Family, Friends and Food

As I consider my previous posts, I realize that a meal shared with friends is a repetitive theme. As social animals, we delight in the communal breaking of bread.  Family birthdays, wedding receptions, holiday Barbecues as well as intimate dinners with a paramour are hallowed moments in life.  No wonder Jesus celebrated his leave-taking through the last supper.

We had many meals with friends and acquaintances while living in Verona.  Many Sundays we went to a restaurant in the foothills in Colognola ai Colli with a large group of friends...maybe 5 or 6 couples with their children.  We would partake of a lengthy Sunday dinner with lots of good conversation and laughter.  In front of the restaurant was a large esplanade where the children would play between courses.  I liked the fact that children were welcomed by all the guests. Nobody got up-tight about proper etiquette for children: to be seen but not heard.  Babies were passed from one set of arms to another.  Toddlers would toddle from table to table. Older children would giggle and cry and be consoled.  The restaurant was noisy and happy.

Friends on a Sunday outing.

Marie-Juliette and Charles at the farm house. 

Chris on a Sunday jaunt.

Debbie and friends.  Don't these guys look Italian!

Remember Signor C. and his wife who included us in many get-togethers at their ancient farm house?  

Me, children Signora, Signor C. and their daughter.

One year we received an invitation for lunch, the weekend of All-Saints Day in October. Traditionally this is a somber occasion as one remembers the dearly departed. People visit cemeteries and decorate graves. 

An Italian Cemetery.

The meal that day should be frugal and austere, in remembrance of the dead.  On this occasion there was the usual grilled polenta and plenty of wine, but maybe not the best wine since it was All Saints Day.  Twenty-five or thirty people were gathered around the ancient table.  I remember two dishes. One was an onion sauce on whole wheat pasta.  The sliced onions were cooked very slowly in a large quantity of olive oil for a couple of hours.  The resulting sauce was absolutely delicious.

The second dish was a large platter of steaming pork bones.  This was autumn and they’d killed the fatted pig and made pork chops and sausages.  The remaining bones were boiled in a flavorful broth and sprinkled with coarse salt.  We helped ourselves to a big bone and scraped the bits of meat off.  It was rustic and tasty.  I felt a little like Robin Hood and his men feasting in Sherwood Forest.

 “If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart.” – Cesar Chavez