting nearby. We sat on a bench near the rusty playground equipment, listening to the lead singer croon his version of "In the Air Tonight", and we felt relaxed, full, slightly drunk, and incredibly happy. Most of all, we felt welcome -- people smiled and said good evening as they passed, and although it must have been obvious to everyone around
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