Its nice to be an heiress
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Lucca is not a tiny town.
37
"The plumber or some important person." I think that was meant to sound egalitarian.
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@Mario. Your interpretation is kind. I was excited by the title of the article but the words left me cold.
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I suspect that sformato di pasta is not a UK dish. I suspect that mum had help from Italians.
26
This article offered a breezy fantasy of Tuscany a la the film Under the Tuscan Sun until I was jarred by Amber's description of her late father, stating that he “would chat with everyone, whether it was the plumber or someone important.” I don't know of anyone more important than a plumber, especially when you need one. Anyway, in all fairness to the father, this slighting of a plumber may be Amber's rather than her father's.
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@Jon Davies
I felt exactly the same way about that comment. The first thought I had was, “the plumbing goes awry and the plumber will be the MOST important person you know”.
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@Jon Davies
The father who restored the house and had plumbing installed probably considered the plumber one of the most important people.
82
Thank you New York Times for this wonderful article, just this tip is worth the price of my yearly subscription: “use meaningful decorations.” I could never figure out why the gatherings in my apartment in the western Chicago suburbs were such uptight events no matter how hard I tried to set a laid-back tone; I am going out right now to forage for meaningful tree branches, burger wrappers and the odd roadkill right now.
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Keys to success.
Start with a Tuscan farmhouse, comfortably appointed.
Be a gracious host.
Even if the food is no good, everyone will enjoy themsleves.
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Wish Camilla would have shared a couple of the family recipes
39
Oh, why wasn't I born Amber Guinness?
64
Too much fragrance destroys food flavours ... and what about the peeps who are sensitive to perfumes
42
The tomato sauce-filled sheep's milk ricotta sformato is blowing my mind. I can't believe that you didn't share the recipe. Such a tease!
60
YES!! Collect as many family recipes as you can. The worst day of my life was the day my Dad died. The second worst day was two weeks later, when I regained my composure, and realized he never wrote down any of his recipes! He was an amazing cook!
50
The secret: eat before you go.
36
A lovely article. I love Tuscany have been there a few times and stayed in a farmhouse in Greive which is a short drive outside of Florence. I think the food is better in Italy than France now, the later having been corrupted by microwaves, and packaged food.
The sunny disposition of the locals is wonderful and they seem to have an etherial quality of chicness , even in casual clothes. I look forward to returning.
35
How fortunate Amber is to have such a notebook of her mother’s recipes. I fear this tradition will largely cease with the current generation.
47