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This is Postcards from Tuscany, a section of the main newsletter Letters from Tuscany written by Giulia. Postcards is weekly, free and everyone can leave a comment. If you want to read the previous ones, you can find them here. Happy reading!
It is that time of year again: the grape harvest has begun.
The hills come alive, in the vineyards between the rows of vines the tractors go back and forth with full carts. In the morning with Livia, while driving her to daycare, we play a game: we count all the tractors we encounter, trying to find the biggest one.
Until recently, grape harvesting was also the first paid job that young people had, as it usually takes place just before university classes begin. I did my first harvest in 2008: I remember it as an intense, tiring time, but rewarded by the deep connection one has with Nature. Now, unfortunately, harvesting is mostly mechanized (except on a few rare occasions when it is done by experienced harvesters).
In Tuscany, then, vendemmia is synonymous with schiacciata con l'uva, grape focaccia, another important dish of the Italian cucina povera. In the past, the focaccia was prepared simply with part of the week's bread dough, to which sugar and grapes were added. It was also used used to check the temperature in the wood-fired oven before baking the bread.
As often happens in Italian cooking, every family has its own recipe version: one layer of dough, two layers, rosemary, anise or fennel seeds... on Giulia's Instagram profile there is a short video I shot just as she was making her schiacciata. She's been working on the recipe for years trying to find the right balance between dough and grapes, and this single-layer version with rosemary will be in our next cookbook!
If you don't want to wait, you can already find the recipe for the double-layer schiacciata with grapes on the blog.
I like making almond fig cake this time of year with the figs we get from our trees also apple pies I love this time of the year here Fall
An apple cake, although my daughter is requesting a pie (and since she picked the apples I guess she gets her choice 🙂).