I was in Italy in November, a very quick visit to see my family before returning to New York.
Every time My husband and I go back to Italy we want to relax with our families but time waits for no one and we always run from one place to another.
To make a long story short, unfortunately we always end up spending the lesser time with our families.
This time, for the first time, we decided to become estranged from the world and from chaos in which usually we live to take us back to the origins.
For me "origins" mean returning to my homeland that saw me grow and change during the years.
In Novembre, in Umbria my homeland, start the olives harvesting season.
We spent an entire sunny day picking olives; temperatures were incredibly mild for mid November, by the way who would have ever imagined that once back to New York we were going to find even higher temperatures?
I leave you with these images, snap-shots of my region, Umbria, that gives us extra virgin olive oil, a precious and unique condiment.
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| Olive durante il raccolto - Olives during the harvest |
Ogni volta che io e mio marito torniamo in Italia lo facciamo con il desiderio di poterci rilassare in famiglia, pero' il tempo e' sempre tiranno e ci ritroviamo invece a saltare da un posto all'altro senza sosta e alla fine in famiglia e' dove passiamo meno tempo.
Pero' questa volta abbiamo deciso di estraniarci volutamente dal mondo esterno e dal caos in cui di solito viviamo per poter tornare alle "origini".
Tornare alle origini per me significa tornare alla terra che mi ha visto nascere, crescere e cambiare nel corso degli anni.
Quella terra che proprio a novembre mi ha regalato una nuova stagione di raccolto delle olive.
Una giornata ricca di sole ed incredibilmente mite nonostante fosse novembre inoltrato, dopotutto chi lo avrebbe mai detto che al mio rientro a New York avrei trovato temperature ancora piu gradevoli?
Vi lascio a queste immagini, fotogrammi della mia regione Umbria che regala olio extra vergine di oliva, un condimento prezioso ed inimitabile!
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| Ramo di ulivo con frutti - Olive tree branch with fruits |
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| Olive mature pronte per la spremitura - Ripe olives ready for cold pressing |
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| Mio marito che si e' totalmente immerso nella vita agreste - My husband totally absorbed from country life |
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| Olive nelle tipiche cassette di plastica pronte per essere trasportate al mulino - Olives stored in the typical plastic basket ready to be brought at the mill |
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| Olive mature - Ripe olives |
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| Mio padre (a sinistra) ed i miei zii- My daddy (from the left side) and my uncle and aunt |
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| Foto di famiglia - Family portrait |
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| Scala di legno e teli pronti per il raccolto - Wooden staircase and plastic net ready for the harvest |
Un abbraccio
xxx
There is much romance in these photos/post...people in the US simply cannot understand unless they see with their own eyes, feel with their own hands, work on the field hand picking the Olives...it is a pity this industry has gone where it has and the average consumer only looks at price nowadays or brands which most of the times take advantage of their name, have you pay top dollars for mediocre products...I can only say I am have been blessed with the Olive Oil harvesting experience in Italy and missed it so much!
RispondiEliminaBeautiful post Silvia.
PS: would have slapped in also a simple bruschetta recipe :-)
You are perfectly right!!! In America the olive oil market is a huge business but sometimes consumers don't know from where the REAL Italian oil comes and how big is the effort behind the production every year!
Elimina