My Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration this year. Here in Italy, our family’s holiday is not what it used to be. The kids have school and our family skips the big turkey dinner. Friends at home have made me feel guilty about not keeping up with the tradition, but I tried for a few years and it just wasn’t the same. First, there are no whole turkeys anywhere. In fact, Italians do not really eat a lot of turkey. I was able to special order one from my organic food market a few years ago. It weighed in at just a few pounds and was the leanest looking bird I had ever seen. I added water and onion to the pan to flavor the drippings for gravy, but that turkey did not have any fat to drip. They don’t have cranberries here either and the sweet potatoes are strange.This year, with the kids at school and our office closed, my husband and I decided to take two days off to take care of a few things.

First, as we do every year, we went to get the family’s yearly supply of olio nuovo. Italy is still pressing olives and when oil is first pressed, it is very fruity and spicy and so beautifully green, filled with polyphenols that unfortunately diminish over time. When my husband tells the story of being young and having his grandmother make him take one tablespoon of oil with a squeeze of lemon before breakfast each morning, I am so jealous. I don’t recall extra virgin olive oil in my home as a child, just an inexpensive blend of vegetable oils. Just think of missing out on this wonderfully healthy oil for so many years!

Because freshly pressed oil has a greener flavor, you never really get to taste it unless you go to the source. Most manufacturers mix the old with the new to keep the flavor of their oil homogenous throughout the year, which is what the consumer likes. The flavor of fresh oil takes getting used to but you can taste that it is full of life and packed with powerful antioxidants.

As usual in Italy, visits with friends unfold in unexpected ways and it is often difficult to avoid getting home much later than planned. We were invited to lunch with the man that owns the press. I assumed it would be just the three of us, but when we arrived at the restaurant, I noticed a group of men at a corner table talking loudly. Of course, we headed straight in that direction and to my surprise, joined the party. These men were from the mountains and raise heritage breeds of cows for an extra special Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Each year, they come to the mill and exchange cheese for oil and finish the day with a festive lunch together. They seemed tickled to be joined by an American. One man who was at least 70 turned to me at the end of the meal and told me he had visited the States three times and the last time, he went to the top of the World Trade Center. He said- Americans are strong, I feel bad about what happened. And so my Thanksgiving meal was very special, albeit not traditional, and it ended with song.

The day after Thanksgiving, it was another foodie outing for us. A friend of ours invited us truffle hunting over a year ago, but we never had time. Truffles or tartufi are those prized fungi that are found in the woods with the help of trained dogs. They give off a very strong odor and an interesting flavor that people are wild about. This year, it was very dry and there are not too many to be found, so the going price is 9000 euro/kilo.

We met our friend and his Uncle, who is the passionate tartufi forager. His dogs sniffed around in the woods, after we reached his secret spot in the mountains by foot.

And here is how his dog Stella finds a tartufo.

So if you love food adventures, it might be fun to take a trip to Italy someday. Try to plan something different, not just Rome, Venice and Florence. Get out in the country and meet the locals. They are always thrilled to share their passionate hobbies with anyone who is interested.

I had already prepared a rich chicken stock because I knew when we got home, we would be making a simple risotto topped with grated tartufo.

To make this dish, sautè a small minced shallot with 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil on low heat. Add 1½ cups of rice suitable for risotto, a splash of white wine and then 3 cups of stock. Cook on low heat covered for 15 minutes, once it starts simmering well.

My daughter always complained that chicken from soup was dry. She kept saying she could not understand how boiling the meat could make it dry and that it just was not to her liking. I came up with the idea of shredding the meat, seasoning it lightly with a bit of olive oil, sea salt and tumeric and spreading it out on a baking tray. I roast it for about 15 minutes or so at about 375 until it gets crunchy. It is delicious sprinkled on top of rice, like we did with this dish, or mixed in a salad.

Of course, we shredded fresh tartufo on top, but you can substitute with truffle oil, if you have it.