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Tuscany olive oil tasting tour

Olive oil cultivation has distinguished the province of Lucca since ancient times a deep rooted tradition of olive growing which shows how precious and typicl this crop is, today more than ever, constantly looking to safeguard an irreplaceable heritage.
The landscape has alwys seemed to be richin olive trees, which were once cultivated on hillocks and steep mountain terraces. In the Lucca area olive cultivation developed in the 14th and 15th centuries with production increasing at thet time.

Statues were drawn up in the various communities with precise rules of behaviour which influenced the quality of local production, even identifying the varieties most commonly grown. Varieties were assed in the province of Lucca which are still cultivated today. With time the olive oil became, thanks to the ability and tenacity of those who had always grown it, an opportunity for commercial development. In the Lucca area the olive oil has always represented not just a factor for economic growth but also a way of life.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the product which more than any other characterises the province of Lucca and its gastronomic tradition, both in the interland and the coastal area.
The olive oil of Lucca is not only one of the most famous in Tuscany, and as such was the first in the 19th century to cross the borders of Italy and Europe, but also has outstanding characteristics which make it difficult to confuse with oil produced in other areas of the region.

Its characteristics have made it part of the staple diet, not only for its olfactory properties but also dietary ones, for a healty and correct diet. This oil comes from the typical Tuscan cultivars Frantoio, Leccino and to a lesser extent, Pendolino and Maurino.
However, the peculiarities of the terrain, the altitude and the position make the oil unique for its fruity flavour, its golden yellow colour with hints of green, and for its overall aroma, such that today many professional taster from the various oil producing areas of Italy take back a sample of extra virgin olive oil from lucca to use as a yardstick for purchasing olive oil for the companies that they work for.
It is not by chance that the extra virgin olive oil from the hills of Lucca has earned the right to mention additional geographical distinction, in terms of IGP, obtained from DOP Tuscan oil.
This makes it very easy to recognise a bottle of extra virgin olive oil from Lucca.

For very special taste olive oil please contact www.aziendaagricolamatteucci.com

Tuscan towns

Quality of life in Lucca.
In the province of Lucca, as in the rest of Tuscany as a whole, people recognise, and have, a good quality of life both for those who invest and work in the teritory as well as those who simply whish to spend some time here in the name of culture, countryside, sea and as a means of visiting other important places in Tuscany.

The province of Lucca occupied 31st position in the national table for quality of life, taking into account indicators such as the way of life, work and business, services and the environment, the population and leisure time.
The families of Lucca have an average disposable income, taken as the sum of the active resources which each family sets aside for the acquisition of goods and servis and for saving, which puts them under the regional average (6th place among the provinces of Tuscany), even if close to the national average, which is strongly penalised by the income of the families from the South of Italy.

Compared with this the average assets of the families of Lucca i.e. the total of real assets (houses, land) and financial assets (financial and property investments), is in second place in the regional classification behind Siena. 63% of these assets are represented by property and 37% by investments and other financial assets.

The overview of the affluence of our province sees a quite low level of income but with quite high values of assets.
This aspect of the assets is probably explained by the historic propensity of lucca families to save manoey and to invest in property, while the income aspect is ascribable, at least in part, to the lack in the province of large employment structures with medium -high wages.

Italian language culture

At first glance, Speak the Culture: Italy doesn’t leap out at you from the bookshelves. It appears rather nondescript and un-inspirational. However, as they rightly say, don’t judge a book by its cover. Speak the Culture: Italy is a gem.
Even if you’ve never been to Italy, you will probably want to read this book. It’s a rich compilation of facts about Italy, a learning experience about the country and makes it tick. Jammed full of information, the book looks at Italian history and living culture, food wine and song, fashion, art and architecture. It differs from the usual books aboout Italy, choosing to be part history book, part modern commentary and part cultural guide. It’s the kind of book you can dip into rather than have to sit down and read it from cover to cover although you may still want to do that as it is captivating reading.

With sharp, crisp writing, it’s easy to read. The sidebars on almost every page provide bite-sized morsels of information about italy that have – I din’t know that appeal. Bet you didn’t know that Da Vinci caried the Monna Lisa around with him for years whenever he travelled to Rome and France. In Italy the painting is known as la Gioconda because the sitter was married to Francesco del Giocondo. Or ever wondered where Italy makes its money?
According to the book, 2% from agriculture, 27% from industry and 71% from services. And 99% of companies in Italy employ fewer than 250 people.
With the contents printed in only two colours green and black the publishers may have erred too much on the side of thriftiness, yes the amount of information and insight into modern Italy more than makes up for the lack of full colour.
Speak the Culture: Italy is part of five book series that drills down into other countries and cultures including France, Spain, Germany and Britain.
The book has also lots of quotes from famous people. Pope John XXIII apparently was overheard to say that “Italians come to ruin most generally in three ways: women, gambing and farming”.
Food for thought. Or Lucca’s own Giacomo Puccini “I am a mighty hunter of wild fowl, operatic librettos and attractive women”. According to the book, when Puccini died, he was worth, by today’s a lot of high notes.

