At Home in Tuscany

Thursday is Market Day

Pesche tabacchiere, here mixed with a few white nectarines

Born and raised in Georgia, I know my peaches. There, I never met the one that in Italy became my favorite—the pesche tabacchiera. Why the tobacco name? Because the peach’s form is round and flattened, like the shape of old tobacco tins. By its other names, it tastes as sweet: saturnia, flat peach, doughnut… The origin is China, and trade along the Silk Road probably is how the seeds emigrated. Because the season is short, I’m first at the market to start my yearly devotional rites around this perfumed, almost smooth, ridiculously luscious white peach. Others may transform them into sorbets or tarts. I’m for the dripping chin and meditative state induced by the taste of a perfectly ripe tabacchiera. (I will, however, top vanilla gelato with slices.)

Market day in Camucia, the more modern (17th C) town below Cortona, is Thursday. It’s vast! Spreads over half the town. Although the goods are different, the stalls are modern, much remains of the medieval spirit—folks come into town from the country, locals gather at bars and exchange the weekly news, visitors stroll through, and people like me are buying flowers by the armful, a roasted chicken, a seven Euro T-shirt, and all the fresh produce that’s in season today. I’ve been intrigued by the market since I first arrived and caught on early that it’s a big part of the sense of community that I admire and cherish here. You’re going to run into people you know. You may pick up a recipe, or directions to a stall that has the cutest summer handbags, or you may be tempted to buy a bunny and save it from its future.

Kitchen towels: 3 for 5E, housewares, linen shirts and summer handbags

There are several porchetta trucks and much discussion about whose is best. Often there are lines of people grabbing a porchetta panino, which is simple: a sturdy roll filled with slices of this slow-roasted, tender, highly-seasoned pork.

Waiting for a porchetta panino

When visiting Italy, I recommend checking out the market day for where you’re staying, especially if you have a kitchen. What fun to stock up and go home and cook! Google the town info or just ask any local what day it happens.

Yesterday was the longest day of the year. Today I heard the first cicada. Summer!