{"id":14761,"date":"2017-08-25T09:00:21","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T07:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=14761"},"modified":"2017-08-24T20:55:00","modified_gmt":"2017-08-24T18:55:00","slug":"quanta-frutta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/quanta-frutta\/","title":{"rendered":"Quanta Frutta!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/span>n our <\/span>giardino<\/b><\/span> (garden)<\/span> we have two <\/span>small <\/span>apple trees<\/span> which despite their<\/span> humble proportions <\/span>have pro<\/span>vided us with a<\/span> bumper<\/span> crop<\/span> this year.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span>pples<\/span>, apples every day<\/span> …<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

… <\/span>apples <\/span>for<\/span> breakfast with our <\/span>muesli<\/span>, <\/span>apples after<\/span> lunch<\/span>,<\/span> apples<\/span> for <\/span>our afternoon <\/span>merenda<\/b><\/span> (<\/span>snack<\/span>)<\/span>, <\/span>apples <\/span>in <\/span>our <\/span>salad, and <\/span>who knows, maybe a nice <\/span>torta di mele<\/b><\/span> (apple cake)<\/span> for <\/span>de<\/span>s<\/span>sert in the evening<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that still leaves us with a large quantity of<\/span> bruised<\/span>,<\/span> ant<\/span> and wasp<\/span> nibbled windfall apples! So, it’s<\/span> time to roll up my sleeves and make kilos<\/span> of <\/span>marmellata di mele<\/b><\/span> (apple jam)<\/span>, apple chutney, <\/span>and so on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally,<\/span> we like to have a change <\/span>every now and then, <\/span>and <\/span>for that<\/span> I go to<\/span> <\/b>il fruttivendolo<\/b><\/span> (<\/span>the greengrocers<\/span>) <\/span>where <\/span>c’\u00e8 <\/b><\/span>solo <\/b><\/span>l’imbarazzo della scelta <\/b><\/span>(I’m spoilt for choice<\/span>)<\/span>: <\/span>meloni<\/b><\/span> (melons)<\/span>, <\/span>angurie<\/b><\/span> (watermelons)<\/span>, <\/span>albicocche<\/b><\/span> (apricots), <\/span>pesche<\/b><\/span> (peaches)<\/span>, <\/span>noci<\/b><\/span> pesche <\/span><\/b>(nectarines)<\/span>, <\/span>susine <\/b><\/span>(plums)<\/span>, <\/span>pere<\/b><\/span> (pears)<\/span>, <\/span>fichi<\/b><\/span> (figs)<\/span>!<\/span><\/p>\n

A few of m<\/span>y favourite fruits:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

At the top of the list there’s<\/span> le pere cosc<\/b><\/span>ia<\/b><\/span>, a wonderful summer variety of pear<\/span> which is<\/span> small and compact with a tender skin<\/span>.<\/span> I like them<\/span> both <\/span>when they<\/span>‘<\/span>re still green<\/span> and <\/span>crispy<\/span>,<\/span> and<\/span> when <\/span>they\u2019re<\/span> yellow with a pretty pink shade on one side,<\/span> at which stage they’re<\/span> ripe and<\/span> wonderfully juicy.<\/span>
\n<\/span>I<\/span>n Italy<\/span>,<\/span> p<\/span>ears <\/span>are<\/span> t<\/span>raditionally accompan<\/span>ied by<\/span> cheese<\/span> (we can’t let those innocent little pears go out alone!)<\/span>, and my favourite combination is <\/span>pere coscia<\/b><\/span> and <\/span>stracchino<\/b><\/span> (<\/span>a <\/span>mild creamy<\/span> cheese<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there are<\/span> le pesche<\/b><\/span> (peaches, not to be confused with <\/span>pesce<\/b><\/span>, which is fish!).<\/span> Their <\/span>powerful scent<\/span> beats <\/span>all the other fruit in the <\/span>fruttivendolo<\/b><\/span> and<\/span> I find it hard<\/span> to resist them<\/span>. There are<\/span> pesche bianche<\/b><\/span> (white fleshed peaches) <\/span>and <\/span> pesche gialle<\/strong> (yellow fleshed peaches)<\/span>, but<\/span> my <\/span>favourite<\/span> are le pesche di Massarosa<\/strong><\/span> (<\/span>small peaches cultivated in Massarosa<\/strong>, near Lucca<\/strong><\/span>)<\/span>: <\/span>they<\/span> look quite plain but their <\/span>delicious <\/span>flavour <\/span>really <\/span>explodes in your mouth. <\/span><\/p>\n

N<\/span>ow onto <\/span>m<\/span>elons! <\/span>Their hard raggedy <\/span>‘shell’<\/span> h<\/span>ides<\/span> a<\/span> beautiful <\/span>golden <\/span>orange flesh and a flavour <\/span>to rival<\/span> the nectar of the Greek gods. Il melone<\/strong> is <\/span>Smokie<\/span> the cat<\/span>‘s favourite fruit. <\/span>Smokie<\/span> loves the juicy centr<\/span>al<\/span> part of the melon<\/span> where the seeds live (I remove them before he tucks in)<\/span>. As soon as we start cutting the melon<\/span> at the end of pranzo<\/strong><\/span>, he <\/span>strolls<\/span> into the kitchen, jumps on<\/span>to<\/span> ‘his’ chair and patiently waits for <\/span>his share<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, there’s l’a<\/strong><\/span>nguria<\/span><\/strong>, <\/span>a.k.a.<\/span> il <\/span>cocomero<\/span><\/strong> (water melon)<\/span>, <\/span>with its bright red crunchy flesh that<\/span> both<\/span> quenches your thirst <\/span>and feeds<\/span> you<\/span> at the same time. Anguria<\/strong><\/span> is the<\/span> ubiquitous<\/span> king of summer fruit<\/span>s<\/span> when it comes to family get-together<\/span> or <\/span>picnics<\/span>. I<\/span>n<\/span> fact a <\/span>large<\/span> anguria<\/strong> can weight up to 11 kg and will<\/span> easily<\/span> feed <\/span>a whole family (including the animals!)<\/span>.
\nIt’s important to eat it chilled, so if <\/span>there’s no<\/span> space in <\/span>the fridge,<\/span> we normally<\/span> leave it out<\/span>side<\/span> in fresh running water<\/span>,<\/span> such as<\/span> a nearby mountain stream<\/span>. <\/span>In the summer, i<\/span>t’s not uncommon to find a massive anguria<\/strong> immersed in la fontana del paese<\/strong> (the village fountain). <\/span><\/p>\n

When we were children we loved <\/span>anguria<\/strong> time.<\/span> O<\/span>ur parents would send us out in the garden<\/span> with<\/span> a <\/span>large<\/span> slice each and as we bit into its juicy flesh we<\/span> literally<\/span> ‘washed’ our faces. Then, sitting <\/span>on a wall<\/span> side by side<\/span>,<\/span> we would compete <\/span>to see who could spit their big black anguria<\/strong> seeds the furthest<\/span>.<\/span> For some reason, the boys always won!<\/span><\/p>\n

P.S. d<\/span>on’t forget: <\/span>una mela al giorno leva il medico di torno!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

In our giardino (garden) we have two small apple trees which despite their humble proportions have provided us with a bumper crop this year. Apples, apples every day … … apples for breakfast with our muesli, apples after lunch, apples for our afternoon merenda (snack), apples in our salad, and who knows, maybe a nice…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":14765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[474263,229364,474289],"class_list":["post-14761","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-at-the-greengrocers","tag-italian-fruit-names","tag-italian-summer-fruit"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t