The book spends some ink on how Italians think and why their culture is so desiderable to the rest of the world.
As Reg in Monty Python’s Life of Brian famously said: “apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public, order, irrigation roads, the fresh water system and public health”, the Roman Empire’s arguably most enduring legacy has been the Catholic Church. It ensured the survival of Latin and maintained Rome’s place as a worldwide cultural centre.
If you are only going to read one book on Italy this year (and according to the Italian Publishers’ Association 50% of Italians don’t read even one book a year) Speak the Culture: Italy by Andrew Whittaker is published by London-based Thorogood Publishing, 10-12 Rivington St. London EC2A 3DU, and see www.speaktheculture.net.

The book retails for around euro 20,00. Available also throught Amazon.co.uk

Tuscan products

Formenton Otto File
Somewhere it’s called “the King2s corn” afer the fact that King Vittorio Emanuele II, appreciated a lot this kind of cereal and encorauged the production in Piedmont.
In Tuscany, or better in the Lucca district, it’s called “formenton”. In the smallest sectors of history and culture the small corn of this wild cereal are still cultivated. Long and thin, sorrounded by eight ranges – not one more, not one less -of big grain, golden or red depending on the variety.
Once they’re grinded one obtains a rustic flour to prepare several delicious dishes: a classical “polenta” to serve a side of cured meat ad stewed, some cakes and a special bread enriched in zibibbo raisin, even served to accompany cured meat and cheeses.
The seeding is in may, after the ploughing ant the fertilization of the soil.
After the blossoming the young plants are thinned out and harvested manually.
After some 20-30 days of drying, the grains are picked and at last the griding, mainly in the old stone mills of the Valley.
The “ottofile” corn is a characteristic variety nowadays almost lost. Only 250-30 q. are produced every year and sold mostly in the area and in the rest of Tuscany after the growing success of the natural food.

Web-site: www.ottofile.it (only in Italian)

Salvatore Ferragamo Museum

Ok, we admit it, this is a girly article.
We’re talking shoes gorgeus colourful stunning shoes. A whole museum of them in fact. If you haven’t already visited the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, add it now to your list of things to see in Florence. It’s a blissful way to spend an hour or two.
First, there’s the building. Palazzo Spini Feroni is a handsome 13 th century palazzo, which lies a few steps from Ponte Santa Trinità, the bridge over the Arno where Dante is said to have first set eyes on Beatrice (the building indeed houses the well named in her hnour, the Pozzo di Beatrice).
For over 70 years now the Palazzo has been the headquarter and flagship store of the shoemakers Salvatore Ferragamo.

The museum is on the lower floor, below street level, a tranquil refuge from the noise of modern Florence. You enter from the Piazza Santa Trinità the column of Giustizia in the centre facing down Via Tornabuoni and its designer shops.
Immediatly there is an aura of effortless style – cool music, carefully modulated ligthting. The first section of the museum introduces us to the man himself, Salvatore Ferragamo. Born in 1898 in the small town of Bonito about 100 kilometres east of Naples, Ferragamo emigrated to United States in 1914.
He seems always to have known where is talents lay saying, “I was born to be a shoemaker”. His arrival in California coincided with the early heady days of the film industry, and it wasn’t long before he had opened the Hollywood Boot Shop (great name).
By the time he returned to Italy in 1927 and settled in Florence, his reputation as shoemaker to the stars was already established and was to continue throughout his life. It was a reputation based on shoes which were beautiful, exquisitely made, and comfortable.
They were also famously light, as shown by photograph of a Ferragamo shoe with a 130 gm weight added to the scales to make it balance with an “ordinary” shoe.
We see photographs of Salvatore Ferragamo at shoe fittings with famous film stars of the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, and bringing the link with showbiz up to date, another room is also showing a short documentary on the making of the recent film “Australia” the Ferragamo company made all Nicole Kidman’s shoes for the film. Other displays feature extracts from the Hollywood shop’s order book, a mock workshop showing the shoe-making process, with the lasts made for famous wearers, and orginal sketches and artwork used for advertising campaigns.

But the real stars are the shoes. On display at any time are hundreds of shoes from the museum’s permanent collection of over 10,000, documenting Ferragamo’s career up to his death in 1960, and beyond.
Almost a century of history told by foot wear. And what shoes! Sandals, court, shoes, wedges, ballerina shoes, ankle boots, lacing shoes, shoes with high heels, shoes with low heels, all of exquisite workman ship. And shoes in every material imaginable – not only in calf, suede, snakeskin and kid, but also in cork, satin, straw, glass, and even a pair of high-heeled sandals in 18 ct gold made for a wife of an ( unnamed) Australian tycoon.

Museo Salvatore Ferragamo is open every day except Tuesday.
Disabled access. Entrance euro 5,00.
Proceeds from admission and gift sales support young shoe designers. Book if visiting in group of 10 or more.
www.museoferragamo.it – Telephone: +39 055 3360455/456