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Searching for a Simple
Life
August 2005
By the time you receive this email I’ll
be at my aunt’s beach house on the Southern, Mediterranean Coast of
Italy in the region of Calabria. For two whole weeks, I’ll be (along
with my daughter and her friend) in a country that celebrates the
good life, every day. I’ll do little more than eat, sunbath, read,
and eat some more. I will however rent a car to take an occasional
day trip to other nearby towns including the one I was born in,
Malvito. It’s perched high on a hillside, with panoramic views and a
castle at its peak, once used to guard this small picturesque town.
It’s changed little since the Renaissance days except now it does
have its own web site—It seems the town’s doctor is a computer buff.
Before departing, I will have moved out of my rental home, put
everything I own into storage, made tons of decisions on the
construction of my new home, and got my son ready to leave for
college! In the months and weeks leading up to this vacation, I’ve
sorted through hundreds of boxes in my determination to be left with
only what I need, love or will serve me. What was not destroyed in
the fire to my home last November was donated, discarded or kept.
This purging felt so liberating that it made me wonder, “What is it
about our culture and our values that causes us to clutter our lives
so?” Do we make an already too complicated life worse with too much
unnecessary stuff? And when life gets hectic isn’t it nice to know
that there are some things that can still be simple?
These last few weeks when my time was at a premium, I’ve mastered
the art of 20-minute meals. They all are one-dish preparations,
accompanied by a fresh mixed green salad. Simple.
One night dinner was pan-fried steak with onions and peppers and an
herb, mustard sauce. Another night it was split pea soup, made in a
crock-pot with pork ribs. It cooked slowly for hours while I did a
host of other things in my, cold, air-conditioned house. When the
peas were almost cooked I added about ¼ of a pound of acini pepe—tiny
pasta tubes---perfect for balancing the flavor of all those peas.
Another night I made a fresh pesto sauce. I added all the left over
bits of Parmigiano cheese and some pine nuts I had in the freezer to
the fresh parsley and basil in the food processor, along with some
extra virgin olive oil and fresh garlic. The pesto turned out
grainer than normal because the cheese wasn’t grated, but added in
small chunks. After a few swirls in the processor, I added the pesto
to some left over marinara sauce, which I heated in a sauté pan on
the stovetop. In another pot I cooked some mini penne and tossed it
in. It was simply delicious.
I’ve always known that a simple meal doesn’t mean it lacks flavor or
that it has to be boring. These past few weeks I’ve been reminded
that simplicity is beautiful and rewarding wherever we can find it.
It’s worth striving for. Italians have not only mastered simplicity,
they’ve elevated it to an art form. It’s expressed beautifully, in
their homes, their clothing, their food and lifestyle. In the next
two weeks I’ll keep my eyes open to see if I can figure out how they
do it. I’ll let you know.
Enjoy the rest of the summer. I know I will.
Chef Silvia
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