Life At Pascianella Agriturismo

Pascianella Agriturismo

Arriving in Southern Tuscany we checked into the most modern of our accommodations so far at Pascianella Agriturismo.

Just outside the tiny hill town of Castelmuzio this family-run farm, with three generations living together, looks out across the valley toward Montisi offering up the most stunning sunset views.

Greeted by Giacomo

We were greeted by Giacomo who speaks zero English but with our broken Italian and a lot of hand gestures we managed to get ourselves settled in.
Shortly thereafter we were joined by Elyse from Foodie International, who lives further up the hill in her own gorgeous farmhouse. Shown to the basement of the main house, referred to as the cantina, Giacomo wasted no time in decanting a glass of his own Tuscan Rosso for everyone while pointing out the homemade Prosciutto legs hanging in the corner. As we enjoyed the distilled fruits of his labour, Giacomo looked at me and said “grappa?” as if to ask if we liked it.
“Si, of course,” I said and with that he disappeared, returning with a bottle of homemade grappa which they jokingly refer to as aqua. He handed me the bottle and said: “…for you!”.
Wow, fifteen minutes on the farm and we had already gotten into the wine and been given a litre of grappa that would make the hair on your arms stand straight up and then make you want to lie down, this is going to be a fun week.

That evening Elyse took us out for what she described as the most succulent suckling pig we would ever experience, in the small town of Pienza. In fact, she said, it was so good that it may make me cry! I told her that we were really excited about our dinner but I don’t cry over food and was more likely to rip my shirt off and run laps of the dining room, like a soccer player after he scores, if it was as a good as she said.

Pienza is a one street village, that smells of their locally produced Pecorino cheese, with the main square and a few bars. With a bit of time before our reservation, we grabbed a table at one of the bars and had an aperitif of Aperol spritz before dinner. It was a beautiful evening soaked in Tuscan ambience and set the mood perfectly for our meal.

Seated on a full terrace, we were greeted by Elyse’s friend who is also the owner. Previously we had decided that the tear-inducing pig would be enough but as Elyse placed the order (in Italian) she could not help herself and added a starter of artichoke lasagna and an order of crispy duck. This girl can eat! Later on, we joked that instead of a stomach staple she should be the first to get a stomach addition matching her appetite.

Dinner was served and it was fantastic! The crispy succulent pork and an equally good duck was way too much food but we did our best to finish it and I managed to keep my shirt on.

Back at the agriturismo

Arriving back at the agriturismo, our neighbour, Susanna was having a dinner party outside and we were invited over to join them. The wine flowed and the singing soon followed as we laughed and drank till the wee hours of the night. As we bid each other goodnight, Elyse informed us that there would be a birthday party for one of the agriturismo kids that Sunday afternoon. We were invited and told to come hungry.

Sunday came and it was a scorching hot day. So hot that we were afraid of how we would fair eating and drinking under the blaring sun. Like good guests, we arrived on time and as we approached the house we saw the long table set for 18 people under the shade of the olive trees.

The women, in their aprons, ran about plunking down bottles of wine and ice water on the table, making sure everyone was comfortable in their seats before lunch began with a refreshing aperitif of Prosecco, strawberries and mint ladled from a huge punch bowl filled with ice.

Conversation and laughter

The conversation and laughter were loud and boisterous but it did not seem to matter that it was all in Italian. Nat and I sat across from each other and smiled, feeling once again like we were in the scene of a movie.
With the aperitif finished, the wine was poured and six bottles of a beautiful Brunello were added to the table along with the farm’s Tuscan Rosso in wicker bottom bottles.

A selection of antipasto traditionally starts off any Italian meal and this was no exception. Trays of fresh bread spread with cold meat sauce, tuna, creamed ham or drizzled with their incredible olive oil were passed around and the eating began.

Artichoke lasagna

Artichoke lasagna was the next course, made with fresh artichokes from the garden and of course layers of homemade pasta with a creamy white béchamel sauce, incredible!

Susanna, sitting with us, helped us feel included in the conversation by quickly translating and adding her own running commentary, which of course the rest of the guests could not understand. It was a good thing too because she had quite an opinion of the church and the local priest was seated at the other end of the table.

Next came a huge bowl of potato gnocchi with a rich meat ragù. One of the women stood at the head of the table spooning up portions onto plates that we passed down. Susanna told me that the women had gathered around the kitchen table earlier that morning to make the gnocchi from potatoes dug up from the garden.

Pacing ourselves, more wine was poured as we fended off a second helping of gnocchi being snuck onto our plates. We knew better since we had seen enormous skewers of meat and chicken in the homemade brick oven earlier, which we suspected could be our next course.

Our suspicion was correct as three big platters piled with sausage, chicken, pork and little game birds were placed on the table.

Golden brown potatoes

Golden brown potatoes fried up in lots of olive oil, made from the trees we were sitting under, and garnished with pieces of fried bread filled out the platters.
Now starting to feel the effects of overindulgence, some of the guests were standing up beside the table to limber up and prepare for the home stretch.  There would be no simple slice of birthday cake here but a flurry of sweet delights that would start with a large watermelon carved out and filled with a summery fruit salad. As the salad was being served the now empty bottles of wine were removed and replaced by full bottles of Giacomo’s grappa and homemade vin santo. Also, since it was a birthday, multiple bottles of cold sparkling wine were placed around the table and as tradition dictates, the birthday boy enjoyed popping the corks off across the yard.

A rousing rendition of happy birthday

The birthday cake made its appearance and a rousing rendition of happy birthday in Italian and English was sung while the birthday boy blew out the candles.
Following close behind the cake were two men from the party holding platters of chocolate salami, fruit tarts and a decadent chocolate pepperoncini cake. Then came the women with trays of espresso to which some added grappa, making a caffè corretto, and of course it would have been rude not to indulge in a little vin santo.
The whole table was feeling no pain with the alcohol numbing our stretched stomachs. The stories and laughter again grew in volume and the Italians tried their best to include us, throwing in any English word they knew and hoping we understood. Thankfully Elyse and Susanna were there to back us up, translating when we looked lost.

We all stood up

As lunch dwindled to an end, we all stood up and everyone thanked the cooks and family for an incredible afternoon, shaking hands and kissing cheeks.
While shaking Giacomo’s hand I told him that I thought his olive oil was just incredible and definitely one of the best we have ever tasted. He smiled and grabbed me by the elbow, leading me into another room of their cantina. It was filled with the smell of fresh olive oil coming from two or three huge barrels sitting to one side. He lifted the lid from one of the barrels revealing gallons of the liquid gold that perfumed the room. He dipped in a small pot that he used as a ladle, and filled a large bottle through a funnel. Screwing the top on tightly he held out the bottle toward me “For you!”.
“Si!?” I said.
“Si, si!” he replied with a huge smile seeing that I was very happy and surprised by his gift.  Now that’s a party favour! It typified what this family of incredible people (and most Italians) are all about, nothing gives them more pleasure than making the people around them happy and what could do that better than good food, drink and of course, olive oil.