A new recipe book: Stories and Recipes from Fattoria del Colle
A new booklet by Donatella Cinelli Colombini with 16 traditional recipes from the Sienese countryside, some revisited and some unheard of.
A new booklet with recipes and stories from Tuscany
Other than for stimulating the appetite, this recipe book opens a window on the Tuscan modern civilization where tradition and novelty are blended using the same ingredients. In the Italian countryside with the highest density of foreign VIP guests, old recipes are no longer enough, and so we delve into our memories of the past to find recipes that are today unknown, at the same time there is an increase in the desire to use saffron, Cinta Senese and chickpeas … in a different way. So there is an evolution in tradition which Donatella Cinelli Colombini does not feel is a betrayal but more of a photograph of a rural territory where new residents and true farmers (as she professes to be) often speak English, travel, go to concerts, read books… in other words they are the first example of a rural civilization, fascinated by the past but also intrigued by what is new. So her we have the Ciancifricola or the Acqua cotta di Pasqua and the Peposo dei fornaciai which talk about past times of poverty and astuteness in preparing delicious dishes with whatever was available.
Next are the Pinci all’oro della Val d’Orcia which emphasize the renewed production of saffron after decades of being abandoned, or the Maltagliati con il ragù di cinghiale where the intense taste of the game is absorbed with the use of the chickpeas. There are recipes that no one had ever thought of preparing at home, such as Panforte, which in the end are very easy and the result is extraordinarily different from the industrial product most easily found.
In other words more than a recipe book, this new publication by Donatella Cinelli Colombini is a fun and useful manual regarding modern Tuscan country life. It is available in Italian and in English.
There is only one problem: it will only be on sale in the two wineries Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda and, in the Toscana Lovers shop in the centre of Siena. Not to worry, it will be a good reason to go and visit those beautiful places and to taste the Brunello, the Chianti and the Doc Orcia that Donatella produces so passionately.