I’m not a fan of American food. I’ve never liked fast food, creamy sauces, being hurried through meals or the ungodly amount of ice served in drinks. Heck, I don’t even like ketchup. But there is something I miss very much in my daily life on the Amalfi Coast.
Berries.
Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries – any and all kinds of berries! I am very much for shopping in season, and I love when the sweet and tiny wild strawberries show up in the fruit and vegetable shops in the summer. I even have a little plant on my terrace that produces the tiniest berries that have the tartest and sweetest flavor of strawberries I’ve ever tasted. When they’re ripe I pick them off one by one and wash them in the cold water from the garden hose before savoring their little bursts of intense flavor.
But I need more than a few berries to keep me going. When I’m back in America I eat as many berries as I can. I don’t care the season or the time of year. All I know is that it’s time to eat berries! This is a photo I took last week of my ideal breakfast. (I swear there’s actually some cereal under there!) I’m enjoying every bite while I can.
Not long ago Anne from Anne in Oxfordshire introduced me to olive oil + raspberries, a wonderful website and blog by Kate Middleton. Talk about a kindred spirit when it comes to berries! Kate is starting an organic raspberry farm this year in Tuscany. Chatting with Kate recently, she offered to help me track down some raspberry bushes to plant in our garden this spring. I’m thrilled!
It’s so simple and so complicated at the same time, but sometimes finding a solution like this is the sweetest part of expat life in Italy!
I have plenty of raspberry bushes and strawberries in Lux. I’d bring you an (organic) plant or two down but I’m not on a direct flight for Easter and have the dog as well. If you can wait for next autumn…I’m sure raspberries would do well in Scala seeing you have the cooler nights. Bananas do better in Positano though I have had strawberries before!
Oh that is sooo sweet of Rosa .. ♥ and what a lovely surprise to see my name up there too . I am not a fan of sauces or Ketchup .. but adore berries .. I am so happy that you have found a solution .. lucky expat xx
Great post. I’m so with you on the berry-bandwagon, but seasonality is such an important factor in the Italian diet and alimentary standard, that–despite how great it would be to have them year round–berries are culturally only a spring/summer treat.
Wonderful that you’ll be able to forage your own soon!
I can never find decent berries down here in Puglia, either. I wish you good luck with your gardening ventures!