Neighbor Francesca arrived at the ivy covered iron fence this morning around 8AM. I was sitting in my familiar morning spot taking in my second mini cup of very strong coffee. I took note she was trying to pass a blue plastic colander full of green beans picked 20 minutes before. Luisa grabbed the bottom of her apron to make a big pocket while Francesca poured them from six feet above.
Today, our Sunday lunch took on a healthy side dish. Luisa snapped the end of each bean while husband Piero peeled potatoes with a steak knife and left them in a well used, rectangular pan. Jill has been trying to replicate these unforgettable spuds for over a decade. We lack two important ingredients that make them so memorable. Forno al legno (wood fired oven) is a trendy facet of US restaurants. These brick lined, outdoor ovens have been a fact of life long before Whirlpool or General Electric took our cooking indoors.
Last nights featured entrée, a perfectly roasted and stuffed 20 pound pig, spent six hours in a forno a legno at a home 20 minutes west of Montanare. Amedeo took me to have a look at this pig roast in progress. Bista, the close friend of Amedeo, has the perfect forno al legno in his back yard metal cabana. He freely and happily shares his oven. Ame was more than excited to explain the entire process of prepping our dinner. The stuffing includes: copious garlic, dried fennel, an unknown amount of salt, pepper, whole pig livers, as well as other assorted parts of the animal to add flavor and tenderness. The whole pig is wrapped in baking cord thick enough to pull a small car. Ame carefully pulls the two foot square steel door away from the oven to reveal our future roast that will feed the 40 guests of his belated birthday bash. He waved me forward to have an upclose and personal visit with the enormous piece of pork. I snapped a few shots but could only stay for 10 seconds because the excessive heat would eventually singe the hair on my fingers and probably ruin my camera. It was also well north of 110 degrees in the garage, 15 degrees warmer than outside. His proud smile and in depth analysis of how the crust would be beyond perfect was inspiring. This passion for cooking is one of the many gifts that draws us back to Montanare. We’ve learned nearly everything we know about cooking from he and wife Rosetta (Rosy). They continue to dividire/share every time we make a meal together. Their love for sharing seems to come almost like muscle memory. This too, is another very attractive attribute to us.
It reminds me of how my mother led her life. On this one year anniversary of her passing, I see so many of my mothers legacy lessons in our friends that call Montanare home. My mother was always first to share and last to serve herself. Her proud son, the author of this work, tries to remember her in nearly all of his opportunities to dividire/share on behalf of those who need it most. Having just returned from the opening of a community school in Sierra Leone (West Africa) dedicated to my mother, I believe she would have recognized this as the ultimate way to dividire/share by giving 200 children an opportunity to learn how to read and write. My moms desire to make sure every child had a good meal, books to read, and an opportunity to feel loved was her daily goal. Its also a mission I must continue in her honor. It’s how she cared for her own family as well. My mom’s example and Francesca’s fantastic fresh beans remind me in the words of my special friend Heather, the joy goes to the giver.