These days I'm attending a course about historical gardens, hosted by the Ministry of Culture:
The other day there was an interesting lecture about tulips, and another about the representation of gardens throughout early modern art.
I enrolled as soon as I learned about it, channeling the spirit of mon architecte-paysagiste préféré, monsieur André Le Nôtre!
It is disputed by historians that Le Nôtre had some saying in the design of the gardens of Villa Pamphili, the park in my neighbourhood — I so wish that was true, because that would mean we are somehow linked to the park of Saint-Cloud, which once was Monsieur's favourite residence.
If you're wondering “Monsieur who?”… *inhales*… be aware there's only ONE Monsieur with a capital M, and that's Philippe de France, duc d'Orléans, the cadet brother of the Sun King, and also my very dead BFF who of course is the main character of the historical fantasy novel I'm still writing.
(speaking of Monsieur, days ago it was brought to my attention that Jean-Michel Riou was out with a novel starring Philippe d'Orléans, too, so I had to order a copy, which as I type this newsletter has just landed on my bedside table. I'll keep you posted about that, even if you don't want me to.)
Anyway, Villa Pamphili aside, Rome is packed with beautiful (historical) parks — just look at the map below… perhaps I should dedicate one or more newsletters to parks alone, there’s so much to tell about them!
And given the bank holidays ahead (Liberation Day on 25th April, and May Day/Labor Day on 1st May) and a sunny forecast, parks will be packed with locals and tourists alike going for a picnic, a bike ride, or just a nice walk.
Which means it's also time for fave e pecorino (broad beans — aka fava beans — and pecorino cheese)!
It's an ages old tradition: as summer approached, ancient Romans celebrated Flora, the goddess of the blooming season, by offering her fava beans during Floralia, a festival held in her name every year.
And so, here's a quick recipe for a fave & pecorino salad: just toss in a bowl fresh fava beans (remove them from their pod, and also from their outer membrane — no cooking needed if they’re really fresh, you can eat them raw!), thinly sliced pecorino romano cheese, EVO oil, some chopped fresh mint leaves (if you like that), oregano, mix well, and then eat! 🥗 No salt needed, as the pecorino cheese is already quite savoury.
My favourite way to enjoy fava beans, though, is purè di fave con cicoria ripassata (mushy fava beans with sautéed chicory): I cook fave spezzate (split fava beans) for ten minutes in my pentola a pressione (pressure pot) with some EVO oil, a chopped shallot, and a little concentrato di pomodoro (tomato paste), covering everything with vegetable stock. Then I grab my minipimer and turn that into a purée. On the side, I blanch some chicory in salted boiling water, drain it, and then sauté it with EVO oil, garlic, and peperoncino (chilli pepper 🌶️). I pair mushy fava beans and sauteed chicory in a plate, and congratulate myself for this delicious masterpiece before scarfing it down:
Una volta qui era tutta campagna!
“Once upon a time, this place was all countryside!” — that's what contemporary romans say, oftentimes reminiscing about a time they weren't even born yet, but that's not the point. Everybody knows that the parks that nowadays are part of the city once were mostly outside its walls — so going to Villa Pamphili or Villa Borghese equals to fare una scampagnata (going to the countryside), aka fare una gita fuori porta (going for a day trip outside the city wall's gates) to us, which is what we usually do during the aforementioned bank holidays, especially when the calendar is favourable to fare ponte (I already explained this bridge-building thing last year…) so instead of leaving the city just for a day we pretend we’re having a holiday by eating fava beans and pecorino cheese (and whatever we feel like eating, really) in a park…
More Baroque digressing…
A few days ago I re-watched the late Alan Rickman’s last movie, A little chaos, which was released around ten years ago.
In the movie Rickman portrays the Sun King, Louis XIV, while Stanley Tucci, instead of chewing on puntarelle, plays Monsieur, and Kate Winslet plays a fictional character, Sabine, who is a widow, but also a garden designer collaborating with André Le Nôtre on the design of gardens surrounding the royal palace in Versailles, and she also is the only character in the movie who is not dressed appropriately for 1682, i.e. the time the story is set, a detail which also brings along further anachronisms, such as the fact that Le Nôtre would’ve been 69 by then, but in the movie he looks like he’s 40 at most (Matthias Schoenaerts, who portrays him, was in fact 36 when the movie was filmed…); the Sun King would’ve been 44 (while Alan Rickman was 66/67 at the time); and Monsieur would've been 42 (but Stanley Tucci was 54)… make it make sense, please?
So, while it's true I would watch anything set in the 17th century1 (and in fact I've watched this movie several times over the years), I nevertheless find it really annoying to be distracted by such anachronisms…
On another note…
I have a dream… and that's why I'll park here this image below…
…and then say no more about that!
’Til next time, ciao!
Yes, parks and gardens! And anything Alan Rickman. I'm glad to know about this movie, somehow I missed it. The fava bean salad looks amazing. I also love the cooked beans w/ chicory and hot pepper. Yum!
Another enjoyable read! Yes to more posts about gardens, please and thank you! 🌳⛲🌳