My siblings and I learned from a young age that especially when it comes to food nothing is thrown away in the countryside! It is a habit passed from a generation to the next that originated during tough times, when food was scarce and every bite was to be cherished.

This brings back to mind several dishes that originated from putting together left overs stored in the ghiacciaia: the coldest room of the house, usually near the kitchen (often underground), where hunks of ghiaccio, ice, were stored in order to preserve meats, milk, cheeses and all perishables before every household had a refrigerator. Our nonna kept her ghiacciaia long after she got a refrigerator, as did many people in the countryside still preferring to store some perishables the good old way. We, kids, loved that freezing room so rich of mouthwatering scents, and nick named it Siberia. To keep the ice from melting and the temperature from raising the door wasn’t supposed to be opened often, so we would sneak in any time we caught an adult enter it to leave or retrieve something. 

Left overs make a delicious summer salad, panzanella. As it has happened for many other dishes that humbly originated in the countryside centuries ago, today there are different recipes for panzanella; they all sound delicious, but some require roasting the bred or making a vinaigrette when, in fact, the essence of the original Tuscan panzanella, or panmolle (soaked bread), we grew up with is just that, soaked bread!

Join me tomorrow for a simple and delicious recipe for the original Tuscan panzanella.